tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1427762725223987202024-03-12T17:33:33.275-07:00A short history of what's importantTHIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BLOG YOU WILL EVER READ.
- MeCheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-50639939290663322762022-10-03T19:23:00.003-07:002022-10-03T19:23:48.557-07:00Why Hello!Howdy unknown internet buddy! And welcome to my blog! Well, I guess this is still my blog. I got laid off from my job in 2012 and really hit the blogging world hard (rather than do the typical go to work thing). But then I got a job doing some sort of thing and I've just been doing that for 10 years now. But there are so many mines and ghost towns we never got to look at! Poor little Lucin! Lonely Antimony! Beefy Frisco! All towns we didn't get to discuss over a nice pot of electronic tea. Well, maybe I will get back to it one day. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and see if I could figure out all my old passwords. Beanfarts was pretty popular in the day, but apparently I changed it quite a bit. Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-54581887638318110482020-08-26T15:54:00.004-07:002020-08-26T15:54:45.949-07:00Important Updates!!!<p> I have turned 41. I am now older than many of the rocks that I have spend my youth profiling here. BUT I am going to start posting about rocks again. Or whatever this blog was about. Waffles? Cars that look like shoeboxes? Something. I will review and get back to you. But in the meanwhile, why not reread some of our favorites? Silver Reef? That homemade Dilbert Cartoon I made? All gold. </p>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-79223346682350385412018-01-03T21:33:00.001-08:002018-01-03T21:33:41.811-08:00A new year of what's important!I'm going to post more! Using long words and poorly researched facts to impress you all! Stay tuned!<br />
<br />Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-16370215172547496002017-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:002017-08-18T17:35:34.107-07:00Important Updates! Hear Ye Hear Ye! I totally got married! That makes blogging pretty hard to do because I'm busy being an awesome husband and stuff. The garage filled with rocks was nearly a deal breaker, but I charmed my way through. Anyway, Let's look at more rocks!<br />
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In a second. I have to go make dinner.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-56853956315914101692016-01-23T23:16:00.001-08:002016-01-23T23:16:34.623-08:002016. A Whole New Sort Of DealI'm not sure who still follows this blog. I'm proud of it, and I hope you do, but this last year has been very different. Rocks? Still awesome. But let's admit that there is more.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-68144161872231049962015-10-18T22:08:00.001-07:002015-10-18T22:08:34.050-07:00Important 2015 Updates!Halloween! It's soon! This is good!Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-8583784768994831872014-09-27T20:30:00.002-07:002014-09-27T20:30:18.028-07:00Update!So, sometimes my posts are long-winded affairs. But not tonight. Not tonight. My fantasy football teams are 4-2, my Utah Utes are losing, and there is something in my shoe that feels like a quarter, but I am not yet willing to look into it.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-57308183771862095902014-07-25T23:01:00.002-07:002014-07-25T23:01:45.288-07:00Important Update!I nearly finished a post tonight! Stay tuned! Hint, it will be about rocks!Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-30665219198751499072013-12-14T18:39:00.000-08:002013-12-14T18:39:08.004-08:00Ghost Town 2013! The Stately Lands of ModenaWell, it's been a while since I've written about anything of any importance (going on 34 years). But it's also been a while since I've written about anything at all. This won't do. How else will I justify the amount of money I've spent on gas and the numerous flat tires I've received going to ghost towns if I don't write a blog post filled with spelling errors about it? And so, let us away to the ruins of Modena! A land of mystery and adventure! Also there was one of those dogs with different colored eyes living there. To those dogs I say no thanks.<br />
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So, what do we know about the town of Modena? Honestly I know very little. I do know that it has one of these...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cBL7VYKlNuY/Uqy8MbABj0I/AAAAAAAADXg/6-Qe44kkUIU/s1600/Modena+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cBL7VYKlNuY/Uqy8MbABj0I/AAAAAAAADXg/6-Qe44kkUIU/s320/Modena+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That there is what we in the business call a ruin. Also people outside of the business. All people call that a ruin. Well, all people who have ever thought about the subject. I suppose people who never think about ruins wouldn't call that anything as they would have no reason to do so. I feel like we've gotten off-topic. Which is better than Hot Topic. Where's my ADD medicine?<br />
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Before we go all picture-iffic all up in this place, let's figure out where Modena is. I know where it is because I went there. Being a kind blog master, I will let you in on the location. It is here...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EyLOwolrZDU/UqzZqU0SvrI/AAAAAAAADXw/6uutoSOzPNw/s1600/cramazut18902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EyLOwolrZDU/UqzZqU0SvrI/AAAAAAAADXw/6uutoSOzPNw/s320/cramazut18902.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>
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That map is kinda small. But if you look closely at the lower left corner you will see where Modena is. I like old maps. I bet that map smells like grandmothers house. If you drove 9 more miles west you would find yourself in Nevada, which I've been to a couple of times. It's a great place to collect as much dust as you would like.<br />
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So why would someone build a city way out there when you could build a city somewhere.....closer? The answer lies here....<br />
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Sky! and clouds! But the city of Modena wasn't built to admire the sky and clouds. To my knowledge there has yet to be a city built for that purpose. Which is why we have to drive out to the middle of nowhere to look at sky and clouds. And even then you have to hunt for hours to find them. No, the purpose of Modena lies within the train tracks we see in the above picture. Look at these cool clouds!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xlByqkrs4WE/UqzeiMzXHRI/AAAAAAAADYI/D4KET2jHM9g/s1600/Modena+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xlByqkrs4WE/UqzeiMzXHRI/AAAAAAAADYI/D4KET2jHM9g/s320/Modena+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As an interesting sidenote, the clouds of Modena are rife with aliens. Just packed with otherworldly visitors. Where is my proof? Oh, I don't know, only this convincing website!<br />
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<a href="http://www.aliendave.com/Article_BigfootModena21204.html">PROOF!</a><br />
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Need more?<br />
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<a href="http://rense.com/general/utah.htm">More Proof!</a><br />
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Also, it appears that STD's are invading Modena...<br />
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<a href="http://www.youthaidscoalition.org/std-testing-in-modena-ut.html">Use Protection!</a><br />
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I didn't see aliens during my visit. Just that dog I mentioned in the intro. I didn't get a picture of that dog. Use your imaginations. I can't walk you all through all of my adventures.<br />
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So, trains. Usually at this point I would start talking mines because usually when people give up on towns and leave behind a bunch of rusty chunks it's because mines have stopped giving us their precious, precious earthy goods. Sadly, Modena has naught a mine within its storied history. Nope, just trains. The Iron Horse. The Steamy Chariot. The Big I Think I Can. Now, if you're still reading (and I can't figure out why you would be), your minds are probably stuffed to the brim with the question of why trains demand a town. We don't have to listen to them! We are the kings here! Humanity can snuff out the life of the train as easily as we created it! WE ARE ALL POWERFUL!! Well, the answer is that trains no longer require towns. They have evolved beyond our control! Run! Run and save yourself!<br />
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But in the old days, trains couldn't do anything without us. Steam engines, you see, could only go so far before they ran out of steam. I made this picture for a previous post, and I can hardly believe that I have need for it a second time.<br />
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This picture is surprisingly accurate. And pretty stupid. But accurate. Like some sort of Fisher-Price auto insurance policy. I dunno. What's important is that in order to travel long distances in a steam engine, you have to have watering holes every couple of miles down the line to re-fill the train. Sometimes, along busy routes, these watering holes would spring into full-blown towns, complete with houses and cholera and violence-solved disputes.<br />
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And so, in 1899 Modena was born to serve as a teat upon which steam engines could nurse. The town grew pretty fast, and in 1900 Brigham J Lund and two associates opened a small restaurant and hotel in town, which at this point had a healthy population of 49 souls. So when I said it grew pretty quickly I mean pretty slowly. And often not at all. Anyway, Brigham J. Lund hangs out here during most of his free time...<br />
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I assume that Mr. Lund's associates are also now interred within the cold bosom of mother earth, but they don't appear to have earned any pictures on the internet. So, like the dog with two-colored eyes, you will have to imagine them. I'm betting a standard skeleton would suffice. You can add any flair you want. I don't care. Anyway, here is what was once a majestic commercial enterprise.<br />
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The floor and ceiling are in pretty sad shape. So I recommend not holding a party there nowadays unless you've filled out all the required insurance paperwork. The restaurant was in the front, and the hotel was in the back. It's in equally sad shape....<br />
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Look at that! It still has the beds! Pretty posh. I give it 4 stars, with 5 stars being a guarantee that you will get tetanus. It looks like these happy guests enjoyed hot water...<br />
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The people set up town and lived in various interesting shacks and such.<br />
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A school was set up and many a lesson were taught. No one famous ever came out of Modena though, so I guess these lessons were taught in vain.<br />
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By 1920 the population boomed to a mighty 130 people. This put tremendous pressure on the Lund establishment, so a second, more impressive hotel/restaurant/dance floor was built...<br />
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My great great grandparents apparently would take a horse and buggy out to this building and trip the light fantastic. Were my grandparents conceived within the confines of this majestic monument to recreation? I don't want to think about it. What's wrong with you?<br />
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So what's in this building nowadays?<br />
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Mostly shattered dreams. I didn't dare go into the building very far. I like life. And that building seems to be rich with potential end of life. You sure could put a lot of cans on those shelves though. Do you have an excess of cans? I have a place I want you to visit.<br />
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Now the good folks of Modena had a great new place to party. Things were looking pretty darn good. Trains were watered, shacks were occupied, outhouses were utilized, yup, pretty good times. In the 1940's things were modernized a little bit. These new-fangled automobiles require repairs....<br />
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Whatever this is was introduced.....<br />
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And tanning beds were imported. The Modenians were a vain bunch.<br />
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The school turned out to be too small for the booming new city filled with bright new minds. So a new school was built....<br />
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This school is pretty great. We got permission to take a tour, but looking through the windows it looks like it was just used as storage. If you really want pictures of storage then maybe you're looking at the wrong blog.<br />
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At some point Mr. Lund's establishment went belly up, and the alcohol requirements were gladly met at the Last Chance Saloon...<br />
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I bet this establishment also served as a hotel to the particularly inebriated visitor.<br />
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And then something happened to the good city of Modena. The majestic, proud steam engine met a foe that it could not overcome regardless of how many "I think I cans" it muttered. That foe was diesel powered trains. You see, these trains have no need for water. They go farther, faster, and require less maintenance. Which is bad news for towns based on the repair and service of trains that go shorter, slower and require more maintenance.<br />
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And so, starting in the 1940's the steam engines were phased out. All the residents of Modena could do was watch on longingly.<br />
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Imagine how sad that water tank behind the train feels. Every train a dagger. Nah, it doesn't feel anything. Tanks are dumb.<br />
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By the end of 1940 the town was on steep decline. But the Modenians are not a weak people. You see, I'm guilty of a dirty, dirty lie. Modena lives on....weakened, angry, but not defeated. A few brave folks still call this place home. One of them owns a particularly disturbing dog with two different eye colors. I only met one of them who appropriately was riding a horse. I suppose it would have been more appropriate if he were riding a steam engine, but I don't see how that would have worked. Environmentally it would have been inadvisable.<br />
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I've struggled this evening with the temptation to make the joke that Modena is technically a zombie town because it still contains people. Like Sampson, I've given into temptation. Modena is a zombie town<br />
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*pause for laughter*<br />
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Good. Good. This has pleased me.<br />
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And so we come to an end of our little adventure. Wasn't that fun? Ah, writing blogs is pretty great. Maybe I will do more of this "blog posting". Wouldn't that be a treat for all of you? Yes, I am a generous blog master.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-34214995108214875612013-09-28T18:35:00.000-07:002013-09-28T18:35:04.410-07:00Go Team!Look, rocks and stuff are interesting, but being 0-3 in fantasy football is no laughing matter. These are dark times indeed.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-64467065903893627942013-01-16T20:49:00.001-08:002013-01-16T20:49:17.395-08:00A Promise To Return To That Which Is ImportantHey Folks! I still have 54 followers! And I haven't posted in ages! It's not my fault though. I sleep more nowadays. Gone are my days of only getting 10 hours of sleep a night! Anyway, you are all probably feeling pretty bad that I'm not posting more. And why wouldn't you? I gave you light, only to take it away. So, how about this. I promise to post this awesome thing about Calcite as soon as I can finish all these stupid drawings. Is calcite interesting? Nope. But I have some and that is all it takes to get a blog post made about you. So....at some point I'm going to post again. Probably.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-48446308512344327242012-11-04T19:41:00.001-08:002012-11-04T19:41:43.402-08:00HalloweenWell, Halloween came and passed, like a case of haunted Giardia. Did I do anything of note? Who are you to be asking me these questions? I don't answer to you! I don't answer to anyone! Well, except for my boss. And the highway patrol. And that girl at Subway who I think is flirting with me, or may just be interested in what I want on my sandwich. Also the media. And sometimes the utility company. Also the cell phone company, stoplights, America First Credit Union, snakes, loud noises, insomnia, whatever the opposite of insomnia is (outsomina?), burritos, leaking packets of sweet and sour sauce that get on my fries, and laundry. Other than that, I am a free man who answers to no one! I would love to show you pictures of what I did, but I am sleepy because I had to make my bed today and instead I just sorta fell asleep on the laundry pile for a few hours. These things happen when you live the wild life like me.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-54726043258427465622012-09-07T23:08:00.001-07:002012-09-07T23:08:56.672-07:00Ghost Mine Thursday! The Tar Baby Mine, Big Cottonwood District, UtahSo here we are. Many months have passed since I have written about the exciting and poorly ventilated field of abandoned mine exploration. Rest assured, my pause in weaving somewhat true tales about my exploits across this great state has not been caused by lack of material. No, the real cause is my huge lack of motivation of doing anything other than sitting on my couch and looking around. You see a lot, you know, by just sitting and looking around. Mostly just spiders. I hate my couch.<br />
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Let's go to the main event. Or should I say, the MINE event! No, no I shouldn't. Because that is a joke that only the old and dangerously shy would make. I think I've made this point before, but it's worth restating. Jokes about geology are a very slippery slope (landslides!). One second you are the king of the party, I mean, you are killing it. Where you go, the party follows. You're feeling confident, too confident. So you let loose with a geology joke. Perhaps it's about how quartz forms in inappropriate shapes, or perhaps you go the route of how stupid metamorphic rocks are. Either way, get ready to go to bed alone. Forever.<br />
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(See how I slipped a landslide joke in there? It wasn't funny, but it did prove the point I was making. So lonely).<br />
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Well, let's move on for reals. Here we are.....<br />
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Why are we here? Have I really dragged us away from our important real-life doings to look at what is likely a structure that is no stranger to meth? On the surface it may look like I'm going to attempt to write an entire blog post about a pile of tetanus. But let us not forget the famous saying, "Don't ye judge a shed by the....structural integrity....of it". Some of that may be off. My Shakespeare is a little rusty. Anyway, in all actuality that pile of debris is hiding the Tar Baby Mine. <br />
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As we've learned before, the first step in going into a mine is to find out where the mine is. This can be a problem, as mines tend to blend in with their surroundings very well.<br />
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Well, sometimes. Mines kinda do what they want. Anyway, I only bring this point up because I actually had no idea where this mine was. I don't know much about nature, and I subscribe to the school of thought that predicts that if you go wandering out into the bushes looking for something, then investigators are likely going to find your remains in a pile of moose scat, or perhaps the scat of any number of horrible things that are just waiting for us to go outside. Scat is a funny word.<br />
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Anyway, we need clue. Something that will let us know that we are close to a mine. We know that the mine is located somewhere in Big Cottonwood Canyon. This area....<br />
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Um. Pretend that map says "Tar Baby Mine" instead of "Confidence Mine". They are pretty close and I'm too lazy to go switching all that up. Anyway, what clues do abandoned mines leave behind you ask? Well, they can be subtle, but the clues are there. For example, take a look at this!<br />
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Look at those unusual sticks laying there on the ground. They seem to be trackular in nature. Almost too trackular to be ignored. If you find tracks while wandering aimlessly out in the woods, then chances are you are either near a mine or you are actually standing on a particularly well vegetated portion of a mass transit, system and will likely soon be in the newspaper. Luckily, for us, I know that we are actually very close to a mine. And by me I mean the guy who showed me where this mine was.<br />
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Wave goodbye to the outside world with its
promises of fresh air and loved ones!</div>
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Let us enter the world of unnecessary
risk! Speaking of playing unnecessary risk, some of you may notice a few crazy
orbs near either side of the metal tracks near the center of the photo. Now,
some folks (democrats mostly) believe these orbs are ghosts, but in orb form.
