Wildrose Charcoal Kilns
By 1877, George Hearst's Modock Consolidated Mining Company was running low on timber on the west side of Panamint Valley, where it was needed to produce charcoal for the Modoc Mine smelter. Under the direction of S.B. Morrison, ten charcoal kilns were erected that spring in Wildrose Canyon to take advantage of the plentiful piñon pines in the Panamint Range. The kilns could transform 42 cords of wood to about 2000 bushels of charcoal in less than two weeks, which was then transported across the valley to the smelter. Initially, transportation was handled by Remi Nadeau's Cerro Gordo Freighting Company before the Lookout Coal and Transportation Company was formed, taking over both transportation and the kilns' operation. A small camp, called Wildrose, developed for workers. The kilns were only used for about three years when the Modock Company exhausted their available ore, forcing the smelter to close.
