Miles From Civilisation We Found This

[@pinstripingbybear.]

@4:52 you guys are talking about why those cars are there and especially with them being stripped, With them being in a River basin I guarantee they were used to direct the current of water during flash floods, it was very common in the late 50s mid-60s to use to use cars from junkyard / scrap yards to stop the erosion of a river bank or to direct water without having to do massive land work. Those cars were stripped down to bare Bones they weren't from a junkyard they're most likely from a scrap yard where they took as much weight off of them as possible to scrap and then the rest of the car was used for this reason of either controlling the river or stop the erosion the river was causing to that area.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Thanks for the info. Makes sense about the flooding

[@JDRedstone]

Bingo! 👍🤠

[@brucebarnes9638]

The vast expanse of the deserts is hard to comprehend. By it's sheer size it hides many things, left to be discovered. I have always found the deserts to have a sense of stark beauty. The mysteries of the past and the stories that they hold. Excellent work, I truly enjoy your video's.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@brucebarnes9638 really appreciate the comment Bruce, thank you. There certainly is something about the desert that keeps drawing us back. So much more to explore

[@gerryhartung736]

When I was a teenager in Anaheim, Cal., there were old car frames, and whole cars lined side x side inthe Santa Ana riverbed for erosion control along both sides of the river, from Anaheim-Olive rd all the way to where the Angel Baseball Field is now. We as kids would walk out there (from East and Vermont sts) to play Army and shoot birds with B B guns. Late 1950 s.

[@pixelpeter3883]

Oww, what a great find! Great how those cars are getting burried by nature. Love places like that! We don't have them over here in the Netherlands, where everything needs to be removed/cleaned up rightaway, because we just don't have the space to leave stuff be. Maybe it was a central processing plant (?) for mines all around that erea?

[@brianshersby8979]

Happy new year Steve and Andrea. Part of the appeal of the desert, apart from the remote loneliness, is that it hides a multittude of mysteries. Thanks for bringing us this one to ponder.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Happy New Year Brian. Yes the desert does hold many mysteries. I think that's why we are continuously pulled to enjoy exploring it

[@DanielAvery-tm5ig]

Could this be a an atomic test site.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@ don’t think so. Wrong area

[@richardbeee]

Thanks!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@richardbeee thanks Richard ❤️

[@ACEinOZ]

I'd be going over that quartz with a metal detector. :)

[@r.samuelfranks3615]

The concrete piers toward the end of the video must have supported a building. With the stove right there, and a chicken coop, I'm guessing that it was a kitchen/cafeteria for workers. Very cool old site! Thanks for sharing!

[@andrewmiller3834]

The cars are used as an erosion inhibitor. Common in big ravines. I presume that losing the top soil/ground in a flash flood might be bothersome.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@andrewmiller3834 oh ok. That sounds plausible

[@npsit1]

8:42 That's a ramp. Likely they could back up a dump truck or a loader and drop the load off the tall end to run through a sorter or crusher maybe. Obviously most of the equipment is gone. The cars were probably just abandoned by other people who didn't know what to do with their junk. OR they were trying to fill in the wash. It's pretty common to do that.

[@jcalpha2717]

I get the distinct feeling that you’re either missing something or has been buried by nature. Looks like there used to be a fair amount of machinery which was easily removed possibly to another site.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

We agree

[@Haraldsvensk]

Thanks for the view from that mysterious place 😀👍

[@PinInTheAtlas]

No problem 👍

[@highdesertbill]

you two are the BEST! Thank you for sharing.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@highdesertbill thanks Bill. Happy New Year

[@highdesertbill]

@@PinInTheAtlas Yes of course, Happy new year to you both. Safe travels and explores in 2025.

[@KenCrandall-ot7uv]

Hurray ! Old cars with no bullet holes ! 😁

[@PinInTheAtlas]

It makes a change doesn't it Ken?

[@George-m6e1r]

@@KenCrandall-ot7uv check again😁😂

[@jcc777]

And 20 people watching this video just said in unison hold my beer.

