The Historic Mine Trail and Byway program was established by the Wyoming Legislature in 2005. It created the program for the purpose of identifying historic mine locations and designat-ing trails and byways that link historic mines within the state. Objectives of the program are to 1) Provide a precise history of mineral development in Wyoming; 2) Interpret the role of min-ing and minerals in the development of Wyoming's economy; 3) Identify and describe Wyoming's mining and mineral devel-opment heritage.

Wyoming Historic Mine Trail and Byway Program

Program Coordinator: Laura Nowlin Phone: 307-777-6179 Fax: 307-777-6421 E-mail: lnowli@state.wy.us Website: http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/mm/

The Yellowcake Boom

The post-WWII quest for uranium in Central Wyoming was triggered by the sudden demand for yellowcake – processed uranium – primarily for national defense in the early years, but later used to fuel the 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S. One pound of yellowcake produces the same amount of energy as 31 barrels (1,302 gallons) of fuel oil, or 10 tons of coal. Since production started, Wyoming uranium has provided energy equal to 5.9 billion barrels of fuel oil or 1.9 billion tons of Wyoming coal. Jeffrey City: Biggest Bust of Them All

In 1954 prospector Robert (Bob) Adams discovered uranium. He founded the Lost Creek Oil and Uranium Company, purchased property next to Home on the Range and built a company town, naming it Jeffrey City after Dr. C.W. Jeffrey of Rawlins, his biggest financial backer. Adams renamed his company Western Nuclear, Inc. and later sold to Phelps-Dodge, a mining conglomerate, during the industry’s slowdown in the 1960s. With the next uranium boom in the 1970s, Phelps-Dodge added employees and built housing, streets, and parks; Jeffrey City bustled. In 1980, with nearby uranium mines in full swing,

over 4,000 people called Jeffrey City home. The school had almost 600 students, and the area’s uranium industry em-ployed nearly 1,000 workers.

Gold Flakes to Yellowcake Historic Mine Trail

A Division of the Wyoming Monuments and Markers Program

Wyoming Historic Mine Trail and Byway Program

State Historic Preservation Office Monuments and Markers Program 2301 Central Ave, Barrett Building Cheyenne, WY 82002

Carissa Mine

"STOP (Jeffrey City, WY)" painting by Travis Ivey, 2008. CAPA -2009.3.1, Wyoming State Museum

Gold Uranium Iron

Atlantic City: Surviving the Bust

Centrally located on the gold-bearing vein in the area, mines literally surrounded Atlantic City by the fall of 1868. The townspeople soon fostered a thriving busi-ness community. In addition to sawmills and blacksmith shops, Atlantic City boasted of beer breweries and one of Wyoming Territory’s first public schools. Boom rapidly led to bust and the town faltered. Today, Atlantic City remains a community of resilient souls where modern homes coexist with historic log cabins in one of Wyoming’s oldest cities.

Miners Delight: The Boom’s Broken Promises

As the news of gold spread, the Sweetwater Mining District filled with miners who established Hamilton City in 1867. The following year, the name of the town changed to Miners Delight, after a highly productive nearby mine. The Miners Delight mine produced the greatest wealth of any in the mining district while the town remained the smallest and most isolated. According to a 1916 government report, the Miners Delight mine and surrounding placers had produced over $2.5 million. By 1870, the gold boom had ended.

The Atlantic City Project: The Iron Ore Boom and Bust

Beginning in the 1960s, iron ore mining provided an economic boom for the area. In 1960 the U.S. Steel Corporation broke ground on the nation’s highest open pit iron ore mine at 8,300 feet above sea level. By the spring of 1963 the complex was in full swing. Employees operated an open pit mine, an ore crushing and screening facility, a concentrating plant and water storage and handling system, and storage, loading, and shipping facilities. The Iron Mine closed in 1984.

