Burro Schmidt Tunnel
Encyclopedia
The Burro Schmidt Tunnel, located in Kern County, California
near Garlock
, is a half-mile long (0.8 km) tunnel
dug entirely by hand, constructed over a 32-year period by William "Burro" H. Schmidt (1871–1954). Located at 35°24.62′N 117°52.55′W, the tunnel is near the summit of a 4,400 foot (1,340 m) mountain in the El Paso Mountains
of eastern California
.
Schmidt, who was mining gold
, was faced with a dangerous ridge between his mining area and the smelter
at Mojave, California
. Schmidt said that he would "never haul his ore
to the smelter in Mojave down that back trail" using his two burro
s. Thus, he began his tunnel in 1906. The tunnel was about six feet tall and ten feet wide, but it cut through solid granite
and required little shoring. The path was not straight, but took several turns.
Schmidt was trapped many times by falling rock and injured often, and eventually installed a cart on rails. In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion, and dug on.
In fact, it was not a desire to punch through the mountain that motivated his digging, but a vein of gold extending in that direction. Schmidt simply claimed an irrational desire to dig through the mountain to prevent others from moving in on his find.
By 1938 he had achieved his "goal", having dug through nearly 2,500 feet (762 m) of solid granite
using only a pick, a shovel, and a four pound hammer for the first portion, and carefully placed dynamite with notoriously short fuses for the majority. It was estimated that he had moved 5,800 tons (5,260 metric tons) of rock to complete his work.
Interestingly Schmidt never used the tunnel to move his ore. Instead, he sold the tunnel to another miner and moved away. A Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon celebrated the feat, calling him the human mole. Schmidt's cabin in Garlock has been largely abandoned and stands as it was in the 1930s, preserved by the dry climate.
The Bureau of Land Management
states that they own the Schmidt Tunnel and associated surrounding land because it is an unpatented mining claim under the General Mining Act of 1872
(i.e., ownership of the underlying land always remained with the U.S. government under the management of the Bureau of Land Management with only mining rights transferred to the mining claim owner) where no mining operations are underway, meaning that all rights revert to the BLM under the Federal Land Policy And Management Act of 1976 upon the death of the grandfathered claimant Evelyn A. (Tonie) Seger who had possessed the claim prior to 1976 http://www.calarchives4u.com/obits/kern/kern-s/seger-evelyn.txt. This is in dispute as Seger is claimed by heirs to have maintained the claim legally under the terms of the Mining Act and properly transferred the mining claim upon her death to Dave Ayers, her caretaker for the last years of her life. As of 2003 David Ayers and Mr. F. Schmidt claimed to be legal owners of the mining claim containing the Schmidt Tunnel. The historic buildings on the mining claim site were transferred by Tonie Seger's will to her granddaughter Cheryl Kelly. The BLM assumed ownership of the historic buildings via publication of an abandonment notice after multiple attempts to contact the former legal owner, Cheryl Kelly, by both BLM personnel and private parties in order to preserve the site failed http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/news.html. According to the BLM, long-time caretaker David Ayers was offered the opportunity to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the BLM to be the full-time caretaker of the site, but refused to sign unless he was paid to be the caretaker http://www.jawbone.org/Minutes/042104minutes.htm and instead chose to leave to work elsewhere after being informed he had no legal right to remain at the site without that MOU. A small group of history buffs and outdoorsmen, The Friends of Burro Schmidt Tunnel (FBST)http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/, are actively preserving the site but ongoing disputes about ownership of the mining claim and historic structures continue to interfere with preservation efforts. As a result the site has fallen prey to vandalism
http://www.bickelcamp.org/burropics/index.html.
Kern County, California
Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...
near Garlock
Garlock, California
Garlock is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located east-southeast of Saltdale, at an elevation of 2169 feet .A post office operated at Garlock from 1896 to 1904 and from 1923 to 1926....
