I never knew there were so many mines in the California Gold Country! Here the Touring Club’s on the way to the Kennedy Mine in Jackson, CA.

According to Fearless Leader John, “This mine along with the Argonaut across the street, produced over $53,000,000 in gold. They call this section the richest 1/2 mile of the Mother Lode. The total length of the mother lode was about 143 miles.”

Bob Shawl demonstrates the size of a bucket that was used to haul 9 men at a time in and out of the mine.

Tour participants enjoying the mine:

I’m guessing the mine owners lived here:

Some views of the cars at the mine:

Fearless Leader John speaks out again about the photo below: “Pat, this building is so unique I had to send a pic. This is where the dynamite was stored for the mine operations.” 

The Krills explain the photo below, “This view depicts the original site of the Kennedy Gold Mine Stampmill…100 stampers in all! The stampmill was used to grind the ore & extract the gold.”

After the group toured the Kennedy Mine we took in the Kennedy Tailing Wheel Park. Nice depiction of how the Kennedy Tailing Wheels functioned. Without these the mine would have been shut down.

Looks like the group stopped at a hardware store… Hardware store?

Wait a minute… That last photo is at a hardware store? I want one!

Looks like Gil is getting artsy… He explains the first one below: “This is a photo looking thru a window.  This is the reflection of the tree behind me. Inside the window you see Denise Matty, looking at some special items.”

This is what Gil says about the second photo above, “This is a crazy shot. Unnamed dentist on tour looks at issue in mouth of unnamed patient before tour starts (this morning). Photo shot thru windows of several cars… With great sky overhead.”  However, the final photo is a mystery…

Now, it seems to me that all the people in these photos are CLEARLY having fun! But, how did John get participants to sign up for his tour? He bribed them!

At the Welcome Banquet, every car received a travel goody bag that was filled with water, granola bars, oats & honey bars and trail mix. All the guys got a hat as shown above. The ladies received a tour tote, which has a small pocket on the end for a cell phone (or ???) and a flap with a zippered center.  Not to mention every one got a tour book with day by day itineraries.

I think this tour would have been a success even without the bribes, John!

Photo credits: Bennett, Hulstrom, Krill, McBride, Murdoch, Shawl, and Sissons.