Newspaper List
Beatty Bullfrog Miner – Beatty, Nevada [was called the Bullfrog Miner during first two months of publication – not to be confused with the Bullfrog Miner, of Rhyolite, Nevada]
Inyo Independent – Independence, California
Inyo Register – Bishop, California
Rhyolite Herald – Rhyolite, Nevada

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Tonopah, Nevada

Newspaper Articles
1905
Inyo Register, January 12, 1905
"TABOOSE."
A daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.L. McGonagill was knocked down by an automobile in Tonopah one day last week. She was struck on the hip, and it is feared her injuries are serious.

Inyo Register, February 9, 1905
Joe Stottler and "Sandy" McDonald, former well-knowna [sic] Tonopahites, who have been operating a stage line from Manvel to Searchlight in southwestern Nevada, have had a falling out and McDonald has sued Stottler for $5,000[.] McDonald alleges that the firm was in business for ten months and cleaned up during that period $10,000, of which sum he says he never received a cent. - Tonopah Bonanza.

Bullfrog Miner, April 8, 1905
“GEORGE W. LADD, DEAD”
George W. Ladd, a pioneer of Tonopah, Goldfield and Bullfrog, and the locator of the Bullfrog Mining Company’s claims, died at the Lane hospital in Tonopah on Sunday, the 26th inst., of pneumonia.
The deceased was born at Tracey, Cal., in 1852, but practically all his live has made his home in Lovelock, Nev., where the body was sent for internment.
A pathetic feature of the death is that only the day before, Mr. Ladd had consummated a sale of his interest in the Bullfrog Mining Company of Nevada the proceeds of which amounted to a considerable sum of money. – Goldfield News

Bullfrog Miner, May 6, 1905
“SENT TO TONOPAH.”
Deputy Sheriff McDonald sent three prisoners to Tonopah Wednesday by Deputy Constable Sexton. One Dempsey, for embezzling $175 from the Miners Union at Tonopah when secretary; Jack McLaughlin and Mrs White for taking a team and buggy from Tonopah.

Beatty Bullfrog Miner, May 13, 1905
“NATURAL CAUSES”
The Salt Lake Mining Review says:
Dr. S.L. Lee, the physician sent by Gov. Sparks, of Nevada, to Tonopah for the epidemic at that place which has claimed quite a number of victims of late, reports that the disease is pluri-pnuemonia [sic], and that those attacked are weak physically, or have impaired their health by exposure and dissipation. Since Jan. 1st, last, but fifty-six deaths have occurred with a population of over 5,000, and a number of these were from other causes than pneumonia. Much of the sickness at Tonopah has been caused by unsanitary conditions, and these are being rapidly eliminated.

Beatty Bullfrog Miner, May 13, 1905
“BEWARE OF ARSENIC”
The water question is discussed in various phazes [sic], usually in reference to the supply. There is one side however which should be watched, no only in this but every other mining camp, the mine water. Many a death in Death Valley resulted from drinking water containing arsenic and other minerals in solution. Post mortems, it is said, in Tonopah, on some of the alleged pneumonia deaths showed unmistakable signs of arsenic.
There is no need in Beatty or this vicinity for any one to drink any but good water, which is here in abundance.
Another good thing is to drop a lithia tablet in water before drinking. The idea is to precipitate to the bottom any alkali, and then leave a little water in the cup.

Rhyolite Herald, May 26, 1905
“LOCAL PANNINGS.”
... Dr. S. Trask, of San Francisco, has been in the district a few days, looking over mines, and reports that he is highly pleased. While here he secured many fine specimens which he will exhibit on the coast. Dr. Trask attended the first annual meeting of the Nevada State Medical society at Reno the 9^th and 10^th inst., at which meeting the so-called “Black Heart” or malignant pneumonia was informally discussed. The doctor believes that the Nevada plateau is the healthiest section for its size on the earth. This far south, however, he recommends operating mines and traveling during the summer mostly at night. At Reno he found three cases of pneumonia, at Hawthorne two cases, at Tonopah one case and none at Rhyolite. The disease will prevail again, he says, attacking the careless, the drinker, the overworked, and those of vicious habits and lowered vitality most fatally, especially during the months of March and April.

Inyo Register, September 21, 1905.
Summary: Murdered woman, found in the desert near Tonopah with the arms and head removed. Newspaper then quips that the body was "the poorly buried remnants of a surgical clinic."

