Old Miners Cache

[xracer550]

I found this a few years back while searching for an old mine listed on a map , The mine portal was caved in so we just started walking about to see what we could find , Up a side canyon we found the cache a miner left for the winter & never returned . I think from the 1950's by the coffee can's

 

[Mackka]

Liptons Tea, thats a ripper. Mackka

 

[grubstake]

That's a very cool find, thanks for sharing the pics. The obvious 'stashed his gear, never to return' backstory, makes the real-life man and events behind the cache all the more intriguing.

I'd have guessed 1930's, based on the art deco style of the graphics and writing on those coffee cans. The depression years were a time when many jobless men sought out the old gold rush era locations, with dreams of making their fortunes. Most were lucky if they even managed to scratch out a meagre living, given their only resources were basic hand tools and sweated labor. If those cooking utensils could talk, I'm pretty sure they'd tell a story of hard times and cold, hungry nights beside a smoky campfire.

 

[Mackka]

Too right Grubsteak, hardtimes. As a boy of 5 or 6, i remember being camped with my family outside of Hill End and one night a Swaggie came to our camp and asked my Mum if there was anything he could do for us in return for a plate of stew. Mum said he should stay for tea ( dinner). I remember his name, it was Nobby and in the morning he was gone but he certainly left a huge mark in my memory. Mackka