Old Miner Don

Yes I think gold and silver are going to spike like you said. The reason I think a trip to Mexico is a bad plan is this. They are a very tight crew of 5 men. If three head for Mexico they are no longer 5 men and will be very vulnerable to all sorts of danger. They won't be tight and they won't be strong splitting up like that. Especially the two guarding the camp, claim and treasure. Even with the deputies help they are goners. Would be easy to ambush them. The three going south are traveling hundreds of miles to a foreign country with foreign laws to confront men they have never met in a place that they know nothing about. Gosh what could go wrong there? I know these 3 are tough but they aren't bullet proof and probably don't even speak spanish. I realize it is fiction and I don't mean to criticize YOU and your efforts because you are writing every day and I don't mean to hinder that. Sorry for the lengthy comment Ghostminer and from now on I will just enjoy the ride and not comment much. Thank you!

Very dumb plan.

I like the crew. I just don't want them to die without getting all of that treasure and gold out of the ground first. And where are all of the women? They go into town to 'unwind'? And end up in the bar drinking more booze? Not my idea of how to unwind. In a hotel room with a fairly attractive woman would be more like it. Seems like these guys would have gotten tired by now of dating mano-uella. What do you think?

I just have to say this. The thug may not be too smart but he probably isn't any dummer than the gold mining crew lol.

You probably haven't lost your mind Jacob, but you guys better get to work on that eastern drift mine.

Lol! I thought for sure it was going to be that hairy man that was spotted at the beginning of Jed's journal. Don't remember if it was Sarge or John that got there first but it was them that fired off some warning shots while on watch duty one night. Good job on the story telling!

I'm glad John didn't shoot them.

So I leaned back in my seat as John rested the barrel of his BAR on my window sill and proceeded to remodel the top of that Cadillac. Right?

Yeah I knew it was Jed's brother doing the talking. But easy to forget his name when he is the one always doing the talking.

So there is Will, John and Hudson plus the guy doing the talking. Forgot his name. Not enough men to safely operate up there. Need at least two men on guard at all times. Time to find more help and the sooner the better.

Good idea giving that some thought lol.

Doesn't Sarge or John own a farm? I don't understand why they haven't used that farm for a place to bury some of that loot. Of course you would want to make sure that no one follows you lol. Seems like no matter what precautions you take in this story somebody is watching you. How in the heck Jed let someone sneak up on him and shoot him in the back of the head while he was burying his gold is almost unbelieveable. Good story though man! Keep up the good work and thank you!

Wow you really are putting in some time on this beach! What are you using for a scoop?

Happy 4th of July to you too Ghost Miner!! I was just catching up on reading a few pages of the story and it for sure is getting interesting. But it looks like Slim is bad news. They should have never let that guy join up. Death follows that dude like flies on crap.

Where are the rocks?

I miss Jed as well. Wish we had a photo of him.

I admit that I don't know much about core drilling. But isn't the drilling through gravel and not solid rock? And you are talking about drilling down 20' to possibly 50' or so? I guess it takes a big enough truck that can climb those hills and set up a tower with the drilling rig on it. Sounds like an expensive truck but the drilling part of it would be kinda easy compared to solid rock?

Yikes! Can you do core drilling to determine if your best guess is a reality?

I was hoping they would find out how they snuck up on Jed at his gold hiding spot. Please ask before you blow their heads off.

Well the season is off to a good start isn't it?

Yee Haw! Thank you Ghost Miner!

You did a great job Ghost Miner 👍.

Are you referring to someone in the crew or a hooligan? I doubt that every bit of conversation about gold was recorded in the journal. We can safely assume that. We know the crew was concerned for Jed's safety. At the very end Jed may have told them not to worry about him and that he had his gold stashed miles away. He may even have said that the very next day after everyone leaves he is going to drive up and check on his gold. If he had a back stabbing crew member that was intent on robbing him then Jed may have let on too much about going to check on the gold. Then figure that Hudson and the other guy's eyes about pop out of their head when they are told how much gold the crew had total. For sure a few hundred ounces was Jed's. It may have been more than a honest crew member could handle. It seems odd how fast the robber moved in. Word must have traveled very fast after the crew left, if it was one of the hooligans. For sure Jed had made lots of enemies up there! But I can't understand Jed's thinking that he could make it alone all winter. Not even a good dog to bark and warn him about someone sneaking around. If Jed was woken up in his tent with a rifle stuck in his face then a dog would very likely have prevented that. But the loneliness and the snow and the hooligans how in the world did he think he could handle that in a camp tent? Kinda crazy IMO. Should have taken that gold and wintered out in the company of a good woman and stay away from the whiskey for awhile lol. Play it smarter. Of course I'm one to talk lol...

OR perhaps Jed was jumped by someone while he was alone at the camp and then was forced at gun point to drive to the gold. On the promise they wouldn't kill him, but they did anyway. Would Jed do that or would he rather die first and keep his gold a secret? Wish we could ask him!

Wow wonder how that happened? Seems like it would have been very difficult for someone to tail him for 20 miles to where the gold was hidden. Amazing that the killer never bragged about it and was found out. UNLESS Jed was double crossed by someone in the crew! Thank you very much Ghost Miner for telling this tale and are the same guys coming back next season to mine? Guys from the same crew?