I’m not here to tell you what to think concerning these spherical potential visitors
from the other side. This post is about a ghost mine, not ghosts in the mine.
That’s a whole different subject that requires an audience that is much more
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Let’s wander in a little deeper. The Tar Baby Mine was
incorporated way back in the glorious year of 1911, and was worked until the
late 1930’s. Ah, 1911. I remember it like it was yesterday. I don’t have a joke
to end this statement. Ah well. Look! </div>
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Here are some more ancient words from the
past! RWR 1938 and 1936. After extensive research (a google search) I have been
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Anyway, let’s see what lies ahead! The Tar Baby Mining Company initially drove two adits
(remember folks! That’s a fancy word for horizontal tunnel!) into the
mountainside. This particular adventure was completed within the lower tunnel.
Sadly, the upper tunnel has long since passed from this world and has moved into the world of collapsed things. That world sucks. Anyway, the nearby
Cardiff Mine was making more money than two prize winning racehorses duct-taped
to six or seven software engineers all while being ridden by the world’s most
frugal pimp. Typically when one mine is pulling in the dough, people will get
the idea that if they stick enough holes into the mountainside nearby that mine, then they can
earn enough money to buy a few racehorse-pimps of their own. This was the
thought process of the Tar Baby Mining Company. Lookie here! A stope!</div>
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Do you remember what exactly a stope is? It is a big cavern
that is created when the miners dug all that sweet, sweet goodness out of the
ground. They usually are propped up using all sorts of various wooden devices,
as seen here. Also sometimes they have moldy old ladders in them, as also seen
here. You know what happens to wooden devices when you shove them in water for
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It’s not unusual to come across these horrible furry
little devils while mine exploring. I’ve always tried to avoid them, but sooner
or later they get you. Nothing happens, it’s just unnerving. Like when a
lightbulb burns out while you’re peeing, or driving near old
people. Uh oh, looks like we've got problem.</div>
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In hopes of drawing larger viewership from the powerful "I want to interact with this blog" crowd, I'm going to let YOU the reader chose which way we go next. Go ahead! It's easy! Just select the way!</div>
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Nah, we're going left first. Go make your own mining blog if you want to make the decisions! All bow before me in this electronic world of nerdy pastimes! The Tar Baby Mine was geologically very similar to the afore-mentioned Cardiff mine, so it makes sense that the miners and owners (mostly the owners) were very optimistic that their mine would be an equally shining monument to the world of lung disease. They drifted in and encountered this little fella....</div>
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That may not look like much, but you've got yourself an ore vein there. That's what it's all about. A two inch wide vein of silver- and gold-rich pyrite and galena. But there isn't enough there to do anything with (that's what she said). So let's follow it down a ways and see if the vein ever opened up into something worth risking your life over....</div>
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This material averaged over 120 oz of silver per ton, and also had a smattering of gold in there too. I don't know how much. I could make something up if you want. This material contained 7 gold. That seems pretty good. Ah, now here's something...</div>
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The vein continues! And now it comes with numbers! 3117. I'm not sure what this means. Miners didn't leave a whole lot of ways to decipher their cryptic and often mildly offensive markings! But rest assured, at one point that meant something very important to somebody. At this point the vein takes a sharp turn to the downward, which would be a problem if we weren't dealing with a group of people who had nothing else to do but dig downwards. And so they did...</div>
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That there is a prime example of an inclined shaft (that's what, ah, nevermind). When veins galloped off into the hillside at an angle, the miners would chase it, like a sweaty, ill-tempered hobo chasing a pigeon. What? Anyway, it can be hard to lift ore up things, so it would be nice to have a little engine at the top that would do it for us. Ask and you shall receive!</div>
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That there is a hand-operated windlass (elevator thingy). You turn that wheel, and your ore cart comes trudging up towards you. Or at least that was the idea 100 years ago. Now I'm guess that if you turn that wheel you will probably end up with a rusted bit of metal in your hand. Sadly, this concludes our trip down this tunnel as it got real collapsy looking from there on out. But the Tar Baby Company chased this vein for thousands of feet down this shaft, and only found a few hundred tons of high-grade ore. That sounds good to me, but I guess that's not considered a good return. This may be a good time (and if it's not I'm doing it anyway) to investigate what we are seeing here with regards to geology. I mean, that's what we are all here for, right? Give us geology or give us death, and all that. Well, long story short, it's very complex. And what do we do when things are complex? We make gross oversimplifications in the medium of stick figure drawing. Let's do that now!</div>
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The first important step in Utah's geologic history is a long one. A step largely covered in water. You see, for the past zillion years, Utah has been a quiet, unassuming part of the ocean floor. As opposed to now, where it is a quiet, unassuming part of the desert floor. Anyway, the point to take away here is that for most of it's history, the western U.S. has been very soggy. </div>
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The next important step in the formation of the Wasatch Front (that's what us Utahn's call the Wasatch Mountain Range) is the drying up of all that water. This actually happened several times, but I'm not in the mood to draw several pictures. So this one is going to have to do.</div>
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There we are. Those lines are supposed to represent several different layers of rock that were deposited by the sea. Oceanic environments typically deposit rocks such as limestone and dolomite, both of which are readily susceptible to having ore deposits shoved within them....</div>
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Here's where things get odd. About 105 million years ago, Utah got squished by the early version of the San Andreas Fault. Yes, before it was destroying the L.A. Lakers, that fault was busy shoving much of Utah over much of Colorado. I would love to get into the details here, but we really do need to get moving. So you will just have to trust me about this. What's important to take away from this is that this compression formed several very large thrust faults. Faults are large cracks that form in the crust that allow various parts of your community to move past parts of other people's communities. Also they destroy everything. Let's move onto step.</div>
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Also it's important to observe the formation of the Alta Thrust Fault, a relatively large crack in the surface of the earth that is important in this next step. The Alta Thrust Fault was created as a result of older rock being squished on top of younger rock! Imagine that this whole situation is a sandwich that just got caught in a trash compactor. As a result of the compaction, the mustard got squished on top of the ham, even though you put the ham onto the sandwich first. Then, about 40 million years ago, step 4 began. A relatively large body of hot, mineral-rich magma got shoved into the sandwich. In doing so, the magma body forced mineral-rich fluids into the limestone. This was particularly true along previously created fault lines, such as the Alta Thrust Fault. Is this important? Oh my yes.</div>
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The compression that was so effectively created the Alta Thrust Fault soon gave way to extensional forces, which created the Wasatch Mountains as we know them today. The valley floor dropped to the west, while the Wasatch Mountains rose to the east. This allowed our tobacco spitting, prostitute visiting fore-fathers to discover the wealth that the volcanic intrusions left behind! Sadly, the Tar Baby Mine is located pretty far away from one of those magmatic intrusions, and as such it received very little ore-body building material. That little bit of information would have saved a lot of people a lot of time in the 1920's. </div>
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And so, there we are. A hugely complex geological event summarized into five poorly illustrated steps. Let's move along.</div>
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Let's get out of this tunnel of disappointment. Maybe the other tunnel will reward us with geological riches!</div>
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It's like being birthed, but with less birth-sauce everywhere. Now here's something you won't see (hopefully?) in any birth canal....</div>
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More miner writings. I am starting to suspect that these are the initials of some long-dead miner. But it could just as likely be literally anything else. So, again, not helping you out a whole lot with "facts". Let's keep going.....</div>
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Ah, a dead end. Or is it?????</div>
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This picture doesn't clear anything up, does it? Well, what you are seeing is a raise (upward shaft!). Or more correctly, you are seeing some boards that cover a raise...</div>
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This shaft was completed in 1913, and was largely used to ventilate the mine by bringing in air from the surface some 800 feet upwards. As a fun fact, it also connected with several other of the mines in the area! Everyone loves fun facts. </div>
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Well, there you have it. A really creepy looking part that I don't dare go down and a shaft that goes straight up. I'm calling it a day. Let's go back outside and see if we can find something cool laying around. Ah ha! We didn't have to wait long!</div>
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Ah yes, the miner's most valuable piece of equipment. This mine was worked largely after the period in which prostitutes were plentiful, but I'm guessing one or two still made it up there. And so their legacy lives on. Largely in the form of illegitimate children. </div>
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Oh, a few last thing to touch on before we start re-reading this post again (because it was so good). There were reports of additional rich mineralized veins located by folks who leased the mine (generally mining companies lease the rights to pull out whatever you want from their mine once they have gotten their fill) located at deepest portions of the mine, but excessive water made it too dangerous to work down there. So the 1940's hit and everyone went home or to war. And so ended the Tar Baby Mine. </div>
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The end (officially). </div>
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Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-80144569180316240332012-08-28T22:39:00.000-07:002012-08-28T22:39:31.645-07:00Concerning The Matter Of Ghosts....Ghosts are a fascinating deal. They walk through stuff, occasionally knock stuff over, maybe chuck a bolt at you if they are feeling throw-y. They are like teenagers, but seem to consume fewer drugs. I've never cared much for our undead and frequently poorly photographed friends from beyond, but on a recent journey into the wast abyss that is Nevada, I found myself in Virginia City.<br />
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Now, I completed this journey (and in doing so risked having to stop in Elko), so that I could enjoy the earthy delights that once made this city famous. And I intend on imparting my many memorable moments to you all once I decide which moments are the most impartable. But in the meanwhile, I felt like I needed to discuss the matter of Ghosts. Which brings us back to the start.<br />
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In Summary, Virginia City is home (kinda) to the Comstock Lode, the incredible ball of silver that made many people rich and kept several others drunk for a good while. It is also unusually....ghost friendly. Now, ghosts are a tricky bunch. Like Bigfoot, they never seem to show up for people who are technically looking for them (there are, of course, exceptions). Usually someone will just be taking a picture of some old war vets and Bam! An cloud of mist that looks vaguely like an old lady shows up hanging out in the background like it ain't no thing. I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes. While I didn't visit Virginia City looking SPECIFICALLY for ghosts, I was messing around in the graveyard at night, which leads me to believe that I was either very drunk and lost, or I was looking to stir up some ghostly company. Either way, I took this picture with my camera phone....
