The Old Mines

One of the days on the quad, Brian and I had the opportunity to check out several old mine claims, and a newer one as well. Before the BLM had ever taken over management of

much of this land, there were gold mine claims that dated back over a hundred years. As we have spent time in the mountains, we have come across a handful of old mines shafts, shacks, and homesteads.

This first picture is obviously one of the older shacks. It is about a 10' x 12' cabin with a lean to on one side. It has a few windows, an obvious place where a wood stove once was, and an old broken down metal springs cot. We checked it out a little, but there really wasn't much to see. Some of the glass in the windows was still in tact though. Outside the cabin was a small dried up creek bed that likely had water running through it this spring. Up the hill from the cabin was an opening to an old mine shaft that appeared to have been intentionally filled in.

The second picture is a newer shack. There is a tree near the cabin that has a series of years

carved in its bark, the most recent is 2008. It is a small cabin but has an additional outbuilding with a shower inside, and an outhouse off to the other side. It looks as if people still come here, but I don't know if there is any mining still happening. The bridge in the photo goes over the

creek near the cabin.

Because most of what we've seen is on BLM land, all of these older structures are considered archaeological sites and it is illegal to mess with them or remove anything you find there. There really wasn't much to find, but it is neat to imagine what it would have been like to live up there a hundred years ago, knowing it was at least a full days ride on horseback into Midas for any type of supplies. I wonder how many old miners were successful at getting a wife to live

with them?