Please remember to exercise caution when exploring Nevada's Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Open shafts, drifts going into mountainsides, and old buildings, are all DANGEROUS. Be aware of your surroundings, and let someone know where you are, especially if your plans change.

Tenabo (Raleigh)

DIRECTIONS: From Beowawe, take Nevada 306 south for 21.5 miles. Exit right and follow for 1.5 miles to Tenabo.

"Silver and gold ore was discovered during the summer of 1906, and immediately a rush developed. A post office opened on December 7 and Hiram Mills was appointed postmaster. A townsite was platted just east of the mines, located in Mill Gulch. By 1907, Tenabo had become a large town, boasting a population of 1,000. The residents supported a wide range of businesses: restaurants, hotels, assay office, grocery store, lumberyard, school, and many popular saloons. A tri-weekly stage to Beowawe was set up. A mill was built in nearby Mill Gulch. The largest mine in the district was the Little Gem Mine. The mine was discovered in 1907 and soon had a 400-foot shaft and more than 900 feet of drift work. The district's other mines included the Phoenix (two-compartment, 250-foot shaft), Gold Quartz (308-foot shaft), and Two Widows mines (110-foot incline shaft).

By 1909 most of Tenabo's mines were controlled by the Tenabo Mining and Smelting Company. The company, with W. Mont Ferry as president, bought out the holdings of the Gem Consolidated Mining Company and Reliance Mining and Milling Company. In addition, three more mines were purchased: Little Gem, Copper Hill, and Two Widows. By 1911, the expense of producing ore became higher than the value of the ore. The post office closed on July 31, 1912, and Tenabo quickly declined. In 1916 a new camp formed in Mill Gulch. A. E. Raleigh discovered placer gold there, and a camp by the same name sprang up. Water for the "rockers" was brought to Raleigh from Indian Springs. The camp didn't last very long, although placer mining continued. In the 1930s, a huge floating dredge operated for a while, producing significant amounts of gold. The Mill Gulch Placer Mining Company bought the Raleigh property in 1936, and a dragline dredge and washing plant operated from May 1, 1937, until April 3, 1939. In 1938 Mill Gulch had the distinction of being the top placer producer in the state.

The Tenabo Mining and Smelting Company sold all of its holdings in 1920, after producing 12 million ounces of silver and 25,000 ounces of gold, to the Tenabo Consolidated Mines Company. Tenabo added those holdings to its own mines, the Tenabo and Gold Quartz. The company did not enjoy any success and folded in the early 1930s. A couple of additional dredging companies, Idaho-Canadian Dredging and Yreka Gold Dredging, worked the district during the mid-1940s. The Tenabo District was pretty much abandoned until the Mid-West Oil Corporation gained control of the Tenabo mines in 1972. In 1975, Mid-West sold out to the Tenabo Gold Placers Limited Partnership. Today the property is actively being worked by the Flowery Gold Mines Company of Nevada. People still live in the camp, but most miners live in nearby Crescent Valley. Wooden buildings stand at the townsite. In Mill Gulch more buildings and mill ruins remain."

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