Tasha looked at Seth for a moment and said, “Ok.” He watched as she disappeared into the mine. Seth started back to work then paused. He decided he should accompany her for safety sake. When he got into the main shaft he saw her standing at the first bend. She had a lantern and was peering down the shaft. He watched her walk over to the first side shaft and peer as far down it as she could.
Seth walked up to Tasha and said, “It’s hard to see far down the shafts with the poor light we can carry. Come on. I am tired of working in the shop. Let’s do a little exploring here. You need to be careful and don’t touch anything unless I say you can. I really don’t know how stable everything is down here.”
Seth and Tasha carefully walked down the side shaft until they reached the end. This appeared to be a more recent dig than the main shaft. It went to the side for about thirty feet then turned back in the direction of the main shaft. About three hundred feet farther along it ended.
Seth and Tasha returned to the main shaft and moved farther into the old mine. When they came to another side shaft they turned and followed it. It, too went about fifty feet to the other side of the main shaft then turned the same direction as the main shaft. A couple hundred feet into the mountain from the turn they came upon some quartz. A small area had been dug out making a small room. The shaft went on for another hundred feet or so and ended.
Once again the two young people returned to the main shaft and turned to go down it. About three hundred feet farther along then came to a cave in. There was a large jumble of rocks almost completely blocking the shaft. Tasha and Seth carefully climbed up on the cave in and shone the light into the shaft beyond. They could not tell how much farther the shaft went. There appeared to be some quartz shining in the light near the far end of the cave in. With a sigh Seth turned and began to carefully back track heading toward the mine entrance. Tasha followed.
As they walked Tasha asked, “What did they mine here?”
“This was a gold mine. My grandfather’s family operated it for years. His grandfather found it during the original gold rush back in the 1800’s. It’s been in our family ever since. Grandpa closed the mine in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s because the vein of gold played out. He was told it was not feasible to try and find where the vein went or to discover if he had mined all the gold out. It never was a very rich mine but it provided a living for the family for years along with what we could make elsewhere. We only worked it part time towards the end. Dad and mom moved away and later, after the mine closed Grandpa came to live with us.
“When grandpa died he left the mine and 640 acres to me. This is all I have in the world now. My parents still live back in Missouri but they only own a small house. Dad works hard but they barely make enough to make ends meet. If I can’t find a job here I may have to sell the land.”
“If you have no job and aren’t making money off the mine why did you come here Seth? I would think you would be better off at home with your family.”
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