ag in THe CLassrOOM - HeLPing THe neXT generaTiOn unDersTanD THeir COnneCTiOn TO agriCuLTure

Mining issue january 2009

C O l O R A D O F O u N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C u l T u R e / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 1

The true start of the ColoradoGold Rush is attributed to a mannamed George Andrew Jackson.

After Christmas 1858, Jacksonand two other men ventured upClear Creek on a hunting trip. Onthe last day of the year, Jacksonleft his companions and plowedthrough the snow farther up thecreek. After six days and twoencounters with mountain lions,Jackson and his two dogs, Kit andDrum, made camp along the gravelbars of a small creek near present-day Idaho Springs. Here his dogswrestled with a wolverine before,with Jackson’s help, they were able to kill it.

On January 7, 1859, Jackson built a bonfire to thaw apromising-looking gravel bar. He scraped out some of thegravel with his hunting knife, and panned it in his drinking

cup. Soon he had recovered a gold nugget andseveral flakes of gold. He wrote in his diary:

I jumped up and down…and Idreamed all sorts of things, abouta fine house and good clothes, acarriage and horses, travel, what Iwould take to the folks down in

old Missouri and everything else youcan think of. I had struck it rich!

Fighting a snowstorm andcaring for his injured dogs, ittook Jackson a week to make hisway back to the others, whovowed to keep his discovery asecret until they could raisemoney to return to mine the areaproperly. The small mining partyJackson assembled wasgrubstaked (financed for aportion of the findings) by agroup from Chicago and in April of 1859 they returned tothe spot on what is now Chicago Creek. After panning for only one week, Jackson

returned to Denver, walked into a store, and placed 100 ounces of raw placer gold on the counter — worthabout $1,900.

Jackson must have immediately become the mostpopular man in the Colorado Territory! News of theJackson Diggins’ spread quickly and by the end of May,300 men were each panning about $5 worth of gold a dayin the mining camp called Spanish Bar at the west end ofpresent-day Idaho Springs. Jackson’s discovery sparkedthe largest Gold Rush and immigration in Americanhistory, and it all started in Idaho Springs!

To read and learn more about Idaho Springs andColorado’s mining history from Jack’s Journal -“Summer of Gold,” just turn to page 2!

1859-2009 – 150 Year Anniversary of the Colorado Gold Rush!

Written by Christine M. Crouse/Clear Creek Watershed Foundation

The summer I turned 10 was very interesting. I was hopingfor the Ultimate Zone-Out T.V. Game Station, but when mydad gave me a gift smaller than a baseball, I knew I wasgoing to have to keep saving my allowance. Although I wasdisappointed, I became curious when my mom said, “Jack,this year your present is your past.” I tore off the wrappingpaper and opened the velvet-lined box. Inside was a shiny,gold pocket watch! It was really cool!

“Read the inscription inside,” said my dad. etched in fancywriting were the words, “Happy 10th Birthday, July 10,1944.” “That’s my birth date, but the year is 60 years off,” I stated. “It should say 2004, not 1944.” “The inscription iscorrect,” replied my dad, J.J. Miller. “This watch originallybelonged to your Grandpa Johnny. You and he were born onthe exact same date, but 60 years apart. The watch was givento him on his 10th birthday by his father, Jonathan JamesMiller. Then he gave it to me when I turned 10, and now it’syour turn!” I only met my Grandpa Johnny once before hedied, so I barely remember him. I thought it was pretty neat tohave something that had been in the family for so long, and itstill worked! “It’s made of real gold, son, so be very carefulwith it,” warned my dad.

After we finished our root beer floats my mom said, “Thatwatch is not your only gift from us, Jack. You get to go on aspecial birthday trip, too!” “Really? Where?” I excitedly asked. “A dude ranch? An adventure park?” My parents chuckled.

