Finding this great little gem of a mine is a bit of a hike. The mine was worked as early as the 1890s and again in the 1930s. The miners walked away from the mine in 1941 when World War II broke out, and a presidential order closed many “non-essential” mines in the country. Looks like they never came back. Some artifacts from that era remain, but sadly, some have also been stolen since our first visit in 2004.
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Abandoned Drott International Tractor (Death Valley)
When I heard a rumor from Guy that there was an abandoned excavator with a view of the salt pan in Death Valley that he had never visited, I knew I had to take a look and see if I could find it. After a bit of research, I was
Lost Burro Mine
Bourke Lee wrote in the 1930s: "There is a Lost Burro Mine on almost every mountain." Prospectors spent so much time chasing their wandering burros through the desert hills that the animals became their best prospecting partners. The Lost Burro in the Cottonwood Mountains of northern Death Valley
Braden Cabin and the Berman Murders
Spend enough time around the warm springs in Saline Valley and someone will eventually mention "the Murder Cabin." The name has stuck for decades, carried by rumor and retold with increasing inaccuracy. The cabin in question once belonged to Roy "Red" Braden, a pistol-packing cinnabar prospector