A silly and sad mining story, the end of which we know not.  It is all about blue jeans and pumice mines, environmentalists and miners, fashion and permits, and the ignorance of the public to the benefits of mining.

 First a picture of a rockwall of pumice and tuff.

It started when Levi Strauss made blue jeans for the miner.  Here is a longer rendition of the story:

In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, “You should have brought pants!,” saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last.   Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called “serge de Nimes.” The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans.

In the middle is the Copar Pumice Mine in New Mexico. 

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Waterbird’s Nest –Where we can learn and grow together in truth and respect.  That is the name of a beautiful blog site where there is a posting about the Buffalo Rock Mining Company. 

 Here are extracts from the posting on the mine:

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