Things the old timers built

[Dave]

The old Oxman ditch is pre 1900. It runs for over a mile on my property. It washed out in the 1920's and never ran after that. The first picture is one of the ditch where it is still in good shape. Next is the piers for a flume they built. The flume jumped the ditch from one side of the canyon to the other. Both sides of the canyon had some serious rock cliffs which they needed to avoid. It is pretty amazing that they were able to dig this ditch by hand through some of the terrine it passes through. All of the supplies for construction of the flume had to be brought in by pack horse or by hand as there was no road here back then. The last picture shows a piece of a board that is bolted to one of the piers. That piece of wood has to be over 100 years old. Goes to show how long things can last in this dry climate.

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm amazed by that. Nothing like that here.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Compliments of Kenny Thomas.

 

[kenny thomas]

Water system in my cave coming by gravity to the outside. It was old when I was a kid 60 years ago.

 

[jltrent]

Nice setup KT. Our house water a few years ago came out of a cave down next to the river. We had a wall built up as it ran out of the cave and pumped it up over the bluff. It sure was a pain to keep going.

My grandpa was born and raised at Hensley's Settlement up to when the National park bought it. Visiting that place sure takes you back a few years. The settlement never had electricity, indoor plumbing, modern roads or other conveniences. Everything was grown, raised and hand-made in the settlement. People traveled by foot or by riding a horse. A spring house was used for food storage.

Hensley Settlement - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

About 400 acres right on top of a mountain very secluded

 

[kenny thomas]

Nice setup KT. Our house water a few years ago came out of a cave down next to the river. We had a wall built up as it ran out of the cave and pumped it up over the bluff. It sure was a pain to keep going.

My grandpa was born and raised at Hensley's Settlement up to when the National park bought it. Visiting that place sure takes you back a few years. The settlement never had electricity, indoor plumbing, modern roads or other conveniences. Everything was grown, raised and hand-made in the settlement. People traveled by foot or by riding a horse. A spring house was used for food storage.

Hensley Settlement - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

About 400 acres right on top of a mountain very secluded

I

I haven't been there in 40 years but remember it being a great place.

 

[jltrent]

I haven't been there in 40 years but remember it being a great place.

I have not been in 20 years as the last time I walked from Ewing there (heck of a walk). We use to take my Grandpa up there about every year as he was like a kid getting to see the place he lived. He could tell stories about everything there. They did good until the Chestnut trees died as that was a big source of food for their animals.

 

[kenny thomas]

I have not been in 20 years as the last time I walked from Ewing there (heck of a walk). We use to take my Grandpa up there about every year as he was like a kid getting to see the place he lived. He could tell stories about everything there. They did good until the Chestnut trees died as that was a big source of food for their animals.

The park service has or did have vans to take people up there.

 

[jltrent]

The park service has or did have vans to take people up there.

I think they still do.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Kinda like to check this out!! Any other cool stuff around? I've got 1.5 million miles to burn, not much for laying in the sun.

 

[SmokinM]

That place is awesome JLTrent!

 

[Dave]

There was a ditch a little west of here that is 134 miles long. All dug by hand. It was built in the 1860's and 70's. All of the flumes over draws and canyon were made with no nails or bolts. They were drilled and dowels. Any rock which needed to be blasted was done with black powder. They were getting water to an area where there was good gold but no water to washing it out of the dirt.

 

[wbvs58]

Nice setup KT. Our house water a few years ago came out of a cave down next to the river. We had a wall built up as it ran out of the cave and pumped it up over the bluff. It sure was a pain to keep going.

My grandpa was born and raised at Hensley's Settlement up to when the National park bought it. Visiting that place sure takes you back a few years. The settlement never had electricity, indoor plumbing, modern roads or other conveniences. Everything was grown, raised and hand-made in the settlement. People traveled by foot or by riding a horse. A spring house was used for food storage.

Hensley Settlement - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

About 400 acres right on top of a mountain very secluded

Looks like it is in pretty fair order JL.

Ken

 

[sstterry]

Nice setup KT. Our house water a few years ago came out of a cave down next to the river. We had a wall built up as it ran out of the cave and pumped it up over the bluff. It sure was a pain to keep going.

My grandpa was born and raised at Hensley's Settlement up to when the National park bought it. Visiting that place sure takes you back a few years. The settlement never had electricity, indoor plumbing, modern roads or other conveniences. Everything was grown, raised and hand-made in the settlement. People traveled by foot or by riding a horse. A spring house was used for food storage.

Hensley Settlement - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

About 400 acres right on top of a mountain very secluded

I was there a few years ago when I was on a two-day hike with our local Scout Troop. Am I correct that most of those boards hewn were from Chestnut trees?

 

[jltrent]

I was there a few years ago when I was on a two-day hike with our local Scout Troop. Am I correct that most of those boards hewn were from Chestnut trees?

Yes, the house in the picture was the house my grandpa grew up in. The park service has done a lot of work on it through the years. My grandpa was amazed the last time I remember we took him at how things were the same, He did say a lot less land was cleaned up. He made it to 93 and passed away in 2000.

 

[GoWyo]

Must have

There was a ditch a little west of here that is 134 miles long. All dug by hand. It was built in the 1860's and 70's. All of the flumes over draws and canyon were made with no nails or bolts. They were drilled and dowels. Any rock which needed to be blasted was done with black powder. They were getting water to an area where there was good gold but no water to washing it out of the dirt.

Must have been some decent money in mining because the miners built quite the waterworks in some places. There were some talented woodworkers.