Scarce remains of the flume as seen from below. The lumber cutting location was illegal by Utah regulations, so after the first haul they moved the location 1.5 miles east to Carpenter Ridge, just over the border in Colorado. As stated in “History and Background of the Hanging Flume”, a thorough article by Jack Pfertsh, much of this lumber originally came from Pine Flats, an area in Utah on the edge of the La Sals about 18 miles west of the Dolores River. It took a huge amount of lumber to be transported for the beams and trestles needed to complete the flume. Had to be first class lumber.” – Fred Bowman “The lumber was cut off the La Sal Mountains across the river there and Dad had to pass on all that lumber. The Mesa County Oral History project hosted an interview with Fred Bowman, a Mesa County pioneer whose father, Charles Bowman, helped supply the materials to build the flume. How did the workers in the canyon, possibly suspended in bosun’s chairs, communicate with the blacksmiths on the rim in order to shape the iron for a perfect fit?” explains, “Each timber bent is unique, essentially custom-built in order to accommodate the changing geometry of the cliff face. Some call the once complete ten miles of flume an engineering mystery, and it’s easy to marvel at its appearance and wonder how they actually pulled it off. The need for more water to the mining site spurred the building of the flume, and it officially began production in 1888. The Montrose Placer Mining Company came to the area and wasted little time in purchasing a mining claim to this specific spot. The great gold rush of the mid to late 1800s brought many frenzied miners to the west, and this section of Colorado was no different. The hanging flume is a wooden open-water chute designed to aid the transport of water from location to the next, in this case from the river to the Lone Tree Placer Mine located at the mouth of Mesa Creek. This engineering feat is called the Hanging Flume, and miles of its fragmented remains cling to the canyon wall above the Dolores River, an hour and half drive from Grand Junction, Colorado. Photo source: National Park Service photo gallery.ĭeep in the Dolores River Canyon, there lies a long-inactive wooden structure built off high hopes and steady dreams of gold.
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