Thanks for refreshing a fond memory. I, a friend and two nephews visited Allison somewhere in the late 60s or early 70s as best as I can remember. I lived in El monte, CA at the time and had explored mines out in the Mojave Deseret while motorcycle riding and really enjoyed that. One day while looking at a topographic map of the east fork of the San Gabriel I noticed the Allison mine symbol high up on the mountain. Since I liked to explore it looked like a fun challenge. We planned a two-day trip to see if we could find it. The map showed two trails leading to the mine, one out of Heaton flats and the other up allison gulch a way then up the mountain on the left side. We chose that one. It apeared to be a shorter route. We got kind of a late start the first day and spent the night in allison gulch. The next morning, we worked towards the mine finding bits of the old trail and using map and compass skills, arriving midday or so. We were not prepared for what we would find. We brought no camaras and had not set aside enough time to do the trip justice. We first arrived at what I think was the main tunnel. There was a mill at its mouth perched kind of hanging out over the mountain side with ore cart tracks leading to it. An ore cart sat just inside the tunnel, all in great shape. We explored a short way inside and then decided to see what else was in the area. We worked our way around to small building that once inside seemed to be the kitchen for the camp. I don't remember if it had a stove but there were a lot of cupboards on the walls and just appeared to have been a kitchen. On the inside of the cupboard doors were writings of others who had visited in past years speaking of being stranded there in a snowstorm and another complaining about a tick infestation. Those I remember, there were more I don't. As a part of the kitchen building was an attached small room, kind of an enclosed porch, which you went through to enter the kitchen. It seemed to be kind of a tool shed with all kinds of small mining stuff laying around. The two things that impressed me the most were serval lanterns and a large two man saw hanging on the wall. Also impressive was that this building and the others we visited had all their windows intact, not broken. Since we were short on time and could only stay another hour or two, we decided to split up and see what else we could find in the area. I found two more buildings, one seemed to be a residence. All windows intact. It was mostly empty except for one thing. A baby crib, not fashioned with lumber but out of the natural branches of trees of the forest. That gave a personal touch to the miners and their families that lived there. The other building was smaller, maybe 6'x8'. It seemed to be what might be called the mining engineers office. I say that not knowing much about mining. There were shelves with small and medium sized bottles with what appeared to be chemicals in them and a table with some notebooks. I flipped through some of them, and they contained handwritten notes of the mining operation. It was all so personal. When we regathered, what each had seen was shared. The others found two or three more residences and some more tunnels further up the canyon. One of the residences had a nice wood burning stove in it and there were more furnishings in the cabins, but I never got to see them. Again, all windows intact. It seemed all the visitors through the years had respected the place. And we did too. We left everything as we found it, took nothing as souvenirs. We decided to try the other trail back in hopes, although longer, would be easier. It was, in a sense, but there were areas where rockslides had erased it for hundreds of feet and other areas we had to get down on our hands and knees and crawl under bushes that had overgrown the trail. Clearly not many had visited the mine through the years but that would change soon. On the way down we came across someone coming up on their way to the mine. A man and his wife and a kid. They seemed a little aloof and not to friendly. We did not think too much of it at the time. Six months later my nephew went back to the mine. He said the place had been raided. The lanterns, saw and most everything else had been cleaned out. I suspect the guy we met on the trail had something to do with that. My nephew went back several more times to camp overnight staying in the cabin with the wood burning stove. Then the hippies moved in and were destroying the place. As I understand, the forest service ran them out and then demolished what was left to discourage others. What a shame, a sad ending to an amazing place, it should have been declared a historical site and protected. Our visit to Allison mine was an amazing moment, almost spiritual. Although at 82 I have forgotten a lot of the details, the main part remains. Jay
This is such a great comment. You are very lucky to have seen the Allison Mine before it was looted. Apparently it was posted in some sort of treasure magazine and that's what led to it being ransacked. It seems you found all the buildings for the main camp. The Allison's would bring their whole family up there, not only to work the mine, but to enjoy as a retreat. I've found newspaper articles stating that the Allison's loved to show off their property. I'm starting to think they held onto the property mostly for its beauty, not for the gold content, which was small. Working the mine provided a way for them to hold onto the claims, with the small chance of making a fortune in the process. One of the granddaughters of John Allison (I believe) would occasionally post online about how she would visit the mine at a very young age. That crib you found may have been hers. The building with the chemicals was the assay lab/office and I really hope that paperwork is saved somewhere. Thank you for typing out all of this great information explaining how the mine used to be. I wish it was still like that.
