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

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, Bedrocker said:

You probably haven't lost your mind Jacob, but you guys better get to work on that eastern drift mine.

   This part of the journal like some of it is based on a true event. My son in law and I were camped near Jed's dig site back in 2012. This was a year before we had the government report and had no idea what had taken place on our claims. My son in law heard voices in the woods and we shined our flashlights and caught a brief look at several figures that vanished before our eyes. We figured them to be ghosts. The true story (the report) tells of the miner (Jed), who's name I changed, finding a huge gold deposit and being murdered up there. 

[Quick]

I have only read 4 pages of this story. I find it interesting that the gold weights are listed in grams in the journal. Back then it would of been in Dwt and grains one would think.

[GhostMiner]

7 hours ago, Quicksilver said:

I have only read 4 pages of this story. I find it interesting that the gold weights are listed in grams in the journal. Back then it would of been in Dwt and grains one would think.

   Thanks for reading the journal. I believe grams were also used. Remember, this is an adventure story based on some true events and not a factual history lesson. Enjoy the ride.

[GhostMiner]

   June 9   1937

 

   Will and I worked the dig site yesterday. I kept looking around expecting to see Whisky Jack and Jed working beside us. I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being watched. I brought a bottle of whisky with me to keep my nerves steady. We all wear our 45’s at all times and bring the Thompsons with us as well. It’s always an uneasy feeling out here now. It seems like we are just waiting for the next shootout. We weighed up four ounces in the pan this morning. That was from only 110 buckets.

   We are working prime gravels again. Most gold miners could only dream of digging this material. Some might kill for it and that’s what worries me. Once again, we got a good head of steam worked up and made hay. The digging is not hard in any way and the two of us took 200 buckets down to John. He was grinning from ear to ear. I told him I had done a few pans up at the dig site and they were loaded with coarse gold. We are near country rock and cutting along the bottom of the mountain going in as far as we can before the hill collapses. Then we move laterally. We’ll find out how good these gravels are soon. 

   John went up to the watch post after supper and the rest of the crew drank beer and whisky and talked about last night. There’s something unsettling about this place and it draws trouble. Our crew is tight and like family. We watch out for each other. We have become a tough and dangerous crew if messed with. I’ve been going stir crazy and was talking with Will. We decided to go into town for a spell and get a few drinks at the tavern. Hudson and John didn’t like the idea much but we went anyway.

   It was a Wednesday night and I figured things to be quiet. When we pulled into the parking lot there were only a few cars and a truck parked there but there were plenty of people inside. Will and I walked up to the bar and ordered drinks. Then we found a quiet spot at a corner table. We were only there a minute when Will poked me and said to have a look at the end of the bar. Well, well I thought. What a surprise.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

   June 10   1937

 

   We were at the table in the tavern and saw Roger, one of the buyers we had dealt with. He saw us and headed out the door as quick as he could. Will and I looked at each other and just shrugged it off. We were out for a change of scenery and both wanted to blow off some steam. 

   We had the barkeep set us up with a bottle of good whisky and beer chasers. We were downing shots and talking gold mining. The tavern was fairly quiet and we were in there until closing time. Eventually we headed out the door and walked across the dimly lit parking lot towards my truck. Suddenly, we were approached by three guys and they were carrying billy clubs. I hollered out to Will to run for the truck. We got to it just before they did and one of them smashed out the back window. I jammed the keys into the ignition and sped off onto the street. Then I stopped and we looked back. They were walking in our direction. We were about fifty yards from them and I pulled out my 45 and fired a round into the air which caused them to scatter. Will said we should head back to camp but I told him that one of them was going to pay for my back window.

   I told Will to stay with the truck and I took off in the direction they had run. I looked around but couldn’t find anyone. It seemed they had vanished into the night like the rats they were. I Got back over to the truck and we headed back to the mine.

   We worked the dig site from late morning until dark and got 165 buckets down to the tom. It was all good gravel. At supper John was saying how foolish it was for us to have gone into the tavern. I told him I was sick and tired of being controlled by thugs. He just shook his head and dropped the subject. Hudson went up on first watch when we finished eating. It was a warm night and I was restless. Will and I sat up awhile with John and had a few cups. Eventually John and Will went back to their tents but I stayed up and kept drinking and rolling smokes. I was starting to feel like an outlaw and I liked it.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   June 11   1937     Part One

 

   We weighed up the gold this morning and had three ounces. The gold is coarse and plentiful. Today Hudson wanted to go up and work at the dig site. He is healed up and ready to go so Will is at the watch post today. I told Hudson to work slowly and rest from time to time. We are in no hurry and the gold isn’t going anywhere.

   After a good morning of work Hudson and I went back down to camp with a load of buckets on the truck and had a good lunch. The weather is starting to get hot in the afternoon now. Hudson said he was ready to keep working so we headed back up to the site. When we got up there I saw a horse and rider just east the mine. He was riding slowly in our direction. I parked the truck and we watched him ride right up to us. We both had our Thompsons pointed in his direction.

