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The Owl "Cafe", Red Mountain & The Kelly Silver Mine History

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Mini Mining Museum

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"Step Back in Time!"

READ BELOW: Some awesome history in Red Mountain (in the Rand Mining District!)

You've reached:  RedMtnKellySilver.com

Red Mountain, CA

READ BELOW: Some of the awesome history of the Rand Mining District!

In the late 1800s, a rich vein of gold ore was discovered up the hill where the old town of Randsburg is. It was one of the richest in Southern California. As a result, a booming town emerged as well as a second town called Johannesburg sprang up about a mile away. When the Yellow Aster Mine and others in the area were no longer as profitable to mine and the town began to die, Tungsten was discovered down the hill and the new little town of ‘Atolia’ popped up. Then, when Tungsten was no longer in demand (as a result of this mineral being imported for less from Asia for the war efforts), it also began to fade. Just as things were looking bleak for this area, a new mineral strike was discovered, and this time it was silver!
    

For a time, it was the richest silver strike in the world! There were many silver mines in the area, but The Kelly Silvermine was the most famous. And so the little town of Red Mountain was formed – This is where the history of the old ‘Owl Cafe and Hotel’ come into play. In the 1920s, there wasn't Las Vegas or Palm Springs and many Hollywood elites, actors/Actresses, etc. came to Red Mountain and The Owl because they could get away with things here that they could do in the city because of the area's remoteness. Historic Highway 395 was made because of mining!

 The Owl Cafe & Hotel in Red Mountain

A well-known and well-liked individual by the name of ‘Slim Riffle’ (Calvin H. "Slim" Riffle Sept. 16. 1890 - Dec. 19. 1978. His tomb can be found in the Rand Desert Cemetery in Johannesburg up the road) built the ‘Owl Cafe and Hotel’ in 1921. Next to the hotel, he built smaller houses of ill-repute called ‘cribs’ to service “customers” (These “customers” were also using the main hotel as well). They had a relatively sophisticated way of electronically notifying the people in the Owl "Cafe". When they wanted room service, they hit a certain button for what they wanted. It would light up at a panel inside the Owl Cafe. For many years the Owl ‘Café’ was an illegal booze-making and gambling joint Up the road the old Silver Dollar Saloon still stands, originally built in 1919 (right after the Kelly Silver Mine was discovered.)

 

   Calvin Harrison Riffle originally came to the area when he stepped off a train in Johannesburg, CA in 1912 with a penchant and building for business. The life of this tall, lean (He was a 6'6" tall!) man from Ohio, known as "Slim" is woven into the history of Red Mountain.

 

   Slim worked the tungsten fields in Atolia until the easily mined, surface ore was exhausted about 1913, then left for McKay School of Mines in Reno, Nevada. By the time he returned in 1915 with the latest knowledge, The Great War was creating renewed demand for tungsten as an additive to harden steel. Tungsten Mining again boomed, this time aided by a processing mill which Slim constructed for the Atolia Mining Company.

 

  After the war Slim turned to other enterprises, building the Owl Pool Hall #1 in Atolia, CA (Atolia, is a gold and tungsten Mining District that slim worked as a miner for a period of time) around 1921 but a fire destroyed it a few years later. Around the same time he built the Owl "Pool Hall" in Atolia, he built one in Red Mountain (which was a front for illegal booze making and gambling). He also built the Owl "Hotel" next door (which was a big brothel) which lasted for many years after.

   

Gambling and alcohol were illegal at the time so there would be periodic raids by the police but Slim always knew in advance when they were coming and sent the ladies and the customers down into a secret network of mines and tunnels which stretched out for miles under the town, making it extremely difficult to apprehend anyone! There is a record of him (and one of his righthand men  J.F. Carter) paying a $200 fine each for getting caught selling illegal booze to minors. He was considered by many to be the king of the bootleggers in the area! However, The Owl was one of the few places that never closed during Prohibition because he did "favors" for the local authorities. Many people in California heard of Slim Riffle during this period of time. When Prohibition was repealed, Slim made a legitimate saloon, and although liquor is no longer served here, the original bar is still here!

 

   Slim also owned the corner house (the greenhouse next to The Owl Tavern - just south of it) which is where he resided. There are many interesting stories regarding Slim and The Owl but what many people don’t know is that before Palm Springs became the place to go in the 1930’s and Las Vegas in the 40’s – Red Mountain was the talk of Southern California in the 20’s. Many people, (and many actors and Hollywood types) came here to gamble, drink, visit the brothels, carouse, etc. Illegal activity was much more difficult to curtail because of the ‘out-of-the-way’ location. (Silent Film Star comedian Fatty Arbuckle used to sneak drinks here when it was a speakeasy.)

