(20) 115 Year Old Stamp Mills Run Again

The Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association located in Goffs, California possesses two stamp mills that have been restored back to operations. The following is a short synopsis of the two stamp mills and then the You Tube video that was shot at the 2013 Rendezvous event at the Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association.

Stott’s 2-Stamp Mill

History There is not a lot known about the mill. The Stott’s 2-stamp mill belonged to Ambrose B. Stott’s. It was on one of his many patented claims. It was said that he supplemented his income by processing ore that miners in the area brought to his mill. It was noted that the building behind the mill was used to store ore from other miners until they would have Ambrose crush their material. The homestead/mill was in Round Valley, California on the south end almost adjacent to Table Top Mt. You could not see the mill from any of the roads. It is unknown when the 2 stamp gold mill was erected on the Stott’s property. The mill was manufactured by the Baker Iron Works in Los Angeles, California. The picture below was taken in April 1999.

Restoration In February of 1999 the mill was purchased and the entire mill, including the ore storage house was moved to Goffs. It took several years, but the mill was completely restored by 2010 and continues to operate today. The picture below shows the completed restoration.

American Boy 10-Stamp Mill

History This 10-stamp mill originated at the Empire Mine near Marysville, Montana and was part of a 60-stampmill at that mine from 1887 to 1928. The picture below shows the mill in the early days at the Empire mine.

There were two sections, 10 stamps, moved to the North Gould Mine in Stemple Pass between Helena and Lincoln in the late 1920’s and operated there until the 1950’s and the mill was sold again. This time it was moved to the American Boy claim south of the Gould claims and was upgraded with new shoes, dies, driver and placed in a building. The mill never saw much activity since there were problems with the water source in the area and it stayed dormant until it was purchased and brought to California. The mill was purchased for the Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association in 1996. It lay dormant until 2010 when the restoration was started and the restoration was completed in October 2013. The video was taped during the 2013 Mojave Desert Heritage and cultural Associations’ Rendezvous. The picture below shows a recent picture of the mill:

The you tube web page http://youtu.be/NbSoyCauNaI shows a 17 minute startup, run and shutdown of the Stott’s 2-Stamp Mill and the American Boy 10-stamp mill during the 2013 Rendezvous at the Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association. The video credits go to Dawn Nelson, a member of the Association, who shot the video.