It was also there that the largest gold nugget in the world was found, weighing in at almost 143 pounds. Perhaps the first settlers of the “new” Ballarat thought the name would bring them luck. Just a year after the town was established, it boasted some 500 residents, even though they were forced to face extreme weather and the barren land offered little more than sage brush. Summer highs often reached 120 degrees and during the winter, it was bitter cold.  Though virtually everything needed for survival, including water, timber and food, had to be brought in, sometimes from great distances, these hardy pioneers persevered.

The settlement, built of adobe bricks, soon sported seven saloons, three hotels, a Wells Fargo Station, post office, school, a jail and a morgue, but not a single church. This wasn’t that kind of town. Wild and wooly, the settlement was where the miners went to blow off some steam and relax after a hard day in the mines. With a large population of men, the settlement catered to them, providing a number of “painted ladies” for their enjoyment.

The town was also home to several legendary desert figures including Frank”Shorty” Harris, “Seldom Seen Slim,” and Wyoming gambler and gunman Michael J. “Jim” Sherlock.

The town began its demise when the Radcliff Mine suspended operations in 1903. Soon afterwards, other mines began to fold as the gold played out. In 1917, the post office closed and the only remaining residents were a few die hard prospectors, including Shorty Harris, who lived there off and on, until his death in 1934.

In the 1960’s, a man named Neil Cummins bought the private land east of Ballarat, hoping to create another Palm Springs. He built a cinder-block store and set up a trailer park with electrical hookups. However; his attempt to turn Ballarat into a tourist spot failed and he finally gave up in 1988.

"Seldom Seen Slim" was the last old time prospector to live in Ballarat. Seldom called by his real name of Charles Ferge, he was often asked if the was lonely in the remote ghost town, to which he would reply: "Me lonely? Hell no! I'm half coyote and half wild burro." Slim died in 1968, and those words he spoke so often were inscribed on his tombstone, which stands in Ballarat’s cemetery.