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Old Miner Don

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    58 minutes ago, Mike_Hillis said:

     Used to be a drinker.  I think me and my friends were pert near regulars in the local drunk tank at the city jail.  At least I never waited there very long without someone I knew getting tossed in there too.   Best part of it was breakfast!  Coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.  Just what the doctor ordered for a hang over!   

    I can only dream what life might have been like if I hadn't started drinking so early in life.  Now I'm 26 years sober so far and life has been far better sober than it ever was drunk.

    I hope Jed can get a handle on it.

    HH
    Mike

     

    Congratulations Mike!

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

      SEPTEMBER 24   1936

       This morning my hand was still sore but I was able to work but at a slower pace than normal. I took a bottle of Bushmills up to the site with me to use as a pain medication when needed. John and Hudson were going to town on the gravels and the noise of the shovels bounced down the mountain. There was plenty of good natured banter between us and I thought to myself if only Whiskey Jack was here to see the work and the gold. We all enjoyed the cooler weather and that was helping us work at a good clip. The longer I worked the sorer my hand was getting and the more whiskey I drank. By early afternoon I was getting drunk but still kept a decent pace. I made it to the end of the day and the weigh but my bottle had run dry. We ended with 3 more ounces in the jar. 

       Back at camp Hudson was going on about how much gold we had made for the day. If only he knew what this crew had accomplished. After supper I broke out a fresh bottle and Hudson joined me in the cups until nearly midnight.

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

    Good 'ole Hudson!

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    3 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

     SEPTEMBER 22   1936     Part Two

       We walked in and took a quick look around. There were two guys at a corer table and about 8 guys at the bar. Dutch said the two guys at the table were part of the gang. He said to wait a minute and he’d be right back. He walked behind the bar and was talking quietly to the bartender. Then he came back over to where we were standing. Dutch was a big bruiser and full of jokes but I wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of him. Dutch said he knew the bartender and asked him if they had any other friends in there. The bartender told him the guy on the far end was involved with them also. I told Dutch and Jacob to watch the guys at the bar but stay out of it unless we needed them as this was me and John’s fight and we wanted these guys real bad. 

       Me and John walked up to the table and looked down at the two hooligans who were sitting there drinking. I told them we had caught their two friends and had them tied up in the back of my truck. I told them we were sick and tired of dealing with the trash in town trying to steal from us miners. The bigger one just sneered at me and said they didn’t like gold miners. He said there wasn’t one good thing he could say about miners. He said they were real outlaws and they did as they pleased. John told them to get up because we were going to kick the shit out of them. The big one stood up and pulled a knife and the other one was right with him. I grabbed a chair and stuck it in the big one’s   face and pushed him over backwards. John swung his billy club and hit the second guy’s arm and his knife went flying. I had grabbed the big one’s arm with my right hand as I came down on him with my left elbow to his face. I heard his front teeth break and he started choking on his own blood. I slammed his hand with the knife on the floor and he let loose of it.

       In the meantime I guess their buddy at the bar had started for the table and Jacob stepped in front of him telling him to stay back. The guy shoved Jacob back but Dutch just shook his head and told him to go back to the bar which he did. John had clocked his guy with a couple of good punches  and he went backwards over a chair. Then he grabbed him by the shirt and drilled him in the face with a good right hand and his nose got flattened. I saw John get on top of him and he was beating his head against the barroom floor. The guy I had was cursing up a storm and shoved me back and tried to get his knife. I kicked him in the side and broke a beer bottle over his head. Then I kicked the knife across the floor. He tried getting up but I wasn’t having it and kicked him in the head. He went down on his face and I gave him a hell of a kick to his right ear. Now he was screaming in pain. John’s guy was finished and I was hollering for his buddy to get up and fight. He wouldn’t try so I gave him one last kick to the side of the head.

       The entire bar was watching all this going on. We had two down and one more at the bar. John told me he wanted him and he walked over to the guy and told him he was a worthless piece of trash and he was going to beat the shit out of him. The guy was trying to talk to John now and everyone just backed away.

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

    Oh man Ghost Miner you really have the 'cliff hanger' thing down pat!

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

    My niece used to work for the Forest Service in the Cascades as a cartographer. State of Washington. It would be nice to meet a whole bunch of you guys out there. If I were a millionair I'd fly you all in to California and we'd have a party at Jed's dig site.

    I have a gold claim in the Middle Santiam area and you would be welcome to visit. But I will tell you straightaway that Jed's claim will have a bunch more gold on it lol. Visiting Paxton would be a fun thing to do down the road. Kinda depends on the price of gas etc.

