Picacho, California
Encyclopedia
Picacho is an unincorporated community
in Imperial County
, California
. It is located on the Colorado River
29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde
, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m).
Picacho, now a ghost town
, was an early mining
town on the Colorado River. It was named Picacho (Spanish for "big peak") after a nearby mountain of the same name.
The original townsite itself is beneath Imperial Reservoir
, but remains of some of the ore mills are above the lake level. The area is within Picacho State Recreation Area
.
gold
in the area as early as 1780. The area became very active when prospector Jose Maria Mendivil discovered gold veins in the nearby hills in the early 1860s. Prospectors originally used the dry placering method because the scarcity of water did not permit regular gold panning methods. Dry placering consisted of shoveling sand and gravel onto a blanket and shaking the blanket until only the heavier gold particles remain. A "blanketful" of gold could yield over $20 in gold at 1860's prices. Mendivil laid out the townsite of Rio, which was soon renamed Picacho. During Picacho's heyday Mendivil sold his claims and homesteaded a section of land along the river bank where he laid out the town, naming the streets after his daughters.The town had a population of 2,500, three stores, three elementary schools, numerous saloons, and was served by steamboats that connected the mining towns along the Colorado River
. Besides mining, men were employed on the stages, as ranchers and cowboys on neighboring homesteads, and many men labored as woodcutters in the desert washes to fuel the paddlewheelers boilers.
The Neahr Stamp Mill ruin remains clearly visible on the shore. The huge building was constructed in 1877-8 of hand cut native rhyolite stone. David Neahr, a Yuma Businessman, enlarged a earlier mill to ten stamps, successfully crushing ore from Medivil's Apache Claim. Neahr expanded the operation and bought up additional claims but was forced into bankruptcy when his manager embezzled $7,000. the Neahr mill had subsequent owners but none of the operations there were overly successful or productive.
Stephen A. Dorsey greatly exaggerated Picacho's productiveness. He formed the California Kind Gold Mines Co. with speculator's money and built a 450 short tons (408.2 t) stamp mill. A narrow gauge railroad was constructed to haul ore from the mines at the peak to the mill on the river. The best years of production were 1904-1906 after which Dorsey left with his profits. The mine payroll peaked at 700 men. Declining ore quality and mill accidents say the ending of most organized mining efforts by around 1910, and the filling of the lake behind Imperial Dam
flooded what was left of the original townsite in 1938.
A post office operated at Picacho from 1894 to 1926, moving in 1896.
’s 1923 novel Wanderer of the Wasteland
, later made into a silent film.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Imperial County
Imperial County, California
Imperial County is a county located in the Imperial Valley, in the far southeast of the U.S. state of California, bordering both Arizona and Mexico. It is part of the El Centro Metropolitan Area, which encompasses all of Imperial County. The population as of 2000 was 142,361. The county seat is the...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is located on the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde
Palo Verde, California
Palo Verde is a census-designated place in Imperial County, California. Palo Verde is located on the Riverside County line northeast of El Centro, The population was 171 at the 2010 census, down from 236 at the 2000 census. It is part of the 'El Centro, California Metropolitan Statistical Area'...
, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m).
Picacho, now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, was an early mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
town on the Colorado River. It was named Picacho (Spanish for "big peak") after a nearby mountain of the same name.
The original townsite itself is beneath Imperial Reservoir
Imperial Reservoir
The Imperial Reservoir is an artificial lake formed by the construction of the Imperial Diversion Dam across the Colorado River in the Lower Colorado River Valley of Imperial County, California, and Yuma County, Arizona...
, but remains of some of the ore mills are above the lake level. The area is within Picacho State Recreation Area
Picacho State Recreation Area
Picacho State Recreation Area is located on the lower Colorado river at the site of Picacho, a defunct gold mining town.-Proposed for closure:...
.
History
Spaniards probably mined placerPlacer deposit
In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name is from the Spanish word placer, meaning "alluvial sand". Placer mining is an important source of gold, and was the main technique used in the early...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
in the area as early as 1780. The area became very active when prospector Jose Maria Mendivil discovered gold veins in the nearby hills in the early 1860s. Prospectors originally used the dry placering method because the scarcity of water did not permit regular gold panning methods. Dry placering consisted of shoveling sand and gravel onto a blanket and shaking the blanket until only the heavier gold particles remain. A "blanketful" of gold could yield over $20 in gold at 1860's prices. Mendivil laid out the townsite of Rio, which was soon renamed Picacho. During Picacho's heyday Mendivil sold his claims and homesteaded a section of land along the river bank where he laid out the town, naming the streets after his daughters.The town had a population of 2,500, three stores, three elementary schools, numerous saloons, and was served by steamboats that connected the mining towns along the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
. Besides mining, men were employed on the stages, as ranchers and cowboys on neighboring homesteads, and many men labored as woodcutters in the desert washes to fuel the paddlewheelers boilers.
The Neahr Stamp Mill ruin remains clearly visible on the shore. The huge building was constructed in 1877-8 of hand cut native rhyolite stone. David Neahr, a Yuma Businessman, enlarged a earlier mill to ten stamps, successfully crushing ore from Medivil's Apache Claim. Neahr expanded the operation and bought up additional claims but was forced into bankruptcy when his manager embezzled $7,000. the Neahr mill had subsequent owners but none of the operations there were overly successful or productive.
Stephen A. Dorsey greatly exaggerated Picacho's productiveness. He formed the California Kind Gold Mines Co. with speculator's money and built a 450 short tons (408.2 t) stamp mill. A narrow gauge railroad was constructed to haul ore from the mines at the peak to the mill on the river. The best years of production were 1904-1906 after which Dorsey left with his profits. The mine payroll peaked at 700 men. Declining ore quality and mill accidents say the ending of most organized mining efforts by around 1910, and the filling of the lake behind Imperial Dam
Imperial Dam
The Imperial Diversion Dam is a concrete slab and buttress, ogee weir structure across the California/Arizona border, northeast of Yuma. Completed in the 1938, the dam retains the waters of the Colorado River into the Imperial Reservoir before desilting and diversion into the All-American Canal,...
flooded what was left of the original townsite in 1938.
A post office operated at Picacho from 1894 to 1926, moving in 1896.
Geography
The townsite is at 33°01′23"N 114°36′40"W, at an elevation of 203 feet (62 m) above sea level.Picacho in fiction
Picacho was the setting of Zane GreyZane Grey
Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the Old West. Riders of the Purple Sage was his bestselling book. In addition to the success of his printed works, they later had second lives and continuing influence...
’s 1923 novel Wanderer of the Wasteland
Wanderer of the Wasteland (film)
Wanderer of the Wasteland is a silent Western film, and was the third feature film to be photographed entirely in Technicolor.-Production background:...
, later made into a silent film.