Crater Ghost Town, Mono Lake

Crater is a forgotten settlement at the southern end of Mono Basin. Concrete foundations, dugouts, debris, and a few dead trees are all that mark the location.

Crater ghost town abandoned Mono Lake Lee Vining Mono County California

While only a small settlement, Crater is filled with stories of life in the Mono Basin. Once a peaceful hamlet, the schoolhouse played a role with desperados, posses, and the tragic murder of a young Sheriff.

Postal Service around Mono Lake

The post office of Mono opened on March 21, 1882. Two years later, it moved to Bodie. In 1889, a post office opened in Mono Lake, with John Mattley as the first postmaster. The office was a single room with cubby holes for mail.

In the winter, the trip could be impossible or life-threatening. While the setting of the town of Mono Lake is beautiful, it is in a precarious position at the base of the Sierra, and avalanches are all too common.

Mono Herald and Bridgeport Chronicle-Union
Mar 11, 1911Page 1

Crater Post Office

For residents on the southern side of Mono Lake, receiving mail wasn’t easy. It required a five-mile trip to the post office at Mono Lake. Because the road around the lake was a toll road, each trip required payment, meaning it cost them money to receive the postage. To add insult to injury, even if there was no mail, they still had to pay the toll!

On April 18, 1899, a post office opened to serve residents of the southern basin. It was on the J.A. Mattly ranch under the name Crater. Mattly served as the post master.

The Crater post office served primarily the ranchers and a few of the southern mines. The post office operated until September 15, 1911.

Crater was north of the Farrington Ranch. In a 1966 newspaper article, Ella Mattly, then living in Ontario, recalls visiting the Crater post office. She places the location at the Farrington Ranch. The Mono Herald and Bridgeport Chronicle-Union reported in 1899, the post office opened on the Mattly Ranch, it can be assumed time and distance led to the confusion.

Crater School

Crater never grew into a town but was more of an unincorporated settlement. However, enough children lived in the area to open a school at Crater. The school was well attended, and included students from the local Pauite camps. One teacher, Miss Pyle, married Will Farrington. Eventually, the school moved to the Farrington Ranch, a mile and a half to the south, and a new schoolhouse was built. Ten different teachers taught at the school while it was at Farrington.

The schoolhouse became a meeting place, event center, and a church. Parties, dances, and civic events were well attended by Crater’s population and visitors from Mono Lake.

1904 Rev Darling from Bodie preached at the schoolhouse at Crater to a “large and appreciative audience.” Mrs. Farrington and Mrs. Mattly organized a Sunday School with good attendance.

Like Mono Lake to the north, winters at Crater could be difficult. In 1906, the settlement was snowed in for three weeks. Miss Newman, who had been carrying for her father hill, was “forced” to remain in Crater during this period.

Crater and the death of desperados

In 1915, the Dolan schoolhouse was used for a different purpose, a morgue.

Mono Herald and Bridgeport Chronicle-Union
Mammoth Lakes, California • Sat, Jul 31, 1915Page 2

Workers from Mexico were digging ditches for a new development near the base of Conway Summit. Workers Juan Francisco, age 50, and Theodore Teddy Solido, age 22, got drunk and kidnapped a girl, Sal, from the Piaute camp near Filosena Ranch. Pete Roberts and George Filosena rescued Sal. In retaliation, Francisco and Solindao attacked their ranch that night.

*Sheriff Dolan*
*(Photo credit:* Officer Down Memorial Page)

The kidnapping led to a multi-day hunt for Francisco and Solindao. The bandits, armed with a rifle and one with a pistol, fired on Sheriff Dolan, hitting him several times. Tragically, the Sheriff died despite medical care.

Historical marker at the site of the shooting

A posse caught up with the bandits near the craters, where a shootout ensued. Francisco and Solido were shot dead. The posse took the bodies to the Crater school. The justice of the peace, Pearl Mattly, ruled the killing justified.