“umm, not exactly,” my dad replied. “Nowthat we’ve moved back to Colorado, yourGrandma Rose has invited you to spend aweek with her up in Idaho Springs, where I grew up!” I tried not to

make a face. Don’t get mewrong, I love my Grandma, butI couldn’t imagine spending awhole week with her. “It’s agolden opportunity!” gushedmy mom. “You can learn moreabout Grandpa Johnny and ourfamily heritage!” I figuredvisiting with Grandma Rosewould be better than having tohang out with my little sister all week!

a suMMer Of gOLD

jack’s journal ~ sunday night

When we arrived at her old

Victorian-style house,

Grandma Rose greeted us

with hugs and kisses. Later

that night, after my parents

and Hannah left, I showed

Grandma the pocket watch that my

dad had

given me. Her eyes twinkled as she

spoke. “Your

grandpa treasured that watch! It w

as special to

him because his parents worked ve

ry hard to

have it made and inscribed in time

for his 10th

birthday. Since Johnny was their fir

st-born son,

they wanted to give him a grand g

ift. Not

everyone had a watch back then, a

nd this

particular watch holds a lot of mem

ories. Now

you’re the proud owner of a real a

ntique.”

As I climbed into bed, I noticed tw

o framed

photographs on the nightstand. One was of a

boy my age holding a puppy. Next to it

was

a faded black and white

photograph of a young

couple holding pickaxes and

shovels. “Who could they

be?” I wondered, as I

drifted off to sleep.

2

Written by Christine M. Crouse/Clear Creek Watershed Foundation

The summer I turned 10 was very interesting. I was hopingfor the Ultimate Zone-Out T.V. Game Station, but when mydad gave me a gift smaller than a baseball, I knew I wasgoing to have to keep saving my allowance. Although I wasdisappointed, I became curious when my mom said, “Jack,this year your present is your past.” I tore off the wrappingpaper and opened the velvet-lined box. Inside was a shiny,gold pocket watch! It was really cool!

“Read the inscription inside,” said my dad. etched in fancywriting were the words, “Happy 10th Birthday, July 10,1944.” “That’s my birth date, but the year is 60 years off,” I stated. “It should say 2004, not 1944.” “The inscription iscorrect,” replied my dad, J.J. Miller. “This watch originallybelonged to your Grandpa Johnny. You and he were born onthe exact same date, but 60 years apart. The watch was givento him on his 10th birthday by his father, Jonathan JamesMiller. Then he gave it to me when I turned 10, and now it’syour turn!” I only met my Grandpa Johnny once before hedied, so I barely remember him. I thought it was pretty neat tohave something that had been in the family for so long, and itstill worked! “It’s made of real gold, son, so be very carefulwith it,” warned my dad.

After we finished our root beer floats my mom said, “Thatwatch is not your only gift from us, Jack. You get to go on aspecial birthday trip, too!” “Really? Where?” I excitedly asked. “A dude ranch? An adventure park?” My parents chuckled.

“umm, not exactly,” my dad replied. “Nowthat we’ve moved back to Colorado, yourGrandma Rose has invited you to spend aweek with her up in Idaho Springs, where I grew up!” I tried not to

make a face. Don’t get mewrong, I love my Grandma, butI couldn’t imagine spending awhole week with her. “It’s agolden opportunity!” gushedmy mom. “You can learn moreabout Grandpa Johnny and ourfamily heritage!” I figuredvisiting with Grandma Rosewould be better than having tohang out with my little sister all week!

jack’s journal ~ sunday night

When we arrived at her old

Victorian-style house,

Grandma Rose greeted us

with hugs and kisses. Later

that night, after my parents

and Hannah left, I showed

Grandma the pocket watch that my

dad had

given me. Her eyes twinkled as she

spoke. “Your

grandpa treasured that watch! It w

as special to

him because his parents worked ve

ry hard to

have it made and inscribed in time

for his 10th

birthday. Since Johnny was their fir

st-born son,

they wanted to give him a grand g

ift. Not

everyone had a watch back then, a

nd this

particular watch holds a lot of mem

ories. Now

you’re the proud owner of a real a

ntique.”

As I climbed into bed, I noticed tw

o framed

photographs on the nightstand. One was of a

boy my age holding a puppy. Next to it

was

a faded black and white

photograph of a young

couple holding pickaxes and

shovels. “Who could they

be?” I wondered, as I

drifted off to sleep.

