GhostMiner

 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 ................

   July 30   2002     Part Five

   The going was not too bad as we made our way slowly up the incline shaft. I let Jacob lead the way and his pace was slow as to be expected for his age. There was bracing at many points all along the old tunnel but it occurred to me that if this thing collapsed neither one of us would ever be heard from again.

   At several areas Jacob stopped and shined his flashlight along the walls and ceiling but there was no sign of any quartz vein. Jacob said this area must have been worked by old timers as a placer gravel deposit and not hard rock. The lack of any tracks led him to believe it was a small, independent operation. 

   We were definitely climbing higher into the mountain. After a while Jacob needed to take a break. The air quality was poor and his breath was labored. I asked him if he wanted to turn back but he said no, he just needed to rest a few minutes. We had no idea how far this drift went or where it ended. These underground mine tunnels are full of frightening noises that get your attention. Low rumbles or falling stone and gravel with the occasional creaking timbers can get to you if you aren’t careful. You have to keep your mind in check and not panic at times. Then there are the periods of absolute quiet that can get to you just as much as the unknown noises. Jacob got his rest and onward we pushed deeper and deeper into the mountain.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

   July 30   2002     Part Four

   Jacob went back to camp and brought some lanterns and a shovel. We got the area pretty well illuminated and started probing the side wall and floor of the old tunnel. There was an area at the east wall that looked to be shored up with light timber and boards. We shined the lights on it and saw what looked like some groove marks on the surface of the gravel. There also looked to be a few faint boot prints. Once we had better lighting we also could see that the quartz vein had some fresh gravel laying below it.

   Jacob pulled at the end of the boarded up area and to our surprise it swung open. There was a pull handle on the other side of it as well. It looked like someone was coming into the tunnel from another adit somewhere higher up on the mountain. When they left they simply pulled the wooden wall closed by using the handle. Jacob shined his flashlight up the secret shaft. It went deep into the mountain on a very slight incline.

   The newly discovered tunnel was not quite high enough to stand upright in and it was about five feet in width. The floor was void of tracks and very dank and creepy. When we inspected the floor it appeared to have boot marks and signs of recent activity. I looked at Jacob and said it seems like we aren’t the only ones that know about this rich quartz vein. He nodded in agreement and suggested we follow the secret tunnel into the mountain to see where it came out. I was all for it so we headed into unknown territory. We had no idea what we might find. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

4 minutes ago, Mike Furness said:

Nothin to do with the story ... Just wanted to wish everyone on this thread a Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the readers here & everyone else on this great website.

   July 30   2002     Part Three

   We kept hollering for whoever was back in the tunnel to come out. There was no reply. We slowly walked further in and kept our flashlights pointing as we walked. Eventually, we came to the back wall where the old timers had stopped working. There was no evidence of any disturbance and the quartz vein had no sign of being worked since our sample was taken. Then I pointed my light over to the west side of the drift. There was an old pick axe and lantern sitting in the dust. When Jacob saw it he let out a soft whistle. Neither one of us had seen that  when we had worked here. We couldn’t have missed it. Someone must have been back here but how could they have gotten out? Whoever was here would have had to go right past us and that was impossible. Could there be another secret shaft or drift somewhere? 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

   July 30   2002     Part Two

   We ended up processing gravel for the rest of the day and ended with 90 yards. Then we decided to run for another day before pulling the mats for a cleanup. I think it is going to be ok because we see lots of fines in the black sands. 

   After supper Jacob and I were sitting by the campfire talking over the project when we heard a lot of sound coming from the drift tunnel. I looked at Jacob and he was already grabbing his Thompson and a flashlight. I got my flashlight and the two of us cautiously approached the entrance. It was nearly dark and we both shined our flashlight beams down the corridor. I could see the black flies in there but nothing else. The sounds were something like the clanging of shovels and picks off of hard rock. They were fainter now but we still could hear them.