I would like to thank our u.s.d.a forest service and the b.l.m for their keen interest in preserving our nation's heritage and history that is quietly await its demise.Thank goodness they are there tearing down such great threats out in the middle of our forests,hills and valleys.#!###!##!@!*^Thank you and Xavier for recording and preserving what's left for many of us that are unable to ever see,especially before the great threats are erased,be safe and love what you do,THANK YOU❤
We already have to contend with vandals, fires, floods, heavy snowfall, and things simply falling apart due to old age. It sucks that government agencies have to destroy these historic mining sites as well.
Thank You so much for this post. I was last there in 84 or 85. The ore box with the crusher on top and the stationary drive engine were still intact, thought the trestle was already down. Though rotted the shaker table was all there and was still complete probably around 20 ft. long. the car engines have deteriorated a great deal. They are 1930, 1931 Cadillac V-8 chassis. Back then the Chilean mill (base casting only) looked like it had just been made. No cracks or damage of any kind. certainly not covered by rocks and debris. This video brings back so many good memories!
I always appreciate hearing stories from those who visited these places long before I have. I wish I could have seen the mine when it was so intact. Thank you for the information on the engines and the rest of the equipment, and thank you for the comment, Gene!
You certainly have done your homework, and really new what to look for to find all the outlets of this mine! About 43 years ago my friends and I loaded up our Boy Scout style packs, topo map, compass and equipmrnt and camped up near the mine, and enjoyed all that you showed in your video. I love that there is very little, if any, litter or graffiti. Thank you for the amazing walk down memory lane...uh, trail!
quite a few years back when I first went to the mine, I came from the top trail from Heaton. The shack was full up and the tracks went out to it. About a year after it was out, a woman claiming to be the grand daughter of the man who worked the mine contacted me and told me some awesome stories. She said she would spend time up there when she was about 7 years old. Now, I think you fund it but the one that went from the main off to the left, comes out the side of the hill. I found a gage right there and a never used ball down by the engines. It's the size of a magic 8 ball. there were others but all deformed from use and wear. I found a few rattle snakes and a rosi boa too. Theres another not far from there I explored once, it has a under ground river in it, super cool.
All your videos on the Allison are great! Without them I wouldn't have known about the waterfall and the adit below it. It's neat that you got the chance to talk to a descendant of one of the Allisons. I bet those stories were great! This area is really beautiful, and I hope to return someday. Thank you for commenting Pharraoh! You've reminded me that I have yet to watch your videos on the Curtis tungsten mine. I look forward to seeing what you found!
We use to to hike up there in the 1980s. I would love to get the contact info you have for her if possible. I have a story she might be interested in. Thank you
When a drift dramatically changes in size it's a good indication of a different miner doing the work. Or if the rock changes it maybe a denser and harder to work through.
Nice! Hiking to the Allison has been a huge goal of mine ever since I first read about it. It's cool to hear that this mine got you hooked on mine exploration!
This was shocking! To see such a clean well done mine.. and so close to L A. He discovered it late in the gold run in Calif. You did a great job with explaining too. Just a bummer they knocked down the buildings. not cool. Not at historic site. Good job bro.
Good job telling us what a a stope is, by a readable description, please do the same for all the terms and Vocabulary used in these mines. Im new and don't know them. That will Really help. Well Done.
Thank you the video is perfect im impressed. your knowledge of mining is unsurpassed, The use of a casco will sell PPE. you are the tool. and model for safety to prevent blunt force truama to the head , Twenty five years of hard rock mining plus paid vacation with MSHA, Great team what a delight it must be to touch history of a specia man.
👹😈👺Yeah, it seems the same political ideologues who used to complain about "the big, greedy corporations", are now doing their bidding! It's now 10 months into the Covid lockdowns, and the same "group" of politicians who's policies you were complaining about, have now literally put over 21% of small businesses OUT of business, by forcibly shutting them down, while allowing BIG corporations to remain open, doing literally the same jobs the small companies ARENT ALLOWED to do! At some point, we are going to have to stop being the polite, easily ruled rubes they expect us to be, and take proactive steps to throw their asses out of office. A few recalls are being circulated now, but at this point in history, I'm betting they'll find ways of avoiding accountability yet again! It's MUCH easier to behave like corrupt despots when you've got almost the entire "news" media covering for you!
@@HighlanderNorth1 I prospected and mined small scale in my better days. You could do quite well if you knew what you was doing. I could turn $100 days most times. Not no more.
@@pulesjet 👉 I guess it depends on what source of gold you're looking for. I'm sure that one of the most important aspects of "knowing what you're doing", involves knowing WHERE to look. But that may not help you that much at this point in history, unless you're SURE you've located places where no one has explored before. Remember, there have been countless people who also "knew what they were doing" over the past 170 years, who have already combed through most of the "good spots" searching for gold. That's undoubtedly true involving placer gold in rivers and streams, where it requires less labor and less initial investment in tools to extract it. But after watching many of these videos from "mine exploration" youtube channels, it occasionally looks as if there's still sections of ore veins remaining in some of those mines. It's more risky to get at it, but it's already exposed and ready for careful extraction....