3C O l O R A D O F O u N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C u l T u R e / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m

Why was the prospector happy when he sneezed?To discover the answer, solve these math problems. Then match the solutions to thenumbers on the lines below.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !75 11 219 120 219 813 30 205 9 990 240 17 17 175 205 75 192 15 75 11 219 30 192 120

W305

+508 A60–: 2

T25x3

U80+95

R40x3 E

1 9 1+28

G75-66

D92-75

O7 1 0+280

H22–: 2

N2 1-6

I155+37 S

122+83

L40x6

TuesdayI didn’t think there would be much to do in an old-time

mountain mining town like Idaho Springs, but we sure arekeeping busy! Now I know why my parents chuckled when Iasked about what I’d be doing on my trip; Grandma Rose isvery energetic! Yesterday we went rafting in Clear Creek. Thenwe packed a picnic and hiked to Grandma’s favorite fishingspot.

Today as we were walking through town, Grandma Rose toldme that Colorado has a very rich mining history and IdahoSprings was home to the Colorado Gold Rush back in 1859! Sheexplained that gold was first found in streams and rivers byplacer miners. Some called this “easy mining” because theminers used specially-shaped pans to swish around the streamwater and gravel to look for gold flakes. Some were really luckyand found gold nuggets! If they found a place with lots of gold,they would build a long wooden trough called a sluice (rhymeswith “juice”) to wash large amounts of gravel.

Grandma explained that after most of the placer gold wasfound, the miners had to look harder and deeper for the realsource of the gold. They moved out of the streams and riversand began digging the land. Soon, large amounts of gold andother valuable minerals were found in underground rockdeposits. To get the gold and other valuable minerals out of therocks, the miners had to dig and blast a lot of ore undergroundwhere it was cold, dark and damp. This hardrock mining wasreally hard work. Back in the 1800s, mining was done by hand

using pickaxes, shovels,sledge hammers, anddynamite. They went downshafts, through drifts to themine face. After breakingup the rocks, they wouldload them into carts. Thenthey would move the cartsup to the surface of themine—sometimes with thehelp of horses, donkeys, ormules. Grandma explained,“This was very dangerouswork because the tunnels andother underground workingscould collapse or flood.Sometimes dynamiteexploded unexpectedly.Miners could also get sickfrom breathing too much rock and mineral dust, or from pocketsof ‘bad air’ or air without enough oxygen.”

After the ore was mined, it had to be processed to get thevaluable gold and other minerals out of the rocks. The rocks hadto be crushed at a mill. Sometimes the ore was heated toextremely high temperatures in a smelter. Other times chemicalslike “quicksilver” (mercury) were used to float the minerals out.

continued on page 4

JACK’S NUGGET OF

KNOWLEDGE!In the early mining days

there was no electricity,

so miners brought candles

into the mines for light.

The candles also helped

save miners’ lives. If the

flame went out, it meant

that there was not

enough oxygen for the

miners to breathe. Their

motto was, “If the flame

goes out, you get out!”

As we walked downtown, Grandmaexplained that because so many newpeople were coming to the area back then,there was a growing need for more goodsand services. “It was a very exciting time,Jack. Idaho Springs was one of the firstColorado boom towns!” “Wow, thatsounds kind of dangerous,” I exclaimed!

Grandma laughed. “I don’t mean literallyexploding, Jack! The businesses were sobusy they said they were ‘booming.’” Iwas looking at the plaques on many of thehistoric buildings downtown and learnedthat most of them were constructed in the1880s. The business district was alongMiner Street. There were grocery andclothing stores; blacksmith and hardwareshops; boarding houses and saloons;

pharmacies and a mortuary; schools andchurches; banks and a post office. Thereeven used to be a bowling alley, atheatre, and a candy shop.” Houses werebuilt along Colorado Boulevard. Thebiggest and fanciest were built for thewealthy mine owners and millsuperintendents.

