Prospectors & Miners
Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin
Elias Baldwin earned his “Lucky” nickname after successful speculation in Comstock mines. He later became president of the San Francisco Stock Exchange and raced thoroughbred horses at his Rancho Santa Anita in Los Angeles County. Baldwin, a multimillionaire, could well afford to grubstake prospectors in hopes of another success to rival that of his Comstock investments. Among Baldwin’s enterprises was the 1870s financing of a 40-stamp mill in the San Bernardino Mountains. The only other stamp mill of this size in the Study Area was that at the Yellow Aster Mine in Randsburg. Baldwin represents the wealthy financiers who speculated in remote mines of the California desert but who typically did not increase their wealth markedly as a result.Mining in the Southern California Deserts: Swope and Gregory
