Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-10
CRACKERJACK
NEXT BIC CAMP
First il was Tonopshl Second,
Goldheldl Then Bullfrogi
Later Greenwsteri
(Chdriss Richard Gates In the L.
n. HeraLd.)

First It was Tonopahl Second, Gold
heldl Then Bullfrogl Later, Green
waterl
Will It be Crackerjack next? 1t GER
tainly seems to look that way to a lot
of people who have drunk deeply of the
golden stream rolling forth from the
camps which have revived and made
wider than ever Nevada's fame, for the
same people are pouring into the Crack
erjack to slake again the Unsuitable
thirst for fortune.
Though the Crackerjack Is obviously
on the same mineral belt as the Nevada
wonder camps, Joining and being con-
tinuation of the Greenwater section, 1t
is not Of the sage brush commonwealth,
but in California, the first western state
to fling out before the world the banner
of gold.
The Crackerjack district is not
pleasure resort. Winter days are hot
summer days, thermometers with attics
are almost essential for the accommo-
dalton Of the mercury; on days of all
seasons the winds blow a gale. But 1t
and die for-gold, silver, copper and
lead. 1t is scanned with great ledges
of precious and base metals-on surface
and In canyons is read the evidence in
bold, long-reaching ore outcrops of a
remarkable naturalization.
Extent of District
| Tho Gro cLario clr 1ietrio+ co,,,,,,arras
about fifty miles northeasterly of
Daggett, and takes it's name from
the most important property in it
the CrackerJack group of claims, be-
longing to a Los Angeles corporation
is about thirty-siX miles square, and
on its easterly edge clasps hands with
Death Valley; but it is not as bad as
the latter, because at a reasonable
depth it has water, and having water
and metallic wealth it will have society
in time, a very short time, indeed, if
one is to Judge by the rate people are
going into it. The nearest railroad point
is Silver Lake station, twenty-three
miles distant, on the Tonopah-T -Tidewa-
ter railroad, now in course of construc-
|
Tonopah. The Avawatz range of noun
tains-rough, uncouth, belying in their
forbidding appearance the veins of
wealth that course through their bod
| les, give the district an undulating,
altitudinous topography gashed with
ragged canyons. They rise to an eleva-
tion of nearly 5000 feet. do these noun
| at, H. ~, hoo
when the sun shines, the cold upon their
heights at night sends bitter chill 10
the marrow of ones bones, unless those
bones are mighty we'll covered.
Pecked at 100 Years Ago
Nearly 100 years ago Spanish miners
in their crude way pecked at the sur
face of what is now the Crackerjack
district, recovering the values with the
aid of primitive arastras, the ruins of
which may be found scattered over the
| district now.
But the generation Of today knows,
or will know, this district, because of
the searching spirit of Cyclone" Will
son. And who is Cyclone" Wilson? A
|
for new fields of mineral conquest,
whose sobriquet is descriptive of the
man in action. He won note as the TO-
Gator of the Jumbo mine at Goldfield,
but wider note, perhaps, as the man
who dared to bat" Walter Scott
| C"Scotty"), he of supposed fabulous
wealth, in the face in a quarrel at
Barstow.
Wilson went into the Crackerjack
last December, his mining eye took In
the prospect presented and his location
notices found prompt filing. That was
the beginning. Now the district is
located almost solidly for about thirty
miles square. The most important To-
cations are about the middle of the
district, in close proximity to the hold
| ings of the Crackerjack Gold Mining
| company, after which the district Is
named. Hereabouts Nevada and South
| ern California mining operators nave
been busy during the year proving up
on claims, and saying precious little
about 1t.
In a few instances, almost extensive
development work has been done, but
for most part the miners have been
content to do little work. or the great
value of their holdings not one ex-
presses doubt, indeed all are enthusi-
astic. and many assert that the district
will strip the laurels from Goidheid,
Bullfrog and Greenwater, as robustly
as the latter are booming.
Valuable Ore Is Found
Ore assaying up to $4,000 per ton has
already been uncovered. On the Beck
e Wilson group, the claims originally