Bennettville Ghost Town

Between 40,000 and 65,000 people traverse Tioga Pass each year, often on the way to the ghost town of Bodie. Many are unaware that the road itself is historic and deeply intertwined with Mono County’s mining history. Few stop, other than an occasional picture of the scenic overlooks.

Near the top of the pass, there is even a scenic ghost town that few visit. Bennetville began at the same time as Bodie, and at one point, it was thought that 50,000 people would call the isolated mountainous meadow home. The mines never paid out, and despite several attempts, Bennettville was a ghost town by 1890. Today, you can take a short hike to enjoy the splendor of Bennettville.

Sheepherder Lode

Returning west over the Sierra from Monoville in 1859, dentist Dr. George W. Chase discovered a promising outcropping high on Tioga Hill. The following year, he again passed by with a group on the way to gather supplies at Big Oak Flat. Chase told his travel partners that if they stayed to look at his discovery, they would witness “the biggest silver ledge ever discovered.” The others declined to search, so Chase set out on his own to collect ore samples.

Once back in Monoville, Joshua Clayton surveyed Chase’s ore. Miners from Virginia City arrived at the assay office, excited about the discoveries at Esmerelda (Aurora). Clayton packed up his assay equipment, along with Chase, surveyor L.A. Brown, and headed to Esmerelda.

Dr. Chase’s claim was forgotten until 1874, when William Brusky Jr. from Sonora rediscovered the ledge while herding his sheep. His father examined the ore and pronounced it worthless. Each summer, Brusky continued his search while tending his flock. No one cared about his find until the ore was assayed and silver was discovered. On August 22, 1878, Brusky staked four claims: Tip-top, Lake, Sonora, and Summit. He relocated the claim and made additional claims in 1878. Tragically. Brusky committed suicide in 1881 in a “attack of insanity.”

Additional mining claims were filed in 1879 and 1880, and the Tioga Mining District was formed. With harsh winters and no roads, miners only worked in the short summer. Lundy, seven miles of difficult trekking, was the main supply center.

Dana Village/City

Formed in 1880, The Mount Dana Company raised funds to work the Sheepherder and Dana mines. The company sank vertical shafts, hoping to reach the rich silver ledge. Planning to continue work over the winter, they constructed several stone buildings to house a dozen men.

Despite having supplies to carry them through the winter, the men did not receive wages. Superintendent E.B. Burdick planned to travel from Dana Village to San Francisco to obtain funds to pay the miners. Instead of continuing his journey, he got waylaid in Bodie by whiskey and is said to have been “drunk ever since.”

In 1881, a “frightful accident” occurred at Dana Village. A man placed six sticks of frozen Excelsior Powder, or nitroglycerine, near a hot stove in the blacksmith shop.

Three men were in the shop when the dynamite exploded, seriously injuring all three. An unknown blacksmith received extensive injuries to his body and head. George Lee appeared unharmed, but later developed internal issues. James Kinkman, the company carpenter, was thought to have fatal injuries. C. Benson was sent to Lundy, making the trip on foot in an astonishing four and a half hours through waist-deep snow. Dr. Walker from Bodie was brought by wagon to Lundy, then he hiked to Dana Village. Miraculously, all men survived. Sadly, victims in a future explosion did not fare as well.

The Silver State
Winnemucca, Nevada • Sat, Nov 26, 1881Page 3

The application for the Dana post office was approved in October 1881. The prospective postmaster, Frank Plains, decided the salary didn’t warrant him traveling from Yosemite Valley to Dana in the winter conditions. The application was rescinded in 1882.

Great Sierra Mining Company

The San Francisco Call Bulletin
San Francisco, California • Sat, Jan 22, 1881

In 1881, E.F. Pike assumed claims, including Sheepherder, and changed the name to Tioga Mine or Great Sierra Mine. On January 29, the Great Sierra Mining Company was incorporated in San Fransico. The new company did not settle the wage lawsuit, and Judge Medlicott ordered the sale of its property to pay its debts.

