GhostMiner

So what's it like to be in a gold mining crew? Here is actual footage of part of our trip up to the Hidden Mine.

August 5 2002 Part One Trail Blazing Bill and I set off on our expedition just after sunrise. It was nice and cool. We were armed with our handguns as well as shovels and hand saws. We decided to skirt the deeper areas of two deep gullies or drop offs that run north and south across our path. It made for much easier traveling but added quite a bit of length to the trail. We disturbed as little as possible and placed a few notches in trees as well as rock markers along the way to mark our path. They were few and far between and discretely placed so as not to draw unwanted attention. By early afternoon we had finished. We figured the trail to be about one and three quarters of a mile in length. It still had a number of fairly rough areas where we would need to climb over some rock outcroppings as well as a few dangerous drop offs of 50 feet or so where you needed to stay close against a mountain rock outcropping so as not to plummet into a deep gully. I also shot two Northern Pacific rattlesnakes on our way up to the mine site. We would need to watch out for those critters. Bill also warned that there were mountain lions in this area as well. When we got back to camp Jacob was curious to know how we made out. We informed him of the details of our day and he shook his head when I told him about the two snakes. He said snake bites were big trouble, especially in remote areas where it was hard to get to help. I agreed and told him we needed to keep an eye out for them. The three of us then gathered up some tools and we made our way back up the mountain to the mine. We were figuring to get a start on expanding Bill’s dig into the old mine before it got dark. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

August 4 2002 Part Three We spent the rest of the day moving camp back up the mountain. It was well over 100 degrees and by 5:00 PM we were finished and ready for a good rest. Tomorrow we will need to find a route between here and the Hidden Mine which is roughly one and a quarter miles northeast of this location. The going is tough with a few drop offs and lots of boulders scattered all over the area. We have decided that Bill and I will head out in the morning and leave Jacob at camp. We are hoping to find a reasonable route up the mountain and discretely mark the trail when finished. I am planning to disturb the route as little as possible to avoid unwanted trespassers and curiosity seekers. Tonight we will have a feast of canned hash and beans and chase our supper down with some cold beer. TO BE CONTINUED .................

BTW, I get calls all the time about leasing our claims - especially since gold is sitting at $2000/ Oz or higher. Calls from people who know nothing about finding gold and have never even prospected. They have jobs they hate and watch gold TV shows and think they can be miners. I have always talked these kinds of people out of leasing or buying a claim until they get experience and knowledge. One guy called me last year wanting to lease one of our claims. He was a truck driver making good money but was tired of it. He wanted to quit his job and work a claim and make a bunch of money. He had no clue what he was getting into and admitted it. When I told him how hard it was and the poor odds he would face he argued with me. I didn't lease him the claim because I knew that within a month he would give up when reality hit him in the face. I've seen people buy claims and lose hundreds of thousands of dollars chasing a dream. It's a cut throat business with where the odds are against you.

Here's what I think about owning claims. I have owned claims & so has my company. Some of them for over 25 yrs. I am not into hobby mining or metal detecting but some of you are. If you are going to work the claims and make a good amount of money from them it is worth owning them. If you are just going out to have fun prospecting then it may or may not be worth the bother of filing yearly paperwork and paying fees. Over the years I have realized that there are prospectors and metal detecting people who will go on your claim and work them without bothering to check to see if they are owned by someone. I've had them walk right past valid claim signs and when confronted they just say they thought the signs were for another area as if signs need to be posted every 50 ft or something. This is not the majority of people doing this but there are plenty of them out there. The law enforcement in our area doesn't care and won't get involved and they pretty much tell you to handle it yourself. All our claims are now leased out. Before we lease we test them. There is gold on every one of our claims. How much you get depends on how hard you work and want to put in as far as permits & equipment or just hobby mining with hand tools. I have found over the years that most prospectors are dreamers and are quick to give up when they discover real mining is very hard work and expensive as well. There is a small % of people who stick it out. I would not bother to own a mining claim just for metal detecting unless there is proof of good gold close to the surface. These are just my thoughts on the subject.