Interesting place,you can see were NASA got the idea for the reentry pods! Waterfalls are classics in the UK for finding ancient levels,( the course of the river exposed the vein) nice to see the early mining equipment, cheers.
Thanks for watching, Terry! I'm glad you like the "organic" feel to my videos. The next one will probably feature some small mines in the El Paso Mountains.
My wife and I have been avid hikers up in Azusa East Fork for years. We always see people panning on the way up to the Bridge to nowhere. BTW-I subscribed and am going to bing watch your videos!! Cheers
🤔 Imagine having breakfast, kissing your wife goodbye, wishing your kids a good day at school, and heading off to work at your job at this mine.... I don't even see a parking garage! Maybe theres a bus stop hidden from view behind that corner cactus..... Did their employers have casual Fridays? After a while, it stinks to have to wear a suit and tie EVERY day! 😁 Seriously though, it often amazes me how they managed to get back into these distant, obscure mountains before there were Jeeps, all terrain vehicles, or even trails, and then figure out the geology well enough to determine where valuable minerals were hidden.
It was family owned and operated and they lived in cabins right across the stream. It was their own little slice of paradise hidden up in the mountains that they would show off to friends and relatives. They probably treated it as a resort just as much as they did a mine. The amount of work that they put in to building this operation was truely incedible.
@@forgottenmininghistory You could call it that. It actually is called a "pulverizer". You could look it up on the internet I'm sure. It's basically un-changed in all these years. The missing part is in a cover with another disc (free floating). Imagine it like putting some sand in your hands and twisting your hands together, palms facing each other.
Hey (FMH) guy's... Would it be possible to show a yardstick at the beginning of all your mining tours... as it's sometimes quite difficult to get the scale of the tunnels height, width etc... cheers
Awesome exploration, this will be at the top of my list of to do adventures. Great footage and info. Congrats on the success and growth of the channel!
It's a really great adventure. Good luck to you when you chose to do it. The gulch trail was alright. You just need to know when to leave the canyon before the falls. Don't know about the trail from heaton flats, though. You were one of my first big fans, Nelson! Thank you so much for all the kind support you've given me!
This was pretty cool. It's not many abandoned mine explorers that are willing to climb over cave-ins so we get to see what's on the other side. Did you notice the animal crawling up the right side of the adit around 23:24? It looked to be about the size of a cat. Thanks for sharing.
@@forgottenmininghistory You're kidding! I didn't see that as human by any stretch (no insult to Xavier). Must have been farther away then I thought. Thanks for clarifying, thought someone might have gotten attacked.
On closer inspection, that's actually a backpack being hoisted upwards on a rope, with Xavier (almost out of frame) doing the pulling! [Easier to see on a big iMac screen.]
@@forgottenmininghistory if you eventually make your way to Arizona, there are several that are relatively safe and easy to access near Prescott, Wickenburg, and Jerome
Can't help but wonder HOW TA HELL did they hall that heavy azz equipment up into the place. Even breaking it down into the smallest peaces would have been multiple hundreds of lbs. peaces ? was the trail wide enough for a wagon ?
@@jameshenry2457 They started a road but it didn't begin at Heaton Flat. The road was supposed to go from Coldwater Canyon near the Widman Ranch up to Coldwater saddle. It would then traverse the same path as the trail to the mine. They only made it about halfway to the saddle, however.
@@forgottenmininghistory I wish I could remember the book I had (an old mining book), but it actually had photos of them with a four mule team and a buckboard hauling equipment to the Allison mine. So yeah, a road at one time. From coldwater canyon would sound more logical than Heaton Flat ( where the current foot path is). It would be "impossible" to transfer that equipment using block and tackle. Block and tackle would require large derricks, booms and a-frames. Unless you had, maybe, 50 people and unlimited resources. Even just the jaw crusher block would weigh, like 2000 pounds or more. Not to mention the engines, and, etc.
Hi, just found your channel and subscribed, While I'm not likely to every get to one these mine sites, I'm wondering, is legal for an explorer to remove and gold they might find in one of these old abandened mines or the protected by the old mining claims? Thanks for sharing these adventures, stay safe.
You'd need to first determine what type of land the mine is on and research the local regulations for it. It is my understanding that you are allowed to prospect and stake federal mining claims on most BLM and Forest Service lands. If a mine is already on an active federal mining claim then obviously you can't legally mine there, but if it's expired then you are free to prospect and stake your own claim. You can't legally mine on all public lands, however. For example, the Allison Mine is part of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness and is now inside a national monument, so mining it is prohibited. Though, if I found a piece of gold inside I'd still take it.
