I have moved to the middle of nowhere. In the desert. This sometimes feels like there is nothing at all to do. I have to sometimes remind myself that this is not the case...well not completely at least.
I suppose this is as good a time as any to update you on some of my more recent adventures.
About a month ago my new friend Darrian and I made the trip (about 7 miles up the road, because again we live in the middle of nowhere) to take the tour of the old Vulture Mine.
This mine was founded by a man named Henry Wickenburg in 1863. He knew where to dig for the gold because he could literally see it on top of one of the hills. It was dubbed "Vulture Mine" because the vultures would hover above in the air on the air currents or something that the gold would put off.
This mine became the most productive gold mine in Arizona's history. It produced 340,000 ounces of gold and 260,000 ounces of silver.
The mine spawned the town and the city of Pheonix, who was originally settled to open the canals left behind by Native Americans so people could create resources for the Vulture Mine and the town around it.
The town turned into a boom town. As a result this place LOVES Henry Wickenburg. There is a parade, and a day all dedicated to the man. The mine itself closed in 1942 to put more resources toward the war effort, but by that point the town had dubbed itself the Dude Ranch capital. There used to be like ten out here. I now work on one of the only two that are still open.
Here are a few pictures from the tour. We did not get to go into any actual mine shafts - which was highly disappointing, let me tell you.
I forgot what this does, but here is some random old equipment for your viewing pleasure.
above is the "Crusher" which crushed big chunks of rock into smaller chunks... apparently it has also taken a few hands in its time.
This used to be the stables. They kept most of the support animals off site unless they needed them.
Some cool old jars
Some one forgot to do the dishes
Here are a couple shots of what is left of Henry Wickenburg's original house. Below is a close up of one of the many gun ports he had so that he could easily shoot people trying to steal his gold.
There wasn't really a jail system here yet when the mine first started, so there was a bit of cowboy justice had here. This is the hanging tree. Steal gold, manage to not get shot on site but not get away either and you would most likely end up here. Tough luck.
If you notice below, this is the hanging tree, and that is Wickenburg's house directly behind it.
Location, Location, Location!
These are random bathtubs that are just sitting there. Darrian actually had a mini photo shoot with them. There were a couple women who stuck around with us as we waited for the group to pass us before we had said photo shoot. They were trying to figure out what all the interest in these tubs was.
This is me in an ore cart.
Some old stuff they had on display at the main house
The gas station
Me in an old fire truck
This is Darrian and I !!!
This mine became the most productive gold mine in Arizona's history. It produced 340,000 ounces of gold and 260,000 ounces of silver.
The mine spawned the town and the city of Pheonix, who was originally settled to open the canals left behind by Native Americans so people could create resources for the Vulture Mine and the town around it.
The town turned into a boom town. As a result this place LOVES Henry Wickenburg. There is a parade, and a day all dedicated to the man. The mine itself closed in 1942 to put more resources toward the war effort, but by that point the town had dubbed itself the Dude Ranch capital. There used to be like ten out here. I now work on one of the only two that are still open.
Here are a few pictures from the tour. We did not get to go into any actual mine shafts - which was highly disappointing, let me tell you.
I forgot what this does, but here is some random old equipment for your viewing pleasure.
above is the "Crusher" which crushed big chunks of rock into smaller chunks... apparently it has also taken a few hands in its time.
This used to be the stables. They kept most of the support animals off site unless they needed them.
Some cool old jars
Some one forgot to do the dishes
There wasn't really a jail system here yet when the mine first started, so there was a bit of cowboy justice had here. This is the hanging tree. Steal gold, manage to not get shot on site but not get away either and you would most likely end up here. Tough luck.
If you notice below, this is the hanging tree, and that is Wickenburg's house directly behind it.
Location, Location, Location!
These are random bathtubs that are just sitting there. Darrian actually had a mini photo shoot with them. There were a couple women who stuck around with us as we waited for the group to pass us before we had said photo shoot. They were trying to figure out what all the interest in these tubs was.
This is me in an ore cart.
Some old stuff they had on display at the main house
The gas station
Me in an old fire truck
This is Darrian and I !!!
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