This video features the exploration of an amazing gold mine located on the eastern edge of the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains. This has been a place that I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time, and I’m glad that I was able to document this historic mine on my channel. This might be one of my best videos yet. The Parrett Mine has a really fascinating history, starting in 1877, when six claims were located by a man named Jasper Parrett. After making his discovery, he returned to his home in Iowa for an unknown reason and then returned two years later to work his mine. The number of claims in his ownership would eventually increase to eleven, consisting of colorful names like the Bonanza and the Grand Prize. His mine became part of the Homer Mining District, which was formed in 1879 and included the famous May Lundy Mine.
Jasper Parrett was an interesting character, and had a story reminiscent of many other mining legends. He was a hermit that had no one to keep him company, not even a dog. He worked his mine vigorously, constructing a cabin, a flume, and a mill out of huge timbers that seemed impossible for one man to move on his own. He removed ore from ten veins out of surface cuts, and then used burros to bring the ore down to his arrastra, which was powered by a large water wheel. One thing that sets him apart from other legendary gold chasers was that he actually made a fortune from his mine. He apparently removed ore worth $700 a ton and sold one shipment of gold worth $47,000 dollars. This was all in the late 1800’s, so this would be worth millions today. He would work his mine in this fashion for about 30 years.
Jasper Parrett would die on September 18th, 1912 from heart disease, but that would not be the end of the Parrett Mine. Jasper’s nephew, Hillis Parrett may have helped out at the mine during Jaspers later years, as it was he who would inherit the property. I may have been misleading in the video when I mentioned Jasper Parrett, as he most likely did not work the adit I was in. The tunnel I explored is located on the Don Alvadore no. 2 claim, and is commonly referred to as the Don Alvadore Mine. I know this might seem confusing, and that’s because it is. Mines, with their own unique name, are often made up of several claims, each with their own unique names. Sometimes, mining reports consider each claim as their own separate mine, most of the time they do not. The Don Alvadore no. 2 claim is listed under the Parrett Mine for a report written in 1940, so that’s why I’m calling it the Parrett Mine. Hopefully that clears things up a little.
Now, I don't know if the Don Alvadore claim was ever in Jasper Parrett’s possession. According to one source, the Don Alvadore was located in 1880 by the Homer Mill and Mining Company, which owned several claims in the vicinity. The only other early mention of the claim I could find was in 1884, which stated that it, along with the Golden Girdle claim, had the necessary work completed for the year. Unfortunately, the report did not state who owned the mine at this time. Although the early history of this claim is uncertain, one way or the other, it got into the hands of Hillis Parrett. The Don Alvadore was probably leased out to several different groups over the years, but I know for a fact that it was leased out to A. A. Chastek and W. J. Chastek in 1940. During this time, the mine had a 2-stamp mill (the ruins at the beginning of the video), a cable tramway, a Scott Gasoline engine (probably the one I filmed), and a compressor. At the time of the report, the adit was said to be about 400 ft. long, though it seems longer now. I’m assuming that it was during this period that the Don Alvadore claim saw its most extensive development. The two men were also working the Bonanza (one of Jasper Parretts original claims), which had a 100 ft. tunnel. I will try to locate the Bonanza on a future trip. Below the Don Alvadore are the remains of the Yellow Rose Mine. I haven’t been able to find much history about it, but I know it was worked in 1881 by a man named William Irwin. It was dug at a point where several veins converge, and was thought to be very rich.
Today not much is left of the old two-stamp mill and the tramway that once went up to the Don Alvadore. The mine itself, however, is simply awesome. It still contains a completely intact ore cart that one can roll on a short section of tract. One could roll it all the way back to the end of the mine if it wasn’t for two or three rockfalls. No matter what, this mine it a true gem of the Eastern Sierras.
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