Throughout our trip to Arizona, our plan was to be as adventurous as we could, do as much as possible, spend time with family, and visit any/all abandoned things in Kingman (and along the way). I'd have to say, we were very successful! I am so pleased with how the trip went, and the fact that we got to spend some great time with my sis, her husband and their baby! The day I'm writing about today, is one of our favorite days, in Kingman. We started out the day trying to first find an abandoned community of houses. We couldn't find it, but we found a cool house along the way. We continued on to find what we had heard was called Luana's Canyon AKA Slaughterhouse Canyon. The story goes something like this... During the 1800's and the gold rush days, a gold miner and family lived in the canyon; in a small wooden shack. The husband would venture out, via mule, into the mountains to search for gold and gather food for him and his family. His wife Luana stayed home to care for their children. One month, the husband never returned. Soon, the family began to starve. Luana lost her mind, unable to watch her children continue to starve. After murdering her children, Luana put on her wedding dress, during a rainstorm, and chopped up her children. She chopped them into several piece, went to the river and tossed their remains in the stream. The next morning she returned and died while mourning the loss of her children. Tales are still told that some days you can hear her crying within the canyon. Sadly, the wooden house is no longer there. We were very disappointed after spending literally hours trying to find it. Hmph, on to the next adventure! Jesse and I, my sis, her two friends, my niece, and my brother-in-law took my brother-in-law's big truck and went off roading. We were in search of finding an abandoned mansion we had heard about. We were dying to go ever since we heard of it!! We didn't have perfect directions, and barely had cell service! It took us about an hour to get to a point where we had to stop because the truck couldn't go any further. The trail was too narrow and too rocky. We all ended up walking (except baby Charlotte) about 2 miles, until we found the mansion. Even though it was 90+ degrees, we still enjoyed our hike. Our first encounter was with this cow, in the middle of the road! He eventually moved. LOL. I will include the directions, at the bottom of this post. Like I said, we parked the truck under a shady tree and started our hike. We all found it so neat that there was water, as we got closer to the mansion! The sun was beating down and shining so brightly! Some pictures, unfortunately, have sun spots. :( And finally....THE MANSION!!!.. I fell in love with the arched doorways, the vines leading up the mansion; and how well preserved the building was! History lesson: In 1929, during the Great Depression, the two-story mansion was built. Built by the Gold King Corporation, the structure is made up of 6-inch reinforced concrete, high arched windows and doors, and some beautiful wall decor (that still exists). The mansion was built to entertain wealthy investors as well as the mine foreman. The Gold King Mine produced gold, silver, copper, and lead. Sadly, production never reached the level the miners had hoped for. In October 1929, the stock market crashed and brought an end to the mine and beautiful mansion. The Hualapai 4 Wheelers have since adopted the mansion, in order to keep it vandal- and trash-free. We walked over to explore the mine and found a few rusty sheds, spread out, and several large holes (about 15 feet?) There is no longer any glass left, but the building was surprisingly very well preserved! The Moss Mansion and Gold King MineThe mine was actually quite difficult to get to. It was up a very steep hill, full of slippery sand and rocks. That is what is left of the main mine. Like I said earlier, there were multiple, but this was the larger one. Now, here is the only picture (I think in existence) of the mansion and mine, in working use. (Sorry for the poor quality!) Directions to The Gold King Mansion and Mine: [Please note: This route to the mansion must be done in either a 4-wheeler truck or jeep,or some type of quad/desert vehicle.] Head East on the I-40, from Kingman Take the Blake Ranch Road exit, and drive roughly 10 miles, until you reach this sign.. Once you reach this sign, turn right onto the dirt trail road. Drive as far as you can, and hike the rest of the way. There are definitely some tricky parts to get through. Good luck! The picture of the day is one that is quite special! It is our very first jumpy picture together!!! YAY! Thanks for reading!! We have one more post from our Arizona trip. Until next time, Ciao
28 Comments
Carrie Barber
2/25/2016 10:28:40 pm
Nice! Loved the story and excellent pictures
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Norma
7/20/2016 05:11:38 pm
Who knew Kingman had such high class history, thanks for sharing your adventures
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Keith
7/21/2016 05:45:54 pm
Blake Ranch Road, which way? North, South? Left, Right?
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Darrell
7/21/2016 10:02:21 pm
Go south on Blake ranch road thru the old Laughlin ranch watch for the sign she posted this road forks off stay to the left if you go right you will end up at the lodge
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Cathy
7/22/2016 08:55:08 pm
Thank you for sharing
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Matthew McCumber
7/22/2016 10:48:00 pm
The story of luana and slaughterhouse canyon never happened. Its a copy from a legeond that dates back to the 16th century or more. Its roots begin from an old mexican village near the gila river. My family has been her 5 generations, over 100 years. The story of luana came to kingman in the 1970s and hit bigger in the early 2000's. Slaughterhouse canyon got its name from the ols beef alaughterhouse next to the railroad tracks.
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Brenda
7/23/2016 07:09:20 am
Thanks for clearing that up. When I asked your story about the slaughter house being near the railroad was what I was always told.
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John Daniel
5/11/2019 12:20:12 pm
I was born in Bisbee and lived here all my life. My family has been here for many generations as well and my ancestors were native to the area. The story of luana is from the story about La Llorona.
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Julie Moon
7/23/2016 06:09:40 am
This was an awesome story book!😂. I can't believe I've never been here!
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Wanda
7/23/2016 10:29:05 pm
I have been there and love it. It is so beautiful . In the old pic of it, behind the mansion you can see a large wood house.. if you walk to that spot, you can still see some of the foundation. Great pics!
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Lisa Zook McManus
7/24/2016 12:16:39 am
Wow! That was quite an excursion that you had. I loved the pictures and history lesson. I always heard how Slaughterhouse Canyon was haunted. I'd been through it several times by day but was afraid at night! I have never heard about the mansion. I think next time that I get to Kingman I want to go out and investigate! Thanks again for sharing.
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Tara shultz
8/10/2016 03:10:37 am
We have been wanting to check the mansion out forever but heard u had to have permission to explore the property? Is this true? And if so do u know who I may contact? Thanks! Tara
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8/15/2016 08:12:14 am
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8/15/2016 12:44:04 pm
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MICHAEL DAVID CROSBY
7/31/2023 02:05:05 pm
I have pictures of the real slaugterhouse canyon if you would like as i live in Kingman.
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7/31/2023 02:06:36 pm
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x80cdddc23a5814d1%3A0xa5128c64cd1c7c2d!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNn8huCzZoV28sniKggVwvT6ClX4VYXmaqYWaqh%3Dw1081-h359-n-k-no!5sslaughterhouse%20canyon%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipNn8huCzZoV28sniKggVwvT6ClX4VYXmaqYWaqh&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirpIjL7LmAAxX5OUQIHbGACPsQ7ZgBegQIHxAC&viewerState=ga
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David Cremer
1/2/2024 02:52:44 pm
Don't know where you were in Kingman, but it wasn't Luana Canyon. The so called "legend" is total bunk. It's been invented in this century as spooky click bait. The legend wasn't around in the 60's, 70's, or 80's. As for the Gold King, it was never, ever a working mine. People toyed with it from the 20's up to WW II, but it was never a producer. I've been to the mansion several times, once back in the 60's before it was stripped out. My grandfather held it as a mining claim in the late 50's.
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