Mono County Historical Society - 2003 Mono County Historical Society - 2003 Newsletter The Mono County Historical Society Board of Trustees dedicated the 2003 Newsletter to the memory of Danny Bryant, who passed away on December 30, 2002. Born and raised in Bridgeport, Danny was Mono County Assessor and the MCHS President for many years. He was an avid historian and a vital part in the success of the Mono County Museum. Danny was the great-grandson of Amasa F. Bryant, an early valley pioneer who built the first store in Bridgeport and who was instrumental in developing the townsite. His grandfather, Amasa S. Bryant, provided the first telephone service to Aurora and Bodie. His father was M.A. (Slick) Bryant, owner of Slick's Court, where the Silver Maple Motel now stands. Danny had a great sense of humor and was well liked by everyone. He will be missed. We want to thank everyone who has supported the Society and the Mono County Museum. Because memberships and other contributions have increased greatly, we are now more financially stable than at any other time in the recent past. We want to point out an error that was made in the 2002 Newsletter. The Mono Lake Paiute Indians were erroneously referred to as the Monos or Monachi. The Paiutes from the Yosemite region are known as the Monos. The Northern Mono County Paiutes are known as the Kuzedika (fly-larvae eaters). We apologize for the mistake. The topic of our newsletter this year is Aurora, a Nevada mining town, which figured prominently in the history of Mono County. Situated about 13 miles north of Bodie, gold and silver were discovered there in August 1860 by E.R. Hicks, J. M. Corey and James M. Braley. Other prospectors and miners from Virginia City flooded the area and it became known as the Esmeralda Mining District. When Esmeralda was first established, it was situation in Utah Territory. In March 1861, it became part of the newly formed Nevada Territory and the town was named Aurora. In 1861, the U.S. Congress passed legislation extending the western boundary of the Nevada Territory to the Sierra Crest, on the condition that California agreed to the change. Mono County was formed a month later in April 1861. In August, James Nye, the Nevada Territorial governor, petitioned the California legislature to relinquish the lands east of the Sierra Crest. California declined and Mono County proceeded to make Aurora their county seat. Nye appointed officers for Esmeralda County and made Aurora their county seat. Since both entities governed the town at the same time, litigants had a choice of two different court systems and residents voted in both jurisdictions. In September 1863, a U.S. Government survey determined that the town was actually about three miles inside Nevada Territory. Evan after the results of the survey were made public, some elected officials from Mono County refused to leave Aurora. William Feast, Mono County Treasurer, conducted business from Aurora until his death in 1864. Mono County officials and files were eventually removed and in June 1864, Bridgeport was voted the county seat. The State of California lost Aurora, but because of the survey it gained lands east of Sierra range that had been claimed by Nevada. By the summer of 1863, Aurora had a population of approximately 5000, including about 200 women and 75 children. It was the second largest city in the Nevada Territory, after Virginia City. Aurora at one time had three newspapers and contained over 750 buildings, which included 25 saloons, 31 stores, 8 blacksmith shops, 4 livery stables, 2 hotels, 5 restaurants, 2 churches and a post office. The Exchange Hotel, originally the Esmeralda County Courthouse, was the center of fine dining. Due to the lack of local timber and the constant fire threat, many buildings were constructed of brick, which was made in Aurora. Samuel Clemens, later famous as author Mark Twain, came west with his brother Orion Clemens, the Secretary of the Nevada Territory. Samuel lived in Aurora in 1862 for about seven months. He did some mining and wrote articles about the district for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. When he left Aurora, he became a full-time reporter for the Enterprise. A few years later, Mark Twain described his mining camp experiences in his book Roughing It. The Carson and Aurora stage routed passengers between the camp and Carson City, with connecting lines to Virginia City and San Francisco. It also carried the U.S. Mail and Wells Fargo shipments. The Aurora stage left daily at 7:00 AM and arrived in Carson City in the evening. A trip to San Francisco took 58 hours. Aurora was a busy place and had its share of trouble. The Civil War caused much friction in Aurora, since the townspeople were divided equally in loyalty to the Union or the South. The U.S. Government depended heavily on regular shipments of gold and silver to finance the war effort. In 1863, the Pont Mining Company employed a private security force known as the Daly Gang to protect their claims. The Daly Gang was suspected of being responsible for a series of shootings and other violence. In December 1863, the Pont lost a lawsuit to the Real del Monte Company and had to relinquish all of their claims to them. The Daly Gang was dismissed, but they remained in Aurora. On February 1, 1864, the gang killed a popular citizen over an earlier incident. A Vigilance Committee quickly took things in hand and hanged Daly and three of his men. Governor Nye visited Aurora a few days after the execution to insure that law and order prevailed. The rest of the gang left town and the Committee dissolved. No further action was taken. At the peak of mining production in 1864, Aurora had 14 active steam-driven stamp mills that crushed the ore and allowed the removal of