I'm sure there's some. There used to be a placer operation down the gulch at one time. The owner sued the Allison Mine because they were messing up his work by dumping rocks and tailings into the canyon.
there is a trick i learned about hiking in the canyons decades ago.. start at the crack of dawn.. and turn around at 11 AM.. so you are not trying to hike out in the dark.
Thank you,,Waterfall was my fav,,,DYT The indians were enslaved there to bring all that stuff in? Slaving a indian was legal in CA till 1930 as I understand it..STay well
No indians were enslaved. That stuff was hauled by mule up the road from Heaton flat. It's just a poor trail now, but was a little road that they cut in to haul the heavy machinery (parts). The trail up Allison gulch was the original way up ( I think).
There's one mine I've been in that requires a long belly crawl to get inside. If that wasn't enough, the ceiling was covered with large spider. Of course, one had to fall on me as I was crawling through.
![ออร่า (AURA) - JUEPAK feat. SARAN [OFFICIAL MV] | เอแคลร์ จือปาก](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RY9j7Lzp-FI/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for refreshing a fond memory.
I, a friend and two nephews visited Allison somewhere in the late 60s or early 70s as best as I can remember. I lived in El monte, CA at the time and had explored mines out in the Mojave Deseret while motorcycle riding and really enjoyed that. One day while looking at a topographic map of the east fork of the San Gabriel I noticed the Allison mine symbol high up on the mountain. Since I liked to explore it looked like a fun challenge. We planned a two-day trip to see if we could find it. The map showed two trails leading to the mine, one out of Heaton flats and the other up allison gulch a way then up the mountain on the left side. We chose that one. It apeared to be a shorter route. We got kind of a late start the first day and spent the night in allison gulch. The next morning, we worked towards the mine finding bits of the old trail and using map and compass skills, arriving midday or so. We were not prepared for what we would find. We brought no camaras and had not set aside enough time to do the trip justice.
We first arrived at what I think was the main tunnel. There was a mill at its mouth perched kind of hanging out over the mountain side with ore cart tracks leading to it. An ore cart sat just inside the tunnel, all in great shape. We explored a short way inside and then decided to see what else was in the area. We worked our way around to small building that once inside seemed to be the kitchen for the camp. I don't remember if it had a stove but there were a lot of cupboards on the walls and just appeared to have been a kitchen. On the inside of the cupboard doors were writings of others who had visited in past years speaking of being stranded there in a snowstorm and another complaining about a tick infestation. Those I remember, there were more I don't.
As a part of the kitchen building was an attached small room, kind of an enclosed porch, which you went through to enter the kitchen. It seemed to be kind of a tool shed with all kinds of small mining stuff laying around. The two things that impressed me the most were serval lanterns and a large two man saw hanging on the wall. Also impressive was that this building and the others we visited had all their windows intact, not broken.
Since we were short on time and could only stay another hour or two, we decided to split up and see what else we could find in the area. I found two more buildings, one seemed to be a residence. All windows intact. It was mostly empty except for one thing. A baby crib, not fashioned with lumber but out of the natural branches of trees of the forest. That gave a personal touch to the miners and their families that lived there. The other building was smaller, maybe 6'x8'. It seemed to be what might be called the mining engineers office. I say that not knowing much about mining. There were shelves with small and medium sized bottles with what appeared to be chemicals in them and a table with some notebooks. I flipped through some of them, and they contained handwritten notes of the mining operation. It was all so personal.
When we regathered, what each had seen was shared. The others found two or three more residences and some more tunnels further up the canyon. One of the residences had a nice wood burning stove in it and there were more furnishings in the cabins, but I never got to see them. Again, all windows intact. It seemed all the visitors through the years had respected the place. And we did too. We left everything as we found it, took nothing as souvenirs.
We decided to try the other trail back in hopes, although longer, would be easier. It was, in a sense, but there were areas where rockslides had erased it for hundreds of feet and other areas we had to get down on our hands and knees and crawl under bushes that had overgrown the trail. Clearly not many had visited the mine through the years but that would change soon. On the way down we came across someone coming up on their way to the mine. A man and his wife and a kid. They seemed a little aloof and not to friendly. We did not think too much of it at the time. Six months later my nephew went back to the mine. He said the place had been raided. The lanterns, saw and most everything else had been cleaned out. I suspect the guy we met on the trail had something to do with that. My nephew went back several more times to camp overnight staying in the cabin with the wood burning stove. Then the hippies moved in and were destroying the place. As I understand, the forest service ran them out and then demolished what was left to discourage others. What a shame, a sad ending to an amazing place, it should have been declared a historical site and protected.
