Searching for Yard Artifacts in Indy!

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com   SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
Salt Tram history is rapidly disappearing, and we are striving to rediscover the efforts of our forefathers in order to give proper recognition to their hopes, dreams and abundant sweat from an era that is rapidly fading from our memories. We are actively seeking out information about the mining of Salt in Saline Valley between 1903 and the 1950's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links:
National Register of Historic Places 1          National Register of Historic Places 2

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While Brian, Sue and I were on our Salt Tram Research trip in November 2009, we stayed in Ray's Den Motel in Independence (or Indy, as the locals say it!). BTW, Ray's Den is a great place to stay, and Linda, the proprietor, is a wonderful host. She really cares about her customers, and she has many regulars that keep coming back for more! But this post isn't about lodging in Indy. Anyways, we were in Independence to do research at the Indy Court (Thanks Merie!), Indy Library (Thanks Joe and Nancy), the Eastern California Museum (Thanks Beth, Roberta and Donna!).

While there, Brian and I got up every morning at 6am, and took a walk around the Indy neighborhoods, examining the artifacts displayed in so many yards in town. Specifically, we were hunting for artifacts from the Salt Tram. Most prized would be the metal Salt Buggies that operated out at the Salt Lake. They were custom made, and we just know that some of them must have survived (so if you know anyone who has one, please let us know). Well, we didn't find any Salt Buggies, but we did find an electric motor that resembled the only intact Salt Tram motor, the one that resides at Control Station II. Unfortunately, the one in the yard didn't match the Westinghouse 75hp electric motor that powered the Salt Tram. But we'll keep looking for Salt Tram era Machinery and Photos - so if you can help, please do so. Thanks.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single decent photo of the Salt Buggy that we are referring to. Whenever I manage to track down a photo of it, I'll post it here. In the meantime, here is the Salt Tram electric motor, and the motor found in a yard in Indy. Obviously, they don't match. The search goes on...

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Introducing the Diary of Henry Clifton Patterson

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com   SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com

Three years ago, I obtained a copy of the diary of Henry Clifton Patterson from the Eastern Sierra Museum in Independence, California. Henry, or as his family refers to him, "Cliff", worked on building the Saline Valley Salt Tram between 1911 and 1913. He kept a detailed diary that somehow managed to escape the destruction of the hands of time. Though Cliff passed away in 1928, the diary lived on, and with it, a timeless recording of the hard work and determination that Cliff put into building the Salt Tram.

The first image in this blog post is the first page of the diary, dated Friday, December 1, 1911, which I have just begun to transcribe.I've also included two other random pages from the diary, so that you have an idea of what the diary is like, in general. It is written clearly with an ink bottle and an ink pen nib, as was standard in the day. Cliff had small but legible handwriting, and was diligent in making an entry practically every single day. This is not the last that will be heard of this diary on these blog pages (Don't forget to click on the diary page to see an expanded view of it).

We want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Fred Patterson of Bishop for opening up their home and hospitality to us. We were able to make 1200 dpi scans of all the diary pages, and in the interest of protecting the document for all time from the degradation caused by any handling of the paper on which it is written, we will be happy to provide high quality copys of the diary, along with a complete transcription and analysis of it, to anybody that would like a copy. Please contact Tim at SalineValleySaltTram@GMail.com if you would like a copy of this priceless artifact from a fast-fading era in American history.

Despite the long passage of time since Henry Clifton's demise, I feel a great sadness that he died when his young son Fred was only 4 years old, and somehow feel that he was a strong, proud man who deserved to live longer than he did. RIP, Henry Clifton Patterson and God Bless you.







































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Yep.  The 1920 Census for Bishop shows this:

Samuel S. Patterson - 68 yrs
Belle - 62 yrs
Earl - 34 yrs
Anita - 23 yrs

Also it also shows:

Patterson, Clifton H. - 33 yrs
Patterson, Alida F - 32 yrs

And their living with their In-Laws:

Harry Bush (Alida's Father)
Anita Bush (Alida's Mother)
Harold Bush

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Summit Corral Found and Examined! (Briefly)

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com   SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
Salt Tram history is rapidly disappearing, and we are striving to rediscover the efforts of our forefathers in order to give proper recognition to their hopes, dreams and abundant sweat from an era that is rapidly fading from our memories. We are actively seeking out information about the mining of Salt in Saline Valley between 1903 and the 1950's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links:
National Register of Historic Places 1          National Register of Historic Places 2

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QUESTION 1: What is Photo 3 (below)? When we first viewed the remains, we speculated that it was the remains of a hay feeder, as horses required hay and grain in this location, due to a lack of adequate grazing plants at this high elevation.  After investigating the summit "Dog House" feature, it might be the floor to that structure - we'll need to investigate that on the ground sometime. See Summit Dog House Mystery on this blogsite.

