Roads: My First Machine

My first steed from behind.

            When it became clear that it would be necessary for me to have my own machine to build the road down to the Christine Marie claim, I started looking for used equipment dealers. Through some recommendations I found a man that lived in the small town of Murphy, Idaho who sold used equipment. He had a reputation for good prices and fairness. I went to see him. I explained to him what I needed to do, and that I did not have much money. I also told him that I did not need the machine until next year and asked him if he would look for something inexpensive that would work for me. I gave him $200 for his trouble and left for Wisconsin somewhat depressed.

            Nine months later I got a call from him telling me he found a D-4 dozer that I could have for $4,000. He told me it was old but in good shape and had belonged to the Forest Service. I bought and paid for this machine sight unseen -- something I would not recommend doing today.

The dozer rest before another rough day of road building.

            The D-4 dozer was exactly as described - old but in good shape.  Everything on it worked. There was a hydraulic control to raise and lower the blade. The blade could be angled but only by manually changing it. This required having the machine on level ground, removing pins that held the blade to the frame, moving the machine to line up the blade with a different set of holes in the frame, and replacing the pins -- a process much more difficult than it sounds. And, oh yes, the only naturally level ground in the whole Morrisonite area is the crest of the ridge. The ability to angle the blade allows you to push dirt and rocks to the right or left depending on what direction the blade is angled. This is essential for making a road on steep terrain.

            The dozer, like all construction equipment, had a diesel engine but no electric starter motor. You could not turn a key and start the thing up like a car. The machine had a gasoline pony motor. First you had to start the gasoline motor with a pull rope by rapping the rope around the fly wheel and pulling it fast enough to ignite the gas in the engine. Once the pony motor was running well, you engaged a clutch which turned over the diesel engine. Once the diesel engine started you killed the gas pony motor and you were ready to go. If for any reason the diesel engine died, you had to start the process over again.

The driver's seat lacked much as far as visibility was concerned.

            There have been vast improvements in the operational mechanisms of construction equipment over the years. This was an older machine with three long levers that came out of the floor in front of the driver’s seat. One operated the clutch and the other two engaged the break to each respective track. The transmission shift lever came up between your legs on the floor in front of the seat. The lever that operated the hydraulics for the blade was to the right of the seat. In order to move the dozer forward to the right you had to move the gear selection lever to a low gear, engage the clutch lever pulling it toward you and disengage power to the right track by pulling the right track lever back. Each of these levers has about a 25 lb. pull force to engage or disengage them. Moving leavers all day long with a 25 lb. pull is a lot of work. Also if your right hand is operating the right track lever, you can not use your right hand to operate the blade. Sometimes it is necessary to pull the right lever with your left hand so you can use your right hand to operate the blade. The operation of one of these machines has been described as watching someone on the machine having an imaginary boxing match with the dashboard of the dozer.

Terry, my brother's friend, running the machine.

            Of course, I had no idea of any of this at the time I purchased the machine. My plan was to find someone else to operate the machine for me. This worked out well until it came time to build the road down the canyon to the Christine Marie claim. I then had to learn to run the machine myself.

           

           

Rats, Mice, & Snakes: The Milk Jug

East Cabin

There are two cabins built on the saddle of Sheepshead Ridge. They were built in the mid-‘70s and are the base of operations for most of the mining done in this area. I was living in the east cabin when the following took place.

In preparing to work in the Morrisonite area for any length of time, water is one of the main concerns. There is no water available once you are at the mine. All water for drinking, washing, radiators, etc., must be brought in. Typically the anxious miner will fill up every available container at the last moment before leaving on the long trip in. I credit this activity with producing a number of empty I gallon plastic mink containers which end up lying around the cabin.

I know of no study, nor in my experience can come up with any reason, logic, suspicion, or idea as to why a pack rat will desire a particular object for its nest. Mice will go to great lengths to make their nests soft and warm. Other animals will select with great care items that suit their structural purpose. A pack rat seems to desire something just for its collection.

One night, I was awakened by the clatter of plastic milk jugs on the floor of the cabin. The rat had returned for his nightly inspection of the cabin floor. I almost hit my head on the ceiling at the suddenness of the racket -- the bunk in this cabin is built off the floor, a few feet from the ceiling. I thought to myself: I must get rid of those plastic containers.

An empty milk jug gazing off into the distance.

Just after falling asleep again, I was awakened by the sound of plastic milk containers scooting across the floor. I got up, chased the rat away, organized the plastic container in the corner where I thought the rat would not bother them, and went back to bed. Rats will be very quiet while you are moving around at night and will not make any noise until you have fallen asleep again.

This cabin, like the others built in the Morrisonite area, is built against a rock wall. This wall slopes from its junction with the roof down to the floor at a steep angle. The junction of the host rock wall and the roof is where the rats live or gain access to the cabin.

While I was lying on my mattress contemplating what to do with the plastic jugs, I saw the rat methodically shove a plastic jug across the floor to the rock wall. Much to my amazement, the rat then tried to push it up the rock wall! The plastic, gallon jug was about three times the rat’s size. The rat would put his front paws on the jug and try to move it up the wall. Like a gigantic beach ball, it would then fall back onto the floor. He tried and tried, but it was not going to work for him. The jug was just too big. He was not going to push it up the wall or through the small hole between the roof and the wall, or into his nest – wherever that was. Too bad, it probably would have been the centerpiece of his collection.

The closest source for water is a mile away and 200 feet down from the cabins.

Rats, Mice, & Snakes: Geology

The Owyhee River Canyon is being pulled apart. The canyon is 2000 feet deep, and the sides of the canyon are falling toward the river. Deep rock slides are everywhere. Rocks falling from the top pile up on each other creating vast labyrinth of hollow spaces in the rock slopes. All these spaces between the rocks are ideal habitats for rats, mice, and snakes. If a miner is going to live here, he is going to live with these animals.


The rats are everywhere, and of course feel right at home in a miner’s cabin, built into a rock wall. There are three such “cabins” in the Morrisonite area, and I have lived in two of them. All of the cabins have resident rats. If these rats were to be exterminated from the cabins, in a bout two days, there would be more to take their place.

This would not necessarily be much of a concern if it were not for the fact that the rats are up all night and sleep during the day, while miners work hard all day and like to sleep at night. There is a small conflict here. The following series of blogs describe some encounters with rats, mice, and snakes while living at and mining the Morrisonite Jasper.

Desert Woodrats: Genus Neotoma
These rats are commonly called “Pack Rats” because they collect various objects and bits of material to deposit, or use in the construction of their nests. They are especially fond of small, bright, shiny objects which they can confiscate. It is a popular superstition that the woodrat is a fair businessman who appropriates something but leaves a replacement of equal value. The rat may see something that is more attractive than what he has, so he puts down the object he is carrying and carries off the other. The rats that live in the Morrisonite area are not fair, considerate, or quiet.