Our visit to Allison mine was an amazing moment, almost spiritual. Although at 82 I have forgotten a lot of the details, the main part remains.
Jay
This is such a great comment. You are very lucky to have seen the Allison Mine before it was looted. Apparently it was posted in some sort of treasure magazine and that's what led to it being ransacked.
It seems you found all the buildings for the main camp. The Allison's would bring their whole family up there, not only to work the mine, but to enjoy as a retreat. I've found newspaper articles stating that the Allison's loved to show off their property. I'm starting to think they held onto the property mostly for its beauty, not for the gold content, which was small. Working the mine provided a way for them to hold onto the claims, with the small chance of making a fortune in the process.
One of the granddaughters of John Allison (I believe) would occasionally post online about how she would visit the mine at a very young age. That crib you found may have been hers. The building with the chemicals was the assay lab/office and I really hope that paperwork is saved somewhere.
Thank you for typing out all of this great information explaining how the mine used to be. I wish it was still like that.
My friends and I went there a few times in the ealy 80's with map, compass and a point & shoot 110 camera. What amazing memories!
I would like to thank our u.s.d.a forest service and the b.l.m for their keen interest in preserving our nation's heritage and history that is quietly await its demise.Thank goodness they are there tearing down such great threats out in the middle of our forests,hills and valleys.#!###!##!@!*^Thank you and Xavier for recording and preserving what's left for many of us that are unable to ever see,especially before the great threats are erased,be safe and love what you do,THANK YOU❤
We already have to contend with vandals, fires, floods, heavy snowfall, and things simply falling apart due to old age. It sucks that government agencies have to destroy these historic mining sites as well.
Thank You so much for this post. I was last there in 84 or 85. The ore box with the crusher on top and the stationary drive engine were still intact, thought the trestle was already down. Though rotted the shaker table was all there and was still complete probably around 20 ft. long. the car engines have deteriorated a great deal. They are 1930, 1931 Cadillac V-8 chassis. Back then the Chilean mill (base casting only) looked like it had just been made. No cracks or damage of any kind. certainly not covered by rocks and debris. This video brings back so many good memories!
I always appreciate hearing stories from those who visited these places long before I have. I wish I could have seen the mine when it was so intact. Thank you for the information on the engines and the rest of the equipment, and thank you for the comment, Gene!
Awesome vid , I will be making this hike soon , and the Stanley-miller mine as well ✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼
Cool! It's a great hike to a great mine.
You certainly have done your homework, and really new what to look for to find all the outlets of this mine! About 43 years ago my friends and I loaded up our Boy Scout style packs, topo map, compass and equipmrnt and camped up near the mine, and enjoyed all that you showed in your video. I love that there is very little, if any, litter or graffiti. Thank you for the amazing walk down memory lane...uh, trail!
There are a couple more hidden adits I found after I posted this video. It's an amazing place for sure!
Love all the things the miners used lots of hard work
Great colors in those adits. Neat mining equipment too. Thanks for the explore guys. The San Gabriel Mountains are beautiful.
Thanks for watching! I have a lot more mines to explore in these great mountains.
quite a few years back when I first went to the mine, I came from the top trail from Heaton. The shack was full up and the tracks went out to it. About a year after it was out, a woman claiming to be the grand daughter of the man who worked the mine contacted me and told me some awesome stories. She said she would spend time up there when she was about 7 years old. Now, I think you fund it but the one that went from the main off to the left, comes out the side of the hill. I found a gage right there and a never used ball down by the engines. It's the size of a magic 8 ball. there were others but all deformed from use and wear. I found a few rattle snakes and a rosi boa too. Theres another not far from there I explored once, it has a under ground river in it, super cool.
All your videos on the Allison are great! Without them I wouldn't have known about the waterfall and the adit below it. It's neat that you got the chance to talk to a descendant of one of the Allisons. I bet those stories were great! This area is really beautiful, and I hope to return someday. Thank you for commenting Pharraoh! You've reminded me that I have yet to watch your videos on the Curtis tungsten mine. I look forward to seeing what you found!
@@forgottenmininghistory had to delete it, his grand kids were crying I brought back painful memories and stuff.
We use to to hike up there in the 1980s. I would love to get the contact info you have for her if possible. I have a story she might be interested in. Thank you
@@PHARRAOH :( that is a shame. I like your videos. I wish everyone could enjoy the history.
Look to the left at position 30:53 there is a perfect side profile of a face. Eyes up high nose and even two lips at the bottom. Its so cool looking.
awesome. thank you
Thanks for watching!
When a drift dramatically changes in size it's a good indication of a different miner doing the work. Or if the rock changes it maybe a denser and harder to work through.
