Charles Baker had a narrow escape in 1862 near Eureka. One of the men organized a mutiny, crying out to hang Baker, claiming he had deceived them. Baker heard of it and escaped, otherwise he would have met his fate at the hands of his own men. In 1868, Baker again set out from Denver for Silverton, as he still believed gold was here, and arrived in the San Juan in 1871. He was killed in this vicinity by the Indians shortly thereafter. Dempsey Reese, Miles T. Johnson, Adam French and Thomas Blair outfitted in Santa Fe and arrived in the San Juans in 1870. They were the first lode prospectors, as Baker and his party had been searching for placer gold. No one wintered in Silverton during the years 1870-’71-’72. Dempsey Reese and his party, accompanied by William Mulholand and Francis M. Snowden, came back the following spring, and this was the first record of any permanent discovery, namely, the “Little Giant Gold Mine”, located in Arastra Gulch. The lode produced ore of such quantity and value as to warrant its being packed on burros to Pueblo for processing. Samples of the ore showed from 400 to 900 ounces of gold per ton. This rich ledge, which was treated by arastras, was without a doubt the beginning of the future of the San Juans. The first quartz mill for the reduction of ore was built in 1873 for the use of the Little Giant Mine. There were about forty or fifty prospectors in the county by this time, but the year 1873 was a banner year for mining claims. More than three thousand claims were recorded, and the population grew by several hundred. Many of the large producers were located in that year and in 1872. Notably the Sunnyside, Shenandoah, Silver Lake and portions of the Gold King Group. Some of the Shenandoah claims have produced ore in considerable quantities each year since 1875.