The shortest route from the Little Moccasin Gold Mine to the nearest railroad, 4 miles down the mountainside, was thru a rugged canyon which would eventually be named Six Mule Canyon. A trail was cut into the side of the canyon to haul supplies to the mine and ore back out. It was known to be very dangerous but in 1888 a particularly terrible accident occurred when one of the mule team drivers lost control of his fully loaded wagon and team. The team and its cargo ended up going over the side of the trail and crashed to the river below. The driver and all six mules were killed. The tragedy sparked the building of the Double Diamond Railroad to replace the mule teams. The trail is now only used occasionally if for some reason the railroad is shut down.