Here’s a sketch Grandma and Imade of an underground mine.

adit ~ a horizontal passageway into the side of a hill ormountain...if it continues through to the other side it is a tunnel.drift ~ a tunnel dug horizontally from the shaft; miners tried to“drift in” underneath the ore body.face ~ any part of a mine where work is underway.hardrock ~ ore that can only be mined by blasting.headframe ~ a structure at the opening of a shaft, used to takedown and bring up people, tools, and ore.high-grading ~ when miners would steal chunks of ore.lode ~ a rock zone that contains a large amount of valuableminerals. When miners discovered a large lode, they would exclaimthat they hit the mother lode! Because lodes are usually long,branching deposits of ore, they are also called veins.muck ~ ore and waste rock that has been broken up by blasting.The person who cleaned up the muck was called the mucker.

ore ~ a mix of rock and valuable minerals that can be minedat a profit.outcrop ~ a place where a mineral deposit can be seen on theEarth’s surface.portal ~ a horizontal mine entrance.raise ~ a shaft driven upward to connect two mine levels.shaft ~ a tunnel dug straight down into the ground.stope ~ a large underground room or area where ore has beenmined.

sump ~ a hole sunk below a shaft or drift to catch water.waste rock ~ rock that does not contain valuable minerals; itis almost always mixed in with the valuable stuff.winze ~ an inclined or vertical shaft or passage between minelevels.

The Making of a MineOutcrop Head frame

Portal Outcrop

OrebodyOrebody

Drift vein

Stope

Sump

Shaf

t Face

Drift

4

continued from page 3

Diagram from Mining: Colorado’s Heritage

As we walked downtown, Grandmaexplained that because so many newpeople were coming to the area back then,there was a growing need for more goodsand services. “It was a very exciting time,Jack. Idaho Springs was one of the firstColorado boom towns!” “Wow, thatsounds kind of dangerous,” I exclaimed!

Grandma laughed. “I don’t mean literallyexploding, Jack! The businesses were sobusy they said they were ‘booming.’” Iwas looking at the plaques on many of thehistoric buildings downtown and learnedthat most of them were constructed in the1880s. The business district was alongMiner Street. There were grocery andclothing stores; blacksmith and hardwareshops; boarding houses and saloons;

pharmacies and a mortuary; schools andchurches; banks and a post office. Thereeven used to be a bowling alley, atheatre, and a candy shop.” Houses werebuilt along Colorado Boulevard. Thebiggest and fanciest were built for thewealthy mine owners and millsuperintendents.

Here’s a sketch Grandma and Imade of an underground mine.

WednesdayThis morning Grandma took me up to the Phoenix Mine—a

real underground gold mine that started in 1871. We went on atour and got to see hardrock miners in action. Al, who owns thismine with his brother, explained that what’s happening in theworld can affect mining and how much money the minerals areworth.

While we were there I got to pan for gold in the nearbystream, just like the early prospectors. It was exciting to findspecks of real gold in the bottom of my pan! I can understandwhy so many people caught “gold fever.” I started to realizehow lucky I was to have a real, 14-karat gold pocket watch.One of Grandma Rose’s friends told me that the purity of goldis measured in karats. 24-karat is pure gold! Can you imaginehow much gold you would have to find to make an entirewatch?

Right now, Grandma Rose is doing some volunteer work atthe library. I thought she might like it if I had a story for her, sowhile I was waiting, I did some more research. Here’s what I’velearned so far about Colorado’s mining history (see page 6)...

ThursdayToday was a rainy day, which I didn’t mind—I was kind of

tired after three days of non-stop activity. I found Grandmabusy cooking in the kitchen. As I ate my breakfast, I asked,“Who are the people in the pictures by my bed?” “I waswondering when you’d ask,” she replied. “Those are three veryimportant people from your family. let’s bring our tea into theliving room and I’ll tell you about them,” Grandma suggested.Once we got situated, she pulled out a really old, leather photoalbum and sat next to me on the couch. “Here are somewedding photos of that same couple in the photo by your bed.They’re your great-grandfather Jonathan James Miller and yourgreat-grandmother Ruth.”