 

Wealthy and famous individuals also came here to dine or visit the café, Like Howard Hughes, Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, and many others. The reason for this was another famous individual named Lodge Cunningham (in the 1920s. Lodge was a sound genius and was the first to perfect sound in the movies) was good friends with many well-known people in Hollywood. He purchased The Owl from Slim in 1956. (Lodge continued to assist in movie production up until the 1980s!)

Interesting trivia: My grandpa Guy Wheeler arrested Rita Hayworth for streaking when he was on the Hollywood Police Force. He later went on to become the Chief of Police in West Covina. My grandpa Guy was a double for Wallace Berry in the movies. Most notably in Treasure Island with Jackie Cooper. He doubled for Wallace as Long John Silver. He not only looked just like him but was the same stature and even had the same walk!

The Kelly Silver

Mine

Rita Hayworth

The Fire

At one point there was a fire and the place burned down in 1929. It was soon after rebuilt with two halves of a building (Slim bought from a federal judge in Los Angeles with local mining interests) that was moved from the tungsten and gold mining town of Atolia to Red Mountain and put together as one in 1929 for him and became the new Owl Cafe. It also quickly became the destination and gathering place for miners and other laborers from as far away as Nevada. The "Wild West" accurately described the Red Mountain atmosphere to which the Owl was a central attraction. Even during the Great Depression people came here to spend money and forget their troubles. During World War II in the 40s, it was a favorite hangout for the local military personnel. Alcohol, gambling, and prostitution were the staple through prohibition and up to 1955. Slim's other holdings in Red Mountain included several houses, a barbershop, a gas station, and a garage which served as a Plymouth/Dodge dealership in the late 40s - all under the name of Owl. Now tamed, this surviving structure still echoes its rambunctious past.

Howard Hughes

Fatty Arbuckle.jpg

Fatty Arbuckle

The Owl Cafe had a barbershop, café, and restaurant. A few different people have owned it over the years, as mentioned above, the famous Hollywood movie sound genius Lodge Cunningham and his wife Alida who purchased it in 1956 had a successful restaurant until 1966 then they settled down and some years later, they sold it and moved to Johannesburg up the road. Bill Reid owned it in the early ’70s, Lyle Gregory in the late '70s, Lynn and Genie Walker in the ’80s, and the Kelly’s around 2008. And the Stanton's in 2013. The new owners are determined to preserve the fascinating mining history here!

 

  The original name of the town was officially called ‘Osdick’ after a miner named Pete Osdick, but other names like; Hampton, Inn City, and Sin City added to the confusion. But around 1929 the Postal Service once again changed the name (because of the confusion), to ‘Red Mountain’. (The old Kelly Silvermine is located directly behind The Owl - It's silver production was higher than Calico and the horn silver was so rich it didn't even need processing!) - - SEE PHOTOS OF SLIM RIFFLE AND FAMILY BELOW                                                   

Red Mountain and the Kelly Silver Mine

 

   In 1918, Silver in large amounts found in what is now Red Mountain. A boom was on, and for a time the Kelly Silvermine (the headframes and large tailing piles are still visible behind the old Owl Cafe) was the biggest producer in the United States (some say ‘in the world’.) Mining once again creates another boom of people. The early workings were so high grade that no mill was needed for the first year.  

 

“On April 12, 1919, the discovery of the ore bodies now being worked by California Rand Silver Mine was made by Jack Nosser and W. H. Williams. The original outcrop of the ore occurred only about 30 feet from a well-traveled road on the Juanita claim, a gold property. The outcrop contained abundant cerargyrite, assays of surface material showing some 300 oz’s of silver and 3 ozs of gold per ton. Much of the earlier work was done by leasers.

Red Mountain, CA is located within the Rand Mining District in San Bernardino County. As mentioned above,  the silver ore was so pure that no processing was needed! (Many of these silver mines stuck gold at about the 700' level.)

 

Interesting trivia: In the 1920s, Wyatt Earp was a security guard here for the Kelly Silver Mine.

I

The townsite is located directly along Route 395, roughly 26 miles from Kramer Junction. The mining ruins around Red Mountain are found in the mountains behind the town, and can be accessed via Osdick Road and Red Mountain Road.

As mentioned, before becoming Red Mountain, the town was known as Osdick (I will refer to the town as Osdick up until the name was changed). Osdick came to be in the summer of 1919, this was during the near-by town of Randsburg’s third big mining boom. Pete Osdick was one of the original miners in the area and he felt the town should be named after himself since he had lived in this area longer than anyone else. W.H. Williams, another miner in the area (discovered California Rand Silver Mine) contested that the town should be named Hampton, which was his middle name. Both parties would end up laying out a townsite, and both applied for a Post Office. Pete Osdick won the Post Office in February of 1922, and the area officially became known as Osdick.       

