Exploring Ochoco Mining Ruins: Independent and Mother Lode Mines, Oregon

[@SockGoblin801]

I need to get into snowshoeing. I love having trails to myself. People noises stress me out. This looked to be a lot of fun. TY.

[@MattCookOregon]

Yes you do need to snow shoe. I highly recommend it. Lots of crowded snow trails but always somewhere to get away from people if willing to travel.

[@JoelSwensenM]

These are addictive, keep em coming!

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you. The mining ruins are very interesting to me. Hopefully I can go find more soon. Fires ruined lots of my plans for them recently.

[@pnwadventuresandgearreview8749]

Missed the premiere but watched the video another great production and awesome location.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks man. I haven't been on youtube much, very busy, looks like you have been making tons of videos. Hey I got a custom dog emote

[@pnwadventuresandgearreview8749]

@@MattCookOregon that’s cool! Been cranking them out but I am going to slow down a bit it’s starting to feel like a job that I am not getting paid for LOL

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

Nice job, Matt. That's a huge retort.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks dude. I am doing less mining content lately. I had a couple planned but fires happened.

[@TomandJulieMineExploring]

@@MattCookOregon You're welcome.

[@OtterMTBtech]

nice work

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks!

[@ryandepauw]

Wow , how incredible.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you Ryan!

[@MattCookOregon]

Look I got custom emotes!

[@easydiddit]

Ahhh... What's an "emote"? I like your dog.

[@MattCookOregon]

@@easydiddit Like an emoji? Usually a smiley face. But youtube let me create my own.

[@easydiddit]

@@MattCookOregon Ahhh, OK, but I don't get it. So... emoji you right back. OK? Give your dog a biscuit for me. Maybe we think more alike.

[@MattCookOregon]

@@easydiddit its like this 😜 but instead its my own dog like this

[@adventuresofjandk]

Looking forward to this one

[@MattCookOregon]

[@Dad_Woof]

Cool tour. I have never seen mercury mining before.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you. It is a nasty mineral!

[@vihaan3762]

Incredible learning video awesome capture beautiful scenery amazing shots great compiling fabulous creative video thanks

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks so much vihaan. Mining videos are always so fun for me.

[@SouthParkCityMuseum]

Very cool!

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you! Lots more mining to explore here. First the wet weather was keeping me out, then the fires blocked a lot of mining sites. Hopefully more next year.

[@SouthParkCityMuseum]

@@MattCookOregon glad you were able to make it out there finally. Love the mining history!

[@conniewojahn6445]

A two seat outhouse! Now, that's upper class! Yes, it's nice to have historical remnants of Oregon's mining past. On the other hand, Oregon's beauty is marred by these structures. With so much building and construction everywhere, Oregon's parks are just about the only places left for wildlife habitat and natural beauty. Hopefully, no more mining will be allowed. But, we all know that if some big wig decides to mine, it'll be done no matter where, no matter if it's protected land. Money rules. Oh, by the way, whatever is that spider doing on snow? Did it fall from the sky?

[@MattCookOregon]

Mining is definitely bad for the land. I still think positively about any old mining ruins though. It makes me think of the old days, a much simpler time, they didn't know any better. The big mining that may happen now is lithium, we have a huge deposit in Eastern Oregon! The spider, was lost, I dont know? Spiders have to spider it up even in the snow.

[@CaptainAiryca]

very cool!

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you!

Looks interesting 🤠

[@MattCookOregon]

I enjoyed exploring these buildings with you. It reminded me of "The Long Dark". Great work! You have quality here

[@lalanmaloloofficial]

wow awesome.... great upload thanks for sharing, stay connected

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you.

[@TheDaggwood]

Cheers Matt

[@MattCookOregon]

Always fun to check out mining stuff!

[@THEBOSS-vn2ky]

It's good to see that these buildings are not tagged with graffiti. IT'S good to see that you made your own video of this area. good job on the video.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you! It is too far off I5 for that. Getting away from the city is always good.

[@mrlinkus6593]

Love it, some many details and useful info. I'm planning to visit Ochoco forest this spring.

