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 (a typo, actually Maude Edna Ruddell), 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."

Darby Mill

Mill of the Darby (Nevada) Reduction Co., Mazuma, Nevada (c. 1918)

Young (1918) writes: "The sixth plant Fig 5 is the mill of the Darby Reduction Co at Mazuma. It is probably the best attempt of those illustrated to provide an adequate plant for a small district. The mill was equipped with an automatic sampler of the Vezin type ten 1000 lb stamps, a 4 x 17 ft tube mill, Dorr classifier, amalgamating plates, four agitators and an Oliver filter. It contained practically all of the elements of a successful custom plant and was well designed and constructed. What its success has been and how well it has served the Seven Troughs and Mazuma district I am unable to say but details of its past history and present position would be interesting. Someone familiar with the enterprise should present it to readers of the Journal.."

Lincoln (1923) states that the Darby Mill started in 1908 and was dismantled in 1918.

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
• Wikipedia
• 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.
• Frederick Leslie Ransom, "Notes on Some Mining Districts in Humboldt County, Nevada," USGS Bulletin 414, 1919.
• Jessica Maddox, "Mother Nature’s Fury, or Mazuma, Nevada and the Cloudburst that Ended the Town," UNR Blog, 2014.

Other Images

• NV Expeditions
• Photo Record UNRS-P1940-1, "Photograph of stagecoach in Lovelock, Nevada. Caption on image: Stage from Lovelock to 7 Troughs. Handwritten on verso: Charlie with stage going to Mazuma and Seven Troughs 1909 in Lovelock."
• Photo Record UNRS-P1948-1, "Photograph of Mazuma, Nevada in 1908. Caption on image: Mazuma Nev. Lee Jellum photo."
• Photo Record UNRS-P1949-1, "Photograph of ruins of Mazuma Hotel in Mazuma, Nevada. Caption on image: Ruins Mazuma Hotel."
• Image of UNRS-P2001-01-008, Print, Photographic UNRS-P2001-01-008, Photograph of a group of people in a wagon. Handwritten on verso: Pretty good don’t you think - another improvement. I certainly sweat blood when I saw my pictures going to paste. Mazuma, Nevada., Nevada images
• Image of UNRS-P2001-01-009, Print, Photographic UNRS-P2001-01-009, "Photograph of a building on a hillside. Caption on image: Hill Top tunnel and ore dumps cuts and men in circle. Mazuma, Nevada., Nevada images"
• Image of UNRS-P2001-01-010, Print, Photographic UNRS-P2001-01-010, "Photograph of people in front of building. Handwritten on verso: Left to Right: Lydia, Bob, James, Wilma, Jesse. Mazuma, Nevada, Nevada images"
• Image of UNRS-P2001-01-011, Print, Photographic UNRS-P2001-01-011, "Photograph of group of people in front of a building and tent. Handwritten on verso: July 19, 1912, this building and most of town destroyed by flood. James died in cabin. Mazuma, Nevada., Nevada images"
• Image of UNRS-P2012-10-064, Photograph UNRS-P2012-10-064, "Post card - Lumber Yard Mazuma., Neal Cobb Digital Photograph Collection"