FORT DAVIS, Texas — Right next to the visitor’s center at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis, people will find an exhibit dedicated to the mining history of the Chihuahuan Desert.
This exhibit exists because of Korean War veteran and former mining geologist, Joe Mussey and his friends.
Though he hasn’t been involved in mining for decades now, his passion for it never went away.
“Well it was just so great, the people I worked with and the places that I worked during my career was just great and I loved every minute of it,” Mussey said.
When the Nature Center was still in its early days and they were still trying to come up with some more exhibits, Mussey approached them with the idea for the mining exhibit.
“It got started whenever we saw that they needed something out here that had to do with the Chihuahuan Desert,” Mussey said.
But his involvement with the exhibit didn’t stop after its construction.
He and his wife used to give presentations about mining history to kids who would visit the nature center either with their families or during field trips.
It was during these presentations in fact that he got his famous nickname Miner Joe.
“Well the kiddies called me that," Mussey said. "They would say, ‘We want to see Miner Joe!’ So we just stuck with it. That’s my name out here now, Miner Joe.”
Despite being 93 now, Mussey still makes his way out to the Nature Center with his wife every other week to maintain the exhibit.
He says that age hasn’t stopped him from doing what he loves, which is helping to teach people about the history of mining and geology.
“It really makes me feel good that I’ve done something with my life that I can enjoy and other people can enjoy… This is my passion,” Mussey said.
Mussey also appeared in the 2007 movie "There will be Blood". He loaned some of his collection of old mining equipment to be used in the film and even got to share a scene with actor Daniel Day Lewis in the film as well.