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Now, that may look like a whole lot of nuthin'. And you would be right. But, what if it is actually a whole lot of nuthin' and also a ghost? Remember, ghosts don't hang out in the same form we do. They spend their days being all misty and stuff. Which is why I didn't get this picture...
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You see, I believe Casper is nothing more than a chubby albino kid who realized that by pretending to be a ghost would open up more opportunities to score with goth chicks. But this post isn't about my thoughts on Casper. This post is about this picture...<br />
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So, what is going on here? Let's take a look at some of the more recognizable features. In the foreground you have a couple of graves, or as I like to call them, ghost factories.
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I've also labeled the dirt, in case some of you aren't keeping up. Graves usually involve dirt in some way. So, there we have it, graves. But what of this young fellow?
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Go ahead and blow that business up a little. Now, here's the thing. I have seen some crazy stuff in my life. I've seen two birds going at it then a third bird fly in and totally steal the other bird's lady bird, I've seen me make a three-pointer, I've even seen a raccoon. But I've never seen one of those. Mostly because I'm not exactly sure what one of those is/are. It is, like all good ghost pictures, open to interpretation. But I can say that it certainly wasn't there when I took the photo, and my flash wasn't strong enough to illuminate such an area, so whatever it is it seems to be making its own light. And so, dear reader, in the face of the overwhelming and irrefutable evidence I've so elegantly stated in less than 10 words, I propose that it is proof of an afterlife. Not bad for a blog post. Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-65235159278584466392012-07-26T21:59:00.001-07:002012-07-26T21:59:01.747-07:00Behold!And so, here we are, 5 months since my last post. What have I been doing? Oh, just a little something I like to call HAVING A JOB! It's a lot like unemployment, except there's these people who want to you show up at a building every day and stay there for a while. But you can't just sit at this building, they want you to do some sort of task while you are there. They call it "Being at work" and I totally do it every day. But that's not all I've been up to. Remember mines and rocks and stuff? I've looked at those things too! I've looked their brains out! And so, I feel that my geological cup runnith over, and that it is my sworn duty to put pictures of stuff on the internet. But not tonight. I have to "Being at work" tomorrow, and it's late tonight.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-78153047438194941832012-02-15T16:03:00.000-08:002012-02-16T16:13:22.264-08:00Valentines Special! Ghost Mine AND Ghost Town! Dixie Apex and Shem!<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Well, it's been three months since I last drank deeply from the well of gainful employment. It's been an educational experience. I've learned that Taco Bell offers a wide array of relatively cheap, somewhat digestable food-like items. I have learned that medical insurance is for chumps. I have re-learned the joys of playing with Legos. I am 32 years old. <br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>But that list is not all-inclusive. I have also been outdoors, just walking around and looking at stuff. Stuff needs to be looked at or it will start to organize and plot to overthrow you (I have also increased my paranoia). While I've seen many things in the last 3 months, I've focused a little more on rocks and mines and stuff. That's kinda my thing. Have you ever read one of these blog posts? They go on and on about rocks and mines and stuff. Heavens knows I don't read this crap. I've also grown a little more bitter lately. Everyone sucks but me. Someone give me a job.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Well, enough banter. We've got a lot of work to do (nope) and not much time to do it (nope). Today we are going to visit a decidedly different corner of Utah. Not because I ran out of thing to talk about (that happened years ago), but because I now find myself with the opportunity to take long vacations. Plus no one seems to have written all that much about todays mine/ghost town. I figure to set things right.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Allow me to introduce the Dixie Apex Mine....<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709520728885219570" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lpjm8isvnd8/TzxK2kLu0PI/AAAAAAAADDg/bc4NazA_-dA/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B1.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br /> That's where it used to be anyway. Or somewhere near there. It's hard to say for certain. It would be an easy matter to pinpoint its location if it were still there, but nowadays it's just sorta....that. It's under there somewhere. Here's what it looked like when it used to look like something.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 321px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709521565711706258" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OaHOOPqNBz0/TzxLnRmtqJI/AAAAAAAADEE/tqv-TYA96yA/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B2.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />But you aren't here to look at interesting pictures! You're here because for some reason this blog is a google result for the query "busty mermaids". Well this post doesn't feature any busty mermaids you pervs. Or does it? You should search this post from top to bottom. Tell me how it turns out.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>The story of the Dixie Apex starts with the end of the story of the Silver Reef mining district (which has been covered with all due attention and eloquence in a previous post rich with busty mermaids). Like most people, miners prefer to have jobs. Specifically to miners, they like to have jobs that allow them to dig in stuff. But Silver Reef soon had more people who were willing to dig in stuff than it needed. This lead to an unfortunate influx of unemployed miners who were completely without a place to dig a hole. Luckily for them, a whole new mining district was about to be discovered in 1884 by a young (possibly) fellow named William Webb.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 396px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709523232979251602" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AaIFySxo8uY/TzxNIUqRcZI/AAAAAAAADEQ/cuTWROuXeDU/s400/William%2BWebb.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br />Obviously that's not him, but it's as close as Google is going to get me. I like doing crazy Google searches. Have you ever googled "incredulous"? Pretty great. Things get a bit dicey after page 2 though. Stuff that would make busty mermaids weep for the souls of those soon to be born. Anyway, Mr. Webb was wandering the Beaver Dam Mountains in Southern Utah looking for cordwood. The Beaver Dam Mountains are located hereish...<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 321px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709525379809221138" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wrrrUbpnPcw/TzxPFSObGhI/AAAAAAAADEc/bjAjshr9OPs/s400/Utah%2BMap.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />As Mr. Webb was collecting his coveted cordwood on a mountain named Jarvis Peak, he came across some blue-green rocks. As you know, most rocks range in color from grey to greyish, so blue-green is somewhat notable. These rocks proved to be rich in copper, and copper appears to be more interesting than cordwood. Mr. Webb staked a claim on the site and created the Tugsagubet Mining District in the process. Tugsagubet is a hell of a word. Probably means something too. I don't know what though.<br /><br /> </div><div> </div><div>For reasons that are equally unknown to me, Mr. Webb named his mine The Pen Mine and work began that year (1884 for reminders). Here's some old-timesy pictures of people at work in the mine! I like old-timesy pictures.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709628576651129202" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7QMySrlc95k/Tzys8Ia1sXI/AAAAAAAADNE/3myElVAFnFQ/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B3.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 308px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709628574917844274" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OftNbFZO44I/Tzys8B9l3TI/AAAAAAAADNQ/zIMvQtKjgfg/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B6.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br />Those pictures are sideways because Blogspot is the worst program ever purposely released on humanity. Sometimes a dame would show up at the mine and it proved to be a picture-worthy occasion....<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 250px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709526963074758210" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6Cy9CFZw_I/TzxQhcWV9kI/AAAAAAAADEw/Or2bLiQIIa0/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B4.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />Between the years of 1884 and 1888 the mine pumped out 300 tons of ore which was shipped to Wales for some reason. Wales seems to have been the place to be if you were a chunk of rock. Anyway, Wales is far away and rocks are heavy, so shipping ate up much of the profits. In 1890 Mr. Webb missed his corkwood gathering hobby and sold the mine to a local mercantile firm named Wooley Lund and Judd. I guess they wanted to branch out from the dry goods business into the heavy underground mining business. Companies could do whatever they wanted back in the day, like how a gym coach can also be a driver's Ed teacher. I dunno.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>The ore assayed at 54.2 percent copper, 4.1 percent sulfur, and 4 ounces of silver to the ton. Is this good? I guess so. It seems good anyway. Not as good as 100 percent gold though. People should open more 100 percent gold mines. Either way, it was good enough for the Wooley Lunch and Judd powerhouse. They renamed the mine the Apex Copper and built several improvements, like a nice little boarding house. It seems like your chances of getting mauled by a rattlesnake seems slightly lower if you are standing inside a boarding house, so I'm betting it was a welcome addition. There's a picture of it up above. It's one of those sideways pictures.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Now, Wooley, Lund and Judd still had a problem. In fact, it was the same problem that William Webb had. Wales. Wales is just too far away for us to be shipping things to it. We would be better off just forgetting it completely in my opinion. So WLJ decided to again branch out once again, and in 1899 they built a small smelter right in the heart of St. George. The bugger lasted about a year and produced about 20 tons of copper before everyone seems to have lost interest in it. I tried to take a picture of the spot where this smelter used to be, but the site is now occupied by an irritable elderly gentleman who just wants to crack his cashews in peace. <br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>The ore wasn't going to smelt itself, so in 1900 a hugetastic new smelter was built a few miles closer to the mine, near the town of Gunlock (which is perhaps the very definition of a cool town name. Take some notes Sulphurdale). This new fang-dangled smelter was powered by a dam that was built over the Santa Clara River. Well, they must have built that dam with super dam powers, because it's still there today....<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709599979444792274" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A8ZL31rb_68/TzyS7jhia9I/AAAAAAAADHo/6IfQQbxC06w/s400/Shem%2BSmelter.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />And here is some other part of the smelter. The, uh, round part.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709600411652466978" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2dGjqwZpxEI/TzyTUtn4KSI/AAAAAAAADH0/EaVW4EWHedM/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B2.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />The rest of the smelter is out in the weeds somewhere. I can't be bothered to go look for them though. <br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709600752311271586" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CBJnBwLiBpI/TzyToirRAKI/AAAAAAAADIA/hVD9xEy_7S8/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B3.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> <br /><br />Now, rivers and dams are all well and good, but smelters still need poorly educated immigrants to work it! So soon a town was built around the smelter, and was named Shem after a particularly friendly chief in the nearby tribe. The town was built on the hillside to the west (or possibly east or north, I'm bad with directions) of the smelter. There's not a whole lot to see anymore. EXCEPT THIS AWESOME WALL!!<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709601546142111634" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G0h3CyILWo8/TzyUWv7SV5I/AAAAAAAADIM/-JWR4ngdbgU/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B4.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />Not good enough you say? Well, HERE'S ANOTHER WALL!!!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709601819372145186" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s0lekdQS4Es/TzyUmpyZyiI/AAAAAAAADIY/QMbHbUNN4EI/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B5.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div><br /><br />They are kinda hard to see there, but trust me, there are two walls in those pictures and they are fantastic. But if neither of those pictures are very interesting to you, then I don't recommend you go out of your way to see Shem. Because that's about it. Also you have to pull over on the side of the road and everyone slows down to look at the person who has pulled over to the side of the road and they start to judge them. Like they were some sort of freak tramping around in the bushes looking at old walls.Anyway, the population of Shem was never very large. Probably around a few hundred folks at its peak. And because the only work in town was a smelter, I'm betting the chick to dude ratio was horrible. <br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Here's a thing. These buildings are located pretty close to the old Shem townsite...<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709629310366986178" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O0eBFJZHR6Q/Tzytm1uVL8I/AAAAAAAADNc/bnXBYHItvFQ/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B6.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br /> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709603107403397026" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zchvBI2gBE4/TzyVxoE-96I/AAAAAAAADIw/zRvZpc81cBk/s400/Shem%2BSmelter%2B7.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> <br /><br />and although they weren't technically part of the town, they do have an interesting history that will fill out this otherwise short post nicely. Here's the thing. With the exception of the mine, everything we have seen is located pretty much right in the middle of the Shivwits Indian Reservation. I have never met a Shivwit, but based on the number of no trespassing signs, I'm guessing they don't want you poking your nose about in their business. So I recommend that you don't. The rest of this story will only serve to validate my recommendation. The structure in the upper picture was, not surprisingly, a prison built by the mormon settlers in an attempt to establish friendly relations with the native people. Why they chose something as unfriendly as a prison, I couldn't say. I would have gone with a candy cane teddy bear shop, but those were different times. The second picture is of an old chapel, located just a few feet away from the prison. Well, things were going along swimmingly until one night when a mob of angry braves broke into the prison and made off with a prisoner who had committed a crime of some sort. The mob took the prisoner over to the church and gave him the ol' hangy hangy from a rafter. After that, people didn't really want to go to church there anymore so it was abandoned. The end.