This is part 4 of the Burro Schmidt Mine exploration by kids and I completed last October. Bittersweet memories linger in the Seger House. Hopes and dreams of a long gone era hang like a thick shroud of dust.

Burro Schmidt Mine
10 Oct 04



So many comments were made on this previously I had to repost it and explain. This shot came from inside the Seger house next door to the Burro Schmidt mine shack. The feminine protection on the table was likely from Tonie’s granddaughter, or (sadly) a stop gap measure for an over 80 year old woman’s incontinence. There were Depends in storage cabinets elsewhere in the home. The table, the lighting and the items there just seemed to whisper an untold story of life and the people who had been there and were now passed.



After viewing the shack and the associated work areas around the outside, we entered the Seger house and stepped back into the 1970's. The stories noted that Tonie Seger was something of a hermit much like Schmidt. By all accounts, she was generally regarded as a good natured woman who enjoyed visitors to "her mine" and relished the title of "the Tunnel Lady." The house was really a collection of improvised shacks that had been added to and expanded over decades. The ATVer's told me that the BLM had run out to people who'd moved into the building following her passing last year (2003). BLM and ATV club volunteers then collected and carted out an amazing 11 tons of debris. I think the intent had been to preserve the inside of the house in a condition close to how it was when she lived there, but the government didn't follow through with a site protection plan. Take a look at the bottom picture on the High Desert Memories
site and compare it to the picture of the Kitchen.


Looking toward the kitchen now



Cup o’ Joe?






Going nuts in the pantry






Polyester anyone?




Clothing and various personal items were scattered but unbroken throughout the house. Every wall, corner and space seemed to have a story all its own. In what had been a gift shop of sorts was a lonely teddy bear waiting forlornly for an owner who'd never come back. In the kitchen amidst unused cleaning supplies, lay with pots, pans and even a few tools. Empty spice and whiskey bottles sat side by side. Two 1970's era televisions were stacked in the living room area. Closets contained bits and pieces of clothing dating to that same era. Here and there lay personal pictures, mementos of family gatherings and the remains of a rich life gone by.























After nearly 90 minutes of roaming the property, taking many pictures and reveling in astonishment at the history in and around those walls, we reluctantly bid the watchful ATVer's farewell and headed back down the mountain to drive over to Randsburg. I can only hope and pray that BLM and the Park Service will quickly step in and move to protect this place before someone does something incredibly stupid. This place is an irreplaceable treasure trove of several eras’ past. Unfortunately the site is not posted "no trespass" and the 4 feet high fence around the shacks is down in several places already. This provided no deterrence to access other than the remoteness site and the vigilance of the back country folks who watch over this historical gem.

http://www.high-desert-memories.com/garlock.html
http://www.deathvalley.com/dvtalk/messages/8536.shtml
http://www.death-valley.us/article659.html
http://www.deathvalley.com/dvtalk/messages/16427.shtml