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


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   April 17   1937

 

   We are getting some unusually warm weather here for this early in the season. The crew is in good spirits even though our gold count is modest. I am set on finishing the kettle before we move the operation. We are pretty much working the leftovers from the old boys from the 1800’s but we are getting some gold.

   Today we got well into the northern section of the kettle. The gravels are getting sparse and the depths to bedrock is only a few feet. It appears to me that the bedrock has been cleaned fairly well by previous miners. We are just mining sluff and some gravel from what has eroded from the sides over the years. We aren’t able to work anything in the sides as they are solid rock.  By the end of the day we had a meager one half ounce and John was grumbling about moving to a new location. I asked him to be patient as we only have a week or so at most until we finish here and as we are all set up we may as well make the most of it.

   Tonight at camp we had a few beers and started to talk about our next move. It will be way over to the eastern drift area that Jed and Whiskey Jack were keen on. For now we can only dream of another big strike as the gold has become elusive. 

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

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   April 18   1937 Part One

 

   We are continuing to get wild hooligans from town who want to come out here to the mine and either meet us or work with us. Last night I heard Ben and Sarge holler out at someone who was trudging up the side of the creek toward our camp. The crew came over and had a look at what the hollering was about. I nearly laughed but held it back. Sarge was not so kind and began to laugh and hoot. There in front of us stood an old guy dressed like a cowboy from back in the 1800’s. He wore a large cowboy hat that nearly covered his face and also some old jeans and fur leggings. He had on boots with spurs as well as two six shooters in a holster. He was smoking a home rolled cigarette and gave us all an evil stare.

   I walked over to him and asked what he was up to. He said his name was Slim Saunders and he was from a ranch just outside of town. I reckoned him to be about 60 in years or maybe a bit more. He told us he had done everything from ranching to mining to logging and even bounty hunting in his day. I started to like him. John asked him what we could do for him. He said he had heard quite a bit about us in town. Some of the groups that hung around in the tavern said we were the mining crew from hell and we took names and kicked ass. He said he was looking for work and wanted to join up with us.

   I asked him what kind of job he was looking for. He said he was a scratch shot with his 45’s and could work as security. He said he could also handle a rifle with the best of them. Before I could say anything he pointed to a limb on a pine tree about 100 feet away. He said to look toward the end of the limb and there was a small branch starting off to the right with a pine cone hanging on. I said that I saw it. He slapped leather with both hands and quick drawing his Colts and fired off a round from each gun. The pine cone flew off the limb. Then he twirled the pistols and put them back in their holsters as slick as grease.

   Then he told Will to set out two empty tin cans about 100 feet away. Will set them up on a rock and came back over. Slim said to watch and he pulled his right hand quickly and shot as the gun cleared leather. One of the cans flew off the rock. Before the sound of the shot died he pulled his left hand with the Colt and did the same thing. The can flew off the rock just like the first one. He twirled them back into the holster as slick as could be. I asked him what kind of pay he wanted. He said just his grub and whiskey, a dollar, and a little taste of gold from time to time. I told him to hold on while I talked with my crew.

   Everyone liked Slim. We decided to give him a go. I went over and asked him when he wanted to start. He just looked at me and said “Well, I’m here aint I ?” and that was that. Then he asked if we had any whiskey. I handed him a new bottle and we all sat around the fire as darkness fell. Slim took a couple of pulls from the bottle and began to tell us his story.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

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1 hour ago, rvpopeye said:

I was wondering what you were up to !

Slim  !  Great idea !  Whiskey Jack's Cousin  ?? 

I was on tour with my rock show. Break time now.

IMG_20220617_091639.jpg

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8 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

I was on tour with my rock show. Break time now.

IMG_20220617_091639.jpg

Yep, that's GM. Picyure taken Friday June 17.

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April 18   1937   Part Two

  

   Slim told us his father had worked in a wild west show back in the day. He did all kinds of tricks with guns and ropes. His father had begun teaching him these skills from even before he could remember. His father traveled all the time and when Slim was sixteen he and his mother and sister never saw him again. He just left on a show tour one day and never came home. He had no idea what happened to him. 

   Slim kept practicing his father’s trade until he figured he was better than him or anyone else around. However, by this time the wild west shows were all dried up like the dust in the western wind. There was no market for his trade. Slim developed a real bad attitude and began to pull strong arm robberies when he was still a kid. He used his gun skills to intimidate people all the time. Not surprising, the law eventually caught up with him when he was nineteen years old and he spent two years in the Wyoming state prison.

   When he got out his mother and sister had moved on and abandoned him. He never saw either of them again. Prison hadn’t helped his attitude but it hardened him as a man. He had been in many fistfights and brawls while in lockup and had developed some good hand to hand fighting skills to go along with his gunplay. He was a truly dangerous individual and didn’t think twice about using his guns or fists at the drop of a hat. By now Slim had downed a third of his bottle. Then he told us a wild story. We all leaned in to listen closely.

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

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Ohhhhhhhhhh ! SO,,,I think I have some of this figured out now.....🤔

You are actually Slim's dad .

You have been on tour looking for the perfect tree to carve your new guitar from. 

When you prospect you stuff all that hair under your hat so the paparazzi don't recognize you...🥸

 It goes without saying of course we all want to see a demonstration of you spinning the sixguns that you used to become the #1 champion duck hunter of the world !!👍

 

 

 

 

 

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On 6/22/2022 at 7:26 AM, GhostMiner said:

I was on tour with my rock show. Break time now.

IMG_20220617_091639.jpg

Where are the rocks?

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   April 18   1937   Part Three

   Slim said that back when he was just out of prison he got a job working on a ranch. He didn’t have a whole lot of cowboy skills when they hired him but learned real fast and was soon one of the best cowboys on the ranch. He was in a poker game one night. It took place in the main bunkhouse and Slim was losing real bad. The cowboy who had all the money was the best bronc buster on the ranch. Or so he thought. Slim challenged him to a bronc busting contest. Slim put up one of his Colts against the money in the purse. The other cowboys got the meanest horse out of the barn. They called him Freight Train. He was bad to the bone. The first cowboy took a turn on him and got thrown after just a few seconds. Slim got on and rode out the horse and broke him. The cowboy who lost refused to give up the purse. One of the other guys was holding Slims Colt & gave it back to him. The losing cowboy challenged Slim to a duel. Slim said this guy thought he was pretty quick on the draw. They walked out fifty paces and stood looking at each other. Slim told him to make his move when he was ready. After a wait of about thirty seconds the cowboy slapped leather. Slim came up with both guns firing just as they cleared their holsters and the slower guy went down on his knees firing off a round into the dirt. Then he slowly rolled over on his side. He was dead. Both of Slims shots had pierced the chest in the area of the heart. Slim calmly walked over and took the money out of the cowboy’s vest pocket. It was covered in blood.

   The ranch owner had heard the ruckus and came out of his house with his rifle. It was way past midnight. When he saw one of his top hands laying dead on the ground he wasn’t happy. He pointed the rifle at Slim and told him he was going to shoot him dead.

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

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  April 18   1937   Part Four

 

   Slim said when a man told him he was going to kill him he took him at his word. So he raised his right hand as if to give up but as he did so snapped the six shooter out of its holster with his left hand and fired three times. The rancher dropped to the ground lifeless. Just that quick he had taken two lives but felt he had no choice. The cowboys were real upset now because their boss and one of their friends were eating dirt. Slim said there were five of them left and some had sidearms. He told them not to make any moves and walked backwards towards the barn. He saddled a horse and road off into the night leaving what few belongings he had. However, he did have a full poke now. Within the space of a few minutes he had become an outlaw. Then he told us the rest of the story.

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

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