Rose La Monte Burcham, following graduation from a Cincinnati medical school, began her practice in San Bernardino in about 1885. Two years later she married Charles A. Burcham, a cattleman and meat dealer. He yearned to go prospecting, and she agreed to grubstake him for two years, taking half interest in the mines he discovered. Nearly two years later, in 1895, Burcham and two partners were about to abandon mining when they discovered gold deposits near Rand Mountain, in eastern Kern County. They quietly laid claim to the site and began to develop the Yellow Aster Mine. When Dr. Burcham sensed the partners were about to sell the mine prematurely, she went to emerging Randsburg to safeguard the mining interest she shared with her husband. She assumed virtual management of the Yellow Aster Mine, including its development and the warding off of challenges to the ownership of the property. In 1896, following the initial milling of the ore, Dr. Burcham rode in a buggy with a partner when the gold was taken to Mojave for shipment. She kept a wary eye out for anyone who might want to highjack the gold as well as to make sure the partner did not spend the profits on liquor.

In spite of costly legal activities to protect their ownership of the Yellow Aster Mine, the partners prospered for several years. They organized as well other business enterprises, including a water works and general store at Randsburg. In 1904 the astute business sense of Dr. Burcham was recognized by the Los Angeles Times when she was named one of the Men of Achievement in southwest mining.

Dr. Burcham outlived her original partners in the Yellow Aster mining venture, but by World War I its ownership was in a turbulent condition as the heirs engaged in troubling lawsuits over control of the property. Mining operations became less profitable as labor and machinery became more costly. Dr. Burcham spent her last years in Alhambra, where she died 1944.