Two roofless stone cabins full of artifacts provide a glimpse into a gold miner’s life.
Cabin #1 was owned by a man names Lehre Harold Erdman. His gravestone guards the entrance of the one-room stone cabin. Many personal belongings still line the walls, such as the miner’s helmets, typewriter and bed springs I have posted. While doing these light paintings all alone in the pitch black night, I had the uneasy feeling someone was watching me. Maybe it was Lehre himself.
Cabin #2 was more elaborate with several rooms and a large cement patio / yard area. Both cabins have lost their roofs, so this leads me to believe they must have been wood and rotted away with time. However the grave marker outside Cabin #1 indicates that at least Erdman was living there until 1996. Sitting on the large cement patio outside this cabin #2 was the flamingo still and several large cement pillars, which you will see in the next post.
This huge tower looms over the whole area and serves as a landmark and entrance to the claim. The whole area with its back to a steep hill and the desert valley below.
Great work on the Erdman Gold Eye Mine. I know the current owners of the Gold Eye and with your permission would like to print your photo’s for their enjoyment. You really capture the spirit of this place. My summers are spent in northern Utah and I spend about seven months each winter in Quartzsite. About twice a week I along with other seniors explore remote areas of the desert. If you are interested in photographing some remote site’s such as the Cinnabar Mine let me know via e-mail. I have the vehicle to get us there if you are so inclined.
Thanks,
Dwight Hodges
Hello Dwight! I am so happy you are enjoying the images I captured of the Gold Eye Mine. I have a new store, so you may purchase images. Just go to http://www.carynesplin.com/store. I can add any image you choose to the store, so you can buy any size. We can also work out a deal on a number of smaller images without my signature in the corner. These images are under copyright, so you may not print them on your own. All the proceeds go to help my photography students at BYU-Idaho for equipment, etc., so we appreciate your support. I am in the process of setting up a non-profit so the proceeds from this store will go into that account. Again, I can work out a discount if you want several prints. Or I could work out a trade with you so I can take more similar images. For example, I am very interested in going with you to find more similar mines in Arizona. I can trade images for transportation to similar locations. Will you still be around Quartzite the first week of June? That is when I will be there next to visit my father. If not, when you do go back in the fall? I will email you, so we can exchange phone numbers and work out the details. You may also email me at caryn@carynesplin.com