Los Angeles County
Biographies
CHARLES AUSTIN BURCHAM
BURCHAM, CHARLES AUSTIN,
Mining Operator, Los Angeles, California, was born at Vallejo, California, on
November 6, 1859. His father was John Burcham,
one of the early California pioneers, and his mother Almeda
(Taylor) Burcham. He married Dr. Rose
La Monte at Los Angeles, December 10, 1887. Mrs. Burcham, who is a native of New York, of Scotch and French
ancestry, has the dual distinction of having been the first woman physician in
San Bernardino, California, and of being a directing force in the practical
operation of a great gold mine. She had attained a prominent position in the
medical profession, as physician and surgeon, before she became identified with
her husband’s mining enterprises and in the latter field has become noted as
one of the most capable business women in the United States.
Mr. Burcham, who has been one
of the commanding figures in Southern California for many years, was reared in
Vallejo and San Francisco, California. He attended the common schools of the
latter city and supplemented this schooling with attendance at the Pacific
Business College at San Francisco. Upon the completion of his education, in the
late seventies, when mining stocks offered an attractive field for investment,
Mr. Burcham became active in stock speculation
and by the time he was twenty-one years of age had accumulated a small fortune.
With his father and an older brother, Mr. Burcham, in 1880, went to San Bernardino County, in
Southern California, and purchased a ranch of five thousand acres, situated
about twenty-five miles north of the town of San Bernardino, at the headwaters
of the Mojave River. They immediately embarked in the cattle raising business
on a large scale and for the next twelve years Mr. Burcham
devoted the greater part of his time to this work, although at various times he
made prospecting trips into the desert country in search of gold. Mr. Burcham owned and operated more than four thousand acres of
range and grazing lands with approximately two thousand head of cattle. A large
part of his cattle he imported from Arizona and sold in the Southern California
market.
As a result of his cattle business, Mr. Burcham eventually opened a wholesale and retail provision
house in San Bernardino, which flourished with the same success as did his
stock-raising.
About 1894 Mr. Burcham disposed
of his cattle interests in order to devote his time to mining, which to him
presented more promise than the cattle business. He prospected in the region of
what is now Randsburg, California, but without much
success, largely due to the fact that he had not perfected his studies of
mineralogy, metallurgy and other branches of mining to which he had given
serious attention. He was not disheartened, however, but continued his studies
and his hunt for gold. Finally, on April 21, 1895, after a year or
more devoted to prospecting, he reached Summit, a town on the edge of the Mojave Desert, and there met John Singleton
and F. M. Mooers, two other prospectors.
They formed a three-cornered partnership and started on a prospecting trip in
Kern County, California, now the center of the oil production of California,
expecting to remain on the desert for an unlimited period.
After many days of wandering on the Mojave Desert, they
came suddenly upon free gold in paying quantities at the foot of some hills and
farther up discovered the wonderful quartz deposits that have since become
celebrated among Western mines under the name of the Yellow Aster Mine, so
christened by the three partners.
Mr. Burcham and his friends
were jubilant over their find and returned to Randsburg,
which town they have since aided largely in upbuilding,
for the purpose of organizing a corporation for working the mine. The organization
then formed was the Yellow Aster Mining & Milling Company, which still
operates the property, with John Singleton, President; Mr. Burcham, Vice President; Dr. Rose L. Burcham, Secretary; C. H. Mooers,
Second Vice President, and Ward Chapman, Attorney. It is a close
corporation and all of the officers and directors are residents of Los Angeles.
As soon as possible after the formation of their company,
Mr. Burcham and his associates set about
improving their property and have added to their plant every year since, with
the result that it is one of the most completely equipped gold mines in the
Southwest. More than two million tons of ore, averaging three dollars per ton
in value, have been taken out and there still remain to be mined about eight million
tons, which is already blocked out.
Mr. Burcham spends the greater
part of his time at the mine, while his wife, in her capacity of Secretary,
oversees the office end of the business, and has been, with her husband, one of
the contributing factors in the success of the great enterprise. Endowed with a
remarkable business talent, she has been a real and valuable partner to her
husband and he gives a large part of credit to her ability as an organizer and
executive.
In addition to the Yellow Aster Mine & Milling
Company, Mr. Burcham is interested in several
other important projects, being President of the Calico Mining Company,
President of the Rand Mercantile Company and President of the Phoenix
Development Company. All of these concerns are located in the Southwest and
aside from them Mr. Burcham is also heavily
interested in real estate.
Mr. Burcham and his wife have a
beautiful home in Los Angeles, where, during the season they are hosts to their
friends, who are numerous. Mr. Burcham is a
member of the Odd Fellows, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the
California Club and Jonathan Club, of Los Angeles.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
18 August 2011.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 733, International News Service,
New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marie Hassard.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES