Why Was Cerro Gordo Built?
Cerro Gordo Got Its Start Back in 1865 When a Man Named Pablo Flores Started Mining Silver from the Large Hills That Overlooked the Owens Valley in California...
Cerro Gordo got its start back in 1865 when a man named Pablo Flores started mining silver from the large hills that overlooked the Owens Valley in California (Cerro Gordo means “fat hill” in Spanish). But the quantity and quality of silver being harvested from these hills wasn't kept secret for long.
Why did Cerro Gordo become a ghost town?
In 1877 the Union Mine buildings burned to the ground. The damage was repaired but the mine was left in debt. The misfortune of the fire, combined with declining yields of ore from the mine signaled the end of major mining operations by 1879 and Cerro Gordo became a virtual ghost town.
What is the story of Cerro Gordo?
Long before it was a town, Mexican prospectors first explored the mountain they called Cerro Gordo, meaning “fat hill,” in search of silver in the 1860s, back when California was still a wilderness beset by violent men hunting for treasures.
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