Plenty of Company

George Franklin soon had plenty of company. In the immediate vicinity of his mine, the Mucho Oro Mining Company began operations in April of 1905, the Bullfrog Cliff Mining Company was formed in October, and the Death Valley Mining and Milling Company appeared in November. These three companies, along with Franklin's mine, soon dominated the best ground in the Chloride Cliff area, and squeezed out the smaller companies and prospectors. By the end of 1905, the Mucho Oro had a tunnel in sixty feet and reported assays of $25 per ton. The Bullfrog Cliff Company, described as being "near" the Franklin Mine, was working ten miners, had a fifty-foot deep shaft, and reported ore values from $30 to $100. The Death Valley Mining and Milling Company, operating on ground next to the Bullfrog Cliff, reported five miners at work on two tunnels, with ore worth $40 to $60 a ton. George Franklin, still carrying on alone, reported average ore values in his old mine of $28.

All this mining activity, naturally, called for a supporting townsite, or at the very least a small mining camp, and Chloride City was born in 1905. Located in a shallow and wide saddle 4,800 feet above Death Valley, the little town was placed in a very picturesque spot, for those who could stand the winds which constantly whipped across the Funeral Mountains and brought snow and blizzards during the winter months. Chloride Cliff is depicted on a 1905 map as being a few blocks square, and surrounded by mines and prospects. Water for the mines and miners was packed in from Keane Springs, three miles north, and wood for the barren Chloride Cliff region was brought in from ten miles away. Prospects were promising, however, and the Chloride Cliff area had all the indications of becoming another boom camp.

During the first months of 1906, developments proceeded at the Chloride Cliff mines. The Bullfrog Cliff reported that it had enough ore in sight to support a small mill, and purchased water rights near Keane Springs. J. Irving Crowell, the mine's principal owner, went to San Francisco to conduct mill tests and arrange for financing. The Death Valley Mining and Milling Company continued to drive its two tunnels and reported in February that it had fifty tons of $50 ore on the dumps, and one hundred tons of lower grade. The company announced that it would send its ore to the new custom mill at Gold Center for processing, when that mill was completed. While awaiting that time, the mine shut down temporarily. The Franklin Mine also continued to work, reporting in March that its shaft was 150 feet deep, with average ore values of $17 per ton.

In April The Death Valley Company began mill tests upon its ore, to determine the best method of treatment, and let a contract to have its tunnel extended another 350 feet. Then, the San Francisco earthquake and fire occurred, and the Chloride Cliff mines cut back on operations, as everyone waited to see what effect the destruction of the West Coast's financial center would have upon the mines. Very little work was done through April and May, and in June the Death Valley Mining & Milling Company owned the only Chloride Cliff mine which was able to resume operations.