Mines, Panning Gold and Historical Exploring

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks John.  I have used it on gold, but didn't think of it for the silver -- had 2 gallons of Timberbrite which is Oxalic Acid.  I'll drop them in some, although there is not much silver left on them after being underground for who knows how many years.

[glenn kangiser]

I got permission to check out a new -- old historic mine the other day, so I rousted Suzy out of bed to get to work early.

She sometimes sleeps pretty soundly though so had to holler at her a couple times to get up.



We took the backhoe to the mine last night after I adjusted the steering brake and clutch on the right side so we were anxious to get it to work today.

At lunch break Suzy and I decided to take a look down the gulch and see if we could find any interesting looking sand bars, or likely places to check for gold.  We were over boulders and trees and through the brush when Suzy spotted something and started barking.

I kept telling her, "Like, Suzy, shut up already," but she would hear nothing of it.

I looked up on the hill about 30 feet away through the brush and rocks and there was a young boxer pup looking at us.  He didn't move -- didn't bark, just sat there in the brush staring at us while Suzy kept barking like crazy.  I figured his owner was walking up the road as there was nothing out in this part of the country for 1/4 mile or more.

I decided to climb the side of the gulch through the brush and poison oak to see what was going on with him.  He let me get close but when I went to pat his head he took a nip at my hand.  Not a mean nip.  It was a scared nip, so I put my hand lower and approached him more slowly.  He didn't move from the spot he was sitting in and this time he allowed me to pet him.  I checked him over and found several cuts on the left but it was not until he turned around that I saw the 1/2 inch x 2 1/2 inch gash in his right shoulder.  I petted him a bit and in a couple of minutes he climbed up in my lap.  I carefully picked him up and carried him up the side of the gulch through the trees and brush, then another 1/8 mile or so to the area where I had my backhoe and jeep at the mine.

No collar, no ID, no ads in the local classifieds and I thought maybe he was attacked by an animal.  After reading up on the breed, I think I know why he had a gash.  I think a breeder brought him out here in the country and shot him and he managed to escape.

In the past, breeders often euthanized white puppies at birth; today, most breeders place white puppies in pet homes with spay/neuter agreements. White Boxers are disqualified from conformation showing by the breed standard, and are prohibited from breeding by every national Boxer club in the world. They can compete in non-conformation events such as obedience and agility, and like their colored counterparts do quite well as service and therapy dogs.

I assume from the above that the breeders couldn't sell him so brought him out to a backwoods road to do him in.  Now that I think about it I remember hearing 2 shots nearby last night.  I didn't think anything of it because people are always shooting around here.  Making their vain, means nothing, little rules so they can go to dog shows and pretend that they are cool.

I brought him home and gave him a shower with flea and tick soap so he could stay inside.  Suzy was pretty jealous but I told her she would just have to deal with it.  He was her dog.

[MountainDon]

Sometimes it's tough being white.

So what's Suzy going to name him?

[Redoverfarm]

Does she like "Digger" as in Gold digger.

[glenn kangiser]

She called him Spike, -- don't ask me why.  Maybe the Golden Spike.

I looked the wound over a bit more and it is a direct line up if he is sitting and someone meant to shoot him in the head from the front.

I was reading up on Boxers a bit when I found the above info...unfortunately it also said that these dogs tend to be a bit overly flatulent.  Unfortunately I guess it is true.  I think Suzy is going to have to get him some Beano. 

[glenn kangiser]

Update on Suzy's dog.

A neighbor lady who is a ranch manager on one of my jobs looked at him today.  She raises Horses and a few dogs.

She said he is an American Bulldog.  Likely was shot because he has a few flaws that would make him unsellable as a show dog-- who knows?  He has one eyelid that has excess skin that a vet needs to Fix. 

She also checked and said he still has his puppy teeth so probably around four months or so old.

[MountainDon]

It would seem the person who shot Spike has a few flaws themselves. Ditto for the solution. 

[glenn kangiser]

She said it is usually white trash who do things like this.  She is a retired-CHP officer and knows quite a bit about this kind of thing.

He's a great little guy -- follows me everywhere - often has a funny little whine if Suzy or I get out of sight.

Currently He's sleeping in my lap.  His bullet wound is much better today -- down to about a 1/4 inch wide and healing well.  You can see it from yesterday in the above photo.

[MountainDon]

American Bulldogs are supposed to be gentle and loving and at the same time fearless when facing down an intruding larger animal or human.

We just had 6 beagle/basset hound (?) pups stay with us for a few weeks. They're gone on to nice adopted homes with kids. I was in love with one of the girls... came close to keeping her.  And one of her brothers.    

.

[glenn kangiser]

We had a beagle in 1971 when my first son was born.  She was a good little dog too.

Suzy and Spike were able to go to the job with me today - fixing a 20000 gallon water tank for a former NBA player who bought a vineyard up here in a remote valley.

He also has an ancient mine site on his ranch there.  We are working out a deal to get permission to prospect it possibly tomorrow.

Here are Suzy and Spike resting quietly after eating all the cow pie and road apples their little bellies could hold.



Here is an ancient arrastra just below the old mine site.



