The Town of Thunder Mesa

Within the protective boundaries of Fort Comstock lies the town of Thunder Mesa, a community which owes its very existence to the discovery of a vein of gold in nearby Big Thunder Mountain back in 1849. The town grew up around the mine, and although the mine was abandoned after the great quake of 1860, the citizens of Thunder Mesa continue to thrive.

A stroll along the "dirt" roads and wooden sidewalks of the town reveals a healthy variety of business enterprises, from a general store and frontier outfitter to a "modern" portrait studio promising "likenesses twice as natural as life."

The Land Agents office would be the place to go to see about available farmland for sale or to negotiate the mineral rights for a piece of property, especially if you're lucky enough to find gold, silver or copper on your land, as many folks have here in Thunder Mesa.

Of course, along with wealth and prosperity, Thunder Mesa has also attracted its share of hucksters and snake oil salesmen. A billboard for the Thunder Mesa Apothecary promotes a "miraculous" hair renewer, while across town a medicine man has pulled up his wagon. Doc Wassell seems to guarantee "miracle cures for all ailments." About the only true guarantee, though, is that he'll be long gone once you realize you've been swindled.

Doc Wassell certainly knows where the money is. After all, he's parked his wagon in the wealthiest stretch of town, right outside the Silver Spur Steakhouse. The Silver Spur is one of the largest establishments in Thunder Mesa, featuring a handsomely appointed dining room decorated with genuine, limited-edition western sculptures by Frederic Remington.

Nearby and no less prominent is the Lucky Nugget Saloon. Patterned on the Golden Horseshoe Saloon at Disneyland, but with a more warmly-colored interior, the Lucky Nugget gets its name from the saloon in Disney's 1967 movie, The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, a story set during the California Gold Rush.

According to the story of Thunder Mesa, a lady by the name of Diamond Lil charmed her way into a tour of the Big Thunder mine, during which she happened upon an enormous nugget of solid gold. Today, Lil is the proprietor of the Lucky Nugget Saloon, and the lucky gold nugget itself is proudly displayed just inside the entrance.

Not everyone who struck it rich in Thunder Mesa has been quite as lucky as Diamond Lil, particularly the town's founding family. Industrialist Henry Ravenswood, who started the Thunder Mesa Mining Co. which essentially built the town, poured his riches into a stately Victorian mansion on a hill at the bend in the river. The mansion and its grounds were a gift to his wife, Martha, and their lovely daughter, Melanie. None of the Ravenswoods have been seen, however, since the 1860 earthquake, and residents of the town have taken to calling the now-dilapidated house on the hill Phantom Manor... but that's a story for another day.

A brief postscript: Several names are used throughout Main Street and Frontierland at Disneyland Paris, the sources of which have mostly been lost to time. Examples in this article alone include Doc Wassell, James Collins and Ulman & Snerly. Very likely, they refer to real people - either Imagineers or historical figures - but we may never know. Of course, if anyone reading this does happen to know, I invite you to share with the rest of us by leaving a comment below.