Back in 1932 they decided to become miners! The GoldRush stories of mining adventure and riches captured theirimaginations. After their wedding, they did some geologyresearch and hiked all around Clear Creek County looking forcertain kinds of rock outcrops that indicated that there was avein of gold underground. After a few months, they stakedtheir claim on the “Honeymoon Mine.”

Developing the mine and having ore processed took a lot oftheir time and money. They both kept their regular jobs andlived in a small house in town, only working in their mine onthe weekends. They were lucky, though, and found enough goldto give them “gold fever!” They saved the gold they found,were having fun, and even built a small picnic shelter up there.

When their son, Jonathan James II was born in July of 1934,they knew what they wanted to do with their gold — have itmade into a pocket watch for him. They thought a gold pocketwatch would be a prized-possession for any boy! Over the nextfew years they collected enough gold to make the pocket watch.When World War II began in 1939 their mine was ordered to beshut down by the government, and Jonathan Sr. went overseasto serve in the war.

When he returned home his family was very happy to seehim! To his amazement, Ruth had the gold pocket watch madewhile he was overseas. “And that’s the story of how your goldpocket watch came to be!” Grandma Rose concluded as shegently closed the photo album.

The Colorado Reader publication and Ag in the Classroom are projects of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture. educational projects are produced in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture,

other state and federal agencies, Colorado commodity groups, Colorado agricultural associations, state universities and colleges and interested individuals. Colorado Readers are provided free to educators requesting them.

For more information contact: Bette Blinde, Director, Colorado Foundation for Agriculture, P.O. Box 10, livermore, CO 80536 or phone (970) 881-2902. Financial support for this reader has been graciously provided by:

State of Colorado, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. excerpted from the full Student Workbook “A Summer of Gold.” For a copy of the complete workbook,

contact the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation at 303-567-2699 or ccwfoundation@clearcreekwireless.com. Written by Chris Crouse. lllustrated by Carrie Jordan

QUEST FOR GOLDGold has been treasured since ancient

times. More than 5,000 years ago the

Egyptians, Greeks, Aztecs and Mayans

were mining gold to make statues, jewelry,

and coins. In the 1500s, the native people

of what is now Florida mined gold to

trade with the Spanish Conquistadors. The

Spanish explorers crossed Colorado while

searching for the fabled Seven Cities of

Gold. In 1799, a 17-pound gold nugget was

found in North Carolina. This was the

first documented discovery of gold in the

United States. The U.S. Gold Rush began

in the 1800s.

1803 North Carolina1828 Georgia1849 California1859 Colorado1874 South Dakota1898 Alaska1902 Nevada

continued on page 7

5C O l O R A D O F O u N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C u l T u R e / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m

Going for Gold! by Jack MillerBack in 1858, a man named William Green Russell found gold in Cherry Creek, just south ofpresent-day Denver. News of this goldpanning discovery spread like wildfire. Many prospectors (peoplewho believed in the prospect or possibility of “striking it rich”) came to this area.

One such prospector was George Andrew Jackson. On a cold, winter day in January of 1859, hewas setting up his campsite near where Chicago Creek and Clear Creek meet, in what is now IdahoSprings. He had left his gold pan at the main camp, so he used his knife and tin cup to search forgold in the stream. While swishing around the gravel and water, he found gold flakes and several goldnuggets! Soon after, the Colorado Gold Rush began!Shortly after the discovery of “Jackson’s Diggins,” another miner named John Gregory found alarge underground gold lode near present-day Central City. Gregory’s “Glory Hole” and other nearbyfinds led to the area’s nickname of “the richest square mile on Earth.” At the peak of mining in this area, more than 2,000 mines criss-crossed under the ground! Theyhad interesting names like French Flag, Hercules, Two Brothers, Whale, General Herkimer, Little Nell,Gem, Silver Cycle, Treasure Vault, Boodle, and Dixie.News of these gold discoveries brought tens of thousands of people to Colorado, many of themto Clear Creek Canyon. Many of the original mining camps became towns and cities which still exist,like Idaho Springs, Black Hawk, Central City, Silver Plume, Empire, and Georgetown. Some, likeNevadaville, Alice, and Freedland, are now deserted ghost towns. And old towns like Russell Gulch havetourist mines like the Hidee Mine. Before heading up the canyon to Idaho Springs, lots of prospectors stopped in Golden to stockup on supplies. Golden City (Golden) was the Colorado Territorial Capitol from 1862-1867. In 1867, theTerritorial Capitol was moved to Denver where they eventually built a new capitol building with a golddome! In 1870, railroads from the east reached Colorado and brought lots more people. In 1876, theColorado Territory become the 38th state ~Colorado.

