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

GhostMiner

By GhostMiner
in Detector Prospector Forum

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GhostMiner
GhostMiner

As an introduction, I am the president of a small placer gold mine exploration & leasing company. While doing research on one of our mine properties I came across an old leather journal & thou

GhostMiner
GhostMiner

AUGUST 5   1936    Once again we had Whiskey Jack weigh up the gold this morning and saw 7 ounces. We were all happy but no one was happier than Jack. He was hopping up and down and threw his hat

GhostMiner
GhostMiner

AUGUST 22   1936    Last night Sarge woke me up around 2:00 AM. He said there were some people moving up the mountain towards our new dig site and he was heading up there with John and wanted me

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GhostMiner

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   MAY 7   1936

   Last night we stayed out of the whiskey and slept good. I took first watch and John was up there the second shift. Then things headed south once again. We were fixing coffee and bacon when in walks the three rag tags into camp. The one with the rifle says they tested ground all over the mountain the last few days and none of it looked any good. He asks again about his crew working with us for a small percent of any gold found and coffee and beans. Once again I told him we weren't finding any gold and didn't need anyone. Then he started to argue with me and said being camped up and such a big excavation going we must be on to something good.

   John had stood up infront of the guy and had his rifle in hand. I was caught flat footed. The last staement by the guy made John snap. I had never seen this in the ten years I had known him. John rammed the butt end of the rifle into the guys belly and he went down on his knees. Then John whacked him in the face with the butt end and he slumped over on his face. I jumped up off my chair ready for anything coming. One of the younger guys made a lunge at John but John caught him on the side of the head with the rifle barrel, withdrew it, and brought it up hard under his chin. He went down hard as well. The other guy stood there shaking.

   The second guy eventually got up and was cursing up a storm at John. John made the guy tell him where they were camped. I'm not saying how he did this. Then John told him to pick up his friend who was still passed out and git. And he made them leave the rifle. After this we followed them up to where they had a rough camp set up. The first guy had come around by now. We busted up their camp and told them to pack up and leave the area. John told them that if he saw them on our claims again it would go even rougher for them. They left but they weren't happy about it. Regardless of what anybody hears about this event this is the way it all happened.

   By then it was nearly noon so we decided to both go up and dig for a few hours and get back down to the creek until we felt sure they weren't coming back. We only dug 15 buckets and worked the tom. Once again we got a cracker jack return on our labor. Almost one and one half ounces. We are in something special.

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GhostMiner Platinum Contributor

GhostMiner

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25 minutes ago, nebulanoodle said:

It’d be pretty cool to see photos of the journal entries as well!

   Believe it or not I don't own a smart phone but I use a chrome book on occasion. It has a camera. My wife has it at work today but i'll get it later. 

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GhostMiner

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9 minutes ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Oh boy,.….. time to run for hills uncle Jed!

Depression era. People were desperate. Not all that different from today in a way. We're being claim jumped as well. Same location. Nothing has really changed. 

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GhostMiner Platinum Contributor

GhostMiner

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18 minutes ago, DOOGY-MD said:

Sorry to hear that....

What can you do to remedy the situation? Trail game cameras?

We just did that but it still won't tell us who they are. They have a big hole going on some high grade $500/yard gravel deposit. We may pull a camper up there when the weather is better and keep a man on site 24/7. However, it is remote and could be dangerous. Sounds just like the old days. 

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Lanny Gold Contributor

Lanny

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What a great gold tale! Thoroughly enjoying the read, and I can relate to suspicious characters in the gold fields, have run into too many over the years. Having said that though, far more nice people I've met that were out chasing the gold.

Love his journal-entry style, fresh, sparse and smooth.

Thanks for sharing, and all the best,

Lanny

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GhostMiner Platinum Contributor

GhostMiner

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23 minutes ago, Lanny said:

What a great gold tale! Thoroughly enjoying the read, and I can relate to suspicious characters in the gold fields, have run into too many over the years. Having said that though, far more nice people I've met that were out chasing the gold.

Love his journal-entry style, fresh, sparse and smooth.

Thanks for sharing, and all the best,

Lanny

Thanks Lanny.

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