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Mike Brown, BLM Elko Field Office
Contact: Mike Brown, 775-753-0386 Contact: Chuck Milliken, 801-741-1012 CALIFORNIA TRAIL CENTER FINISHING TOUCHES CONTINUE Elko, Nev. — Contractors are working on the last stages of construction of the California Trail Center. "The building architects, designers, and inspectors visited the site last week and were very pleased with progress," said Dave Jamiel, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) California Trail Center Manager. "We’ve got a number of contractors on site wrapping up details." Jamiel added that West Coast Contractors did general grading around the site and began the excavation for the water tank and equipment. Copeland Electric pulled conductors into conduits in the building and terminated conductors in the electrical panels. Parker Heating is continuing to work in the mechanical room on the piping for the heating and cooling systems. Jackson Drywall has finished the barrel vaulted ceiling south exhibit area and are completing the ceilings and mezzanine in the gift shop area. Southham Metal completed the installation of the metal roof on the barrel vaults and is installing the metal flashing caps at the parapet walls. Glassey Steel constructed the kiosk, welded the gates to the pivot posts and erected the entry sign. Spires Concrete poured concrete at the gate post foundation. Lindel Painting is painting the walls and ceilings of the exhibit areas. Wasatch Tile set tile in the restrooms, handicapped restroom and janitor’s closet. Team Green placed plaza pavers at the west entrance and prepared the soil to seed the remainder of the south, east and west areas. STORIES FROM THE TRAIL The Miner’s Ten Commandments - by Terry Del Bene One of the more unusual methods of "mining the miners" involved the publication and sale of the Miner’s Ten Commandments. These were published by a down-on-his-luck miner under the name of "Forty-Niner" and sold in the gold fields. The Commandments were a success. 1. Thou shalt have no other claim before me. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thyself any false claim, nor any likeness to a mean man, by jumping one: For I, a miner, am a just one, and will visit the miners about, and they will judge thee; and when they shall decide, thou shalt take thy pick, thy pan, thy shovel, and thy blankets with all thou hast and shall depart seeking other good diggings, but thou shalt fine none. 3. Thou shalt not go prospecting before thy claim gives out. Neither shalt thou take thy money, nor thy gold dust, nor thy good name, to the gaming table in vain; for monte, twenty-one, roulette, faro, lansquenet and poker, will prove to thee the more thou puttest down the less thou shalt take up... 4. Thou shalt not remember what thy friends do at home on the Sabbath day, lest the remembrance may not compare favorably with what thou doest here. 5. Thou shalt not think more of all thy gold, and how thou canst make fastest, than how thou will enjoy it after thou hast ridden rough-shod over they good old parents’ precepts and examples, that thou mayest have nothing to reproach thee, when left ALONE in the land where thy father’s blessing and thy mother’s love hath sent thee." 6. Thou shalt not kill; neither thy body working in the rain ... nor thy neighbor’s body in a duel, or in anger, for by "keeping cool," thou canst save his life and thy conscience. 7. Neither shalt thou destroy thyself by getting "tight," nor "stewed," nor "high," nor "corned," nor "half-seas over," nor "three sheets in the wind," by drinking smoothing down "brandy slings," "gin cocktails," "whiskey punches," "rum toddies," nor "egg-nogs."... 8. Thou shalt not steal a pick, or a shovel, or pan from thy fellow-miner; nor take away his tools without his leave; nor borrow those he cannot spare... 9. Thou shalt not tell any false tales about "good digging in the mountains," to thy neighbor that thou mayest benefit a friend who had mules, and provisions, and tools and blankets he cannot sell, lest in deceiving thy neighbor, when he returneth through the snow, with naught save his rifle, he present thee with the contents thereof, and like a dog, thou shalt fall down and die. 10. Thou shalt not commit unsuitable matrimony, nor covet "single blessedness;" nor forget absent maidens; nor neglect thy "first love" ... Neither shalt thou covet they neighbor’s wife, nor trifle with the affections of his daughter; yet, if thy heart be free, and thou dost love and covet each other, thou shalt "pop the question" like a man. -blm |
Last updated: April 11, 2019