SETTLED
?
ELEVATION
? Feet
ABANDONED
?
“Quote”
Text
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(ORIGINAL TEXT FOR ARGENTUM; CHANGED ON 1/6/22.)
Much confusion surrounds the camps of Argentum, Burrows Park, Whitecross, Tellurium, and Sterling. All five sites were located in a mountain park also called Burrows Park, which itself made up the Burrows Park Mining District. The trouble is that no one seems to know precisely where one town starts and another town ends.
Tellurium was located between Whitecross and Sterling and likely is completely gone, though evidence of the Bonhomme mine still exists. Tellurium was located near this mine. History records that it was a tiny camp of fewer than fifteen people which was abandoned when the hope of finding tellurium did not materialize.
Argentum and Burrows Park were certainly larger, but not by much. Most accounts put the population as ranging between a low of about twenty people and a high of around two hundred depending on the excitement at any given moment. To make matters worse, some accounts say that Argentum was just another name for Burrows Park.
A Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sign at the site of what is likely Argentum reads:
"BURROWS PARK: These two structures were part of the town of Argentum located in the Burrows Park Mining District. The smaller cabin was built in the 1870s and probably served as the town's post office operated by James Sloan. The larger cabin was probably constructed in the 1890s, its function is presently unknown. Could it have been the stage stop and hotel known to have been in this area?"
Regardless, there are five distinct areas in Burrows Park with remaining structures separated by a reasonable amount of distance to suggest the possible locations of Argentum and Burrows Park. The third was, most definitely, the site of Whitecross. Beyond Whitecross is the aforementioned Bonhomme Mine at what likely the location of Tellurium. Lastly, the site of Sterling was likely very near the Tabasco mill which is just beyond Tellurium.
Copper, silver, and iron were all found here in mines with names like the Bonhomme, the Cracker Jack, the Tabasco, and the Champion.
The mystery of Argentum, and Burrows Park may well never be solved.