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

    Just a quick note from me - The 1936 season of Jed's Journal is winding down. There is still more to come including the dramatic ending. There has been a rumor floated on several other forums that I am posting the journal just to withold the ending to put out a book and make a bunch of money. Let me dispell that rumor here & now. I may have a book out and it may be done by me personally or done by a book company. I haven't decided. If there is a book I am leaning towards a very limited and personalized version that I make myself as I think sales would be small & only the dedicated fans of the journal would want them for themselves or gifts. You won't need to buy a book to read the ending. That's not why I started this thread. The journal has been laying in the bottom of an old chest in my office for 9 yrs. For some reason I decided to try to find somewhere to post it this winter. I never expected much of a reaction but have been surprised to say the least with well over 100,000 views & climbing on the internet. My wife can't believe it either. It's been an honor to post it. I am not a writer. I do gold exploration for real & I am also a professional singer.  Cheers.

    DSC00032.JPG

     
    •  

     

    Thank you for planning to post the entire journal on here!

    Some of us on fixed income may not be able to afford the book, and that will likely include me.

    I thought awhile back if the book ends up being around $20 then I might buy one. I am sure it will be more than that and it's okay that I probably can't get one, BUT I really am glad that you are posting all of the journal!

    I would have been very disappointed to not know the end, and once again THANK YOU very much for putting it on Steve's website.

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    45 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

       SEPTEMBER 19   1936

       John went up on first watch at the pit with Dutch at his post outside of camp. The night was clear and cool. I had a cup of whiskey by the fire and tried to get some sleep. About the time I nodded off I was woke up to a gunshot up at the pit. Then another one.  The crew was all out of their tents now. I told Will to stick at camp and be careful and Jacob and me high tailed it up towards the pit following the water line. I didn’t hear anything more and as we got close we slowed up and moved in with some caution. I couldn’t see John. We got up to the top of the rim and there was no one to be seen. I figured John must have chased out after someone but what direction I couldn’t tell. I told Jacob we needed to sit tight until we figured out the situation. About a half hour passed and I heard some movement on the mountain east of the pit. It was John. I hollered out to him and he came over and was fairly winded. He said he saw two guys sneaking up the mountain from below and when they got close he fired off a round and they took off on the run. He fired another but they kept going. He said he couldn’t see very well and he could hear them moving to the east for a while and then it was quiet. I figured they must have found a place to hide.

       I took John’s shift. I told him I couldn’t sleep anyway so he and Jacob went back to camp. I kept a close watch after they cleared out and it was stone quiet. Then suddenly I heard shots going off down at camp. I stayed at the pit for a while and the rifle shots stopped. A little while later I heard Jacob holler out he was coming up. He said the hooligans must have circled around to the south and came up the creek towards camp when Dutch spotted them and cut loose with his rifle. He said they took off back down the mountain towards the main road. He said Will and him gave chase but they disappeared into the woods somewhere. I figured that now they knew we had the place under guard and had guns to fight with. They had not fired back so either they were unarmed or just didn’t have the guts to fight.

       The entire crew ended up staying out on watch for the rest of the night and we were all real tired come sun up. Somehow we mustered the energy to mine and we all got back to work. I decided to call it an early day and the gold was weighed up by late afternoon. We got about three quarters of an ounce which we were all pleased with. I am hoping we get some sleep tonight.

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

    Lol good luck getting some sleep tonight Jed.

    Wonder how much gold Jed would have traded for some NV goggles?

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

    Well you sure made up for it all at once LOL.

    When the story started out I was liking every one of your posts.

    Then  after giving you several likes I got a popup that said I have used up all my likes for one day...or something to that effect. I hadn't realized that we couldn't just like everything.

    After that I started using my 'likes' sparingly. I will try to max them out because you and Jed and the crew deserve it man!

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

    in Detector Prospector Forum

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

       I'm working on transcribing what I think is one of the best parts of the journal. As soon as I get it into a file and can post it  over a number of entry days. Just a hint but remember the mine was called The Whiskey Jack Mine. That mine was on part of the claims Jed worked along the faultline. Maybe Jed hadn't found the actual Whiskey Jack Mine yet? Maybe Jed thought what he had dug was the Whiskey Jack Mine? Stay tuned because things are about to get interesting again. Sometimes things become lost and forgotten over time.  

    Stay tuned??

    Okay lol.

    I hope nothing happens to you Ghost Miner before you get this journal posting completed!!

    Be careful and don't take any risks with your life man.

    I love this story and I want you to know that and also how very much I appreciate the time you are spending to tell the story.

    Thank you!

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