It was probably due to different miners. This mine was worked by leases later in it's life.
i subscibed. your videos are great and your knowledge is very apparent. keep them coming. your watchers will,grow
Great adventure! I learned a lot of new terminology / history.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Omg i went here before. This was close to where i used to live, this mine sparked my dreams of exploring old mines.
Nice! Hiking to the Allison has been a huge goal of mine ever since I first read about it. It's cool to hear that this mine got you hooked on mine exploration!
thats very well made plus informative ,,,,,, thanks making and showing
Glad you liked the video!
It’s so interesting how calcite forms so fast on a geologic time scale.
Yeah, it can create some impressive formations rather quickly.
Awesome place! Great video!
👍👍👍👊😎
Very interesting. Thank you for showing us this area. Especially that mine equipment. Thank you.
I gotta find friends willing to take on this hike. I wouldnt want to do it alone haha awesome video!
Thanks for watching!
Great explore boys. Thanks for going to the tenth degree, in showing us the best content.
Thanks for posting! I have been trying to get up there for a while now. Good job showing some of the stuff that most people overlook :)
Thanks for watching! There's a ton to see here, and I still feel like I missed something. Cool channel as well. I see you've been to the rock palace.
I love you guys explore.so fascinating 👏
I appreciate the comment! Thanks for watching!
Good job, boys!
Nice trip. Thanks for showing us the Allison.
Thanks for watching, Lars!
Great video filled with info and history! Loved it guys! Thx
Glad you liked it!
Great explore guys, stay safe.
Thanks for watching!
Great video ..!!!
Thanks!
Brilliant ,thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Great video. Thanks for taking us along
Thanks for watching!
I went there back in the 70"s there once were cabins there and tracks all over
It would have been amazing to see that!
This was shocking! To see such a clean well done mine..
and so close to L A. He discovered it late in the gold run in Calif.
You did a great job with explaining too. Just a bummer they knocked down the buildings. not cool.
Not at historic site.
Good job bro.
Thanks for the comment!
❤ thank you
Thanks for watching!
Good job telling us what a a stope is, by a readable description, please do the same for all the terms and Vocabulary used in these mines. Im new and don't know them. That will Really help. Well Done.
This should be helpful: www.legendsofamerica.com/we-miningterms/
@@forgottenmininghistory Your the Man!
Thank you the video is perfect im impressed. your knowledge of mining is unsurpassed, The use of a casco will sell PPE. you are the tool. and model for safety to prevent blunt force truama to the head , Twenty five years of hard rock mining plus paid vacation with MSHA, Great team what a delight it must be to touch history of a specia man.
Sad situation. Once such a great gold producing state Cal has enacted laws making small scale prospecting all but impossible.
👹😈👺Yeah, it seems the same political ideologues who used to complain about "the big, greedy corporations", are now doing their bidding! It's now 10 months into the Covid lockdowns, and the same "group" of politicians who's policies you were complaining about, have now literally put over 21% of small businesses OUT of business, by forcibly shutting them down, while allowing BIG corporations to remain open, doing literally the same jobs the small companies ARENT ALLOWED to do!
At some point, we are going to have to stop being the polite, easily ruled rubes they expect us to be, and take proactive steps to throw their asses out of office. A few recalls are being circulated now, but at this point in history, I'm betting they'll find ways of avoiding accountability yet again! It's MUCH easier to behave like corrupt despots when you've got almost the entire "news" media covering for you!
@@HighlanderNorth1 I prospected and mined small scale in my better days. You could do quite well if you knew what you was doing. I could turn $100 days most times. Not no more.
@@pulesjet
👉 I guess it depends on what source of gold you're looking for. I'm sure that one of the most important aspects of "knowing what you're doing", involves knowing WHERE to look. But that may not help you that much at this point in history, unless you're SURE you've located places where no one has explored before. Remember, there have been countless people who also "knew what they were doing" over the past 170 years, who have already combed through most of the "good spots" searching for gold. That's undoubtedly true involving placer gold in rivers and streams, where it requires less labor and less initial investment in tools to extract it.
But after watching many of these videos from "mine exploration" youtube channels, it occasionally looks as if there's still sections of ore veins remaining in some of those mines. It's more risky to get at it, but it's already exposed and ready for careful extraction....
One more effective of liberalism, political leaders are the biggest thieves! Thanks from.St. Paul Minnesota.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you too!
Interesting place,you can see were NASA got the idea for the reentry pods! Waterfalls are classics in the UK for finding ancient levels,( the course of the river exposed the vein) nice to see the early mining equipment, cheers.
The ball mill does look a lot like the Gemini and Mercury capsules. Thanks for the cool info about ancient mines!
great video im inspired to check it out
It's a great hike. Thanks for watching!
