The Victorio Mining District

The Victorio Mountains are located 20 miles west of Deming, 3.5 miles from Gage,N.M.  The range runs north to northwest, the elevation of the  highest peak is 5,375 ft. The range is made up of volcanic ridges and sedimentary rock rising above the surrounding plain. The first ore deposits were discovered by prospectors in the late 1870's. At that time this part of the territory was in the grips of a panic brought on by repeated Apache raids and depredations.  The prospectors or any mining men for that matter did well just to get back alive.  Further exploration or exploitation of the ore deposits would have to wait until the arrival of the railroad. Between 1880 & 1882, the mining firm of  Hearst, Haggin, Tevis & Co. bought into the Last Chance Mine and The Jessie Group mines.  This influx of operating capitol was the catalyst that set off the Victorio boom.  George Hearst was known as an expert prospector and a shrewd judge of mining properties.  Starting in the 1850's he navigated his way around the west seeking out and buying some of the richest mines in the country. The Comstock Lode, The Ophir (both in Nevada) The Ontario (Utah), The Homestake (South Dakota), The Anaconda Copper Mine (Montana) and The Cerro de Pasco Mine in Peru were all Hearst,Haggin,Tevis & Co. properties

The proximity of the mines to the railroad and a smelter at Benson,Az. made the venture attractive. Hearst may have been looking for a much bigger strike at Victorio, but the payout was still much larger than their investment.   Most of the mining activity in the district took place at Mine Hill, the southern most feature  of the Victorio Range.  From above Mine Hill resembles an overturned rowboat, with three distinct slopes facing, west, south and north east.  The outcrop rises at a moderate rate to 4,871 ft.   At the summit there is an undecipherable inscription gouged into rock that reads "Aug. 1882, XXM No.1, JT Reed USMDS." Below the summit facing west,  Chance City and a majority of the mines occupy the slope.  The Hearst owned Chance mine (aka Last Chance) is located just below the ridge along the southern slope.  Most of the southern slope was untouched except for those mines concentrated between the Chance mine and the Helen Mine.  There was sporadic activity on the northeastern slope, mostly on and around Mineral Hill.  With the exception of a few prospect digs, little activity took place on the part of the slope facing towards Quarry Hill. The western slope saw the most activity with several mines located close to the foot of the mountain. It is lined with paths to and from the mines, all connecting to  a main road that runs through the heart of Chance City.  The townsite was laid out quickly, wood frame, adobe and rock dwellings sprang up, a general store was established as were two saloons, a boarding house, blacksmith shop and all the usual entrepreneurial establishments associated with boom towns.  At it's peak Chance City (also known as Victorio) was home to appx. 200-300 hardy souls.   The Southern Pacific Railroad stop at Gage (3.5 miles away) brought a stream of men to work the mines or in some cases  to work the miners.  Chance City located in rough country became known as a rough place.  Men met violent death either in the mines or at the hands of their fellow man.  Despite it's  reputation Chance City was probably no more violent or dangerous than most mining camps in the New Mexico territory. A post office was established in 1885, but would close the following year.  The mining boom quickly peaked and by 1887 most of the gold and silver ore had been mined out.  Mining operations would continue at Mine Hill as new investors and speculators bought in and took their chances. The deeds to the mines would be sold back and forth between the unscrupulous and the unsuspecting.

Chance City clung to life for several years after the initial rush had subsided.  Though It seems that by the turn of the century,  Gage and Chance City were all lumped together as one locale.  The number of people still working or living at Chance City during that time is unknown.  However records do show that Chance City could still be a hard and  violent place.  Mahoney Mortuary's records list several people who met their demise at Gage (this included Chance City)  On Nov. 15th 1906 an unknown man was "killed at Gage" probably a mining accident.  Pablo Hermanez died in a mine accident on the 22nd. of Dec. 1906.  D. Mendoza was shot to death at Chance City on the 25th of Oct. 1907. On the 3rd. of Nov. 1907 an unknown Mexican man's death was reported as "Accident,Cars"  this probably refers to railroad cars.  Martin Amador was "Hanged" on the 13th of Jan. 1907 (there is no mention  if this was a vigilante action, a suicide or an accident) Jane Hodgdon died 3/30 of 1908 a victim of pneumonia and on May 21st. 1908 a child (last name Bosworth) died of unlisted causes.  Gage is not mentioned again in these records after 1908.  It appears that  after 1908, Chance City was abandoned and the population at Gage had dropped dramatically.  A cemetery was never established at Chance City or anywhere in the Victorio Range.  Nor have I found any solitary gravesites in the vicinity, as is often the case at other mining camps.  I can only surmise that with the railroad close by, it was easier to ship the deceased elsewhere for burial.

For those interested in New Mexico Mining Camps & Ghost Towns, there are two books that you must have.  You can't tell your ghost towns apart without them.  "Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico" authored by James E. & Barbara H. Sherman, first published in 1975.  And Philip Varney's "New Mexico's Best Ghost Towns" first published in 1981.  These are vital guides for anyone interested in mining camps or ghost towns in New Mexico.  However, there is a discrepancy that's found in both books: 

William Randolph Hearst did not own any mines at Victorio.  In 1880 he would have been 17 years old, and even if he was highly precocious, running a mining empire was probably beyond his abilities.  It was his father George Hearst in partnership with James Ben Ali Haggin and Lloyd Tevis that bought into the mines at Victorio.  This error first appeared in T.M. Pearce's "New Mexico Placenames" with both the Shermans and Varney books repeating the mistake.

Some common misconceptions about the Victorio Mining District:
1. The mines at Victorio were not a bust; between 1880 and 1904 anywhere from $1,150,000 to $1,600,000 worth of ore was assayed and shipped from nearby Gage. After 1887 the production tapered off drastically, but even at that, the New Mexico bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources reports that between 1880 and 1957 (the last year of any known activity) $2.3 million worth of lead, zinc, silver, gold, and copper were mined from that district. Not  Comstock, Homestake or Ophir numbers, but for Hearst, Haggin & Tevis  the venture was profitable.
2.  Victorio Peak, infamous as the site of Doc Noss's "lost treasure" is not located in the Victorio Mountain range.  That Victorio Peak is located in the Hembrillo Basin near the San Andres Range. The Victorio Mountains unlike Doc Noss produced actual gold.
3.  The travel center at the present day Gage exit is not Gage.  This site has long been referred to as either Continental Divide or Butterfield Station. It is owned by the Bowlin Corp. that operates the store and the Dairy Queen.  Gage was located to the north between the railroad tracks and the interstate, that site has been razed and cleared.
4.  The lead character in the 2007 movie, "There Will be Blood" is not modeled on George Hearst. The movie loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil" features a protagonist named Daniel Plainview.  Director Paul Thomas Anderson revealed that the character was based mostly on the life and times of Edward L. Doheny, who made an enormous fortune in oil after starting out as a silver prospector in Kingston,N.M.  However, George Hearst is included as one of the main characters in the HBO television series "Deadwood."