The West Willow Mining Claims is a collection of adits which were cut above a group of Placer Gold workings in the Tincup District. There is very limited history on the mines and the development. The Tincup Gulch placers are well known for their gold recovery but were never worked out due to a variety of challenges such as extremely short seasons, elevation issues and remote location. The West Willow shows evidence of placer mine operations. Old sluice boxes were found in the stream and some turns in the stream and river had obviously been detoured by mining operations. Of more interest is the adits and mine camp located above the stream. The adits were cut as the gold deposits in the Willow stream began to dissipate, indicating that the source of the gold was close by. The adits reportedly worked free milling gold. The mines were similar in structure and deposition as the Gold Cup Mine in the same district according to locals. The mines were worked by a small coalition of miners from 1890-1897. Legal problems stopped the mining in 1897 and it wasn’t again until early 1900's that the mines were put back into production with 3 people based out of the town of Tin Cup.