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

[GhostMiner]

6 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Great read, and I suspect these words held true for a lot of miners 🤠

As long as they can work in the morning LOL.

[maxxkatt]

One think I think we seem (or I) to forget that back then it was a pretty lawless time in those areas. Based on some of my readings about the Dahlonega and Auraria area the miners did hide their gold at night since being robbed was a very common occurrence in the 1800's and probably also in the early 1900's. It was well known that thousands of miners were in the Dahlonega and Auraria gold workings. Auraria was once a thriving town. Now it is just a ghost town with one old general store and a collapsed hotel. When the word about gold gets out, honest miners are always followed by shopkeepers and robbers, saloons and saloon girls.

Is it any different today? Look at Las Vegas and you will find the same mix of people except the miners are replaced by gamblers. Prospecting for gold like metal detecting is gambling your time for a good payout. Times change and times stay the same.

 

 

[DOOGY-MD]

Awesome!!......

...and thank you Steve for allowing GM to present this rare journal to us, on the worlds best metal detecting and prospecting platform!

During the winter months as you know, when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground, subzero temperatures for 3 weeks straight, Covid on the loose, can't metal detect, can't chase down nuggets, a rare journal as this, is a golden inspiration and joy to read this cold winter!

 

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Awesome!!......

...and thank you Steve for allowing GM to present this rare journal to us, on the worlds best metal detecting and prospecting platform!

During the winter months as you know, when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground, subzero temperatures for 3 weeks straight, Covid on the loose, can't metal detect, can't chase down nuggets, a rare journal as this, is a golden inspiration and joy to read this cold winter!

 

Thanks so much for the kind words!

[GhostMiner]

   JUNE 26   1936

   Yesterday's bucket count was lower and so was the gold weigh. We had 2 ounces in the pan. I think it means the gravel values are staying steady and very rich. I sent Jacob into town for supplies and in addition to food I told him to buy 10 cases of Lucky Lagers for the crew. I think this may help keep spirits up for everyone. He also bought new shovels as our original ones are in poor shape.

   We banged away at the kettle throughout the day. The river rock is not any bigger and we are able to manage it. The gravels look really good the deeper the hole gets. I test panned some of it during the day and am seeing lots of coarse gold. We are still waiting for the nuggets. Perhaps they are not here. The gold may have traveled down the old river channel a long distance and been down some. The smooth wall continues to drop straight down at the east of the kettle. The work is slow and steady. At the end of the day we got 140 buckets delivered to John. After supper the crew all had a few Lucky's and were in good spirits for sure. We were all taking our best guesses at the depth of the bottom of the kettle. I would be surprised if it was deeper than 15 or 20 feet. I know one thing for sure, we will find out where the bottom is before we leave.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[oneguy]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:32 PM, Gold Catcher said:

The fameous Walter Huston dance. I do that whenever I find and "bigger" nugget, provided nobody is looking....

 

Did the "dance" on my 1st big nuggie (25 grammer), I was all alone.  Next big nuggie a year later (3.55ozt.) all I could do was sit there on my knees a LMAO then try and detect a few more minutes, then fall to my knees again and LMAO more. etc. etc.

Now when I find a nice one I just start laughing...

[GhostMiner]

4 hours ago, oneguy said:

Did the "dance" on my 1st big nuggie (25 grammer), I was all alone.  Next big nuggie a year later (3.55ozt.) all I could do was sit there on my knees a LMAO then try and detect a few more minutes, then fall to my knees again and LMAO more. etc. etc.

Now when I find a nice one I just start laughing...

I'd probably pass out LOL.

[GhostMiner]

   JUNE 27   1936

   At dawn just before breakfast I took a short hike up the creek and continued about a half mile past our claim marker. I saw the ground riddled with test holes and scattered rocks. It appears the various groups of prospectors have been doing their work in trying to find a good place to stake a claim. I have been curious as to why we are working alone and not up against other mining claims. It seems  to me the creek and benches don’t hold enough gold to make a good claim. We are fortunate to have a unique area of rich fault line. This also tells me that the gold probably did not disperse much past the fan of the drop zone. It also makes me confident that the big deposit is completely contained in the immediate vicinity of the bottom of the fault area. The only question I have is how many of these kettles are contained along the bottom of the fault on the claim. That answer could require several seasons of exploration. Down at the weigh we had a nice one. There were 6 ounces in the pan. This keeps our energy fueled. There is nothing like seeing good gold in the pan just after sun up. 

   Back at the dig site Jacob, Will, and me continued our labor as usual. I have never once had to ask for more work from the crew. If anything, they are more than eager and I am trying to get them to pace themselves in the heat. The morning work is easiest as we are fresh and temperatures are cool. By noon the heat begins to build and seems to peak at the end of the afternoon. When the sun sets the temperatures drop off quickly and we are all putting on heavy shirts or jackets around the campfire. 

   Today we all worked hard as usual and moved some good sized rock. We used the bar more than the previous days as well but still took out 140 buckets of gravel. It was Lucky Lager and whisky time.

[GhostMiner]

Just wanted to say thank you to all the readers of Jed's journal. It has been a dream of mine to post his entries on a great website like this. There is much more to come.

[Cascade Steven]

GM: I anxiously await your daily entry and have now become truly addicted to this wonderful story.  Again, thank you for your continued effort.👍👍👍