Beck #2 Part Two

[ExpUt]

...Thanks for the pictures Kurt, they helped me remember that I have my own copy of this book in my file cabinet. I totally forgot to look in there for information on the Beck.

Nice, so you've got copies of the maps. Hope they are helpful in finding a lower connection. Keep us posted on your findings

[rhartill]

Sorry I missed the discussion on the Beck tunnel here. I was at Ed Week here in Provo UT, and stumbled onto the L Tom Perry special collections section of the Harold B Lee Library at BYU.

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/EAD&CISOPTR=1385&CISOBOX=1&REC=2

While there I did some quick research on the Tintic Drain tunnel, its payroll records, and found a fascinating brochure on the Harold Mill and its ore processing technique. It took two days, but I found a huge 36x48 inch blueprint map of the Beck Tunnel area in the Jesse Knight papers and another of the Utah Queen area just W of the Hidden Treasure. I have ordered digital scans of both maps and will keep you posted!

YES, you CAN search for all posts on archive.org Try searching for "russ hartill" on the archive.org website, and all my contributions will appear in the results window.

My bookmarks and suggested reads can be accessed here, and it also allows an RSS feed:

http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/Russ%20Hartill

BTW mine research ought to be a competition category at our HUMPR!

[Derek]

Thanks Russ! Definitely keep us updated on the digital copies of those maps! There are few mining documents that get me more excited than maps.

[RedRockXJ]

I've been in this mine quite a bit. My grandpa grew up in Goshen and his dad worked in those mines his whole life. He used to take me and my cousin through that mine when we were younger a lot. This thread inspired me to take my family for a drive to Eureka today. We injoyed sighting the town and decided to take a drive up there to show the family the adit and deep shaft. What a great area.

Stuart, did you guys remove the debris from the entrance? Cuz it didn't have any debris covering it like in your picture. Looks like someone removed it recently. Could be good, could be bad though. I don't want it to invite more people in there. The way it was before kept a lot of people out. lol

[Mark1955]

I was there today and it was just as Stuart mentioned. I wonder if you found yet another addit. What are yoyur coordinates? To get in you have to crawl down through a very small hole... It's also hard to find unless you know exactly where to look... for the moving branches from the constant air flow.

Mark

[RedRockXJ]

Yea I'm sure it's the same adit. Not hard to miss. The boards and scrap metal in this pic wasn't there is what I'm saying. Someone removed it all and cleared the opening.

[Stuart]

I found a huge 36x48 inch blueprint map of the Beck Tunnel area in the Jesse Knight papers and another of the Utah Queen area just W of the Hidden Treasure.

OOOH! Tell me more!! Map dates??

BTW mine research ought to be a competition category at our HUMPR!

Well I seriously doubt there is anyone that could even offer a reasonable amount of competition. I'll just say you are the winner in advance. I would like to see you, as the winner, teach a course on mine research.

Stuart, did you guys remove the debris from the entrance?

That is the entrance alright, Very interesting..... I did not open it up any more than that, but it appears someone else decided to widen the entrance. That is a lot of work, do you have a picture of the adit in its latest form?

[lobster68w]

Yup, was out there with Mark today.

The hole has been opened up-sorta. The metal and wood are gone, however the hole is still tiny. There are two pieces of reebar in it which came in handy to pull yourself out. We only made it into the first big stoped area. That has to be the biggest ore chute I've ever seen!! Heading back next weekend to get in and do alot more digging around. Think I'll bring something to cover my eyes with too for going in/out!!

[Mark1955]

Here how it was today.... And not that I am trying to be politically incorrect here but there was a pair of strange people (of Spanish Descent) out there snooping around today when we arrived. We sat and didn't enter till they left there but it makes me wonder if they are after something inside the Beck... The boards and metal stuff have been thrown to the side.

[RedRockXJ]

I vote we cover that bad boy back up

I'm interested in tagging along with you guys next weekend if you're going. Haven't been inside that mine in years.

[ExpUt]

This is how that opening looked a year ago... so any work to open it up is at least that old.

[Stuart]

Here is the full story of this adit: Originally covered with dirt, this tunnel was dug out by explorers in the early nineties only to be buried again. After being buried the second time it was COMPLETELY uncovered to haul some stuff out and then it was buried again only to be dug out a few years ago in the state that Kurt found it in the picture above.

So here is what looks like happened between the time that Kurt was there and this last weekend. The hole was pretty much wide open when Kurt was there, then between his visit and my last visit someone covered it back up again in a way that its not really completely covered but just disguised. Then between my last visit and Mark & Lobsters someone took off the superficial covering, but its not really any more easy to access, its just more visible. It makes me wonder who was trying to hide the entrance and why... my gut feeling is those individual(s) and the ones who recently uncovered it are following this post.

Fun little mystery! Moving forward, within the next couple years this area will be up for bid and the DOGM will come in and permanently seal it up so it can't be dug out again. Trying to hide the entrance or keep it a secret will not keep it from being closed, its basically inevitable unless someone places an active claim on it or finds a way to reverse gravity.

[Mark1955]

Not to start any conspiracy theory here but I still think that the two individuals that we saw out there may be up to something... either smuggling stuff and hiding it in mines, hiding illegal individuals in the mines, or taking stuff out of the mines for salvage. It's odd when you're sitting there and one of those individuals takes a t-shirt off, turns it inside out, then puts it back on so you can't see what it says on the front.....

Mark

[Stuart]

Now that is interesting! Well there are enough of us who keep an eye on the area that we can watch to see if they come back again. Just in case I will make sure that I have a gun at my hip when I go in there next.

[RedRockXJ]

When I was last up there I only saw a few guys drive by on atv's. One of them stopped and asked me if I was thinking of going inside any of the mines in a strict manner. So I think he definitely cares for those mines and keeps a close eye on them. I'm sure if anyone was up there stealing things or doing something out of the ordinary, it wouldn't take long for them to get caught.