41.24392504207551, -116.79698747670514

In June of 1907, James McDuffy and, later, Dick Bamberger discovered gold, and two towns, Gold Circle and Summit were quickly formed.

The recent strike on Summit Creek, about 40 miles west of Tuscarora and 10 miles northwest of the Squaw Valley or Fairlawn ranch, has created quite an excitement says the Tuscarora Mining News. Phenomenal values have been found, one assay going $8800 in gold. This will prove to be one of the biggest finds of the season as the mineral bolt extends for over three miles in length and one mile in width. Shipping and milling ore has been uncovered in a number of places in good strong ledges that traverse the entire distance of the belt. About 45 prospectors are in the camp at present and more coming in every day. Work is going on steadily on all located ground and sensational pannings obtained. This camp was discovered by James McDuffy an old prospector. He and his two little sons pulled up on a malipi ridge overlooking this belt, and as there is a perfect circle of malipi around it he named the place the Gold Circle district.
-Central Nevadan, August 29, 1907

I think they mean "malapi," which is another word for "desert pavement." Anyway once word got out, prospectors began arriving.

When the post office formed in late November of 1907, though, it was named Midas, according to Paher, since federal officials felt there were too many Nevada town that started with the word "Gold."

Midas is the name of the new post office in the Gold Circle district in this county, and P. A. Leamy is the postmaster.
-Weekly Independent, November 29, 1907

Still, the location was referred to as Gold Circle for many years. By the summer of 1908 a couple thousand people were in the district, and the town site had the usual stores, saloons, and shops. But low quality ore and high ore shipping costs put a damper on things, and by the winter only about 250 people remained. Some small mills were built, but it wasn't until 1919 [possibly 1915] that a large cyanide mill began operation. When it burned down seven years later, mining activity ceased. In 1926 the Gold Circle Consolidated Mines constructed a new mill, which ran until 1929. Mining activity continued sporadically until 1942, when most gold and silver mines were closed by Federal order due to the war. Serious mining activity began again in the late 1990's when Midas Joint Venture started poking around

Here is a history of the camp, published in 1931.

FACTS PUBLISHED IN REGARD TO GOLD CIRCLE DISTRICT
The bulletin on the ore deposits of Gold Circle made by the Nevada state bureau of mines and the Mackay school of mines, compiled by Edward H. Rott, assistant geologist of the Consolidated Coppermines Corporation, is full of interest to the mining fraternity of the state. Its length precludes full publication here, but the following extracts are made:
HISTORY OF CAMP
Gold was discovered in the summer of 1907 and by March, 1908, the camp was booming. The first excitement soon subsided and the town which increased in population to over fifteen hundred people during the boom, shrunk to a settlement of two hundred and fifty by September. A number of companies were organized to operate the mines of the district, and in all six or more mills, ranging in capacity from twenty-five to seventy-five tons per day, were built and operated at different times during the life of the camp. The operations of the Elko Prince Mining Company and the Gold Circle Consolidated Mines were the most extensive in the district. The Elko Prince mine was located in 1907 and taken over by the Elko Prince Mining Company in 1908. By agreement with the Dorr Company, a fifty-ton cyanide mill was erected at the mine in 1915 and operated until 1922, when the mill burned. Soon after the mill burned the company ceased operation. By 1926 this and the most promising holdings in the district had been acquired by the Gold Circle Consolidated Mime. Mining operations were begun and a seventy-five ton cyanide mill constructed by the Gold Circle Consolidated Mines. Treatment of ore started in the spring of 1927 and operations continued until the fall of 1929. The principal production during this period came from the Grant-Jackson vein above the 225 level, and from the Missing Link vein. From the latter part of 1928 until the mill was shut down in the fall of 1929, some production came from the Elko Prince vein above the six hundred level, principally from the 450 level, and from the 300 level on the June Bell vein. Through reorganization, the Gold Circle Consolidated, Mines absorbed the Betty O'Neal Mines in Nevada, and its holdings in Arizona. Development on the other holdings will follow. Some leasers are working in the district, and through agreement with the Gold Circle Consolidated Mines their ore is treated at the company's mill. From 1908 to 1929 the gross production of the district was slightly over $3,000,000. Two-thirds of this amount was produced in the years 1916 to 1922, during which time the Elko Prince mill was in operation, and one-fifth of the total production came from the Gold Circle Consolidated Mines during the period from 1927 to 1929.
-Reno Evening Gazette, December 4, 1931

Like most camps-- especially from this time period-- reports are glowing and perhaps a bit exaggerated.

