SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Here are a few pictures of the Lost Horse Mine ruins. The first image is the remnants of an old assay office, which was a part of a small community called Langville that supported the mine. In the mine's prime, it produced about 10,000 oz of gold and 16,000 oz of silver before the ore ran out. The mine was discovered by a cattleman, Johnny Land, in 1890. To keep from having his claim jumped, Johnny took on 3 partners. One of those partners was a Montana rancher, J.D. Ryan, who found and moved this steam-powered 10-stamp mille from Colorado to Joshua Tree. He ran a 3.5 mile water line from his ranch (Ryan Ranch ruins) across the valley and up the mountain to the mill. The mine continued to produce gold and silver ore until 1905, when they hit a fault and lost the gold vein. There were a few tried to recover gold from the mines tailings, but it proved to be unprofitable and the mine was closed. In 1936, the National Park service took over the property. It's now an easy 2 mile uphill hike to the mill. Another mile past the mine is the remnants of an old miner's shack. All that's left is a stone chimney, and old metal bed frame and a few test holes around the area. After that it was just a nice walk thru the Joshua Trees and Yuccas, with birds and a couple of coyotes visiting the area.

It was an overcast day, so the lighting was flat and a lot of light brown colors. Not a good day for photography. So, I took a little artistic license to create a little interest in a few of the images.

1 Assay Office Ruins

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2 Steam Engine and 10-Stamp Mill

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3 Engine and Mill

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4 Test hole on the adjacent hill and storage structure above mill

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5 Remnants of old miner's house

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6 Leisurely walk back down the mountain thru the Joshua Trees

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Ourspolair

You clearly earned your Artistic License! All great captures, skillfully rendered. Thanks for sharing the images and the narrative. Please stay safe.

Craigdca Loc: California

Thanks for sharing. I’m only a couple hours away from Joshua Tree and will have to visit this site.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

You have your artistic license, Mike. Next comes the poetic license.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Nice set of images and presentation. I have been to the Joshua Tree N.M. / N.P. many times but I had never made it to the Ryan Ranch area or the Mines.

WCS

Ditto!!!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Mike, I enjoy looking at old mining stuff. This fits right in there!!!
In image 2, I think the four-cylinder looking unit, is an air compressor. Air fittings on top and water plumbing on the side for cooling. Do you have any more images of it?
Pat

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Great series, Mike.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Outstanding shots, but I would love to have a house right by that last shot you took

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Thanks, there's a lot of restoring old images to look like new. But I like the old photographs and so I made a few new images look old. I just can't seem to follow the pack. LOL

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

It's definitely worth a visit. I've spent more time at JT since the pandemic because its a short drive and allows some nice long hikes and still get home in the same day. When we first started going, we thought it was rather boring. But as we get to know the park better, there is sooo much more to it. For instance, there are about 300 different mines within the park boundaries. There's wildlife that you come across out on the trails. The area is littered with old cars and trucks just decaying in the sun. We've only been to 3 different mines, but this was our 2nd visit.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Hahaha, I have a hard enough time with artistic license. They'd surely revoke my license if I ever got poetic. LOL

Thanks for stopping by and viewing.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Thanks for viewing and your nice comments. The Ryan Ranch is a short (1/2 mile) walk from the road. It's worth the time to visit. The mines are a little harder to get to, but very interesting if you do.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Thanks for viewing and your nice comment.