Norton Mine

The Norton Mine is the place where the Transition of Juan Romero takes place, as relayed by and unnamed narrator. Some years before 1894 an aged prospector discovered gold and "turned the surrounding region from a nearly unpeopled waste to a seething cauldron of sordid life."

It is said to be "[a] cavern of gold, lying deep below a mountain lake" in the "drear expanses of the Cactus Mountains". Its geological formations are singular and there has been speculation of a probable extent of the chain of caves. The gold veins are considered a result of the action of water.

In an attempt of expanding the caves on October 18th, 1894, an explosive charge opened up a new abyss in the rock that "yawn[ed] indefinitely below the seat of the blast [that] no handy line might fathom it, nor any lamp illuminate it."

The mine appears to be substantial in size, as there the miners are working shift and live close by in the Dry Gulch settlement. Its superintendent is a Mr. Arthur.