Fox Mine Turquoise: Field Guide to Nevada's Largest-Producing Cortez Mine
Fox Mine turquoise comes from the Battle Mountain and Cortez area of Nevada. Originally filed as the "Cortez claims" by Charles Schmidtlein and Johnny Francis in 1914, the property passed through several owners before Dowell Ward renamed it the Fox Mine in 1941 — the name under which it became one of Nevada's largest-producing turquoise areas.
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)
2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.
According to Lowry (2010, p. 229), citing Frank Morrissey's Turquoise Deposits of Nevada, the Fox site was prehistoric and originally worked by Native Americans. [1]
According to Lowry (2010, p. 230), Charles Schmidtlein and Johnny Francis filed claims in 1914 and sold them to William McGaw in 1915; Ed Smith and later his son Charles managed the property, and in 1941 Dowell Ward bought the Cortez claims and renamed them the Fox Mine. [1] Lowry (2002, pp. 46, 52) also records Ward's purchase of the old Cortez claims, dating it only to "the 1940s." [4]
On the trade names buyers still meet, Lowry (2010) wrote:
“Dowel was a very colorful man who advertised and marketed his claims under the names of Fox, Greentree, Whitehorse, and Smiths, depending on the colors that each area of the mine produced.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 229 [1]
From the Library: Schiffer, Turquoise Jewelry (2008)
2008 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2008, not today.
Schiffer (2008) gave an earlier start date:
“The Fox mine, also called the Cortez mine, was discovered about 1910, and is one of the largest turquoise producers in the state.”
— Schiffer (2008), p. 11 [2]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 67), rancher George W. Schmidtlein and his son Charles filed early (probably silver) claims in Lander County in 1906, and their first turquoise claim was the White Horse, next to the Fox, located by Charles A. Schmidtlein on December 9, 1907. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 67), the first location record they found for the Fox itself is dated April 6, 1912, by Charles A. Schmidtlein, although the press was already describing the property in 1909. [3]
Ryan & Chambless (2020) reproduce an August 24, 1909 Reno Gazette-Journal report on the Schmidtlein and Johnnie Francis property in Cortez canyon:
“The development includes a forty-foot tunnel which has shown some splendid deposits of the finest turquoise.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 67 [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 68), the 1914 federal mineral-resources report stated that Johnny Francis had discovered the mine several years earlier, and that E. Smith and McGaw of Pasadena later bought it under the name of the Cortez Turquoise Company. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 68), Lander County Recorder records show W. R. McGaw filed the location of the Fox Lode claim on October 12, 1917. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 68), the Fox had indeed been mined for turquoise in prehistoric times, but they found no evidence for Morrissey's story that Aztecs worked it; in the Southwest, turquoise was mined by Ancestral Puebloans through a network of mines and trading routes. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 127), George Switzer reported in Gems and Gemology (Winter 1951-52) that Nevada's turquoise sales in 1940 totaled $20,000, with the Fox producing 7,928 pounds that sold for $11,405; in 1941 sales reached $28,000, mostly from the Smith Mine near Cortez, which in 1942 produced 13,033 pounds valued at $32,000. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 127), Lander County recorder filings show Clara C. McGaw filing the Fox's annual proof of labor from 1930 to 1955; B. C. Waddell filed in 1956, Clara McGaw again in 1958 and 1959, and Dowell P. Ward from 1960, after which Ward owned the mine for many years. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 127), Dowell Ward, born in Reserve, New Mexico, in 1922, moved to Crescent Valley, Nevada, in 1950; a National Geographic article said he bought the claims in 1956 for $20,000, while Gene Waddell said his father B. C. Waddell owned them in partnership with Ward from 1955. [3] Jacka (1995, p. 81) also writes that Gene Waddell's "father, B. C. Waddell, owned the Fox Turquoise Mine in the sixties"; the county filings above show Dowell P. Ward filing from 1960. [6]
Faye Ward recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020), how her husband came to the mine:
“He bought it from a Smith, but Smith never mined much. He mined the Fox and the White Horse and the Green Tree, and they were all in the same area.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 127 [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 127), Frank Morrissey estimated in 1953 that the Fox had produced at least 2,000 pounds of turquoise a month for many years, reported that "turquoise mining experts" credited it with more turquoise than all other Nevada mines combined, and put its total value at $6,000,000 or more. [3]
Gene Waddell recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 164), that his father, B. C. Waddell, bought the Fox around 1955, and that Dowell Ward, who had the Number 8 at one time and owned the Fox for probably the longest time, bought him out in the early 1960s. [3]
Monty Nichols, the Sleeping Beauty contractor, told Ryan & Chambless (2020):
“I heard stories that the Fox Mine in Nevada produced more at that time than Arizona did but it never had the publicity of Kingman or Sleeping Beauty.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 182 [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 198), Dowell Ward had been mining turquoise in Lander County since the mid-1950s, when he acquired the Fox Mine, and during the 1970s the Fox continued to produce large amounts of turquoise. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 198), the German publication Turkis (1999) described Fox stone as not very hard, chalky, porous and light blue or cyan in its natural state, so that a large part of the output had to be stabilized, and said much of it went to Idar-Oberstein, partly for treatment. [3]
Ryan & Chambless (2020), weighing the big production figures quoted for the Fox, conclude that
“there is every reason to acknowledge the Fox as the largest producer of turquoise in Nevada”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 198 [3]
D. Robert Smith recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 200), that Dowell Ward sold both natural and stabilized material in about 1975-79, that most of the nuggets Smith sold for him were stabilized, and that the chalk had a soft rind around a hard centre, rather like Sleeping Beauty. [3]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 199), the small Pixie mine near the Fox was always owned by gold companies, and as of 2020 it lay under mine tailings from the Cortez Pipeline operations. [3]
Barb Chaney recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 223), that in 1973-74 she and John Chaney flew their own plane into Crescent Valley and bought Number 8 and White Horse (Fox) turquoise from Dowell Ward, who kept a huge warehouse there. [3]
The mine glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) lists the Cortez Mine in the Bullion District of Lander County, Nevada, also known as White Horse and as Fox; its Fox entry adds Smith as another name. [3]
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise Unearthed: An Illustrated Guide (2002)
2002 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2002, not today.
