Searching a hillside across the Yankee Fork, three prospectors stumbled upon what would become the most famous mine on the Yankee Fork. Named after the popular military general, George Armstrong Custer, the General Custer Mine was a rich vein of ore, exposed by a snowslide. The discovery of the Custer Mine in 1876 transformed this small mining camp into a lively community and the site of the region’s most significant mining activity.
Founded in 1879, Custer flourished and what began as a tent community rapidly became a town of over 100 building lining both sides of it’s narrow main street. For 30 years, Custer experienced frenzied activity and growth as well as periods of uncertainty and decline until its final bust in 1911.
Charles Alexander Pfeiffer purchased this family home after his marriage to Ellen Louise Olson in 1890. Charles managed the Pfeiffer Store for his uncle and later worked as a gold and cleanup man at the General Custer Mill. As the family increased in size, a kitchen and bedroom were added to the family home. The roof shingles are made of flattened cans. Families in Custer were not an oddity, but certainly weren’t the norm either, as most miners and the supporting merchants were single men.
The Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, Virginia, May 10, 2009
Unable to build or buy enough warships to contest Northern control of the seas, the South purchased several fast cruisers in Britain and sent them out with orders to raid Union shipping. The most famous of these vessels was the Alabama, commanded by Raphael Semmes. Prowling the seas from the West Indies to the Indian Ocean, the Alabama captured 63 vessels in just 22 months.
The Alabama was caught by the Kearsarge at Cherbourg, France. Although his ship was worn out by many months at sea, Semmes chose to meet the Kearsarge in battle. The Alabama was sunk within two hours. Semmes and many of his crew were rescued by the English yacht Deerhound and escaped captivity.
Gallery: The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, May 10, 2009
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Mother-in-law bell
Bells of this type were stamped out of quarters and were common in the 1880′s. They were worn by men and women during war dances and by an older woman to warn her son-in-law that she was approaching. Older Navajo believed that a man could become blind if he looked at his mother-in-law.
from display of artifacts
in Far View Visitor Center
Mesa Verde National Park
September 12, 2009
Debo came closest with the guess, “wildlife warning bell,” except that the bell is to warn the wildlife — the son-in-law — instead of warning of the approach of wildlife.
I still don’t know whose blog post I was thinking of when I noticed this artifact in the display. I deliberately took care to get a good picture so that I could share it with whoever had written the post, but now I can’t find it.
Oh well.
Perhaps it was just a blog comment that I had read somewhere.
Or maybe, just maybe, I’ve been reading blogs in my dreams.
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Commentary and images from the road
image and information from September 12, 2009
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