The large timber structure on the hill is a Head Frame or Gallows Frame, as it was commonly called. No! It was not used for hanging criminals but could be mistaken for that purpose from a distance. No doubt this is how it got its name.
This Head Frame was used in the operation of the Phillips Gold Mine discovered in 1859 and located in Buckskin Gulch, two miles west of Alma. The Frame was used to support the cable and pulleys to lower and raise the ore buckets in the mine shaft. The miners would also use the buckets for entering and leaving the mine.
The Phillips was the first sizable producing mine in the area. It was this claim that started the gold rush to the settlement that later became known as Buckskin Joe.
