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The Lost Town of the Uncle Sam Mine - Has Nobody Been Here in a Century?

Part-Time Explorer

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Alan's Book: https://westernplaces.net/products/pa...

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My Mizpah Hotel video is now available here: The 1907 Mizpah Hotel - From Miners to Mil...

So very little is known about this town deep in this remote canyon. We aren't actually even certain of the name! My friend, Alan, spotted marks for four vacant buildings on a 1957 map and what they were was completely unknown. For his new book, we had to hike in and find out just what was there!

Does this town date back to 1875, when the very first claim was worked in this canyon? Or is it later working from the 1920's? In the summer heat just beyond Death Valley, CA, we had to hike down and find out.

Between Alum Creek and Uncle Sam Creek in Nevada, just south of Goldfield, we found several collapsed structures and even an old automobile.

NOTE: There's a drone shot of a desert valley when I'm talking about Death Valley Park. Flying a drone in Death Valley Park is not at all permitted and comes with a hefty fine. I want to make it clear that this shot was actually the nearby Lida Valley in Nevada.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
1:36 - Searching for the Canyon and Ruins Along the Way
5:10 - Scouting out the Canyon
8:38 - The Historic Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, NV
9:04 - Returning to the Canyon
10:29 - Descent
12:46 - The Townsite
17:12 - Ascent
20:28 - Conclusion

20 Comments

@PartTimeExplorer Creator 4 years ago Pinned

Thank you everyone for the continued support! There was a lot of interest in me making a video about the Mizpah Hotel, which I've published here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9S9BequQRw

As for the canyon, it's one of the most remote places we've explored, but it turns out some people have been there in the past century for sure and a couple comments had some excellent additional research on the place. I'm now planning a Part 2 of this video including some of the new information that was shared as well as some of the material I cut from this video. Honestly, I didn't anticipate this much interest in the subject and trimmed out quite a bit to cater to my usual subscribers. There isn't much to see of it, but I'll be including shots of the blasted mine entrance as well as more surveying of the town. I hope to have that out on this channel Saturday, March 19.

@thebigred1megayaught911 4 years ago

The large building was the bar, kitchen and scale. I have 4 poker chips fused together from time and weather we unearthed in 1971when we went back. The entrance is at west end of great smokey valley where our ranch was. The governor of Nevada in 1972 flew over the canyon with me at 6yrs old and I broke my finger in the plane door on that trip. All in all 5 trips we took into the mine and we came from the gold rush end. I have the documents and photos to show. I am completely excited that someone else took the trip there and I would be honored to donate the chips to the public and meet that gentleman. I'm the last survivor of the mine and I now live in selah WA . The records for the mine are in my mother and grandfather's name in the Nye county courthouse. Bert Leroy Carder and Francis Joan Carder. Only one town I didn't get to see was Kimberly Nevada which is 15 miles southwest of Ely and I would love to get information from there

@Jadegreif 4 years ago

Living in central europe, where pretty much every square centimeter is occupied today, I find this very interesting, that there spots like these that haven't been visited in over a century. I always underestimate how huge the US is. Thanks for the video, really great to watch.

@thoughtful_criticiser 4 years ago

Well done for walking down and up that valley. Next time you attempt something like that drop a water store en route to pickup on the way back. Saves carrying it. I used to work regularly on 52°C and above, in desert conditions, we always dropped water to save on carrying it.

@lorim7849 4 years ago (edited)

That stamp mill belonged to my grandfather. The McCoy's mined that area in the early 40's. Pigeon Springs had a cabin that was their home. Above the stamp mill was a canvas tent. They mined the Buster mine. The shovel at Tonopah museum also belonged to my grandfather and his brothers. A man by the name of Roy Wilber had a couple mines as well. He lived in a cabin from 1932 I believe until his passing.

@Mr100741 4 years ago (edited)

A lot of credit to the old man for making this rugged trek in the oppressive heat. Many much younger men wouldn't or couldn't have done what He did.