No one knows for sure, but it is estimated thatnearly $200,000,000 (that’s 200 million dollars) worthof gold and other minerals were mined from theClear Creek/Gilpin Mining District ~ that’s equal toover a billion dollars today! Besides being used as a form of money and forjewelry, gold is used for medical and dentalprocedures. Gold is used to make aircraft andaerospace products. Gold is a great conductor. Thismeans that electricity can easily pass through awire made of gold. Keys on computer keyboardsstrike gold circuits that relay the data. Telephoneshave a small transmitter in the mouthpiece that ismade partly of gold. Car airbags are signaled todeploy (open up) by gold-covered sensors. Gold isalso used in telescopes, lasers, and televisions.THE END

6

Going for Gold! by Jack MillerBack in 1858, a man named William Green Russell found gold in Cherry Creek, just south ofpresent-day Denver. News of this goldpanning discovery spread like wildfire. Many prospectors (peoplewho believed in the prospect or possibility of “striking it rich”) came to this area.

One such prospector was George Andrew Jackson. On a cold, winter day in January of 1859, hewas setting up his campsite near where Chicago Creek and Clear Creek meet, in what is now IdahoSprings. He had left his gold pan at the main camp, so he used his knife and tin cup to search forgold in the stream. While swishing around the gravel and water, he found gold flakes and several goldnuggets! Soon after, the Colorado Gold Rush began!Shortly after the discovery of “Jackson’s Diggins,” another miner named John Gregory found alarge underground gold lode near present-day Central City. Gregory’s “Glory Hole” and other nearbyfinds led to the area’s nickname of “the richest square mile on Earth.” At the peak of mining in this area, more than 2,000 mines criss-crossed under the ground! Theyhad interesting names like French Flag, Hercules, Two Brothers, Whale, General Herkimer, Little Nell,Gem, Silver Cycle, Treasure Vault, Boodle, and Dixie.News of these gold discoveries brought tens of thousands of people to Colorado, many of themto Clear Creek Canyon. Many of the original mining camps became towns and cities which still exist,like Idaho Springs, Black Hawk, Central City, Silver Plume, Empire, and Georgetown. Some, likeNevadaville, Alice, and Freedland, are now deserted ghost towns. And old towns like Russell Gulch havetourist mines like the Hidee Mine. Before heading up the canyon to Idaho Springs, lots of prospectors stopped in Golden to stockup on supplies. Golden City (Golden) was the Colorado Territorial Capitol from 1862-1867. In 1867, theTerritorial Capitol was moved to Denver where they eventually built a new capitol building with a golddome! In 1870, railroads from the east reached Colorado and brought lots more people. In 1876, theColorado Territory become the 38th state ~Colorado.

No one knows for sure, but it is estimated thatnearly $200,000,000 (that’s 200 million dollars) worthof gold and other minerals were mined from theClear Creek/Gilpin Mining District ~ that’s equal toover a billion dollars today! Besides being used as a form of money and forjewelry, gold is used for medical and dentalprocedures. Gold is used to make aircraft andaerospace products. Gold is a great conductor. Thismeans that electricity can easily pass through awire made of gold. Keys on computer keyboardsstrike gold circuits that relay the data. Telephoneshave a small transmitter in the mouthpiece that ismade partly of gold. Car airbags are signaled todeploy (open up) by gold-covered sensors. Gold isalso used in telescopes, lasers, and televisions.THE END

fridayToday we went to some local museums.