</div><div> </div><div>Let's get back to the mine. From 1900 to 1907 several other mines in the Tutsagwhatever Mining District started to ship ore to the Shem smelter. These include the Black Warrior Mine, The Westside Mine, as well as others that I feel no need to climb to. Here's a secret just between you and me. All mines look like this...</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 295px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709607060823597186" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fi7nwT-0HCg/TzyZXvtz4II/AAAAAAAADI8/vZFV8iUDNJs/s400/Mine.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>All of them. Just a big old hole. Now, there may be a few slight variations, but that's basically the idea. So if you ever feel like you need to waste an entire Wednesday climbing up some horrible, mountain lion infested peak to see a mine, I just saved you a ton of time. With that being said, here's another mine near the Dixie Apex that I wasted my entire Wednesday climbing to!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709607965091840818" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MnhnJbV10cw/TzyaMYYKQzI/AAAAAAAADJI/uV1XeMKHTO4/s400/Paymaster%2BMine.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>That there is the Paymaster Mine, but despite the illustrious name, it never actually paid much of anything. It produced a little lead and silver, but nothing to write home about (which would be a weird thing to do anyway). What is amazing about this mine is that it is still very well preserved.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709607964916196386" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-slGW8xMaNkI/TzyaMXuSJCI/AAAAAAAADJU/3Hp8USiyymU/s400/Paymaster%2BMine%2B2.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>This is the old steam hoist that would bring the miners up from their little vacation to Hades. The lever on the left is the operating action, and the chair on the far left is where the operator would sit their butt. I shouldn't have to explain what the chair is for. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709609324481139458" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iQJ3Nf1Plp8/Tzybbgf00wI/AAAAAAAADJg/I2cErWMVLCo/s400/Paymaster%2BMine%2B4.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>Here's a few old oil cans still sitting on the shelf waiting to....oil...things. Neat. So, bad mine, neat piece of history. Not a bad trade-off. For us anyway. I bet the mine owners would have differing opinions. Or would if they weren't long dead. </div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709610023452980674" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wntZwXcSZDg/TzycEMXstcI/AAAAAAAADJs/wxGTKhTIdZM/s400/Paymaster%2BMine%2B3.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> Let's move it along. The Dixie Apex (as it finally became known) was worked until 1909 when dropping copper prices made digging holes cost-prohibative. I don't know who had to give the news to Shem, but I bet it wasn't met with much enthusiasm. Without ore to smelt, there is no need for a smelter. And without a smelter there is no need for a smelting town. So off Shem went. See you around Shem. </div><div> </div><div>The prices of copper would rise and fall, and thus the Dixie Apex was re-opened several times between 1911 and 1960. At some point a shaft was dug in the hill above the tunnel for some reason. Here's a picture of what we're looking at. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 296px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709611414442822434" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGNwP5c50kI/TzydVKNhSyI/AAAAAAAADJ4/UnDfViEYV6Y/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B7.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I don't know if that clears anything up. At least the road is well labeled. See the dashed line labeled Apex Fault? See the part that has question marks all over it? That means that the fault is "inferred" which actually mean "maybe it does this" which in turn means "we don't know what the hell is going on". Much of geology should have those question marks. </div><div> </div><div>Here's a picture of that shaft from far away...</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709612625484039234" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K4Mffh_eVlY/TzyebpsPxEI/AAAAAAAADKE/BKfBC-Ja0lA/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B8.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>Can you see it? Lets see if I can't make it stand out a little more....</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709614530335313570" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aot6zaYO19w/TzygKh0LjqI/AAAAAAAADKQ/agXT-KDU2oc/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B10.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>Well, neither of those are really great. But the idea I'm trying to make is that you would have to be extremely stupid to climb all the way up there. </div><div> </div><div>Here's some pictures of the shaft after I climbed all the way up there...</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709615125689028738" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEeVvKE8oGA/TzygtLrkUII/AAAAAAAADKc/bMjgxlYmhkc/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B9.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709615705319613874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4c0Wp80AcBs/TzyhO6-RJbI/AAAAAAAADKo/aKaWmLJ5Mc8/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B11.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> See? What did I tell you?</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 295px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709616054338011810" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-59-7YPV3v3Y/TzyhjPKvQqI/AAAAAAAADK0/KpuyMdLQKOA/s400/Mine.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>But look what I did find all the way up there!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709616623490937298" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOzzbbw0Mq8/TzyiEXbXsdI/AAAAAAAADLA/6ie2X1x9bQk/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B12.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>What the devil is this thing? It didn't seem to understand english, so I tried to threaten it away by throwing sticks and leaves into the air. Then I fell down the hill. Nice views of the nearby valley though. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709617542916823730" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kRy3dKlJhHk/Tzyi54jlWrI/AAAAAAAADLM/gQT5DZ3YksQ/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B14.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> Plus I was able to capture this shot of me getting a workout. This one is for the ladies.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709618990064248434" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N_oyllPvnk8/TzykOHmapnI/AAAAAAAADLk/F6oZ9f1DHg8/s400/Me%2Bat%2Bthe%2BDixie%2BApex.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>As a side note, I don't care whos head you put on He-Man's body, they will always look constipated. You could put FDR's head up there and you would end up with our nations only 4 term and most constipated president. Bah. Anyway, ore from this shaft (and from a second tunnel that I haven't mentioned) was driven along this little mining road.....</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709618195844077218" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJ6LhaJLYjg/Tzyjf45klqI/AAAAAAAADLY/U2NFrVfIeBg/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B13.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>To an assay house that was located near the mine opening. Remember, there really isn't a whole lot left out there, so you have to use your imagination a lot. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709618992052569842" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6OGfFMHoWw/TzykOPAeBvI/AAAAAAAADLs/7JZswmnxHbg/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B15.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>See the rocks stacked up near the left-middle portion of the picture? This would have been the foundation of said assay house. Or possibly something else. I wasn't there. But I suspect it was an assay house due to a little detective work. See this??????</div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709621395949760434" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jHwpqd_0Ufs/TzymaKOOL7I/AAAAAAAADL8/c1wUVJfBP_k/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B16.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> What we have here is a decorative piece of furnace surrounded by red furnace brick pieces. These, my friends, are the calling cards of an assay house. Or possibly any number of other things. But I'm sticking with assay house. </div><div> </div><div>So, what did we end up with? Well, personally I ended up throwing up my lunch because I climbed up a really steep hill and had an imaginary fight with some weird plant. But if you mean the mine, well, the numbers are actually pretty good. 7,000 million tons of copper, 400 million tons of lead, 180,000 ounces of silver, and a slight dusting of gold. More than I've ever produced anyway. By the mid 1960's the mine ran dry, and everyone closed up shop. But something else was lurking in the depths of Jarvis Peak. Let's take a look at that 7th grade science thing.</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 273px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709623237244948850" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7rn3yShxLs/TzyoFVlNEXI/AAAAAAAADMI/2aIPunDPzp0/s400/tableofelements.png" /></div><div> </div><div>That's the periodic table. It's full of stuff we use for other stuff. I've gone ahead and labeled our old friends copper and silver (as well as the made up elements down below). But have you ever seen these two fiesty little fellows?</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 273px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709623999442167682" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1IiOuKrfoKE/Tzyoxs_Lp4I/AAAAAAAADMU/n5bTG04kBCI/s400/tableofelementsII.png" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Ga and Ge? What madness is this? Apparently science found them quite a few years ago, and named them Germanium and Gallium. It turns out that these metals are quite useful in the manufacture of futuristic things, like flux capacitors and catamarans. They are called "rare earth metals" because they are....rare earth metals. Or at least they are everywhere else other than the Dixie Apex Mine. You see, these two little buggers were hiding out in the low-grade ore that was ignored by the earlier miners and left down in the ground. But once they were discovered (and I'm not quite sure how they were), the mine soon had a new purpose. Enough Germanium and Gallium to make us all rich and sterile! And so, in 1985, the mine was again fired up with the intention of becoming the world's first Germanium and Gallium mine. </div><div> </div><div>Now, the rest of the story gets a bit foggy. From what I understand, there is one other location in the world where Germanium and Gallwhatever can be found in useful quantities, and the folks who own that mine didn't care for the competition that the Dixie Apex was bringing along. So they did what anyone who has a Scrooge McDuck-like money big sitting around. They bought the mine and closed it down. Then you reclaim it. A-like so.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709626771307881730" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LPRfbGpj4ZU/TzyrTC_d5QI/AAAAAAAADMo/NBYQiR9HByI/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B18.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709626779005853634" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RqjCXVlq_Tk/TzyrTfqzn8I/AAAAAAAADM4/ri0M8J3LKpk/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B19.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709626766216553474" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--yZEGrNDo_0/TzyrSwBmZAI/AAAAAAAADMg/V-OVKTKrsy4/s400/Dixie%2BApex%2B17.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Then you stick a big fat "Stay the heck out" sign up and go on your way. </div><div> </div><div>So, will the Dixie Apex stay shut? Probably not. I'm betting that at some point in the future, the allure of those two elements that I'm not going to type again will drag people back down into the hole. But I'm tired of thinking about this mine. Good day. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-37213905131907099212011-12-06T19:18:00.000-08:002011-12-11T22:13:48.193-08:00Ghost Town Tuesday! - Silver City, UtahI started this post on tuesday, so that title is somewhat correct. If this sort of thing is a problem for you, then I'm betting you aren't the super-popular type. I've got 99 problems, and people who have a hard time figuring out poorly-titled posts aren't one. Neither is tetanus (I got my booster!)<br /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>You know what I like most about ghost towns? It's not the history or the inspiring stories or any of that crap. It's that no matter how badly you are doing in life, the ghost town is most certainly doing worse. I mean, they're all dead and I'm still here! I may not have a job or a girlfriend, but at least I'm not a moldering corpse! Sometimes it's fun to walk to the center of town and dare someone to judge you. They can't! They wore crazy pantaloons and bonnets! Also there's no one there. This paragraph reflects very poorly on me. </div><br /><br /><div>Silver City is as desolate as any ghost town you will ever see. Time, weather, misapproapriation of funds, lack of effective city planning/population have all taken their toll on the moldering remains. Nowadays all that awaits you is a field. This field, in fact....<br /><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685092491016769170" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jQ6TNX3lvCU/TuWBf-pLjpI/AAAAAAAAC9I/Dg3KHdbR-vY/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B1.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>Also sheep. Lots of sheep. Here's a fun fact about sheep dogs. They are a really mean. Like 8th grade english teacher mean. Maybe YOU aren't applying yourself Mrs Stevenson! Bah.</div><br /><br /><div>The rise and fall of Silver City mirrors the rise and fall of the Tintic Mining District (in which it is located). Let's take a closer look at our trusty map so we have some idea of where we are. Remember, by trusty I mean that I'm going to draw it using my memory. </div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 321px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685092706308697778" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Q-meGw4YHk/TuWBsgqxrrI/AAAAAAAAC9U/rlZESkf8uVs/s400/Utah%2BMap.jpg" /><br />That's a good start. If I had bothered to make a map for the post on Diamond, you would see that the two towns were neighbors at one time. They probably had deragatory names for each other! Towns do that sometimes. Anyway, here's a close-up....<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 352px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685093115705629058" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AzmjDQF2Phs/TuWCEVynGYI/AAAAAAAAC9g/Sg5MjLXIKN0/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B2.png" /> </div><br /><br /><div>There. Now we have some bearings. Or we are just as lost as ever. Either way let's get on with this. Much like the ghost town of Diamond, Silver City was founded as the result of several rich mines being identified in 1869. The Grand-daddy mine of them all (not quite, but it was a pretty nifty find) was the Sunbeam, discovered by a fella named George Rust. Here he is now!<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 171px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 219px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685093464004385474" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b7SHxeTk2KQ/TuWCYnTgWsI/AAAAAAAAC9s/GC7T7D3FSFY/s400/George_Smith_Rust.jpg" /><br /><br />What's that, Mr. Rust? You have something to say?