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

[GhostMiner]

3 minutes ago, Bedrocker said:

I'm glad John didn't shoot them.

At least not yet.

[GhostMiner]

 

 

[GhostMiner]

   June 7   1937       Part Two

 

   I hit the brakes hard and the big car didn’t react and just sped on down the road leaving us in the dust. It was headed in the same direction as we were and that meant town. I brought the truck to a complete stop and asked John what he thought we should do. He said to keep with our plan and head into town. If we ran into that crew we’d deal with them. John said he could have taken them all out with the BAR and they were stupid for messing with us.

   When we pulled into town we headed for the general store to buy some supplies. I placed an ad on the board in the store stating we were looking for security guards and the pay would be good. It said to contact the store owner and leave your information with him and we would be in town to check from time to time. As we were finishing up one of the town deputies came over and read what I had posted. He was a young guy and told us he might be interested if the pay was right. I told him that we were looking for full time help, not part time. He just laughed and said he’d quit his job for a better one at the drop of a hat. He said it was a shit hole town with nothing but rif raf running everything and even the police were on the take. 

   I asked him what was his name and how old he was.  His name was Dan and he said he was twenty five years old. He said he was sick of working on the force and he didn’t get along too well with the other deputies except for one who was near his age and honest like him. That guy's name was Luther. I asked him when they could meet with us and he said he’d give Luther a call right then. When he hung up the phone he said Luther would be right over to meet with us. Dan told me that if they quit it would be best to do it on the spot and not give notice as they could be harassed. He said he’d seen it before with the Sheriff. So we all had a bottle of pop and waited for Luther. 

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   June 7   1937     Part Three

 

   When Luther arrived we all went into the back office which was private. The store keep was a good guy and willing to help us because we spent so much money in there. I didn’t mention anything about the car and the drive into town. Dan said they all had heard lots of things about our mine and crew. He said it was a shame about my brother Jed. I told them that we were a tight crew and were like family. I said they would need to stand with us against hooligans if things got rough. The deputies said they didn’t have a problem dealing with troublemakers. There had been a number of them over the past few years that the police had beaten up or worse. Luther said that the town was in rough shape and some of the force was on the take from gangsters and such. He said they were both ready to get the hell out of there.

   I told them what I would pay them as well as the percentage of gold they would get and their eyes bugged out. I told them we would be working out on the mountain until we got froze out and after that they would be out of work until the following season. They told us that it would take them nearly two years working as deputies to make the kind of money I was offering for working the rest of the mining season. They said they’d turn in their badges that day and meet us out on the mine in the morning.

   John and I left the room for a minute and had a short meeting. We decided that we needed to talk with Will and Hudson before hiring them. Then we went back in the room and told them our crew would have a meeting and decide whether to make them part of our team. They said to just come into town and let the general store owner know what we decided. With that John and I headed back toward camp. As we were driving back we saw the Cadillac on our tail again. It had come up behind us out of nowhere.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

[GhostMiner]

   June 7   1937     Part Four

 

   There was absolutely no doubt now that we were being followed and they didn’t care if we knew it. The Big Cadillac came right up close to our back bumper. I slowed the truck down and they pushed up against the back of my truck. Then they backed off about twenty feet. John was getting madder than hell and told me to slow down to a crawl. When I did the car picked up speed and sped past us and out of sight around a curve up ahead. 

   I pulled my truck over on the side of the road. John said there might be an ambush so we should move ahead slowly. When we got to the bend he told me to pull over again. Then he grabbed the BAR and said he would cut through the woods and get a look at the other side of the curve in case the thugs were sitting there waiting for us. 

   I waited about two minutes and John came running back. He said they were parked up ahead and they had guns. They hadn’t spotted him and he figured we might be able to take them by surprise. I pulled the truck into the woods and got out with my Thompson. We cut through the trees to where they were parked. I figured they must have been wondering what had happened to us so we needed to move quickly. 

 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

[GhostMiner]

   June   1937     Part Five

 

   John and I crept up from the woods which overlooked the road. There were four thugs with handguns sitting in the Cadillac. They were parked on the side of the road and looking back towards the curve waiting for us if we came through. We leveled our weapons right at them and I hollered out to drop their guns or be cut down. They turned towards the woods in complete surprise and I fired a burst into the air from the Thompson. I told them we had heavy weapons and they were outgunned. John shouted for them to toss the handguns out the windows on our side of the road which they did. I took them into the woods at gunpoint while John pulled their car into the woods.

   They were dressed in cheap suits and were trying to look tough but it wasn’t working. We had dealt with their type before and knew how to handle them. I  asked them who they were and why they were following us. John had the BAR pointing right at them. The leader said they were with a group of jewelry buyers and were their security agents. He told us that we had stolen the buyer’s money in a strong armed deal at gunpoint and they were hired to protect their interests and get the money back. John laughed in his face and told him we had made a fair deal and weren’t giving anything back.

