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.

 

Duck Creek (Kent) (Success) (Peacock)

DIRECTIONS: From McGill, head north on U.S. 50 for 5.3 miles. Exit right and follow good road for 5 miles to Duck Creek.

"Duck Creek was the site of a sizable ranching settlement formed in the late 1860s. Long before the first white settler arrived, the area was the site of a tragedy. On May 4, 1863, Colonel S. P. Smith of Fort Ruby led the Company K Cavalry into Duck Creek and killed 24 of a group of 26 Goshute Indians. Some ore was discovered in 1869, and the Enterprise and McDougal mining districts were formed. Ranching, however, soon became the main industry of Duck Creek. By 1872 there were ten or more ranches in the little valley. A post office opened on June 10, with Samuel Cauldwell as postmaster. On August 16, 1873, tragedy struck again when Cauldwell's daughter drowned while playing in Duck Creek. The entire population of close to 60 people attended the funeral. Cauldwell left the following year, and the post office closed on March 17.

In October 1882 Duck Creek had 18 registered voters: Ira Abbott, Byron Bird, Cyrus Chase, Patrick Coffee, John Cowger, Thomas Freehill, William Gallagher, Andrew Guilford, James Guilford, Henry Jones, Sr., Henry Jones, Jr., J. A. P. Jones, Jeremiah Kent, Nathaniel Kinsley, Micheal McHugh, Edwin Marks, Emille Meyer, and Alexander Ryan. The Duck Creek settlement had a consistent population of 50 for a long time. Beginning in 1890 mail was brought here twice a week from Ely. Crane Gallagher and his wife ran the post office. Gallagher also built bridges across Duck Creek to make it easier for supply wagons to come and go. The post office was renamed Kent, after an early settler named Jerry Kent, on June 20, 1899. It remained open until January 15, 1907. After the turn of the century, a twice-a-week stage line to Ely was organized. Some mining activity took place here beginning in 1905. The Success Mine, discovered by D. C. McDonald of Ely, produced lead, silver, and gold. The Lead King Mining and Milling Company of Utah leased fifteen claims in the Duck Creek district in 1913, and high-grade galena ore was located in 1916. The first ten carloads produced $20,000. Between 1905 and 1921 mining activity in the Duck Creek area yielded $165,000. The population of the area has fallen off in recent years, but four ranches are still active. The state-run Duck Creek Fish Hatchery is located here."

 

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