Lowry (2002) on why one area carries four names:
“Dowell Ward purchased the old Cortez claims in the 1940s and developed them using the names Fox, White Horse, Green Tree, and Smith to differentiate among the colors of turquoise produced in the area, and to create a larger perceived share of the turquoise market.”
— Lowry (2002), p. 52 [4]
According to Lowry (2002, p. 52), Fox was one of Nevada's most productive mines, and the area collectively produced a huge quantity of good-quality green or blue-green stone with a distinctive matrix. [4]
From the Library: Stacey, Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest (1975)
1975 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1975, not today.
A 1975 caption on a Fox Mine necklace:
“The dark green turquoise is typical of the finest taken from the Fox Mine, one of Nevada's largest producers. In prehistoric times this mine was worked by Indians.”
— Stacey (1975), p. 23 [5]
Field Notes by Mateo James
The mine's origin story has a domestic quality to it. Lowry records: "George Schmidtlein was the first individual credited with gathering some samples from this mine. It was his house servant who originally discovered the diggings and shared the location with George. In 1914, George's son Charles and his friend Johnny Francis filed claims, worked the area for one year, and then sold it in 1915 to William McGaw." The discovery credit belongs to someone unnamed in the historical record — a pattern that recurs across the turquoise rush era, where the person who first noticed the stone is often not the person who ended up holding the deed.
Ward's 1941 renaming was commercially significant. Lowry states directly that under the Fox Mine designation it "became one of Nevada's largest-producing turquoise areas" — a production record that places it among the state's important commercial deposits despite its relatively late entry into the named-mine literature.
Primary sources do not provide a specific color or matrix description for Fox Mine stone. This page reflects that gap honestly rather than filling it with description that cannot be traced to our reference books.
Collector's Handbook
What to look for: Color and matrix character are not specifically documented in available primary sources for this mine. Assess stone on its individual merits and verify any seller's source chain.
Recognition tells: The Fox Mine's significance is in production volume, not a distinctive visual signature documented in the literature. "Cortez area" provenance claims may refer to the original claim designations or the broader district.
Honest mine-status hedge: Current production status beyond the Ward-era peak is not confirmed in available primary sources.
Related mine guides: Pages for Bisbee, Sleeping Beauty, Number Eight, Cerrillos, Royston, Kingman, Lander Blue, and Morenci mines are coming soon to this field guide.
I notice two start dates for Fox: Schiffer (2008) says it was discovered about 1910, while Lowry records the first Cortez claims being filed in 1914. Chambless & Ryan's Part One (2021) doesn't cover Fox; their Part Two (2020) does (see the Library section), and I've left both dates on the page.
I notice the Fox's paper trail starts earlier in Ryan & Chambless (2020, pp. 67-68) than elsewhere on this page. Lowry (2010) has the first claims filed in 1914 and Schiffer (2008) says the mine was discovered about 1910; Ryan & Chambless found the neighboring White Horse claim filed in 1907, a first Fox location record of April 6, 1912, and a 1909 newspaper already describing a forty-foot tunnel. I tend to side with Ryan & Chambless, and I have left all the dates on the page.
I notice the Fox has two dates for Dowell Ward. Lowry (2010) has him buying the Cortez claims in 1941, while Ryan & Chambless (2020) found Clara McGaw still filing the mine's proof of labor through 1955 and Ward's first filing in 1960, with a magazine report of a 1956 purchase in between. Ryan & Chambless work from the county filings, and I tend to side with them, but I have left both accounts on the page.
Lowry (2010) has Dowell Ward buying the Cortez claims in 1941 and renaming them the Fox. Gene Waddell, interviewed by Ryan & Chambless (2020), remembers his father buying the Fox around 1955 and Ward buying him out in the early 1960s. Neither source reconciles them, so I have put the Waddell memory beside Lowry's date.
We strive for accuracy. This field guide entry is compiled from the published references cited below and is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. See something inaccurate, or hold documentation on this mine? Get in touch — corrections are welcomed and credited.
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References
- Lowry, Joe Dan. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010).
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
- Schiffer, Nancy N. Turquoise Jewelry. Revised 4th ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2008.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise Unearthed: An Illustrated Guide. Photography by Mark Nohl. Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2002. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2002.
- Stacey, Joseph, ed. Turquoise Blue Book and Indian Jewelry Digest. Arizona Highways Collectors Series. Phoenix: Arizona Highways (Arizona Department of Transportation), 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1975.
- Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1995.
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