Jump to content

** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **


Recommended Posts

 

   MAY 31  1936      PART THREE

   John put his boot up against the box and started to push against it a little. John said he had ten seconds to talk or he would hang. Then the robber gave in. He was shaking and hollering not to hang him, he would talk. John said to start talking before he changed his mind. He left him up on the box. The robber said he was from Nevada. He had fell on hard times and came to California for the gold. He wasn't very good at mining and met up with the other three holligans in town one night. He joined up with them. He said they had robbed a lot of people but he personally hadn't killed anyone. It was the ring leader who was the murderer. He didn't even know their last names. He said they had a camp hidden in a remote ravine about a mile up to the north just off the creek a few hundred yards. They would go up and down the creek laying for prospectors and rob them. They also stole a truck in town and had robbed and beaten a few people as well. He described the area of the camp pretty well but John told him he was going to guide us to it in the morning when we could see better. He agreed.

   We lashed him back to the tree and took our turn on guard duty until daybreak. After a quick breakfast John and me hiked higher up the mountain while Will and Jacob guarded camp. This is the last thing I wanted to spend my time on as it took us away from our mining but we had no choice it seemed. When we got up there we found the campsite but it was deserted and most everything was removed. They must have cleared out in the middle of the night.

   I asked the robber where they might have gone. He just shrugged his shoulders and said maybe they're getting out of the area. There wasn't much we could do and now had to decide what to do with the robber. John asked him what he should do with him. The guy pleaded that if we let him go he would high tail it back to Nevada and we'd never have any more trouble from him. He's had enough of this kind of life and was going home. 

   We walked him back down to our camp and had a quick meeting. Then we untied his hands and told him to git or we would kill him for sure. He thanked us and ran out of there with his tail between his legs, I am hoping we did the right thing. 

   We all went back to our jobs although it was a late start. John and will got 2 ounces from yesterdays 235 buckets.  Jacob and me gug 120 buckets of good gravels and quit at dusk. We'll see tomorrow how we did. We are still standing watch at night.

   TO BE CONTINUED .....................

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites


 

   JUNE 1   1936

   We continue to stay in very rich gravels, the richest I have ever dug. The weigh gave us another ounce. Based on the amount of gravels the ground seems to be holding up and we may be glory bound. My worry of our creek slowing may be cured as well. I sent Will in with the truck to pick up a Meyers pump to supply the tom if needed. So far the creek is still running a sufficient current of water but it has started to slow some. The pump should keep the gravel processing at a good level when the time comes. 

   Jacob and me are still hauling out the buckets from the trench or pit on a steep incline. Our depths are deepening each day. We are now into the loose gravel with the occaional rounded rock and there is no sign of a bottom. The gold is chunk with some fine and is found in promiscuous amounts per ton. We are digging just north of the kettle and now at a greater depth than the bottom of that glory hole. I continue to pan samples as we dig and the gold is always there. We have started to timber the sides of the wall where needed in order to keep them stable. I have Jacob working at the northern end of the trench picking and digging away at the base while I continue to work the top. We are in an area about 15 to 20 feet in length and 6 feet in width. I am working the eastern side into the fault and widening the dig at the same time. I have been able to drive into the eastern wall by using the pick and bar and those gravels are good and show gold. Today we worked very hard and it felt good to be back to digging the gravels and finding gold. We hauled out 250 buckets today and are quite proud of ourselves. It will be Hoover stew and whiskey for me tonight.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hoover Stew. A term used during the Great Depression and President Hoover. A stew where you threw whatever food you had available into the pot.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, UtahRich said:

Having some fun reading your post ghostminer  - quite the adventure.  

For sure. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Near the beginning of this thread you asked us to guess how much gold was dug up by our hero(es) ... I said "they all got wiped out and their gold was never found.". 'er somethin' close to that....

I'm gonna tell the reason I said that now in the interest of developing some dialog on it.

The title is The Dead Man's Mine. 

So ??????? Whaddaya think 'bout dat ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, rvpopeye said:

Near the beginning of this thread you asked us to guess how much gold was dug up by our hero(es) ... I said "they all got wiped out and their gold was never found.". 'er somethin' close to that....

I'm gonna tell the reason I said that now in the interest of developing some dialog on it.

The title is The Dead Man's Mine. 

So ??????? Whaddaya think 'bout dat ?

Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine. Hmmmmm. There is much more to unwrap here.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine. Hmmmmm. There is much more to unwrap here.

Something else I have referred to previously was that Jed was working with a very prominent geologist. Perhaps the most prominent geologist in the state. He was reporting back to him on a regular basis on the progress and gold count. He never mentions any of this in his journal. It was only stated once in the government report. There is no mention of any partnership between them but in my opinion the geologist was a silent partner and that's why he was kept in the loop. There is a lot more info coming in this journal. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

   JUNE 2   1936

   Last night we built the campfire and ended up deep in the cups swapping stories and lies until nearly midnight. Jacob and Will had asked to go into town and make a visit to the tavern but I told them it is far too risky. We don't know if the hooligans have left the area and that place is a gathering area for rif raf and misfits. They are young and full of oats but I don't need them getting into trouble or being followed. So we all blew steam at camp. We had it building for days.

   After a late start Will and John finished the weigh and Will walked up to the dig. He was carrying a jar and had a grin on his face from ear to ear. Jacob and me stopped shoveling and climbed out of the trench to see what was up. He said to have a look at the jar and handed it over to me. It was heavy. I kidded him and asked what did he do, fill it with rocks? I asked him how much was in there. The answer was 6 ounces. Jacob started doing some kind of Irish jig I couldn't identify. I told Will we are on to something good here. He was never told about the kettle gold. I decided he had earned the right to know. He was stunned. I showed him the pit where we dug it out. He said he couldn't believe we got 220 ounces out of that hole. I just told him we are in an area of concentration unlike what I have ever experienced. I said we may well be on the road to almighty glory. I also told him that my hunch was as we got deeper it was going to get even richer. How rich I didn't know but we are getting deeper with no end in sight. Will went back to work at the creek with dreams of glory in his eyes as we all did.

   Even with our headaches Jacob and me were able to dig 210 buckets of rich gravel. Tonight we eat and rest and drink little bit of my Irish whiskey for good luck. 

     TO BE CONTINUED .......................

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...