[@Dang_Cool]

A ( car wash ) 😂 you crack me up.

[@mobiltec]

Mills are usually placed where it's easy to get water. If not that then central to all the mines in the area or at least near a railroad spur. I didn't even see any storage tanks for water. Could you see any pipes coming out of the ground?

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@mobiltec no storage tanks no pipes no old railroad. Strange! We’re obviously missing something but don’t know what!

[@DeborahFlorian-gy6lw]

Good to see you two back in the desert. I think something there calls to you. Happy and prosperous new year!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@DeborahFlorian-gy6lw happy new year Deborah

[@richardbeee]

Looks to me like a mill sight. Often, because of numerous mines in the area, they'd pick a central location. 1948 would have been the great tunsten rush or even the uranium days. Trucking would have been relatively easy. All the old vehicles would have been placed around the mill on the upstream side. To serve as a water block during monsoon season. Through the years without support they would be tangled and tossed by the waters. Cool place. Most likely tungsten.

[@richardbeee]

What you thought was an ore pile,was actually a ramp.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Interesting, thanks for the insights Richard. We couldn't find anything out about the location and we couldn't find any mines nearby

[@richardbeee]

@PinInTheAtlas Yea. They wouldn't have to be in that area. What you found was most likely an old mill site claim. Even the government had them. There's one east of Quartzsite on the frontage road.

[@brianmaxie7925]

Farmers and ranchers place items in washes to slow water flow . Probably to protect areas farther down.

[@ejp9921]

Great little video! Sooo, there’s 1 structure that looks like a slough box. There may have been a small river until a damn was built further up the way?

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@ejp9921 no dams that we know of or old river beds as far as we could see!

[@prestonsousa5978]

Ok one thing I noticed is there is no frames of vehicles. Just the sheet metal of bodies.

[@normstephens8354]

Happy New Year!! There was a time when using old auto bodies to slow erosion was a thing. I think it started during the dust bowl years after the formation of the Soil Conservation Service and continued through the early 1960s with a brief break during WWII. There was a famous lot of 1935 Cord 810s which were used to fill in a ravine in Southern Indiana. These were former show cars which were stripped of parts and buried. The ACD museum in Auburn use to have one of the excavated cars on display, but I have not seen it on display for a long time now. It may be time to make another trip up there and see though. Hard to have much of an opinion on the equipment and concrete found there without a location, but it looks like an unlikely place to find quartz like what you were looking at.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Happy New Year Norm. Seems like the cars were there as a flood control and the operation may have been used by several mines located in the mountains! Apparently.

[@normstephens8354]

​@@PinInTheAtlas Old cars were used to slow down the water and trap sediment. Some places they were used to armor the creek and river banks and prevent erosion. Some places it seems to have worked and other places not so much! I can only form an opinion from what I see in the video since I haven't been there. If the site is on a big alluvial fan like Las Vegas is ... they may have been using them to deflect water flow. My guess is from the way they are arranged ... that it didn't work!

[@buckwheatsofia]

Very strange place! Thanks for sharing, take care

[@kenclifford5556]

thanks for this sorry it was so windy for you.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

A blustery day Ken.

[@soonerjhtravels]

very nice! thanks

[@granddad-mv5ef]

Thinking the truck you got into was a 48-52 Ford. I found it funny(at least I didn't see any) there are no bullet holes.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Nice to see isn’t it!

[@granddad-mv5ef]

@@PinInTheAtlas Yes it is. Also an indication of how unknown it is.

[@WyomingTraveler]

A great mystery, which would require some research to solve

[@lmfarms4611]

If you have a GPS location you could go to the local land management personal or library would have a general idea of who owned it. Also they could strip mine or go under ground mining. Lastly the old cars and trucks were used for corrosion control. It is interesting how mother nature is taking back her land.

[@Hopefloats54]

Happy New Year you two. So you said you had tried going there before, what brought you there in the first place when you could find no history on it? Very interesting creep place.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

I had heard about the cars but couldn’t find them. Didn’t know the structures were there. Lots of things hidden in the desert

[@jimmyringbom9622]

The pickup truck is a Ford probably a F1-F2 from 1952-53 i love this model especially the front with the teeths !