On March 31, brothers Dr. Almon and Oliver Brooks bought an interest in the Great Sierra Mining Company. To raise funds, they elicited investors from the East Coast. One of the investors, William Forbes, spread the word to those, including Thomas Bennett. Within a few months, the company again reorganized, spearheaded by Thomas Bennett.

Instead of digging a shaft down to the ledge, they dug horizontally through the mountain. The adit was to be nine feet wide and six feet high. In 1882, eight tons of mining equipment were brought from Lundy via the Tioga Crest and across Saddlebags Lake to the mine.

Bennettville

According to H.E. Sally’s History of California Post Offices, the Tioga post office existed below Mt. Dana from May 24, 1880, to June 34, 1881, with Michael King as the first postmaster. Tioga was named after the Tioga Consolidated Mining Company. Her map places the Tioga Post Office at the exact location as Bennettville. No additional information is available beyond the fact that the office was established to support the new mining activity.

With the transition from shaft to adit, a settlement formed at the base of the hill along Mine Creek. No town was platted, with no roads connecting to the outside world; roads weren’t a concern. Initially named Bennett City in honor of Thomas Bennett, it was later renamed Bennettville. It was thought that the town would become the main town in the district, with at least one or two additional towns.

Soon, Bennettville included a boarding house, a mine office, an assay office, a stable, a Chinese Laundry, and utility buildings. A sawmill was transported from Lundy, and a telephone line ran from Lundy to Benenttville. It was touted as the highest telephone line in the country, crossing the Mt. Warren divide at 12,250 feet. On February 18, 1882, the Homer Mining Index reported the new town would grow to a population of 50,000.

There is ample room on the gently rolling ground for a city of 50,000 inhabitants, with an abundance of wood and water of the best quality on the ground.

Homer Mining Index, February 18, 1882

The Bennettville post office opened on March 13, 1882, with Charles Curtis as the first post master. Curtis owned the Bennettville boarding house. Two months later, he sold the boarding house to Mrs. Noonan of Lundy. Carrying mail from Bennettville to the outside world was a trek in itself, especially in winter. Mail and packages were carried on foot or by snowshoe to Lundy over the 12,000-foot divide, then by wagon to Bodie, and finally to Carson City.

In 1884, Homer Mining Index reported Bennettville would be “blessed with the presence of a number of ladies,” including Mrs. Priest and Mrs. Reno.

Explosion & Frostbite

Daily Territorial Enterprise
Virginia City, Nevada • Fri, Oct 5, 1883Page 2

A second explosion rocked the Tioga mine in 1883. Tragically, this time three young men perished: Charles Benson, George Watson, and Albert Snibley. Benson and Watson were buried in the Bodie cemetery. Snibley’s remains were shipped to his wife in San Mateo.

Headstone Albert Snibley
(Photo credit: Find a Grave)

With Bennettville’s high altitude and access, newspapers are filled with accounts of frostbite and being trapped in snowstorms.

Avalanche!

On the fateful night of March 15, 1882, the high Sierra unleashed its frozen fury. Multiple snow slides roared down the steep slopes above the mining camps. In Lundy, two avalanches crashed through the town, swallowing buildings beneath tons of snow. Miraculously, no lives were lost. But above, the May Lundy mine was not so fortunate. An avalanche slammed into the miners’ houses, claiming the lives of four men.

Bennettville was across the creek from Mt. Dana, at a higher elevation, and seemed immune to avalanches. The Sierra decided otherwise. At 11 pm, snow cascaded down Tioga Hill, across the creek, and up to Bennettville. The log lodging house lay directly in the avalanche’s path. In an instant, twenty men were buried. Jack Hammond (later of Hammond’s Station/Mono Lake) was the first to dig out. Finding the men nearest him safe, he raced to check others.

On the side of the ruined building stood the company office, where Dr. Kemp and the company secretary, R.W. Woolard, were preparing for bed. The avalanche collapsed the structure in seconds. Dr. Kemp was pinned behind the stove. Woolard was far worse off—trapped across the hot stove itself, his head pinned into place with nails protruding from the collapsed ceiling. The debris created a hangman’s noose around his neck; if Dr. Kemp moved, Woolard would hang.

