Seven Troughs

A gold camp in the Seven Troughs Range

Seven Troughs is one of several camps in the Seven Troughs mining district, in Pershing County northwest of Lovelock. The others were Vernon, Mazuma, Farrell and, later, Tunnel Camp. The name comes from troughs that sheepman Frank Ward built on the creek in 1894 to water his sheep.

Sources differ on who found the ore. NVExpeditions says a Lovelock blacksmith, Joe Therien, found gold and silver ore in the canyon in 1905. Destination 4x4 says only that gold was discovered in the upper canyon in fall 1905. Both agree on the year. NVExpeditions says the townsite plat was accepted on June 27, 1907, and a post office opened on July 18, 1907. Destination 4x4 adds a water system and a school in 1908. The first mill was the ten-stamp Kindergarten Mill, built in the winter of 1907-08.

A flood in 1912 damaged the Coalition cyanide plant, according to NVExpeditions. Nevada Magazine says the same flood destroyed a Seven Troughs cyanide plant and killed eight people in Mazuma. Destination 4x4’s district page puts the Mazuma death toll at about 20. The sources do not settle the number.

Decline and output

In 1917 the Coalition Mine struck water at the 1,600-foot level and flooded workings, according to NVExpeditions. The Coalition, Seven Troughs and Mazuma Hills mines closed, along with the Kindergarten Mill and the cyanide plant. The post office closed on September 15, 1918. NVExpeditions reports that only 8 or 10 people remained.

Population and output figures vary by source and by what they count. Destination 4x4 says the town supported 350 people, while its district page says activity in 1907-1908 peaked with up to 5,000 people in the area at times. It credits the Kindergarten mine with about $2 million from 1908 to 1918. The district page gives a similar cumulative gold value of roughly $2 million and says some sources reach about $2.3 million in total precious metals. Destination 4x4 says a rail line from Lovelock was considered and never built.

What remains

Atlas Obscura says a wildfire in the early 1990s destroyed the remaining wooden ruins in Seven Troughs Canyon. It lists a couple of foundations, many adits with spoil heaps, and a late 20th-century steel headframe. NVExpeditions, citing photos from 2007-2008 and 2023, lists Main Street, the Kindergarten Mill, the Coalition cyanide plant and the Mazuma Hills shaft. The two accounts do not fully agree on what is left. Destination 4x4 notes that roughly a million tons of mine and mill dumps remain.

Visiting today

Atlas Obscura says the roads are graded only as far as Tunnel Camp and warns of frequent washouts. It recommends high clearance and says four-wheel drive is likely needed in Seven Troughs Canyon. Nevada Magazine’s authors got stuck in mud on a rainy first attempt and went back to Lovelock for the night. The next morning they reached Mazuma and found washouts, with the dirt road gone entirely in some sections. The same article describes the 1912 cloudburst flood down Seven Troughs Canyon, so weather matters here. Open adits and old workings are present, so keep clear of them. None of the sources states who owns the land or whether a fee applies. Road conditions change, so check with the Bureau of Land Management before going. Leave all artifacts in place.