The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1916-06-17
Pioneer PiOChcitG
Recalls Old Times

The Record is in receipt of let
ter from Roy Willis, a pioneer res
ident of Phoebe, who is now a resi-
dent of Westwood, Cal, and the fol-
lowing extracts from his communica-
tion may be of interest to the few
old-timers now here and who may re-
member the writer. Mr.. Willis writ
es:
oche and l would like to hear some
thing of the country where l spent
number of my boyhood days.
II hauled water from the High
land springs in barrels and peddled
it in buckets about camp. Later |
hauled ore from the Hermese, Pi-
oche Nos. /, and 3, and Meadow
Valley over the Andy Fife road to
the Condor mill in the canyon above
Bullionville.
IF there are any of the old pio-
neers of Austin, Treasure Hill, Ham
ilton and Phoebe left, they will no
doubt remember the boy, Cap Will
lis. lived on Lacour street in the
early days of Pioche."
If Mr.. Willis should come back to
Phoebe now he would find but few of
those sturdy old pioneers. Nearly all
have stepped to the other side. How
ever, he would find Charley Rodeen
and Ong Lung Chung, whom we all
know as Charley, and no doubt they
could spend many profitable hours
in recalling incidents of the early 70s
when Phoebe was heralded every
where as one of the livliest mining
camps on the globe
Mr.. Willis would also recognize
some of the old land marks left by
the miners of his boyhood and few
of the old rock business blocks with
their strong iron doors. But in
looking around the mines, he would
note a vast change; he would find
none of the old hoisting plants
that were familiar to him; neither
would he find any of the old reduc-
tion works. These have all disap-
peared. The Condor mill was des-
troyed by fire years ago and at Bull
lionville he would discover little to
recall old times, save perhaps
few sections of the grade of the old
Phoebe & Bullionville railroad.
At Bullionville, however, he would
see work work being rushed on
new modern 200-ton mill, where oil
flotation will play an important part
in recovering the values left in near
ly 200 tons of mill tailings at Bull
lionville and Dry Valley
In Phoebe, he would find the splen-
did new Consolidated Nevada-Utah
mill grinding out the values con-
tanned in the great mass of zinc
lead ores Of the famous "Black
LEDGE which was too complex for
the metallurgists of of the 7Os to
fathom. He would find the great
Prince Consolidated at the "old iron
blowout" over on the west side of
the Ely range, which is sending out
500 tons of ore per day over it's own
broad guaged railroad to Phoebe.
The Prince has paid over 5000, 900
in dividends dug out of that "old
hlnm-nntb in, ha
IN that mine are ore reserves, which
the owners themselves do not know
to what enormous extent they ex-
list.
Mr.. Willis would find the Salt
Lake Route built in here, which
carried out during 1915, over 220O
cars of ore, while the prospects are
that it will exceed 5000 durin the
current year. He would find the
Phoebe Pacific narrow guaged line
to Jack Rabbit hauling ore from
Plistol and Jack Rabbit
Mr.. Willis would not find the "red
hot" camp as of yore, when gamb-
ling was run at high speed, when the
glare of the dance hall was an at
traction and when shooting scrapes
were as common as pancakes for
breakfast. Such conditions do not
exist here now; that is all history
exist now. But when it comes down
to real mining. Phoebe is yet in its
infancy.