the precious metal, for a combined total of 120 stamps. Mining in the Esmeralda District was difficult since ore was bedded in hard rock, requiring digging of tunnels and shafts. In 1864, the rich surface ore ran out one hundred feet below the surface, creating a panic among stockholders. Accompanied with the crash of the stock market the same year, Aurora began a slow decline from which it never recovered. In addition, the harsh winters at 7400 feet above sea level made mining seasonal, especially when roads became impassable. During the winter, mail often arrived by mule or was carried in on skis. Much of the town was destroyed by fire in 1866. Miners and their families moved on, businesses closed and in 1883 the county seat was transferred to Hawthorne. By 1890 there were less than 200 people living in Aurora. Postal service ceased in 1897. Aurora's prime lasted about ten years, during which the mining district produced approximately $30 million in bullion, mostly silver. This would equate to about $300 million today. Sporadic mining continued, because it was believed that the barren rock at the 100 foot depth was simply a cap over richer ore deep below. Between 1877-1881, and 800 foot deep shaft was dug at Last Chance Hill. Ground water was a continual problem and was only stabilized at the 300-foot level. The 1900-1902 Tonopah-Goldfield mining boom created new interest in Aurora. New mining and milling techniques were being used to recover gold and silver from discarded tailings. In 1905, Bodie businessman J.S. Cain and investors purchased 46 promising claims in Aurora and by 1906 were operating a 20-stamp mill. Once the workforce claims in Aurora and by 1906 were operating a 20-stamp mill. Once the workforce became large enough, a new post office was established in the Aurora Emporium building, which had previously been a mercantile business. Once Cain and the others entered the locked building, it was discovered that the entire store inventory was still inside and intact after many years of neglect. Cain sold his mining interests in 1912 to W. Lester Mangum for $200,000. Within two months, Mangum became partners with Jesse Knight. A 500-toon-per-day mill was established and working by June 1914. Knight was not happy to see saloons and a brother in Aurora and proceeded to build another town over the hill, naming it Mangum. Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company bought the Mangum-Knight mining operation in 1915. Reno banker George Wingfield served as chairman of the newly formed Aurora Consolidated Mines. Between 1915-1918, the company operated in Aurora at a loss. More than 633,000 tons of gold and silver ore was processed, bringing in about $1,850,000. Because of the low output and lack of labor due to World War I, the mill was closed. Equipment and various buildings were removed and taken to Goldfield. The town of Mangum ceased to exist and Aurora reverted to a state of decay. Aurora became a true ghost town, but remained fairly intact for many years, until the post World War II building booms in Reno and Southern California created a need for used brick. Between the end of the war and into the 1950's, the old brick buildings that were much admired for so long were dismantled and removed. The well-worn streets, a wall or two and some old foundations are all that are left. The Aurora cemetery, about a half-mile north of the town-site, remains as a reminder of the hard life and sacrifices that were made, more than a century ago. The Bodie Chapter of E. Clampus Vitus cleaned up the sacred ground about ten years ago and erected a monument honoring the town. There is currently a large-scale mining operation down the hill from the old Esmeralda District. A visit to Aurora requires a full day, but is worth the effort. Bibliography Shaw, Clifford Alpheus, A Boom Town Directory & Ghost Town Guide to Aurora, Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, Lone Pine, CA, 1996. Stewart, Robert E., Aurora, Ghost City of the Dawn, Nevada Publications, 1996 Wedertz, Frank S., Mono Diggings, Chalfant Press, Inc., 1878. Last Year, the Society applied for, and was awarded, a U. S. Forest Service grant to be used for the preparation, production and wider distribution of a the annual MCHS newsletter. The grant will allow us to lease a copy machine and to purchase computer equipment in order to accomplish this task. Increasing the Society membership will provide funds for improvements and additions to the Mono County Museum. In conjunction with the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, the Society coordinated and presented a very successful first annual Founder's Day celebration on August 31, 2002. The family-oriented event included a ranch-rodeo, hay rides, a pack-station demonstration, numerous children's activities in the park, quilt and watercolor painting displays, historic walking tours, a fly fishing demonstration, and a presentation on Aurora at the library. The day began with the raising of the colors and dedication by U. S. Marines from the Mountain Warfare Training Center. The day ended with a dinner and dessert auction at Memorial Hall, along with speaker Stan Hunewill, local rancher and descendant of early pioneer Napoleon Bonaparte Hunewill. The 2003 Founder's Day celebration is scheduled for Saturday, August 30, with a barn dance Friday, August 29 at Benny Romero's Bridgeport Barns and Terrace. Daytime activities are free. We hope to see you there. The following members of the Mono County Historical Society Board of Trustees again want to thank you all for your support. Kent Stoddard, President & Curator Ed Oliver, Vice-President Al Annett, Secretary John Reid, Treasurer Lynda Pemberton, Member-at-Large Transcribed by Pat Houser for Mono County GenWeb, June 27, 2005