There is no measure for this mans feat.. (Garlock) Traditional Cache
There is no measure for this mans feat.. (Garlock)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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You’re looking for a larger sized cache camouflaged to
match
the ground. This cache was placed during the 2011 Old West
Days
Event and contains lots of fabulous SWAG! Please replace as
you
found.
The man is William Henry Schmidt, born in 1871. He was the
only
surviving child of four; each dying of consumption (now known
as
tuberculosis) before 30 yrs old.
In 1900, after a visit to California and a brief return home
to
Rhode Island, Schmidt settled in California (hoping the dry
weather
would fend off disease).
Once or twice a year Schmidt hauled supplies to his camp by
burro
pack train, earning him his nickname “Burro”
Schmidt.
He located multiple mining claims and they were leased to a
Bakersfield company; after multiple unproductive expeditions
over
several years, the claims went idle.
Though he knew very little about mining, Burro had faith in
the
claims, and decided to work them himself.
After not finding an easy way to transport ore over Black
Mountain
to the Garlock smelter – he made a way.
In 1906, at the age of 36, William “Burro”
Schmidt
began digging his tunnel by hand.
Using previous excavation lines, about 40 feet into his dig
he
struck gold, silver, copper and lead. Though he did not stop
and
process any ore he discovered while creating his tunnel. It
is
5’x7’ in sections and over 2,000 feet long; he
drilled
it all by hand using a 4lb. single jack and drill. The only
power
he had was that of his own muscle. He laid each rail and pushed
his
ore cart in and out daily, he did not use his burros in the
tunnel.
Burro Schmidt worked summers on farms in the Kern River Valley
to
buy supplies for the coming year. He lived almost entirely on
a
slapjack and beans diet. Eventually he sold a few of his
claims,
and the money enabled him to work year round in his tunnel for
6
years.
In 1938, 32 years after he began, the tunnel was complete.
It’s said that had he used modern (for his time) equipment
he
could have completed the tunnel in about 5 years. strangely
though,
no ore was ever taken through the tunnel to the smelter, as
anticipated.
Also, one wonders after visiting the tunnel: Why, after
several
hundred feet of heading perfectly straight (through the heart
of
Black Mountain, toward the smelters), did Burro abruptly turn
right, and exit?
When asked (at age 81), Burro simply smiled and shrugged.
All this time, Burro lived alone (never taking a wife,
fearing
having children would spread the family disease), eventually
building a cabin at the foot of the mountain, and remaining
there
for another 26 years, until his death in 1954.
We encourage you to visit Burro Schmidt’s Famous Tunnel.
It
is an unparalleled experience. This is the only place in the
world
where you can walk through half a man’s life in a little
over
2,000 feet!!
Imagine the spots where he spent his 40th, 50th and even 60th
Christmas! Imagine the perseverance it took to complete the
tunnel,
and for no other purpose – apparently, than to
accomplish
something he had set out to do. His legacy is as powerful as
the
mountain he chose to forever carry it.
To those who believe Burro simply “wasted” his
life
doing this – I offer you this question: Of all the
billions
of people all over the world, how many will leave such evidence
of
their existence?
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