Hello, my name is Dan Stanton, some years ago, my wife and I got into gold prospecting. On weekends we'd go to old gold rush towns up north and here in southern California. Back then, I owned a security and spy shop in the Los Angeles area which I ended up giving to my installer. I had my wife quit her job and we bought a historic building in the Rand Mining District (Randsburg, Johannesburg, Red Mountain, and Atolia) here in southern California. I've spent quite a bit of my own money turning it into a Mining Museum, Tourist Destination, etc. These old towns are amongst the most famous in the portion of California. There were three mining booms here; gold, silver, and tungsten. The problem is, is that they're little by little fading away. Tourists from all over come here and we want to preserve what's left of it.

 

Initially, I had some extra funds to do work on our place (which is a famous old speak-easy called the Owl Cafe here in Red Mountain) and we've received donations that have helped us to place historical signs and markers, (several still need to be replaced), paint over graffiti in the area, make various repairs, etc. At The Owl here, we had plans to put a new roof, retrofit areas where the old cement was deteriorating, replace rotten wood, etc., but the price of gas and bad economy has significantly slowed downed traffic to the area. This has impacted the sales and donations here in the Mining Museum at The Owl and our funds have been depleted.

 

We strongly feel it's worth preserving and others do as well. The Ridgecrest Historical Society even put out a book called; Tales from the Owl Saloon - Hollywood, Red Mountain and Beyond, which we sell online and here in the store. Two years after the rich Kelly Silver Mine was discovered behind our place in 1919, Slim Riffle built the Owl Cafe and Owl Hotel which were actually places of booze-making, gambling, and prostitution. Not to glorify bad stuff, but it was part of the mining history here. Many famous actors and miners used to hang out here at the Owl during Prohibition.

 

You can donate here to help out or go to our website and purchase items, book a mining tour or go on a gold prospecting charter to get real desert placer gold! Our website is; redmtnkellysilver.com. The old Rand Desert Museum up the road in Randsburg also has a website, it's; randdesertmuseum.com - You can also donate to givesendgo.com and get info. Here is the link: 

 

Thank you

 

Dan and Arlene

The Owl in Red Mountain

(760)374-2102