In January 1905 two prospectors scored by finding gold bearing quartz in Echo Canyon. The two eventually sold their claims to investors who created the Inyo Gold Mining Company. Over the next two years the mine grew and and employed about 30 miners.

  The strike caught the attention of Charles Schwab, the former president of U.S. Steel Corporation. By 1907 a town bearing his name came to life less than a mile away in Echo Canyon, it was a short lived canvas tent town that peaked at around 200.

  Just like the boom towns around, the Inyo camp grew, and by 1907 it had a boarding house, sleeping quarters, several tents, a blacksmith shop, and a company store. By 1907 the Inyo was ready to start shipping ore, but in the fall came the great financial panic of 1907 and investors began jumping ship. The company tried everything they could think of to no avail, and in January 1912 the Inyo was abandoned.

  Twenty years later the camp came to life again. The Inyo Consolidated Mining Company leased the claims and installed a 25 ton ball mill and small amalgamation and concentration plant. The company operated until a lack of funds forced a shutdown in 1938.