Vulture Mountains and Gold Mine - 11-26-05 (64 images)
Went out to the Vulture Mountains and the Vulture Gold Mine today. The gold mine/ghost town is
awesome. There are quite a few buildings remaining (all original) along with a lot of equipment,
tools, utensils, and other stuff. Most of the buildings that remain were built around 1884. The
mine spit out about $200,000,000 in gold and silver before it was closed by the government in 1942.
First I hit up the Assay Office. On one end
it was the actual assay office, where they would analyze the ore. Then in the middle, it was the
bullion storage where they would store the gold and silver bars until they were shipped out. Then
next to that was the guards quarters. The actual building itself is made of ore from the mine.
The walls are estimated to contain about $600,000 in gold and silver. Right next to
the Assay Office is the glory hole. It is a big cave in of part of the main shaft. The cave in was
caused by 17 miners who were stealing gold from the columns left to support the shaft. They are still
burried there along with 12 burros. After the Assay Office I was
off to the main mine shaft and the blacksmith shop. The main mine shaft is right where Henry
Wickenburg made his first strike in 1863. The main shaft is 3000 ft. deep and maintains a perfect
35 degree angle. After that I hit up the Ball Mill. This is where they used several different sized
balls to crush the ore into powder. Behind the Ball Mill was the Power House. It contained the diesel
generator that provided power for the mine and several workshops. The diesel engine was built in
Germany and shipped here in 1904 and assembled on site. Next I went down to the hanging tree. 18 miners
were hung from this tree for high-grading (stealing) gold. Right next to the hanging tree is the
remains of Henry Wickenburgs original house from when he first made the claim.
Click a picture to see a larger view.
