The mountains of Alpine County are steep and rugged. The silver ore was found in the creeks of the mountain in 1860 by a group of Scandinavian miners, naming it Kongsberg. In 1864 two to three thousand people poured into area and businesses began to pop up along the main street. The name of the area was changed to Silver Mountain City. Silver Mountain became the new mining town of California the wagons made their way over the mountains to bring food, supplies, and people. The town even had telegraph service and a post office. The main street was bustling with people.
In 1868-1873 Silver Mountain population started to diminish. New mining towns in the surrounding areas began to find gold, silver and leaving Silver Mountain to become a ghost town. In 1875 Markleeville was a small community with a few people in the town, businesses, hotels, and people of Silver Mountain began to move there this would be the beginning of Alpine County.