Hidden
We had passed by it at least a dozen times during our explorations - yet never saw it. We almost didn’t see it this time either, if I hadn’t of been looking in it’s direction. It sat along the main trail up to the top of Cliffs, where we had shot numerous panoramic over the seasons. We had crossed the same spot in the spring, summer, fall, and now the winter. It was now, in the middle of winter, that we finally noticed it.
I wasn’t sure what it was at first, I just knew that something looked odd. It looked like any of the many evergreen tree’s which surrounded it, even down to the puffs of snow clinging to its branches. Only they weren’t branches - they were rocks. Rocks which were piled straight up into the air, as tall as he rest of the trees. My suspicions were confirmed as we journeyed into the woods for a closer look. The tree was in fact a smokestack. We had found another ruin.
The smokestack was a good 20 feet in height, and about 6 feet at the base. Circular in shape, it was built from coarse poor rock of numerous shapes and sizes. It was very similar to the types of smokestacks we found at the Cliff Mine, except for the absence of a metal chimney sticking out from the top. We were much too far away from the Cliff, however, for this to be part of the same mine. This was a new mine, one we think we had come across before.
It was recently during a snowshoe outing that we had decided to follow the branch of the Eagle River which flowed past the Cliff mine. Moving upstream along the cliff’s base we had come across a scattering of ruins along way. Nothing substantial, a foundation here, a small wall there. At the time we had made the assumption that what were finding were remnants of the second mine that once existed here - the North American.
We don’t know much about the North American, only that it sat to the southwest of the Cliff Mine, apparently making an attempt at the same lode that proved so successful for the cliff. According to the maps we have it was started in 1846, a few years after the Cliff began. By the amount of ruins we had discovered thus far, and the lack of any noticeable poor rock pile, it probably didn’t share the success.
This smokestack was unremarkable in design. On one side of the stack was a large opening line with red bricks. Inside was a squat pile of snow, probably from falling down the smokestack from above. Also lining the outside walls at various places were metal brackets, as well as a few timbers which were used to frame the structure. A smokestack would indicate a boiler, and sure enough a large poor rock foundation sat nearby. We moved on to investigate….
To Be Continued…
The old stack is an interesting find at the old North American Mine and “gap.” I plan to go up there shortly and will look for another old lost landmark in that area: Albion Rock.
As far as I can figure Albion Rock is above and a little southwest of N.A. Gap on the highest part of the Cliff. Apparantly in the early days it was a landmark on the Albion location with the best view along the Greenstone Ridge but apparantly has been forgotten since that time.
Nice website and my first visit.
Herb | July 25, 2007
Strange… I’ve been along that trail many times — and recently, I’ve been looking for this stack now that I’ve read this article — and I still can’t find it!
Maybe I’m not up to an even dozen yet.
I spent Saturday walking along the base of the cliffs from the North American ruins to the Cliff cemetery. One of the interesting items I found was, apparently, the old Cliff Mine adit — covered, but fairly obvious with the snow cover.
dcclark | February 24, 2008
dcclark..
A little more detail perhaps… after the trail crosses the river, it will take a turn to the right. After a little bit it will make another turn - this time to the left up through the cut. If you look to the right at this turn - you should see it. Basically if you simply follow the trail’s direction at the point it makes the turn (but don’t make the turn - simply continue straight into the woods) you should hit it.
The only adit entrance I’ve seen along those cilffs is near the North American - have yet to find one at cliff though I know one is there somewhere.
explorer | February 25, 2008
Mike — aha, that makes sense. I’ve been looking in the grassy open area just past that first curve right, and the trail that heads along the base of the cliffs from there. I’ll poke my head in further along the main trail next time I’m around there. Thanks!
dcclark | February 25, 2008
Getting back here via the “random post” method (how else?), I might add that my pal and I camped out at the North American Gap & Mine while searching for Albion Rock last August.
One interesting thing there is a wooden “flume” partly exposed and partly buried in the ground and running away and downhill from a small pile of old stamp sand.
From the very small size of the stamp sand pile and the wooden boxed flume itself, I wondered if that stuff might go back to a VERY early date? (i.e. 1840s-50s?) Didn’t the North American totally give up the ghost by the 1860s?
Risky to speculate on dates, however, as we know these mines have ruins built on top of earlier ruins like layers at the lost city of Troy! A sharp industrial archaelogist would probably know; in fact they need to conduct a total survey to locate and tentatively date all the old mine ruins if that hasn’t already been done. Explorer is doing the preliminary legwork and no mistake.
Herb | July 5, 2008