[@glennbellman1100]

Possibly an old railroad line near there which would have helped to ship the ore.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Maybe but we couldn’t find any evidence

[@RaymondCoggins-xd2re]

Another awesome adventure with my PIN and beers the truck you were in it might be a late 40s maybe a ford

[@PinInTheAtlas]

1948? 🤣

[@spotsornot]

​@@PinInTheAtlas Yes the first truck is a 1948-52 Ford F-1. By the grill it's a '51-52 model.

[@kerryjacobson5465]

Looks like it wasn't a big operation, unless a lot of the mill structures were removed. Still, it must have been worthwhile to go to that much trouble to work it. Thanks for the tour of an out of the way place!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@kerryjacobson5465 you’re welcome Kerry. Happy new year 🥳

[@kerryjacobson5465]

@PinInTheAtlas Happy New Year to you two, as well!🎉👍

[@newrivertroll1553]

Them cars and trucks were probably used as parts to retrofit the milling equipment and other machinery. It was a common practice and not unusual to find at old mining operations.

[@seb3317]

Wonderful exploration !!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@seb3317 happy new year Seb

[@seb3317]

@ happy new year guys !!

[@laurag.8806]

Where is this at? 🤔 We love to explore places like this!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Mojave

[@ButchLogan]

Those cars were placed there to prevent erosision. I have seen this same thing of cars placed in washes. They cover more area a lot quicker that rip-rap with rocks and fencing. And was much cheeper back in the day.

[@artszabo1015]

That doesn't explain the missing frames, suspension, tires, interior, driveline etc.

[@wayneirwin-f1z]

Looks like a desert chop shop.

[@JosephLacy-v1o]

Those cars were placed there for erosion mines used cars also for flood wall barrier

[@dshafterh3897]

They put them in the wash to help control or stop the erosion that the waters cause, using old cars for erosion control was common practice in alot of places. Look beside old roads in the mountains and you'll see plenty.

[@kenp9469]

Looks like a flood, may have finished it off. Yes that looks like a processing area. Perhaps, there was more than one mine. So they put it in a central area. Transport, would have been easy and cheap. Fuel was quite inexpensive. At that time military surplus trucks, were selling for very little,

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Interesting, thanks for the information, Ken.

[@DT-sb9sv]

It's a placer mine claim.

[@rhondaz356]

That's such an unexpected, unusual place. There was nothing **personal of any kind left there, it seems.🤫🤔 Your theories are extremely plausible.👏🏻👏🏻 You know though... I kind of hope that there never is a total explanation of all that we saw. In the end, the desert will probably keep a few secrets to itself. 🏜 In any case, this was very, very interesting, and well presented, Andrea and Steven.🤗👏🏻 Thank you so much, for taking us with you.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Happy you enjoyed it Rhonda. The desert certainly is mysterious and holds many secrets

[@gregschoonover8352]

They were probably put there to stop erosion

[@dezertraider]

HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU GUYS..VERY COOL PLACE..SAFE TRAVELS

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@dezertraider happy new year Ralph

[@nickmad887]

Wow crazy thank you.

[@davewallace8219]

A smelting operation? Or processing site? Was their signs of an old railroad roadbed?

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Not that we could see

[@goldcountryruss7035]

Yep, old erosion control. They were put there on purpose. Like us, dust to dust though the stainless-steel trim will take centuries. A lot of broken dreams are littered across the desert southwest US.

[@casedoumasr656]

Hello Steve and Andrea was looking real close to what is laying around and at 6.30 it looks like a roof and side of a Bus with what looks like window opening s looks like factory cuts as well and as to the gravel ramp that was used for direct dumping for refinement ?With all the blowing sand and flash floods .with over 75 years the area can hide a lot in a desert so there are my thoughts ⛏️ take care and Happy New Year . P.s. Even way out in the Desert the county might have maps to explore from the 1950s or BLM lots of what if's 😀more so for the local folks.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Thanks Case. Happy New Year 🥳

[@BobbyTucker]

1948- 0ne year before I was born, in Arkansas, Jonesboro. Wahoo!