WONDERFUL ORE IS FOUND AT GOLD CIRCLE
CAMP NEAR TUSCARORA ASTONISHES NATIVES
James Duffy Reports That He Has Found a Ledge With a Small
Seam of Nearly Pure Gold.
TUSCARORA, October 3. —Probably the greatest strike in the history of mining camps was made in the Gold Circle district the middle of last week. The "Arizona" boys arrived in town Friday afternoon and showed some samples that would easily reach the $200,000 mark. The strike was made on ground first located by James McDuffy and later relocated by Dick Bamberger, who made the strike. Leaf gold, some of which is larger than a five-dollar gold piece and from one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch thick. is plentiful, and S. C. Dowling, one of the "Arizona" boys, says that there is positively a two-inch streak that is nearly solid gold. This is hard to realize, but nevertheless it is the absolute truth. Nothing like it has ever been seen nor heard tell of, and Mr. Dowling says that Rider Haggard's imaginations or the King Solomon mines are not a comparison. Besides the streak there is 25 feet of ore that if treated by the most primitive method it would make the owner a millionaire.
-Reno Evening Gazette, October 3, 1907

For the record, H. Rider Haggard was a British author of adventure novels, one of which was King Solomon's Mines—detailing the life of the adventurer Allan Quatermain, later made into a cheesy 1980's movie

The camps grows, and roads in and out are improved.

Richard Bamberger, who made the original rich strike at Gold Circle, returned to this place last Sunday from Rhyolite, and intends to get out shipment of ore from the property at once. Mr. Bamberger's associates are very enthusiastic over the high grade samples he took home with him, and no expense is going to be spared in developing the ground. A load of beer and other wet goods came in from Battle Mountain one day this week for Eaton & Ludwick, and the camp had a China New Year. Three teams from Golconda brought in six wagons loaded with lumber and groceries for C. D. Dorsey's mercantile establishment. A restaurant will be opened up next week and F. W. Jones and W. H. McKinley will start a lodging house just as soon as lumber can be gotten on the ground The townsite company has just finished a couple of wells and the boys of the camp have contributed work and money to repair the roads, which are now in good shape for the big loads that will soon be hauled over them. C. D. Dorsey and J. T. Jones have started a 50-foot shaft on their property, the sinking of which they expect to push with the utmost vigor. The camp is looking better every day. Conveyances of various descriptions are coming in from all directions bringing many newcomers, and everybody is busy and all feel and act like the millionaires they expect to be. May their dreams all come true.
-Silver State, November 11, 1907

Summit

If Summit ever actually got much beyond the platting stage, there are very few news references to it and I'm not sure it lasted very long. However, apparently some building went on there.

Summit is the name of the new town in Gold Circle district and has been organized with the following officers : F. W. Noble, president ; R. G. Smith, treasurer; George W. Seay, secretary; A. J. Langwith, attorney; C. C. Randall and James Boyden, directors.
-White Pine News, January 4, 1908

PROMINENT MEN AT GOLD CIRCLE
Lumber and supplies are being shipped out of Golconda to the Goldcircle mining district regularly. Golconda is the nearest railroad point by about three miles to the Elko county goldfields. Wm. F. Hayes of Hayes-Monette fame at Goldfield has taken a bond on the Bramburger properties at Goldcircle. Mr. Jardine, a personal representative of Adolph Busch of the Anhauser-Busch Brewing company has bonded claims at Goldcircle and has opened offices at Summit, a new townsite in the Goldcircle district, situated about eleven miles from the Humboldt county line. Wesley Warren and A. H. Scott left Golconda this morning to establish offices at the townsite of Summit. The townsite of Summit has just been incorporated and recorded at Elko county.
-Silver State, January 20, 1908


