Lantern Left for a Lost Promise: Light Over Harrow Shaft
Shownotes
Lantern Left for a Lost Promise: Light Over Harrow Shaft
A single amber lantern burned inside a locked, dust-covered assay office that had been sealed for 28 years - and it was aimed precisely at a sealed mine shaft 400 meters to the southwest. Who climbed into a locked building, lit a lantern, and left it oriented toward a shaft as a signal to one specific man?
In this episode, we tell how a decades-old promise, an abandoned copper mine, and a hidden set of assay logs intersected to produce a deliberate, visible signal - and why one light mattered more than any official record. How did a photocopied envelope, a daughter’s choice, and a remote surveyor come together to finish what one man began?
Person: Grant Hoffman
Date: June 11, 2019 at 6:14 a.m.
Location: Harrow Copper Mine assay office, Vester, Colorado
Event: Lantern found burning in locked, sealed building
Person: Cheryl Young
- The assay office had been locked, sealed, and abandoned for 28 years with undisturbed mud outside the door.
- The lantern was oriented precisely toward a sealed mine shaft 400 meters to the southwest.
- Dennis Young worked in the assay office from 1978 until the mine closed in 1991 and died in March 2019 at age 81.
- A batch of assay logbooks documenting a larger, deeper secondary copper deposit was left inside the office in 1991 and never officially recovered.
- Cheryl Young found photocopied assay pages in a shoebox under her father’s bed and chose the assay office as a visible signal to reach former surveyor Harold Vance.
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© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
A single amber lantern burned inside a locked, dust-covered assay office that had been sealed for 28 years - and it was aimed precisely at a sealed mine shaft 400 meters to the southwest. Who climbed into a locked building, lit a lantern, and left it oriented toward a shaft as a signal to one specific man?
In this episode, we tell how a decades-old promise, an abandoned copper mine, and a hidden set of assay logs intersected to produce a deliberate, visible signal - and why one light mattered more than any official record. How did a photocopied envelope, a daughter’s choice, and a remote surveyor come together to finish what one man began?
Person: Grant Hoffman
Date: June 11, 2019 at 6:14 a.m.
Location: Harrow Copper Mine assay office, Vester, Colorado
Event: Lantern found burning in locked, sealed building
Person: Cheryl Young
- The assay office had been locked, sealed, and abandoned for 28 years with undisturbed mud outside the door.
- The lantern was oriented precisely toward a sealed mine shaft 400 meters to the southwest.
- Dennis Young worked in the assay office from 1978 until the mine closed in 1991 and died in March 2019 at age 81.
- A batch of assay logbooks documenting a larger, deeper secondary copper deposit was left inside the office in 1991 and never officially recovered.
- Cheryl Young found photocopied assay pages in a shoebox under her father’s bed and chose the assay office as a visible signal to reach former surveyor Harold Vance.
Tired of ads? Listen to this podcast and 200+ more ad-free on OBOMEDIA.
Try it free for 7 days, cancel anytime: https://obomedia.com/en/gratis?ref=desc-7198320
© 2026 Created by an independent creator of the OBOMEDIA Network. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the property of their respective creator, who is solely responsible for them, and are distributed by the OBOMEDIA Network on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without the creator's prior written permission is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].