Cool adventure.
Awesome job thanks
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great organic video, not all overly produced....felt like I was right there with ya. Glad I subbed a while ago. Next????
Thanks for watching, Terry! I'm glad you like the "organic" feel to my videos. The next one will probably feature some small mines in the El Paso Mountains.
Very cool! You guys must have balls the size of bowling balls crawling around there. Thanks for the video
Haha! It made the hike very strenuous. Thank you for watching!
My wife and I have been avid hikers up in Azusa East Fork for years. We always see people panning on the way up to the Bridge to nowhere. BTW-I subscribed and am going to bing watch your videos!! Cheers
🤔 Imagine having breakfast, kissing your wife goodbye, wishing your kids a good day at school, and heading off to work at your job at this mine.... I don't even see a parking garage! Maybe theres a bus stop hidden from view behind that corner cactus..... Did their employers have casual Fridays? After a while, it stinks to have to wear a suit and tie EVERY day! 😁
Seriously though, it often amazes me how they managed to get back into these distant, obscure mountains before there were Jeeps, all terrain vehicles, or even trails, and then figure out the geology well enough to determine where valuable minerals were hidden.
It was family owned and operated and they lived in cabins right across the stream. It was their own little slice of paradise hidden up in the mountains that they would show off to friends and relatives. They probably treated it as a resort just as much as they did a mine. The amount of work that they put in to building this operation was truely incedible.
At 38:13 that's half of a "pulverizer". For making the final grind of the ore before going onto the table
Thanks for the info! It's a disk mill, correct?
@@forgottenmininghistory You could call it that. It actually is called a "pulverizer". You could look it up on the internet I'm sure. It's basically un-changed in all these years. The missing part is in a cover with another disc (free floating). Imagine it like putting some sand in your hands and twisting your hands together, palms facing each other.
@@forgottenmininghistory www.certifiedmtp.com/braun-pulverizer/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0Mb3BRCaARIsAPSNGpUJSRb0fJUWklDGdsWzS-hsYH_kovj1HqPKtKBTCObFjdwCm79jYHYaAs4OEALw_wcB
Thanks for the link. Looks like disk pulverizer, plate pulverizer, disk mill, laboratory disk pulverizer, etc. are all general terms for it.
The water heater was incorporated into that fire place in some fashion.
Hey (FMH) guy's... Would it be possible to show a yardstick at the beginning of all your mining tours... as it's sometimes quite difficult to get the scale of the tunnels height, width etc... cheers
is it just me or would the cone mill make the worlds coolest wood burner?
You guys should go someware honted after the fires stop
What haunted places do you know of?
That’s loooooong ass mine LOL 😂 insane thanks
The AMAZING part of all of that is that those engines are made of cast aluminum! \>0.0
I'm from in Nepal
i like your video. ..sir
Awesome exploration, this will be at the top of my list of to do adventures. Great footage and info. Congrats on the success and growth of the channel!
It's a really great adventure. Good luck to you when you chose to do it. The gulch trail was alright. You just need to know when to leave the canyon before the falls. Don't know about the trail from heaton flats, though. You were one of my first big fans, Nelson! Thank you so much for all the kind support you've given me!
Stuck/buried ore cart probably had wheels and loaded with gold rich ore.
One can dream...
This was pretty cool. It's not many abandoned mine explorers that are willing to climb over cave-ins so we get to see what's on the other side. Did you notice the animal crawling up the right side of the adit around 23:24? It looked to be about the size of a cat. Thanks for sharing.
That was my friend Xavier climbing up to a prospect. Lol! Thanks for watching!
@@forgottenmininghistory You're kidding! I didn't see that as human by any stretch (no insult to Xavier). Must have been farther away then I thought. Thanks for clarifying, thought someone might have gotten attacked.
Haha! Yeah he climbed pretty high up there. He's got the mountain goat spirit in him.
On closer inspection, that's actually a backpack being hoisted upwards on a rope, with Xavier (almost out of frame) doing the pulling! [Easier to see on a big iMac screen.]
@@donaldmiller9130 You are correct, it is a pack.
At @ 41:01 I think it looks like a pelton wheel used to generate electricity?
That might actually be one. The large water pipe coming down from the mountain suggests there was a pelton wheel at the mill.
Have you ever done any in Arizona? Interesting history you're documenting. Stay safe!
Nope, I haven't explored over there yet. There are still so many places to explore in California.
@@forgottenmininghistory if you eventually make your way to Arizona, there are several that are relatively safe and easy to access near Prescott, Wickenburg, and Jerome
@@tannarcohen6502 Thanks for the suggestions! It will probably be a while until I make it over there.