WHERE GOLD IS FOUND ON EVERY HILL
Details Concerning the Rich Gold Circle District and the New Towns of Midas and Summit; How to Get There; Through Stages to Start February the 15th
The original town—the first one located—is situated in a gulch on Summit creek, about 30 miles a little north of east of Golconda. This town site is known as Midas. It is owned by the Gold Circle Townsite company. Town lots are listed at from $50 to $350, and at the present time sales are reported to be frequent. A count of the houses and tents last Saturday showed 17 tents and three frame buildings in the town, with about 20 tents strung out along the gulch on each side of the town within a distance of about a mile. The business houses at that time consisted of the following:
C. D. Dorsey and Company, dealers in general merchandise, all sorts of miners' supplies and fresh and salt meats. This is the largest building in the town and the stock carried is very complete for a new camp.
George Storey, saloon.
Ashill and Company, saloon with restaurant in connection.
A. J. Scott, lodging house. Mr. Scott has one of the finest tent lodging houses to be found in any camp, and can accommodate from 40 to 6O people at once. The beds are all new and scrupulously clean. They are warm, the rooms are neatly partitioned by heavy canvas and the floors; are carpeted.
A surveyor named Fairbanks has recently arrived and it is understood he will open an office.
The new townsite known as Summit is located about a miles west of Midas. It is owned by Messrs. See, Smith and Noble. On last Sunday there were in this town ten tents and one house. No business houses have yet started, although it is expected that two women will start a restaurant in one of the tents in a day or two. A blacksmith shop 20x30 ft. is being built by Jim Boyle and Jim Evans at the east side of Summit so as to be convenient to Midas as well as to Summit. The shop was expected to be completed by February 15 or 16. Jim Evans, who has a reputation as one of the best blacksmiths in the country, will run the shop. The firm will he known as Boyle & Evans. Mike Thornton and Marcus Arecalda, who have long been employed on the Clover Valley ranch, are arranging to put up a building and start a saloon. E. J. Bridges, a mining and business man of Olinghouse, has bought 3 lots and is going to put in a stock of groceries. He expects to have his store open for business within thirty days Mr. Bridges passed through Winnemucca last Monday on his way to Reno to get his stock of goods. An assayer named Hood arrived in the district last Sunday with the intention of locating. Dr. Monish of San Francisco has visited the district and left several days ago saying he would return as soon as he could get a carload of lumber in. It cannot he said at this writing at which place he will locate. The settlers in each place have their arguments and theories as to why their town should be the best. Summit is located on high ground with a gentle slope. The surface indications are certainly great, but the mines are yet to be found. Only two men in the district are working for wages, and they were employed on the Bamberger, the property which caused the first excitement.
-Silver State, February 13, 1908

A few months ago there were two towns in the district, Summit and Midas, but they have consolidated and one postffice now suffices for both. Midas is the larger of the two communities, but it is situated in a narrow canyon where there is no possibility of expansion. Summit is the smaller of the two camps, but it is better situated. The camp now contains about four hundred people, and the population being added to daily. While many still dwell in tents and tent houses, lumber is arriving rapidly and more substantial houses are being built.
-Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune, March 21, 1908

C. E. Devol, of Summit, proprietor of the Summit blacksmith shop, is a master mechanic and a skillful hand at automobile repair.
-Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1908

Business lots in Summit re selling from $200 to $500, and residence lots in proportion. Lots are twenty-five feet wide by 100 feet in in depth. AS the district grows the two towns undoubtedly be united. A post office has been established at Summit, a postmaster named, and as soon as supplies are received the office will be in running order.
-Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1908

I also found references to a townsite named Dunscomb which was supposedly located in Township 39N Range 46E Section 34, about two miles SE of Midas, according to the plat map. While they are plenty of ads inviting folks to purchase lots, we could find little reference to the town itself, if it ever came about. Most likely related to a Dr. E. Dunscomb of Tuscarora. He was part owner of twleve claims in the Gold Circle district. Shawn Hall mentions it as a suburb of Midas that was quickly absorbed.

Meanwhile. mines were being mined and ore was being crushed.

Gold Circle Is on the Mining Map to Stay
GOLD CIRCLE, March 17.—Gold Circle is on the map to stay. A body of high grade-ore has been encountered in the deepest workings of the Golden Crown. At present from 5 to 7 tons a day of this ore is being sacked, but the output will be increased as development progresses. Great elation is felt in Gold Circle over the indication. The building of mills and other indications of faith in the district continue to manifest themselves. The latest to make an announcement in this direction is the management of the Sleeping Beauty and Queen groups on which a hoist, and mill will be installed as soon as road and weather conditions will permit. Sinking and drifting is being vigorously prosecuted on these groups.
-Reno Evening Gazette. August 18, 1910

Gold Circle hummed along quite nicely for a while.

