Actionman
Full Member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2013
- Messages
- 173
- Reaction score
- 176
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Central Oregon
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab CTX3030, Minelab Excalbur 2
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
- #1
Thread Owner
Yesterday I went with my dad and checked out a structure along a local river. I have fly fished here for over 15 years, never realizing the history of the wood structure. This is located along the Deshutes River just west of Crooked River Ranch, Terrebonne, Oregon. Near Steelhead falls is Folly waters, a 20 minute hike brings you to the water on the wrong side of the river.
So I brought my waders and wadded over the slippery rocks, making sure i didn't stumble and drop my detector and pinpointer in the river. Once on the other side I took the waders off and checked out this building There are many stories related to this building, which dates back to about 1912 or 1915. According to rumors, in order to make money by selling shares, the area was "salted" with gold to make it appear profitable. There even is a hole carved into the canyon wall 100 yards above the structure. It only goes back about two feet. I can just imagine someone carving into the wall then placing gold in the ore. What really blows me away is the amount of lumber and work that went into the processing plant. Maybe some of it was added later, there are also stories of it being used for a still to brew alcohol after the mine didn't pay out.
A fun little adventure that only took four hours and gave me some exercise. My dad encouraged me to go and I am glad we did, he is the one that gleaned the information from various articles and the historical society. You could be surprised what is in your backyard even if there is no history of gold being found. Here someone put quite the scam together, sometimes that gold fever can get you into trouble!
Some pictures of the site, there is a large tank now filled with dirt, a rectangle box with vertical slats every 1", a boiler with a 8" feeder pipe running under the structure. There is also a 1" pipe going from the boiler to the tank. There is also a little store room next to the rectangle box with shelves. It looks like it had a shake roof at one point.
So I brought my waders and wadded over the slippery rocks, making sure i didn't stumble and drop my detector and pinpointer in the river. Once on the other side I took the waders off and checked out this building There are many stories related to this building, which dates back to about 1912 or 1915. According to rumors, in order to make money by selling shares, the area was "salted" with gold to make it appear profitable. There even is a hole carved into the canyon wall 100 yards above the structure. It only goes back about two feet. I can just imagine someone carving into the wall then placing gold in the ore. What really blows me away is the amount of lumber and work that went into the processing plant. Maybe some of it was added later, there are also stories of it being used for a still to brew alcohol after the mine didn't pay out.
A fun little adventure that only took four hours and gave me some exercise. My dad encouraged me to go and I am glad we did, he is the one that gleaned the information from various articles and the historical society. You could be surprised what is in your backyard even if there is no history of gold being found. Here someone put quite the scam together, sometimes that gold fever can get you into trouble!
Some pictures of the site, there is a large tank now filled with dirt, a rectangle box with vertical slats every 1", a boiler with a 8" feeder pipe running under the structure. There is also a 1" pipe going from the boiler to the tank. There is also a little store room next to the rectangle box with shelves. It looks like it had a shake roof at one point.
