July 1895 - A
few months after the rich gold discoveries by prospectors, Charles
Burcham, John Singleton, and F. M. Mooers , Dr. Rose La Monte
Burcham packed up her personal belongings and medicines and headed for
Rand
Mountain
. She left her home and practice in
San Bernardino
, where
she was known for delivering babies, and hopped on the train bound for
the dusty town of
Mojave
. Her husband met her there with his wagon and team to take her on the
fifty mile long journey to
Rand Camp. Just after dark, they arrived in Cow Wells, and decided to
camp out for the night. The following morning, she was taken to a barren
hillside with two lonely tents. Her husband and partners lived in the
tents close to their diggings.
Dr. Rose arrived in camp in
true Gay Nineties fashion, with long skirts, and high-necked shirtwaist
with long mutton-let sleeves and pinched in heavily corseted waist.
Aware of rugged desert terrain, she brought good stout walking shoes,
and was prepared to work. As time went on, of course, she found it more
practical to wear khaki clothes when she went into the mines. At first,
however, she spent her time cooking and tiding up the camp, while the
men worked with pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow. She had grubstaked the
partners from the very beginning, and was now half owner of her
husband’s one/third share. Her business and financial savvy helped to
keep the mine, and the money it earned, intact so it could grow to
become the famous Yellow Aster Mine.
A Silver Lining For Every Retort Means a
Drink For Every Man
There was little money
among the partners. What little they did have was controlled by Dr.
Rose. When the first ore was ready to be sent down the steep
mountainside to the Garlock mill for processing, John Singleton went to
her for several silver half dollars. He proceeded to tell her that the
coins were needed to put in the retort so the amalgam wouldn’t stick.
As Rose reminded him their funds were running low, she reluctantly
handed him the coins he requested. A bit later, Singleton was back
saying that they needed more silver lining for the retort. It didn’t
take Dr. Rose long to figure out that the men had not traveled the 10
miles to Cow Wells, but had gone to the recently opened saloon in Rand
Camp to celebrate, instead. Needless to say, she verbally let the
partners have it for drinking their funds away. Luckily for the thirsty
partners, the first milling of the Yellow Aster Mine netted a nice
little fortune of a little over eight hundred dollars.
Rand Camp and Cow Wells
were little more than a few canvas-covered stores, scattered tents,
corrals and dugouts in the hills of the surrounding mountains in these
early days. There was no Wells Fargo office to ship the gold into
Mojave. The new rich claims,
and that the ore that had been processed at the Garlock Pioneer Mill,
were common knowledge throughout the desert. There was real danger that
gold bullion would be hijacked. Dr. Rose decided to accompany F. M.
Mooers into Mojave. As Mooers drove the wagon, the doctor carried the
heavy gold brick in her lap, the folds of her long skirt concealing it
from anyone that might pass by. Not only did the gold arrive safely, but
Dr. Rose was able to make sure that the $850 they received for it, came
back to
Rand
camp and was not used for more drinking celebrations by Mooers along the
way.
The One Armed Lawyer Meets The Iron Lady
Dr.. Rose might have been
content to stay in
San Bernardino
and help Mormon women birth babies, if she had not been afraid her
husband and partners were going to lose their claim to investors.
When her husband sent word that there were offers being made
which could possibly lead to a sale of at least $300,000, she knew she
had to join the men and keep them from losing their shirts. As it was,
partners Singleton and Mooers had already signed an agreement with a man
named O. B. Stanton for one half interest. His offer to provide $10,000
for a mill and to take a 30 day option to purchase the property for
$500,000, was one that the practically starving miners could hardly
refuse. Dr. Rose arrived in camp in time to stop her husband from adding
his signature to the deal .
O. B. Stanton eventually
realized that Singleton, and Mooers were not going to be able to follow
through on the agreements they had made with him. Dr. Rose hired Pat
Reddy, the famous mining lawyer, and promised a part interest in the
mining properties if he would defend them. In December of 1896, the man
who had lost his arm when he was shot while walking down the streets of
Virginia City
three years earlier, took a $150,000 option on the mine. When the 75 day
option became due, and no money was paid, Reddy filed $50,000 damage
suit against each of the owners, figuring he would get the mine for
himself. Two months later, Burcham, Singleton and Mooers, under the
direction of Dr. Rose, put their mine back into operation, leaving Reddy
out of the management. Six months later he agreed to sell his rights
back to them for $25,000 plus nearly $10,000 in dividends that they owed
him for the portion he had owned for less than a year. With Reddy out of
the way, the Yellow Aster Mining and Milling Company incorporated. The
famous one armed lawyer of the mining camps from Mojave to
Virginia City
, Pat Reddy, found first hand why Dr. Rose Burcham was known as the Iron
Lady.
