The McCaw School of Mines facility in Henderson, Nevada, started out as a papier-mache mine tunnel built in a teacher's classroom and then expanded into a major learning center for Clark County School District (CCSD) students. The project cost over a million dollars to build and was completely funded by donations. Although the facility is primarily used by CCSD, the facility is open to the public on the first Saturday of every month from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM.
As a brief history, in 1864 for a territory to become a State the area had to have a minimum of 60,000 residents. Nevada only had a little over 10,000 residents; but due to the state's rich silver mines, and the Union's need for money to fund the Civil War, the minimum population requirement was waived and Nevada became the 36th State. Thus, Nevada is know as "The Silver State."
Mining has always been a major industry in Nevada and it is still one of the state's top economic basis. Therefore, the McCaw School of Mines recognizes the mining industry's contribution to the State and the facility allows CCSD students to learn more about the mining industry.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
There are a number of outdoor displays, including an early prospector's camp. As part of the camp, there is a weather rock display and instruction on how the rock is used to describe the weather.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
There is a historic display of equipment and mining techniques used by miners in the 1800 hundreds, including a parakeet that was kept in the mine to help detect orderless and colorless carbon monoxide gas. If the bird died, the miners evacuated the mine immediately. The only light in the mine was a candle that the miners carried, or a small lamp hung from the ceiling. Ore buckets were filled in the mine shaft and then hoisted to the surface for processing. The vertical shaft was open when the mines were being worked, but for safety purposes a grate has been placed over the display shaft.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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Underground mining is very expensive to operate, so open-pit mines are used in many locations throughout Nevada.
Nevada still has a number of underground mines, most of which are used for extracting gold ore. Along with the gold, other valuable minerals are also extracted.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Photographer Unknown |
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There are a wide variety of minerals found in Nevada and various mineral samples were on display as part of the mine exhibit.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
There were also displays of various common items that use minerals extracted in Nevada.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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Based on signs found in the mine, I learned a few things about gold that I was unaware of.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Many people get "gold fever" after touring the mine, so for a small fee you can pan your own gold before completing your visit.
BONUS HISTORICAL PICTURE (Our first home in South Dakota)
(As described by Wileta Hawkins, September 1987)
"We got married July 4, 1937 [in Kansas] and a week later we went to South Dakota - that was a real jolt. This was my first trip. We went to South Dakota in March and April and put out the crops. We came back to Kansas and worked in the oil fields, went again in July and came back by September 1st. We just lived out on the prairie. No Trees. The closest neighbor was 1/2 mile away. I went there real often. We lived in this building just like a box car. We had two beds at the west end, side by side. There was only a path between the two beds. We had a table which was hinged to the wall. We had two benches, one on each side of the table. We had a couple of chairs to sit on - us women mostly. Eldon's Mother built cupboards out of old [wood] boxes. We had a wood stove for heat and on the top we cooked food. We had high windows that opened to the inside, to the north and to the south. None to the west or east. On the east side we had a door. We also had a kerosene stove to cook with, with a movable oven.
"When we lived in the shack, we bought a second shack and moved it beside the first one. This never had anything in it except beds. Two twin beds. Then we dug a dirt cellar or cave. We kept our food down here. We also went down when it was stormy out. It had a wooden door and steps going down. The cave was all dirt.
"We hauled water from a neighbor, and for drinking we got water in town in a can. We had an outside biffy. We took our bath in a tub (small round). In summer time the men put up a tank, and by night it was warm and they took a shower. When Jerry was a year old, Eldon built a sink outside for him and I bathed him outside. Every day I went to town for groceries and water, since I was the youngest. For a refrigerator we dug a hold in the ground and lined it with tin (north side of the house) to keep our milk and butter in. In the spring we had a box out of the north window that we kept our milk and butter in. We put wet towels on the doors to make it cooler in [the] house. In early morning we used to take towels and shoo out the flies. "
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