100 years ago today

[abraxas]

Strange, 100 years ago today this was someone's home in Echo Canyon in Death Valley.

 

[LaFoto]

Strange indeed ... and that someone may well have been very happy there, starting a family, being full of hope, or very poor, miserable, lonely, disappointed? So much history in a dilapidated hut such as this one.
We must somehow alert Jzero to this thread.
He loves photos of homes in all states of disrepair.

 

[abraxas]

I thought of both jzero & jthphoto when I hit the 'upload' button

This cabin is in a wide valley, at the top of a narrow and twisting canyon, 9 miles away from the main road into the Funeral Mountains of Death Valley. In the late 1800s, renegade Indian, 'Paiute' Bob Black, was rumored to have lured prospectors up there with promises of a gold strike, robbed and killed them, leaving their bodies in shallow graves. White man's life was cheap, an Indian's life was worthless, and many times previous Bob had been cheated and ridiculed after trusting a prospector for payment showing him the location of a rich strike.

This is one of about six buildings in the ruins of the town around the Inyo mine- An area found, in the early 1900s, to have a thick vein of gold streaked into the mountains behind it. Bob knew where the gold was, but it was against the law for the Indians to mine it. Several other profitable claims and mining towns sprang from the initial discoveries by Bob- each and every time he was cheated, laughed at for being so stupid, and occasionally shot at to chase him away.

Mostly, I'm into the natural history though.

 

[JTHphoto]

neat old shack. i'm amazed people used to live in houses like these for any length of time. The light is interesting in this shot, it just seems to be coming out of the clouds onto the house or just leaving the house, either way you caught a moment in time where the light is changing on this house commemorating its 100 years... :thumbup:

 

[JTHphoto]

I thought of both jzero & jthphoto when I hit the 'upload' button

too funny... how did you know i would like this shot so much? i was commenting on it the same time you were writing this... :thumbup:

enjoyed the story to go with it, too.

 

[Tantalus]

Nice image, can't imagine anyone living there year round but I wouldn't mind camping there couple of weeks to take pictures. I enjoy the story/history too.

 

[lostprophet]

great shot, those colours and light are spot on.

 

[abraxas]

JTH, Tantalus & LP-

Thanks! The little ghost town is a pretty cool town to visit. I had the place to myself for a few hours and it was interesting to wander around and see if anything would collapse on me.

I gave a talk on the story at a local museum organization a few months back, and the whole story floored them. I'm getting into photo-illustrating tales of renegades and deparados that I've been hearing since I started my desert wandering. The museum has asked me back, which I'm real happy about. This time the story is about another white man hating Indian that in the early 1900s is said to have killed 34 people, then disappeared. I figure he actually only murdered about 17, but could have made his point with only, maybe, 4 or so. Either way, he died old and was never caught, alive- Then, even his corpse kept escaping!

 

[GrfxGuru]

Great image, I'd survive there about two minutes before calling for a cab or an undertaker lol

 

[ksmattfish]

You do a very good job dealing with bright, mid-day lighting. I love the foreground here: the textures and colors.