The Legendary Kokoweef Mountain Underground River of Gold : The Search Continues

Fearing discovery by others of his extraordinary find, Earl Dorr set off an explosion in 1927 that sealed a cave entrance in Kokoweef Peak in the Ivanpah Mountain Range. He had followed a treasure map given to him by two Indians and rediscovered within the mountain a river with black sand rich with fine gold, allegedly the richest gold deposit in the US. Dorr died without revealing the location of this entrance, giving birth to the legend of the Underground River of Gold. This book takes an in-depth look at the life of Earl Dorr and his search for this river. To this day, the legend continues to draw fortune hunters to discover new tunnels and caverns in Kokoweef in hopes of finding one that will lead to the gold.

Author Glenn Terris begins this historical novel with a true adventure about driving with friends to the ghost town of Schwab in Death Valley in Southern California in 1973. A flash flood diverts them to Kokoweef Peak instead, where he had heard there is a gold mining camp. Here they learn about Earl Dorr’s life and his pursuit of the elusive river of gold. In this story, Earl meets real-life Pearl “Bandit Queen” Hart, who gained notoriety as a female stagecoach robber and subsequent incarceration in the Yuma Territorial Prison.

Glenn A. Terris (1945-2018) was born in Vermont and lived 15 years in southern California. In 1986 he moved to Oregon where he lived with his wonderful wife Linda and worked as a plastic manufacturing District Manager before he retired. He was an active part owner of what is currently known as Kokoweef, Inc., for more than 40 years. In addition to mining, he spent those years exploring his beloved Mojave Desert with its abandoned gold mines, ghost towns, and the stories they had to tell, particularly the lives of Pearl “Bandit Queen” Hart and Earl Dorr. He was a member of Willamette Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America since 2008, and authored Genesis Revisited, a science fiction novel, as well as several scripts.

All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to research for the fight to cure pancreatic cancer.