couple of pic axe heads

[BigErn]

HI ALL!
Here is a pic of a couple of pic axe heads I found near the old mining camp of Curtin, just outside of Frisco, Colorado. They were found with my Tesoro Vaquero MD near a large granite boulder. I got a strong signal and while I was digging I noticed a large flat rock, yet I was still getting a signal. I removed the flat rock and it was hiding two pix axe heads. I took a couple of pics with my camera phone and then returned the pic axe heads to their original resting place. They were way to heavy to transport and gave me an appreciation and respect to those miners who swung these axes. Those were some burly guys! The relics have some marking but I did not take notes, if anyone is interested I could go back and get some markings. Thanks for looking!

 

[diggernash]

Makes you wonder why the original owner never returned for them. You didn't run down to the Wal-mart to get a new one back then. Wondering about the history I am touching keeps me going in this hobby.

 

[1859large]

Back in those days, gold rush or other mineral rush those guys where poorly fed and did everything by hand. They where also smaller than most of us are today. They had to pack in all their supplies both food and materials and initially all the work was done by hand. If they had a good strike then a town might spring up and other people would do the getting stuff side of the business and they could concentrate on the digging out the what ever it was they where after.

Mining exploration is a brutal existence. It often takes years to develop a mine and most "showings" don't become mines, they are money pits from beginning to end. Food was often in short supply, hunting only works if you are the only one in the valley. Gold rushes often had 500 or 1000 men along a short section of river and some created boom towns overnight and some exceeded 1000-3000 people in no time. Hunting was not an option and price gouging was a fact of life. Gold rushes where called rushes because they often did not last more than a few years before the easy gold ran out and most people left. Some places still mine gold but it is deep and requires a lot of capital and machinery and not that many people unless it is a big find.

Your picks might have been stashed by some prospector was exploring the area and left to get supplies and come back or left for good. If he left planned to leave for a short period and did not go back he may have left other things hidden about. Think $$$. Reasons for not returning might be accident, disease, weather, injury. He might have left in late fall to come back in the spring but got a better lead and went somewhere else, some other claim a better offer or job. As I said mining was brutal.

As your picks don't show much if any wear, are not dulled off, they may have been stashed on the way into the country and not on the way out or after a find. They could also have been stolen and stashed or might have been taken off a mule that was having difficulty to lighten its load.

As digger said you have touched history and the why and how becomes part of the quest for some of us.

HH

1859

PS: in my past life I worked in mining and often think about what lies missed in the hills

 

[BigErn]

You guys pretty much said it all! When I uncovered these I immediately noticed that they looked brand new, at least they were a 100 years ago and have not been used. All of those questions went through my head...the who and why especially and then the "what else did he leave behind?" I spent the next 2 or so hours looking and came up with nothing. I never thought relics would interest me when I got into this hobby but this just put the bug in me. How cool to touch a piece of history!