   The thug doing the talking told John he had no idea who he was dealing with. He said the group was made up of very powerful people from Europe and they would not hesitate to use force to achieve their goals. John walked over to the guy and calmly asked the thug what he meant by force. Then he asked if he meant something like this and rammed the butt of the BAR into the guy's stomach. The thug doubled over and John brought the butt end down on his head. The gangster was now laying on the ground groaning. John told his gang to get him on his feet which they did. We tied their hands behind their backs.

   I asked them who owned the car. He said it was the guys we had beaten up. There was a deep ravine just a bit further into the woods. John took the license plate off the car and drove it to the edge of a two hundred foot drop off. Then we got the gang to push the car over the edge by leaning into the back end of it with their shoulders. It went over the edge and we all watched it crash to the bottom of the canyon. We grabbed the hand guns and walked the group through the woods and over to my truck. We threw the handguns in the cab and tied up the thugs real tight and put them in the back of the truck and covered them with a big tarp. Then we drove onto a side road that went up the mountain to an abandoned logging camp. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   There is an old logging camp not far from those claims. 

[GhostMiner]

   Mess with Jacob & crew at your own peril. They are battle hardened and bad as bad gets.

 

 

[GhostMiner]

   I know this probably doesn't belong here but here goes - the story of my step grandfather's WW2 service. It's a treasure of a special kind. I will post where to read the rest of his story. 

              Thomas -------------

 

                                              WW 2 Veteran

 

   INTRODUCTION : This is the military record of my step grandfather Thomas  who served in the Army Air Corps before and during WW 2. The historical documentation set forth in this account is taken from actual military records and documents as well as a journal Thomas  kept during the time of his service. It is being written as a tribute to him as well as to all of the men and women who served our country during WW 2. There are many untold stories of all these people. I was lucky enough to come across this long forgotten information which I found in a desk in 2022 and feel it is my duty to bring it out in this writing as there is no one left but me to do it. Like many, Grandpa Tom never talked about the war or his service much so I was quite surprised when I began to read through all the documents. I hope he would have been proud to see this writing. 

 

   Thomas was born in Olean, NY. He died on October 20, 1987 . He enlisted in the Army Air Corp on September 1, 1939 as a member of the 36th Pursuit Squadron (F)  and was honorably discharged on September 8, 1945. He was in the 432nd Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, and two Bronze Stars. The Bronze Star Medal or BSM is given for sacrifice, bravery, and honor while serving your country.

   This group supported the Lockheed Martin P38 fighter plane which was capable of climbing 3300 feet in one minute and reached speeds of 400 miles per hour which earned it the title of the fastest fighter in the world in 1940. Thomas’ job was to keep these planes in the air. His duties were to repair damaged sheet metal structures and light metal fittings of airplanes, reconstruct badly damaged wings, elevators, fairings, cowlings, and hatches. He was also a certified engine mechanic. 

   Thomas was promoted to Corporal 36th Pursuit Squadron on April 1, 1941. Next he was promoted to Sergeant 36th Pursuit Squadron on July 18, 1941. His next promotion was to Staff Sergeant 36th Pursuit Squadron on March 15, 1942. Thomas was also given the King Neptune Certificate on February 1, 1942. This was given to those who crossed the equator by ship. 

   On July 20, 1944, Thomas’s brother who was a Sergeant was killed when two planes collided over Cavenish England. He had entered the Air Corps in March of 1943. He had specialized in the Norden bomb sight. 

 

   The following comes from the journal that Thomas kept. It was hand written in ink and there may be a few letters or words I couldn’t make out so in that case there is a ? in place of the letter or word I couldn’t read.

 

Dec. 7  1941

   I am at Mitchel Field, having just returned from the Louisiana maneuvers.

 

Dec. 21  1941 

   At Stratford Municipal Airport patrolling with P 39’s

 

Jan. 13  1942

   We returned to Mitchel Field at Long Island New York and are getting equipped for another move. 

 

Jan. 28  1942

   We arrived in Frisco after a four day X country train ride - interned at Angel Island, West Coast Embarkation Point.

 

Feb. 12  1942

   We boarded a troop ship USAT Maui in Frisco Bay. Leaving the States and heading out into the Pacific.

[GhostMiner]

   June 7   1937     Part Six

   When we got up to the old camp we unloaded the thugs off the back of my truck. I told them that they thought they were tough but had no idea how tough John and I were. I told them they had messed with the wrong people and that we had been in countless wars out here with all kinds of trash like them. We questioned them and found out there were no other gangsters around. After we gave them a good working over they were ready to talk with us. They said the foreign group had left with the treasure but they had hung around and were planning on robbing us. It was just the four of them. 

   I grabbed a shovel out of the back of the truck and marched them to the outside limits of the camp and took them into the woods. I told them to take turns digging a hole. I told them to make it about eight feet deep. John and I had our guns trained on them as they dug. The leader asked us what we had planned for them. I told them to keep digging and keep their mouths shut or they’d get another beating. After about two hours they had a big hole dug and were having trouble throwing the dirt out of it. I told them it was deep enough. I took the shovel from them and told them to stay put in the hole. It was stone quiet except for one of the thugs crying. Another was begging for his life and the other two were motionless and staring down at the dirt below their feet. Then I gave John a nod.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............