<br /><br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 321px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685094002927391394" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-71G4EL24qwU/TuWC3-8w0qI/AAAAAAAAC94/UUY3ge-H7RA/s400/George_Smith_RustII.jpg" /> </div><br /><br /><br /><div>Legend has it that the Sunbeam claim was identified when Mr. Rust saw the sunlight shining off an outcrop of ore. The story seems to be missing a few pieces as to what happened next, but apparently a group of mormon cowboys filed the claim (where Mr. Rust went, I couldn't say) and were promptly booted from the mormon church as mining was somewhat frowned upon in early Utah. Here's where the Sunbeam Mine is located....<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 352px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685094538589333394" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g-zK68N9xG4/TuWDXKchZ5I/AAAAAAAAC-E/Ozy_UX1259s/s400/Sunbeam%2BMine.png" /><br /><br /><div>It's pretty close to town, which is convient considering that the bus system was probably pretty bad. Here's the Sunbeam Mine nowadays! </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685095199258834210" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sm5TYq4x_Nc/TuWD9noZ9SI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/1ezExYccWmg/s400/Sunbeam%2BMine%2BII.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685095200868509618" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCQ8sERACrY/TuWD9toLp7I/AAAAAAAAC-Y/nv4yORQfYLk/s400/Sunbeam%2BMine%2BIII.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>Not much to look at. That was reclaimed in 2010, so now it looks like even less. Dust to dust and all that I suppose. Shortly after the Sunbeam Mine was staked, several other promising mines were staked in and around Silver City. These include the Swansea....<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685096586831892642" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0FrydKRBkT8/TuWFOYvmkKI/AAAAAAAAC-o/-rHcH2WP7OY/s400/Swansea%2BMine.jpg" /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685096588305913458" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xk1eU290UfY/TuWFOePCVnI/AAAAAAAAC-0/QmXGqMtSzeQ/s400/Swansea%2BMine%2BII.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 324px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685097478363432082" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5v_l2Woxr6g/TuWGCR9SRJI/AAAAAAAAC_A/00HpmH4rf30/s400/Swansea%2BMine%2BIII.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>The South Swansea....<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685098573742912562" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fPSZbnbZhdo/TuWHCCkGtDI/AAAAAAAAC_M/eVjMJQ6fCGc/s400/South%2BSwansea%2BMine.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>The Four Aces and Picnic Mines...</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685099015004040146" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XLWikme-EV8/TuWHbuY9K9I/AAAAAAAAC_Y/x7xoMZRk17s/s400/Picnic%2Band%2B4aces.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>All of which were also located very convenently near town....</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 352px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685099593332215042" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msa7lsOEmm4/TuWH9Y1IzQI/AAAAAAAAC_k/_4-qEAABM7E/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B3.png" /><br /><br /><div>And so, here we are. We have miners, we have mines, we have ticks, and we have people who were willing to bleed them all dry. These are the ingredients a person needs for a town. And sure enough, in 1870 the town of Silver City was officially born.<br /></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 209px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685101894909737458" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pB8RGLskIVA/TuWKDW3-ufI/AAAAAAAAC_w/v7XwT22bq_I/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B4.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>Like all good towns, it started out being little more than tents and mud, but this wasn't to be the case for long. The mines were booming, and as a result the miners were ready for some prostitutes and whiskey, both of which require a somewhat more perminant building (not really, but I suppose it's preferred). As one observer put it....</div><br /><br /><br /><div>"A billiard saloon, balcksmith shop, grog hole, some tents, several drunks, a free fight, water some miles off, a hold down 90 feet hunting a spring without success, and any number of rich or imaginary rich lodes in the neighborhood. The owners are all poor and poor men work for them. By next spring the poor with be poorer."</div><br /><br /><div>That doesn't sound so great I guess. But it doesn't matter. That observer was wrong and as such he doesn't even get his named mentioned in this post (also I don't know it). Silver City soon was the early center of the Tintic District, with the Mammoth claims to the north, and Diamond to the south. The name "Silver City" came from the rich silver mines that were basically in the middle of town. Silver City is a cool name. By 1883, the Salt Lake and Western and Tintic Range railroads had been extended into Silver City, and the mines were free to really take off. </div><br /><br /><br /><div>As these things typically go, things didn't last very long. At a depth of 250 feet, the rich silver bodies that had everyone willing to live in that sheep-infested valley pinched-out into thick beds of worthless pyrite. One by one the mines closed down and the miners moved to the recent strikes at Alta and Park City. Silver City didn't disappear, but I bet land values were very affordable at that point. Gangs of wild sheep controlled the streets, and nobody went out at night for fear of being "sheared" clean by ill-tempered sheep crime-lords.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685102417654829474" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BLeNg-6ozd8/TuWKhyQH0aI/AAAAAAAAC_8/bRrrMyYJUso/s400/Sheep%2BCrime%2BLords.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>That could have been the end of our story if it wasn't for one brave soul who was determined to stick it out. He dug and dug into the pyrite and in July of 1896 he was rewarded! At a depth of 350 feet, a silver-rich galena body was found! Galena is valuable! Silver is valuable! The sheep were temporarialy shooed away, and Silver City exploded (figuratively). By 1899 the population was at 800 people, and all the mines were advanced into the rich ore bodies below the devilish pyrite that had at one time tormented them so. This is considered the golden-age of silver city.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 211px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685111157899100722" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GfV6Uo446s8/TuWSeiMvgjI/AAAAAAAADBo/bA6hEX16v5Y/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B5.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 236px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685107589942704210" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZdCVJhwLZs8/TuWPO2hpeFI/AAAAAAAADBc/3Ab6etphEu0/s400/Silver%2BCity%2B6.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>It is a worthwhile exercise at this juncture to step back and make a mental list of the things miners hate. Step into the body of a turn of the century miner (mind the syphallis!) and take a look around. As a miner, you probably find that you dislike corrupt mine bosses, poor safety records, and other miners. You also hate watered-down whiskey and the chinese (you're a tad bit racist). But what about the very substance of life? I speak of water. Now, water is great in managabile quantities. Hell, it's not only great, it necessary. But what if it gets out of hand? </div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685103134215366290" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XQ0thWfmowY/TuWLLfpd5pI/AAAAAAAADAI/i6aGwnDfLk8/s400/Flooded%2BMine.jpg" /> </div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>That is a flooded mine. Water floods mines. Miners can't breathe in water. This is a problem. Groundwater near the mines in the vicinity of Silver City showed up at a depths ranging from 300 to 650 feet below the current ground level. No matter how rich a mine is, it means nothing if you can't get at the ore. The mines that weren't dripping with valuable minerals had to close, as they couldn't afford to battle the constant flow of water that took over the mines. The major mines initiated an expensive pumping system and continued to plunge into the earth to find more of the good stuff. Look at how much digging the Swansea Mine did!<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 248px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685104369773513010" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ooelIq5B_ac/TuWMTadfCTI/AAAAAAAADAU/rPjmAYx9iQs/s400/Map%2Bof%2Bthe%2BSwansea%2BVein.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>But, alas, even they weren't immune to the ravages of water and water-related troubles. Eventually the water over-powered their pumps and the mine had to close. The town began to shrink again. Then in 1902 the whole place burned to the ground. That shrunk it up real fast.<br /></div><br /><br /><div>The town was somewhat rebuilt a third time, although it was no longer particularly important (like the postmaster general). It limped on, probably filling up with the less social folks (get off my land!) and sheep. But Silver City was to get one more chance to make it to the big leagues. </div><br /><br /><div>Allow me to introduce Jesse Knight.<br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685105232875800034" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmBOSKu7jlg/TuWNFpxGxeI/AAAAAAAADAg/Vr5cYCgWaYs/s400/Knight-Jesse-336x448-sepia.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>Mr. Knight is a monumental figure in the Utah Mining world and was at one point owned most of the Tintic District, but I'm not going to get into that here. Or anywhere in this post. And probably never at all. All you need to know is that if he asked you to eat a pinecone, you ate as many as you could as fast as you could. Unless you had some self-respect.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>Mr. Knight had a problem. Smelter rates were too high, and it made it hard to make a profit off all the ore his mines were producing. So he did what rich people do and decided to simply build his own smelter (and then charge himself much more reasonable rates I imagine). In 1907 he selected a nice flat spot outside of the decaying remains of Silver City and built the Utah Ore Sampling Company Smelter. Need proof? Here you go!<br /></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 282px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685105893881749570" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2fveU5GzduA/TuWNsINNIEI/AAAAAAAADAs/WJJG1OQ0_Co/s400/Silver%2BCity%2BSmelter.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>With the nearby smelter hard at work, Silver City boomed once again, reaching a population of 1500 in 1908. Buildings were constructed as fast as the lumber could get there, with most of hte population being employed in one of Jesse Knights many ventures in the area. The smelter was such a success that it got its own holiday. On July 24th, 1908, the good people celebrated "Smelter Day", complete with free food, free transport to the event, and even a marrage. It was probably the only time you will ever see a mine smelter at the center of a positive event, but those were different times. But what did they care? Things were good again! And they were going to last this time! Right?</div><br /><br /><br /><div>Nope. Shipping rates dropped, and suddenly it became more economical to just ship your ore to Salt Lake City than it was to ship it to your smelters in the mountains and let the hill people deal with it. So Mr. Knight took down his fantastic, wonder-astic smelter and moved it to Salt Lake City one year later (October of 1909). Now instead of producing silver and copper, the smelter produces a large amount of concrete debris.</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685107587595505762" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EMKsF8zoZgg/TuWPOtyCEGI/AAAAAAAADBQ/8piw5Savu8w/s400/Jessie%2BKnight%2BSmelter%2B3.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685107582984286354" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DFxKIQFpyzk/TuWPOcmocJI/AAAAAAAADBE/9JLjN49Sa6Y/s400/Jessie%2BKnight%2BSmelter%2B2.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685107577583271618" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--mYZGf1Wnpw/TuWPOIe7fsI/AAAAAAAADA4/5OeOXtDvs9M/s400/Knight%2BSmelter%2B2.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><div>And so, we (again) reach a rather gloomy part of our post. You see, without mines or any sort of mine-related income, the town of Silver City once again found itself without purpose. But, like a rich elderly relative, it refused to die. Silver City lingered around, feeding on whatever scraps the town of Eureka didn't want. The remaining inhabitants didn't care much for outsiders. Or foreigners. Two Croat smelter workers who had decided to hang around the smelter closed were involved in a killing, which resulted in the following statement from a Silver City resident - </div><br /><br /><br /><div>"Before the smelter was completed a boat load of Turkish people (Greeks) was imported for cheap labor which of course caused contention among the working people, these Turks were housed in large rooming and boarding houses near the smelter and much of them selves. and a good thing because these people were considered very dangerous and most of them carried long knives in the wide sash around their waist and we kids were admonished to stay away from that part of town or we would be butchered and eaten."</div><br /><br /><div>There were no reports of cannablism, so I guess the two parties stayed away from each other. Life puttered on through the 1920's with the population holding steady at 650 folks. Look! Here's the graduating class of 1927!</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 274px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685111163559880290" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEhhAsihM64/TuWSe3SYJmI/AAAAAAAADB0/MdXM09aduqc/s400/Silver%2BCity%2Bclass.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>By 1930, the population had dropped to 278 people, and by 1933 the town was deserted and left to the elements (who showed no mercy). Various fires encouraged the wooden structures to move towards the white light, and the ever present sheep romped about like they owned the place. That leads us to this.....</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685111169258172098" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-088-SXWejWw/TuWSfMg9LsI/AAAAAAAADB8/g9iyCwUFxfc/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B1.jpg" /><br />(That is the old waste-water pond from the smelter. The people of Silver City used to love to swim in it. It probably wouldn't have been as popular if they had known that lead and arsenic also loved to swim in it. But who knows? All the swimmers are dead, so we can't ask them).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685111166363224562" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LrogXvGI7fU/TuWSfBuvyfI/AAAAAAAADCM/4RI7ue47Cvk/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B3.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685111177354402722" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZNyiS7IH_s/TuWSfqrP26I/AAAAAAAADCc/5zvxiNx9cF8/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B4.jpg" /> </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685116297005856338" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rCuqboq3pqk/TuWXJq3RdlI/AAAAAAAADCk/mxpz2d_2OOg/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B2.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685116301841607682" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_OEjP9NDfXk/TuWXJ84NLAI/AAAAAAAADCs/oInSI7HG4Mg/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B5.