The Ruth mining claim, named and discovered by D. C. MacDonald in 1897, did not show much promise in the beginning. Gold and silver turned out to be sparse, and copper deposits were of low grade and unknown quantities. But all that changed when Edwin Gray and Dave Bartley optioned the claim from MacDonald and began tunneling into the mountainside. By 1902, the partners had found staggering quantities of copper ore that would lead to the establishment of the town of Ruth and a mining boom to rival the other remarkable episodes in the industry's history in Nevada.