Great Basin Research
Essay Series
“Scandal at Big Springs”
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Great Basin Research |
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Great Basin Research Essay Series
“Scandal at Big Springs” |
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My first published manuscript for THE ALBUM
Magazine (Chalfant Press, Bishop, California) was published in
the Vol. II, No. 4 issue (October 1989) and was written while I was
living in Trona, California during the winter of 1988-89. The article
involves the site of White Mountain City, located in Deep Springs
Valley, northeastern Inyo County, in eastern California.
The story was created in two parts – an allegorical history of White Mountain City and a tour of the site today. Two photos and a map was used in the story, which are presented in this essay page.
Herewith is “Scandal at Big Springs,” and its companion article, “White Mountain City – What's There and How to Get There.”
“Scandal
at Big Springs”
by
David A. Wright
Scandal (skan' dal) n 1. A discreditable action or circumstance offensive to public morals or feelings. Examples: Tea Pot Dome, Watergate, Iran-Contra, White Mountain City.
What ...?? Wait a minute! White Mountain City? White Mountain City!! What is that? What has that got to do with any scandal? What does it have to do with Inyo-Mono? What and who did it affect?
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First of all, let's take a small side trip to the location to get a feel for this scandal that rocked a young California 128 years ago. Are you all set? Good. Now let's get comfortable, buckle our seatbelts, put 'er in gear, and head for the “city.” It is a typical summer day as we begin our trip, starting by the sequoia at the junction of U.S. 395 and California 168, at the north end of Big Pine. Our eyes focus on the looming hulk of the White Mountains, as we cross the Owens River, and soon pass the skeletal remains of a relative (to our story) newcomer, the roadbed of the Carson and Colorado Railway at the former station site of Zurich. As we speed past the site, we begin some serious climbing, which will not cease until we top Westgard Pass. Driving along the gentle summit, and down into the upper reaches of Payson Canyon, we see glimpses of Deep Springs Valley, in whose bosom hides the ruins of White Mountain City. Already, there may be in the pit of your stomach the uneasy sense of being away from the security of civilization. The sight as you emerge from the canyon onto the valley floor is desolate. A bright, white alkaline dry lake glares upward, blue-gray mountains dominate the road ahead and all around. This is desert country, basin and range, and you are alone. |
Suddenly things
change. The comfortable car that has carried you the last 45 minutes
from Big Pine disappears along with the radio that has been playing
the country sounds of KIBS-Bishop. Watch now. The green fields and
trees of Deep Springs College disappear. Beneath you is a bony mule
where there were comfortable seats. Your watch is gone, but you sense
it is summer, 1861.
Now what? What do you do? Go back to Big Pine? It does not exist. Bishop? It does not yet lay over in the fertile lands of Owens River country. Over there are Indians, a handful of white settlers, and little else.
The boomtowns of Aurora, Bodie, Monoville and Benton are little more than small communities on this date, and on this mule are at least a week away. But look! Up ahead, there seems to be some sort of outpost. Let's get this stubborn mule in gear and head that-aways!
We arrive at a “city” of scattered rock buildings and miles of zig-zag rock walls. Through the forlorn scene babbles a small, willow-lined creek destined to bear the name of the city's founder, Dan Wyman. Only a handful of men are scattered in the valley, each going about his business of trying to find enough precious metal to fund his bacon, beans and whiskey. One old sourdough steps forward to be our guide, proud to help us feel at home.
The Colonel, as he calls himself, happily tells us that we are in a new county called Mono, just created that spring. He also tells us of the new territory called Nevada. He says it's close, but nobody knows just where the border is. “We want Mountain City to be in Calyforny, so Calyforny she be!” Out here, he just knows the mountains and the valley.
All that can be seen is endless rock and sagebrush. The soil is fit for nothing you might assume, but in this year of 1861, it will sprout the seed of scandal.
You are, after all, locked into the 61st year of the 19th century, and this is an election year for a full state ticket. The Colonel bellows “Yessiree, the boys and I are real proud of our lil' cit here and I'm here to tell ya that we plan to let everybody know that White Mountain is gonna be the next 'Frisco!”
Bout out here in the middle of nowhere, where are you going to vote? This might be 1861, but you are up to date on current affairs. You know this county is only about four months old, its county seat is over a week away, and by golly, that upstart Nevada is already trying to grab hold of it! But in that infant seat of government, unbeknown to our host, Mono County Supervisors have created the Big Springs Precinct.