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 225px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685116301224087170" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qS7Qv2y0EA/TuWXJ6k-joI/AAAAAAAADC4/HV5yjBHr5JY/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B6.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685116306160734226" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9vcC-Np1AI4/TuWXKM990BI/AAAAAAAADDM/85obpyeXyV4/s400/Modern%2BSilver%2BCity%2B7.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>A few crumbling concrete foundations, a few rusty tools, and lots of sheep. Seriously, the sheep are endless out here. And so we end our visit to Silver City. Because it's boring out there nowadays and I'm sick of talking about it.<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685116314389988322" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKFXFmidRdg/TuWXKrn-Q-I/AAAAAAAADDU/nAC9MhDRyV0/s400/FInale.jpg" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-42173417418456345532011-12-01T23:35:00.000-08:002011-12-08T21:11:36.676-08:00Aurichalcite - It falls apart and is really frustrating and I hate it.Well, we've covered quite a few basic minerals and opened our eyes to the possibilities that abound in the world of geology. I think we are ready for the some of the meatier secondary minerals that no one cares about. And so, without any further introduction, here is today's mineral.<br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683988807818086370" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-niqkhNyzBYo/TuGVtKVLB-I/AAAAAAAAC8k/F1dIrRWS0m8/s400/Real%2BAurichalcite.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>Now, a lot of people will try to tell you that in order to learn about something, you need to learn a lot of fancy facts about that something. That's mostly true. Well, alright, that's all the way true. But what about if we have a bunch of opinions about that thing as well? Are opinions any less important than facts? Technically yes. But I'm going to tell you my opinions about aurichalcite anyway.</div><br /><br /><div>Aurichalcite is a huge pain in the butt. Here's why;</div><br /><br /><div>OPINION/FACT 1 - It never shows up in a convinent place.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 297px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683990373416251634" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-36KnQX7W2sU/TuGXISo3MPI/AAAAAAAAC8w/ZfHXq9A2x6g/s400/Map.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>OPINION/FACT 2 - It falls apart faster than grandma's bones.</div><br /><div></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 273px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683990642670928114" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kL-mYi0Liv4/TuGXX9sLgPI/AAAAAAAAC88/LFMuSC2QBrc/s400/Aurichalcite%2B1.jpg" /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>I would have preferred that picture say “aurichalcite” instead of “dreams”, but when you’re stealing stuff off the internet you can’t be choosey. Plus maybe it’s our dream to find aurichalcite, then it totally works. Things that fall apart easily are the worst. Once in elementary school I made this really cool hat for "make a cool hat and wear it to school" day. Man, that hat had everything. A pocket for band-aids, two or three safety pins, a little blinking light at the top, everything a man could want in a hat. Anyway, it fell apart right before I got to school and I was totally the laughing stock of the class. Or would have been if I had been popular enough to warrent some level of attention. Sometimes flying under the radar is the best way to survivie kids!</div><br /><br /><div>OPINION/FACT #3 - Aurichalcite is haunted.<br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681434352860135554" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kXJ9z6H9y98/TtiCcUDuAII/AAAAAAAAC4o/48WQDw3yDKU/s400/Aurichalcite%2B3.jpg" /> </div><br /><br /><div>Nope, made that one up.<br /><br /><br /><div>OPINION/FACT #4 – Now here's the kicker. Aurichalcite is really awesome. There really isn’t a photo to go with this one.</div><br /><br /><div>Now, again, those things are just my opinions. So you can see that I’m pretty torn on the issue. The title of this post clearly states that I hate aurichalcite, yet OPINION/FACT #4 states quite ot opposite. The only thing worse than having conflicting opinions about a mineral is having an opinion about a mineral in the first place.</div><br /><br /><div>Anyway, let's move on. For you hard-core “I want to actually learn something” types (nerds), let’s get into the nitty-gritty. But first let’s look at this cool bottle I found!</div><br /><div></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 297px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681436698872477570" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pv1G07ftjPs/TtiEk3opd4I/AAAAAAAAC40/MW0ZBeVqVYM/s400/Bottle.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>I don’t know what’s in it, but I’m guessing that it’s about 120 years old! It could be whiskey! Or some sort of whiskey-based medical juice! Anyway, if you are going to be a geologist, you need to keep your eyes out for other neat artifacts when in the field. With any luck you too could find an old bottle filled with some toxic liquid.</div><br /><br /><div>Let’s take a look at some other pieces of aurichalcite.</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 284px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681437471622491122" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wiCpRc2q0gg/TtiFR2Wm6_I/AAAAAAAAC5A/kmqMe5piSnw/s400/Aurichalcite%2B5.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681437474055277106" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5A1AqLuXr1M/TtiFR_aoSjI/AAAAAAAAC5I/tsRaPEKEI0Y/s400/Aurichalcite%2B4.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681437474212936226" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYBoSUXhJq4/TtiFSAAN-iI/AAAAAAAAC5U/FPvRdtvq8ic/s400/Aurichalcite.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>The first thing that jumps out at us is that, it looks like fuzzy blue stuff. When a mineral forms as a bunch of fuzzy little needles like that, it’s known as having a acicular habit. Neat! If you are anything like me, then your first thought would be that it was formed thusly… </div><br /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 255px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681439488306182818" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a_0eyv3mYME/TtiHHPFd-qI/AAAAAAAAC5w/SB9vZRNrqPE/s400/Aurichalcite%2Bmuppet.jpg" /><br />Sadly, no. Muppets play little to no part in the formation of aurichalcite. Yet. In order to make aurichalcite, you need five atoms of zinc…</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681440271492821074" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KrfPqYOu5Eo/TtiH00rtsFI/AAAAAAAAC58/GWVCaVmw7Tg/s400/Zinc.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>Another five atoms of copper…</div><br /><div></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681440278453644546" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kRa_g8-oQ7c/TtiH1OnTbQI/AAAAAAAAC6I/dxK9RoZcwuU/s400/Copper.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>And a gob of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.<br /><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681440279614587634" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fu3JfZsSpcg/TtiH1S8GAvI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/vw0If-G5AmQ/s400/All%2Bthe%2Brest.jpg" /><br />Bake them together and you get (Zn, Cu)5 (CO3)2 (OH)6 , or in otherwords…this…</div><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681441707662033490" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_jyCmfs4kMw/TtiJIa1IwlI/AAAAAAAAC6s/hfPPE5JNKU0/s400/Real%2BAurichalcite.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>FUN FACT FOR YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!</div><br /><br /><div>Aurichalcite is an example of a "Pearly" luster folks! Have we talked about luster before? Seems like we have. Go read all the other posts and tell me if I've never talked about luster. DO IT!</div><br /><br /><div>END OF FUN FACT!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Remember azurite and malachite? They also feature the CO3 and OH guys. As a result these minerals are all included in the same family of minerals known as carbonates. Pour a little hydrochloric acid on these buggers and stand back! Actually you don’t have to. They just fizz a little. Neat to watch though. Remember to ask your parents before you mess around with the family hydrochloric acid reserves. </div><br /><br /><div>Now before you run off with your picks and shovels to find some of this admittedly cool looking mineral, remember my second opinion of aurichalcite. It is incredibly hard to keep in one piece. This is due to a whopping hardness of 1.5. This pretty much means that a stern look will cause it to blow up.</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681449834356420994" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wjKz3cNzdi0/TtiQhdIEMYI/AAAAAAAAC8M/KkaRYjVv5RY/s400/Hardness.jpg" /><br /><br />Not only that, but aurichalcite has a “brittle” tenacity. This means pretty much what you think it does. Tenacity is a measure of a mineral’s ability to deform under some sort of impact. Minerals that are brittle don’t deform much. They just turn to dust. Like a mummy playing catcher for a major-league baseball team.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 269px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681444250190176418" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mfWcRrO7mng/TtiLcafFYKI/AAAAAAAAC7E/GNrtSyfbj8w/s400/Catcher.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>So we start to get a picture of why collecting the stuff is a challenge. You have to break off a big piece of rock and just hope that some of it survives. And it never does.</div><br /><br /><div>So other than the sheer thrill of hunting geology’s most structurally inept mineral, why would anyone want the stuff? Well, like anything that contains copper, it can be used as an ore of….copper. It clocks in at 14.5% copper, which means that if you had 100 pounds of it, you could make 14.5 pounds of pure-copper pennies. That’s as scientific as I’m going to get. Also that may be wrong. I’m not doing a lot of fact-checking here. Anyway, that’s not all that great. But where does the zinc content come in at?? Wait for it…</div><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681445561192227106" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nZPdPYcD1dc/TtiMouWVISI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/NgP2jgDYyJg/s400/suspense_collection_1-0.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681445560757807026" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b8sJ02b35D0/TtiMosuwZ7I/AAAAAAAAC7c/Z5iJV4Dwml4/s400/suspense_collection_1-0.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681445562640417778" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eXi1JYNutiM/TtiMozvmw_I/AAAAAAAAC7k/8tYq0acMpWk/s400/Muppet.jpg" /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681450880262272162" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oMXtB1ehXyk/TtiReVbc9KI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/89kLZeG8Ivo/s400/suspense_collection_1-0.jpg" /><br /><br /><div>44.8 Percent! That’s pretty good. So it’s an even better ore of zinc, which we apparently mostly use for making little piles of white powder.</div><br /><br /><div>A final aspect to consider while pondering the uses of aurichalcite is by realizing that it is a secondary mineral. Have I ever described what that means? I think I have, but I don’t even know what day it is, so who can tell. Anyway, when an ore body is forming, the initial minerals to show up are usually known as the primary minerals. These tend to be somewhat simple chemically (but also sometimes not). Later groundwater shows up and messes with the primary minerals (using such processes as oxidation, which involves a bunch of fancy words to describe). This messing-with results in the creation of the secondary minerals, which usually are a little more colorful from a chemical aspect. SO WHY SHOULD WE CARE??? Well, if you are a miner and you find a bunch of secondary minerals, it stands to reason that there will be a bunch of primary minerals still hanging out somewhere, and those usually have valuable stuff in them. If you are anyone else, you probably shouldn’t care at all. </div><br /><br /><div>Let’s delve into history a little bit now. After all, this blog has the word history right in the title. Seems like I’m obligated. Aurichalcite was first described back in the good old year of 1839 by some fellow named Bottger. No one seems to remember his first name though. Geology can be cruel as well as kind. Anyway, this Bottger fellow gave the blue-green mineral the name aurichalcite (“mountain copper”), which was close to the name that ancient Greeks gave to brass. Brass is made out of zinc and copper. Aurichalcite is made out of zinc and copper. You should be able figure out the rest.</div><br /><br /><div>They’re both made out of zinc and copper. There. I helped out the slower of our viewers.</div><br /><br /><div>So, there, we have a little background. Aurichalcite is a copper-zinc carbonate mineral that is incredible fragile and looks like blown up muppet. Where can you find some of this stuff for yourselves? Well, if you feel like getting really frustrated and are in Utah (or nearby), look for it here…<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681448275710688658" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YGzl2O1qvc4/TtiPGut9vZI/AAAAAAAAC70/j7PqmQlkmtA/s400/Utah%2BMap.jpg" /><br />Those dots are probably a little off, but they are within 50 miles or so. Probably. Also that map is really small, so this is probably going to be inconvinent to the hard of seeing. If you can make out the numbers, they are… </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>1. Lucin District<br /><br />2. Gold Hill District<br /><br />3. Big Cottonwood District<br /><br />4. Park City District<br /><br />5. Ophir District<br /><br />6. Tintic District<br /><br />7. Lincoln District<br /><br />8. Bradshaw District<br /><br />9. Dixie Apex, uh, mine.<br /><br />There are likely a billion other places. So when I said it was rare what I meant to say was that it is pretty common. In Utah anyway. I don’t know how Kansas is looking.<br /><br />And so, there we are. We know what it is, how it forms, where we can find it, and how I feel about it. That’s more than Wikipedia will give you. They think they’re so great! Just because they don’t have to make up stuff doesn’t mean that they are better than me! </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-10479429041667882132011-11-21T23:29:00.000-08:002011-11-21T23:35:02.337-08:00A Return to What's ImportantWell, here we are. I've been unemployed for three days now. Did this blog have something to do with my being laid off? Probably. It certainly didn't help. But now the damage is done and we can get back on with covering items of importance. I feared that not having the internet would hinder my use of this internet-based interface, but you would be surprised what a person with nothing but free time can figure out. It turns out phones have technology in them. Technology that makes it so internet can happen even when I'm not at work.<br /><br />And so, let us return to the world of blogging. At least for the time being. At some point I need to fill out these unemployment papers.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-80307315857120411602011-11-16T10:31:00.000-08:002011-11-16T10:37:26.552-08:00An end to what's importantWell friends, I'm afraid I'm going away for a while. You see, I've only got internet access at work, and due to....lingering differences in the company's direction....I am not longer going to have a portal with which to share my magical tales of chemical formulas and mostly made-up ghost stories.<br /><br />And so, for the time being, I wish you all the best. One day I will find a new job and return to delighting your souls and tickling your loins with tales of whatever this blog was about.