@terryhigdon802 4 years ago

Sorry, but I am an old explorer of the west. I am 75 now and unable to do much. Me and my friends were Marines. We would plan for a week of exploration. We used burros to help with supplies, as you had to walk into these areas. Really enjoyed our discoveries, but no one was interested in them at time. Found many claims, with stone monuments that had the old claims inside inside old tobacco cans (Prince Albert). Left everything as it was. Glad to see that someone is documenting these places

@bruce2keys217 4 years ago

Alan was a trooper hiking down 3 miles, exploring around and then hiking back up 3 miles during extreme heat. Right On Alan !!!

@MaryOKC 4 years ago (edited)

My dad, in 1965, bought an old house that was a stage coach stop for mines in the mountains of northern ID. The house was 100 years old when he bought it and 6 acres for $500. We lived in the house and it still stands today. The property had lots of smaller bunk houses all over the property and several old automobiles as well! My dad even got one running and my mom drove it around and people looked at us like we were nuts … today I still love old cars. None of the buildings were made of stone/rock…everything was wood. ..up the road were three mines and all were made of wood and falling down but there were three huge settling ponds and when I say huge I’m talking huge…it’s a big EPA headache. Arsenic, lead, mercury, iron…all coming from the ponds where the cribbing is collapsing. Good memories. Thanks for the video.

@niallwildwoode7373 4 years ago

Using a drone to save you hours of trail finding misery in such heat, was a game changer. Great video - I really enjoyed it from the comfort of my UK homestead.

@VeeDubConnoisseur 4 years ago

Best part of exploring the SW US mines and ghost towns is how well preserved they are. In the Pacific northwest, alot of the old camps are over grown and or rotted away. There's not much left to see.

But in the desert, there's much more evidence left.

@BSpecUSA 3 years ago (edited)

I was out there in around 2012-2014. It is much much easier to come up from the bottom of the canyon. You can drive to within about a mile or so with a properly set up Jeep. It looked just like it did when you went out there.. Everything was collapsed but instead of hot it was about 32 degrees. Perfect hicking weather.. Up the other canyon to the east there is a huge green spring with nice shade trees that you can drive to also with a properly set up Jeep. I have been to camps in that area that are so hidden that they still have two story ranch houses with old `1930's cars still parked in the barns.. Those are the true secret places. I have all of Alans books and have been out with him long ago with another friend of mine Bill G...

@Chipchase780 4 years ago

I envy the inhabitants of a country so vast that you can make discoveries like this. In the UK you can trip over an old colleague in the unlikeliest ‘remote’ spot.

@TVRExploring 4 years ago

Lots of cool things still hidden away in our forests and deserts...

@BravoTangoAviation 1 year ago (edited)

We used to ride motorcycles out there about 6 years ago. It's an interesting place. It's not an easy ride because of landslides and washouts.

@margiebrown7436 4 years ago

Much respect for Alan that he won’t write about something that he hasn’t experienced for himself. 👍🏼🎉😊

@daphnewilson7966 4 years ago

Thank you so much! I'm a 68-year-old lady whose heart's desire is this kind of exploration, but, oh well. You give me a vicarious experience so appreciated!

@spuwho 3 years ago

For a place that hasn't been seen for so long its well documented. The minerals pulled from this canyon are even listed in several topography and mining sites. Sometimes the "mysteries" are our own creation.

@whirving 4 years ago

What a great and rewarding adventure! I'm a land surveyor and I've encountered similar things to this. About 20 years ago I was running the boundary of an old mining claim with a compass and hip chain when I spotted beer cans on the ground in front of met. We were in a remote location that had grown over and the cans were tin and required a "church key" to open, the were all unopened and empty. I followed the cans into the woods off the line and discovered an intact miners camp. There was a wood shaker box for gold and a canvas wall tent. The tent had turned into scraps and trees grew up through the old 4 poster bed and rocking chair within. There were several other items that seemed to date the site to the 1920s or 30s. We were locating the corner posts with GPS but only had claim maps form the early 1900s, we found all of them too, including one that had been through a recent forest fire. (Hint, wood claim posts don't have roots!). Here's to adventure and exploring the old places!