Mazuma

Mazuma, Nevada was once a small mining town in Pershing County. The name "Mazuma” is derived from a Yiddish slang word for money. One of four towns settled during the 1907 gold rush in the Seven Troughs Mining District, Mazuma was centrally located and the site of at least two district stamp mills, numerous mines, good hotel accommodations, and a livery stable. The town was supplied with plenty of pure water brought from Wild Horse Canyon, over a distance of 6 miles by a gravity system which cost $25,000. The town boasted a volunteer fire department with two hose carts and 1,000ft of hose to help protect the town. This made Mazuma the general headquarters of the district and the main stopping place for travelers and transient workers. , Mazuma's future was washed away by a devastating flash flood on July 12, 1912. Ominous thunderheads hovered over Granite Peak and the cloudbursts brought a heavy downpour of rain. Heavy rumbling sounds and almost complete darkness blanked the town before a 20-foot-tall by 150-foot-wide wall of water that hit the town, killing at least 12 people in Seven Troughs Canyon and completely destroying the town. The wall of H20 washed through the town for over 10 minutes as the townsfolk helplessly watched from a near by hillside., A second storm, three weeks later, sent another wall of water through the devastated town. Efforts to rebuild were abandoned, and the town of Mazuma ceased to exist.