I was curious about a tool I saw at theIdaho Springs Visitor Center & HeritageMuseum called the “widow-maker.” Avolunteer at the museum told me that thismining tool was used for the first time up inthe Burleigh Tunnel in Silver Plume in1869. It is a drill that uses compressed airto make the holes for dynamite — ten timesfaster than by hand! “If it helped theminers,” I wondered, “why did theynickname it the widow-maker?” Heexplained that the early models of the drillcreated a fine dust that the miners breathed.They got sick and often died from theterrible lung disease called silicosis. If aminer had a wife when he died, she becamea “widow.” After this danger was realized, anew kind of drill was invented that usedwater to keep the dust down.

“even though it was dangerous, I bet itwas exciting.” I said. “Too bad there isn’tany more mining going on now.” “Hold onthere, fella,” he laughed. “Mining is still bigbusiness! To make things like cars,computers, and even jewelry, you still needrocks and minerals. even the materials usedto make your house were mined! Some ofthose minerals are mined at the big

Henderson Mine outside the old miningtown of empire - west of Idaho Springs.That’s what mining is all about.” Hecontinued, “Nowadays, though, mining ismuch different. Faster machinery is used,such as conveyor belts, front-end loaders,and shuttle vehicles. Mining is saferbecause miners use equipment that helpsthem avoid breathing in harmful dust.“Wow,” I exclaimed, “before this visit, Ijust thought a rock was a rock. I didn’tknow that valuable stuff was inside it.”Grandma sighed, “Most people don’trealize how different life would be withoutmining.” (As usual, she’s right — check out

the activity below!)

After lunch, we went on a bike ride.Along the way we passed several old,historic mining structures that you can seefrom Interstate 70 — the Stanley Mine, theMaude Monroe, and the Argo Mill. Wetook a break and Grandma pointed outmore old mining sites. “They’re easy tospot, Jack,” she said. “In the old days, thereweren’t any laws to protect theenvironment. The waste rock and tailingswere dumped down the mountain or intonearby streams. “Why are the piles andponds orange?” I asked. “Because when theminerals in the rocks are exposed to air andwater they turn a rusty, orange color from

the iron oxide that is formed.”“Remember how I told you that there

were about 2,000 mines around here?”Grandma asked. “Now most of those minesare abandoned. The miners just packed upand left. When it rains or snows, water goesthrough waste rock and tailings and getspolluted with minerals that can hurt thenearby streams. Natural groundwater seepsout of the mines and is usually polluted,too. That’s why there is a lot of work beingdone now to clean up the old mine and millsites. Now at the Argo, instead of anoperating mill, there is a Water TreatmentPlant to clean the water draining from themines before it goes into Clear Creek.”“That’s good,” I said, “since people gettheir drinking water from the creek, and useit for fishing and rafting.”

“Are miners more careful now?” Iasked. “Oh yes, there are still minerals tobe found and there are lots of laws toprotect the environment and people. Oursociety uses these resources for almosteverything we do. We use the fossil fuels ofcoal and natural gas to make electricity.Almost everything we use is made fromminerals. When the supply runs out, whatwill we do? These are important things foryour generation to think about, Jack!”

C O l O R A D O F O u N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C u l T u R e / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 7

What’s Your Your Daily Dose of Minerals?Minerals are really important to our everyday lives. Without minerals we would not have things like houses,cars, skateboards, bikes, computers, t.v.s, CD players, drinking glasses, windows, light bulbs, eventoothpaste, and shampoo! Take a look around — almost everything we use is made from minerals thatwere mined from Earth. Even our bodies contain minerals that keep us alive! Go online and research whatthe following common items are made from and draw a line from the mineral ingredients to theseeveryday items.

