General Location: SW1/4 NW1/4 SW1/4 Section 36, T89N, R2E
Description: Boneyard Cave as of 2002 has been lost to development. It was one of the earliest mines that I entered as a Boy Scout. The entrance or adit of the mine was just off the top of the ridge above Catfish Creek. The very front part of the adit had collapsed but not completely allowing us to slide down the debris to the mine floor. Just inside the entrance there was a small tight left hand passage developed along a joint however it was to small to explore beyond a few feet. Further back the mine tunnel of drift was intersected by a shaft from the surface. In the 1950's this was partially filled and generally block access to the remainder of the mine. However we managed to dig a small hole through the rubble, which consisted of a whole lot of old bones, hence the name we dubbed on the mine. Beyond that we discover more mine tunnel but this time the floor had the remains of the wooded rails that the miners used for their ore carts. Just beyond the shaft was a small right hand passage that was again a joint that was to tight to explore. The mine workings terminate at the intersection of a major east-west crevice. The miners having discovered no significant amounts of galena gave up at this point. The east-west crevice is well developed and did have a small open space to the left but this proved to tight to explore further. On the surface above this crevice there was an old trench dug possibly by the earliest miners or the Native Americans.
The actual age of this mine is uncertain but probably post-dates the 1850's as we did fine the markings left by had drills both in the shaft and in the adit area. The mud bank at the end of the shaft had been worked by pick as those marking still remained. Also similar markings were seen in each of the two side passages.
Bibliography: x
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