The California Rand Silver Mine (also known as The Kelly Mine) would produce over $7 million in its first four years of production, it would be one of the richest mines in California. For many years it was also the largest producing silver mine in the United States. It was said by Charles Moroney (General Manager) regarding the mine, ”Drifts 104 feet, raises thirty-two, and crosscuts 111. Values across and along the vein for a distance of twenty feet or more will average about $2.40 in gold and 60 ounces of silver”. It would continue production until 1929 when the price of silver dropped significantly. It is estimated that the mine’s total production was over $12 million dollars. Other mines in the area included the Big Four, Silver Kings, and Silver Glance.  By 1929 Osdick had acquired many names, “Sin City”, “Inn City”, “Never In”, etc. Finally, the postal service decided to put an end to the naming dispute and dubbed the town Red Mountain, which it has remained ever since.

The California Rand Silver Mine (also known as The Kelly Mine) would produce over $7 million in its first four years of production, it would be one of the richest mines in California. For many years it was also the largest producing silver mine in the United States. It was said by Charles Moroney (General Manager) regarding the mine, ”Drifts 104 feet, raises thirty-two, and crosscuts 111. Values across and along the vein for a distance of twenty feet or more will average about $2.40 in gold and 60 ounces of silver”. It would continue production until 1929 when the price of silver dropped significantly. It is estimated that the mine’s total production was over $12 million dollars. Other mines in the area included the Big Four, Silver Kings, and Silver Glance.  By 1929 Osdick had acquired many names, “Sin City”, “Inn City”, “Never In”, etc. Finally, the postal service decided to put an end to the naming dispute and dubbed the town Red Mountain, which it has remained ever since.

Gambling was another of the many past times celebrated at Red Mountain. Just about anywhere you could get a drink you could find a game as well. Overall the advertising slogan “Where every night is Saturday night and Saturday night is the 4th of July”, was pretty accurate. Today Red Mountain is a skeleton of its former self, the 2010 census lists Red Mountain with a population of 125 persons. All of the mines, bars, hotels, casinos, and of course brothels have all long ago closed their doors (A few of the old “cribs” can be seen on the property next to the Owl Tavern where the Owl Hotel is – They’re the smaller shacks). Most of the buildings and homes at the townsite are original structures and make for an interesting walk through including the Silver Dollar Bar, church, school-house, market, and many more. The California Rand Silver Mine sits above the town, fenced in to preserve its history. There are also many additional mining sites that are free to explore in the surrounding mountains, and if you do decide to explore please be aware that there are many dangerous unmarked shafts through the area.

More Kelly Silver Mine Info:

Red Mountain is a fascinating place to explore. Sadly everything from about 1933 to the current that has happened or hasn’t happened here is extremely difficult to track down. Next time you’re driving 395, and find yourself driving through Red Mountain, slow down and imagine the once-bustling streets.

  Movies, TV Commercials, and photographers still film in Randsburg and the surrounding areas today. A good website to visit for more detailed information is; RandDesertMuseum.com. For gold prospecting information, go to: https://crazyforgold007.wixsite.com/mysite-1

 

THE OWL, MR. SECURITY & GOLDMINERS OUTPOST

701 Highway 395, Red Mountain, CA

1-760-374-2102

RedmtnKellySilver.com

https://crazyforgold007.wixsite.com/mysite-1

RandDesertMuseum.com

Email: findinggold@yahoo.com

Historical photos:

THE OWL TODAY:

Photos of Area:

Goldminer's Outpost:

Best tasting water in California goes

to Rand Communities Water District:

Slim Riffle and family members in front of THE OWL CAFÉ in 1940

Photos Courtesy of Deric English/MINING RELIC COLLECTOR 1-760-762-6208, englishdjcn@yahoo.com

For a period, Slim Riffle turned  over THE OWL to his nephew (Robert Molihan) who was the son of Betsy (Slim's sister). Later, Slim took it back over again. The same steps they're on are still here - Notice that Hwy 395 was still a dirt road. Photo: C. 1934

Red Mountain, CA - The Kelly Silver Mine

Desert Gold Mining near Barstow, CA 1919

* The old Owl Cafe now has a Gold Prospecting supply section, We sell our own Roasted Coffee Beans (organic), Gifts, Snacks, Cold Sodas, a Historical Section, and more! (Coffee free with $3.00 entrance fee!) Come on by and visit a historical 100 year old establishment!

1937

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