From Fallon, Highway 50E from Fallon 40 miles, Turn N on Dixie Valley Road (121) about 1.8 miles, Turn NE about 11.5 miles to Wonder. Left at Wonder, continue up Hercules Canyon a little over 2 miles, past Hercules, another left through Geiger Gap about 2.25 miles.
There were at least
four mines active in the area during the boom days, along with the usual
boarding house and a saloon or two. Most of the inhabitants probably lived
in tents.
Victor Townsite
The Victor townsite was recorded February 7, 1907 in the Churchill County Recorder's office at Fallon. The CHURCHILL STANDARD of January 19, 1907 reported that Mr. W .B. Wiyrick of Wonder was the manager, that corner lots would be sold for $300, inside lots for $150, and that water would cost $2.50 per barrel. The map of the townsite is on record in the County Recorder's office at Fallon, Nevada, and was surveyed by Roger and Blossom, Mining Engineers. The size of the townsite was quite small, being about 2,000 feet long in an east-west direction, with a width of about 950 feet. It contained 11 small blocks, with a total of 267 lots, each lot being 30 feet by 120 feet in size. The town of Victor was situated about one and one-half miles directly north of the town of Red Top, and about one-third mile directly south of the town of Kingston. The townsite was reached by a wagon road turning west from Hercules Canyon about one mile north of the town of Hercules. This was the turn-off of the Hercules Canyon-Kingston-Dixie Valley road. The road ran west about one and one-half miles to the mining camp of Victor. The Kingston road turned north a short distance before reaching Victor, and passed down a canyon which led by the camp of Kingston to Dixie Valley. The Geiger Loop was near the summit; it was here that the two Geiger brothers carried on mining operations for a number of years. According to Mr. Alfred Danberg, the two brothers left Alaska and arrived in the Wonder Mining District in 1906. They were young men when they arrived, and they spent the rest of their lives trying to develop a mine on the Gold King group of claims which they had located. Beale Cann, who later owned the Spider and Wasp group of claims, stated that there was a boarding house in Victor, but that the inhabitants lived mostly in tents. The mine workings of the Spider and Wasp can he noted on the hillside just below and to the left of Dicky Peak. The townsite of Victor extended along the low ridge shown along the center of the photo. The Spider and Wasp Mining property was to the left of Dicky Peak. Victor had a post office, which was established April 8, 1907, and discontinued after a few months, on December 31, 1907. After that date all Victor mail went to Wonder. There was no school or newspaper—in fact the life span of the camp was perhaps less than a year. This mining camp was laid out as the result of the early mining activity on the Spider-Wasp group of claims, which attracted nearly as much early attention as the Jack Pot and Nevada Wonder claims . When it was found that the ore bodies did not extend downward more than 50 to 100 feet, actual mining operations practically ceased, and there was no longer need for a mining camp. When naming a new mining camp, the promoter oftentimes named it after some physical object, such as a canyon or geological formation; sometimes he reached into his mind and came up with a snappy name, such as Rawhide, and on occasion he named the new town after an individual or another town. It would appear that Victor took its name from the mining town of Victor, Colorado. There, labor trouble and strikes in 1905 and 1906 had forced many miners and others to leave Colorado. Many came to the mining camps in Nevada, and settled in Gold-field, Tonopah, Rhyolite, Seven Troughs, Fairview and Wonder, to name only a few. In looking over the Fairview and Wonder newspapers, occasional mention was made of the names of individuals from Victor, Colorado. According to THE ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL of April 20. 1907, the population of the Victor camp was around 25 persons at the first of that year.
-The Story of Wonder, Hugh Shamberger
The excitement at Wonder spilled over to the smaller, neighboring camps.
CHLORIDE IS NOW BOOMING
ALL PROPERTIES ARE BEING OPENED UP
Camps of Hercules, Wonder and Victor Are All Lively—Many Mines Are Being Worked.
Cliff L. Denson, who has been mining in Chloride, the new mining camp of Churchill county, arrived from that district last evening on business and will spend several days in this city. He states that the snow has now melted from the hill in the Chloride district and that prospectors and miners are flocking into that camp. There are now nearly 150 men in the camp, and it is thought that before the close of the month there will be nearly 400 men in the camp. Mr. Denson says that in the Wonder mining district the camps of Wonder, Hercules and Victor are the liveliest, and that hundreds of men are being employed in them.
-Reno Evening Gzette, February 6, 1907
J. J. MOSS PREDICTS GREAT FUTURE FOR WONDER CAMP
"Wonder is assuming metropolitan airs," said James. J. Moss, former pioneer of Tonopah and Goldfield, who arrived yesterday in the Wonder Mining District the day after the first strike was made and who fortunately, secured by purchase, several valuable groups of claims situated in the heart of the district. One remarkable feature is that five townsites have been surveyed and all of them are in prosperous conditions. At present Wonder leads with a population of 600. Hercules comes next, close to the mines, with 500. The others, Victor, Hercules, and Red Top, are also rapidly building as fast as lumber can be brought to the scene.
-The Goldfield News and Weekly Tribune, March 2, 1907
W. B. Wyrick, who is engaged in mining at Victor, a camp in the Wonder mining district, states that the growth of Wonder is marvelous. He says there are more than 1600 in the town of Wonder and that there are hundreds in other portions of the district, including Hercules and Victor. Both of these camps are forging rappidly to the fore and new strikes are being made every day.
-White Pine News, March 15, 1907
It was about this time that Victor thought it deserved a post office, and got one. That didn't last long, though.
Rich Gulch Wonder Mining Company Prospectus
Facts About Wonder
At the base of the hill on which is located the Spider-Was property is the new townsite of Victor, which boasts of a hotel and several general stores.
-Reno Evening Gazette, April 20, 1907
MINERS NEEDED AT WONDER
With the progress of development work on claims in the Wonder district, the shortage of men fit to meet the requirements demanded of a good miner becomes more apparent. It is conservatively estimated that at least 100 addtional miners coule find employment at the various mines and prospects in the ten dquare miles of territory comprising the district of Wonder, which includes also Hercules and Victor.
-The Central Nevadan, June 6, 1907
Apr 8, 1907 to Dec. 31, 1907
We found Victor particularly infuriating. Infuriating because the site is littered with broken bottles- with just the tops of the necks broken off. Stanley Paher's book mentions the remains of some rock foundations but we didn't spy any during out brief visit.