Model T Desert Wreck
I found this old wreck out in the desert near Joshua Tree, California a few weeks ago. It appears to be an old Model T Ford (or maybe a Model A, I'm not sure) that has been slowly moldering into the ground for the past 75 years or so.
It's been pretty well stripped by various explorers over the years and now is just a rust bucket returning to the soil. I love the color that the metal has turned sitting there in the sun for so long. It blends into the desert floor so perfectly.
I found it near the remains of an old cabin that once belonged to an desert prospector. The place had collapsed into a heap of rotting timbers, but his outside kitchen was still visible. Here's a picture of his old stove and smelter. It still had chunks of charcoal in it, but those might of been from other people using it over the years.
The place still even had chunks of raw gold ore laying about. The gold is in very fine strands that run through the Quartz.
You'd have to mine and pummel tons of this ore to extract enough gold to make it pay. Many times it would take 2-4 tons of ore to give up even a few dollars worth of gold. And this back when gold was like $20 an ounce! Now of course you would make a lot more because of the price increase. That's why many old gold mines and tailing piles (the loose stuff mined out of the tunnels) are being reclaimed and reworked.
Got to be careful out there too, as many a gun fight has settled a gold claim in the desert!
DB
Posted: Thursday 3rd April 2008, 5:11 PM
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