Today Ann steps back in time to 1936, as she works and lives on a gold mining claim in Chariot Canyon, Julian, California.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 28...HELL
Big Skeeta had dug us an outhouse that was seven feet deep on the side of a hill in back of the cabin. It was a fancy two-seater and had a door that we propped open so that as you sat on the throne you could watch the animals go by; we saw deer, raccoon, opossum, skunks, and snakes go blissfully by unaware that we were sitting there watching them. We kept magazines and lime in the outhouse; the lime we sprinkled over the contents of the outhouse to help the matter break down.
We could afford electricity only four hours at night. Our electricity was generated by an old 1936 Kohler generator that ran on gasoline. Once a month we would put three 55-gallon drums on the back of the truck and head to town to fill them up with gas, and that is all the gasoline we needed to run the mine and the cabin. Four hours of light a night allowed the children to do their homework and occasionally we would watch a VCR tape on our TV. Of course we got no TV reception in the canyon so the TV was useful only for watching movies. It was an age before cell phones could get reception in the deep canyon we were in and Bruce's CB radio also was useless in the canyon, so we had no way to communicate out of the canyon in case of an emergency. Therefore, we started every day in prayer that we would have no great emergencies while we lived in the canyon. We used kerosene lanterns and flashlights to see our way around when there was no electricity.
We used a propane stove and refrigerator that we had been able to buy, both dated in the early 1930's. These necessitated having two propane tanks that we had filled twice a year by a company in Ramona that delivered to Julian and the back country. For heat in the winter we used a very old tin stove that ran on wood. We had to buy three cords of wood a year from our friends Tony and Mike, both Indians from the Santa Ysabel Tribe, and they gave us very generous cords of wood and even delivered the wood to us; which was a feat in itself, because we lived so far up in the mountains. In the winter to get our beds warm before going to bed, we put big rocks in the oven of our stove and heated them up, then we wrapped the rocks in newspaper and put them between the covers of the bed; we really loved those rocks.
Let me explain how far back we were from civilization. Chariot Canyon began at the highway where it is Banner, California. There was a Banner Store and Campground at Banner, run by Peaches and her family who were the greatest friends you could have. They saved our lives many times over the 14 years we lived in Chariot Canyon. From there you would take a dirt road four miles up the canyon to our millsite. Now, usually the road was graded once a year by the Forestry Department, but that was not to be depended upon. The roads were graded to act as firebreaks, and as a means of getting fire-fighting equipment up the mountain in case the canyon should catch on fire. Often state budgets didn't allow for the grading of the road, and in that case the roads would wash out in many places in-between the gradings. Bruce built a leveler out of beams of wood and boulders that we would drag behind the truck to try to level out some of the deep ruts the road would get. The dirt road became the bed of a stream about a half of a mile from the millsite, so you had to have an old tough truck, or a four-by-four, to get over the rocks (boulders) in the stream.
Chariot Canyon was very beautiful and had once belonged to the Indians less than a century ago. There were areas where you could see the matatays, deep holes in granite rocks, made by the Indians as they ground the wild buckwheat and acorns that grew in the canyon. There were also wild grapes and berries in the canyon, and also several varieties of sage. We went to the top of the mountain that was at the head of the canyon and sent up prayers and offerings that ONE would keep us ever mindful of the ecology of the canyon. We also prayed that we would never do anything to disturb the Indian's sacred grounds, nor change the face of the canyon in any way. The BLM also had strict regulations that we had to follow to keep the canyon in its preserved state, and also that we had to follow OSHA laws and regulations for the safety of the miners and the mine itself.
We had to go into town to get groceries, gasoline, and food, and also to wash the clothes. We tried to stay on the mountain and not go to the city oftener than every two weeks, but we still had doctor's appointments in the city and emergencies to take care of with the other children in the city, so we seemed to go into the city every week. Bruce spent every day working the mine first, and then when we really had to, we would go to town; we put a lot of mileage on the truck.