Many questions over
boundaries, claims, and labor negotiations arose over the years. Dr.
Rose tirelessly worked to resolve these issues, and successfully kept
the corporation intact so she and her husband, and their business
partners could become the millionaires of
Rand
Mountain
.
A Clean Operation
With litigations out of the
way for the time being, and ownership secured, the Yellow Aster partners
could devote their time and money into mine development. Two large mills
and two water pumping plants were built. By December of 1899, the Yellow
Aster was providing jobs for nearly 150 men, and paid out over $13,000 a
month in payroll. As the
year 1900 rolled in, an estimated $3,000,000
had been taken from the Rand Mining district. Thirty-five hundred people
lived in and around Rand Camp, which was now known as the town of
Randsburg
. The partners also owned two water works, a general mercantile store,
and eventually a telephone line.
Dr. Rose was not only known
for her hand in mining business matters. The engine rooms of the mills
and water pumping plants, showed her fine touch as well. The walls and
floors of the rooms were as spic and span as any second-class hotel
lobby. Impressive chandeliers graced the engine rooms. One engine room
even boasted a large and elegant potted palm. The usual dirt, oil,
greasy rags, etc., were non-existent in the Yellow Aster mills.
A Man of Achievement
As the secretary and
director of the Yellow Aster Mine and Milling Company, Dr. Rose Burcham
was described as “one of the most energetic and progressive members of
the board of directors.” She
closely watched the financial end of things, and added her signature to
each check that was issued by the company. She also had her own share of
the stock, and maintained her own private bank account.
Her husband Charles, worried that the “division of family
interest” would be the talk of Randsburg, but Dr. Rose wasn’t
concerned at all. “Generally the Burcham interest is voted as one, but
when it is not Mrs. Burcham is as good as any man among them.” Dr.
Rose was the only successful woman mining operator in the southwest and
was recognized in the 1904
Los Angeles
Times publication,“Men of
Achievement in the Great Southwest.”
The partners found they
were able to live well on the dividends from the Yellow Aster Mine.
John Singleton was known as a man who dressed well, and enjoyed
changing his attire two and three times a day. Dr. Rose planned trips to
Europe
when she could get away, and Charles Burcham invested in other mining
properties. Frederick M.
Mooers was in ill health, but enjoyed spending his money as much as the
other men did. The Burcham’s maintained a fashionable home in
Randsburg, but like the others, they also enjoyed an elegant home and
social life in
Los Angeles
. Dr. Rose contributed to
charities in Randsburg and the thriving metropolis of
Los Angeles
.
Last Survivor
Dr. Rose La Monte Burcham
found herself the last of the original owners of the Yellow Aster in
1914 after the death of Singleton. Her husband Charles died in 1913 and
Mooers died in 1900. The various heirs made headlines in
Southern California
newspapers with their lawsuits and personal grievances. As they were
settled, Albert Ancker, and Arthur Asher gained control, but Dr. Rose
still held many shares and remained on the board of directors.
She invested her income in
real estate in
Los Angeles
and
San Bernardino
. Dr. Rose spent the last 20 years of her life in a “California
Cottage” in
Alhambra
. She died in February,
1944, at the age of 86. At
the time of her death, she was still a member of the Ebel Club of
Los Angeles
and the Southern California Academy of Science.
Bibliography
Desert Bonanza
by
Marcia Rittenhouse Wynn
The Arthur H. Clark
Company
Glendale,
California
Out of Print
Desert
Country
by
Bob Powers
The Arthur H. Clark
Company
Spokane,
Washington 2002
Gold Gamble
by
Roberta Martin
Starry
Engler Publishing
George N. Engler
& Associates
Now available
through www.amazon.com
Dr.
Rose, A Yellow Aster and the Blooming Women of The California Rand
by
Lorraine Blair, PhD
The
Library Press
Ridgecrest,
California
Romancing
the Rand
by
Lorraine Blair, PhD
The
Library Press
Ridgecrest,
California
|