[@JohnShinn6078]

I need to start watching more of this channel again. There's a box spring skeleton in most every video. 👍😉

[@sandysanders6740]

Maybe it was set up for filming movies.

[@Teacher659]

1948…most of all those vehicles are of 1949 or 1950 vintage. Very weird the frames are missing…engines I can understand, not frames.

[@gerryhartung736]

The pyramid blocks were footings for temporary buildings.

[@andrewwilliams9887]

its is a old way for flood control

[@roberthunt8883]

Where is there? California, Utah ,Nevada???

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Mojave

[@evanswinford7165]

Quartz is often found with gold, it's common to see flakes of gold embedded in quartz crystals so they could have crushing quartz crystals to salvage the what ever gold they could. Not sure why they would put all that gravel in that bin. Maybe it's the to do pile and never did it.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@evanswinford7165 mmm. 🤔 yes. We’re baffled

[@DecayWithUs]

Wow amazing to see without bullet holes all over! I bet many were stripped for parts long ago when people were still daily driving stuff that old

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Apparently they were there for flood control but certainly nice to see no bullet holes.

[@DecayWithUs]

@PinInTheAtlas I hear they used to do that a lot. We were actually right next to a site where there were hundreds put in place on a river bank probably in the 60's and we TOTALLY FORGOT to stop... 😔

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@ that was silly. You should go back and film it

[@DecayWithUs]

I know, we should.....

[@contrafax]

I would guess some rancher stripped the cars and used their tractor dispose of them in the back 40.

[@kahnfu-zhin8627]

Those car bodies are sans engine and chassis because the motors on their chassis were used to power air blower, generator, compressors, rock crushers, hoists, etc. Probably reused along with other equipment on the next project. That’s my positutely brilliant deductive reasoning contribution. You’re welcome.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Thank you for the info

[@sherrilee230]

You don't have to have tunnels in mountains there could have been a hole in the ground around there spooky all the same

[@tinadelwiche416]

Thanks for sharing this history with us. Even though it’s remote. Something drew people there for a reason. 😊. Keep adventuring

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Yes, there is always something drawing us to those remote places.

[@danasheets1774]

Super interesting location

[@markstambaugh3273]

I wonder if Uncle Sam put them there in the 1950s or even 1960s to study the effects and resulting damage from nuclear blasts? It would be interesting to find old aerial photos of the area to see if you could figure out what year they got there.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

If they were nearer the blasting sites that could be a possibility. Apparently they were put there as flood control according to a lot of our mining viewers.

[@jamesweir659]

From flash floods from the 50s and 60s

[@kicko61]

FYI old cars and trucks were put in the desert to stop erosion. It has been going on for many many years.

[@williamburdon6993]

as hard as it is to believe , some of those car pieces have value.

[@mepfunk]

Gold mine. Probably working the washes around there somewhere. Is this Australia? Gold in the desert there.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@mepfunk Mojave Desert USA

[@cjsonshine6806]

Since there are no numbers or frames on the cars, there is a good chance that could have been a chop shop for stolen cars. No bullet holes, and the condition of the metal and parts, chrome pieces, and such. Areas of the property seem to have a sense of a production layout. Just a thought to go with many others!!..😉 The pier blocks are where a building used to stand. It either burnt down or rotted away with time!!..😊

[@jennyneverlost8645]

Very curious 🤨

[@alexdarmstaedter454]

Gold mining. The gold veins are found in the quartz.

[@davidtaylor5204]

It's bizarre, even creepy to us, but to the people who built it, it made perfectly good economic sense. Now the whiffs of tobacco smoke: Baby, that place is haunted!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

The smell of smoke was really strong too!

[@WilsonEywlkyutbe-s3b]

Wow no bullet holes in the old vehicles

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@WilsonEywlkyutbe-s3b great to see eh?