There are old historic walls all over this area from the gold rush days.

y

[Redoverfarm]

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain

[cholland]

Nice pics Glenn.  I have a couple of walls like those at our place.  One is basalt, the other limestone.
Also several mines and tailings piles.  Been wondering if it would be worth it to dig into those prospects?
Would hate to find out I've been literally sitting on enough to pay for my house.

[glenn kangiser]

It would pay to check them out. 

In the old days they were going after the easy stuff.  It is estimated that only the easy 5% or so has been found. 

It can be hard to find the harder stuff though, but it is possible to find a years wagesor more in a day sometimes.  I haven't done it but know several who have.

In your area Woods Creek is know to be great for dredging -- if you can get in.

[PEG688]

  Ah  inside that gruff Trogulodite beats a heart of gold . Nice  dogs , they "fit" you well 

[glenn kangiser]

Aw, shucks. 

[glenn kangiser]

After a few failures I finally managed to figure out how to put our local mines into a Google Earth database that would be viewable by others.

Here is where the data comes from -- which is a compilation of various mine reports. http://www.mindat.org/lsearch.php?loc=mariposa
Location Search - mariposa

Here is a link to what I have so far.  This is temporary but I will update it from time to time then put in a permanent link when updates slow down. 

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1120471/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD

Looks like it is working in Google Maps now too.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=1120561&t=k&om=1

[glenn kangiser]

New link

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1119746&page=6&vc=1&PHPSESSID=#Post1119746
Google Earth Community: California Mother Lode - Mines and Information

Today I loaded Sassy into the Bush Hog and we went exploring nearby local mines and points of interest. 

There are several BLM areas around that many times you will not find out about unless you get a map.  Seems most land owners would rather that you assume it is theirs than let you know, but when we got out and asked a bit we found out there were pieces of public land we could go out and enjoy.

Here is the Permit mine - a cool old place we found about 3 miles from the underground complex.



Inside the mill.  Some of the equipment is still there.

[PEG688]

Here is the Permit mine - a cool old place we found about 3 miles from the underground complex.

Inside the mill.  Some of the equipment is still there.

Humm if it moved realllllllllllly sllllowwwwwwwww they'd never miss it 

Gotta love that OSHA approved guard rail / chicken wire system.

     Neat place , any more photos of the old posts and beams ?? 

[PEG688]

 Yanno look at that old post and beam place right in the heart of earthquake country , still standing. What is it about 35 feet maybe more to the ridge ??

And those post appear to be spliced at the beam lines. Are the stairs still such that it was safe to walk up them ? Or did you try?

How old would you guess the building is ? Any clues??

Beams and post  White / Garry Oak or your type of "Garry/ Live/ White Oak" can't recall the type you have down there!

[PEG688]

 That Goggle map is scary ,    taken this past summer I'd guess by MY GARDEN AND GRASS conditions  I was home , or at least the company van was in the back by the shop , but car was gone. 

Big brother IS watching 

[glenn kangiser]

I wanted to get some pix of one area where the beams were rabbeted into other  ones or posts, but couldn't get a good shot due to the chicken wire.  Ill look through my stuff and see what I can find -- I do have more pix and a bit of video.

We have White and Blue oak but much of this seemed to be pine  - some may have been Incense cedar round posts near the top.

The stairs still felt pretty substantial and both Sassy and I went up and down them-- one at a time.

Located in 1894 as the Bulldog and Bullpup claims - renamed the permit in 1928.  I am going to guess that the mill building was built around then as I didn't notice a bunch of square nails but the picture in my book shows the same building before 1957 and it looks well established.

I'll recheck my photos for things of interest.

Another level below so all in all probably near 50 feet.

[glenn kangiser]

Found your house, eh PEG.  Cool -- yeah --as I keep saying -- there is no hiding from big brother.

[glenn kangiser]

Here are a couple more.



Splice is obviously a later repair, but effective.



A few of the joints show.  This does not look like the quality of work that was in the Princeton Mine pictures but obviously good enough...80 to 100 years should be fine in most cases.  If this building was kept up -- roofing repaired etc. it could have a lot more years.

A few more.



Medium small Jaw crusher

[MountainDon]

I love exploring sites like this. Too bad there are none around my part of NM to speak of.

It's surprising in a way to see so much relatively intact glass.


Is there any effort to keep some of these old structures from the inevitable decay? There are old sites in CO I've visited over the decades and I can see the deterioration over time. A few more boards blown off, or stolen ? ,

[Willy]

My new cabin site is right in the middle of old mining towns with buildings all over the place. Chesaw, was a old town that miners founded. Night Hawk, Bodi, Republic, ect are near me. The new Buckhorn Mountain Gold Mine is being dug with in a few mile of the cabin property. When the weather is nicer I will be able to visit a few. I am glad the trucks going to the new mine are not going by my place cause it will be over 100 trips in a 24 hour period every day when it gets going full blast.  They go down the Pointac Ridge Rd but turn around 3-4 miles away onto the USFS Road to get to it. This does keep the roads clearer during the winter cause of the trafic to the mine. The county and mine owners keeps the roads maintained better. To get to my place I go the back way it is a nicer drive and the same distance and miss all the trafic. Mark
A link to the history of the town;
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/wa/chesaw.html