   We decided to go back in and split up at the Y. Jacob went into the eastern drift while I kept going straight north into the bottom of the mountain. We had our radios with us as well. When I got way back in the clanging started getting louder. I radioed Jacob and asked him to come over to where I was standing. When he got there the pace of the clanging got faster. Jacob let out a number of curse words and said someone was back in there working the quartz vein. We walked deeper in and Jacob hollered out to whoever was in there. The clanging stopped abruptly. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

  July 30   2002     Part One     An Old Log Cabin Is Found

   I was running the excavator this morning while Jacob fed the trommel with the skid steer when I hit something not expected with my bucket. I had been digging away at the west base of the tailings dump when I pulled up part of an old log. I didn’t think too much of this at first but then I began digging up more and more logs. I called for Jacob to come take a look. When he saw what was going on he said to shut down the operation. Then I carefully started pulling gravel away from whatever was in there. It soon became clear it was a structure of some sort.

   After about half an hour of cautious digging we could make out what appeared to be an old log cabin. Jacob said it must be a miner’s cabin from way back in the 1800’s. He figured it to be the living quarters of the small crew who was working the drift mine. It was fairly large and had been well constructed. The roof had collapsed inside what was left of the structure. Jacob shook his head and was telling me that the big companies up above must have sent a thunder load of mine tailings down the mountain and buried it. It may have been one of the reasons the claim down here had been abandoned. The miners may have been run off and their cabin destroyed.

   I bristled to think of that possibility but Jacob told me that from what he had heard the big companies back then were ruthless and would think nothing of doing horrible things to people who got in their way. There was little or no law and they had all the power including their own law or mine guards and some even had judges for court trials that would be held right on the mine site. He said that if you got on the bad side of them you could be tied to a pole and whipped or even hung or shot. All over gold. The way Jacob talked about them they were as evil as you could imagine. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

2 hours ago, Coffeeguyzz said:

GhostMiner,

'Look for signs of past exploration'.

Exactly.

What I've been discovering is seemingly virgin forest ground is actually nearly entire mountainsides of tailing piles covered in thick undergrowth and  leaves.

I've talked to guys who have repeatedly worked some creeks over the years with good recovery and asked them about metal detecting uphill. They both seemed skeptical. (My interpretation was that they preferred the more familiar, reliable small scale dredging rather than continuing with the minimal, fruitless detecting that they both had attempted).

I will (continue to) follow your suggestion regarding research, especially promising areas where access/camping should pose no problems.

Thank you for your input.

 

You're welcome. Yes, we had luck finding gold on the old hydraulic areas 300 ft above the creeks in height and 2000 ft in actual distance. We found areas that just were never worked and completely virgin. We don't metal detect but use excavators & trommels to mine. Perhaps metal detecting wouldn't produce enough results to make it worth while, not sure. I've found the gold values in our area to be all over the place. Sometimes many yards to the ounce or ounces to a yard. Many faultlines and displaced bedrock. The old timers from 1936 that my journal was based on had a big strike of over 1000 ounces in a single location. A part of raised bedrock about 25 ft by 30 ft on the west side of a partially hydraulicked faultline. The old timers from the 1800's had not gotten deep enough with their monitors due to water issues and left a nice treasure chest for the 1936 crew. This area was far from the creeks in a remote area higher up on the mountain. And the guy who found the gold in 1936 was murdered when he showed it while in poor company according to the government report I have. 

9 hours ago, Coffeeguyzz said:

Mr. Diggins,

I thank you for the detailed explanation.

I have been spending quite a bit of time driving/hiking up and down bocoop mountainsides eyeballing the numerous claim signs which are virtually all along the creek beds.

My understanding (possibly incorrect) is that the 20 square acres can run outwards from the creeks 500 feet each side.

If so, this might leave a lot of potentially prospective ground going up the hillsides.

As a prospector could easily (and legally, I presume) park upon and hike across a claim and work on unclaimed ground, the possibilities of both friction and misunderstandings loom large.

I will attempt to precisely identify specific claim boundaries that are of particular interest.

Again, appreciate the information.

 

Many creeks have been worked and reworked. You may want to explore remote areas away from them that have not seen as many prospectors. Try to get as much history on the areas you are interested in. Look for signs of past exploration as well. Some of the best areas on my companies claims are thousands of feet away from our creeks. Best of luck to you.

