Off road in a four-wheel drive, maneuvering a 26 mile, one way, deep and narrow canyon “road” in Death Valley National Park while on vacation, my husband and I came upon Leadfield, a ghost town with a story. The town was born from a getrich-quick scheme with promises of lead and copper fueled by the Western Lead Mine Company. More than 300 people made the journey, and by 1925 Leadfield’s population was at its height.
Perhaps the advertising approach of promoter C.C. Julian hastened the town’s demise a year later. Despite the land-locked remote desert mountain town location, Wikipedia notes that the promoter’s “advertising posters showed steamboats navigating the Amargosa River to Leadfield, ignoring the fact that the Amargosa River is dry much of the time and does not run within 20 miles of Leadfield.”
As I stood near a remaining structure that day, it was easy to blame (continue reading →)