August 4 2002 Part One A Geologist’s Story Last night we decided that today we would move our camp back up on the upper claim where Jacob and I had started out. Bill will also share camp with us. We figured that trying to set up a camp at the Hidden Mine site would not be practical and was too remote. However, in order to get to the Hidden Mine from there would require us blazing a new trail over a mile long through some rough country. It would be a walking trail but it wasn’t going to be easy. As we started to break up the lower camp to make the move we had a surprise visit from a local geologist. He was out hiking some of the creeks and looking for promising areas. The geologist told us he had a client that was willing to either pay good money or partner up with an active claim owner if the ground was good. He gave us his card and told us to give him a call if we knew of anyone. The geologist saw one of our claim markers down near the south creek and informed us that there was a lot of history here back in the late 1800’s. Evidently, there had been a group of local prospectors that had hit a nice gold strike when a mining company got wind of it and tried to run them off the claim. He told us the name of the company. He said there was a big shoot out and several of the company men had been killed including their mine superintendent. According to some old records the prospectors lived in an old cabin down here near the creek. I looked at Jacob and his face looked to be made of stone. After a few more words were exchanged we shook hands with the geologist and he hiked on down the creek. I looked at Jacob and he nodded. We had found their cabin. TO BE CONTINUED ..............

August 3 2002 Part Three The three of us ate supper together at our camp and talked about the proposed project. Bill was in his early sixties and in great shape. I was up for the job and so was Jacob. However, Jacob would be very limited as to his work because of his age. I told Jacob and Bill that we might need to spend a month or more of digging to get into the tunnel. Perhaps we wouldn’t be able to do it without help. It would also mean no more gold this season unless we were successful. Jacob suggested that we consider just making an entrance into the old drift mine to see what it contained and take it from there. If it looked to be of poor value we would probably still have some time to work our lower claim and get more gold before we went home for the season. Also, Bill promised us that if we helped him make entry he would commit to working the vein himself if necessary and give us our cuts of any gold. Reluctantly, I told them I was in. Jacob was beaming from ear to ear. So was Bill. I figured what the heck, it was all just a big adventure now anyway and we already had banked some nice gold for our season. And there was always next year as well. We started making our plan. TO BE CONTINUED ................

August 3 2002 Part Two It took us a while but we finally made it up to the location of what we are now calling the Hidden Mine. If you didn’t know it was there you could walk right past it. There was a tremendous amount of overburden and the site was remote. There was a lot of the mountain from up above that must have collapsed during heavy storm conditions over the years since it had been worked. The only one who had a guess as to the amount of overburden was Bill but he seemed vague about it when asked. This would be a big time job trying to get back into the main tunnel. Any other entrances were unknown and Bill had searched and found nothing. No doubt they had been buried as well. To my eyes it looked nearly impossible to get back in without equipment. To get an excavator up here would take a lot of doing. Then, as Bill correctly stated, prospectors would see all the work being done and know there must be a gold strike here. The trespassers would come and the nightmare would begin. Working it secretly in a clandestine operation would have to be the way to go. Would we even be able to do it? Bill had chipped away at it over the years but when Winter storms came his work was washed away and covered over by new slides from above. Jacob wanted to give it a try but I was not so sure. TO BE CONTINUED ....................

August 3 2002 Part One Up The Mountain To my surprise Bill Anderson was down at our camp at sunrise this morning and raring to get the long hike up the mountain started. Jacob and I were just making coffee and a little breakfast so Bill took a seat and joined us. It was clear to me that he was quite excited at the possibility of taking us on as partners in his proposed venture. I was still skeptical as to the ability of a small crew opening up an old mine tunnel in the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t sure just where Jacob stood. It would mean setting up a remote camp and hauling everything we needed up the mountain by hand and with no road to boot. Also, if any of the crew got in trouble it would be extremely difficult to get them back down the mountain for help, especially at night. Once again, when I brought up these concerns, Jacob seemed oblivious to them. Nothing much ever worried him as far as I could tell. As the sun was getting up over the trees we set out on our expedition. I took Bill aside and told him to set a slow pace because Jacob, although more than willing, was going to need to take his time and a few breaks as well. He would never admit it but I would never want to put him in a situation where he needed to ask us to slow down or stop. Bill understood and off we went with Bill leading the way at a slow and steady pace. We were all armed and of course Jacob took his trusty Thompson machine gun. He was rarely without it. TO BE CONTINUED .................

