Mazuma

Mazuma is a ghost town located in the Seven Troughs Range.

Mazuma Flood of July 11, 1912

Ruins Of The Mazuma Hotel 1912

From the Lovelock Review-Miner July 12, 1912.

"Yesterday afternoon, at about five o’clock, the town of Mazuma (northeast of Reno) was devastated, eight people were drowned and nine more injured, many fatally, and a property loss estimated at nearly $200,000 by a cloud burst that swept down, unheralded, upon the mountain town. The known dead are:

Edna Russell, Postmistress at Mazuma;

Three children of Wm. Kehoe, all aged under seven;

M.C. Whalen, a miner, aged 35;

Mrs. Floyd Foncannon, drowned in Burnt Canyon six miles north of Seven Troughs canyon.

Those injured so far as can be learned at time of going to press are:

John Trenchard, merchant, probably fatally;

Mrs. Trenchard, badly cut and bruised, may recover.

Mrs. Kehoe, cut about head and face, bruised about body, may die;

Mrs. O’Hanlan, badly injured, may recover.

——————

Today the first witnesses of the flood conductions and who talked to the survivors returned to town. Among them was Drs. Russell and West, H.J. Murriah, J.T. Goodlin, H.S. Riddle, Jack and Will Borland and W.H. Copper.

One and all they tell a thrilling story of the flood. When the water reached Mazuma,it was 20 feet high and 150 feet wide. The downpour was general in the Seven Troughs Range, in which the towns of Mazuma and Seven Troughs are located. The fact that one woman was drowned in Burnt Canyon and that Stone House Canyon was thoroughly gutted, show that the cloud burst extended over a distance of ten miles.

In Seven Troughs Canyon, just before the flood came, there was a heavy down pour of rain, which was followed by heavy rumbling sounds and almost complete darkness. The main of water had fallen in the drainage area of the Seven Troughs Canyon and it gradually converged into the narrow canyon walls. It reached momentous proportion and became irresistible, sweeping all before it, toying with large two story buildings as though they were chips of wood, overturning everything that came in its road. For ten minutes, it raged, a mighty torrent, while the frightened people gazed on it, helpless on the hillside.

The only warning the people of Mazuma had that the flood was upon them was the attempt that clerk Stevens of the Preston store of Seven Troughs made to telephone Mr. Preston at Mazuma. The electrified atmosphere caused the telephone to work improperly and all that Mr. Preston could understand was the word water. It was only a few seconds later that heard the roar and beheld the flood. John Trenchard had just remarked to his wife that it looked like it was going to rain as he started for the front door of the store."

References

• GNIS
  • Mazuma Mine
  • Mazuma (historical)
    • Citation: former mining camp 1907-1912 - wiped out by flash flood July 1912, 8 people died. Named derived from yiddish slang word for money m'zumon
  • Mazuma Post Office
    • Gamett, James, and Paher, Stanley W. Nevada Post Offices. Las Vegas: Nevada Publications, 1983, 176 pp. Discusses historical background of Nevada post offices. p91
  • Mazuma Hills Mill (Historical)
    • Citation: Shamberger, Hugh A. 'Seven Troughs' Carson City, Nevada: Nevada Historical Press, Historic Mining Camps of Nevada No. 3, 1972, 57 pp. Describes the historic mining camps of Nevada, their mines, mills, camps, and other geographic places, with maps and illustrations. m1/p36
• Matthew B. Brown, "Mazuma Wiped Out," July/August 2012. Nevada Magazine. Includes two photos from the Nevada Historical Society.
• Nevada Press Website, "Sesquicentennial series," Includes the front page of the [Lovelock Review-Miner July 12, 1912].