Mammoth Lakes John Wayne movie locations & Gold Mine

with its alpine lakes and majestic snow-capped peaks the highway 395 corridor on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range is amongst the most scenic parts of California join Jeff and Sarah on this episode of history hunters as they explore historical spots of the Mammoth Lakes area and revisit Western movie history [Music] Sara and I took advantage of a weekend getaway to check out historical spots in Mammoth Lakes California a ski resort town on the backside of the Eastern Sierra Nevadas Sara suggested we check out Mammoth Lakes Museum which is the former Hayden cabin we're at the Hayden cabin era in Mammoth California mr Hayden the guy who established the heat and hunting and fishing map company office camp - we're gonna check it out outside here's a bunch of junk reminds me of Bodie California this looks like they turned an old car to a saw the cabin is a museum repository of old photos maps trophies original handmade furnishings and other personal belongings also on display are some original Maps Hayden's company made of the Sierras so could you live in this cabin it's pretty cool huh how about with all the dead animals up there because you love animals I'm sure they probably ate that beer before they stuck its head up now these which are serving no purpose but I mean the part of breeding - no I don't think we need Fox pretty porous founders walls [Music] modern stuff this is definitely a throwback to a different era men could hunt the Fallen log cabin was built between 1927 and 1937 by imitating founder Hayden F company the first to map the Eastern Sierras you could live in here and cook on that rustic stove [Music] man they've purchased this wood-burning sofa my ranch in Nevada between 1906 and 1918 that's their fridge huh before modern ice boxes ice had to be cut from frozen lakes and stored in ice houses to be used through the summer it's a whole radio now old speaker right there picture shows a mammoth with 19 from 1927 to 37 mammoth mountain in the background I like that chassis after leaving the Haydn cabin we headed out to the mammoth hot Cretan geological site near matter [Music] [Music] yeah you think it's got to be anything for seeing the sign has some very foreboding news says 14 people have lost our lives they're been burned here since 1968 [Music] check out hot springs down here nature's caldron at least for Hollywood movies were filmed in hot Creek Gorge John Wayne came here in 1962 film north to Alaska [Music] so if you can imagine the magma and the center of urine is boiling up these fissures of water that come to the surface here Hot Springs John Wayne Glen Campbell and Kim Darby came here in 1969 - Josie's for the blockbuster movie true grit [Music] who are you putting on there like it's my place to sleep well there's no room for you here [Music] [Applause] [Music] a lot of warnings around here about some galling water [Music] my whole steam coming out of it Sarah makes another discovery would you discover that smells like eggs [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] rat poop so in this cave and 1880 nothing happened that we know I know some Indians could have been here some bandits although I don't think there's roaming around mammoth when Sarah and I drove back in here we saw no sign of water no sign of runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountains behind us so we couldn't figure out where this water was gonna be coming from its from the natural spring Steve McQueen confronted Brian Keith in the 1966 scene shot here for the movie Nevada Smith work you know I said stay back barrels all rusted up and hammers broke besides they have made ammunition for one things and years the filming of shootout brought Gregory Peck and Jeff quarry here in 1971 their next stop takes Jeff and Sarah to the mammoth consolidated mining company site let's see so Great Depression into this operation wonder what this is a mammoth consolidated mine company we invite you to walk along the 1/2 mile loop trail which leads to the historic mining camp and this talks about magma superheated gases hot violently upward escaping through these cracks carrying melted gold and other minerals ooh also known as mineral Hill and gold mountain this colorful colorful part of the landscape was the location of the first gold discovery in the mammoth area and was made by prospectors in search of the legendary lost summit on I J she wants a dog but I told her since she has two cats nothing doing so if she gives up the two cats she can have a dog one dog one and then it's bye-bye Sara No [Laughter] [Music] these look along like Bodie California where the wood has been preserved and left intact tar to weatherize the cabins because there's big old cracks between the place obviously these are cabins to house the miners back of the day the mine office has fallen