When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
Starting out on an adventure, a couple weeks on the mainland. A bit of visiting family, the annual tribal meeting, then off to Alaska for a little fishing with family. A lot of camera gear loaded, will be making time for some exploring along the way.
On a past visit to the area I had tried to find this mill building, I missed it by mere yards, a few trees away. This time I was going to succeed.
The Mother Lode Mine is a mercury mine in the Ochoco Mountians of central Oregon. Here cinnabar ore was crushed and roasted to release quicksilver that would have been used in the region’s gold mines.
First claimed as a gold mine in 1899, mercury was discovered in 1900, mining continued off and on under various mining companies until 1968. Total production was likely around 352 flasks, or about 2,900 pounds of mercury.
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