   July 29   2002     

   We worked the morning searching for gold. By noon the temperature was close to 100 degrees and we weren’t having much luck. Jacob couldn’t understand how one lone test had produced significant results but then there was nothing. No gold to be found. Could this area have been reworked many years ago? We were starting to think just that.

   In the afternoon and more or less out of pure frustration we started to dig at the tailings dump. We started to do test pans at the base and also about ten feet up. There was fine gold and it was a welcome sight. Nothing really to write home about but it was gold. Jacob figured we should fire up the trommel and just start running the hell out of it. He said we might get lucky and hit a hot spot.

   Around 2:00 PM we were running gravel once again. It was a sight to behold seeing the big trommel churning away. We ran until 7:00 PM  and processed 120 yards of the old tailings. When we shut down we looked in the sluice box and it was promising. We could see lots of fines in the rifles and even a few pickers couldn’t hide from us. Maybe we would make a mine out of this lower area after all.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

2 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   July 28   2002

 

   This morning Jacob and I talked over last night's weird occurrences. He chalked them up to old time ghostly miners. He believed that some never leave. We got down to business discussing our mining plans. Neither one of us wants to bring in a crew made up of unknown workers. It would be risky to say the least. We decided to consider reopening the old drift mine at some point in the future. For now we will continue searching for pay gravel in the base of the mountain and also in the floodplain. Our last resort will be to run gravels from the old tailings dump. Before we go home for the season we will bury the old adit to the drift mine and keep it our secret.

   Around 10:00 AM we got back to exploring for gold bearing gravels. We poked holes east and west of the adit with poor results. The gold was sparse and not worth working. I was getting frustrated. Jacob was stoic as usual. I could never tell what he was thinking unless I asked him. Even then he was sometimes vague with his answers. I need to see gold and soon.

   It's a real shame how a gold streak can fade out on you just when you think you hit something special. Gold mining can be a cruel game. 

   

   July 28   2002

   This morning Jacob and I talked over last night's weird occurrences. He chalked them up to old time ghostly miners. He believed that some never leave. We got down to business discussing our mining plans. Neither one of us wants to bring in a crew made up of unknown workers. It would be risky to say the least. We decided to consider reopening the old drift mine at some point in the future. For now we will continue searching for pay gravel in the base of the mountain and also in the floodplain. Our last resort will be to run gravels from the old tailings dump. Before we go home for the season we will bury the old adit to the drift mine and keep it our secret.

   Around 10:00 AM we got back to exploring for gold bearing gravels. We poked holes east and west of the adit with poor results. The gold was sparse and not worth working. I was getting frustrated. Jacob was stoic as usual. I could never tell what he was thinking unless I asked him. Even then he was sometimes vague with his answers. I need to see gold and soon.

   Well, thanks to the readers here, the Journal has made another milestone. We now have hit 400,000 views. I just want to say THANK YOU!!

4 hours ago, dig4gold said:

It is a strange thing this believe or non believe of happenings from the other side. There are many things that happen that have no logical explanation except to put it down to the paranormal or visitor's from the other side. It is something I believe should not be scoffed at. If what you are telling us actually happened, & more than once or twice, & isn't made up for your "story", then you will have your own thoughts on the matter. "They" obviously mean you no harm but it would be un nerving. The mind is a powerful thing & it is how you process what you have "witnessed" as to how you react to it. Interesting, & like you say, you could write a book on that subject alone. Maybe you should.

D4G

Yes, it's hard to explain things which have no logical explanation. Even Jacob, the tough old bird that he was, wanted to get out of that tunnel and back to camp that night.

5 hours ago, dig4gold said:

Ghosts from the past.....

D4G

I think that entire property is haunted. That was one a number of times I chased after voices at night. Also lights that appeared & vanished. The place has a dark history. 

1 minute ago, Mike Furness said:

Told you to watch out for the Tommy Knockers!  🙃🤣

That entire property is full of weird happenings. I could probably write a book just on that. 

