|
We went back to the main trail and conitnued straight to this: About 1/3-mile along the trail are the remains of the Desert Queen Well.
My research: A man by the name of William Morgan located the well sometime between 1905 and 1908. He had plans on building a mill here to crush ore from the nearby Desert Queen Mine, but those plans never panned out.
The old windmill pumped water from a 116-foot-deep well and provided water for critters, humans and mining operations. There are a couple piles of lumber, most likely from a small building and from the tower the water tank once stood upon.
There's no spring or flowing water here, what water was available had to be pumped from the 116-foot-deep well that was excavated in 1908. Morgan erected the windmill and brought in the water tank, which at one time sat upon a wood frame structure. He developed the site to use the water in connection with the Desert Queen Mine operation.
In addition to providing domestic water for the Desert Queen and surrounding gold mines, the well served as a public watering place for many years. C.O. Barker and Bill Keys used it for watering their livestock. It was an important spot in the desert.
The land containing the Desert Queen well came into Bill Keys' possession in 1917, but by 1924 it was in control of the Southern Pacific Land Company. That company later sold the parcel to Worth Bagley of Twentynine Palms, and the well was then sometimes referred to as the Bagley Well.
My research: A man by the name of William Morgan located the well sometime between 1905 and 1908. He had plans on building a mill here to crush ore from the nearby Desert Queen Mine, but those plans never panned out.
The old windmill pumped water from a 116-foot-deep well and provided water for critters, humans and mining operations. There are a couple piles of lumber, most likely from a small building and from the tower the water tank once stood upon.
There's no spring or flowing water here, what water was available had to be pumped from the 116-foot-deep well that was excavated in 1908. Morgan erected the windmill and brought in the water tank, which at one time sat upon a wood frame structure. He developed the site to use the water in connection with the Desert Queen Mine operation.
In addition to providing domestic water for the Desert Queen and surrounding gold mines, the well served as a public watering place for many years. C.O. Barker and Bill Keys used it for watering their livestock. It was an important spot in the desert.
The land containing the Desert Queen well came into Bill Keys' possession in 1917, but by 1924 it was in control of the Southern Pacific Land Company. That company later sold the parcel to Worth Bagley of Twentynine Palms, and the well was then sometimes referred to as the Bagley Well.
Apr 11 2023