"Mine Closes After More Unexplained Deaths"
(from June 13, 1910)
"Is the Jarvis Mine Haunted? More Workers Disappear Without A Trace" (middle article)
from November 23, 1909
I finally found some hard evidence about the Jarvis murder in the mine!! I dug up these 2 articles from the county historical society but I wasn't allowed to take them out of the building. So I took pictures of them instead- they are so old, sorry for the bad quality. Also I met this old guy who worked there who knew about the Jarvis story. He filled in some of the gaps for me. This story is crazy. Here's the gist of the articles and what I found out from the guy I talked to:
The murder happened on October 27th, 1909. It was over, what else, money (gold, in this case).
So, William Jarvis grew up in the mountains surrounding the mine. His mother was a Piute Indian, and his father died in the mountains looking for gold. When William grew up he found gold in this stream and he followed that gold up into the vein. He struck a deal with the San Francisco mining company to pull the ore out. (Legend has it that the same day he struck a deal with the devil). And for like five years or so the mine did alright but just enough to get by. He got married and had two daughters. But then one day, the mine hit the biggest mother vein of all. And the San Francisco bosses decided they needed to cut William out entirely... not just William - his family, his daughters, everybody - no heirs. The company invited William and his family up for a big company celebration. And the night before, the mining boss and a gang of his workers raided William's tent. His wife fell against the cast iron stove, hit her head and was killed instantly. Then they pulled William and his daughters out, gagged and bound them and dragged them into the deepest part of the mine - into a small tunnel offshoot. Then the men each had their way with the daughters as William was forced to watch. Then the men dynamited the offshoot and entombed them forever.
Supposedly the reason the mine remains haunted is because Jarvis can't leave until the spirits of his two girls are set free first.
Inside Jarvis mine, 1909
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