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Offline rainmakerTopic starter
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« on: December 26, 2010, 12:51:36 am »
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One of the great lost mine tales of pioneer America, the Lost Blue Bucket Mine has assumed an almost legendary status in the annals of the Old West. Discovered by Oregon-bound emigrants in 1845, the gold-choked canyon has been sought after for over 150 years. It has lured and enticed countless prospectors but its location still remains a mystery today.

What has been termed "Blue Bucket country" comprises more than 40,000 square mines of rugged mountains, canyons, and volcanic plateaus. The area of interest includes most of southeastern Oregon, part of northwestern Nevada, and a slice of southwestern Idaho. It is bounded on the north by the John Day River and on the south by the Black Rock country of Nevada. The rugged mountains near Silver City, Idaho form the eastern boundary while Fort Rock Valley and the Lake region of south-central Oregon make up the western border.

Like most of the great Western tales of lost gold and silver mines, the Blue Bucket story has a number of varying accounts, some of them contradictory. Based on the numerous accounts, researchers have placed the Lost Blue Bucket Mine in the Black Rock country of northwestern Nevada, on the Burnt River of Oregon, on Oregon's Powder River, on the John Day River, near the Malheur River, and just east of the Lake country of south-central Oregon. It is an immense and staggering amount of terrain to cover!

The many accounts of the Blue Bucket discovery all agree on a number of important points. Regardless of the actual location of the gold-filled canyon, all versions of the tale concur on the following details:

   1. the discovery was made by Oregon-bound emigrants in the summer of 1845
   2. the deposit consists of coarse placer gold found in a dry stream bed or canyon
   3. the canyon is underlain by solidified lava pocked with numerous potholes and cavities

It turns out that the only major difference between the various accounts centers around the point of departure from the main Oregon Trail. Of course, the subsequent route used by the emigrants depended entirely on that choice of departure.

One account has the emigrant train turning northwest from the Oregon Trail into the Black Rock country of Nevada. While plodding through a deep and narrow canyon, the children in the train discovered some "pretty pebbles" in the dry stream bed. They collected a few of the samples and stashed them in the blue water buckets carried by each wagon. Only later did they find out that the "pebbles" were nuggets of pure gold.

The Oregon accounts are the most numerous, and indeed most researchers place the Lost Blue Bucket Mine somewhere in Oregon. One account has the emigrant train cutting northwest from the main trail into the Warner Valley of south-central Oregon. Somewhere in this area, the emigrants found themselves crossing a dry stream bed floored with lava. In the cavities and potholes that scored the canyon floor, the emigrants discovered numerous "yellow rocks" which they proceeded to collect. Again, only later did they discover the real nature of those rocks.

Another Oregon account has the emigrant train cutting northwest into the Malheur River country of east-central Oregon. From there, a portion of the emigrant train crossed over to the Little Malheur River, then detoured through the rugged mountains until they encountered the Malheur River, near the mouth of Crane Creek. They ascended one of the forks of Crane Creek, turned southwest, and eventually came out of the mountains near present-day Drewsey. Somewhere along the way they discovered some "pretty yellow rocks" in a dry stream bed. Other Oregon accounts place the discovery further north in the Burnt River country or on the nearby Powder River. Even the John Day River is mentioned in some accounts.

The incredible vastness of the area is simply mind-boggling. It has daunted prospectors and gold-seekers for over 150 years. But there has been no shortage of expeditions in search of the Lost Blue Bucket Mine. During the quarter century following the 1845 discovery of the Blue Bucket Mine, a number of major expeditions were mounted in search of the gold-filled canyon. In 1846, one of the original members of the emigrant train, Dr. Henry Dane, led an expedition from Yreka, California. Their search proved to be fruitless. Then, in 1849, the fabulous California gold deposits were discovered and the Lost Blue Bucket Mine was forgotten.

But interest in the lost mine revived and by the 1860's, prospectors again took up the search. In 1862, Captain Tom Turner led an expedition from the Willamette Valley in western Oregon. The Turner expedition didn't find the Lost Blue Bucket but they did discover gold on the Boise River of Idaho. They traced the gold upstream and stumbled on the fabulous Boise Basin ore deposits. The following year, Michael Jordan led 29 prospectors into the Owyhee Mountains of southwestern Idaho in search of the Lost Blue Bucket. Again, they didn't find the lost mine but did discover gold along Jordon Creek. Thus was the Silver City District born. Today the Lost Blue Bucket Mine remains one of America's great hidden treasures. It will probably always be so.


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Offline Karl
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« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2010, 01:01:01 am »
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Cool mine story , never heard it before.

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"Keep Digging Its Down There Somewhere" Treasure Hunting, Gold and Coins.


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