Into the Depths

Into the Depths. . Look above you to the large headframe of the Mizpah Mine on the hill. Imagine entering a cage at the bottom of that headframe. You would be lowered 1,500 feet (more than a 1/4 of a mile!), the depth of the Mizpah shaft. When you reached the bottom the cage opened and you would enter a tunnel similar to the one you see here. "Square set" timbers supported the mine and prevented cave-ins., Working The Mines , The men sitting to the left near the axe and pick may have worked with the timber. The men in the center my be Cousin Jacks (drillers). Further right note the jackleg drill held upright and connected to the hose which provides air for power. the miners standing in the tunnel may be muckers who break up and shovel out the rock., Manual Steel Drill , When you arrive at the end of the tunnel, look for the drill with the flattened head stuck in the rock. Unable to pull it out, a frustrated miner may have walked away in disgust., Dark And Light , In the extreme darkness of mining underground, light was provided by candles. The miner's candlesticks (below) were he primary source., Jackleg Drill , At the end of the tunnel, look to your right to discover this abandoned "jackleg" drill., The Burro Tunnel , Is a re-creation of one of the many tunnels which lie under the Mining Park. As you enter, notice the heavy timbers. Original lighting would have been with candles. When you reach the end of the tunnel, you will come face to face with one of the original mine stopes called the "Burro Vein" of silver discovered by Jim Butler in May 1900. When the vein was first developed, the digging opened in this stope and the tunnel was built to bring out the ore. The ore was then loaded into ore cars located in the trench outside the tunnel. Later tunnels were dug to the Mizpah shaft, so that ore could be brought to the surface with a hoist.