Falling back on our modern technology, let's fast-forward two weeks. Shortly after election day, September 14, 1861, we peer into a small shack near the shore of Mono Lake. There the proceedings of a secret meeting will change the outcome of the position of State Assemblyman. It will affect the outcome of the Senate and Governor races as well.
Scrawled onto a torn piece of paper are 521 names from the Big Springs Precinct. All 521 have voted Democratic, helping to elect Leander Quint for State Senator, and B.K. Davis for Assemblyman. A majority of the votes also have been cast for a man named McConnel for Governor.
Now we again fast-forward a few weeks. While B.K. Davis basks in the glory of his new job as State Assemblyman, his opponent Nelson M. Orr of Tuolumne County is a sore looser. He realizes that this Mono County was carved from the eastern portion of his county just a few months previously. He is sure also that nobody is out there east of the Owens River. Just what and where is this place called Big Springs, and how did it get to be so prominent in the election without anybody binding out about it sooner? A few days later, Mr. Orr sets out to find the answer.
We now find ourselves back in White Mountain City. A stranger comes into town, introducing himself as Orr, asking questions. He and his horse slowly make their way across the valley to a neighboring “city,” Roachville, over on Cottonwood Creek. Nobody knows just who he is.
Forward again about a month, and we find ourselves in a courtroom. Any building will do in young California, often one in or near a saloon. In this makeshift courtroom, the scandal is about to be revealed. Nelson Orr has alleged that fraud has taken place, and is demanding an inquiry into the matter.
“Ive been to this so-called Big Springs ... or Deep Springs ... or whatever you see fit to call this outpost far from any form of human civilization! One fact there is, and one that I can prove: in the whole of the country east of the Owens, there are not 50 men!”
“That is not so, Mr. Orr!” This voice shoots from newly elected Assemblyman B.K. Davis. “I have witnesses to bear out the fact that you are wrong sir!”
His witnesses are businessmen and freighters who claim they sell and deliver enough supplies and goods to outfit 500 men. “five hundred men, sir, is close enough to the figure in question of 521 registered voters in Big Springs Precinct to make it a creditable figure!”
Mr. Orr calls upon Mr. R.M. Wilson, acting Mono County Clerk. “Where are your records sir, your poll list and ballots from this precinct in question?”
“I mailed them to Sacramento along with the poll lists for the whole of Mono.”
“But, Mr. Wilson, may I remind you that the election was months ago, and the Deep Springs poll list and ballots have never arrived.”
From here, imagination can finish the scene, but the facts that emerged from this inquiry showed that the poll list from Big Springs Precinct was made of names copied from passenger lists of a ship company's voyages from New York to San Francisco; only two of the names were actually Big Springs residents.
Our miraculous technology has snapped us back to the present. Funny, but White Mountain City doesn't look much different. The rocks and sage are still the same. The creek and willows are still there. The zig-zag rock walls are over there, and you still don't know why they were built. Over there, look! There are the remains of the small rock house you lived in while on your journey back in time. The piñon pine and brush roof is gone, but the walls still stand.
As we return to the comfortable civilization of Big Pine, questions nag at us. Why such a scandal in the first place? Was it to boost the victory of one party over another? Was it an attempt to gain a stronger foothold in the border dispute? What person or group instigated it? The answers to those questions are hidden in 128 years of time, as are the secrets of White Mountain City.
References
Coy,
Owen c. PhD: California County Boundaries
Chalfant, W.A.:
Story of Inyo
Williams, George III: Mark Twain: His
Adventures At Aurora and Mono Lake
Clark, Lew and Ginny: High
Mountains and Deep Valleys
Glass, Mary Ellen and Al: Touring
Nevada
Little, Thomas PhD: The Elusive California Nevada
Border
“White
Mountain City – What's There and How to Get There”
by
David A. Wright
White Mountain City is off the beaten path, but a visit can be incorporated into a trip to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, or a loop trip around the White Mountain Range. For those expecting a ghost town on the scale of Virginia City or Bodie, this is not the ghost for you! But if you enjoy solitude, endless vistas, and are not nervous about being too far away from civilization for a little bit, then White Mountain City can be an enjoyable diversion.
To reach White Mountain City, take California 168 east out of Big Pine (15 miles south of Bishop) from its junction with U.S. 395. After crossing the Owens River, be on the lookout for the roadbed of the Carson & Colorado (later Southern Pacific) Railway. The narrow gauge train regularly ran by this point until 1960, and was unique as one of the last narrow gauge carriers west of the Rockies.
