Gold was originally found on Baldy Mountain in 1866.[3] Early in the year of 1866, Native Americans (either from the Ute or Jicarilla Apache tribes) found a large deposit of copper bearing ores. They traded these ores with soldiers at Fort Union. With the Civil war over, the soldiers decided that they could mine the copper for profit. One of the Native Americans showed a soldier where they had found the copper, on Baldy Mountain, and the soldier staked a claim. Known as the "Mystic Lode" or just the "Copper Mine", this was the first mine in the Baldy Mining District. In October of that same year, three soldiers from Fort Union, Larry Bronson, Pete Kinsinger, and a soldier called Kelley were sent to the mine to continue work. When the men arrived at the mine, Bronson and Kinsinger cooked a meal while Kelley decided to pan for gold. Kelley found gold in the gravel, showed the others, and they all began searching for more. They spent a few days scouring the slopes for gold. They determined that although this gold was worth pursuing, winter was approaching and mining operations could not continue. They left the mountain with plans to keep the gold a secret and return in the spring. The secret spread within weeks and the gold rush on Baldy had started.[3]
Elizabethtown, also known as E-Town, was the first mining town established in the Baldy Mining District. Located at 36°37′09″N105°17′04″W / 36.61917°N 105.28444°W / 36.61917; -105.28444,[4] it was established in 1866 along with the opening of local mines.[5] Elizabethtown was the first incorporated town in New Mexico and once held the Colfax County seat. Growing and shrinking along with the booms and busts of the Baldy Mining District, the town was mostly abandoned by 1917.
Baldy Town (1868-1941) was a small mining town which serviced a majority of operations on the east side of Baldy Mountain.
Virginia City
In 1868, Lucien Maxwell laid the groundwork for a prominent town in Moreno Valley which would serve as a hub of trade, transit, communication, supplies, commercial and industrial activity for mining operations in the Baldy Mining District. He named the prospective city after his daughter, Virginia. Although the town had investments, surveys, and plot allocation, it was never populated and abandoned immediately.
Mines
The mines in the Baldy Mining District produced mainly gold, silver, and copper.
^ abMcLemore, V.T., 2017, Mining districts and prospect areas of New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Resource Map 24, 65 p., scale 1:1,000,000.
