Gold was found in Colorado in 1859, and drew over 100,000 males and females to the state in hope of discovering their fortune. These became the gold rush days of Colorado; the days of the instant millionaire, like Horace and Infant Doe Tabor, the Splendor Days of Colorado. My Dad followed in the footsteps of those pioneers.The earliest gold deposits found were the second deposits in the gravels along the streams. Gold was blended amongst the stream alluvium and in some cases could be actually chosen from the streambed. At initially, the gold was washed from the gravels by utilizing a shallow gold pan. Later, the sections of streams that yielded gold from panning were staked as placer claims under the Mining Law of 1872. To wash bigger quantities of gravel and find more gold, water was diverted from the stream for usage with sluice boxes. Big amounts of gravel were put into the upper end of the sluice box and water cleaned the gravels down the sluice box back into the stream. As in the smaller gold pan, the heaver gold settled out of the gravels into the bottom of the sluice box along boards on the bottom called riffles. A lot of these placer deposits played out quickly.Later, minerals like lead, zinc and silver, in addition to gold, were found in mineralized outcrops, ledges and little surface veins in the higher peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. These mineral outcrops were often the source of the downstream placer deposits, when the miners discovered this out, the race to discover the mother-lode was on. With each discovery, boom towns like Central City, Georgetown, Leadville, Cripple Creek, Chihuahua and Telluride emerged over night. Populations swelled then rapidly fell as the veins were discovered and then played out.Small mines and possibility holes dot almost every high peak in Colorado. Each one is the result of the imagine finding wealth under the ground. The work was typically harsh and back breaking. Many were at high elevation, where the weather was both cold and snowy much of the year. John L. Jerome Hart keeps in mind in his 1931 brochure entitled Fourteen Thousand Feet, A History of the Identifying and Early Ascents of the High Colorado Peaks;”Miners will go to any location where they think they will discover ore;
A truth which is shown by the finding of prospect holes on nearly every mountain in the state.”Much of these small functions and prospects were not accessible by
road. Established before vehicles, the miners used horses, mules or walked to their claims. Since of the transportation trouble, they invested a lot of lonesome hours at a small cabin or tent near their mines. Some of the more efficient mines had the loan to update the transportation to allow wagons to access the mine and haul the valuable ore to a mill or smelter. In spite of the hard working and living conditions at many of these small mines and prospects in the high peaks, the charm was frequently amazing. Shaped by wind, water or glaciers, these high mountain basins were extremely rocky, steep and rugged. The gray granite slopes are resplendent with red and yellow streaks indicating the existence of important minerals listed below the surface area. The high mountain peaks shine in the sun under a clear blue sky. The air was crisp and tidy and the silence was deafening. A lot of these potential customers were located above timberline or on extremely steep, rocky slopes and the views were unbelievable. In the spring, summer and fall, the high mountain meadows were alive with the color of mountain flowers like the Colorado columbine, Indian paintbrush and primrose. As a geologist and mining engineer, my father came to Colorado after World War
II. Searching for mining chances, he and a partner found one of the lots of little mines in the Rocky Mountains which was discovered in the 1880s. This small mine lay at 12,000 feet in a little, glaciated mountain basin near the Continental Divide. The first year, Father and his partner walked into the mine, simply like a lot of the prospectors of Colorado gold rush days. They wished to make sure the ore values were as described by earlier reports prior to spending minimal capitol resources on rebuilding the old wagon roadway. Once they reopened the old workings, they discovered an extremely abundant vein of lead, zinc and silver and reconstruct the original wagon roadway so trucks could carry the ore to smelters in Leadville or Denver. Reopening the mine, Daddy and his partner worked the Orphan Boy for 4 years in the middle of a few of the most incredible surroundings worldwide. My family and I visit this mine throughout the summer season or fall each year. It is a method of reconnecting with a previous
generation as well as being an exceptional field trip into the Colorado mountains. Looking out from the dump of the Orphan Young boy, a cam simply does not show the real appeal I see with my eyes and my soul. I worked with my father for over Twenty Years, and we went to the Orphan Boy many times. Our conversations about his days working at the
mine communicated his real love of mining. He went to the majority of the little potential customers and mines in the location since of his fascination with mining. Daddy liked life and the Colorado mountains, and like lots of prior to him, felt at peace in them. My father and his partner, while working the Orphan Young boy mine, were able to experience a few of the same feelings, feelings and pleasures the very first miners did who concerned Colorado during the Magnificence Days of Colorado. H. Court Young is a writer, author, publisher and a geologist interested in geology and water concerns. His books can be found at: BurgYoung Publishing and
source http://creativedogtrainingonline.com/toy-dog-breed-category/a-love-affair-with-mining/
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