In 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills on French Creek, near the present city of Custer, by Ross and McKay, two miners attached to General Custer's Military Expedition. On April 9, 1876, the Manuel Brothers, Moses and Fred, together with Hank Harney, discovered a ledge, an out-cropping of ore termed a "lead" (pronounced "leed"), in what is now the Open Cut. They named their claim "Homestake" and the mining camp which soon leaped to life took the name of Lead City...
Rather than babble on and on about the mine's history, here's a link to a really informative website about the mine... http://www.homestaketour.com/index.html Well, another thing...Homestake is the deepest mine in the United States, reaching a depth of more than 8,000 feet. It has over 375 miles of existing tunnels.
This is the left side of the pit (I don't know which direction); you can't quite see all the way down to the bottom.
This is the right side of the pit...
To give you a better perspec-tive, see that tiny white speck on the top left edge of the rock, with the trees behind it? That's a house! Yea...eeek!
Wow! And Wow again...I also loved the website attached.....
ReplyDeleteI love the striation of the rocks. and...your pictures rock!
ReplyDeleteNever imagined such a grater could be made by mining for gold! I would not be comfortable living in that house. Great photos Jann.
ReplyDeleteWOW...Jann..that is awesome..
ReplyDeleteMy son wanted me to ask you if you could get some good sunsets from where you are???,so we could see what it looked like..
another stroll down memory lane, thanks to your post. my Dad worked in the Homestake in the 1940s - he died of what was then called "miner's consumption" (dust in lungs) in the 1960s. the miners used to carry fresh-baked, hot Cornish Pasties in their pockets to eat for lunch. maybe the subject of a future post?
ReplyDeletegreat photos. marge