Tomorrow we find gold but it is hard work and Bruce shoots himself.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 28...HELL
Big Skeeta had dug us an outhouse that was seven feet deep on the side of a hill in back of the cabin. It was a fancy two-seater and had a door that we propped open so that as you sat on the throne you could watch the animals go by; we saw deer, raccoon, opossum, skunks, and snakes go blissfully by unaware that we were sitting there watching them. We kept magazines and lime in the outhouse; the lime we sprinkled over the contents of the outhouse to help the matter break down.
We could afford electricity only four hours at night. Our electricity was generated by an old 1936 Kohler generator that ran on gasoline. Once a month we would put three 55-gallon drums on the back of the truck and head to town to fill them up with gas, and that is all the gasoline we needed to run the mine and the cabin. Four hours of light a night allowed the children to do their homework and occasionally we would watch a VCR tape on our TV. Of course we got no TV reception in the canyon so the TV was useful only for watching movies. It was an age before cell phones could get reception in the deep canyon we were in and Bruce's CB radio also was useless in the canyon, so we had no way to communicate out of the canyon in case of an emergency. Therefore, we started every day in prayer that we would have no great emergencies while we lived in the canyon. We used kerosene lanterns and flashlights to see our way around when there was no electricity.
We used a propane stove and refrigerator that we had been able to buy, both dated in the early 1930's. These necessitated having two propane tanks that we had filled twice a year by a company in Ramona that delivered to Julian and the back country. For heat in the winter we used a very old tin stove that ran on wood. We had to buy three cords of wood a year from our friends Tony and Mike, both Indians from the Santa Ysabel Tribe, and they gave us very generous cords of wood and even delivered the wood to us; which was a feat in itself, because we lived so far up in the mountains. In the winter to get our beds warm before going to bed, we put big rocks in the oven of our stove and heated them up, then we wrapped the rocks in newspaper and put them between the covers of the bed; we really loved those rocks.
Let me explain how far back we were from civilization. Chariot Canyon began at the highway where it is Banner, California. There was a Banner Store and Campground at Banner, run by Peaches and her family who were the greatest friends you could have. They saved our lives many times over the 14 years we lived in Chariot Canyon. From there you would take a dirt road four miles up the canyon to our millsite. Now, usually the road was graded once a year by the Forestry Department, but that was not to be depended upon. The roads were graded to act as firebreaks, and as a means of getting fire-fighting equipment up the mountain in case the canyon should catch on fire. Often state budgets didn't allow for the grading of the road, and in that case the roads would wash out in many places in-between the gradings. Bruce built a leveler out of beams of wood and boulders that we would drag behind the truck to try to level out some of the deep ruts the road would get. The dirt road became the bed of a stream about a half of a mile from the millsite, so you had to have an old tough truck, or a four-by-four, to get over the rocks (boulders) in the stream.
Chariot Canyon was very beautiful and had once belonged to the Indians less than a century ago. There were areas where you could see the matatays, deep holes in granite rocks, made by the Indians as they ground the wild buckwheat and acorns that grew in the canyon. There were also wild grapes and berries in the canyon, and also several varieties of sage. We went to the top of the mountain that was at the head of the canyon and sent up prayers and offerings that ONE would keep us ever mindful of the ecology of the canyon. We also prayed that we would never do anything to disturb the Indian's sacred grounds, nor change the face of the canyon in any way. The BLM also had strict regulations that we had to follow to keep the canyon in its preserved state, and also that we had to follow OSHA laws and regulations for the safety of the miners and the mine itself.
We had to go into town to get groceries, gasoline, and food, and also to wash the clothes. We tried to stay on the mountain and not go to the city oftener than every two weeks, but we still had doctor's appointments in the city and emergencies to take care of with the other children in the city, so we seemed to go into the city every week. Bruce spent every day working the mine first, and then when we really had to, we would go to town; we put a lot of mileage on the truck.
Tomorrow we find gold but it is hard work and Bruce shoots himself.
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