[@MattCookOregon]

Hey thanks. Hope you have a good trip. You can see a lot more when the snow melts then. Hike up Lookout Mountain, or go to Steins Pillar. There are some other cool mining ruins like Blue Ridge Mine pretty close to this too.

[@easydiddit]

I love your art, such sharp exquisite beauty. Your photography is stunning. Love the slow narrative too, and the music to match. So easy and smooth and ...yes, yes... what a good dog!... Yes, Matt. I get it and will happily share. Thanks!

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you so much! Ya know some videos do just come out smooth and that feels great. No problems with the video, just good stuff, and time to move on to the next. If you liked that joke how about why out of staters call it oregone? Cause all the mines like these popped up and took all the ore, so now its ore gone! I am so bad.

[@easydiddit]

@@MattCookOregon I love corn and peanut butter too. Gotta love the nuts. You made my day, Thanks.

[@MattCookOregon]

If you say peanut butter to my dog Ahsoka she goes nuts. Wow another bad joke? Didn't even mean to make that one.

[@easydiddit]

@@MattCookOregon Yeah, right. You're old enough now to know a bad joke before you spill it, and also appreciate it besides. Peanut butter may not be the only reason she loves you, but it might be the best one. It's better than the corn, and sweeter too! Just saying...

[@tanyaswart1833]

Oh my gosh. Originally from Prineville and hadn’t been here until this weekend. Made a huge mistake of driving my Honda Insight up that road to the Independent trailhead! Almost didn’t make it up or down it. Walked down to the mining town (a bit overgrown) and though it was fascinating, it was also a little creepy. Wanted to check out the Motherlode mine but it was headed toward dusk within an hour. Thank you for a beautiful video.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks I am glad to hear a real local approves. There is even more old mining sites too that I didn't visit. Maybe for another time.

[@GreysonPlaisance]

Would love to see a Spring Basin Wilderness episode!!!

[@MattCookOregon]

Whoa. Thanks for the idea. I never hung in there other than the John Day stuff. Will have to check that out. Any good trailheads you know of?

[@jimgsewell]

Fascinating stuff. Your videos keep getting better and better. You are doing great work. I really enjoyed this. Looking forward to seeing more ore again.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks so much Jim. I see you appreciate high level big brain comedy like me. More to come.

[@robbergstrom943]

Beautiful video and really informative. Definitely worthy of a visit!

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks so much Rob! I wanted to go here for awhile. The toxic history made my wife nervous. Much easier without snow for sure, but either way.

[@OregonMikeH]

Matt what a great time of year and snowfall level to spend enjoying exploring these Mines and Mining Systems. Such A Grand Narrative on the Mining History with stunning Aerial overviews as well. I found it Fascinating and some of what you explained to be surprising, and richly educational. Stunning Beauty as usual! Very Well Done my Friend, Many Thanks Bro, .... Mike.

[@MattCookOregon]

I appreciate it Mike. For some reason mining videos always come easy to me. Maybe thanks to my dad? I really enjoy the educational aspect of videos. You know I have been looking at analytics and classroom websites are viewing my videos! That is super cool.

[@OregonMikeH]

@@MattCookOregon I had honestly thought about your Dad's influences on you and how it has led to Videos being produced like this one. I've gathered that thought from a previous video that he was in and your sharing fascinating info about him. Remember what I said about your being an Authority and that helping your way up the Monetization ladder? Well now you have Class Rooms benefiting from your expertise!! My Man, Nothing Earns Greater Congrats then That!

[@louiscarrieri379]

Well done....awesome job showing some of Oregon historical beauty. Definitely will be checking out your other videos.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks Louis. Mining videos are some of my favorites to do. The Bohemia video is really good for that. I got some other mines planned, but waiting due to the fires.

[@Coinbro]

Maybe child labor for the mine is why windows short?

[@MattCookOregon]

Makes sense anything goes back then!

[@BackpackingWithJason]

Really cool video Matt. Love hearing about the history

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you. I enjoy it too. Hope to get more into history and science each video.

[@unchartedestinations2867]

Great video! Did you need chains to get up there in the snow?

[@MattCookOregon]

Hi, thank you. No chains, though I do have good tires. At the time this road was very accessible. It was a mix of dry road, packed snow, and ice. Probably more snow now and in the coming weeks.

