June 6, 2020
Our breakfast: Eggs at Tonopah Station
Our Lunch- MRE's on the trail
Our dinner: Pizza at Home Town Pizza, Tonopah
The original Keystone group consisted of 14 claims and was being mined as early as the 1860's. Between 1860 and 1870 $98,000 worth of ore was shipped mostly from gold-silver values. New ore was discovered on the claims in the 1970's which most likely resulted in the open pit present now.
-Keystone report, Jack Quade, April 1986
The camp's population soon reached 50, and residents supported two saloons. For the next twenty years, however, the Keystone mine only operated intermittently. In 1910 there was a rich silver strike at the Keystone mine, and the post office opened in 1912. The ruins of the old mill were flattened in the 1990's by crews leeching the old tailings.
-Preserving the Glory Days, Shawn Hall
Name changed from"Hot Creek" to"Keystone" on March 5, 1912
-Post Office Department, Division of Topography
MOUNTAIN VIEW MILL
Up the road a piece is a large mill, not mentioned on the USGS map. How come? Looks fairly substantial. No mines are listed in the area.
There is nothing in the general literature for this area that makes reference to the Mill at Mountain View which seems very odd considering the size of the structure. The structure is approximately 50 by 100 feet and is constructed almost entirely of sculpted stone including a tapered stack that's about 8 feet at the base and gradually tapers to about five feet at the top and is about 20 feet high. There are three levels to the mill, the upper one being the most completed, with several fireplaces and small furnaces most of which are still intact including iron work. Two of the furnaces have brick archways. One of the brick lined furnaces has silica glazing on the interior but the thickness suggests only limited use. There are very old stacks of wood scattered near the south side of the mill and a very old abandoned road that leads to the mill from the south. About two thirds of a mile to the north in Mountain View Canyon is the site of an Arrastra Ruin of which there is also no mention in this literature but the site is located on the Little Fish Lake 7.5' map of the area, which raises the question, why is the Arrastra identified but not the mill?
-Mountain View Mill report, Jack Quade, April 1986
In 1886, the Austin Reveille [quoted in the Nevada State Journal] was bemoaning the fact that Nye county should be abolished and split up between neighboring counties, and mentioned a "Mountain View Mill" as belonging to the county. Same mill? Hmmmmm.
In 1880 the county had only 1,875 inhabitants, including Chinese and Indians. Already the county debt is $60,000, and taxes gathered barely pay the officer's salaries, leaving little or nothing for a surplus to pay the debt which bears eight percent. The county property consists of a Court House, a hospital, and the Mountain View Mill valued at $28,300.
-Nevada State Journal, September 30, 1886
You will not need 4WD to get to the town site of Keystone, but if you're go go up the road to the Mountain View Mill you will definitely be glad you have it. A large contemporary (1978) building greets you first, and there are some ruins further up the road. Good place to hide from the wind and rain, like we had to. Most of the photos we took are in the area of the mill.