Glockenspieling: Gold Rush

The Gold Rush. It was big around these parts. And it's been a big topic of discussion in our house since MadHatter did her final inquiry report for second grade on Gold. When I told her that we were going to be at the heart of where the gold rush began while we were visiting Nana and Grampa, she kept begging me to go panning. We did about 2 minutes of panning while we were at the Fun Park but that was all staged and she knew it. She wanted to go panning in a real river. Who am I to disappoint?

The Country Boy Mine is one of the oldest and most famous gold mines in Colorado and it happens to be about 4 miles from my parent's house. Founded over 130 years ago, it was known for its gold and silver reserves, as were many of the hundreds of mines around these parts. What earned Country Boy national fame and governmental subsidies, was its production of high-grade lead and zinc. Both minerals were in high demand during both World Wars. Sadly, as soon as the wars ended so did the heightened need for the two minerals and the government's support ended. Literally, the day peace was declared, the mine shuttered its business and has not been in operation since. And probably never will be again even though there is still about 30 million dollars worth of gold within its stake. The gold is accessible but because of new safety regulations and MSHA standards, it would take about 35 million dollars to make the mine safe and allow it to run again. That means that the price of gold would have to triple for it to be worthwhile to open and run the mine again. Instead, in 1991, the Tomlinson Brothers restored the collapsed mine and site and turned it into a historical venue.

And we got a great tour of an authentic gold mine and learned a lot in the process.

Pulling up, I had a few reservations about the tour...
But we climbed up the path you see on the left side and were met with a less dilapidated building where we paid our fees and waited, and wandered, until our tour started. (and that long chute on the left - that is the slide the girls kept coming down)

We saw some of the old gear they used back in the day. The picture on the left is a dynamite warmer. Until these were invented, the miners had to sleep on top of the sticks of dynamite to keep them warm, as it becomes very unstable when it gets cold. On the right are the remnants of a miner's clothing.

We lucked out and got a private tour!

Heading deep into the tunnel...

MadHatter was in heaven and even got to try out some of the old time work tools. Interestingly enough, if MadHatter had actually been around at the time, she could have worked as a Dynamite Monkey. Kids under 12 were put to work setting the dynamite in place (inside the holes like the one MadHatter is making) and then lighting the sticks before running back out. If they did not hear 12 explosions (the number of wicks lit) they would go back in and try to disarm the ones that had not exploded, before they exploded and injured, or killed, them all. At 13, they were allowed to stop this dangerous job as they were expected to work in the mine full time.

A collapsed area of the mine.

At the end of the mine...standing above the freezing rushing river water and next to the collapsed tunnel.

Back outside, it took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust. We then got a quick lesson on how to properly pan for gold and what to look for. We took our pans and headed out to the river to try our luck...