The Yellowcake Region A stampede of prospectors followed the initial 1953 discovery of uranium in the Gas Hills by Neil M. McNeice (Lucky Mc). The boom that followed transformed Home on the Range, a gas station and post office, into the thriving Jeffrey City. But with every boom comes a bust; the mining operations drastically declined and the streets of Jeffrey City emptied by 1988.

The Rise and Fall of Wyoming’s Yellowcake Industry In 1948, when the Atomic Energy Commission guaranteed a market for yellow-cake (processed uranium), prospecting started in earnest. In September 1953, Neil McNeice and his wife Maxine first discovered uranium in the Gas Hills. They quickly found partners and developed the Lucky Mc mining properties. More activity followed, with a hot discovery in Crooks Gap later the same year, and Jeffrey City was born. By 1955, more than 7,000 mining claims were filed in Fre-mont County alone. Just north of Jeffrey City, the Split Rock Mill started opera-tion in 1957. Additional mills sprang up in the Gas Hills and at Riverton. In the 1950s, man camps and mining towns blossomed in the remote Gas Hills Mining District, with the population peaking at nearly 3,000 people. Mine haul roads con-nected the mining settlements, and the uranium industry flourished in the 1950s

and 1960s. A downturn in 1973 depopulated the towns in the Gas Hills. Then, when demand for Wyoming’s yellowcake fell in the mid-1980s, came the bust.

Original Carissa Mine in 1903, J.E. Stimson Photographer, Courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives

This Historic Mine Trail links significant areas of mineral development in Central Wyoming. Mining in the state has contrib-uted to the accumulation of both private and public riches, and likewise the loss of wealth. Traditionally, Wyoming has been reliant on mining activities and as a result, the history of the state is directly related to the ups and downs of the industry and the environmental and cultural effects of min-ing. Mineral development in Wyoming fol-lowed this pattern of boom and bust since the first discovery of gold in the 1860s. The Historic Mine Trail interprets this story by link-ing gold mines to uranium mines and connecting the boom and bust experience of the 1870s to the 1970s.

“The Gold Flakes Region,” located in the Sweetwater Mining Dis-trict at the headwaters of the Sweetwater River, contains the state’s only developed gold mines. This area witnessed the state’s one gold rush, which occurred as Wyoming Territory was being formed. The rush contributed to the population increase and the development of freight roads in Wyoming, and forced the Territory to face its Native American issues. The gold rush became the first of Wyoming’s long tradition of mineral boom and bust cycles.

Linked to this first mining development in Wyoming are the ura-nium mines of the “Yellowcake Region.” The uranium mines con-tributed similarly to Wyoming’s development and tell another story of boom and bust. Much of the state’s history is tied to this cyclical experience, which helps explain the state’s population distribution, the employment rates, environmental policies, and legislative poli-cies.

The Gold Flakes Region Gold found at the Carissa lode in 1867 set off a rush to the Sweetwater region, Wyo-ming’s largest gold rush. The towns of South Pass City, Miners Delight, and Atlantic City sprouted to support the miners. The gold quickly played out and most people eventually moved on, leaving behind shells of the boom towns that once existed. In addition to gold, the highest open pit iron ore mine in the United States operated in the region from 1962 until 1984.

South Pass City: Wyoming’s Biggest Gold Boom and Bust

Emigrant travelers on their way west likely discovered small amounts of gold in the 1840’s, but it took until 1868 for the first mining claims to be staked. Word of the new gold rush spread and the summer of 1868 brought an influx of people from every cor-ner of the globe to partake in the bonanza. A torrent of mining activity followed for the next several years. In 1869 South Pass City, with perhaps 3,000 people, was Wyoming Territory’s second largest town.

The Carissa Mine: Cycle of Boom and Bust

Thousands rushed to the South Pass area following the find of substantial gold deposits at the Carissa Mine in 1867. As the boom gained steam, the Carissa sat at the center of mining development, serving as the primary economic force for South Pass City. Eventually, the gold played out and the Carissa’s mining technology reached its limit.

Gold Flakes to Yellowcake Historic Mine Trail

The Gas Hills today.