August 2 2002 Part Six At 3:00 AM we were still talking about this glory mine Bill had informed us of. We had lost all track of time. Jacob suggested that the lower drift mine we had opened might contain the same vein as the upper drift mine Bill told us about. Jacob thought that the vein in the upper mine was richer and possibly the motherlode source for this area. Again, this was all speculation and I was trying my best to keep my feet on the ground and not get carried away by gold fever. It was getting pretty late when we finally decided to explore the area up there and make a determination as to any possibility of getting this legendary gold mine open for business once again. We knew it would not be easy if we tried and would require a crew of some tough characters capable of old school work. Would that even be possible? And what if this phantom crew caught wind of a big gold strike? That could mean a run on the area the likes of which we would not be prepared for. We eventually called it a night and tomorrow will be an interesting day for sure. TO BE CONTINUED ................

You see, it was me & this old man were like desperados waiting for a train lode of gold back then. THIS SONG SURE BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE. MY GOOD FRIEND JACOB.

Hey hey, I'm a platinum contributor now. Took almost 2 yrs.

August 2 2002 Part Five We continued our talk well into the night. Just the fact that Bill hadn’t been able to make access into the mine after all these years was a big concern to me. Jacob didn’t seem to make much of that point and he figured it would just take a few more people to clear overburden. I made the suggestion of filing for a permit and finding some investors to help get the old mine dug out and operational. This idea was not received well by Jacob and Bill who looked horrified by that idea. Bill said that he wouldn’t want investors telling him what to do and taking some of the gold. Jacob felt the same way. So that plan was dropped abruptly. Jacob’s idea was to form a partnership just on that particular mine with a three way split on expenses and gold. He figured we could hire some help to get the entrance dug out. We would have to keep any information as to possible gold strikes to ourselves. We would need to explain to any hired help that we were just digging out a buried adit that had been abandoned and leave it at that. Once the tunnel was opened the help would no longer be required or if needed we might make one or two of them junior partners. It was all speculation of course and there was no guarantee of any big gold in the buried mine tunnel. That specimen could have been from another location for all we knew. However, I could see that the evil gold fever was beginning to take the three of us for a ride. Possibly a wild ride into unknown territory. TO BE CONTINUED ....................

August 2 2002 Part Four At this point I would have taken Bill’s story with a grain of salt except for the fact that he had a remarkable ore specimen in his possession. Bill continued to tell us that he and one of the prospectors who had been run off went up to this mine. According to the way he told it it would have been five or six months after the initial discovery. The other prospector had given up on his golden dreams and went back home by then. The remaining prospector decided to show Bill the location in hopes of getting some help. The mine was way up the mountain a good mile or more and very remote. The prospector used some landmarks to find it. There was no trail and no markers but soon the two of them were standing in what was left of the miner’s camp. It was vacated. There were old cans piled up in one area along with lots of bottles. The prospector continued on past the old camp and after another 100 yards they were at the mine. Or at least what was left of it. The entire entrance had collapsed and been buried by mountain slides from up above. The prospector had ideas of talking to the miner about reforming the partnership along with Bill but obviously the miner was long gone. Eventually Bill and the prospector split up and he never heard from him again except for one little detail - Bill had the ore sample. Bill didn’t want to say how he ended up with it at first but when we pressed him all he said was the prospector had met with some bad luck and gave it to him to show possible investors and that the prospector told him he’d be back in a month. That was over ten years ago. Bill had kept the sample a secret with the hopes of digging out the old mine and had worked at it on and off since that time but never could remove enough of the overburden to make entry. There was supposed to be another entrance on the mountain somewhere but he could not find it. He was getting older now and if he was ever to get into this mine he was going to need help. He offered to take us to the area and show us what he thought needed to be done. He said there was no way to get an excavator up there because of the terrain unless someone took the time to build a road in. He didn’t want to do that as it would mean permitting and the word would get out. He believed the vein was so rich and went so far back in that even hand working it would make us millionaires. TO BE CONTINUED .............

