We toured an old gold mine in Julian, CA, which operated from 1870 to 1934, producing gold worth a few million in today’s dollars. The mine was discovered by a newly freed slave from the south, who panned for gold while his horse drank from the river.
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- Mike demonstrating the 1870’s version of a headlamp.
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- Excavating the mine took blasting and plenty of danger-filled labor.
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- Gold is nonreactive to most metals, but bonds with mercury. This is a “retort” used to recapture and reuse the mercury after mining.
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- Panning for gold.
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- We knew the gold was real, because they made us give it BACK.
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- Riding the boxcar out of the mine!
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