Tomb in the Rock, up at the SEVEN-THIRTY GOLD MINE. Silver Plume, Colorado.

morning gang we are in Colorado a little town called Silver plume here at Daybreak it is about 6: a.m. oh it's about 5:45 6 a.m. just got here and we're going to be taking a hike up on this mountain basically up there it's a switch black Trail it's going to go about a 1.6 1.7 miles we're going to be looking for the grave of someone that died here up in the mountain a really interesting story we're about 9100 ft we're right by Highway 70 or route six I think it's also Route Six and this is a really neat place I came yesterday to scout it out a little I thought I was going to be able to just drive right up there no you can park here in town and then you have got a hike up there so we've got water got my sidearm I've got other emergency things this is a cool little town little coffee shop here and the young lady in here gave me some great Intel she has history books on this story of a man named Clifford Griffin now up the highway here a mile or two is Georgetown up in that direction and we're going to go up this road right here to the trail head so I'm staying overnight in Georgetown at a really cool place on the South Clear Creek called Clear Creek in and I really highly recommend this place really cool all right here we go we are going we are going uphill gang all the way we've got got to go up about like I said 1 6,000 ft so look at this isn't this beautiful so I'll be stopping and starting as we go telling you this story all right see you at the trail head all right all right that's where we came from and we are at the trail head there's a little pool here check this out little drainage almost looks like a SS box from the olden days well it's it's spring water's are flowing but yeah there's some historical stuff here to see look at this some old mind workking equipment you'll find and buildings structures if you come up that Main Street Road North off Main Street you're going to right where that coffee shop is head up the hill and you will see this oh look at that up there we'll probably see some good stuff on the way guys huh what that there we go here we're going to see some more runs once we get up there all right so what do you say we head up on the dusty trail let's go all right here's our first stop along the dusty trail it's a little Switchback turn here going up yeah I thought I'd give you a view of silver Plum and you can see the sun is just coming up over the ridge there's the highway yeah and there down there you can see some old mine workings and look at the size of those tailings that tailings pile is huge look at that 1870s guys 1870s now let's take a look over here so you can see it's switching back to the left and it is all uphill better be in shape but here's some interesting the 7:30 mine Trail and that's where we're going the 7:30 mine that's what this story is about the miners who made their way to the Rocky Mountains in 1859 came in search of gold silver too yeah this is a great Trail look at that yeah pretty cool guys you guys are going to love this story all right let's go oh let's get our backpack don't want to forget that boy I got to tell you this is a beautiful Trail wellmaintained it's May 31st 2024 I wanted to tell you and that's that was a look back down the trail this is going up so far it's just uphill uphill so I've made it about 400 ft we're about a quarter of the way in altitude and it came across this uh what I thought at first was a rock slide but no it is not cuz I'm looking up here and I see some retaining walls log probably from the old minor days you know they do clear areas like this for Avalanche controlled Avalanche Falls I guess slides I should say but yeah this is It's a good look at that and this is really steep guys really steep I'm already working up a little bit of a sweat here look at this this go it literally it I I you can't really tell but if I were to step off the edge right there if I slid which I would I would be in horrific shape cuz there's no stopping you it is it is straight up so I wanted to tell you guys a little bit about how I found this story there was a picture that I found from I think the early 1900s have you guys heard of many of you have heard of the Thanatos archive and it's a a site you can go to that has an archive of postmortem can hear the highway down here trucks in low gear it's a it's an archive of postmortem pictures mostly from Victorian times some amazing stuff that's how we found the color family Jack Mor runs and owns that and I am a proud patreon member but I found I didn't found it I I found it I can't remember but I saw it no I think it was Dustin Burell uh one of our viewers who sent me the the finer grave because there's a finer grave and it shows a picture of a woman in Victorian dress with a hat sitting on a boulder next to this Monument now this Monument is up there we're going to see that monument and I was like and it was a finder grave the story of this guy I'm going to tell you and I'm like wow I want to see that I had no idea what was involved this is no easy undertaking but that's what makes it fun so shout out to Thanos archive it's how we got the color story I've got another story this summer I'm going to be doing in I think Tennessee or Ohio where I saw his picture and kind of reversed into the story investigating it devb a lot of help on those but yeah when we get up there I I'll show you the picture at more more at the end again our story happened in the 1870s 1880s so let's put our camera in our backpack over here put it on and continue up and we'll pick it up at the next stop whatever I don't know what we're going to see but I'm sure we're going to see more interesting things along the way let's go all right again that's where we came from made a little stop here point of Interest there's a Switchback trail that goes up this way but that's an off Trail and that's what's neat you can go zigzagging around up here but I noticed what I thought at first was a wash and I see a lot of workings evidently tailings up there and you