August 2 2002 Part Three Bill told us that he had been out here for over twenty years. He had previously prospected up and down the Sierra Nevada mountains looking for the motherlode. The promised land. The glory of a massive find. It consumed his entire life and left him near broke today. But Bill was no quitter. He would prospect this area based on some of the old stories and truly believed it was just a matter of time before he became a millionaire. One night about ten years ago he said he was camped out on the mountain a mile above our camp. It was late Spring and the weather was cold. He was ready to turn in when two prospectors came into his camp. They were filthy dirty and told him they hadn’t eaten in two days. The prospectors had gotten into a fight with a miner up there. They told him that several miles from his camp higher up on the mountain there was a guy who had found big gold. It was an old drift mine and supposedly a huge source of gold was in there. They had tried to partner with the miner and he agreed for a short period of time until they discovered a quartz vein so rich you could take gold out of it by the hatful. Now Jacob and I started to perk up some. I saw Jacob’s eyes getting big as saucers. Bill continued to tell us that when the big strike was found the miner dissolved the shaky partnership and ran him off the claim at gunpoint. But not before they had landed a few punches to the miner’s face and hightailed it out with an ore specimen. As a matter of fact, Bill had brought it here to show us. Somehow he had gotten hold of it from the two prospectors and kept it. He had it wrapped in a big towel. Bill set it down on a table near the campfire and slowly opened up the towel. All I could say was holy s… as I fell back in my chair. Jacob’s eyes were glued on the specimen. We had never seen anything like it in our lives. There was a solid streak of gold several inches wide running through the quartz rock. Then Bill continued the story. TO BE CONTINUED .................

August 2 2002 Part Two We continued talking with Bill well into the deep night. He was full of stories about mining and the Sierra Nevada mountains. I got quite a kick out of listening to him and I could tell Jacob liked him as well. Bill had no idea who Jacob was or the stories behind all of his dealings out here back in his day. Bill had been working and exploring the old drift mine for quite a number of years and according to him he had hit a few good strikes and spent it all on women and whisky. To me it seemed like times hadn’t changed all that much here. Bill was convinced that there was a huge gold strike waiting to be discovered. He told us he thought he knew where the big strike was located higher up the mountain. He had also heard rumors of another tunnel further north at a higher elevation that contained a motherlode. I asked him where he heard this but he wouldn’t say. According to him the guy that had told him had been shot in a poker game in a logging camp out here yrs ago. I didn’t know whether to believe some of the things he was saying or not. Jacob was his usual stoic self like he had heard it all before. Along about 2:00 AM all three of us were deep in our cups and Bill was still talking about the gold out here. Then he said in a quiet voice as if to not awaken the ghosts who roamed these claims that he was going to tell us a story that was almost beyond belief. And according to him it took place right here on the mountain above our camp. Jacob rolled one of his smokes and I took a sip from my cup of Bushmills. Then Bill continued. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

August 2 2002 Part One The Graveyard Of Men And Dreams Last night we sat at the campfire talking and drinking beer & whisky with Bill Anderson. We got to know him better and seemed like an alright guy. He had been prospecting and mining out in the Sierra Nevada for many years. He’d had good times and bad times like most miners have. He was haunted by the mining tragedy that had taken place on the mountain where all four of his partners died. He called the claims here the graveyard of men and dreams. He was aware of the dark history here and talked about it not knowing that Jacob was a part of that history. He told us that he found out about how many men had died out here while chasing their dream of finding gold. It was all true. Jacob was as haunted by the tragic memories as he was. There were many nights where even I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I heard distant gunfire or trespassers coming close to camp. This place could get to you in a heartbeat if you let it. Bill said he had nothing left to live for except gold. He had a fever that would never pass. It consumed all his thoughts and he craved gold. It had cost him his wife, family, and then his partners. I thought to myself as he spoke that gold can be as evil as it can be glorious. I didn’t want to admit it but I had the fever just like Bill and Jacob. There was no saving my soul now. I silently wondered if I would someday become a part of the tragic history here. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

