Arrowhead Mine saved by 'miracle of nature'

In an area east of the Antelope Valley where the Wellington Hills become the foothills for the loftier Sweetwater Range, which attains an elevation of 11,654 feet above sea level, several steep canyons dissect its gentle symmetry. Risue and Rickey canyons both cut deep into its gentle slopes. These are just two of the places, most of which are hidden deep in the Sweetwaters, where gold hungry miners came in search of the possible riches the earth could hold, and found more than just the sought after and, for the most part, elusive gold and silver. One prospect in particular, highly visible from the Risue Canyon Road, is the Arrowhead Mine.

Risue Canyon Road was once a wagon road built by Thomas Rissue (the second 's' was dropped in the name) in the 1860s, leaving Antelope Valley and winding east to Desert Creek, the adjoining border of Douglas and Lyon counties, to connect with what is now Route 338, the road to Esmeralda and, eventually to the mining boom towns of Bodie and Aurora.

The Arrowhead Mine, located on the west side of Risue Canyon, at an elevation of 6,500 feet, is almost in sight of the Antelope Valley and the Sierra beyond. The first recorded mining activities of the Arrowhead location were in 1913 by William Boyle. Development of these claims was minor and the production of the area is still unknown, but the claims lie within the boundary claimed by the Wellington Mining District.

The Arrowhead produced primarily copper sulfide but some gold and tungsten deposits were also located there. In 1929 a man by the name of Peter Fox was the first to accomplish any perceivable development when he located the Sweetwater claims; Nos. 1 through 8 which included part of Risue Canyon and the Arrowhead Mine shaft. By 1932 he added the New Era mining company group of claims which adjoin the Sweetwater group on the north. The same year he located claims at the head of Rickey Canyon, which lies more than a mile southwesterly from the Arrowhead Mine. During July of 1933, Peter Fox reported the discovery of a rich gold strike, a lode vein of ore on the 200-foot level of the incline shaft at the Arrowhead Mine. The ore assayed at 27 ounces a ton, but the ledge failed to produce and yet two months later, Fox reported further assays had leveled off at an average of $10.40 to $11.80 per ton.

In 1938-39, William L. Wilson, representing the Sweetwater Development Company, a Nevada Corporation, took over the Fox claims and filed annual assessment work. In 1939, Walter F. Lawyer of Berkeley, Calif., and Edward Arends of San Jose, Calif., located claims near the crest of Risue Canyon about 11Ú2 miles further south of the Arrowhead mill site.

The Arrowhead and related claims changed hands may times through the years. By 1957, the Lovestedt brothers, Claude and Andy, leased the claims from the Sweetwater Mining Company and confined most of their operations to the Arrowhead Mine shaft which now exceeded a depth of 330 feet. Veins were discovered and veins pinched out but the brothers continued to operate the mine for several years.

Again, changing hands many times, the last recorded owner of the Arrowhead Mine was Gene Locke and W.B. (Bill) Kohlmoos of Reno who acquired the greater portion of the claims in 1982, adding another partner, Pat Chiatovich in 1983. The partners removed some high-grade gold ore, along with a few loads of tungsten ore from the old Arrowhead shaft. Finally, in 1990, operations ceased at the Arrowhead and Kohlmoos boarded up the Arrowhead shaft and adit portals to eliminate safety hazards.

What remains to be seen from the Risue Canyon Road today are a couple of corrugated metal clad sheds and the remains of a head frame and rockers beneath, almost obscured in the encroaching sagebrush.

A miracle of nature saved the historical site from final destruction during the beginning day of the Jackass fire as lightning ignited the blaze on the ridge above the Arrowhead site. As the initial fire spread in all directions, the Arrowhead was right in its path but for some unbeknown reason, as flames were scorching the back of one of the buildings and no fire crews available to save the dilapidated structures, the Arrowhead seemed to stand defiant as the fire reversed its direction. Turning on itself and nothing left for fuel, it burned out before it destroyed any of the remains of the Arrowhead.

So, the Arrowhead Mine ... Just keeps on keepin' on.

Information came from the "Pine Nut Chronicles" by Nyles Nation.

n Jonni Hill can be reached through The Record-Courier at jhill@recordcourier.com or by calling 782-5121, ext. 213, or after hours at JHILL47@aol.com