can see there's T telephone poles so that was later on they've been working this probably for quite a while so if you look down here there's a or cart all the way down there look at that from the original days isn't that neat zoom in on that look at that laying on its side there how many years has that been laying there I should say how many decades right so yeah pretty steep here guys you can't tell on the camera but one step off this and you're sumers salting you're way to death so let's talk a little bit more I'm only up another 100 ft or so from the last one but this was really interesting I want to go up and check this out again this is probably cuz we're lower one of the earlier mines that were found and claimed but I'll tell you a little bit more about this area of course 1850 we have the silver gold and silver boom in California and around the same time after I started coming up here looking for gold and silver and they found it we go back to the 1860s 1868 there was a guy named Owen fenan and he discovered what was then called The Pelican the Pelican load now kind of like the Dutchman you know the lost Dutchman in Arizona he he didn't file a claim kept it a secret last of times that was a better idea you know if you wouldn't be followed Owen got sick and like the lost Dutchman Jacob Waltz told a couple of friends she a couple of buddies on his deathbed well it wasn't his deathbed he was slow to recover but he would eventually recover I I think he regretted telling them because months later or a year later he recovered and his friends of course found the the mine that he had started and they filed claims and it was a big operation and did they cut him in no no way he was screwed and that's how it went in those days even when you filed to claim you're bickering and fighting and gunfights oh there's some stuff up there look at this and some great artifacts here guys common stuff it looks like another another orc cart there let's take a look go a little higher before we go back and continue our little hike here got some Deep Woods now there's no Grizz here they were wiped out if they were here a long time ago they are black bears not worried about them it's more the mountain lion and the humans although this is these are SE are nice people here but you never know if you are carrying a firearm for a defense go with Full Metal Jacket penetrating it's your best bet if you don't have a rifle for Bear let's see here if we can get closer so that all happened in Georgetown where I was saying where I was staying let me get a close close up looks like some type of Fender on the left there maybe a cart don't know but yeah Georgetown which is just a couple miles in that direction up the highway that was the the bigger town I think earlier before silver plum so yeah they struck at Rich here and they were working it but then another man named Clifford Griffin looking for his grave he came soon after and he found his own claim and it was very very rich silver and gold and he named it the 730 like we saw in the sign there became wealthy they say he was the wealthiest man in the area here but despite his Good Fortune he made no friends he kept to himself he was somewhat of a Hermit never went out to the saloons never socialized with anyone it's kind of an odd character but then a new visitor came to town to Silver plume which I think at its Heyday was 2,000 people there were a lot of people here and this guy was from England and J he knew Griffin he knew Mr Griffin back in England he said he was to be married back there in England but his fiance his fiance say was found dead the night before his wedding and nobody knew what happened but they do know that Clifford Griffin disappeared shortly after of course he came immigrated to the United States and he made his way all the way here well the word kind of got around and one of the miners who knew Clifford got up his nerve and when Clifford came down the mountain one evening getting supplies cuz his cabin was up here near his mine come down for supplies the guy the miner got the nerve up to ask him what what happened I understand that you know you were going to be married very sad to hear that what happened and Clifford just scalled at him wouldn't answer so nobody knows nobody knows what happened to her maybe it was an accident maybe who knows but he didn't murder her most likely because he he you know the rest of the story I'm going to tell as we get further up he was very depressed and that's why he was a Hermit they believe it was because of that or may maybe it was guilt who knows all right so we'll continue up the trail which is you know what this is a dead end this has got to be the switch back yeah we're going up up into the sun let's go spooky Canyon here as you look around you can just see all the tailings and workings just amazing look at that just imagine and this Trail look at this Trail isn't this isn't this awesome but this is one cool Corner Switchback look at that tumbling all the way down there all those trees just imagine the avalanch is coming through here guys huh yeah everywhere you look here there's there's workings yeah look at this all down here this whole thing all right let's keep going onward all right gang that's where we're coming from we're almost at 10,000 ft now and finding some really interesting things look at this a lot of history up here look at that that is neat neat stuff yeah what year do you think this is early 1900s judging by the nails those are not square nails it's 1900s but still still some neat stuff boy you could drink that water you can drink that water stunning just stunning look at this Trail it's coming up on a another outcropping with views that I can't even can't even describe look at all the artifacts got to watch your Stu though so I'll point the camera and keep looking down another slide tailings let's get up here we can really see yeah amazing all right carry on well this is where we've come from and I stopped here because there's a a mine here open wasn't open m but look at that they Clos it off and you can see