Rhyolite Herald, October 13, 1905
“DEATH OF GEORGE WELSH”
George J. Welch died at the Miners Union Hospital, Rhyolite, Nevada, at 11:40 p.m., October 12, 1905, from a complication of fever and heart trouble. Deceased was thirty-one years of age and a native of Michigan. A portion of his early life was spent in the Dominion of Canada, where he was raised by his grand parents. During the last four years he lived in Nevada and Arizona. Mr. Welsh has been slosely identified with the early history of Tonopah, Goldfield and Bullfrog. He came to Tonopah in the early days, where he made a host of friends among the pioneers of that camp. He prospected in Goldfield and secured a number of good claims when that camp was first opened up. He was among the first to come to the Bullfrog district, and with his partner, Mr. S.F. Lindsay, started the first business house in Rhyolite. During the trying times when the camp was young, it was his enterprise, courage and enthusiasm which helped to make the town what it is today. His friends know him as a man generous in the extreme and prodigal to those in need. He leaves an estate consisting of valuable mining property and real estate in the Bullfrog mining district and Rhyolite. A host of friends mourn his death. The body will be taken to Tonopah and buried under the auspices of the Knights of Pythias and Miners Union, of which orders he was a member.

Rhyolite Herald, October 20, 1905
“LOCAL PANNINGS”
... The remains of George J. Welsh, which were taken to Tonopah for burial, were escorted to the grave by the Miners Union and Knights of Pythias. The procession was headed by the Eagle drum corps. Kev. Klass officiated at the services, which were held at the opera house Sunday afternoon. ...

Rhyolite Herald, October 27, 1905
“LOCAL PANNINGS”
... Atty. N.W. Willis, of the firm of Willis & Scott, is recovering from a siege of typhoid fever, contracted while in Tonopah on business. He is able to be up though still very weak, and expects to return to Rhyolite soon.

Rhyolite Herald, October 27, 1905
“MINES AND MINING MEN: SHORT ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. BORAX DISCOVERED NEAR RHYOLITE”
... Virgil Earp, for many years United States marshall [sic] in Arizona, died at the Miners' Union hospital at Goldfield, from pneumonia, at the age of 62. The deceased, who had several notches on his gun, obtained in the discharge of his duties in strenuous times, was a member of a well-known family, his brother, Wyatt Earp, who also has a great reputation as a “gun man,” having lived in Tonopah three years ago. - Tonopah Miner.

1906
Inyo Register, September 13, 1906
Summary: The entire police force in Tonopah, Nevada was removed by county commissioners because of alleged crookedness.

1908
Rhyolite Herald, June 10, 1908
“GONE TO HER DEATH.”
Summary: Death of Mrs. John Booth, mother of W.W. Booth, proprietor of the Tonopah Bonanza.

Rhyolite Herald, October 28, 1908
“HIGH GRADING AT TONOPAH.”
The arrest of four men for high grading took place at Tonopah last Friday morning as the men were coming off shift at the McNamara mine. The men arrested are William turner, vice president of the Tonopah miners' union; Tom Conifrey, tom Cunningham and Patrick Flanigan. They were caught with the rich ore concealed upon their persons, and is it said that nearly a wagonload of ore was recovered from the residences of the high graders. These man have been suspected for a long time, and Friday morning the entire shift was held up and searched. All were lodged in th ecounty jail, and two of them have since given bail. It is announced that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Rhyolite Herald, October 28, 1908
“SUDDEN DEATH AT TONOPAH.”
John Bradley McCausland died suddenly at Tonopah Monday morning. He was 35 years of age and married. Deceased was a son of Al McCausland of Rhyolite, and his parents and one brother, Maynard, reside here. Two sisters also remain to mourn his death. The funeral was held at Tonopah under the auspices of the Eagles, and interment took place at that place.

Inyo Register, November 19, 1908
"SEEMS TO BE HABIT"
J.A. Terry is accused of having passed checks in Tonopah to the amount of $185, he having no funds to draw against. A warrant is out for him, but he has not been located at last accounts. Terry is the printer who worked a similar scheme here, before that he got some demerit marks in Mina. He may have tried the game once too often in his Tonopah venture.

1909
Inyo Register, February 18, 1909
"KILLED IN MINE ACCIDENT"
Summary: A falling stone brings death to William F. Weiss, at Jamestown, near Goldfield, Nevada. Weiss is formerly from Benton, California and had lived there many years. Weiss was working at the bottom of a 240-foot shaft with his partners operating buckets above him. Nobody above had any knowledge of Weiss being in trouble until they realized that they had not received a signal from him to raise the bucket. Weiss was found laying beside a pool of water, his head crushed, though he was still breathing. Examination of the shaft showed a hole 40-feet above him from which a stone had been dislodged. He was hoisted to the surface and a doctor summoned from Goldfield, who arrived too late. Had Weiss feel in another direction he would have drowned. His body was carried to Goldfield. However, legal contention arose as the accident and death occured in Nye County. Weiss was a native of Germany, being 44-years old at the time of his death. His brother still resided in Germany and was a millionaire factory owner. Weiss had been in the United States since he was ten years of age. He had been a member of the Inyo Lodge, Knights of Pathias of Bishop, Uniform Rank in Goldfield and the Masons of Tonopah. Funeral services were held in Goldfield, where he had resided during the past five years.

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Page Revised: 02/11/2006