McGinness Turquoise: A Grass Valley Claim Under Two Spellings

The Nevada Bureau of Mines placed it in 1968:

“The McGinness or Gem mine (no. 30, pl. 1) is 10 line miles northeast of Austin near the center of sec. 17, T. 20 N., R. 45 E.”
— Morrissey (1968), p. 21 ^[1]

Line miles are measured in a straight line. The Lowrys give “about fifteen miles northeast of Austin,” at an elevation of over 7,500 feet. ^[3] A miner who knew the owner put it “about 15 miles from Austin to the east on the other side of this mountain range.” ^[4]

It sits in Grass Valley, among a cluster of small diggings. Bruce Woods, who worked the Godber Burnham claims, described the hillside to Ryan and Chambless:

“Of the old Grass Valley Mines the one with the biggest connection was the McGinness. McGinness is toward the top, and then there’s Little Blue Bird around the corner and Green Tree down at the bottom.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 192 ^[4]

The state report agrees on the neighbor: the Green Tree, or Cold Day, mine lies half a mile north of the McGinness. ^[1]

Morrissey describes three parallel zones of broken, re-cemented rock, each about two feet wide, cutting through chert and siliceous shale. The workings in 1968 were an adit, an open stope and several small prospect pits. ^[1]

The books agree on 1930 and on the two men involved, but not on the order of events. Morrissey: Frank Schmidtlein discovered the deposit in 1930 “and subsequently sold it to George McGinness” of Oakland, California, “who worked the property for a number of years.” At one time it was leased to Allen Russel. ^[1] The Lowrys put the sale itself in 1930:

“In 1930, Frank Schmidtlein sold the claims to George McGinness, who mined and marketed its turquoise.”
— Lowry (2010), pp. 235–236 ^[3]

The man Ryan and Chambless interviewed remembered McGinness as the county commissioner when he was in school, “always prospecting,” and dated his mining, with an “I think,” to the late 1930s through about 1950 or 1955. ^[4]

Clyde Wright of Fallon, who also leased the Godber Burnham, “first mined turquoise at the McGinness Mine in 1970.” ^[4] The same interviewee recalled that Wright and Les Hornback held claims on that hill in the 1970s, and that Wright “might have leased that McGinness or he may have bought it.” ^[4] The books leave that open, and so do we.

Not much. Branson called it a mine that “has not been a large producer.” ^[2] The state report is more precise:

“The bulk of the turquoise produced at the McGinness mine has been of only fair quality. Some of it has been rated good, and a quantity has been rated as high-grade ore. Total production of the mine is estimated at about $40,000.”
— Morrissey (1968), p. 21 ^[1]

That estimate dates from 1968.

Branson’s own plate came with a disclosure: “Most of the stones in the photograph have surface pits and fissures that have been filled.” ^[2] So ask how each McGinness stone was treated. For what our labels mean, see What Do These Confusing Turquoise Terms Mean?

Theda Bassman’s 1997 book pictures a concha belt “with traditional Navajo stamp and repoussé work with stones of McGinnis turquoise. Made by Perry Shorty.” ^[5] Read more about Perry Shorty.

The Lowrys wrote the plain truth of it:

“Unfortunately, there are many turquoise mines that have become known by a miner’s name, but over time there is actually little information that has been collected about the miner or the marketing of the turquoise from the mine.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 236 ^[3]

Our books say nothing about the mine after the 1970s, and nothing about whether anyone works it now.