August 1 2002 We had our cleanup finished around 1:00 PM and stopped for lunch. I actually felt like drinking my lunch as there was only 9.7 ounces in the gold weigh from the 380 yards of gravel we washed. Jacob shook his head and told me that running tailings is a crapshoot. Sometimes you can hit decent gold that the old boys missed and sometimes you don’t make enough to pay for the whisky and beans. I was expecting more gold and Jacob could see the disappointment in me. He, on the other hand, was as carefree about it as could be. About the time we were finishing up lunch Bill Anderson gave us a holler from just outside our camp. He asked permission to come in and talk with us. At least he had the good sense to know that you don’t ever walk into someone’s mining operation & camp without permission. We waved him in and he came over and took a seat with us. I offered him a beer which he happily accepted. He was smart enough not to ask us anything about our gold. Bill said he wanted to talk with us about the quartz vein in the drift mine. He believed the largest part of the vein had still not been worked. He had seen signs of it heading toward the north west but all the tunneling had stopped. He had been working north with only placer gravels and no quartz. He said the pay was sketchy and not all that rich. According to him he had talked with one of the crew from the 1960’s who had worked the tunnel and they had hit several rich veins. He said that crew had gotten into trouble because gold fever had taken over the camp and the crew had fight after fight until they disbanded and left the area. Bill wanted help in the form of manpower and money to do more exploration and chase the gold bearing quartz veins. He was convinced that there was a million dollar payday hiding in there somewhere. Jacob and I just looked at each other. Would it be worth it I was thinking? I sure wasn’t happy running old mine tailings. TO BE CONTINUED ............

Checking the post.

August 1 2002 We had our cleanup finished around 1:00 PM and stopped for lunch. I actually felt like drinking my lunch as there was only 9.7 ounces in the gold weigh from the 380 yards of gravel we washed. Jacob shook his head and told me that running tailings is a crapshoot. Sometimes you can hit decent gold that the old boys missed and sometimes you don’t make enough to pay for the whisky and beans. I was expecting more gold and Jacob could see the disappointment in me. He, on the other hand, was as carefree about it as could be. About the time we were finishing up lunch Bill Anderson gave us a holler from just outside our camp. He asked permission to come in and talk with us. At least he had the good sense to know that you don’t ever walk into someone’s mining operation & camp without permission. We waved him in and he came over and took a seat with us. I offered him a beer which he happily accepted. He was smart enough not to ask us anything about our gold. Bill said he wanted to talk with us about the quartz vein in the drift mine. He believed the largest part of the vein had still not been worked. He had seen signs of it heading toward the north west but all the tunneling had stopped. He had been working north with only placer gravels and no quartz. He said the pay was sketchy and not all that rich. According to him he had talked with one of the crew from the 1960’s who had worked the tunnel and they had hit several rich veins. He said that crew had gotten into trouble because gold fever had taken over the camp and the crew had fight after fight until they disbanded and left the area. Bill wanted help in the form of manpower and money to do more exploration and chase the gold bearing quartz veins. He was convinced that there was a million dollar payday hiding in there somewhere. Jacob and I just looked at each other. Would it be worth it I was thinking? I sure wasn’t happy running old mine tailings. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

July 31 2002 Jacob and I discussed the meeting with Bill Anderson this morning before we started work. Jacob figured the guy to be honest and hard working. He appeared to be scratching out a living. He has already set up a gas powered rock crusher near our camp by the creek. He hauls everything out by wheel barrow. It is hard work and he is living alone in a very remote area with no creature comforts. This is Jacob’s kind of guy. At least now he could process the ore from the drift mine in an easier and safer fashion. And we didn’t mind getting a little taste of his gold while we worked our current operation. As long as he doesn’t cross Jacob and get on his wrong side things would be fine. We got back to working the tailings dump and by days end had washed 170 yards of gravel. After a total of 380 yards of processing we were finally ready to pull the sluice mats and process the concentrates tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a good way to start August. TO BE CONTINUED ................

