Newsletter - November 2025

UGMM 2025 Newsletter Final.pdf

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In Memory of Thomas “Bud” DeGrio

April 28, 1945 – December 21, 2024

It is with a heavy heart that we dedicate this year’s newsletter to the memory of longtime museum director Thomas “Bud” DeGrio.

A miner through and through, Bud started working in the local gold mines with his dad at age 11. In his own words: “It was April 1961, my 16th birthday! I couldn’t wait to “hire on” at the 16 to 1 gold mine for the summer. The mine Boss was Wilford Hart; underground Boss, Tom Hogan Sr.; mill Boss, JB Hunley. These men were “legends” in my mind. ALL had given me a “lick or two”, for disorderly conduct during my first 16 years of life in Alleghany!

These men also knew that I was a product of Dad, Mike DeGrio, another “Legend”, but not in my mind! You see, my dad forced me to work at his mines for a $1.00/DAY. Whenever I asked for a raise, he often told me that “I should be paying HIM for the experience I was getting”!! Well, the 16 was paying $1.63/HR for a nipper but one had to be 16 years old to “legally” work underground back then. So, in early June, I quit Dad and hired on with the 16 to 1 mine.”

Bud’s full story “Homegrown Miner” can be read in the museum’s 2022 newsletter located at Undergroundgold.org under the “Library” header click on “newsletters”. For those receiving an electronic copy of this year’s newsletter here is the link: UGMM Annual Newsletter December 2022

More about Bud can be found in the pages that follow. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family.

An Iota becomes a Plethora

Currently, the museum publishes one newsletter per year, usually in November. Last year’s newsletter mentioned how every iota of history that is saved by the museum counts.

That same month we had a “Black Friday” sale at the museum. Only a few people showed up, but one “anonymous” museum member showed up with a $500 donation! Thank you anonymous.

Then the late Geologist Bill Fuller’s daughter Fran Soto showed up with her husband Gary. They donated a lot more than an “iota” to the museum! Several boxes containing her father’s collection of Alleghany related documents and photos were deposited in the archive room. Thank you to Fran and Gary!

Alleghany Gold

Bill Fuller (California Registered Geologist #77) was a Harvard Graduate and a meticulous historian. He worked in the Alleghany Mining District both before and after World War II. He’d been working on a history of the mines and geology of the Alleghany mining district for approximately 40 years when he died in 2009. The manuscript is not a dry academic book. It weaves stories of the people who lived here into a chronology that is both informative and fun to read. The pictures alone are a treasure unto themselves.

For the last few years, Fran has been working on tying together her father’s book: Alleghany Gold. UGMM is supporting this effort in any way that it can. Fran is very close to having a manuscript ready to submit to a publisher. More information https://www.undergroundgold.org/post/ugmm-is-seeking-professionals-in-the-area-of-mining-geology-and-especially-history-to-review-a-manu

Christmas Shop in Alleghany!

The museum giftshop will be open on November 28^th (Black Friday) from 10 am to 4pm for a rare local shopping opportunity! If it looks like snow, please call or email in advance to confirm hours.

530-287-3330 (museum) or email undergroundgold33@gmail.com

Browse our expanded book collection!

Memories of Bud DeGrio

The following excerpts are from a piece that was written by Bud’s granddaughter Kaylee DeGrio for her grandfather’s memorial service:

Many of you knew him as Bud, some as Thomas, a few as “Too-Much”, and a lot of us as Papa. My name is Kaylee, and he is my Papa. He was a beloved Husband, loving father, brother, grandfather, and friend. My Papa was a man of unwavering integrity, boundless kindness, full of love and care for all those around him. He was strong in his faith to The Lord his Savior Jesus Christ. Most would agree that he gave the best hugs, which I will miss the most.

Bud loved spending time with his Children and Grandchildren. He absolutely adored his role as Grandpa or as he called himself, GGPA. He found joy in traveling, adventures, and not knowing how to retire. He liked working on projects that involved getting his hands dirty, listening to classic rock, old country, rejoicing in the Lord, and making jokes. He was a big supporter of his friends and family and was a family man, wanting to spend all his free moments with family. He even helped my mother Sarah raise me and my twin sister. He was there every day taking care of us from sunup till he laid us down to sleep. My fondest memories are of the adventures that he took us on. We always shared a meal and would even get pedicures together. He was the coolest grandpa.

Bud with twin granddaughters Kaylee and Hailey or

 is it Hailey and Kaylee?

One thing I enjoyed doing with my Papa was learning about his life.  A few years ago, I decided to write a biography about him, “The Life of TOO MUCH”.

Here is a peek into that biography…

Bud grew up in Allegany California where he lived in a mine camp in a tar papered shack on a steep mountainside. As early as he could remember, he lived out in the bunkhouse with the miners while his parents and sisters stayed in the main house.

Living with Miners, he learned to speak, eat, and sleep like them, becoming one of them. They used to pay him a quarter for every bad word he would learn and say, and because of this he had a very crude vocabulary. When he was in kindergarten, he called his teacher a SOB and was kicked out of school. As he grew older, he would ditch school to go hunting and fishing with his dog Prince. He would come home late to avoid a confrontation with his dad. He had many friends growing up, one in particular who he always got into trouble with was Tommy Hogan. He was a young and wild thing. After Senior year he attended Sierra College, worked in the mines, and hung out at the bar.

