Millspaugh, California

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The campsite is located just east of the Argus summit, at the head of Shepherd Canyon at an elevation of 6156 feet above sea level. It sat astride the toll road built in the early 1870s by John Shepherd (a resident of Owens Valley) that ran from Lone Pine, up Lower Centennial Flat, down through old Coso (now called "Coso Village"), thence easterly across Etcharren Valley (then known as "Junction Flat"), up the Argus, down into Panamint Valley, terminating in the booming Panamint City. (Editorial note: There was another loop to this road, starting south of Owen Lake, going through Darwin, then south up the Darwin Wash to join with the Old Coso route at Junction Flat.)

The camp is named after its founder Almon Millspaugh, a native of Michigan, born in 1860, came to live and work in Santa Maria, California, for several years, was moderately successful in several business ventures, but eventually settled in the little town of Onyx on the south fork of the Kern River. There he made fast friends with Lou Smith and Frank Pettipool with his wife Jessie, and prospected the high country without much success. In the fall of 1898, the three men packed up, headed east across Indian Wells Valley, then up Mountain Springs Canyon to Junction Flat. They continued eastbound on the Shepherd toll road through the Argus Mountains. (Editorial note: It is reasonable to speculate that the trio was headed for the town of Ballarat, which had been established the year prior and with in the center of a great deal of prospecting and mining activity.)

When they reached the head of Shepherd Canyon, they encountered George Davis ("Old Man George") who was camping and prospecting and had located and recorded several claims that were sufficient to keep him in "bacon and beans," with an occasional bottle of whiskey! George invited the three visitors to linger, which they did for several months, prospecting in the area until the spring of 1899. Their own findings, together with the purchase of some of Old Man George's claims, convinced them that sufficient deposits of ore were available to warrant development. With these arrangements made, the three men returned to the South Fork, acquired teams, wagons and materials to be hauled up into the Argus for establishing a permanent camp.

One of the principal factors which made the Millspaugh development unique and different from the vast majority of mining ventures was that it was not a stock company. It was a family business, with several members of the family and very close friends as owners and working operators. Almon Millspaugh was the principal owner. He recruited his brother-in-law, Oliver Bailey, from Nebraska to join in, as well as Mrs. Jessie Fowzer and her young daughter Elizabeth (later to become Elizabeth Mecham), together with his original partners, Smith and Pettipool. Mrs. Fowzer was the bookkeeper, assayer, and later Post Master when the post office Millspaugh was established in 1901.

The first mill burned in 1902, and most of the buildings were hauled off in 1914. Only a boiler and scattered stone walls remain.

starbuck.org/exploring/california/millspaugh/

(The above information came from the Maturango Museum website and no longer accessible.)