Ballarat – “The Mining Camp Of The Desert” By Cecile Page Vargo In the 1870’s as the Panamint Valley mines sprouted, a little spring a quarter mile south of Pleasant Canyon earned it’s place in history as a waterhole and communication center. It has also been recorded that the outlaws that were tucked away deep within the canyons of the Panamint Mountains took advantage of this spot as well. An agreement of sorts was made with particular drivers of the Caesar Myerstein Panamint Stage Line. The bandits would leave letters and cash in a box that was wired in the fork of a mesquite tree located at the spring. Upon the return trip, the stage driver left requested provisions, where they could be picked up without fear of ambush. By the 1890’s this spot which was called Post Office Springs because of these transactions between bandit and stage drivers, supported a tiny general store run out of a canvas tent to meet the supply needs of prospector and freighters. A blacksmith shop followed the general store. The ground surrounding the spring was deemed too green and marshy for a full blown Main Street, however, so a half a mile away in the desert flats, the town of Ballarat was plotted.. Forty out of eighty acres set aside for the new townsite, were laid out in lots March of 1897. These lots were grabbed quickly for prices ranging anywhere from $10 to $75. By the end of March two saloons were dispensing as much as 15 gallons of whisky a day to parched miners. A general store, and at least a dozen tents sprang up as well. Within another two months four saloons, two general stores, two restaurants, three feed yards, an assay office, and one hotel served a booming population of well over one hundred. When the citizens met to choose a name for their town, an Australian suggested naming it after the famous gold mining town from his native country. The desert site they had proudly dubbed “The Mining Camp Of The Desert” became officially known as Ballarat. By July 4, 1897, the population of Ballarat doubled with another one hundred miners trickling down the mountains for patriotic celebrations. The camp came to life with foot and burro races, hammer throwing, tug of war, and the obligatory informal drinking bouts. On the 21st of the same month, a post office was established with storekeeper John S. Stotler appointed post master. Two stage coaches, and two small custom mills came to Ballarat. The mills were gasoline powered with a total of eighteen stamps that ran high grade ore samples from the various mines that continued to open up throughout the western side of the wall of mountains that separated the Panamint and Death Valleys. As the year went on the Inyo County Supervisors appointed Richard Decker the Justice of the Peace. Nearly three hundred men worked in the mines surrounding the supply and recreation town of Ballarat as the turn of the 20th century came around. Mines known as Ratcliff, World Beater, Oh Be joyful, and Gem were pulling out a total of $500,000 in bullion. In turn Ballarat boomed with a fine two story hotel complete with shady veranda, a school of thirty-one pupils (eight of which were Indians), a red light district complete with half a dozen cribs, an impromptu “Shake-em-up Band, and a jail. If the bullion didn’t make the men “Oh Be Joyful” enough, the girls at those half a dozen cribs surely did. While Ballarat had it’s share of drinking, carousing, and ruckus, and an official house of God never joined the ranks of adobe, wooden and canvas businesses, the citizens managed to survive relatively peacefully. During a three year period only three deaths were reported, and those were from illness, not at the hands of each other. The Fourth of July continued to be a great source of excitement, particularly the year young ladies came over from Bakersfield to compete in a burro race for a quarter interest in the Hot Cake Claim. Then there was the unhappy customer of the Porter Brothers General Store. Angry over 700% price gouging, a stick of giant powder was placed on the store owners bedroom window in the middle of the night. Ballarat woke up to the explosion, of course, took note of the home with the blown away wall, found residents escaped completely intact, then went back to the business of sleeping until the sun rose again the next day. The only homicide in Ballarat can be attributed to the lawmen of the day on October 1905 when Constable Henry Pietsch gunned down Justice of the Peace Richard Decker. Although Ballarat was never a “man for breakfast” sort of camp, John Calloway posted signs in each of the rooms at his Ballarat Hotel stating that the management was “not responsible for either their lives or their valuables,” nor would they pay for any part of funeral expenses. The mines surrounding Ballarat boomed and busted on and off until 1905, producing nearly a million dollars in gold, making it Death Valley’s most productive hard-rock district. “The Mining Camp of the Desert” was no longer needed as a central point for supplies and entertainment, and was all but abandoned for new prospects in Bullfrog . On September 29, 1917 the few hardy desert rats who remained in Ballarat watched as the post office closed it’s doors and moved to Trona. In spite of it’s lonely desolated location, Ballarat never went totally to the ghosts. A few colorful residents like Chris Wicht and Seldom Seen Slim stuck it out. In the 1960’s the place gained fame as the closest town to Barker Ranch where the Charles Manson clan hid out, and the modern millennium legend of the Ballarat Bandit still draws the curious. Someone is always living in the remnants of the old town, ready to talk about the old days and show you around should you wander in on your way to Death Valley. Backpackers, campers, modern miners, and desert history buffs still use the place as a jumping off spot for their desert adventures. At least once a year, the population of Ballarat swells with anywhere from 100-200 red shirted beer drinking history loving members of E Clampus Vitus, and the drinking, carousing, and ruckus is alive once again. Bibliography: Ballarat 1897-1917 Facts and Folklore Paul B. Hubbard Doris Bray George Pipkin Published by Paul b. & Arline Hubbard 1965 Death Valley & The Amargosa A Land of Illusion Richard E. Lingenfelter University of California Press 1986 Post Offices And Postmasters Of Inyo County, California 1866-1966 Robert P. Palazzo Published by Douglas McDonald 2005 More Reading: These Canyons Are Full Of Ghosts Emmett Harder Real Adventure Publishing 2001 Billy Holcomb E Clampus Vitus Chapter billyholcomb/ Ballarat Bandit pahrumpvalleytimes/2004/07/30/news/manhunt.html pahrumpvalleytimes/2006/02/24/news/bandit.html
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 18:07:18 +0000
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