, is a half-mile long (0.8 km) tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
dug entirely by hand, constructed over a 32-year period by William "Burro" H. Schmidt (1871–1954). Located at 35°24.62′N 117°52.55′W, the tunnel is near the summit of a 4,400 foot (1,340 m) mountain in the El Paso Mountains
El Paso Mountains
The El Paso Mountains are located in central southern California in the United States. The range lies in a southwest-northeasterly direction east of Highway 14, and north of the Rand Mountains and Randsburg Red Rock Road. Red Rock Canyon State Park lies at the western end of the range.The mountains...
of eastern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Schmidt, who was mining gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, was faced with a dangerous ridge between his mining area and the smelter
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
at Mojave, California
Mojave, California
Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...
. Schmidt said that he would "never haul his ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
to the smelter in Mojave down that back trail" using his two burro
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s. Thus, he began his tunnel in 1906. The tunnel was about six feet tall and ten feet wide, but it cut through solid granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and required little shoring. The path was not straight, but took several turns.
Schmidt was trapped many times by falling rock and injured often, and eventually installed a cart on rails. In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion, and dug on.
In fact, it was not a desire to punch through the mountain that motivated his digging, but a vein of gold extending in that direction. Schmidt simply claimed an irrational desire to dig through the mountain to prevent others from moving in on his find.
By 1938 he had achieved his "goal", having dug through nearly 2,500 feet (762 m) of solid granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
using only a pick, a shovel, and a four pound hammer for the first portion, and carefully placed dynamite with notoriously short fuses for the majority. It was estimated that he had moved 5,800 tons (5,260 metric tons) of rock to complete his work.
Interestingly Schmidt never used the tunnel to move his ore. Instead, he sold the tunnel to another miner and moved away. A Ripley's Believe It or Not cartoon celebrated the feat, calling him the human mole. Schmidt's cabin in Garlock has been largely abandoned and stands as it was in the 1930s, preserved by the dry climate.
The Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
states that they own the Schmidt Tunnel and associated surrounding land because it is an unpatented mining claim under the General Mining Act of 1872
General Mining Act of 1872
The General Mining Act of 1872 is a United States federal law that authorizes and governs prospecting and mining for economic minerals, such as gold, platinum, and silver, on federal public lands...
(i.e., ownership of the underlying land always remained with the U.S. government under the management of the Bureau of Land Management with only mining rights transferred to the mining claim owner) where no mining operations are underway, meaning that all rights revert to the BLM under the Federal Land Policy And Management Act of 1976 upon the death of the grandfathered claimant Evelyn A. (Tonie) Seger who had possessed the claim prior to 1976 http://www.calarchives4u.com/obits/kern/kern-s/seger-evelyn.txt. This is in dispute as Seger is claimed by heirs to have maintained the claim legally under the terms of the Mining Act and properly transferred the mining claim upon her death to Dave Ayers, her caretaker for the last years of her life. As of 2003 David Ayers and Mr. F. Schmidt claimed to be legal owners of the mining claim containing the Schmidt Tunnel. The historic buildings on the mining claim site were transferred by Tonie Seger's will to her granddaughter Cheryl Kelly. The BLM assumed ownership of the historic buildings via publication of an abandonment notice after multiple attempts to contact the former legal owner, Cheryl Kelly, by both BLM personnel and private parties in order to preserve the site failed http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/news.html. According to the BLM, long-time caretaker David Ayers was offered the opportunity to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the BLM to be the full-time caretaker of the site, but refused to sign unless he was paid to be the caretaker http://www.jawbone.org/Minutes/042104minutes.htm and instead chose to leave to work elsewhere after being informed he had no legal right to remain at the site without that MOU. A small group of history buffs and outdoorsmen, The Friends of Burro Schmidt Tunnel (FBST)http://www.burroschmidttunnel.org/, are actively preserving the site but ongoing disputes about ownership of the mining claim and historic structures continue to interfere with preservation efforts. As a result the site has fallen prey to vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
http://www.bickelcamp.org/burropics/index.html.