Archives West Finding Aid

The Cornucopia Mines company of Oregon was incorporated July 30, 1927 by Robert W. Betts, Blaine Hallock, and James H. Nichols as a successor company to the Baker Mines Co., and it continued the ledgers of the earlier firm.

According to Oregongold.net "Cornucopia Mines was located 15 miles north of Halfway, Oregon. Gold was first discovered in Cornucopia in 1884 by a man by the name of Lon Simmons. More than sixteen mines riddled the area and it produced 300,000 ounces of gold. Like many mines during world war II, Cornucopia was closed down because it was deemed non-essential mining in the fight against Japan and Germany.

In the old days, horses were used to move the ore, but then the railroad was laid and the invention of the pneumatic drill helped the miners to do much better than they did previously. In 1922, the Cornucopia mines received electricity and a twenty-stamp mill was put into operation. It is said that the 20 stamp mill could crush 60 tons of ore per day. Cornucopia Mining Companies employed over 700 men in the early 1900's. At it's peak, the Cornucopia Mine was the 6th largest mining operation in the United States."

According to MiningArtifacts.org website: "The Cornucopia Mines company was an industrial operation that required substantial buildings and heavy machinery. The lumber used to build this structure was milled in Baker County, and like the machinery, was taken to Cornucopia by horse-drawn wagon."

A website (bakercounty.net) of Baker County, Oregon lists some of the mines in the company: "The Simmons Mine, the Way Up Mine, Queen of the West, the Robert Emmett, the Union, the Companion (later Union and Companion joined together) the Whitman, the Red Jacket, the Big Tree, the Mayflower, the Wild Irishman, the Contact Vein, and the Last Chance."