The Rob Roy Mine is one of the few interesting mining ruins still left in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (another being the Big Eye Mine). The mine is small and was mainly worked in 1934-1935 and in 1941-1942 when it produced some 435 tons of silver and gold. After the mine closed in 1942, the cabins were still lived in.
There is an intriguing note in his obituary at one of the cabins about Fred White, the discoverer of the mine, being afraid of being buried alive. It reads:
Beaver, Utah, Dec. 29. - Fred White, discoverer of the Rob Roy mine, and at one time very wealthy, has committed suicide. In a letter, written just before his death, he calls down curses on those who "robbed" him. He also expresses the with that his heart shall be punctured two or three times after his body shall be found in order that death may be certain. He had a horror of being buried alive.
The mining camp consists of a couple of ruined cabins, a workshop, a mill including a ball mill and a classifier, and a blacksmith shop.
See also:
Big Eye Mine
Winter is a great time to be in the southern deserts of Arizona and this time we had our sights set on the Big Eye Mine down in the south end of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and the Castle Dome Mountains. A. K. Ketcherside of Yuma discovered the Big
Guy Starbuck
