Tom Phillips (President), Sylvia Emery (Vice President) and Mike Wenrich of the Mariposa Museum and History Center are pictured above thanking Jack and Ann Bankhead (far left) for their generous donation of $500 that was received earlier this month.  The Bankhead’s have also recently donated electrical motors for the two-stamp mill under construction at the museum.

Jack and Ann, strong supporters of the History Center as evidenced by this and their past donations, are the owners of the historic Mount Gaines Mine that was discovered in 1850 by James Gaines and his two sons.  Located in the Hornitos area, the mine produced over 3.5 million dollars in gold in its hay day.  Today Mount Gaines is still in operation but it’s producing crushed rock instead of gold.