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

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, Reg Wilson said:

Many thanks GhostMiner, Not only for the fabulous saga of the journal, but for exciting memories of my own golden journey and the realization that the modern electronic gold rush needs to be recorded as well as the past.. The characters both good and bad are worthy and deserve to have their stories told.

For some time I have been working on just such a book, and thought that I had it ready some time ago, however there just seemed to be more and more material dragged back from memory and from meetings with old pals that I felt needed inclusion. The original book may turn out a little thicker, but nowhere near thick enough to tell the latest gold rush story adequately.

I really need to get this portion of the story told this year as time is slipping away.

Thanks again ghostMiner.

You are welcome and thanks for your kind words.

[GhostMiner]

   August 10   1936 

   The crew had their last breakfast at our old camp and we began breaking it down. Sarge and Ben have scouted the new processing and camp area and have their posts already set up. By supper time we had our new camp set up and the tom was also set. John will no doubt need to make a few adjustments when it first operates once again. He has become an experienced sluicer and we all trust his settings. We also set up an overhead water tank that is heated by the sun during the day and has a pull rope and shower head. It can also be heated by a fire if needed. This will be a luxury for all of us. We are anxious to get back to digging tomorrow.

  TO BE CONTINUED ...............

[GhostMiner]

  AUGUST 11   1936

   The crew headed up to the drift this morning. John stayed at camp and finished up loose ends while waiting for gravels to wash. Sarge and Ben are at their new posts guarding the operation. Seeing as we are further from camp at the dig site Ben has set up a day post up there to watch out for us while Sarge is down at his post near camp. They have us covered for sure. If any hooligans  attempt any shenanigans they will regret it. 

   It was another hot day. Jack calls it the big heat and has warned us to be careful. He said it is the kind of heat that can drop you before you realize it. The slope we are working in the drift has steepened sharply while continuing to narrow. There is still plenty of room to swing the pick but we may require a rope to pull out the loaded buckets soon. The gravels continue to fight the pick and shovel with no sign of a bottom yet. We are a stubborn crew and ended our day with 78 buckets of rich pay.

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

[GhostMiner]

Taking a look at the area where Jed & crew worked.

[GhostMiner]

Taking samples near one of the creeks.

[GhostMiner]

A lonely place on top of the faultline with some old timers tailing piles.

[GhostMiner]

The view looking southwest from top of the faultline.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

The view looking southwest from top of the faultline.

This is why I love the Sierra Nevada mountains. Some of the most beautiful country in the west. You can smell those Ponderosa pines & Cedars just looking at the pictures. 

[GhostMiner]

These pictures were taken standing on top of the faultline about 2000 ft south of Jed's diggings. Not far from the South Kettle on the map. To get bucket samples from up there I would take them down the side and across the gulley 1/2 mile through the woods to the creek to the longtom we built. Then go back up for more. Quite a workout. That bottom gulley was the main debris chute for the big hydraulic mining company that operated up there in the 1870's & 1880's. That's where all the reject material went through and down the mountain ending up on the side of the mountain and in the creeks at the bottom. The company got over a million ounces of gold up there but they missed a lot of it and got shut down by the Sawyer Decision of 1884 as well which limited hydraulic mining.

[GhostMiner]

Here's a picture standing in about the middle of that southern Top of Faultline Kettle on the map. I'm looking north. A lot of it has collapsed into the middle over the years. It's about 3/4 of a mile from any water but has gold in it still. Just a hint : Jed's crew is going to work this. How I won't say yet but I'll let you know thet Whiskey Jack gives them the plan and he knows all about that kettle. Will be coming up in the journal very soon. Kind of nice to see what the entries are about first hand. In August the temperature in that pit is over 120 degrees. That where I ran into the clack bear when I first discovered it by reading the journal.