Glencoe
As early as 1859, a group of Overland Stage workers found silver in the Kern Mountains. A few additional finds were made in 1868, but it wasn't until May 7, 1869 that the Kern Mining District was formed. The town known as Glencoe was first laid out shortly thereafter. On July 4, 1872, the district was enlarged and renamed the Eagle and in 1884 a two-stamp mill was erected by Richards & Tippett (of the nearby ranch so-named).
Though work at Glencoe was initially slow, activity increased in 1891 and the Well Annie Mining & Milling Company was incorporated at the end of the year. Early in 1892, seventy-five men were at work extracing ore reportedly averaging 150 ounces per ton. Plans were made for a 20-ton mill in 1893, but these never materialized and subsequent legal troubles brought the Company's operations to a close. The Company's holdings - including Tippett's two-stamp mill - were sold at Sheriff's Sale in November 1894, and Glencoe quickly faded.
Beginning in 1900, the old mines at Glencoe saw an interesting revival. Eben P. Low of Honolulu came to take over property located by his father in the early days before passing in 1873. Low, known also as "Rawhide Ben", was the son-in-law of Governor Dole and would later gain fame for bringing Hawaiian paniolo (cowboy) culture to the United States. In 1907, Low was instrumental in the division of the Eagle District, which created the new Regan District. He announced plans for a new 20-stamp mill before the end of the year, but these never came to be and it is not known if he returned to the mines after that.
Despite Low's departure, the Regan district had high hopes and discussions were even had about a railroad passing through between Utah's Tintic district and the booming Bullfrog district in the south. Unfortunately, Regan never saw the prominence that was expected and soon attention was shifted to nearby tungsten prospects.
