Halloran Springs Turquoise: Field Guide to California's Turquoise Mountain Camps
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Philip Chambless and Mike Ryan’s 2021 history places the Halloran Springs turquoise mines near Baker, California, in the Mojave Desert. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from their book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Their book was published in 2021; anything described as current describes 2021.
Where it is, and who found it
Chambless & Ryan (2021) place it:
“about 15 miles northeast of Baker, California in the Mohave desert along old Route 91, now Interstate 15, running between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 145 [1]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) open their account with a warning:
“Conflicting reports exist of the early development of turquoise mining at Halloran Springs.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 149 [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 149), George Kunz first announced the find in the 1897 Mineral Resources report: near Manvel, T.C. Basset noticed float rock stained blue, dug to a vein of good color, and found stone hammers, which gave the Stone Hammer mine its name. [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 149), Vredenburgh's mining history has the Gem claim located near the old digs on May 20, 1896, with three more claims nearby that August. [1]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) quote Malcolm J. Rogers's 1929 archaeological report:
“Mr. James Hyten, of Baker, informs me that his brother, William Hyten, now deceased, discovered these mines about 38 years ago, but that he was the first to file claim to them in 1895.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 149 [1]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) quote Sterrett's still different account:
“According to the information furnished by Mr. Gus Hamstadt, of Nipton, the turquoise deposits were discovered by an Indian named Prospector Johnnie, who located them in 1894 in partnership with G. Washington and Peter Phifer.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 149 [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 151), San Bernardino County records researched by Bill Jones show P.R. Washington locating claims from February 1897, the Toltec on October 5, 1897, and, with Thomas Kennedy, the Stone Hammer claims on October 19, 1897. [1]
On which camp held which mine, Chambless & Ryan (2021) go to the patents:
“The patent claims issued to J.B. Wood of the Toltec Gem Mining Company in 1904 show that, although the Stone Hammer was in Middle Camp, the Toltec was in West Camp.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 150 [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 151), sometime after October 1898 the Toltec Gem Mining Company began work on three groups of claims on or near Turquoise Mountain (East, Middle and West Camp), sank a well at East Camp, and by 1900 was shipping turquoise estimated at $20,000 to $28,000 a year to New York. [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 150), an April 1898 notice in the Mining and Scientific Press reported turquoise being shipped to Amsterdam, including a piece of 210 carats, and in March 1898 the San Francisco Call financed an expedition to the old mines led by Gustav Eisen of the California Academy of Sciences. [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 150), Rogers counted fifty ancient workings at the Himalaya group (West Camp) and twenty at the Middle group, and accepted Hyten's estimate of two hundred for the Toltec group, made before modern mining disturbed them. [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 151), Rogers judged the mines to be the work of Puebloan people or an earlier group, and Leonard and Drover (1980) used carbon dating to identify three phases of mining, the earliest between A.D. 400 and 700. [1]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 155), the Himalaya claim was located in West Camp on August 7, 1899 near the Toltec claims; Lippman Tannenbaum bought four more claims in 1901, and patents went to the Himalaya Mining Company on September 28, 1903 and to J.B. Wood for the Toltec camps in February to April 1904. The Himalaya company's main interest was tourmaline, and no West Camp turquoise production was noted after 1904. [1]
After the rush
As of 2021, Chambless & Ryan wrote of the Toltec camps:
“In the old Middle Camp of the Toltec Gem Mining Company, beautiful turquoise from the Riffian Blue continues to be mined.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 188 [1]
They added, also as of 2021 (Chambless & Ryan):
“In the old West Camp, the Apache Canyon mine of Ed Nazelrod has been one of the most productive in the state.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 188 [1]
See all the turquoise mines we profile, across the Southwest.
How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed work listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
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.
Lowry (2010) on the Manvel District:
“The honeycomb tunnels and small dig sites in the Manvel District in San Bernardino County have produced turquoise since prehistoric times.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 242 [2]
According to Lowry (2010, p. 242), most documented California turquoise came from on or near Turquoise Mountain, along the south side of the Silurian Hills about five miles northeast of Halloran Springs; the deposits were noted in 1896-1904 and marketed by the New York-based Himalaya Mining Company and Toltec Gem Mining Company. [2]
According to Lowry (2010, p. 242), many ridges and crevices in the area have collapsed naturally or been left as hazardous shafts by careless mineral hunters, so rock hounds need to be careful there. [2]
As of 2010, Lowry (2010, p. 242) described the limited Turquoise Mountain stone on the market as generally lower in colour grade, noted the East, Middle and West Camp names, and recorded turquoise elsewhere in California, including the Chocolate Mountains of Imperial County. [2]
Sources
- Chambless, Philip, and Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America, Part One: The Great American Turquoise Rush, 1890–1910. Revised first edition. Callais Press, 2021. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2021.
- 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.