the hole the shaft oh boy it goes straight down straight down City look at that wouldn't want to fall down that thing new Sur boy all right let's go all right gang we've made it to the location and look at all the workings here now I just walked past the M shaft of the 730 mine just to check out some of these workings here and I saw up there across this Canyon an interesting what looked like an interesting anomaly and now that I see through my binoculars of my camera that looks like a mine oo and it's not covered danger Will Robinson but here we are and like I said I walked past the you can see the trail coming here and I think I think that is the outcropping I think the monument is there somewhere cuz I saw an in conspicuous Trail so let's walk back to the 730 mine itself which has one of those protection cages over it the grading just like the one we just saw and that that shaft goes straight down man it's scary now I'm going to take a chance and stand over it on the metal it looks pretty stable I don't think we're taking much of a risk all right there it is now there looks to be a plaque on there as me get my footing let's take a look at that let zoom in on that state of Colorado looks like a survey marker a mine land reclamation marker but there's oh boy that is spooky guys see if we can get a look down the 7:30 there you go that'll give you a feel for it it's going straight down I am getting off this thing very carefully well that's where we came from and I saw this Trail here right here and I'm hoping I'm hoping this this has to lead down to the monument for Clifford so let's follow this down carefully now from the side there that look like a major outcropping we're going to have to be really slow and careful I have did not have not gone down here so I don't know what we are going to expect please be the monument this could be a false lead the monument could be up higher which which would mean hand climbing and I can't I can't imagine that it would be that let's zoom out for you here can see the trail better okay it's definitely a trail that's going to something on the edge this has got to be it guys this has got to be it holy cow wow look at these Boulders there it is yes we made it there it is wow okay let's get there without getting ourselves banged up yeah we're good I was worried we'd have to climb up was thinking I'm going to have to hand [Applause] climb but uh I think we've got to go this way all right hold on got to go right into the shadow man see the shadow man okay that's me stumbling along whoa grab the wall here holy cow if you go to the right at all goodbye oh I don't I don't know about this guys this is crazy okay oh my gosh straight down hundreds of feet but there's a path let me I'm going to take it slow guys just no rush no where we got to be oh gosh slippery very slippery look at that oh yeah way down there guys it's beautiful all right let's let's yeah thank you gimbal gimbal says Ron focus on where you're going now this is actually not recommended and this is probably borderline of I don't want to overdramatize but this is definitely borderline of what I would do I'm going to hang on to this tree here and there's like 3 ft it's a walk okay let's see hold on there it is that's where we got to get okay the important thing is to when you look down is stepping on rocks not gravel there is no room whatsoever not recommended if you have a fear of heights oh we did it how did that lady in that dress with the hat how did she how did she do this here's where the the picture was taken okay now we're on now we're on Solid Ground oh what a view now this is the outcropping this is where he is buried right here what a beautiful how did they get this up here guys huh how did they get this up here oh we are on an absolute precipice yeah now there's a metal cable running here now I'm not going to go to the edge no selfies guys like the people at the Grand Canyon that fall off but let's have a safe look I can reach my arm over yeah the monument is right on the edge oh yeah no no no and I'm scared of heights so my knees are actually weak right now there's silver plume looks like we are way up here baby but we are on a a solid area here this is pretty cool so yeah this is this is it guys this is where he is this is where he carved his he carved his his tomb out of the stone right here what a fabulous spot and this is where he would sit sit with his violin right here and play I really wonder if you could really hear it down there I guess you know with all this water rushing I don't know but wow this is a spectacular spot I I really think you guys should come and check this out but as I look back so that's where I came from like like right there now the other way okay I'm that's the way I'm going to go out maybe I'm just going to walk over these Boulders I don't I don't like that I don't like that I don't like that at all so yeah buried right here and they say at night you can hear the violin can hear the violin playing he still plays the violin well what a spectacular view I see the inscription we'll zoom in on that for you and it's Clifford Griffin son of Alfred Griffin Esquire of brand Hall that's from England is that how do you you pronounce that guys shopshire he was born July 2nd 1847 he died June 19th 1887 and there looks like there's a is it I can't read that well let's let's uh get a closer look I don't like walking around here too much let's get a closer look at that horse something something with his something request buried near this spot okay how did they get this thing up here preil I don't know so all right guys I'm going to head out of here this was some Adventure I'm looking forward to the walk down gradually all the way down that sure is going to beat this walk up here but good exercise nonetheless so there it is here we are and we say rest in peace Clifford Griffin [Music] a e

Channel: Faces of the Forgotten

Views: 29,940

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Id: fiqi__BWT7g

Length: 37min 1sec (2221 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 24 2024