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In 2009, a BLM Archaeologist told us about the Summit Corral that was somewhat hidden in the trees up at the Summit Station and the Caretaker's Cabin. On the next few trips to the Salt Tram for research, we ran out of time to find the Corral. He gave us an approximate location of the corral as being 200 feet or so North of the Caretaker's Cabin and on the West side of the summit 4x4 road. Sure enough, that's where it was. Though we did have time to examine the corral, time (as always) was short, and we had about 15 minutes to look it over. Like many Salt Tram features, the corral took advantage of the natural clearing and pinyon pines to craft the corral. 75% of the walls of the corral consist of use of the surrounding Pinyon Pines that were interlaced with bailing wire and the occasional free-standing, vertically oriented board in the tree. This section provided an effective barrier to escape for the stock animals. In addition, there are remains of the East facing wall of the Summit Corral that was made entirely of dimensional lumber. It appears that the entire lumber-constructed wall is still in situ, though obviously fallen down.

Photo 1 (click to enlarge): Front gate feature: remains of the East facing wall of the corral made from dimensional 1x lumber.






















Photo 2 (click to enlarge): Google Earth Map. Red line indicates where I believed the Summit Corral was located, based on Mr. Halford's description; the smaller blue line shows the approximate location of the actual corral. Note that the corral lies entirely North of the Salt Tram line that runs through that area.

Photo 3 (click to enlarge): Alan E. stands near a prominent wood feature near the middle of the corral; we believe that this was a hay feeder for the horses. Note that based upon detailed examination, this feeder never had side walls (absense of nail holes), so the hay must have been set upon this wood apparatus to isolate the hay from the (often wet) soil. We ruled out the possibility that this was a displaced wall of the corral, as it would not have been tall enough to restrain stock animals, and it used 2x lumber for its foundation (this foundation is largely hidden by the 1x lumber nailed on top of it).

Note that while wandering around the Salt Tram Summit Station Corral area, we discovered a fairly expansive Salt Tram employee housing tent cabin site. This will be reported on in a future blog entry...Stay tuned.

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Matching Historical Go-Devil Photo!

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com   SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
As the years pass, researching the true story of the Salt Tram is getting more difficult, as the abundant photos and written first hand accounts from that era find their way into landfills (instead of museums). We  are striving to rediscover the efforts of those who built and ran the Salt Tram, in order to give proper recognition to their hopes, dreams and abundant sweat from an era that is rapidly fading from our memories.  
We are actively seeking out information about the mining of Salt in Saline Valley between 1903 and the 1950's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links:
National Register of Historic Places 1          National Register of Historic Places 2

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QUESTION1: Find the location of this Go-Devil photo (and you find the Go-Devil route as well).

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This historical photo (below) shows 5 men preparing to run the Go Devil down the North wall of Daisy Canyon, all the way down to the bottom of Daisy Canyon. The Go Devil is loaded with 1  Electric Motor to power Control Station II on the tramway. There appear to be 2 brakes (long boards in the photo) that provide stopping power to the device, as well as 2 ropes attachs to the rear skids, apparently to be used by the 2 hapless gentlemen to the left and the right in the photo, who are expected to hang onto them for dear life! There are 2 brakeman, as well as a driver of the skid, along with 2 (also hapless) mules out in front to cushion them from possible collisions. Photo Courtesy Eastern California Museum (click to enlarge).

Note that in the photo above that there are no "hooks" that act as brakes, as was stated in the ASCE May 1917 document.

We believe that we know the location of this photo, on the ridge of the Inyo Mountains, likely just to the South of the Summit Station. Next time we are up there, we will know for sure. A few modern photos show the comparative terrain. Now we have to get out there and identify the EXACT site of the photo, and try to follow the Go Devil route down to the bottom of Daisy Canyon.

Update May 2010: Though we have not yet found the EXACT spot of this photo, we have come pretty close. It will remain to be seen whether any of Tom or Brian's photos from this trip match the historical photo above. I believe that they indicated that to match the historical photo, you would have to be quite a bit below the Salt Tram Summit Station - a conclusion reached from examining the 2 photos above.

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