Then came the final horror: the lamp toppled, igniting the mattress in a hungry blaze. Flames licked upward toward the trapped men.

Jack Hammond burrowed through the suffocating snow, twisting and past splintered beams and debris. He cut away the imprisoning wood, freeing Woolard’s neck from its deadly noose, allowing the men to escape before the rapidly spreading fire consumed them.

Woolard had deep cuts across his head and serious burns on his thigh—but he was alive. Nine long days passed before he could be taken by sled to Lundy for proper medical care. He healed, returned to work, and later rose to become Deputy County Clerk for Tioga.

The only other injury that night belonged to Frank Calvin, who suffered a deep gash to his foot from shattered glass.

“High Old Time”

On the cold winter night of January 19, 1884, the remote mining camp of Bennettville descended into chaos, as reported by the Homer Mining Index.

…he gathered together eight improved Winchester rifles, a Sharp’s magazine rifle and one or two large 6-shooters and turned loose on the army of would-be-assassins he imagined were after him.

The company bookkeeper “exhibited signs of insanity,” but he wasn’t considered a danger. His mental stability continued to deteriorate, and around midnight, it came to a head. Convinced an invisible army of assassins was closing in, he opened fire on everything around him.

Soon, the office had so many holes that it resembled a screen window. Bullets flew through the lodging house, striking pillows inches from sleeping miners’ heads. Roused from sleep, the miners ran outside in only their nightclothes and apprehended the bookkeeper.

Amid battle, the Chinese cook—ever practical—hurried to kindle a roaring fire outside, so the half-naked posse could thaw.

The night held another surprise. In the midst of all this chaos, a startled 200-pound calf somehow wandered into the bullet-riddled office. In panic, he jumped into a drum on the stove, closing the lid, trapping himself.

Here ended Bennettville’s most memorable midnight: one man battling an imaginary army, a building ventilated like Swiss cheese, miners shivering in their underwear around a crackling fire, and one very confused calf trapped in a drum, lowing mournfully into darkness.

Great Sierra Wagon Road

The Sierra Nevada is an imposing barrier. Running parallel with the Pacific coast, the mountains isolate Eastern California. Only a handful of passes connect the two sides of the range.

The mines at Bennettville required heavy equipment. As the only route was from Lundy over the 12,1250 Mt. Warren divide, a new, improved route was needed. The Great Sierra Wagon Road was the first road over the pass. The route followed Mono Trail, used by Native Americans. In 1882-1883, laborers, primarily Chinese, built the road in only 130 days.

The fifty-six-mile road connected Crocker’s Station to Bennettville. Construction costs over $60,000. Today, the road is Highway 120. At an elevation of 9,945 feet, it remains the highest paved pass over the Sierra.

Tioga Pass connects Yosemite to Lee Vining in Mono County. At 9,943 feet, it is the highest summit in the Sierra and is only open for a portion of the year. The drive is an adventure in itself, with vertigo-inducing drop-offs. Between 40,000 and 65,000 people traverse Tioga Pass each year, many on the way to the ghost town of Bodie.

Bennettville ghost town

The Great Sierra Mining Company spent over $350,000 developing the mine, building the town and road, but “not a penny’s worth of gold, silver, or any other metal was taken out.” The post office closed on November 19, 1884.

Poor performance and the financial crisis of 1884 signaled the end of Bennettville. Sporadic mining occurred into the 1930s, with little result. USGS reports suggest veins in the Sheepherder Lege may still contain 600,000 ounces of silver.

Visiting Bennettville Ghost Town

The hike to Bennettville isn’t long, but the elevation gain of almost 10,000 feet adds an extra challenge.

Various trail maps have detailed directions. I hiked in with Austin of Nevada Expeditions. It was a beautiful fall day with patches of snow. During our visit, we encountered only one other person who was hiking through. Bennettville and Tioga Pass are closed over the winter. Always check the weather and road conditions before you head out.