The Panamint Valley was a bustling place in the 1870s, with silver mining activity booming in the surrounding Panamint and Argus Mountains. The frenzy began in Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains in the 1860s, moved on to Panamint City in 1873, then finally arrived in the Argus Mountains in 1875. The Modoc and Minnietta Mines on Lookout Mountain became two of the largest silver producers in the entire Death Valley region. Legendary freighter Remi Nadeau could barely keep up, hauling supplies into the mines and bullion back to Los Angeles. When readily available wood in the Argus Mountains ran low, George Hearst resorted to building the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns in the Panamint Mountains to supply fuel for his Modoc Mine smelters. Almost lost in all the excitement was a smaller mining boom in Snow Canyon, just south of Lookout Mountain.
