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


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   On Saturday, September 24, I will be posting the real info on how I came to write the journal on Jed Stevens & crew. I will divulge the true story behind the journal. It will tell you what the journal was based on including what Jed really got in the way of gold and how he got it. It will contain information from the actual government report that started this entire journey including how he died and where he is buried. There will be lots of info in this entry for all to read. I am doing this because I feel I owe it to all the faithful readers who have stuck with me on this incredible ride as the journal approaches 200,000 views. This will put to rest some of the speculation but I also must warn you that it opens the door to more mystery. The quest for gold & treasure continues. To the readers here, I thank you. 

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  May 25   1937     Part Three 

 

   I looked closely and estimated each chest to be about five feet in length. The width was around three feet and we dug around the sides to determine the depth. After about an hour we determined the depth to be about two feet on one and close to three feet on the other. I told John I was going to round up everyone and to wait for us before he opened them. It took nearly another half hour to get everyone gathered around the trench. No one could believe their eyes. 

   John and I attempted to lift the smaller of the two but it was real heavy and we were afraid the bottom would fall out so John knocked the lock off with a hammer and chisel. The lid creaked as we pried it open. I couldn’t quite make out the contents so I shined the lantern close to the top of the chest. There appeared to be some kind of red and yellow fabric covering the contents. It was old and slightly rotted but John said it was an old flag of some sort. We carefully lifted it out of the chest and there was a second cloth just like the first. We removed that one and our eyes fell upon the contents. Some of the crew started to laugh and some just gasped. John spoke slowly and said this couldn’t possibly be happening to a little rag tag crew like us. I just smiled and started to lift out some of the treasure.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

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   May 25   1937     Part Four

 

   The top of the chest was filled with jewelry and some kind of yellowed papers. We spread out a blanket and placed them on the surface. I took out handfuls of jewels. Below this level was another red and yellow cloth which I removed. This took me down to approximately the halfway depth of the wooden chest. The rest was filled with small gold bars or bricks and blank gold coins. It was endless. When I finally got to the bottom there was a human skull that sent shivers through me. I felt like we were going to pay a heavy price for uncovering the treasure. Then John broke off the lock to the second chest. I could only wonder what this one held.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

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   May 25   1937     Part Five

 

   We got the lid open and shined the lantern down close into the opening. Once again there was a red and yellow cloth covering the contents. I took it out and placed it on a second blanket the crew had brought over. The chest was layden with more treasure. At the top were emeralds and jewelry. We took the pieces out by the handfuls. Then another red and yellow cloth which we removed. There were crystal and gold skulls beneath it. Then another red and yellow cloth that covered small gold bars.

   When we finished laying everything out we just couldn’t believe our eyes. We had much to look at including some papers with writing we couldn’t quite make out. For a while the entire crew just sat in silence. I don’t think any of us had expected so much treasure and we were stunned. Finally, John spoke. He said that we were all rich beyond our wildest dreams. We were millionaires. All I could think of was what are we going to do with all of this and where will we hide it. 

   John believed it was part of a Spanish treasure that probably came from Mexico. He said it probably had historical significance beyond anything ever found. He also advised everyone to keep quiet about this discovery. We needed to figure out what to do. As we were talking we heard gunfire. It was not far off to the east. Sarge said it sounded like it was coming from the area of the eastern drift mine dig. We had pretty much forgotten all about that area while we were on the treasure hunt. Ben said we needed to send a few people over there to check out what was going on but Sarge said it may be a trap. We may have been watched and what was left of the gang of thugs may be trying to divide us up in order to rob us. We were all standing in a circle around the treasure with our rifles pointed into the dark. 

 

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

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   May 25   1937     Part Six

 

   There was a quick discussion as to what we should do about the gunfire at the eastern drift mine. We decided to stay where we were and spread out in a big circle around camp. We all took cover and sat and watched our perimeter. Our new found treasure was sitting at camp wrapped up in two blankets. This didn’t make us feel too secure about it. I couldn’t help but think back to our visit by the Indian Shaman and what he had warned. I had been in a number of battles out here since last year. When would my number come up? I tried to get these thoughts out of my mind and concentrate on what was at hand - guarding our goods and staying alive. 

   I heard more gunfire up at the drift mine area. Then I heard Sarge holler out for everyone to stay put. If the gang was trying to divide us and get some of us away from guarding the treasure it wasn’t working. They would have to think of something else. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

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   So as promised, here is the true story behind the journal. It all started one Winter day when I was searching the internet about information on our mines in the Sierra Nevada mts of California. I had been researching for a good hour or more when I came across a website that contained old mining projects that the U.S. Dept of Interior had been involved in. To my surprise, one of the areas of my company's mining property was in there. It was a huge report - 282 pages long. It was so large that when I tried to download it and send it to our geologist it would stall & refuse to load. I called my son in law who is our vice president and very tech savvy. He was able to get it done.

