Buckeye Mine (Lyon County)

Lyon County

This was one of the sites that I decided to research based solely on newspaper archives. No history books. It was a rough one. A simple search of just "Buckeye Mine" in Chronicling America resulted in 757 different newspaper articles alone. And that was only through 1900. Nevada had an abundance of Buckeye Mines. Silver City, Eureka, Pyramid, Silver Reef, Summit Canyon (Smoky Valley), etc. Each article had to be analyzed to determine which Buckeye Mine was being referenced. Many other articles contained no pertinent information. Some were just apps for patents or stock assessments. I have only completed the research through 1882. The first reference that I found dated back to the Gold Hill Daily News on October 14, 1863. The Daily News is only archived back to the mid 1863 I believe, so I'm not sure how old this mine actually is. The USGS Report didn't provide a date of discovery. The Buckeye Mine was already being listed in the stock report in that 1863 article. In May of 1867, ads were posted for the sale of the machinery. To include a 40- horse engine, boiler, pump and cars. By October of 1870, the Daily News was reporting that the Buckeye Mine was idle, but that it still showed promise. By June of 1871, the Buckeye was under new and improved management. Superintendent Janis resigned during this time period. The mine was upgraded and said to be producing good ore. The mine was also reported as a true gold producer, with only small amounts of silver discovered. It was producing approximately 40 tons per day, which was being processed at the Franklin Mill. It was also reported that the high-quality production was creating "quite a flutter in the stock market at the present time." Good ore production continued through early 1872. I previously came across the next article while researching Comstock Mining Deaths a year or two back. On February 7, 1872, a miner named Benjamin Laplain was killed at the Buckeye. He was riding up to the top on a loaded ore car. The cable snapped causing the car to rapidly roll back down the incline. He was 25 years old and French Canadian. He had a wife and two children in Canada. By the middle of 1874, C.C. Stevenson was reported as the superintendent. The Hope Mill had also been taken over by the company. Plans were being made to get the mill in good running order so that it could process Buckeye ore. A new boiler was installed at the mine in May of 1875. More upgraded machinery was also enroute. An article from the Daily News on May 20, 1875 read in its entirety: "The huge smoke-stack for the hoisting works of the Buckeye mine passed through town yesterday. A "Fresh Fish" standing on the sidewalk and looking at it, came out with "I say, Bill, that's the gollfiredist jint of stove-pipe I ever seed!"" Articles through early 1876 continued to report that the Buckeye Mine was making improvements. The articles then died off for a year. On February 17, 1877, the Lyon County Times reported that a large quantity of Buckeye ore was piling up at the Hope Mill. Out of nowhere, on March 24, 1877, the Lyon County Times reported that the Buckeye had closed down. It was said that it may reopen after the next stockholders meeting. On May 16, 1877, it was reported that miners were working the Buckeye for a 1/2 share of the profits, not for a daily wage paid by a company. No further details were given on that arrangement. I wasn't able to find anything else pertinent through 1882. That's where I left off. TO BE CONTINUED.

Road Condition Warning: This mine is located on the Occidental Grade. This is the back road from Silver City to Virginia City. The side road that you pull onto isn't that good. There is absolutely no place to turn around. You won't realize this until you've already pulled in. By then, it's too late. You've already committed. When you leave, you'll have to back out into a very sharp curve from this bad road. You have almost no visibility for oncoming traffic. If the universe aligned just right and caused a car to come around that curve right as you were backing out, it could get very dangerous. The Occidental Grade isn't a busy road, but it does get some traffic. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL!