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

[beatup]

Good on you GM

 

[GhostMiner]

  SEPTEMBER 20   1936

   Things were quiet last night. So far, we have been lucky not to have been shot or robbed out here. There seems to be no end to the rif raf that intends to steal from us. We are all tired of it and I fear there may come a time when someone is killed, either us or them. 

   At breakfast I slugged down half a cup of whiskey with my coffee and bacon and beans. The morning air is getting cold now but the days warm up nicely and are good for working. John and me are alternating mornings and afternoons at the pit now and it helps break the monotony of the work. We are doing sluice cleanouts by late afternoon and the digging hours are less than 8 a day now. It will only go lower and some days are less if we have problems. We will also face freezing night temperatures soon as well and the mining days may be numbered. We had a good day and worked without trouble. There were 2 ounces in the pan.

  TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[maxxkatt]

When I buy your book, I will read it over a nice cup of copy (don't drink whiskey).

 

[Swegin]

5 hours ago, matt said:

I will pick it up at the mine over a cup of whiskey!

Don't forget about the Hot water corn bread and beans!!!

 

[Swegin]

6 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

I wouldn't be surprised if you are contacted by a vid production co. either.

Hold out for Spielberg.

There is already a big time movie producer (Retired I think) reading this.

[Carolina]

Just a thought, but what’s to stop someone from stealing it right off of here. Do you have copy rights and what not to protect it ?

[GhostMiner]

 SEPTEMBER 21   1936

   We had another bear in camp in the middle of the night. Dutch was able to scare it off but it woke some of us. It seems like if it isn’t one kind of hooligan it’s another. John and me decided to get back to digging together again seeing as the season is getting shorter now and we want to try to finish the pit before freezing temperatures shut us down. Dutch will do his best to keep watch. 

   Before we went up to the pit we were greeted by a miner who had been working higher up on the mountain. He came down the creek from the north and said his name was Hudson. His claim was miles up the mountain above us at an elevation about a thousand feet higher. He had worked up there alone for quite a while and said he was calling it quits for the season. He said he had frozen water the last few days and was tired of the ice cold nights. Besides that he said he wasn’t getting much gold. He had bought the claim from the mining co operative. We told them what had gone on between those guys and us. He said he wasn’t surprised. Hudson was a farm hand by trade but wanted to give a try at gold mining but had struck out. He said he also found out his claim wasn’t even legally filed and was worthless. I just shook my head and told him it was a shame he was taken advantage of. 

   Everyone had listened to his story and felt bad for him. I told him we had been at it all season and were still going strong until freezing weather came in. Hudson told us he was aware of who we were as far as a mining crew and had built up quite a reputation in the area. I asked him if he would like to work with us until the end of the season and we could use a good man. He agreed and I said let me talk with the crew in private. Everyone was good with him joining up for the remaining days. Hudson agreed to work for a small gold percentage to be paid by me and John.

   So me, John. and Hudson worked the pit that day and we really threw the gravel. Hudson was a hard worker and was amazed at the mining operation we had going on. By quitting time we made 2 ounces of gold and Hudson said it was the most gold he’d ever seen. When we got back to camp we helped Hudson set up his camp and had ourselves a good supper. Hudson asked if we wanted some whiskey and pulled out a bottle from his sack. I just grinned and said sure, I've been known to have a drink or two. We told him about Whiskey Jack and he was real sad to hear about what happened. I told him about the trouble with the trash and rif raf we’d had. He said none of them had come up to his claim probably because it was so far up the mountain and thieves are lazy. We all sat around the fire for a spell and drank a few cups together and chased them with Lucky’s.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[tboykin]

50 minutes ago, Carolina said:

Just a thought, but what’s to stop someone from stealing it right off of here. Do you have copy rights and what not to protect it ?

As someone who works in the entertainment industry, copyright law fights can be as brutal as mining disputes. Before this made into anything that makes money best to contact a copyright attorney to make sure everything is above board.

[DOOGY-MD]

Sorry, I mean prospector, pick & shovel finds.....

[flakmagnet]

1 hour ago, tboykin said:

As someone who works in the entertainment industry, copyright law fights can be as brutal as mining disputes. Before this made into anything that makes money best to contact a copyright attorney to make sure everything is above board.

I am retired from feature film production and also in the midst of having a manuscript published - I heartily second what tboykin said above. The amount of idea-theft everywhere, but especially in the entertainment industry, is incredible and this story has lots of possibilities in it. Get it copyrighted, and have a lawyer do it. It will be worth it to have not just legality but peace of mind.