Went to grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in Uravan, 1952-1957. Wooden structure at beginning was the flume, a water channel to bring water for gold placer mining miles upstream down to placer deposits along highway 141 miles downriver from that view. River down there was San Miguel River (which as kids we swam in - down by wheere San Miguel runs into the Dolores River, and up to Grand Junction. All the actual uranium mines are up on mesa (both sides) some actual tunnels visible. Actually radioactivity where these guys are is very low, andsafe. You dont want to go into a mine tho without a geiger counter. Also uranium ore and processed yellow cake is fairly safe, not even close to bomb grade material. South side mesa overlooking canyon was great place to find arrowheads just laying around on ground. (Nowadays illegal to pick up). North side mesa, sourthwest of town was called heiroglyphic canyon. School was at that canyon mouth. Great life there. Only bad part about living there - I got blood cancer in 2016. Oh Well.
I lived in GJ for 4 years and have been up on Seewemup Mesa above Uravan. Saw numerous mining claim markers and prolific, yellow oxide indicating uranium-rich soil. Meant to look for shed antlers on Atkinson Mesa east side of Hwy. across from Uravan, but never made it up there.
Agree with most everyone, A Geiger counter would have been a great choice to bring with. There is a story of the Radium Girls from the 1919- through 1939. These girls were exposed to Radium paint and it came from mines in Colorado and Utah. These girls were horribly disfigured from the damage Radium did to their bodies. If you had a Geiger counter it might have gone off like crazy.
I was born in Uravan, in a two room wooden shack, when I went their in 83, there was a radiation hazard on that shack, you should have had a geiger counter. My father and grandfather were both uranium miners, and died from silicosis of the lungs, a disease unique to uranium miners.
Those aren't railroad tracks. It's a flume to transfer water from further up the river to where they used it for sluicing for gold farther dowm the river.
You should really know what you are talkin about before u do a video!! At the beginning of this video, you show what is known as "the hanging flume". Had you stopped n read the plaque there by bedrock and paradox, it would have explained to you how they tried to transport water uphill in this flume to irrigate crops and stuff, Not used at all for transporting ore n surely had no rails. How do i know this, my dad and grampa both worked in uravan in the uranium mines.
@@wedontknowwhy Actually, the flume was for neither of those reasons. It was made to transport water downhill in order to use it for gold mining at its lower end. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Flume for the explanation.
Disclaimer ! This is not intended to be an accurate or educational video on this specific site just some fun . Thanks for watching
Why did you not bring a Geiger counter? It would be interesting to know how radioactive this place is.
Went to grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in Uravan, 1952-1957. Wooden structure at beginning was the flume, a water channel to bring water for gold placer mining miles upstream down to placer deposits along highway 141 miles downriver from that view. River down there was San Miguel River (which as kids we swam in - down by wheere San Miguel runs into the Dolores River, and up to Grand Junction. All the actual uranium mines are up on mesa (both sides) some actual tunnels visible. Actually radioactivity where these guys are is very low, andsafe. You dont want to go into a mine tho without a geiger counter. Also uranium ore and processed yellow cake is fairly safe, not even close to bomb grade material. South side mesa overlooking canyon was great place to find arrowheads just laying around on ground. (Nowadays illegal to pick up). North side mesa, sourthwest of town was called heiroglyphic canyon. School was at that canyon mouth. Great life there. Only bad part about living there - I got blood cancer in 2016. Oh Well.
I lived in GJ for 4 years and have been up on Seewemup Mesa above Uravan. Saw numerous mining claim markers and prolific, yellow oxide indicating uranium-rich soil. Meant to look for shed antlers on Atkinson Mesa east side of Hwy. across from Uravan, but never made it up there.
Agree with most everyone, A Geiger counter would have been a great choice to bring with. There is a story of the Radium Girls from the 1919- through 1939. These girls were exposed to Radium paint and it came from mines in Colorado and Utah. These girls were horribly disfigured from the damage Radium did to their bodies.
If you had a Geiger counter it might have gone off like crazy.
I was born in Uravan, in a two room wooden shack, when I went their in 83, there was a radiation hazard on that shack, you should have had a geiger counter. My father and grandfather were both uranium miners, and died from silicosis of the lungs, a disease unique to uranium miners.
Silicosis is from breathing high volumes rock dust. It's common in mining in rock not just in uranium. It's similar in a sense to black lung.
Those aren't railroad tracks. It's a flume to transfer water from further up the river to where they used it for sluicing for gold farther dowm the river.
Yes sir this has been addressed I do appreciate your comment and information though
If you dig up something that looks like yellow cheesecake, run like hell.
You should really know what you are talkin about before u do a video!! At the beginning of this video, you show what is known as "the hanging flume". Had you stopped n read the plaque there by bedrock and paradox, it would have explained to you how they tried to transport water uphill in this flume to irrigate crops and stuff, Not used at all for transporting ore n surely had no rails. How do i know this, my dad and grampa both worked in uravan in the uranium mines.
That’s great
@@wedontknowwhy Actually, the flume was for neither of those reasons. It was made to transport water downhill in order to use it for gold mining at its lower end. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Flume for the explanation.