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

[GhostMiner]

   I have a special guest who may be adding to the story soon. From Paxton California  -  The Honky Tonk Stardust Psychedelic Cowboy. He knows a lot about the history of our mining area as well as some untold stories about the old crew circa 1936 - 1937. 

[GhostMiner]

   According to the Honky Tonk Stardust Psychedelic Cowboy his grandfather kind of knew the old crew from 1936 - 1937. He said his grandfather worked part time at the Paxton Hotel back then as a bartender & sometimes a cook. The mining crew was run by a couple of Irish brothers named Stevens. Sometimes the entire crew came in and sometimes just one or two of them. Supposedly they always carried guns and knives and were a rough bunch. Jed was supposed to be meaner than a snake when provoked and loved to fight. Heavy drinkers and hell raisers according to him. They were involved in a bunch of fights in Paxton. Lots of times it was with loggers who hated the miners and vice versa. His grandfather told him about one fight where one of the Stevens brothers (he wasn't sure which one) threw a logger right through a plate glass window and out into the parking lot of the hotel. They were a wild bunch.

   This is just a little bit of what the cowboy told me & I will be posting more here soon. Interesting stuff.

[GhostMiner]

   June 24   2002

 

   When morning came we were all eager to resume mining. Jim took his position as guard up at the pump location. He was getting more mobile now and able to do a little bit of patrolling up and down the water line trail as well. 

   Our gravel pile was getting low so I jumped in the excavator and deepened the trench some while depositing the material near the tom. It was a big plus having pay gravel right at the head of the tom. No buckets to carry and we were only limited by how many shovels full of gravel we could feed into the hopper. By 2:00 PM the temperature sat around 100 degrees. This was a very dry and oven-like heat that sucked the moisture right out of your body. Vern, Jacob, and I all did our work without much talk. Only an occasional grunt or curse word when the shovels struck something large and unmoveable. When that happened it sent a shock wave right up the forearms and into the elbows and shoulders. We always estimated the yardage of pay sent through the tom. There was no way to give an exact figure but we believed we were always within a yard or so either way.

   Jacob was working right along with us and he kept a slow and steady pace for most of the time. Sometimes it was hard for me to think that he was 85 years old. He could still do a fair amount of work over the course of the day. We always kept a close eye on him and made sure he took frequent rest breaks. By the end of the day we had sent 32 yards of gravel through the tom and were completely wiped out. We headed for camp and some cold beer.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

[GhostMiner]

  June 25   2002

 

   Last night we had a black bear that kept circling our camp. He came near the perimeter a bunch of times but never all the way into the actual camp. Jacob dealt with him as usual by firing a few bursts from the Thompson which sent him packing. That gun will scare the heck out of anyone or anything.

   Other than the curious bear we had a quiet night which is always welcome out here. We all got to work early and were actually shoveling gravel into the tom at the crack of dawn. We wanted to get as much work done before the big heat reared its ugly head. It would usually be around 90 degrees by 11:00 AM and top out around 5:00 PM in the afternoon at around 100 to 110 degrees. It was beginning to take its toll on us. We are discussing stopping work around 5:00 PM but starting a little earlier to make up for the lost couple of hours. Today we managed to process 36 yards of pay gravel and the weigh brought us 3.8 ounces of gold.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

Heading out on a concert tour until early next week. I'll leave you prospectors some good music to listen to until I get back. May your pans be full of course gold & pickers.

 

[Mike Furness]

Thanks for the warning GhostMiner! LOL Have a fun time!