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Miner’s Delight, Lander, Wyoming

A view of some of the more intact cabins at Miner’s Delight

Boo! Okay it’s a little late for a Halloween scare, but I have been sitting on this ghostly blog for a while now since we visited South Pass City in Wyoming and saw this nearby unrestored mining ghost town of Miner’s Delight.

Also known as Hamilton City (yeah that Hamilton), this 1870’s gold rush town came and went in a blink of an eye. Fifteen structures remain of this town that once housed a bustling 75-100 men and women. With its multiday travel distance from railroads, it was difficult to mine enough gold here to make it worth one’s while to cart equipment hundreds of miles from the train. Many tried, everyone failed, even up to the great depression they tried, but to no avail. This area was even passed over by emigrants seeking their riches in the 1849 California gold rush though the Oregon Trail passed mere miles away from this location.

These structures are maintained and stabilized by the BLM, but intentionally left in their ramshackle state as a testament to their history and the desire to let observers see what it truly looked like back then. So I obliged by taking pictures and posting this pictorial. Enjoy and leave your comments by following the link under the article title.

The Miner’s Delight cabins are in remarkably good shape for merely being stabilized, many roofs still intact though pretty tattered.
Though this roof was a little worse for the wear, still, for 150 years of aging this doesn’t look too bad! The bent metal was screeching its song as the wind made it creak back and forth.
I couldn’t resist the dappled sunlight coming through the tattered rafters casting shadows on the ramshackle wood floor.
There’s some finishing work to do inside these cabins! I was amused that someone thought it was a good idea to build a brick fireplace on a second story upheld by some two-by-fours! And yet, it still stands after all this time.
And you thought having an outside grill stove was a creation of the 20th century!
Looks like a homemade tombstone, but the nameplate looks professionally carved
I am often attracted to these type of shots through a window. This one turned out pretty good I must say.

3 replies on “Miner’s Delight, Lander, Wyoming”

What is the significance of the money left on the Anna Anderton tombstone, who died at age 38? Contributions for the cemetery’s upkeep? General contributions for the ghost town’s upkeep? Or even superstition?

I suspect they are offerings to her spirit. I did a quick net search of her and all I could find where records of her tombstone picture.

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