Shoe Stamp

ca. 1890s – 1930s

Shortly after the California Gold Rush, prospectors and miners began moving into the Joshua Tree area, with most activity taking place during the Great Depression in the 1930s. This replacement shoe stamp was part of a stamp mill’s machinery for crushing larger rocks in the first stage of separating valuable gold and silver ore from the other components of the base rock. Each stamp in the mill could weigh between 600 and 1000 lbs.

Steel. H 24, Dia 14 cm
Desert Queen Ranch Collection
Joshua Tree National Park, JOTR 3030