Tem Piute
[Not to be confused with the newer Tempiute 3 miles north]
Though silver was first located at Timpahute Mountain during the Pahranagat rush and the Sheridan District formed, it wasn't until ranchers Service & Plumb made another discovery in December 1868 that the district was reorganized and given the name 'Tem Piute'. Tem Piute (variously spelled as Tem-Pah-Ute, Tempahute, or Tempiute, among others) is a name derived from Southern Paiute meaning "rock water people". Silver ore assaying from $72-$300/ton was sent to Hamilton, but initial work was slow due to lack of water and the simultaneous rush to White Pine. Nevertheless, by 1870 fifty miners were in Tem Piute, and ore was being shipped to the mill at Crescent City. That mill closed the next year however, and Tem Piute declined.
By the end of the 1870s, as work slowed at Pioche, Tem Piute received new attention. The Tem Pahute Land, Mining, and Improvement Co. and Wyandotte Silver Mining Co. began extensive work in 1878 and ore was transported to mills at Reveille and Tybo. A pipeline was built to supply the town with water, prior to which had to be hauled a distance of twelve miles, and resulting plans were floated for construction of a 20-stamp mill by the Wyandotte Co. These never materialized, and by the mid-1880s, Tem Piute was abandoned. The site today is broken into two areas, the Tem Piute townsite and another concentration of rock ruins about ¾ of a mile to the south (which I will refer to as 'Lower Tem Piute' to avoid confusion). I have only made it to Lower Tem Piute thus far, as the road into the Tem Piute townsite is significantly washed out.
