High Kountry Airedales Pack: January 2012

The South Pass City Mercantile (Wyoming)

It's me, Miley again. Winter is here and things are a bit boring for me, but last fall was fun! Mommy and I were working in the historic South Pass/Atlantic City region along the Wind River Mountain Range. So of course we had to take an hour off to wander around South Pass City. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, over 20 historic structures occur which were either rebuilt or restored. Mommy had planned on us being there a month before in September when the interpretive center and all the buildings were open, but we got delayed. The historic site is located at about 7,900 feet so snowfalls generally start early there. However, we could still wander around.

South Pass City was established around 1868 after gold was discovered in the area. The community eventually reached a population of around 2,000. Resident Esther Hobart Morris served as the first U.S. female Justice of the Peace in 1870. William Bright, a saloon owner and representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, introduced a women's suffrage clause into the territorial constitution. When it was approved by the Territorial Governor in December 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to recognize a woman's right to vote!

The Carissa Saloon

Within a decade, South Pass City's population shrank dramatically as the anticipated large gold deposits unfortunately failed to materialize. South Pass City's population was reduced to only about 100 people by around 1875 and continued to decrease. Presently, the city is divided into the historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a small community of only about 10 residents.

The Wolverine Mine adit

Closer view of the adit entrance.

Peeking inside the adit after climbing over a box.

Photo taken through screen door, couldn't get any closer. Getting some weird effects from the flash.

Me temporarily attached to the stamp mill used for extracting gold from the ore.

Yes, Mommy couldn't resist tethering me to a wagon. No, I did not pull it!

Hugs, Miley

Hello. This is Pat, Miley's Mommy, briefly posting on her blog since after being tagged on another bloggy. The questions were more pertinent to human rather than doggy activities so I'm answering them rather than Miley.

First, The Rules:

1. You must post these rules.

2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

11 Things About Me

My favorite colors are purple, dark green, and burgundy. I do not do pastels (although they look great on other people).
I've been around dogs since I was 5 years old. My first was a Collie/German Shepard cross followed by a German Shepard and more collie crosses. I got a Sheltie in 1989 and my first Airedales in 1991.
I can't swim.
I love shooting and do most of my target practice with a .22 revolver (cheap ammo).
I wish I had 40+ acres in the mountains with a cabin in the center.
I wear a watch all of the time except when taking a shower.
I hate cooking and with the exception of a few things, I'm dreadful at it. I attempted baking a chocolate cake last year for my husband's birthday. He suggested adding some pudding to make it moister. Rather than adding a dry mix, I stupidly included two small Snack Packs. A chocolate volcano formed. It stood over 5 inches/12.5 cm tall!
I love walking and I pace at home when I'm trying to figure something out.
I want to learn more about photography because most of my photos are simply lucky shots. I like taking pics but avoid having my picture taken.
When I was a little kid, I hated ice cream and anything sweet but loved dill pickles.
Both my Mom, my brother, and I were born in central Florida near Tampa.

Questions to answer

1. If you could live in any time, when would it be? Probably the 1800s or early 1900s.

2. Do you have any famous ancestors? None that I know of.

3. If you were on Survivor, how do you think you would do? Sorry, have to admit that I don't watch the show.

4. Starbucks or Dunkin? Starbucks

5. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Probably would be a Phd doing lots of research in archaeology (and a lot of fieldwork) .

6. Name something on your bucket list. I want to go to Egypt and see the pryamids.

7. How many countries have you been to? and which was your favorite? I've only been to one, Canada. We took a vacation (about 20 years ago on a Harley) to Glacier National Park and also visited Waterton Lakes National Park just across the Montana border

8. What did you do with all this free time before the internet? Definitely more reading and TV watching.

9. What is your favorite holiday and why? Halloween because it's such a relaxing and fun holiday. No major expenses or huge meals. You can do as much or as little as you want without the guilt.

10. Do you have any talents? (they can be weird, lol)

None really, I'm a decent technical writer, but lousy at creative writing.

11. What was your first car? 1981 Mercury Cougar.

Time for 11 new questions and I'm tagging http://romanceinthehighlands.blogspot.com/ .

Where would you go on an all expense paid vacation if you could choose anywhere in the U.S.?
What is your favorite color or colors?
What kind of vehicle did you learn to drive in?
How many US states have you lived in or traveled through (excluding airports)?
What animals are your favorite pets?
If you could take a course on any topic, what would you study?
What are your favorite TV shows (think I know what one of them is)?
Do you have a favorite type of jewelry stone?
What is your favorite type of food when dining out?
Where would you go on vacation if you could go anywhere in the world (outside of the U.S.)?
If you had the opportunity to hop into a time machine and meet someone well known or significant in history, who would you select?

Happy New Year! Yes, Mommy is behind on the bloggy again.  She's been buried in an avalanch of report writing generated by our 2011 projects.  We got to visit Miners Delight in October, now a tiny ghost town enrolled on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at about 8,250 feet, Miners Delight occurs south of Lander, WY amid the Wind River Mountains. It lies within the historic South Pass/Atlantic City region known for gold mining around 1867-1895.

The Miners Delight lode was discovered in 1867 which led to the development of the surrounding town (Hamilton City).  Seventeen structures occur including cabins, a blacksmith shop, a cellar, shaft house, butcher shop, saloon, etc. A small cemetery lies south of the townsite near the modern crowned road. The Bureau of Land Management installed interpretive signs and stabilized (to varying degrees) several of the old structures to avoid collapse.

Gold was reportedly first discovered in the South Pass area in 1842 with the initial lode claims filed in 1867. The Miners Delight lode was discovered in September of that year.  A ten-stamp mill was erected in January of 1869. By mid-summer of that year, it had extracted an estimated $65,000 of gold from the Miners Delight ore.   A fairly large sum for 1869, $65,000 went alot further then than now.

Okay, history summary complete - time for photos (clicking on them makes them larger) before I bore everyone to sleep. Unfortunately, it was getting cloudy and late in the afternoon when we were there so the lightening, especially in the trees, was far from ideal.