In the 1860s, Frank McGovern was the erstwhile son of a wealthy Chicago family. He was well-educated and set up for high society. Instead, he left his city life behind and made his way to the gold camps of South Pass City, Wyoming, where he passed the time drinking and gambling rather than mining for gold.
McGovern quickly gained the reputation as the terror of the Sweetwater Mining District through his wild lifestyle.
McGovern would have faded into the murky past except that one night, he literally stumbled upon the richest mine in the Sweetwater Mining District. His discovery became known worldwide as Miners Delight.
The 1907 Sheridan Post later reported that McGovern had literally "found rock and soil fairly alive with gold” when he had discovered Miner’s Delight in 1867.
George McK