Qualla: Camp Bird Mine

Camp Bird Mine: Introduction

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James St. John, CC BY 2.0. Thomas F. Walsh was not looking for a gold mine. The Irish-born prospector had come to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in the 1890s to study the region's geology, examining abandoned claims that other miners had given up on. What he found in 1896 -- a rich vein of gold-bearing quartz between Ouray and Telluride -- would produce 1.5 million troy ounces of gold and 4 million troy ounces of silver over the next century. At 2009 prices, Camp Bird's total production exceeded $1.5 billion. Walsh sold the mine for $5.2 million in 1902. His daughter, Evalyn Walsh McLean, used the family fortune to purchase the Hope Diamond.

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Image: James St. John | CC BY 2.0

Camp Bird Mine: The Jays That Named a Fortune

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James St. John, CC BY 2.0. The mine takes its name from the gray jays -- the bold, fearless birds that haunt mountain camps across the West, stealing food from miners' lunches with cheerful impunity. The Camp Birds, as miners called them, were ubiquitous at the site between Ouray and Telluride in the Sneff...

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Image: James St. John | CC BY 2.0

Camp Bird Mine: From Gold Dust to the Hope Diamond

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James St. John, CC BY 2.0. The Camp Bird fortune traveled far from the San Juans. Thomas Walsh died in 1909, but the mine's legacy lived on through his daughter Evalyn Walsh McLean, who devoted several chapters to the operation in her autobiography, "Father Struck It Rich." With the wealth generated by Cam...

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Image: James St. John | CC BY 2.0

Camp Bird Mine: A Mountain That Won't Stay Quiet

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James St. John, CC BY 2.0. The Camp Bird Mine's story did not end with its last ounce of ore. The mine filed for a permit to resume operations in late 2007, and received permits to rehabilitate existing workings in 2012. But the site also carries the environmental legacy common to San Juan mining operation...

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Image: James St. John | CC BY 2.0