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.

 

Leadville (Irene) (Saw Mill Canyon)

DIRECTIONS: Located 1 mile north of Monte Cristo.

"Leadville lived its entire existence during 1887. Initial discoveries were made in the spring. The Winecup Mine was the only producer. A small camp of 25 formed, and in June Sam Liddle laid out a townsite and asked exorbitant sums for building sites. The people of Leadville were determined to make the town the new boomtown of the White Pine District. By July the town had a saloon (run by D. J. Mahoney), a boardinghouse (George Halstead), and a three-room assay office. For Leadville's Fourth of July celebration, the townspeople composed a song to honor the "greatness" of the town:

Oh Leadville, the gem of the Mountain
the home of the brave and free
The shrine of each miner's devotion
White Pine offers homage to thee
Thy treasure makes capital assemble
when thy ore veins, bright gems, stand in view
May thy spurs and summits oft tremble
by the blast of thy miners so true
The Wine-cup, the Wine-cup, bring hither
and fill you it up to the brim
May the laurels we've won never wither
nor the star of our prosperity grow dim
May the miners united ne'er sever
but each to his station prove true
Here's to Leadville, our home forever
and the wealth it will bring to us, too.

All the publicity in the world couldn't help Leadville. The townspeople's great pride lasted for only a couple of months-until the mines began to close. By August it became clear that the ore deposits occurred only in very small pockets. The Winecup closed for good in October, and by the first snow Leadville was a ghost town. Because of the poor ore quality and the limited deposits no efforts to revive the district were ever made. Only two mine shafts and some scattered lumber mark the site today."

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