[@SilverScale.]

Also love that your dog friend's name is Ahsoka. ^_^ I won't be mad if she reviews the series, when it comes out.

[@MattCookOregon]

hahaha I will be proud to say in a year, I named her before the name was cool.

[@Hangs4Fun]

Great stuff as always Matt (loved the Ore Again joke at the end and subtle use of aerial footage). Sorry I missed the premiere, lots of great family stuff going on this time of year. Have a great day and happy holidays

[@MattCookOregon]

Thank you! Mining videos are one of my favorite things to do. Mainly cause I can get into history and science, which I want to do more of. Hows that sony a7s? I want one badly...

[@Hangs4Fun]

@@MattCookOregon amazing! Everything I wished Sony had been. I've also rigged it up for my video production company. Though my favorite usage will be wilderness backpacking videos (and Astro should be a treat between the a7s3 and the f/1.4 24GM). Can NOT wait to get out there with it. But I've already paid for it with a couple of gigs.

[@MattCookOregon]

@@Hangs4Fun I am jelous man that is the camera for me. I was curious for how it did with astro pics. Well maybe youtube will pick up here and I can afford one.

[@Hangs4Fun]

@@MattCookOregon I bet with that f/1.4 and the a7s3's crazy low light ISO quality it may very well do good for Astro video as well. I'm thinking I will be able to visually show my viewers just how amazing a live Milky Way is. Normally I can only show them photos or at best time lapses.. but I'm thinking that I may just be able to give them a video experience of what the Milky Way looks like. Unfortunately I'm having knee surgery on the 21st of Dec, so I probably won't be able to test my theory out for 3 months or so :-( But I'm hoping I will reduce the pain enough to get back out there real soon. Wish me luck. Have a great day Matt!!

[@softroadingthewest]

Awesome video. This was really well put together, interesting information and interesting visuals. Especially nice work with the drone shots. Yet another Matt Cook production that could be on OPB.

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks man. Maybe you could have your interns contact opb for me? For some reason mining videos just come easy for me. Prob should thank my dad for that.

[@danieldeason5599]

Bro we are in the same area. If u need a buddy to go out exploring let me know!

[@MattCookOregon]

For sure. As soon as this covid thing is under control. What kinda exploring are you doing?

[@danieldeason5599]

Well so far I have hiked around and found all the caves, out to the stookey ranch cave east of Bend. Never got to go inside as I was alone though. This video is great man, I'd love to explore the area. I fought some fires in the Ochocos last year its beautiful out there.

[@rockycock7631]

I live in prineville, these mountains are absolutely amazing

[@SilverScale.]

Beautiful photography, and I like your inclusion of the Google Maps zoom, and other documentary-style things. Not just a straight visual journey.

[@MattCookOregon]

I appreciate it! With old ruins like this I like to do research and include historic images. But for this place I could hardly find anything. Did what I could with what I had though.

[@JenniferLupine]

Really interesting Matt! How many people do you suppose worked there at one time? Was it seasonal? I don’t know much about mining history... we have some mining history near us, but I would guess more logging. 🎄🎄⛄️⛄️👍

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks! Wish I knew this stuff but information about these mines was so hard to find. Hopefully I can do more history stuff at a place with info soon.

[@JenniferLupine]

@@MattCookOregon That would be great... it is interesting! This so much on the internet, it’s fun to take a topic and see what you can find! 👍👍

[@curtdrahn8522]

This is a nice video if it were not for all the misinformation about mercury! It is only toxic when in a gases form. Then it is very toxic. The fact is it remains an essential compound.

[@MattCookOregon]

Ironically, I am going to have to remove this comment for misinformation. Mercury is toxic in any form. Please visit the epa website and do some reading.

[@jebussbf]

low door frame maybe because it was for child labor. depending on how old that mine is it could of been that

[@MattCookOregon]

Maybe. Back then it was anything goes!

[@digit5793]

Ochoco

[@MattCookOregon]

true

[@lynnnorthrup8914]

Great job! I think you used the drone very effectively. Interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing.😀👍

[@MattCookOregon]

Thanks Lynn! Always feels great when its a smooth production. I do really enjoy putting good info into videos. I hope to get more education as we go.