July 30 2002 Part Six Bill went on to tell us how the wreck happened. He said it was late one night and the crew wanted to haul ore down to the creek so it would be ready to process in the morning. Bill told them it was too late and too dangerous and they should wait until morning when they could see better. The ties and track dated back to the 1800’s and were in very poor condition. He blamed himself for not stopping them from going on that death ride. He also blamed himself for not repairing the bad sections of track, especially on that dangerous curve. Bill was the crew leader and he had four dead miners on his mind. The brakes on the cars had given way early on the ride down and they ended up dropping into the ravine. Those dead miners haunted his brain every night. I didn’t know what to say. Jacob just shook his head and told him that accidents in mining are common and not to be too hard on himself. Bill said he was real surprised when we discovered the buried entrance on our lower claim. He was aware of us mining but stayed clear. He asked us if we were going to give him trouble and kick him out of the drift mine. Jacob shook his head no and said he didn’t care if he worked the vein and he could start coming out of the entrance and over to the creek to work the ore if he wanted. The only catch was he said he’d have to give us a third of the gold. Bill quickly agreed and said that would save him a tremendous amount of time and work. Jacob said he'd leave the adit open until we left for the season but it would be closed and buried before we left. Then we shook hands and headed back down to camp. TO BE CONTINUED .................

July 30 2002 Part Five The Graveyard Train As we made our way further in the tunnel began to open up just a bit and we could feel fresh air. Jacob said we were getting near an opening. Sure enough, we shined the lights onto an old wooden ladder. It led upwards about 15 feet to a wooden hatch. I went up first and pushed the cover off the opening. We were higher up on the mountain now and in the middle of nowhere. I climbed out onto the surface and shined the light around. I was standing in an opening surrounded by pine trees. I looked to the east and saw old mine car rails heading into the woods. Jacob climbed out and we both stood there in wonder. We were higher up the mountain and a bit east of our claims. We followed the rails for several hundred yards and the track began to descend down the mountain in a steep decline. As we walked the tracking there was a fairly sharp curve that was there to avoid a large rock outcrop. There was about a 100 foot drop off at the curve and we could see three old mine cars laying on their sides down in the ravine. Jacob said there must have been a bad accident out here at some time in the past. The tracking was all mangled up and the rails had rotted out. They were very old and probably dated back to the mid to late 1800’s. We walked a bit further and to our surprise came to a camp. There was a small fire going and a large tent and scattered supplies and tools. Jacob gave a holler and shined his flashlight into the campsite. A man slowly stood up from an old wooden chair. He looked to be in his sixties and was alone. At first he looked startled but I quickly told him we owned the mine down below and had found the old tunnel leading up here. He motioned for us to come in. He was unarmed but I saw a rifle near his chair. I introduced myself and Jacob and he told us his name was Bill Anderson. He said he’d been mining out here for more than half his life. He told us there used to be some partners but they’d all been killed in a mining accident. He pulled out a bottle of whisky and offered us a drink. He gave us some cups and he poured us some whisky. We took a seat on a log across from him and he continued talking. Bill asked us if we’d seen the wreck of mine cars as we came to his camp. I told him that we did. He said his four partners were riding in them with loads of rich ore from the drift mine down below. They would hand carry buckets and push wheelbarrows up the tunnel and load the cars and ride them east and back down the mountain to a processing area at the lower creek. He said they couldn’t process ore at the lower area where we were now located because there were claim owners and he and his crew were working in secret. One day they were traveling too fast and the cars jumped the track and went into the ravine. They were all killed. Bill said he was not with them when it happened. He called it the Graveyard Train. TO BE CONTINUED ................