to the elements it is no longer standing rocks to hold up for the floor joists I think it's sad to see history like this just allowed to collapse fall into its scrap keep a history this is a superintendents residence [Music] this putt has seen better days the consolidated mine began in 1927 when AG Mahan seniors son arch and business partners purchased promising gold and silver mining claims on Red Mountain near lake mirror historical outhouse here at Mammoth California where all the miners took a dump appears an outstanding cabinet maybe could be saved this cabin 1929 but I know it's almost like it could be reserved there's always graffiti carved in these places people just don't respect any remainders this looks like cement that is put in the cracks obviously the weather proofs cabin windows has been taken out a modern-day apply went over the windows aminals here I am an old freak I love animals too I love to eat them what is supposed to stay on the trail but I can't get good video by staying on the trail we'll find out what this is assay office it's where you take your gold and figured out how much it was worth that's what that is it's too bad they let it fall apart everybody who worked in here is dead and then the dust just like this place is gonna be very soon here's the front I know that's what time will do completely snap threats from a pipe okay there's the mine obviously the mineshaft was here under oil field engine with 100 horsepower this diesel-powered bill located near the lower Abbot crushed and process the or delivered to the site via ore cars onto how much coal they took out of here the mammoth consolidated mines produced an estimated $100,000 in gold and silver but it's unlikely that much of a profit was made I'm betting that that thing made a lot of racket when it was in operation around here imagine there was a lot of excitement here with all the guys in and out of that hole trying to find gold and over here it looks like a piece of rail for them or cars Sara said something about coming up here to the compressor and upper alley seems like every time I do one of these videos I'm gonna altitude that causes my breath to be sucked right out of my body oh man we must be about 8,000 feet here no today is September 15 and there's still snow up there on the gnomes it's a beautiful day today Sara's gone ahead of me found some great stuff that looks like it wow that is a he goes over and look at that old radio look at that look at this crank to turn this baby on wonder if that broke any arms it's old engine these solid rubber tires [Music] that's what kills me as those wooden spokes fuel tanks and back [Music] it's amazing amazing equipment here gas-powered air compressors were used for pneumatic power drills and to pump fresh air into the mineshaft [Music] the power or something that's a mess in and f manufacturing [Music] very EP I wonder how much this metal would go for if they scrapped it Goodrich tires still out in the weather and still around metal rim saw a retired [Music] you can't be in a more beautiful place to have a goldmine hey there's the goldmine I thought the gold mine mine too 800 foot long horizontal tunnels into the mine called adits are connected by a vertical chute which provided natural ventilation and allowed miners to dump or from the upper tunnel to waiting or cars below but can't go ahead o close for your protection using you bat friendly closure to preserve bat habitat they've gone batty that's as far as we go pretty fun to get through there my question is how much gold did they get out of here must have been profitable for a while do you like old gold mining history I would recommend coming here so what's your precious of this place I'm surprised you can get so close to this stuff they must not have a lot of that dead stump back there is preserved partly because the high altitude here [Laughter] any little bug gets hurt screaming what are they gonna do carry away like a helicopter well I visit here to Mammoth consolidated mining company with shut down and I think 1929 because of the Great Depression it's an interesting place to visit and if you're like the Billy Goat over there you can climb up the hills [Music] Ameth in salah dated employed about fourteen miners who lived in bunk houses after making about $5.25 per day and charged one dollar twenty five cents per day for room and board the men cleared about four dollars a day it was a good wage at the time when you consider that's about seventy five dollars in today's dollars [Music] you [Music]

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 66,160

Rating: 4.8792133 out of 5

Keywords: Mammoth Lakes, Hot Creek Gorge, John Wayne, Movie locations, Hayden Cabin, Mono County, Mammoth Mine, True Grit, Steve McQueen, jbenziggy, History Hunters

Id: DFMZM2WGnDM

Length: 20min 49sec (1249 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 11 2019