   July 27   2002     Part Four

   As we got further in we turned our flashlights back on but muted the light with our hands. We could still hear voices in the distance but couldn’t make out any words. It sounded like mumbling to me.When we got to the east tunnel we heard the voices more clearly. In a whisper Jacob said they must be back in there somewhere. 

   I couldn’t figure out why someone was messing around on the mine this late at night. We shined our flashlights down the east tunnel and I hollered out asking who they were. The voices stopped. That tunnel didn’t go all that far and we moved slowly towards where the talking had come from. Eventually we saw the ending wall. There was no one there. This was impossible as there was no way out except to come back towards us. Jacob shook his head and told me we needed to get out of there. So we headed back out of the mine. 

   We stood at the adit for about ten minutes just listening. There were some faint sounds of what sounded like small rocks falling but no voices. We stayed there for an hour and never heard anything more. It was a mystery.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

  July 27   2002   Part Three

   Jacob and I spent the evening discussing the unexpected developments on the lower mine. It seems there are many twists and turns on this property. Jacob liked the idea of taking a shot at hard rock mining. It would allow us to work longer into the Fall and perhaps Winter. We could work the tunnels in any weather and stock pile the ore for Spring processing. The old mine car and tracks could be restored and made usable again with a little work on our part. However, we would most likely need a crew to follow the quartz vein if we wanted to mine enough raw ore to make it a worthwhile venture. We have no hard rock mining experience and lack some of the needed equipment. We will need a stamping or crushing process and drilling equipment for starters. It concerns me to take on a crew of new people out here. I worry about potential problems. Many things could go wrong.

   It was well after midnight and we were at camp and still talking things over when we both heard a holler from inside the tunnel. It sounded like a distant voice way down the drift somewhere. We got up and walked over in the direction of the adit which was not too far from our camp near the creek. I walked into the opening just ahead of Jacob. I thought I saw the light from a lantern down near the area where the tunnels branched off. I shined my flashlight in that direction but saw nothing moving and the light had vanished.

   Jacob hadn’t seen it and when I told him about it he said it could be trespassers. We both stood very quietly and listened for a few minutes. Sure enough, there were two or three voices down there somewhere. They must have taken the right tunnel leading east and were out of our view. Jacob had the Thompson and I had my sidearm. We slowly advanced into the dark keeping our flashlights off.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

 July 27 2002   Part Two

   The old ore car was in need of repair so I spent the rest of the day working with Jacob to remove gold bearing quartz from the old mine bucket by bucket. We crushed it up as best we could by pulverizing. It was by far no professional job as we weren’t equipped for hard rock mining but at least we could get a rough estimate on values per ton. We panned the pulverized ore and came up with an estimate of just under one ounce to the ton. Jacob couldn’t believe it. This was rich ore - rich enough to make us a bundle.

   Jacob was trying to figure out why the mine had been abandoned. He thought that the big companies on top of the mountain had simply buried the lower workings under tailings and the smaller company was forced to leave. He said the big operations boss probably didn’t know how good the ore was and seeing they were making big gold up on the higher mines it was simpler to just keep dumping tailings down below and keep their big hydraulic mines producing. Once the lower mine was buried under many feet of tailings and abandoned it was soon forgotten. This was just amazing to me but it seemed to be all about speed of production and easier gold.  I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the old timers who had put in so much hard work just to be run off the mountain. Now Jacob and I had a lot of contemplating to do as to our next step. 

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

   July 27   2002     Part One       Quartz Veins and Ore Cars   

   We found the mine adit just before noon today. The tunnel opening is about eight feet in height and close to six feet in width. It was well timbered and covered by mine tailings from above as well as many years of slides coming down the mountain. Jacob shined the flashlight in to get a better look. Everything was timbered and still holding as far as what could be seen from the entrance. I was about to walk in when Jacob grabbed my shoulder and told me to slow down. He said we should not go charging in too far without inspecting the old working closely.

   There were several old oil lamps near the entrance. They were covered in dust. Jacob told me the workings were most likely from sometime in the 1800’s. He said if the workings dated post 1900 the lamps probably would have been carbide. The tunnel looked to go straight back into the mountain on a northerly heading. We shined our flashlights down the drift and slowly made our way deeper into the mountain.