After reaching the top of Westgard Pass, vistas of bowl-shaped Deep Springs Valley are dominated by the alkaline dry lake at its southwest corner. Those who are unfamiliar with the area, may be surprised that one of California's most respected colleges, and its smallest, is here in the valley. Founded in 1917, Deep Springs College enrolls only the most gifted of students.
Just past the college, and near the end of the valley, is a former Caltrans station on the left side of the highway and beyond that is a dirt road heading north. Turn here, of if traveling in a low-slung vehicle, take the next turnoff, about one-half mile farther along. This road is marked as the Wyman Creek Road, it joins the first road at the site of White Mountain City, about one-half mile off of California 168.
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Little is known of White Mountain City, and ruins indicate that even during its heyday, it was little known. They cover only a few acres, and all are composed of rock. Rock walls of huts, rock walls of zig-zag patterns (thought to be anything from corrals to Indian attack fortresses), and rock remains of a smelter stack. The city's known history only spans the years 1861-1864. It was founded in what was then Mono County by a party of men comprised of Dan Wyman, J.S. Broder, Col. L.F. Cralley, and brothers by the name of Graves. In 1866, Mono's borders were adjusted to create Inyo County, putting the already dead town in the new county by a small margin. A few visitors came to town, including Samuel Clemmens, who later became famous as Mark Twain. He was living in Aurora at the time, and stayed in town only a few days. Another visitor did leave us a glimpse of the physical description of the town, saying it was laid out on a surveyed city grid, as was Roachville, a companion town on Cottonwood Creek farther north. The return trip to Big Pine is about 30 miles, or you can continue to take a loop tour, be sure to have plenty of gas; it is lengthy, with few supplies along the east side of the White Mountains. The loop tour continues east on California 168 over Gilbert Pass to the south end of Fish Lake Valley. Few may realize it, but th enorth end of Death Valley lies southeast, just over the range of hills. Here at Oasis, tucked into a small triangle formed by the White Mountains, California-Nevada border, and the Inyo-Mono county line, sits a sparsely populated ranching community whose services depend on Dyer, Nevada, farther north. |
At Oasis, the road splits.
California 266 eastward will split again, one fork heading to Silver
Peak, Nevada, and the other becoming Nevada 266 to crawl into and
over the Lida Mountains and meet U.S. 95 south of Goldfield, Nevada.
[Note added at time of this webpage: What I
referred to as the Lida Mountains are actually the Palmetto
Mountains, which are part of the Silver Peak Range.]
For the loop trip, take California 266 northward up Fish Lake Valley. In seven miles California 266 becomes Nevada 264.
To feel how elusive the California-Nevada border was back in the last century, stop at the border, find the U.S.G.S. benchmark, and sight northwest up and over the White Mountains. Now turn around and do the same southeast across the Fish Lake Valley and into the Lida Range. [Note added at time of this webpage: What I referred to as sighting into the Lida Range is actually the Sylvania Mountains.]
Dyer, Nevada is now eight miles north, and has limited facilities, including gas, store, post office, and a telephone. Beyond Dyer, continue north to the junction of Nevada 264 and 733, staying on 264. Here, in the towering White Mountains, is Nevada's highest point, Boundary Peak, 13,140 feet. That point is really a second peak of Mount Montgomery in California, 13,441 feet. If the original von Schmidt line were used today, Boundary Peak would be inside California by a few yards.
At the junction of Nevada 264 and U.S. 6, turn left (west) toward Montgomery Summit. Shortly after passing the junction of Nevada 360, you will be again in the realm of the Carson and Colorado Railway, visible most of the way to Bishop. In the area of Montgomery Pass, there are points where the railroad bed comes within a few feet at the highway. Look closely at the rock work, built in 1883. [Note added at time of this webpage: The railroad was completed in 1882, this portion likely completed in late 1881 or early 1882.] It was laid without mortar, only skilled cutting of the stone and intricate fitting to hold it together.
Soon after the brief drop over the piñon studded summit of Montgomery, U.S. 6 crosses Queen Valley and enters California. Benton, with its interesting history, comes into view. The last 34 miles into Bishop complete the loop tour, but if you are a railroad or history buff, the Laws Railroad Museum, five miles before reaching Bishop, is a must.
Further Reading:
Traversing the White Mountains Via Wyman and Silver Canyons – My 4x4 Trail series, outlining the route up Wyman Canyon to the summit of the White Mountains. More White Mountain City photos.
White Mountain City Revisited – A follow-up article, published in THE ALBUM, Vol. V, No. 1 (January 1992), where I let my imagination run wild in the wide open spaces of Deep Springs Valley. - SOON TO COME.
©1989,
2006 D.A. Wright
All Rights Reserved
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