GOLD CIRCLE A PROSPEROUS CAMP
Hon. Mike Paisley, prominently identified with the Gold Circle mining district, is in Winnemucca. Paisley has valuable mining property in that district and knows the mine opportunities as no other man knows them. He has optimism because his knowledge of the district confirms the mining value and opportunities of the Gold Circle district. He had this to I say: "Gold Circle is a proven district. It has more showing for legitimate mine development than any district I was ever an actor in, and all my life I have been a gamester in mining camps throughout the west. The district at present is making a fine production, but with the two mills going up in the spring on the Eastern Star and the Elko Prince, there will be a production comparable to the more advanced producing districts of Nevada, but where cheap power will come to the aid of the mine owners, leasers and prospectors there will be an added energy in the production of gold and silver out of the lower grade ores which, in my opinion, will class the Gold Circle district as a leader in the production of the precious metals in the west. The Rex mill is pushed to its full capacity now and unable to handle all of the leasers' ores that are brought to it for treatment. Throughout the district new, developments are supporting the claim owners who stick for they are getting the values and ore showings which in time will richly compensate them for their faith and fidelity to the district. The most notable recent development of a sensational character in the district is the remarkable proof of a rich large body of ore on the Hard Scrabbles. It sure looks good for mining in Gold Circle, which is an indication of a future In which all us old-timers will be benefited."
-Daily Independent, January 9, 1915

One of the larger mines in the area, the Elko Prince, built a fine mill.

The new Elko Prince mill is approaching completion. Leslie Savage, the controlling spirit of the Elk Prince, is confident that the mill will be reducing ore in a little better than a month.
-Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune, October 9, 1915

The Elko Prince mill at Gold Circle, Nev., equipped with a Marcy ball mill and using the Dorn cyanide process, is furnished with power by an Allis-Chalmers 180 horsepower Diesel type engine, using crude oil.
-Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1915

MILLION AND A HALF FROM ELKO PRINCE
The Elko Prince mine at Midas, Gold Circle district, was located in 1907 by Paul Ehlers, who sold it to the Elko Prince Mining Company in 1898, retaining large stock interests. Under the management of L. L. Savage, president of the company, the ten claims comprising the property were patented and considerable development done. In June, 1915, the Elko Prince Company made a contract with the Dorr Company to design, finance and build a cyanide mill of not less than forty tons daily capacity, furnish additional mine equipment, and operate the property until certain financial results had been attained. The Dorr Company operated the property as the Elko Prince Leasing Company. A few months ago the property was turned over to the Elko Prince Mining Company, but is still operated by the Dorr Company. Lee D. Dougan has been superintendent since the Dorr Company took charge. The mill is said to be the most complete and efficient of its kind and size anywhere in the west. It went into operation November 13, 1915, and has treated 7,000 tons of ore and produced $1,500,000 in bullion.
-The Silver State, December 23, 1919

Population had decreased a bit by this point.

GOLD CIRCLE IS GOING FOR WILSON
Here in this mountain retreat are 150 voters. So impressive is the administrative policy of the Wilson forces that 90 percent of these voters will cast their ballots for Woodrow Wilson and those congressional candidates that will support his legislative and constructive aims. The most active in the camp are the women voters.
-Elko Independent, October 25, 1916

Here is some good advice for traveling anywhere in Nevada.

ALSO, WATER IS GOOD TO DRINK The Silver State has assumed that everybody would agree that water is good for swimniin' purposes. Water is good to drink. If you don't believe it, you have the privilege of stopping reading right here and going out to sprinkle your lawn. Water bags are a part of the equipment of every vehicle on the desert further south—and the North has something to learn of the South. On the road between Tonopah and Goldfield, for instance, it is probably impossible to find a car without one or more water bags hanging to the sides. Although this is a road which hundreds of people travel over almost daily, and it would seem impossible that one could he long stopped without someone with water passing his way, they take no chances. It seems incredible to the person unfamiliar with the desert that one may be stalled on a road, within sight of a ranch house, perhaps, and suffer terribly, even seriously, for a drink of water. Yet such is easily the case. Moreover, one who has been through the experience once is pretty sure to be a strong advocate of plenty of water-bag capacity in future. Going without water for only a few hours-. on a hot summer day on the desert is a serious matter. An illustration directly in point is the case of Mr. and Mrs. O. D Campbell of Midas, who started for Winnemucca last Wednesday morning with their two children in an automobile. They broke down- -or the machine did. They had water, but with two husky youngsters playing in the sun it was soon used up, and the children began to cry for a drink. A ranch house was in sight, a mile and a half away. While Mr. Campbell worked with the refractory engine his wife took the canteen and went for water. Now, even a mile and a half in the desert sand and sunshine, without water, is no joke. When Mrs. Campbell arrived at the house she found it to be deserted. A high wire fence completely encircled it. She saw a well within the inclosure. Climb a six-foot post, she jumped down on the inside, only to find the well filled up with stinking dead things and the water utterly unfit for consumption. However, she filled the canteen with water for the radiator of the car. which was also needed. Making her way back to the family and reporting no water, the condition of herself and the children began to assume a serious aspect. The car could not be made to start, the day was well advanced, and it seemed a night on the desert might easily result fatally. Fortunately aid arrived later, and the travelers were given drink and towed into Golconda. But there might have been another story to tell. It is a difficult thing to persuade automobile tourists, unfamiliar with the desert, to take a large supply of water, when you tell them the next town is only twenty miles away and the road is frequently traveled. The invariable reply is that they can run the twenty miles in an hour, and there is no chance of becoming thirsty. It is the duty of every citizen of the desert to endeavor to convince such travelers that they may suffer terribly within a few miles of water. A few hours of desert heat, without water, is an experience no tenderfoot will ever care to go through a second time. Carry water! It is good to drink! It may save your life!
-Silver State, August 5, 1919

