Eldorado Canyon

Gold drew men to this canyon, and the river carried it out. Prospectors began digging here around 1859, forming the Colorado Mining District, and the three largest mines—the Techatticup, Wall Street, and El Dorado Rand—yielded over six million dollars. What made the canyon unusual was the river: before Hoover Dam tamed it, steamboats freighted goods three hundred and fifty miles up from the Gulf of California to the canyon's mouth. The Army built an outpost here in 1867 to guard the trade. The mines worked until World War II, and the town of Nelson sits in the upper canyon.

What the plaque says

Eldorado Canyon, the site of a mining boom, runs east from here to the Colorado River. Prospectors began digging for gold and silver here about 1859, forming the Colorado Mining District. The three largest mines, the Techatticup, Wall Street, and El Dorado Rand Group, yielded over $6,000,000. This portion of the Colorado River was navigable before the construction of Hoover Dam, allowing steamboats and barges to freight goods 350 miles from the Gulf of California to the mouth of Eldorado Canyon and upriver. The steamboat era peaked in the 1860s but continued to the turn of the twentieth century. In 1867, the US. Army established an outpost at Eldorado Canyon to secure the riverboat freight and to protect miners in the canyon from Native Americans. The military abandoned the camp in 1869. In the 1870s the mines flourished again, producing ore until World War II.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hoover Dam — 17 mi
  The 726-foot Depression-era colossus that tamed the Colorado and made Las Vegas possible
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area — 22 mi
  The largest reservoir in the country — and its most legible drought gauge
• Las Vegas Strip — 24 mi
  Four and a quarter miles of engineered spectacle — the most famous street in America (and it isn't in Las Vegas)
• Fremont Street — 26 mi
  Glitter Gulch — the neon canyon where Las Vegas actually began

More markers nearby

• Arrowhead Trail – Henderson — 12 mi
• Old Spanish Trail (Armijo’s Route) — 19 mi
• The Last Spike — 19 mi
• Rafael Rivera — 19 mi