<br /><br /> - ScottCheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-67590880835267745452011-10-31T15:52:00.000-07:002011-10-31T16:02:49.256-07:00HALLOWEEN!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGPWtnXtpnM/Tq8obOBL2wI/AAAAAAAACow/elQIac-theg/s1600/Haunted%2521.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGPWtnXtpnM/Tq8obOBL2wI/AAAAAAAACow/elQIac-theg/s400/Haunted%2521.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669794903967390466" border="0" /></a><br />Look at it! You can practically smell the ghosts! I don't have time to go through all the steps that it would take you to draw that with the same precision that I have have, but feel free to give it a go anyway. Perhaps you can improve on it (doubtfully). Also, I don't know what that thing to the left of the pumpkin is. Some sort of haunted bike pump maybe. All we can know for sure is that it is haunted and it is totally in your mind now.<br /><br />BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!<br /><br /><br />Also, Geology and stuff.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-78357225129401762012011-10-28T12:23:00.000-07:002011-10-28T16:23:07.150-07:00Spooky Stories That Aren't Actually All That Scary!!Being out in the wilderness by yourself is scary. Not like "Oh no! An alien is popping out of my gizzards and my insurance just lapsed!" scary, but more like "If my tire popped, I would be coyote a buffet in an hour" scary. It's a different type of scary. Alien parasitic attacks are a sudden, shocking event, but coyote buffets are a constant concern, ceaselessly peeking in at you from the corners of your sub-conscience. That's what being outdoors by yourself is like. Sure it's entertaining, but there's something there in your head reminding you that humans invented the concept of indoors because most outdoor accidents happen....well, outdoors.<br /><br />So why are we covering the concept of what basically amounts to paranoia? I'll tell you why. It's because when you are outdoors you are typically more aware of your surroundings than when you are lounging on the couch covered in string cheese wrappers. I think this means that you are more likely to think you've seen a ghost (or felt a ghostly presence) when you are outdoors by yourself. Maybe that's not what you think it means. Perhaps you no longer have any idea what I'm rambling on about. Let's move on.<br /><br />My ghost story takes place here.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_KUxoaCL-3U/TqsbPnrh6vI/AAAAAAAACmg/8RVSHAydUBQ/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_KUxoaCL-3U/TqsbPnrh6vI/AAAAAAAACmg/8RVSHAydUBQ/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668654511139449586" border="0" /></a><br />That is the Centennial Eureka Mine. Well, it was. Now it's a big pile of boards and metal and some bushes. But maybe......ALSO GHOSTS???!!!! Or possibly just more bushes. We'll see.<br /><br />Now, I have wonderful plans to cover this mine in depth (I know, you can't wait!), but for now let's just get a little background. The Centennial Eureka is located in the Tintic Mining District, which in turn is reached by following the wolf's cry for 5 nights, traveling only on foot. Or you can just take Highway 6. Either way will get you there. Actually that first one won't get you there. I don't know where that will get you. Possibly near some wolves.<br /><br />The Centennial Eureka began doing mining things way back in the good ol' year 1876. Now, that was a long time ago. People born in that year would be 135 years old. People who are 135 years old look gross. Like raisins. Or so I would imagine.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZFkh0OZNq0/TqseZJc9OsI/AAAAAAAACms/HPrwegRr3fs/s1600/Raisin1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 327px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZFkh0OZNq0/TqseZJc9OsI/AAAAAAAACms/HPrwegRr3fs/s400/Raisin1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668657973358836418" border="0" /></a><br />But enough of this people who look like food madness! What about ghosts? Well, we aren't to the ghosts yet. Soon.....<br /><br />Over its lifetime, the mine produced more money than any other mine in the district. Rich jewels worthy of divas and royalty were used as paper weights! Gold leaf was used as toilet paper! And regular toilet paper was used by dogs! And dog toilet paper wasn't used at all. Ahhhh, how would it be to be that rich?<br /><br />Now, it didn't always used to look like this...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WJHgINBDotI/TqslNSFWi-I/AAAAAAAACm4/MiHB-0nI9OY/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WJHgINBDotI/TqslNSFWi-I/AAAAAAAACm4/MiHB-0nI9OY/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668665466098715618" border="0" /></a><br />At one point, it used to look like this....<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0dUPPlfkPU/TqsnEqToDfI/AAAAAAAACnE/T5mSAGHYp1w/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0dUPPlfkPU/TqsnEqToDfI/AAAAAAAACnE/T5mSAGHYp1w/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668667517005467122" border="0" /></a><br />Look at all that! All of that is gone now. All that remains is the head frame (look at the last picture dude). In that picture, our friendly little head frame is located inside that tall building near the center of the picture. All of the other buildings do other things, like making timber supports and housing gnome eradication crews. Here's the thing; mines don't get to be that big unless things are really going well. And things were booming for the Centennial Eureka until that fateful day when things went wrong.<br /><br />The crews arriving for work on September 17, 1914 were planning to work in the Oklahoma Stope, a big cavern that formed when the miners were working an ore body. Now here's the problem; the rock around the ore was shattered and crumbly. The miners had recognized this danger and double the number of timbers to stabilize the roof. It wasn't enough, however, and without any warning the roof of the cavern collapsed. Thirteen men were trapped in the cave-in, and only two survived to meet the rescue party. One miner felt the sudden increase in pressure from the collapsing roof and dove down a nearby tunnel. The other survivor was lucky enough to get buried in timbers that shielded him from the much less pleasant rock debris. The bodies of the remaining miners were found in the exact areas where they had been working.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6J-5CW1VwgM/Tqss9A3FxJI/AAAAAAAACnc/ILM5yEGkkDE/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6J-5CW1VwgM/Tqss9A3FxJI/AAAAAAAACnc/ILM5yEGkkDE/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668673982690608274" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uixrDsHQ_Cg/Tqsst4WKgNI/AAAAAAAACnQ/XaTNJ4kLyWo/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B4.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uixrDsHQ_Cg/Tqsst4WKgNI/AAAAAAAACnQ/XaTNJ4kLyWo/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668673722706985170" border="0" /></a><br />Details are sketchy concerning how many bodies were found (or if all of them had been found). I know that several are now located in the Eureka Cemetery, which is where most dead people tend to end up. Mining continued in the mine for several years after that, but as we have learned from watching reality ghost-hunting TV shows, anywhere people die there is likely to be a good ol' fashioned ghost problem.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gK9BBrp-MeU/Tqsznels1NI/AAAAAAAACno/qMxrlgcL36E/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B6.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gK9BBrp-MeU/Tqsznels1NI/AAAAAAAACno/qMxrlgcL36E/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668681309295006930" border="0" /></a><br />Now, I feel like I should point out that I've never seen a ghost at the Centennial Eureka mine. I've never seen a shovel mysteriously fly up and start....shoveling. I've never even heard a cheery tune being whistled from the void. In fact, it is a great place to go hunt all sorts of green and blue rocks. But I have always felt uneasy there. This is where I must redirect you to the first paragraph of this post. Remember how I said that I always feel uneasy when I'm outdoors? I brought that up so you could consider for yourself whether or not my uneasiness is caused by some sort of anxiety problem or if it is caused by something more ghostly. Or possibly by this owl who lives in the mine nowadays.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R0yqhjQtMBU/Tqs0jGlMRdI/AAAAAAAACn0/pVw0-Z-pcEg/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B7.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R0yqhjQtMBU/Tqs0jGlMRdI/AAAAAAAACn0/pVw0-Z-pcEg/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668682333642573266" border="0" /></a><br />That owl is a jerk, by the way. Let's get a close-up.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OiPsr609zCU/Tqs05ouBBYI/AAAAAAAACoA/1Epx8MSM_xM/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B8.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OiPsr609zCU/Tqs05ouBBYI/AAAAAAAACoA/1Epx8MSM_xM/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668682720763512194" border="0" /></a><br />But allow me to get scary here for a moment. While it is true that I tend to be nervous whenever I'm outdoors (owls are spooky), the Centennial Eureka feels off for a different reason. It almost feels claustrophobic, even though you are very much outdoors and in the middle of nothing. Also, it's not uncommon to get goosebumps even on the warmest day. Is it possible that the spirits of the crushed miners still occupy the site?<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9N3e1d7Pf0/Tqs3nGZH2XI/AAAAAAAACoM/qYgpj80uahg/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B9.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9N3e1d7Pf0/Tqs3nGZH2XI/AAAAAAAACoM/qYgpj80uahg/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668685700846311794" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-77vALOFdT1U/Tqs4D8Y8hzI/AAAAAAAACoY/sCMfJjsaoL0/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B10.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-77vALOFdT1U/Tqs4D8Y8hzI/AAAAAAAACoY/sCMfJjsaoL0/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668686196377421618" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clQs0O4ZQ_s/Tqs4crDJC8I/AAAAAAAACok/IQoDz30765c/s1600/Centennial%2BEureka%2B11.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clQs0O4ZQ_s/Tqs4crDJC8I/AAAAAAAACok/IQoDz30765c/s400/Centennial%2BEureka%2B11.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5668686621219294146" border="0" /></a><br />Are they still mining away, not knowing that their shift ended nearly a century ago? Or am I freaking myself out whenever I go there? You will have to visit the site yourself to see, but I don't think that it is outside the realm of possibility that a few miner's spirits still can be found at the site. Also an easily pissed-off owl.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-57600237233388751362011-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:002011-10-25T13:16:19.993-07:00Mines, and the Ghosts that love them. Part IIIToday's ghost is a fairly rare creature. If fact, I've never seen one. But I've seen a lot of movies, and that's even better than real-life experience.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zRCvT3Jnt80/TqcY_4GFbzI/AAAAAAAACmU/zN6FuUKWAl8/s1600/Slide%2B3.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zRCvT3Jnt80/TqcY_4GFbzI/AAAAAAAACmU/zN6FuUKWAl8/s400/Slide%2B3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667526141737791282" border="0" /></a>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-72058314984593362402011-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:002011-10-18T16:39:46.755-07:00GHOSTS GHOST TUESDAY!!!! - HiaWAtHA, UtahUsually this first paragraph is reserved for my prattling on about something or another in order to try to set the mood of the post. But in this case I'm just going to post this.....<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--98RGJBf2bE/TpyDWx2GsZI/AAAAAAAACfY/wb8MvzpnXbg/s1600/Hiawatha1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--98RGJBf2bE/TpyDWx2GsZI/AAAAAAAACfY/wb8MvzpnXbg/s400/Hiawatha1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664546858685870482" border="0" /></a><br />I think that creates the mood I'm going for. For you see, the ghost town of Hiawatha isn't completely abandoned after all. There are a few residents left.......THE GHOSTS!!!<br /><br />Also the polygamists. But the ghosts are the ones to worry about.<br /><br />The tale of Hiawatha is much like the other towns we have already looked at. Mining was discovered, mining occurred, mining died out, mines become homes to bears, bears are scary. But what is different about Hiawatha is what the brave miners were looking for. Instead of shiny golds, proud silvers, and inept copper, the goal here was coal. Lots of coal. Here it is now...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FC3axk0Sejw/TpyuGY7FLYI/AAAAAAAACfk/iHEzbbwC_lY/s1600/Hiawatha2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FC3axk0Sejw/TpyuGY7FLYI/AAAAAAAACfk/iHEzbbwC_lY/s400/Hiawatha2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664593856117943682" border="0" /></a><br />Coal is good. Well, not if you are the environment. But it's good for humans. We use it to make all sorts of things happen. Without coal, you wouldn't be able to see old fashioned trains work. We probably use it for other things, but I'm not here to educate you about coal. I'm not here to do anything other than burn away the work hours. You should already know this.<br /><br />The story of Hiawatha begins with the story of Carbon County (Utah, duh). Carbon County Utah produces a huge amount of coal. If fact, let's take a gander at the name "Carbon County". Carbon is coal! Well, sort of. Mostly. Sometimes there's other stuff in there, but it's mostly carbon. That is the reason that Carbon County isn't named....something other than Carbon County. Commercial quantities of coal are easy to find 'round those parts, that's what I'm saying. Carbon County is here....<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YcXK89Ll7es/TpyzqfNG5uI/AAAAAAAACfw/4eexVcETALY/s1600/Utah-real-estate.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 328px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YcXK89Ll7es/TpyzqfNG5uI/AAAAAAAACfw/4eexVcETALY/s400/Utah-real-estate.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664599973837596386" border="0" /></a>The coal reserves of Carbon County have been known since the early settlers moved into the place. It sticks out of the ground here and there, and sometimes you can find old leaf impressions in the coal! That's pretty cool. Or should I say...that's pretty COAL!!! HAHAHAHAhahaaaa! I've stolen a few seconds of your life. Anyway, if you're going to be a huge coal producing community, it stands to reason that you would have a huge coal miner statue. And lo, it was so....<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqYBtguv0zI/TpzBlEF2brI/AAAAAAAACgU/9aDXIjN5poc/s1600/Hiawatha3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqYBtguv0zI/TpzBlEF2brI/AAAAAAAACgU/9aDXIjN5poc/s400/Hiawatha3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664615273822842546" border="0" /></a><br />Hiawatha was a town established in the foothills of Gentry Mountain. In 1909, some grizzled ol' prospector was poking around an abandoned ranch and found a nice big bunch of coal that we could dig out of the hill and do various things with. Coal was a hot commodity back in the day, so it didn't take long for the mine to really take off.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oW8g4TP3KM4/Tpy2MdneTJI/AAAAAAAACf8/Bhiknr8dpjE/s1600/Hiawatha1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oW8g4TP3KM4/Tpy2MdneTJI/AAAAAAAACf8/Bhiknr8dpjE/s400/Hiawatha1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664602756550118546" border="0" /></a><br />I put that picture in there just to make sure you were still awake. By 1911, the town had tricked nearly 500 people into believing that it was a good place to live. What's more, like two amoebas locked in eternal battle, the town of Hiawatha took over another nearby village named Blackhawk and consumed it in 1915.