OLANCHA / GRANT / CARTAGO
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OLANCHA / GRANT / CARTAGO |
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| NAME: Olancha
- Grant - Cartago COUNTY: Inyo ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: Warm to hot summer, mild to cold winter. BEST TIME TO VISIT: All year |
COMMENTS:
Not a ghost town, but has much
history and some remains from earliest times REMAINS: Stone walls of Farley's Mill, old homes on verge of collapse |
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Olancha was inhabited by Indians living among the verdant meadows on the southwest shore of Owens Lake before 1863. That year, Minnard Farley constructed his mill on Olancha Creek. Farley came east of the Sierra Nevada Range in 1860 in search of the legendary "Lost Gunsight Lode", popularized a decade earlier when an emigrant crossing Death Valley lost his gunsite and replaced it with some local soft metal he found, which later proved to be rich silver. Farley didn't find the "Lost Gunsight," but he did find some rich silver mines in the nearby Coso Range. By December 1863, Farley had built an eight stamp mill with five amalgamating pans, a sawmill and a blacksmith shop. Indian uprisings later in the decade culminated with the burning of Farley's mill in 1867. By then, nearby Cerro Gordo began glowing brightly in the nearby Inyo Range, attracting stages to run north from Los Angeles, then a small burg 175 miles south. Olancha became a stage stop. Two steamships were constructed to carry payloads of Cerro Gordo silver bullion across Owens Lake, which tied up at Cartago Landing, a couple of miles north of Olancha. Soon Olancha was bustling with traffic inbound and outbound from Cerro Gordo. A post office was opened at Olancha September 23, 1870 and has remained open ever since. After mining died down, Olancha remained as an agricultural center. Many ranches raised livestock and produce, watered by abundant streams and springs. Ranchers have for more than a century have driven cattle and sheep into the Sierra Nevada Range and nearby Monache Meadows for summer range for their cattle, and large cattle drives still are the norm today. In 1910, the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Olancha with their Owens Valley Branch (the "Jawbone", which is now undergoing salvage), built to provide construction materials for the under construction Los Angeles Aqueduct, a 250 mile long aqueduct to feed pure Sierra snowmelt to the growing city, and is still in use today. Olancha continues to hold a stable population of around 200 citizens. A couple of restaraunts serve hungry tourists traveling along US395, along with a couple of gas stations. A large water bottling plant is located a mile north, serving the popular Crystal Geyser brand bottled water. Anheiser-Busch Brewing Company also owns property and pumps pure well water for use by their bottling plant in Los Angeles. Nearby attractions include: Olancha Sand Dunes, the Sierra Nevada streams and backcountry meadows, Dirty Sock Hot Spring, Cerro Gordo ghost town, and Death Valley can be accessed via Olancha. Today, decaying and abandoned old buildings are sagging and crumbling among occupied and cared for homes. The stone walls of Farley's Mill hide nearby with occupied homes a stone throw away. Salvage crews are presently scrapping the old "Jawbone" branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, it has officially been abandoned in 1982 and salvage has finally begun. Submitted by: David A. Wright Grant was once a small community 1˝ miles south of Olancha. A market, gas station and hotel once served weary travelers plying US395 to or from the Eastern Sierra and its recreational opportunities. Pack trips could be taken from trailhead points west of the community into the headwaters of the Kern River on the west side of the Sierra crest. A few old buildings serve as a reminder that Grant once existed, but you’ll only see reference to it on older maps. The Highway Department removed the highway sign indicating Grant within the past decade. - David A. Wright.  Olancha Siding, before and after salvage. Top photo taken July 1998, bottom taken January 1999 Courtesy David A. Wright
 The old Calloway's Restaurant at Olancha, built in 1929. Photo taken June 1998. Compare with the shot of the same building January 1999, it so old and weakened it collapsed under a the weight of a snowfall of 18". Courtesy David A. Wright
 Abandoned home. June 1998. Courtesy David A. Wright
 The Calloway Motel. Built of adobe in 1924. Photo June 1998. Courtesy David A. Wright
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