Stedman/Bagdad-Chase

Stedman, also known as Bagdad-Chase, was a mining camp about seven miles south of Ludlow, where miners from the Bagdad-Chase, Pacific, and Roosevelt mines lived. The camp's origins trace back to the late 1890s when Santa Fe Railroad roadmaster John Suter was searching for water but instead discovered a rich deposit of gold and copper. While he never found water, he did sell his claims in 1902.

With no local water source, the railroad, town, and mines relied on tank cars from Newberry Springs to fill a 10,000-gallon water tank perched on a nearby hillside. By 1903, the camp had about 40 cabins, and the Ludlow and Southern Railroad operated as a common carrier between Ludlow and the camp from 1903 until 1916, when the Pacific Mines Corporation took over. The camp's superintendent, Edward H. Stagg, restricted sales at the company store to employees and banned saloons and gambling.

Initially named Rochester after the hometown of many investors in New York, the camp had to adopt a different name since another Rochester already existed in San Bernardino County. As a result, the post office, established on March 28, 1904, used the name Steadman until it was discontinued in November 1907. The camp was also informally called Copenhagen due to the high number of Scandinavian workers.

The surrounding Steadman Mining District, also known as the Bagdad-Amboy Mining District (commonly called the Bagdad Mining District), Buckeye Mining District, and Rochester Mining District, saw its peak mining activity between 1904 and 1916, with additional operations in the 1930s and 1940s.

Ragtown
Ludlow Santa Fe Railroad, Newberry Springs San Bernardino County Barstow, California

Desert Fever - Mining History

Bagdad-Chase

About 1898 John Suter, a roadmaster for the Santa Fe, headed into the hills south of Ludlow ...

Ecology

Mojave Valley - Granite Mountains

This subsection consists of about half upland, including pediments, and half alluvial plain. There are many small mountain ranges and hills with many different orientation patterns. ...