Can't help but wonder HOW TA HELL did they hall that heavy azz equipment up into the place. Even breaking it down into the smallest peaces would have been multiple hundreds of lbs. peaces ? was the trail wide enough for a wagon ?
There was no wagon road to this mine. They probably used a block and tackle system.
@@forgottenmininghistory No..There was a road they cut in from Heaton Flat. It's just broken sections of trail these days.
@@jameshenry2457 They started a road but it didn't begin at Heaton Flat. The road was supposed to go from Coldwater Canyon near the Widman Ranch up to Coldwater saddle. It would then traverse the same path as the trail to the mine. They only made it about halfway to the saddle, however.
@@forgottenmininghistory I wish I could remember the book I had (an old mining book), but it actually had photos of them with a four mule team and a buckboard hauling equipment to the Allison mine. So yeah, a road at one time. From coldwater canyon would sound more logical than Heaton Flat ( where the current foot path is). It would be "impossible" to transfer that equipment using block and tackle. Block and tackle would require large derricks, booms and a-frames. Unless you had, maybe, 50 people and unlimited resources. Even just the jaw crusher block would weigh, like 2000 pounds or more. Not to mention the engines, and, etc.
Love the video do you know why they Destroyed the cabins ?
I believe they were destroyed to prevent squatters. Doesn't seem justified, though.
Has anybody mentioned that perfect specimen of a yucca at 2:15 ?
cool video. Does anybody know what the V8 engines are ?
I don't think Mustie1 could make them two V8s run again
Hi, just found your channel and subscribed, While I'm not likely to every get to one these mine sites, I'm wondering, is legal for an explorer to remove and gold they might find in one of these old abandened mines or the protected by the old mining claims? Thanks for sharing these adventures, stay safe.
You'd need to first determine what type of land the mine is on and research the local regulations for it. It is my understanding that you are allowed to prospect and stake federal mining claims on most BLM and Forest Service lands. If a mine is already on an active federal mining claim then obviously you can't legally mine there, but if it's expired then you are free to prospect and stake your own claim. You can't legally mine on all public lands, however. For example, the Allison Mine is part of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness and is now inside a national monument, so mining it is prohibited. Though, if I found a piece of gold inside I'd still take it.
@@forgottenmininghistory "Though, if I found a piece of gold inside I'd still take it." you sly dog!
@@Alpacabowl98 lol
Up the gulch?? Yeah that tank is called a range boiler.
Thanks for the info!
I haven’t been in the San Gabriels in over 25 years .. can you still do recreational gold prospecting legally up there?
Chilean mill is a Roller mill
good work going up the gulch instead of going from heaton saddle
Yeah, the trail was much easier and more intact then I expected.
There are some pictures of the original cabins on Tom Mahood's site at theotherhand.org. Good video.
I've seen those photos before. It's a shame that's all gone now.
If you had a gyro stabilized camera mount, and even half of the wiggly camera work was stabilized, you would get a lot more subs.
38:30 what we came for
There's gotta be gold in that creek. !!! 🙄😏.
I'm sure there's some. There used to be a placer operation down the gulch at one time. The owner sued the Allison Mine because they were messing up his work by dumping rocks and tailings into the canyon.
those were bullet holes on the cart in the beginning lol
there is a trick i learned about hiking in the canyons decades ago.. start at the crack of dawn.. and turn around at 11 AM.. so you are not trying to hike out in the dark.
We left just before sunrise and got back just after sundown.
Thank you,,Waterfall was my fav,,,DYT The indians were enslaved there to bring all that stuff in? Slaving a indian was legal in CA till 1930 as I understand it..STay well
No indians were enslaved. That stuff was hauled by mule up the road from Heaton flat. It's just a poor trail now, but was a little road that they cut in to haul the heavy machinery (parts). The trail up Allison gulch was the original way up ( I think).
I think your buddy's name Xavier is actually pronounced Havier. X is pronounced as H in Spanish.
Ok, I'll go tell him he's pronouncing his own name wrong.
@@forgottenmininghistory how did your buddy take it when he found out he has been pronouncing his name wrong for all these years? 😂
lots of bugs.. means spiders and or bats. I could not go in there.
There's one mine I've been in that requires a long belly crawl to get inside. If that wasn't enough, the ceiling was covered with large spider. Of course, one had to fall on me as I was crawling through.
Cool.
Haha hot water heater... now why would you ever want to heat hot water for??? Unless it was just a water heater..
Was the "cone mill" ran by "cone heads" lol
Haha, I think so!
Always some asshole has to shoot holes in all the equipment.
A few have to ruin it for all, unfortunately.
seems a shame everybody wants to shoot holes in things
Z
you have to be awful skinny to fit into that ball mill
You should have brought some foray paint so you could scribble your street name all over the place....just kidding.