40° 13' 3 " N, 116° 4' 1 " W - Mineral Hill quad

J.B. Bruffey (born in Virginia) is listed in the 18770 census as being a 31 year old saloon keeper, with a wife Susan ( 28 years old and born in Tennesee) and a son, H.B. Bruffey.

The Bruffey Ranch nestles in a narrow canyon some distance north of Eureka and its residents have taken advantage of the secluded location in the resistance to the innovations of changing times. Roger Bruffey is the only member of the family still living on the ranch and he lives there in much the same fashion he did four decades ago.

When a visitor descended into that secluded canyon he senses a transformation in time as well as location and finds himself looking at the entranceway to the mining camp of Mineral Hill not a great deal unlike the way it was during the heyday of the camp.

Roger's father, Theodore Brison Bruffey, constructed the long, rambling adobe house when he first settled on the rance in 1872 and it has been altered by nothing but the weather during the 86 years since.

Indian Labor Used

Roger displays obvious affection for the old house and takes considerable pride in the fact his father, who utilized Indian labor in the construction, made his "dobies" without the use of straw.

The senior Bruffey first saw Nevada when he camped at Bailey Springs in 1854 on his way to California.

Then, like so many of the early day Californians, he returned with the backwash to Nevada. He worked for a time as a wheelwright for the Overland Stage Line at Roberts Creek Station. While there he was associated with a blacksmith names George S. Henderson, father of Judge A. S. Henderson of Las Vegas.

In 1869 the elder Bruffey went to Mineral Hill, where he operated a saloon until 1872 when most of the mining camp was destroyed by fire. At that time Bruffey held a mortgage on a place homesteaded by John Davenport in Pine Valley and when the homesteader was unable to make his payments Bruffey foreclosed and started work on the adobe house that still stands as a landmark to his ability.

Place for Miners

He built the house as a stopping place for the miners and teamsters on their way to Eureka, Mineral Hill and the old town of Union. The Bruffey place also became a favorite spot for miners who "became leaded" and believed a sure cure was promised by a few weeks at Bruffey's bathing in water from the mineral hot springs and drinking sour milk "to eliminate the lead in their systems".

There were four boys and two girls in the Bruffey family and Roger's other sister, who died last fall in northern Iowa, was born Oct. 10, 1869 as the first white baby in Mineral Hill. The other daughter, Mrs. Ida D. LeNord, lives in Fernley.

Roger, the only surviving son, was born in December of 1885 and spent his entire life on the old ranch.

He remembers his father telling how Mineral Hill was first discovered by Jim Ward, John McDonald and Dave Northy and how Ward had operated a ranch at Lamoille but had forsaken a ranching career for the promise of mining riches in association with his prospector friends, McDonald and Northy.

Another favorite story of his father's was how Mineral Hill originally was a part of Elko county, but was switched in 1873 to Eureka County by legislative gerrymandering. Elko County's delegation to the state legislature that year was striving to have the state university located in Elko and secured the support of the Eureka legislators with an agreement to transfer the rich mining camp to Eureka County.

-Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada page 13, Sunday, March 8, 1959

Now a private ranch. We did manage to get a few photos from the road, though.