   The tracks were still in pretty good shape but we didn’t see any mine cars. After about 300 feet the drift forked off with the original one heading north and the second turning right or east. The north tunnel appeared to be the main drift as it was higher and wider than the east one. We could feel some slight air movement coming towards us so there must be a vent shaft or opening somewhere higher on the mountain we figured. 

   I went back and got a bucket and a shovel and we took a sample from the 300 foot area. I carried it over to the tub and Jacob began panning the gravel. There were some nice colors in the pans but nothing really rich. We went back in and stayed on the northward main drift. Then I heard Jacob let out a soft whistle. He was shining his flashlight on the side wall. He quietly told me to have a look at where the beam of the flashlight was shining. “Holy Moses” was all I could say. I was looking at a big quartz vein. It had to be close to a foot wide. Jacob shined his flashlight up close and I had a good look. I asked him if that was visible gold I was seeing. He gave me a wink and a nod and told me to go get a pick. When I got back he instructed me to walk in about another 100 feet before we picked away at the quartz. He shined the light down the dark tunnel. There sat an old ore car on the tracks. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

10 minutes ago, Clay Diggins said:

The king owns everything. The Crown does not allow prospectors to keep or sell the gold they find but limited prospecting is allowed and legal as long as you get permission from the landowner and follow the very restrictive rules. Think California park rules except you have to dress nice, know how to bow and curtsy, can't touch actual dirt and never ever actually keep or sell the gold you find. No fires, no trash and no tools.

That's the law. The reality, as often is the case, is very different.

Individual "estates" in Scotland allow gold prospecting with permission. Usually permission involves paying for a permit. A permit to prospect for a year on Buccleuch Estate is 50 pounds. Same for Strathfillian. Baile an Or requires a permit and a reservation..

Thanks Clay & good to see you on the thread. The prospector I know just uses a pan. Not sure what arrangements he makes for permission. Maybe he is an outlaw. (I wonder if Robin Hood in merry England ever panned for gold LOL. My guess any gold he got was taken from the rich in the form of jewelry.)

   Not sure if this is true but I was told that all the gold there belongs to the King (Charles) & prospecting & taking gold is against the law. I was told this by my friend who lives there. However, he still prospects & gets some nice looking gold. 

  July 26   2002

   We got started with the exploration about half an hour after sunrise. We broke the pristine quiet when the excavator came to life. You could hear the sound from the big diesel motor echoing off the side of the mountain and traveling down the creek. 

   Jacob would dig a trench down and every time he got to the right depth he hit the old track. I would ride the bucket down to the bottom from time to time and take a sample of the gravels and make sure the direction of the track was not changing. The track was running about true north straight into the mountain.

   I panned the gravel samples while Jacob dug away. There was almost no gold in any of the samples so far. Just a very few fine flakes not worth mentioning.

   We took a lunch break around noon and got back at it. We were making progress and getting close to the base of the mountain. By dusk we had cut a long trench that ended close to the mountain. It was a little wider than the tracks. We stopped for the day and took a look at what we had accomplished. Jacob said the old track had been buried over the years by the tailings from up above. He figured they dated back to the time of the big operations of the 1860’s to the 1880’s. He said this lower area must have been worked by a smaller company and at some point got buried by all the slickens and tailings from the hydraulic outfits. He said it might have happened after the guys working down here had moved on or it may have taken place while they were trying to work. He said the big companies were ruthless and wouldn’t have thought anything about shooting tailings 300 feet down below to this area and burying the smaller companies workings. I’d heard about stuff like this happening in various areas and sometimes it ended in violent shootouts with rival companies. There was no law to speak of. Usually, the big companies employed their own thugs to deal with problems. They had plenty of money and that meant power.

   After we called it a day we sat by the campfire and had Jacobs favorite stew with cornbread. The temperature had cooled nicely by dark and actually there was a chill in the air by 10:00 PM. We’d go from 100 degrees in the afternoon to about 50 degrees by 2:00 AM. We have not seen rain in quite some time. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .............