My New Tattoo

[Riverkilt]

Cool tat John,

Went back and looked it up.

My great grandfather Arichibald worked a LOT of mines before settling in Montana. He was in the 1880 census of Bodie, California. Of course he put my grandfather Murdoch to work in the Montana mines...a lot of time at the old Revenue mine around Norris and Pony. Been poking around up there but haven't found it yet.

Murdoch had a story of having to check the pumps in the middle of the night and grandmother would lower him down in the skip. One night the bell cord broke off and he couldn't signal her to bring him up. He said if he hadn't been so tired after climbing 600 feet of ladder to get out he'd have strangled her and none of us would have been born.

My aunt worked the mines for years in admin for Newmont and married a corporate honcho. My dad was too smart to work the mined. I did get suckered into it...worked uranium in Shirley Basin, Wyoming in 1962 and hardrock at the old Red Mountain mine at Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado.

Funny, on my mother's side my uncle George Burke Maxey was a geologist and geology professor. The Desert Research Center at University of Nevada has a building named after him. He was descended from Welsh miners.

A great great grandfather on my mother's side, John Olson Lewis, was a teamster for the coal mines at the coal banks around New Sharon, Iowa.

I like rocks too and there are plenty of them round the canyonlands. Guess you're right, it does get in the blood.

Ron

[John M.]

Very cool history there Ron. I myself never have worked the mines, but have spent my fair share of time in them anyway. I've always steered clear of uranium & coal mines though. My lungs are in bad enough shape without breathing coal dust or radiation laden dust.

My father lives in Montana. One of these days I'm going to take my other half & son up there to visit. Then go panning for sapphires & perhaps stop in Idaho to look for star garnets on the way back.

If the X-Marks get together in Vegas happens next spring. We plan to spend a couple days there, then shoot up north to mine for black opal at the Royal Peacock mine.