1) concrete =

2) toothpaste =

3) stainless steel =

4) shampoo =

5) window glass =

continued from page 5

continued on page 8

8

saturday ~ My last day with grandma roseearly in the morning, Grandma Rose announced that she had a

special surprise for me. “Follow me!” she said. We went out tothe back yard and she opened the door to a large shed. Inside wasthe oldest, dustiest jeep I had ever seen! “Does it run?” I asked.“Well, it’s been a while, but hop in and let’s give it a go,” saidGrandma. “Where are we going?” I inquired. “up to theHoneymoon Mine!” she answered with a twinkle in her eye. “Theold family gold mine?” I said, “I didn’t know it was still around!”We drove west oftown and up asteep canyon.

“We used tocome up here onweekends whenyour dad was a kidabout yourage.We’d pack apicnic and spendall day‘rockhounding.’Your dad sure hada knack for findingthe most beautifulrock and mineralspecimens. That must be why he became a geologist.” When wefinally got up to the Honeymoon Mine, it was all boarded up.“Can we go exploring in the mine?” I eagerly asked. “Oh no,Jack. It’s much too dangerous to go inside. No one has been inthere for years. But we can take a hike around.” I was amazed, “Iwonder why Dad never told me about these family trips?”“Although we had a lot of good times here,” Grandma began,“there is a sad memory, too...”

For your dad’s 10th birthday, he wanted to come up here — itwas his favorite place in the world! We were having a wonderfultime when suddenly Buddy, the family puppy, chased a rabbit intothe mine. He started barking and digging after the rabbit. Then weheard a rumbling sound from inside the mine. Buddy barked wildly.“A rockslide!” cried J.J. as he started to run in after Buddy. “I’ve gotto save him!” Grandpa chased after J.J. and stopped him. “I knowyou love Buddy, but it’s too dangerous to go in after him.” At justthat moment, the headframe collapsed and the mine caved in. Welost Buddy, but thanks to Grandpa, your dad was all right. Itfrightened all of us terribly, but your dad was especially upset aboutlosing Buddy. He never wanted to come back here after that. Thefollowing weekend Grandpa Johnny came and boarded up the mine.

“So my dad is the boy in the photograph, “ I said. “It allmakes sense now. Dad never told me about this place because itreminded him of losing Buddy.” “I think you’re right, Jack,” shesaid. “Now that your dad works for the Colorado Division ofReclamation, Mining and Safety, his job is to study old miningareas and help make them safe. Abandoned mines that oncebrought riches are now extremely dangerous and can bring greattragedy. every year people get hurt or die in abandoned mines.That’s why you should keep out.”

“Well, we’d better head back home and see if there are anymore surprises!” teased Grandma Rose.

When we got back to Grandma’s house, mom, dad andHannah were on the front porch waiting for us. They were tryingto hide a large box with agiant ribbon on top. “Hurryup and open it!” my sistergiggled. I ran up and openedthe lid — inside was thecutest puppy! “I hope youdon’t mind, Jack, but I’vealready named the puppy...meet Argo!” “Since we’regoing to be staying put inColorado, we figured itwas time for a familydog!” said mom. This giftwas way more interactivethan Ultimate Zone-Out,

and as my mom hadpredicted, finding outabout my past was agreat present! I learned alot about the past inColorado, too. I’m gladwe’re staying here so Ican discover more aboutthe state and my family.

6) nails andscrews =a) coal tar + lithium clay + selenium

b) silica sand + limestone + sodium carbonate

c) limestone + clay + iron oxide + gypsum

d) silica + fluorite + titanium + mica

e) iron + hematite + magnetite + zinc

sTay OuT & sTay aLiVe!according to the Colorado Divisionof reclamation, Mining, and safety,there are more than 23,000abandoned mines in Colorado, withmore than 2,000 in the idahosprings/Central City/ georgetownarea alone. unfortunately, abandonedmines are very dangerous and everyyear people get injured or die fromexploring them—by falling into deepshafts, cave-ins, bad air and poisonousgas, drowning in flooded tunnels,discarded explosives, poisonoussnakes in the shafts and tunnels, andmore. Please do not exploreabandoned mine shafts or tunnels.There are numerous tourist mines andmining museums throughout the statewith experienced and knowledgeablestaff to guide you safely through thefascinating world of mining.exploring abandoned mines is nogame—stay out and stay alive.

continued from page 7