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log buildings on both sides of the road were built by a
prospector named Witt Tate sometime around 1920. Tate
constructed the cabin and out-buildings to support his mining
operation in the rocky ledges on the north side of the canyon.
Tate raised a one-room log cabin, a
barn with a hayloft, a storage shed, an outhouse and log
fences. trails and a wagon road, which led to the
"workings" can be seen behind the cabin.
Tate was intrigued by this area of the
canyon because he had found small traces of lead and silver in
layers of sandstone and quartz in the cliffs above the road.
Gold is almost always associated with
lead and silver and this alloy or combination of metals is
always found with quartz. Millions of years ago, volcanic
magma and mineralized fluids pushed up through the layers of the
earth. Pockets of gold, lead and silver were left behind
with quartz in the sandstone of Bullion Canyon.
Witt Tate has been described as a
successful miner.
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