Peerless
(Highland Mine & Mill)

While information on the short-lived camp of Peerless is sparse, it is known that it formed in late 1906 around the same time as nearby Phonolite. It was no longer mentioned in newspapers after Spring 1907. It's definitive location has been lost to history, but an article describing the new town states that it was about three miles north of Phonolite, east of Burnt Cabin Summit, and that "fine trees eighteen inches in diameter" could be found. In addition, Peerless shows on a 1907 map by the Clason Map Company, just inside the Lander County line close to the same location as the more recent Highland Mine (see next paragraph). The location of that mine also closely matches the newspaper description, including the presence of eighteen-inch-thick trees.

The Highland Mine, or Quartz group of claims, were located by James R. Black in 1947 in the Telluride (Aspen) District. Presumably not long thereafter, the Highland Mill was built just north of the claims. While that mine is not extensively documented, a report from 1968 states that an open stope on the group was believed to have produced "several thousand dollars worth of gold ore earlier in the century", which may further support that this area was in fact the site of Peerless.

Bibliography