Big Horn Mine

A hiker approaches the ruins of Big Horn Mine.

The Big Horn Mine is a defunct gold mine located at the headwaters of the east fork of the San Gabriel River off Highway 2 at Vincent's Gap in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California, U.S.[1][2] It was once touted as the “granddaddy” of the San Gabriel Canyon mines.[2]

History

Civil War veteran named Charles Tom Vincent, born Charles Vincent Dougherty, discovered Big Horn Mine in 1888.[2] Tall tales surrounded Vincent's origins, including that he confessed on his deathbed to having killed three men in Arizona who he and a mining partner had caught ransacking their home.[2]

The mine first opened in 1895 and remained in use until 1985.[1] F.V. Layton served as general manager of the Big Horn Mining Company.[3] The mine was developed to 300 feet in length and was crosscut to a depth of 1200 feet in length. It was discovered that the solid gold ore inside was 50 feet in width, weighing in at two million tons and worth $8 million.[3] The mill and machinery used to extract the gold was initially run by waterpower, per an 1895 report.[3] Despite its net worth, the mine yielded only $200,000 in gold under the Lowell and California Company from 1902 to 1910.[2] In 1985, it was determined that the cost of gold was not worth the extensive exploration and drilling, and the mine was finally abandoned.[3]

It was reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2025 that the mine had burned down in the Bridge Fire.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Big Horn Mine Trail & Vincent's Cabin". 25 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Big Horn Mine Trail near Wrightwood has a big tall tale". July 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Holmes, Bobbi; Yarnall, Frances (2000-06-02). "The Big Horn Mine" (PDF). Wrightwood Roots - A Wrightwood Historical Society Voice.
  4. ↑ "These 25 hiking trails were burned in the Bridge fire". Los Angeles Times. 18 September 2024.

34°21′24″N 117°44′40″W / 34.3567°N 117.7444°W / 34.3567; -117.7444

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