Frank A. Crampton papers, 1878-1980 (bulk 1900-1958)

Frank A. Crampton (1888-1961) was a mining engineer during the first half of the twentieth century. Crampton was born to a wealthy New York City family but left that behind in 1904 to see the West. During his travels he learned about mining and made it his career. He spent the greater part of his time working in California, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho mines. In 1910, he and his brother, Theodore, established Crampton and Crampton as consultants for small mine owners and operators. Crampton and his brother designed, built and tested furnaces used in mine operations. They also designed an artillery range finder for use in World War I.

After the war, Crampton returned to the West and engaged in mining operations in California and Nevada. He owned and operated the Remington Hill mine in Nevada City, California in the 1930s, and managed or consulted on others. He continued touring in the West and during these trips took numerous photographs. Later in life he wrote a memoir published in 1956 as Deep Enough.

During the 1940s Crampton worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in California on water resource projects. In 1947 he was involved in a disputed reclamation contract with Contra Costa County claiming that the bureau misrepresented costs to the taxpayers of the California county. He resigned his position and led a populist campaign that gave the first upsetting ballot response the Department of the Interior had at that time with their reclamation projects. In 1950-1951 Crampton was contracted to report on U.S. Army base sewarge facilities in California. In 1952-1953 the U.S. government sent him to Korea as a mining advisor to President Syngman Rhee.