   The rider was dressed in old buckskins and wore a coonskin hat. He had a big revolver in a holster and a long gun in a scabbard. He looked to be middle aged and had a bushy beard which was beginning to gray. He looked at Hudson and I and asked who we were. I gave him a stare and told him it was none of his business who we were and asked him who he was. He just gave me a sneer and said he was surprised we didn’t know him. I told him there was no reason why I should know who he was and asked him once again who he was and what he wanted.

   He gave me a long look and said his name was Billy Brooks and was riding out of a ghost town located in Mexico. He wouldn’t give the name but told me he was an enforcer for one of the outlaw gangs located down there. He said that if he gave the name we would know it. He also said he had seen us at the tavern the other night and had been in town for a few weeks. It seems our crew had a reputation all the way to Mexico and beyond. He had heard quite a bit about us and also heard some recent information about our treasure which was rumored to have come out of Mexico. He said he hailed from Nevada but spent most of his time either in Mexico or heading out on the road dealing with gang related  business matters.

   I told him I had no idea what he was talking about as far as treasure or our mining crew. He just laughed. He told Hudson and I that he was up here on business and we had better hear him out. I leveled Thompson at him and told him to start talking. I told him that if I didn’t like what he said I would shoot him off his horse and put him in a hole on the mine.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

[GhostMiner]

   June 11   1937     Part Two

 

   Billy Brooks looked at me and said to take it easy. He said his gang had a business proposition for us. They knew we had sold most of the treasure and had money hidden as well as working a rich mine. They wanted to be partners with us. He said they could provide all the protection we would need and in return wanted a cut of the treasure money and gold. He said they could also provide slave labor to work the claims. He told us that before we gave him an answer we had better consider who they were and what danger we could find ourselves in.

   At this point I’d heard enough. I told him to come down to camp with Hudson and me because I wanted the rest of the crew to hear this proposal first hand. I told him we were a team and always talked over all the big decisions. With that Hudson and I drove the truck down to camp while the gang enforcer followed on horseback. I was thinking to myself that when we got to camp this was going to get real interesting. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   June 11   1937     Part Three

 

   We got down to camp and I called John over to where we were standing. Will saw us and came over as well. Brooks took a look at us and remarked that we carried lots of heavy firepower. He said he had heard we were a bad bunch not to be messed with. I ignored him and told John and Will what this guy was wanting to do. John let out a laugh and said here’s a guy on horseback armed with a six shooter and a rifle. He says he represents a Mexican gang but won’t give us the name. He calls himself an enforcer. John said he thought he was a clown and had more nerve than smarts riding onto our mine. I backed John and told him if he went for his six shooter I’d cut him to pieces with my Thompson before he cleared leather.

   Brooks looked surprised and said he wasn’t used to being talked to like that. He said he’d sent many men to their graves for less. John told him if he didn’t like the way we talked then get off his horse and he’d fight him man to man. Brooks said he wasn’t interested in fighting but had been sent here to make a deal. I told him we weren’t interested and he better get off our mine while he still could. Brooks asked me if that was a threat and I told him to take it any way he wanted. I told him we don’t like strong arm gangsters coming out here trying to intimidate us. I told him if he had heard much about us like he said then he should know that. 

   John walked over to the side of his horse and pulled his rifle out of the scabbard. Then he swung it down hard on a big rock and the wooden stock broke off. John took the barrel and threw it in the creek. This didn’t set well with Brooks. I could see that he wanted to go for his six shooter. I was hoping he'd try.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

   June 11   1937     Part Four

 

   I told Brooks to go ahead and make a try for his gun. He looked at me and gave me a sick smile and said we had him at a disadvantage. He said he had made a mistake in coming out here trying to talk with us about a deal. I told him we don’t make deals with thugs and gangs. I told him that he indeed had made a big mistake coming out here and now was going to pay for it.

   I gave John a nod and he rammed the barrel of the BAR into Brook’s side. He let out a cry and gasped for air. I pulled him off his horse and he fell to the ground with a thud. John reached down and removed his six shooter as well as a long knife. I fired a burst from the Thompson into the air and his horse ran off.

   John grabbed him by his coat and lifted him to his feet. Brooks was moaning and saying John had no call to strike him. John laughed and said he was supposed to be a big, tough enforcer for a Mexican gang. He said he didn’t seem very tough to him. Then he drilled him square on the jaw with a right hand and Brooks went down. We put him in the back of my truck and drove him out into the desert and left him. We removed his boots and gave him a canteen of water. John and I laughed all the way back to camp. We had some time left and went back to work. Our bucket total ended up being 65. Once again we had been sidetracked from mining gold. We were all tired of it.  

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[dig4gold]

A mistake letting another thug go free.

D4G