Tubal Cain Mine is an abandoned copper mine in the Buckhorn Wilderness

Buckhorn Wilderness

The Buckhorn Wilderness is a mountainous wilderness area on the northeastern Olympic Peninsula in Washington, USA. Named after Buckhorn Mountain , the wilderness abuts the eastern boundary of Olympic National Park which includes nearby Mount Constance , Inner Constance , Warrior Peak , and Mount...

, east of Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park is located in the U.S. state of Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. The park can be divided into four basic regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west side temperate rainforest and the forests of the drier east side. U.S...

 in the US state of Washington. The main adit penetrates 450 meters into Buckhorn Mountain.

The mine is named after Tubal-Cain

Tubal-cain

Tubal-cain is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in . He was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Zillah, and the brother of Naamah.-Name:...

, a character mentioned in the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

. The Book of Genesis 4:22 says that Tubal-cain was a "forger of all instruments of bronze and iron," a metalsmith.

History

In 1902 copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 was discovered in the Dungeness River

Dungeness River

The Dungeness River is a long river located in the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises near Mount Constance in the Olympic Mountains within the Olympic National Park, flows through the Buckhorn Wilderness, passes by the town of Sequim, and empties into the Strait of Juan de...

 drainage. The ore was said to have both copper and gold. Later that year, the Tubal-Cain Copper & Manganese Mining Co. headquartered in Seattle built a trail and began to mine ore out of the area. After several cave-ins, washouts, and low-grade ore, the mine was abandoned in 1906.

Two camps were established: Copper City at the bottom of Copper Valley, and Tull City located in Tull Canyon. Evidence of these camps such as metal boilers, wire, and old cabins are still visible today.