Klondike
[This is about the mining camp. For the railroad stop, see Klondyke.]
During the spring of 1899, T.J. Bell and J.G. Court discovered gold and silver in a then-remote area of Esmeralda County. News of the discovery broke in May, and by June work was underway. Among the earliest hurdles was a lack of water, which was quickly cleared by means of sinking a well a few miles away. In July, the Belmont Courier referred to the new camp as the "Southern Klondike", comparing it to the Klondike rush in Alaska, and the name stuck as it developed into a small burg (though the 'Southern' part of the name would eventually dissipate).
By mid-1900, the first shipment of ore was shipped to the Selby Smelter near San Francisco and Klondike was unknowingly preparing for its greatest claim to fame. Prospector Jim Butler, while traveling to the camp, located an outcrop of what he believed to be rich silver. He brought a sample to Klondike, where the assayer determined that it was nothing more than iron ore and discarded it. Butler, undissuaded, took another sample to Austin, where it was indeed confirmed that rich silver had been located. Butler's find would quickly develop into a rush, later evolving into the boomtown of Tonopah.
As that new town boomed, Klondike languished. Nevertheless, it gained a post office the following year and some work continued. Still, the population probably never surpassed 50. The post office closed after just two years, and only some sporadic work continued for the next few decades (gaining a slight boost from developments at nearby Divide). By the end of the 1930s, most work subsided, and Executive Order L-208 which shuttered the mines during World War II ended any hopes for a revival.
