Stamp Mills
This is just a side trip, not a real adventure. Here are some more stamp
mills. Compared to the small one at the Little California Mine, this one
is a giant!
To give you an idea of size, the large wooden pulley is 12 feet in diameter.
The next one is a bit smaller.
This pulley is about 4 feet in diameter.
Here is a "foot" I found at the site of a quartz mill that was
active in 1870:
Notice the taper on the upper end of the foot? The socket of the vertical
shaft has a similar taper. The miners would put small strips of dry wood
around the taper on the foot and then drive the foot into the socket. Then
they would wet the foot and the strips would swell and lock the foot to
the shaft. It would stay there until it broke or was worn out from pulverizing
the ore.
Back to Arrastra Adventure.
Back to the Little California Trail Adventure.