Bellehelen
During the Silverbow rush of 1904, silver and gold was located on the western slope of the Kawich Range. Nineteen claims were staked, but it wasn't until September 1906 that the townsite of Henry was laid out. In 1907, the new Bellehelen Mining Company took over the Henry claims and the camp became known as Bellehelen. The mines even caught the attention of mining magnate George Wingfield, who visited that year, but left after not finding sufficient ore bodies. 1907 was also the year when Bellehelen would gain its first post office and, briefly, the Bellehelen Record newspaper. By 1908, a store and 20-stamp mill were in operation, but that fall Bellehelen folded.
Before the close of the year, the Nevada Bellehelen Mining Company purchased claims and quickly revived the camp. Soon nearly 500 returned to the district, and a 10-stamp mill in the Golden Arrow was used for ore processing. Bellehelen peaked in 1909 and 1910, when more than $500,000 in gold and silver was produced. By the end of 1910, activity slowed, and only fifty remained in 1911.
Another revival began in 1917, when the Pacific States Mining Company began production worth $100,000 before merging with the Tonopah-Kawich Mining Company; the two became the Bellehelen Merger Mines Company in 1920. Two years later, work began on a fifty-ton cyanide mill, which started up in May 1923. Plagued with problems from the start, it only lasted a few months and the company ceased operations in 1924. While other, smaller companies continued to work through the 1920s, the most notable was the Clifford Gold Mines Company, which purchased the old Merger Company in October 1926. The mill was refurbished and enlarged to 100 tons, with ore brought in from Clifford. The mill only operated intermittently, however, from 1927 until 1929. Aside from a short revival in 1933-34, Bellehelen has remained a ghost town since.