[@estherhwonline]

noticed your random land hat!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@estherhwonline yep. Always wear it for our explores. It’s good to support other tubers

[@estherhwonline]

@@PinInTheAtlas I've been following him since 2015

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@estherhwonline love his R66 and Mark Twain.

[@BobbyTucker]

The wire was placed around the perimeter to keep predators out.

[@maryhairy1]

Curious & curiouser! I don’t recognise the car models but I’ve seen other cars that have come short in the desert & they been left. Yet it looks like the they were left there only yesterday. Metal does rust in desert. The cars in this video have been left here for ages. No paint work in sight. Erosion has done a fantastic job of stripping the vehicles.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@maryhairy1 we estimate that they have been there since late 1940s 1050s.

[@ednastern5479]

Areyouon a flood plain? Old cars were placed in lines to slowdown the water. North of Sun City Az there’s long dam to slow down snow melt and rain.

[@davec9244]

WOW lot of question, no answers, a true mystery! Old car bodies may have been used as erosion control on the banks of the wash. Did the mill have rails or any sign of into it, or a road. Back then most mills were closed down the few remaining would have to have all ore brought in. Good job, thank you both.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@davec9244 no rails just a parts of a faint road

[@tywal]

Quartz tailings suggests they were gold mining. Gold is often found in quartz veins.

[@tracker1673]

I always like to imagine some geologist or want to be geologist wandering for days and months looking for a rock worth money. Beats a 9 to 5 job I guess!

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@tracker1673 🤣

[@genethesurveyor]

At 2:44 they are looking at a 1954 Ford pickup. "1948" because the concrete was still wet enough to make the print. Looks like a well with a pump stand.

[@patriciaberry4630]

If there are tail lights. Check for a year. They use to put the car year on the back of the vehicles lights.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@patriciaberry4630 thanks. But no lights

[@larescats9228]

Hey Andrea when you said you smell cigarette smoke I think it was Steve back there hiding a smoke lol

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@larescats9228 🤣

[@artszabo1015]

Somebody poured a LOT of concrete out there. Way too much to mix with small concrete mixers. Could be industrial but that would require lots of money - must have been the government. But it is still a mystery????? Art from Ohio

[@thomasfreygang8794]

It’s a little bit of Andrei Tarkowski’s film ‘Stalker’ (1979), in which an attempt was made to outline a disturbing future. People will always be triggered by it.

[@leshenderson5746]

It's for erosion control !!

[@chrismcmillen6249]

It's a 53 , 54,55 or 56 ford f1 pick up

[@Boswell0352USMC]

I wonder if those were the cars used in the nuclear tests back in the 40-50’s?

[@ScottBarkdoll]

Topo map books are availible for every state at walmart..state. Map books

[@Rocks123]

That structure was built 3 Years after World War 2 ended.. I'm not sure what was going on there but something was and that lady was right I think that was a chicken Co-op were they kept the chickens

[@mefirst4266]

THIS IS ONE OF THE OLD BORAX MINES.

[@MikeMatlock-i6v]

I would question the location. The year 1948 was when atonic weapons were tested in the desert.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@MikeMatlock-i6v we’ve been to a couple of those locations. This is more mining in the Mojave

[@terrypikaart4394]

Gate was for car junk yard many yrs ago.

[@justinanderson1727]

In a car jam In a car jam

[@patriciaberry4630]

Maybe it is covering up a city underneath.??

[@yankeewatchdog]

A car wash? really?

[@PinInTheAtlas]

Yep. All the cars are in a wash

[@leoward2835]

Cars where placed their keep dirt from washing out the round deal a top for sklo

[@rhealabrum9275]

That was 7 years before i was borned

[@merlinlucas8280]

You can drive right up to this place in a car.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@merlinlucas8280 not legally. You have to park and walk in.

[@wordless1111]

Cars back then were built like tanks. no fiberglass. No doubt they will be there 70 years from now.

[@PinInTheAtlas]

@@wordless1111 they sure knew how to make things back then. Made to last!

[@wordless1111]

@@PinInTheAtlas And nothing to take apart and fix. Now you have to be a computer genius! Cool find tho.