Day 3 was a "boy day". Vic and Dan started at Rhyolite, another boom and bust mining town. Gold was discovered in 1905 and, what began as a two-man camp, within two weeks grew to 1,200 men. In only three months there were 2,500 residents. "By then it had 50 saloons, 35 gambling tables, cribs for prostitution, 19 lodging houses, 16 restaurants, half-a-dozen barbers, a public bath house and a weekly newspaper, the Rhyolite Herald."
In 1907 4,000 people lived in Rhyolite and there were concrete sidewalks, electric lights, water mains, telephone and telegraph lines, daily and weekly newspapers, a monthly magazine, police and fire departments, a hospital, a school, opera house, stock exchange and two churches. At its peak it was estimated that the Bullfrog District had a population of 6,000 to 8,000.
In 1910 the mine operated at a loss and closed in March, 1911. The 1920 census reported a population of 14.
In 1906 miner Tom Kelly built the bottle house with 50,000 discarded beer and liquor bottles. The house has appeared in many movies. The fence is a recent addition to keep folks from further vandalizing the structure. What a shame that a few ruin it for the majority who care.
The most prominent structure in Rhyolite today is the ruins of the three-story bank building. Completed in 1908 it cost more than $90,000 and claimed imported stained-glass windows, Italian marble stairs among other luxuries.
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From Rhyolite the boys headed to the Chloride Cliffs area where Dan did the rest of the off-road driving for the day.
The view into Death Valley......
Day #4. Bat Mountain is on the turn to Death Valley. See the bat in flight?
The Lila C Mine and a chance to explore and "junk". The best part - Dan found a log cabin syrup tin dating between 1905 and 1912 - and guess who didn't think to get a photo of him with his find?
We could feel the hot air escaping through this vent.
More pretty stripes and variety of colors.....
We thought Dan would like to see and explore the Chinese Railroad workers camp. Must be his good luck ran out with the finding of the syrup tin.
Magnificent colors! The elevation was high and the wind blew. With the overcast sky it made for a chilly afternoon.
The Mohave Redhead or Cottontop Cactus once again. This time it is not snow but the "cotton" for which it was named.
