A pair of albums, compiled circa 1904, which chronicles the raucous founding days of the mining towns of Goldfield and Tonopah, Nevada, through rare photographs and news-clippings from The Tonopah Miner and other publications. While the exact purpose of these albums is not clear, given the uniform nature of the pair they were certainly created by the same individual, possibly someone connected to the paper who was documenting these booms as they were taking place.

Tonopah, Nevada was founded in 1900 after prospector James L. Butler stumbled across what would prove to be the second-richest silver strike in Nevada history. As legend has it, an obstinate burro is to thank for the discovery. Having wandered off into the night, Butler tracked the burro down in the morning. He was so frustrated that he picked up a rock, intending to chuck it at the beast of burden, when he noticed it was unusually heavy for its size…

The Tonopah album begins with a clipping from the 1904 New Year’s edition of the “The Tonopah Miner,” the local newspaper, which recounts this tall-tale of the town’s beginnings. The article and a clipping of a portrait of Butler appear alongside four photographs of Tonopah’s main street and a shot of the ramshackle, one-room Tonopah Miner building. At its peak, Tonopah had a number of papers, including the Tonopah Miner, founded by C. J. McDivitt and T. H. Eckles in June of 1902. The paper ran successfully for 20 years before closing up shop in November of 1921.

The remainder of the Tonopah album contains several pages of news-clippings related to the formation of different mining companies, presented alongside photographs showing the claim sites. Some of the companies mentioned / pictured include the Tonopah Mining Company, the Montana-Tonopah Mining Co., the North Star Tunnel and Development Co., the Tonopah-Belmont Development Co., the Ordah-Tonopah Mining Company, and the Tonopah Syndicate Gold Mining Company. There are also other articles related to mining and the town’s brief but rich history. Many of the stories are quite colorful, including one about a “sagacious canine” who led his master to a rich gold mine 75 miles north of Tonopah (Not to be outdone by the burro).

Also included is a manuscript map of the Gold Bug Group’s claim, as well as two small printed maps showing the location of Tonopah. These maps do not appear to be from the Tonopah Miner. One map has an imprint of “Morton” and an address of 120 Sutter St.,the other shows the area around Tonopah Mountain and includes a “proposed R.R. to Daggett.”

The Goldfield album begins with a newspaper clipping showing a photo of the town “three weeks after first strike” alongside a photograph taken at roughly the same location. The photographs are shown alongside related newspaper clippings. Two photographs showing a house under construction are shown alongside a clipping which reads, “Dr. White Wolf bought a group of claims and is preparing for development work. He is just completing a house and is getting in supplies for a vigorous campaign.” On the accompanying page, there is a manuscript map showing the White Wolf Phenix Group’s claims, similar in style and presumably done in the same hand as the Gold Bug Claim drawing. Dr. White Wolf was a colorful character who typified the larger than life figures that populated the area. Also known as “Dr. White Wings,” White Wolf was not only a prospector but a performer in a Native American Medicine Show and the one-time state detective of Nevada.

The remainder of the album is similar in style to the Tonopah album, and it contains Goldfield-related clippings, some accompanied by photographs.