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Murray is a small town now - immensely proud of it's heritage, home of the SPRAGPOLE MUSEUM-BAR-CAFE (a 'must see' attraction.) Just down the block is the BEDROOM MINE BAR; the previous owner wanted to placer mine, and since it was cold out, they knocked a hole in a vacant bedroom floor, dug 30 feet to bedrock and proceeded to mine it, somewhat successfully. Which proves if you want it bad enough, you will find a way. |
| Dunlap & Smith Claim - Eagle Creek In the next two photographs below, you'll see close-ups of the buildings in this photo. (#1) |
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Placer Crew of Dunlap & Smith. (Rufus E. Dunlap & Archie Smith) L to R: Allen McDougald, Henry Campbell, Antone Bamenza, Andy Anderson, John Fornier, John McDougald, R.E. Dunlap, Fred Johnson, Cooney & 'Bporb'(the dog), Jim McCarty (cook). (#2) |
| Ruf Dunlap, in front of cabin. 1884 (#3) |
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Placer mining along the bank. East Eagle Creek In places, they were still 20 feet above bedrock because the water level couldn't be lowered to work it with hand tools. |
| Placer mining - East Eagle Creek Note the wall made of rock to hold the waste. |
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Placer mining - East Eagle Creek. Notice the sluice box and bank line. All pick, shovel and wheelbarrow work. |
| THE TERRIBLE EDITH Murray - 1926 A miner stopped at the store on his way to file a mining claim. The owner and his wife (with several bystanders) were discussing their daughter Edith moving out to her own place, the fancy clothes and late hours, and company she was entertaining. The miner, for his own reasons, named his mine 'The Terrible Edith'. |
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| Just starting the Gillette Placer Claim. Prichard, Idaho - 1897 |
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A new placer claim. Dream Gulch, Murray - 1887 The hillsides were too difficult to placer mine in the 1890's. Metal detectors are being used in the 1990's 100 years later, to scan the same hills. |
| Fancy Gulch Placer Claim. 1887 |
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Some nuggets were big enough that, at least in one instance, an axe was used to cut it in half so it could be divided up. |
| __________________________________________________________________ When the road was rebuilt over the dredge spoils in 1997 - 1998, many nuggets were found. Two smaller ones (2+ ounces) found in 1998, are displayed at the CRYSTAL GOLD MINE. More than likely, the finders used metal detectors. (The sellers won't say.) A 7-ounce nugget was found in 1998 by road crews cleaning out a culvert. |
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| The CRYSTAL GOLD MINE near Kellogg has a unique history. A retired miner fixed it up for a tourist attraction. If mining or history interest you, check his site out. It's open year-around. | |
| Area Attractions Modern Murray |
The 1884 Murray House B & B |
Restaurants Next Page |
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