Rush Mining District

Rush Mining District. Buffalo National River. , Rich zinc ore discovered in this valley brought hundreds of people here in hopes of fortune. During the late 1800s and early 1900s miners worked in 15 different mines, composing the Rush Mining District. In its heyday more than 2,000 men, women, and children crowded the Rush area, living in tents, shacks, boarding houses, and hotels. Beneath the whir and clang of the mines and mills communities slept, ate, toiled, and played, Their population sizes ebbed and flowed with the price of zinc., With the onset of World War I in 1914, the demand for zinc munitions products-bronze and brass shell casings-tripled the value of zinc. But as the war ended so did the boom. A zinc glut folded Rush's operations as quickly as they had started. Although mining continued here on a smaller scale for several more years, the Rush mining boom had played out., The easy 0.2-mile Morning Star Mine Interpretive Loop Trail, accented with exhibits, is an excellent primer to Rush's prosperous mining past. The strenuous 4-mile, round-trip Rush Mountain Trail passes several once-active mining sites, now closed for safety., [Captions:] , Working 9-to 10-hour days, miners, laborers, shovelers, hoistermen, drillmen, powdermen, and waterboys, earned 19 to 35 cents per hours.,

A dozen mining towns…have sprung into existence....Steam-drills have been hauled over the mountains to all parts of the district....There are few who are not interested in claims. They call it "min-ral"…Where two or three citizens are gathered one…it is sure to produce a piece of ore.