Sweetwater Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Sweetwater Mountains (highest peak Mt. Patterson 11654 feet (3,552.1 m)) is a small mountain range in Northern Mono County, California
and Western Lyon County, Nevada
, separating the West Walker River
from the East Walker River
. Most of the range is only accessible by four wheel drive
vehicle, on foot, or pack animal. Most of the range is contained in the Toiyabe National Forest. The place name appears on the 1874 California Geologic Survey map of California and Nevada. The Sweetwater post office existed on the eastern boundary of the range in the 1920s.
The ghost towns of Belfort and Clinton are small gold mining camps on the south-eastern slope of Mt. Patterson. There are several other inactive small gold mining camps and gold mines in the range, including Boulder Flat, Montague Mine, Angelo Mission Mine, Kentuck Mine, Frederick Mine, Longstreet Mine, Lilly Mine, Deep Creek Mine, and Tiger Mine. The area roughly forming a SE quadrant from the summit of Mt Patterson, bounded by Sweetwater Canyon (easterly line) and Frying Pan Canyon (southerly line), is known as the Patterson Mining District of Mono County according to the 1888 report of the State of California Mineralologist. The 1888 report also records the Cameron mining camp, which is now unknown. At least one mining company issued stock: Monte Cristo Consolidated Mining Company, 100,000 shares issued in 1887 at $10 each.
The Sweetwater Mountains geology largely consists of a pluton
surrounded by igneous flow from the Little Walker Caldera
.
Mono County, California
Mono County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California, to the east of the Sierra Nevada between Yosemite National Park and Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,202, up from 12,853 at the 2000 census...
and Western Lyon County, Nevada
Lyon County, Nevada
Lyon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,980. Its county seat is Yerington.-History:...
, separating the West Walker River
West Walker River
The West Walker River is a tributary of the Walker River, approximately long, in eastern California and western Nevada in the United States. It drains part of the Sierra Nevada range along the California-Nevada border in the watershed of Walker Lake in the Great Basin.It rises from snowmelt in the...
from the East Walker River
East Walker River
The East Walker River is a tributary of the Walker River, approximately long, in eastern California and western Nevada in the United States. It drains part of the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in the watershed of Walker Lake in the Great Basin....
. Most of the range is only accessible by four wheel drive
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
vehicle, on foot, or pack animal. Most of the range is contained in the Toiyabe National Forest. The place name appears on the 1874 California Geologic Survey map of California and Nevada. The Sweetwater post office existed on the eastern boundary of the range in the 1920s.
The ghost towns of Belfort and Clinton are small gold mining camps on the south-eastern slope of Mt. Patterson. There are several other inactive small gold mining camps and gold mines in the range, including Boulder Flat, Montague Mine, Angelo Mission Mine, Kentuck Mine, Frederick Mine, Longstreet Mine, Lilly Mine, Deep Creek Mine, and Tiger Mine. The area roughly forming a SE quadrant from the summit of Mt Patterson, bounded by Sweetwater Canyon (easterly line) and Frying Pan Canyon (southerly line), is known as the Patterson Mining District of Mono County according to the 1888 report of the State of California Mineralologist. The 1888 report also records the Cameron mining camp, which is now unknown. At least one mining company issued stock: Monte Cristo Consolidated Mining Company, 100,000 shares issued in 1887 at $10 each.
The Sweetwater Mountains geology largely consists of a pluton
Pluton
A pluton in geology is a body of intrusive igneous rock that crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Plutons include batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, and other igneous bodies...
surrounded by igneous flow from the Little Walker Caldera
Little Walker Caldera
Little Walker Caldera is a depression in the eastern Sierra Nevada that is adjacent to the Sweetwater Mountains. The caldera is very large, measuring about in diameter. The Little Walker Caldera is named for the Little Walker River; it is the river that is little, not the caldera. U.S...
.