When he was 20 years old, he got into a bar fight which landed him in jail. He was given a choice of enlisting in the Navy or staying in jail. He enlisted. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he served in Vietnam where he earned the nickname ‘Too-Much”. He explained: “They called me “Too-Much”, because I shot my guns too much, drank too much, smoked too much, slept too much, was getting into trouble too much, and partook in too much, so they just called me “Too-Much”.

Miner Bud DeGrio in the snow 1980s

I believe as he got older and went through life, his nickname ‘Too Much’ earned different meanings. He cared and loved too much, worked too much and laughed too much, he was too much of a great man.

Bud is survived by his wife Becky Higgs; Daughters: Melissa DeGrio, Melissa Santos (Syth), Sarah Gordon (DeGrio); Son Thomas Maritz-DeGrio; Sisters: Patricia Russell, Kathleen McGuire. As well as 8 Grandchildren (Brieana, Tanner, Tristen, Kaylee, Hailey, Trayton, Blake, and Alyssia) and 3 Great-grandchildren (Elliott, Emerson, and Everett).

He is preceded in death by his Father Roland (Mike), Mother Margaret, and sister Margaret (Micky).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MUCH THANKS!

A few highlights from the 2025 season.

·       Director Chris Smith commuted from Graeagle every Saturday this summer to open the museum.

·       Director Wayne Babros continued to open the doors on an “on call” basis.

·       UGMM plus two other Sierra County Museums participated in the Open Doors California event again this year.

·       Director Gwen Fissel created a UGMM display for the Nevada County Gem and Mineral Society’s annual show.

·       Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous made another generous donation to the museum that paid for the installation of new lighting above the Phil O’Donnell drill collection with extra funds to help where needed.

·       Mrs. Anonymous scanned (digitized) the manuscripts in Bill Fuller’s collection.

·       Scott & Sarah Robertson donated assay equipment from the Alaska Mine in Pike.

·       Morning Glory Gold Mines (Michael Miller) continues to provide a printer (museum provides its own paper) for all copy needs including this newsletter and previous years’ newsletters. The mine office also lets UGMM use its postage meter which saves 4 cents per piece.

THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!

The House That Nobody Owned

By Bill Worley

The following are excerpts from a letter that was received by UGMM in 2019. Sadly in 2022 we got word from Bill’s wife that he had passed away.

I would like to tell you a little about myself and the 5 years that I lived in Alleghany. Back in 1958, I was hired to be a truck driver for the Road Dept. I worked under Al Hope and I have to say that Al was the best guy I ever worked under. He became a good friend.

I have always enjoyed my memories of living in Alleghany and the friends I made. I rented my first house from Mr. Casey on the hill [across from and] above the store [now the museum]. There are two houses on the hill and my neighbor was a miner at the 16 to 1 mine, I forget his name. His brother Hugh O’Donnell also lived in Alleghany and he was one of the people who I cut firewood for while living there. [The neighbor must have been Phil O’Donnell.]

The first winter was really something for my wife and I, never living in snow country before. Our first large snowstorm I was put into the truck that blew snow, called the “Snow Go” and was taught to run it by Warren Kelly, an Indian guy who became a good friend. [The Kelly Family is a Native American Family of local origin living mostly in Nevada City.] When morning came, I went home only to find I had to shovel snow for a couple of hours just to get to the porch. That snow stayed there for some time, and when it came time to go to town we did a month’s shopping for food. But when we got home we didn’t have a freezer to keep the meat from going bad. I had a great idea to keep the frozen food from spoiling. I went out to the long pathway of snow that was at least 4 feet high and dug back into the snowbank about an arm’s length in different places and put all of our meat and stuff in the snowbank. Never dreaming that the town dogs could even smell it. The next morning, we found out it wasn’t such a good idea. There were paper wrappings all over the snow and not one thing was left. I still laugh about how dumb I was for doing that.

There was a house just below the house we were living in and the people who lived there was about to move away. I asked if he would let me know when they were moving, I would like to move down off the hill to make it much easier for us [in winter]. When he moved out, I asked him who he paid his rent to, and he said that he hadn’t paid any rent for the time he lived there and didn’t know who owned the house. We lived in that house for 3 years, and during that time, we tried to find out who owned it, but even the store owner, Mr. Sbaffi didn’t know who it belonged to. He gave me an address back east someplace, and I sent word to that address that I would like to buy the house but never heard back. So for 3 years I lived there and never paid any rent.

The house that nobody owned as it appears today.

A once common “Snow Door” can be seen above the porch (for use when the snow buried the bottom story).

New Lighting installed in Museum

For at least three years, the lights over the Phil O'Donnell drill collection didn't work. With the help of a generous donation from “Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous”, UGMM was able to hire Gray Electric to re-wire and install new lights on that side of the building. A major improvement.

Thank you Anonymouses.

New Lighting over the Phil O’Donnell drill collection

Summer 2025

 Please consider doing some of your holiday shopping here!

Store | Underground Gold Miners Museum