James “Chuckwalla Jim” Wilson discovered a rich gold-bearing outcrop of rock in this canyon in 1901. He called it the "El Dorado" (also spelled Eldorado). Wilson loaded small batches of ore on burros to be processed over at the mill at Pinyon Well or all the way to an arrastra in Twentynine Palms.
Wilson sold his claims to John White in 1903. White set up a camp at the mine but soon ran out of money. He got some investors from Los Angeles involved, and by 1907, they formed the New El Dorado Consolidated Mining Co. With the new investors, the mine expanded significantly. They improved the camp and constructed a five-stamp mill, later expanded to ten stamps. A nine-mile pipeline from Pinyon Well supplied water for the mill and camp. Fred Vaile's arrival as superintendent in 1912 marked the mine's most productive period, yielding $100,000 worth of gold by 1918.
At its peak, the mine consisted of a 500-foot deep shaft sunk on the vein with drifts on the 100 ft, 200 ft, 300 ft, 450 ft, and 500 ft levels. Surface equipment consisted of a 15-hp. gas engine hoist, ten 1000-pound stamps, a Wilfley concentrating table, and cyanide tanks driven by a 25-h.p. gas engine. This was a substantial mine by Joshua Tree standards.
However, the mine's prosperity was short-lived. By 1922, the high-grade ore body was exhausted. Despite sporadic attempts to revive operations, the mine closed permanently in 1939. The mill was dismantled and removed.
Not much remains at the site today; a couple of cyanide and water tanks are the most obvious, but walk across the wash to find a few fallen cabins that were once miner's residences.
