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Local industry
Cerro Gordo Mines
Main article: Cerro Gordo Mines
The remains of the Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns.
The town of Cartago, below the Sierra Nevada near present-day Olancha, California, was the western shipping port for the Cerro Gordo Mines production and transported goods across Owens Lake with the northern ports of Swansea and Keeler directly below the mines. From Cartago a barge-like vessel, the Bessie Brady, was launched in 1872, which cut the three-day freight journey around the lake down to three hours.[14]
Much of the freight it carried was silver and lead bullion from the Cerro Gordo mines, which at their height were so productive that the bars of the refined metals waited in large stacks before twenty-mule team teamsters could haul it to Los Angeles. The trying three-week (one way) journey improved after the formation of the Cerro Gordo Freighting Company, run by ancestors of regional historian Remi Nadeau who has written of this period.
The town of Keeler, below the Inyo Mountains on the former north shore, replaced Swansea as the shipping port for the mines after the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake. In the 1870s it had a population of 5,000 people as the center of trade for the Cerro Gordo mines.
The Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns, traditional stone masonry 'beehive' charcoal kilns, were built to transform wood from trees in Cottonwood Canyon above the lake into charcoal, to feed the Cerro Gordo mines' silver and lead smelters across the lake at Swansea. The ruins are located on the southern side of the lakebed near Cartago. They were similar to the nearby Panamint Charcoal Kilns near Death Valley. The kilns are identified as California Historical Landmark #537.[15]
Other enterprises
In 1879 silver mining ended, but Keeler was saved when the Carson and Colorado Railroad built narrow-gauge rail tracks to the town. It then became a soda, salt, and marble shipping center until 1960. The rail line had been sold to Southern Pacific Railroad in 1900. Keeler's current population is around 50 people and continues in decline.
In the 20th century the Clark Chemical Company operated on the northwestern shore at Bartlett, with evaporation ponds for lake brine and a plant to extract its chemicals.
Mineral extraction plants around the lake:[16]
Inyo Development Company, 1887-1920
Natural Soda Products Company/Michigan Alkali Company/Wyandotte Chemical Corporation, 1912-1953
California Alkali Company/Inyo Chemical Company, 1917-1932
Pacific Alkali/Columbia-Southern Chemical Corp./Pittsburgh Plate Glass, 1928-1968
Permanente Metals Corporation, 1947-1950
Morrison and Weatherly Chemical Corporation (M&W)/Lake Minerals Corporation (LMC)/Cominco American Inc./Owens Lake Soda Ash Company (OLSAC)/U.S. Borax/Rio Tinto Minerals, 1962–present. Rio Tinto Minerals has mineral lease renewals through 2048.[17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Lake
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Shipmates, we abide by a different set of rules when voicing our opinion in the political landscape. Be sure you are knowledgeable about how you can have your voice heard with more than just your vote!
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1:00 PM · Jun 24, 2020·Sprinklr Publishing
https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/1275851248839917568
Well.With the earthquake there.And the massive dust cloud crossing the Atlantic. I'd say that we are in one big dust up.
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, tail no. 80-1070, has turned west toward home. Beale AFB, CA.