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvQzO0U_0dc/Tpy7lG7o2kI/AAAAAAAACgI/NQDX8UrFV20/s1600/Ameoba.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xvQzO0U_0dc/Tpy7lG7o2kI/AAAAAAAACgI/NQDX8UrFV20/s400/Ameoba.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664608677515549250" border="0" /></a><br />The whole operation was owned by the United States Fuel Company. I took a cool picture of the company sign, still located on what used to be the main office building. Here it is!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-itG-nusPzhQ/Tp2Z1s35ohI/AAAAAAAACgg/s0LxZBtmEUI/s1600/Hiawatha4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-itG-nusPzhQ/Tp2Z1s35ohI/AAAAAAAACgg/s0LxZBtmEUI/s400/Hiawatha4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664853054159692306" border="0" /></a><br />I should point out that I went to Hiawatha at night, so that actually is a picture of the company sign. Nature hates when we take pictures of it at night. So here's a picture of the sign I found on the internet.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3agoWEHRiXQ/Tp2bTiiGJSI/AAAAAAAACgs/O2e3qqRgadA/s1600/Hiawatha5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3agoWEHRiXQ/Tp2bTiiGJSI/AAAAAAAACgs/O2e3qqRgadA/s400/Hiawatha5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664854666291586338" border="0" /></a><br />Look how confident that monarch is! He knows you will buy his coal. What choice do you have? Anyway, that picture should let you know that the town is still largely intact. Many of the buildings are still there, and a few folks still call the place home.<br /><br />The town swelled to nearly 1,500 brave souls by the early 1940's, and the mine was really pumping out the black chunky goodness that is coal. The company built a good number of concrete apartment houses, a church, a school, stores, bathhouse and other such things.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vyAnAVU9qKU/Tp2hLLGxXDI/AAAAAAAACg4/65GJd7BvVp8/s1600/Hiawatha6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vyAnAVU9qKU/Tp2hLLGxXDI/AAAAAAAACg4/65GJd7BvVp8/s400/Hiawatha6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664861119633775666" border="0" /></a><br />Here's a couple of the gents now, standing next to one of those coal-less automobiles.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5xL72zqsqwk/Tp2hxe5ruWI/AAAAAAAAChE/pqanK7VhIH0/s1600/Hiawatha7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5xL72zqsqwk/Tp2hxe5ruWI/AAAAAAAAChE/pqanK7VhIH0/s400/Hiawatha7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664861777782618466" border="0" /></a><br />The town started to putter out in the 1950's when coal prices dropped. By 1960 the population was down to 440, and by 1990 a mere 43 people called it home. Once a town drops below 50 people, nobody really counts anymore. When I was out there I would place the population at about, oh, 12. And several cats. Dozens of cats. An unnerving number of cats.<br /><br />Now, let's get to the halloween part of this madness. As we've seen, I was out there at night. Night is when the ghosts are out and about, and I was looking for ghosts. My first stop was the old company warehouse and store.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQaTUaKGxJY/Tp2kTuYuY9I/AAAAAAAAChc/PkkKkXu2QeE/s1600/Hiawatha9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQaTUaKGxJY/Tp2kTuYuY9I/AAAAAAAAChc/PkkKkXu2QeE/s400/Hiawatha9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664864565078156242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rfalV2fNnzI/Tp2kTXsa1HI/AAAAAAAAChQ/ImVg7A_0SQc/s1600/Hiawatha8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rfalV2fNnzI/Tp2kTXsa1HI/AAAAAAAAChQ/ImVg7A_0SQc/s400/Hiawatha8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664864558986744946" border="0" /></a><br />Here it is in Spookovision!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ExJja-jSlF8/Tp2k2sAAwPI/AAAAAAAACho/TDIroZDLCVw/s1600/Hiawatha10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ExJja-jSlF8/Tp2k2sAAwPI/AAAAAAAACho/TDIroZDLCVw/s400/Hiawatha10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664865165733052658" border="0" /></a><br />What is that mysterious black spot hovering above the building??? A ghost? A wraith? A skeleton pirate? Nope, just the moon. This building was supposed to be home to at least 5 different wandering souls (according to this kid who was wearing a robe and wandering nearby) who showed up the night before and were scary and stuff. He also told me that taking pictures in negative form would show me more ghosts (so I did that a lot). Would we be as lucky/unlucky to see a ghost? The presence of this highly animated skeleton puppet seems to be a good sign...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg4-vLVbx0Y/Tp2nMDRdbeI/AAAAAAAACh0/OFJ5E2Y0-co/s1600/Hiawatha11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg4-vLVbx0Y/Tp2nMDRdbeI/AAAAAAAACh0/OFJ5E2Y0-co/s400/Hiawatha11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664867731780759010" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the thing. The building is very much the way it was back when it was filled coal-motivated folks. Work benches were still in place, oil stains still occupied the floor, and the door was still a huge novelty clown face.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iOWLEyrzpKM/Tp3z9S_Sc_I/AAAAAAAACiA/Eo1XyM4DB-Y/s1600/Hiawatha12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iOWLEyrzpKM/Tp3z9S_Sc_I/AAAAAAAACiA/Eo1XyM4DB-Y/s400/Hiawatha12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664952140696810482" border="0" /></a><br />Upon entering, you encounter this delightful little critter.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mw90WT2lPpo/Tp30foyX_5I/AAAAAAAACiM/N1WDrHz1IQk/s1600/Hiawatha13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mw90WT2lPpo/Tp30foyX_5I/AAAAAAAACiM/N1WDrHz1IQk/s400/Hiawatha13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664952730663780242" border="0" /></a><br />It popped out of this equally delightful box.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xElxCaYOAk/Tp306cZheiI/AAAAAAAACiY/9HhdSGYmLWA/s1600/Hiawatha14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xElxCaYOAk/Tp306cZheiI/AAAAAAAACiY/9HhdSGYmLWA/s400/Hiawatha14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664953191194786338" border="0" /></a><br />While both those things are terrifying, both objects are not likely ghosts. Boxes rarely leave behind ghosts, regardless of how terrifyingly they left this world. This is the only picture I took that had any sort of....unexplained mysteryness.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9c-1wwTUv0U/Tp36U7fMH5I/AAAAAAAACik/uq5Tbm9Lrr8/s1600/Hiawatha15.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9c-1wwTUv0U/Tp36U7fMH5I/AAAAAAAACik/uq5Tbm9Lrr8/s400/Hiawatha15.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664959143774789522" border="0" /></a><br />See it? What the devil is that???? I actually don't know. But let's look at some of my earlier posts. It almost seems to match the Charlie Brown Type of ghost...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8VaFHfCdNLY/Tp37S_Ypg1I/AAAAAAAACiw/cXF1QM61dAo/s1600/Hiawatha16.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8VaFHfCdNLY/Tp37S_Ypg1I/AAAAAAAACiw/cXF1QM61dAo/s400/Hiawatha16.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664960209972986706" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Spooky. As geologists, we must always keep our minds open to the possibility of ghosts. I'm not sure why though. Either way, let's get out of there. That place be haunted.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbxRJLVnnfQ/Tp38zakZ7hI/AAAAAAAACi8/XAhUSGv507I/s1600/Hiawatha17.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbxRJLVnnfQ/Tp38zakZ7hI/AAAAAAAACi8/XAhUSGv507I/s400/Hiawatha17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664961866537496082" border="0" /></a><br />Our next stop was one of the old boarding houses a litter further to the west (behind the washing machine)...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tc_H30mzAEg/Tp4CXKmlvgI/AAAAAAAACjI/ZTbmeZnJJx8/s1600/Hiawatha18.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tc_H30mzAEg/Tp4CXKmlvgI/AAAAAAAACjI/ZTbmeZnJJx8/s400/Hiawatha18.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664967978285121026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mmPDkgLHT1Y/Tp4DDffIcLI/AAAAAAAACjU/DcL92Lwm34c/s1600/Hiawatha19.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mmPDkgLHT1Y/Tp4DDffIcLI/AAAAAAAACjU/DcL92Lwm34c/s400/Hiawatha19.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664968739805229234" border="0" /></a><br />(here's another picture in spookyovision)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gmwlrYe6nL8/Tp4Er1Q69eI/AAAAAAAACjs/AfXhMjTla_I/s1600/Hiawatha21.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gmwlrYe6nL8/Tp4Er1Q69eI/AAAAAAAACjs/AfXhMjTla_I/s400/Hiawatha21.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664970532357600738" border="0" /></a><br />The most striking feature of this probably haunted house (other than the clothes washer), is the presence of an abandoned minivan in the front yard. Or is it abandoned?<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31wr0zsRQmw/Tp4DfCAy7QI/AAAAAAAACjg/5pCB6NSEHIE/s1600/Hiawatha20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-31wr0zsRQmw/Tp4DfCAy7QI/AAAAAAAACjg/5pCB6NSEHIE/s400/Hiawatha20.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664969212929699074" border="0" /></a><br />Nope. There's a kitty cat in the back seat. Ah well. Moving along, we find ourselves outside the old mine bath house.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tvs9BHd6zWw/Tp4F7eCcHfI/AAAAAAAACj4/TJpq_-oJPgY/s1600/Hiawatha22.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tvs9BHd6zWw/Tp4F7eCcHfI/AAAAAAAACj4/TJpq_-oJPgY/s400/Hiawatha22.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664971900512378354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oOtIiHUK9PQ/Tp4GfKNMDhI/AAAAAAAACkE/H3cdk1wyQlE/s1600/Hiawatha23.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oOtIiHUK9PQ/Tp4GfKNMDhI/AAAAAAAACkE/H3cdk1wyQlE/s400/Hiawatha23.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664972513664044562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRSTrVHdFdE/Tp4GfP7U0nI/AAAAAAAACkM/6K7WooP8Gqs/s1600/Hiawatha24.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRSTrVHdFdE/Tp4GfP7U0nI/AAAAAAAACkM/6K7WooP8Gqs/s400/Hiawatha24.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664972515199734386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ljh-rQbcKm4/Tp4IBBf9gsI/AAAAAAAACko/TCkEdt5Rqq0/s1600/Hiawatha26.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ljh-rQbcKm4/Tp4IBBf9gsI/AAAAAAAACko/TCkEdt5Rqq0/s400/Hiawatha26.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664974194954044098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Those baskets would hold all the old miner's toiletry items. In fact, most of them still hold the miner's old toiletry items. But here's the thing about hanging a bunch of metal baskets from the ceiling. It's really really scary looking. Take a picture of it in the negative, and look out, you've got a haunted (not really) house on your hands.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrQ1T80Uq4Y/Tp4HeFpcKlI/AAAAAAAACkc/f4Yzxp4hWG4/s1600/Hiawatha25.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrQ1T80Uq4Y/Tp4HeFpcKlI/AAAAAAAACkc/f4Yzxp4hWG4/s400/Hiawatha25.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664973594772122194" border="0" /></a><br />Enough of the bath house. Let's get on with the main attraction. The main boarding house.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqlIwTnHXEo/Tp4It-UNz5I/AAAAAAAACk0/k2gWEizO-y8/s1600/Hiawatha27.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqlIwTnHXEo/Tp4It-UNz5I/AAAAAAAACk0/k2gWEizO-y8/s400/Hiawatha27.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664974967193587602" border="0" /></a><br />Again, it was nighttime. But if you expand that picture you can actually see the place! I say you go ahead and do it! There are quite a few stories about this place, so I'm going to add another picture. Here we go...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rTp6-DvwlhY/Tp4JkFb5suI/AAAAAAAAClA/RsfktD6yp4k/s1600/Hiawatha28.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rTp6-DvwlhY/Tp4JkFb5suI/AAAAAAAAClA/RsfktD6yp4k/s400/Hiawatha28.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664975896817808098" border="0" /></a><br />One story tells that they used to bring orphans in to work in the mines (this would obviously be before child labor laws), and that several died while under the employment of the company. When an orphan dies, you better believe that something's going to be haunted because of it. There have been several reported sightings of a little girl ghost running around in this place, particularly looking out the upper windows...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4PYZvQAlDWE/Tp4KksKCvpI/AAAAAAAAClM/LGwRTk0zNAU/s1600/Hiawatha29.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4PYZvQAlDWE/Tp4KksKCvpI/AAAAAAAAClM/LGwRTk0zNAU/s400/Hiawatha29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664977006723514002" border="0" /></a><br />and standing on the main stairway...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5iroS4TtkFo/Tp4LA87-bVI/AAAAAAAAClY/Ui2duU8U9V4/s1600/Hiawatha30.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5iroS4TtkFo/Tp4LA87-bVI/AAAAAAAAClY/Ui2duU8U9V4/s400/Hiawatha30.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664977492264250706" border="0" /></a><br />I didn't see any ghost. Should we switch to ghost cam? !<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Wnnok2kb1s/Tp4Lht5H8LI/AAAAAAAAClk/NLVg8HQQb4Q/s1600/Hiawatha31.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Wnnok2kb1s/Tp4Lht5H8LI/AAAAAAAAClk/NLVg8HQQb4Q/s400/Hiawatha31.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664978055161442482" border="0" /></a><br />Nothing. Well, a couple of weird black streaks. I don't think they are ghosts though. But who knows? Maybe this place is haunted by a bunch of snake ghosts. So many questions, so little interest in answering them. Let's poke around a little more...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sXPilQZXHgY/Tp4Mttqq_VI/AAAAAAAACmM/KXlxwmtURTI/s1600/Hiawatha34.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sXPilQZXHgY/Tp4Mttqq_VI/AAAAAAAACmM/KXlxwmtURTI/s400/Hiawatha34.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664979360770882898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x42is5iLL6E/Tp4Mtet6NeI/AAAAAAAAClw/YrEftiEWKJ4/s1600/Hiawatha32.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x42is5iLL6E/Tp4Mtet6NeI/AAAAAAAAClw/YrEftiEWKJ4/s400/Hiawatha32.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664979356757931490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eWFJnYUrYlI/Tp4Mte9iAQI/AAAAAAAACl4/ZPYSG1F1fSs/s1600/Hiawatha33.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eWFJnYUrYlI/Tp4Mte9iAQI/AAAAAAAACl4/ZPYSG1F1fSs/s400/Hiawatha33.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664979356823453954" border="0" /></a><br />If you like debris, then this place is for you. No ghosts though. Or at least none that my high-tech ghost cam could pick up (phone camera).<br /><br />Well, nothing more to report. The place is probably haunted, but what isn't nowadays? Ghosts are everywhere. They are in your cereal, in your toilets, in your laundry, everywhere. Are there ghosts watching you right now???? Probably not. You're not that interesting.Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142776272522398720.post-38900374548362254682011-10-12T13:35:00.000-07:002011-10-12T13:47:37.085-07:00Mines, and the Ghosts that love them. Part IIToday's ghost isn't a ghost that is restricted to mines. It shows up at nursing homes, hospitals, X-treme sporting events, etc. But it does appear at the mines when things start to get collapse-y.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gBosR60vKKc/TpX80eX-7tI/AAAAAAAACfM/lwxZcEgaaGw/s1600/Slide%2B2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gBosR60vKKc/TpX80eX-7tI/AAAAAAAACfM/lwxZcEgaaGw/s400/Slide%2B2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662710084925320914" border="0" /></a>Cheetahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07560833830105207136noreply@blogger.com0