   The report stated there had been a mining company based in Los Angeles that went out there on a lease deal to test & work some of the faultline area way up to the northern area of the property. They were in a 50/50 deal that was funded by the government. The owner of that part of what is now our property was a woman from Indiana who had inherited the claim. She knew nothing about mining and decided to lease the property.

   After I sent the report to our geologist I got an email from him asking if I had read page 152. I said that I had indeed read through the report but wanted to go back through it several more times. He told me to look at that particular page as it talked about a location of sizeable tonnage. The test numbers were in the report but figured in 1960's gold values. He converted it to the values at the time he read the report. Gold was around $1650/oz. He said some of the tests were averaging $100/yard and there were hot spots over $400/yard. The location in the report was a bit vague but described as a certain number of feet south of a certain object. I told him I had an idea where that area might be. He said we needed to find it.

   The report had a number of pages with testing results. The bedrock up north was very deep. There had been an attempt at hydraulicking up there back in the 1800's and the old crew had cut about 50 feet of overburden away and stopped. The southern area of our mines were hydraulicked in the 1800's with over 1.3 million ounces of gold taken according to the report but they never finished up because in 1884 the state of California put severe limits on that kind of mining and the big companies pulled out. But the intersting area up north is nearly half a mile NW of there. The company in the 1960's did some churn drill tests where the ground had been partially stripped and still didn't strike bedrock until 112 ft deep. The results of the tests were only fair and after a long series of tests the company pulled out. The ground is placer and not hardrock but due to the depth of bedrock the company sank a main shaft and did some drifting along bedrock and also some raised tunneling to get an idea of deposit. It was deemed too costly for what they were finding. Their company geologist had determined that it was too far north of the main gut of the gold channel which was ancient river channel. He stated it was at the very northern edge of the channel.

   Then came the history of this mine. Back in 1936 the ground was privately owned and not Federal Land as it is today. It was owned by a logging & lumber company who had a mill about 5 miles away. They were aware of the old gold mine workings and leased out the northern faultline area to a man named Mr Stevenson (my Jed Stevens in the journal). He was working the claim under the direction of California state geologist C. S. Haley. The report doesn't mention much about this relationship but my guess is that Haley had a part ownership of gold percentage in this project. He instructed Stevenson where he should work and a small crew was assembled. 

   The crew worked the ground during the Summer of 1936. Sometime in late Summer of that year the crew encountered an area of raised bedrock. The area was described as about 20 ft X 30 ft and was extremely rich ground. The crew glory holed it and removed over 1000 ounces of gold. The report goes on to say that there was trouble afterwords because Stevenson didn't live up to his contract as far as royalties. It goes on to state that Stevenson was murdered one night when he was  showing his gold while in "poor" company.

   Eventually the lumber company sold the land to the government and now it is administered by the Forest Service. There were several attempts to go back into the property to mine the northern faultline but all were by amateur miners and were not successful operations. Those attempts were back in the 1950's. So there you have it - the story behind the journal.

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Have you read the report "Gold Placers Of California" California State Mining Bureau Bulletin 92, 1923 by Charles Scott Haley?

https://archive.org/details/goldplacersofcal00halerich/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater

If it's not the report you have referenced, it may have more info on your area.

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5 hours ago, Gold Seeker said:

Have read the report "Gold Placers Of California" California State Mining Bureau Bulletin 92, 1923 by Charles Scott Haley?

https://archive.org/details/goldplacersofcal00halerich/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater

If it's not the report you have referenced, it may have more info on your area.

I don't think I have read that one. Thanks.

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   May 25   1937     Part Seven

 

   It got quiet again and we waited to see if anything would happen. There was somebody on our property with guns and that was not good. After a few minutes someone from up on the mountain hollered down at us. They said we had killed some of their friends. They said they knew we had found treasure and wanted it. The guy doing the hollering said if we gave them half of it they would leave peaceful like. Otherwise more were going to get hurt. John yelled back at them. He called them cowards and said they had their chance before but they turned tail and ran. He said we would finish them off in the next battle. 

   As soon as he finished saying that gunfire started up again. This time it was directed at us. I could hear bullets striking trees all around me. I saw the gun flashes and fired at them. Sarge opened up with the BAR and Ben did the same with the Thompson. We would see a muzzle flash and fire on it. The gun battle lasted for five minutes and it got quiet again. Sarge hollered out that he had shot one of them and to hold our positions. I was thinking that they were planning another attack but wasn’t sure from which direction. It was clear that they wanted the treasure wrapped up in the blanket. I hollered out to the gang saying come on in and take the treasure if you have the guts to try it. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

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