Some malcontents wanted to leave Elko County and join Humboldt, but it never happened.

ELKO PAPER SAYS IT WANTS MIDAS
Elko Free Press Is Authority for 'Statement That This County Would Annex Camp for Taxation Purposes
The Elko Free Press says: A determined effort to lop off a portion of Elko county and tack it onto Humboldt county will be made at the present session of the legislature, according to recent reports emanating from the vicinity of Midas, which is the center of the section that proposes to attach itself to Humboldt county. Just how far this effort has gone, is not known at the present time, but there have been rumors of this move for some time past, little publicity being given to them for the reason that there seemed at the time to be little back of the rumors. However, since the opening of the legislature, these rumors have gained a good deal of strength, and the Elko county delegation is watchfully awaiting a move on the part of Humboldt county representatives in the legislature, tending to put across this deal. That Humboldt county is in favor of such a move is a foregone conclusion, for it would add a good sized amount to the taxable property in that county. The people of the Midas district have been agitating such a move for some time, clamoring that in order to reach Elko they are forced to go to Winnemucca, that Winnemucca is the natural outlet for that territory, and that greater benefits could be derived from being joined to Humboldt than under the present arrangement of being in Elko county. However, it is probable that should such a measure be introduced into the legislature, it would be defeated, for the reason that should county divisions be made after this plan an entire rearrangement of the state would necessarily have to be made, and should the legislature pass such a bill, many other sections similarly situated would undoubtedly begin clamoring for an attachment to some other county.
Arthur Primeaux, well known resident of Midas, takes serious exceptions to a recent Free Press article relative to the separation of the Midas district from Elko county and tacking it onto Humboldt county. In a letter received from Primeaux he says: "In your issue dated 19th inst., I noticed "County Division Again Bobs Up in Midas." So far as I can learn this condition has not bobbed up here. It must have originated elsewhere." The Free Press is pleased indeed to discover this situation existing, for the Midas country is a valuable part of this county, not only in natural resources, but in the type of citizens it produces, and it would be unfortunate indeed if a movement to separate should succeed.—Free Press.
-Silver State, January 25, 1923

This was about the last good report to come out of Midas. After the mill burned, production pretty much ceased.

Ed Benane visited Gold Circle, where he found the mill of the Gold Circle Consolidated running to capacity. Machinery has been installed over the inside shaft of the Elko Prince, on the tunnel level, and this property will be producing soon. Considerable development work is being carried on.
-Reno Evening Gazette, July 17, 1928

A school was opened in 1928, operating for 50 years. Refurbished in the late 1990's, it unfortunately burned on November 6, 2005.

Ceremony Friday at Midas School
Midas Joint Venture and Friends of Midas are planning a celebration beginning at 10-30 a.m. Friday at the refurbished school in the historic mining town of Midas. The event will mark Midas Joint Venture's transfer of the school ownership to the Friends of Midas. Midas Joint Venture. made up of Euro-Nevada and Franco-Nevada. is opening the Ken Snyder underground mine near the town and used the building for offices. That's after the company spent roughly $140,000 restoring the school to look like it did in earlier years. The school was completed in 1928. "I think it's just fantastic they saved the historic building.- said Dana Bennett. who is secretary of
Friends of Midas and has written a history of Midas. "It will be used as a museum and community center." Midas Joint Venture's offices are moving to the completed administration building on the mine site.
-Elko Daily Free Press, October 10, 1998

Midas never became a true ghost, although the population presently is fairly small with around 12 full-time residents. Midas has friends, and the Friends of Midas is a group of fellow Midas-lovers that would be happy to show you around. A very quiet place. Roads heading north to the mines are a little rought, but you can make it with a high clearance rig. Lots of "No Trespassing" signs, so be aware. People do live here, after all. Be sure to stop in at the bar.