GhostMiner

June 28 2002 Part Two One of the thugs told us they were well covered by boulders and not to waste our ammo. I told them we were not shooting at them but just warning them to stay out of our camp and we would fight if need be. Then the guy said they’d been out here on our mine for weeks. They’d been watching us as well as messing with our equipment to show us they meant business. He went on to say that they knew we had found a good gold deposit and wanted to make a deal with us. They wanted to partner up and in turn things would be peaceful & productive. They would help us work and also help guard the mine against any other intruders. In return they wanted half the gold. When Jacob heard that he let out a long string of curse words and fired the Thompson in the direction of the thugs. He hollered over to them that was their half and it would be the only half they would get – lead! TO BE CONTINUED ...................

Good to see you back snakejim

June 28 2002 Part One Gold Fiends. That’s what I would call our visitors last night. After our supper we were sitting at camp enjoying some cold beer when three men came walking up the creek from the main road to the south. They were all armed with sidearms and cocky as you can be. They hollered over to us that they were entering our camp and for us not to do anything we might regret. Before I could respond Jacob had the Thompson pointed in their direction and he fired off a burst over their heads which sent them scrambling for cover. We were all still in camp and we pulled our guns and took cover as well. One of the men started to yell at us to stop shooting. He said they had a deal for us. Jacob hollered back “Here’s your deal” and fired the Thompson high but in their general direction. I told him to hold up on the shooting and I hollered over to the men and asked them why they were here. The answer was chilling. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

My name could easily be changed to High Drama LOL. Has a nice ring to it.

I must admit you are correct. History also says you are correct. At the time of writing I may have been overly dramatic but if someone were to try to take our gold we sure would fight for it if pressed.

June 27 2002 We were back to shoveling gravel at 7:00 AM. We were planning on an earlier start but were just too tired out to get up in time to do so. However, once the crew was in place we were a lean and mean gold producing machine. Jacob worked at cleaning the gold. Jim was tending the pump and working as watchman. Vern and I shoveled gravel into the tom. When Jacob finished with his cleanup he always came over and shoveled right along with us. He loved it and never complained. Around 1:00 PM we broke for lunch and Jacob was finishing the weigh. We had 14.4 ounces. We were all stunned and nobody was saying much.Then Jacob spoke up. He said we have us an official strike. We all looked silently at him as he spoke in a very solemn tone. He went on to explain that he believed we were now in a section of the big strike the old crew had discovered back in 1937 before they were murdered and he was run off. Jacob told us he figured there were hundreds or maybe thousands of ounces of gold in this new deposit. He said it’s here and we found it and it’s real. Then he brought out a bottle of Bushmills and we all drank a toast to the gold. He said it would bring us luck. If I thought the crew had gold fever before it was nothing compared to the way we were after seeing this latest cleanup. Jacob was singing away on some old Irish song I’d never heard and the rest of us were talking excitedly. Then Jacob got real serious with us and said we needed to watch our backs for sure now. He said gold strikes have a way of filtering back into town somehow and before you know it you have a war on your hands. He reminded us of the hooligans that had been roaming around the mine at night. We all agreed that the crew must use extreme caution at all times. By dusk we had processed another 41 yards of gravel. Are we really glory bound? TO BE CONTINUED .................

June 26 2002 Morning seemed to come fast and we were up before the sunlight took control of the dark. A good breakfast and off to work we went. Jacob worked the concentrates and by lunchtime had the gold tally ready for us. We were more than surprised to see 6.8 ounces in the jar. This was the stuff that legends are made from. So rich was the ground we were working that if we had the trommel working we would be rolling in money. We talked to Jacob about the gravels we were in. All he said was the old crew had seen yards to the ounce and sometimes ounces to the yard. We were somewhere in between. He told us that if we hit a jackpot we could see hundreds of ounces very quickly. There was just no way to know and we needed to keep working a steady pace and not let the fever take control of our minds. Of course we all had gold fever and were doing our best to control it. We were ready to kill for gold. The fever had us by the throat and was squeezing every day we worked. We dreamt of gold and talked about it all day. There was no returning to normal life for us now. I began to understand how the old crew felt every day. By dusk we were all physically wiped out from the shoveling and the heat. I had sweat so much there was no moisture left in me. Jacob warned us to be careful in this dry heat because once the moisture was sucked out of your body you could drop over with no warning. He said he had seen strong men drop over and were unable to get to their feet. Somehow we didn’t care. All we could see and think about was gold. I saw gold in the gravel. I saw it in the rocks. I thought I saw it floating in the dust our shovels kicked up. Sometimes I feel like I am losing my mind out here. Today we worked as hard as men can work in extreme heat and processed 47 yards of gravel. We are a proud crew tonight. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

Heading out on a concert tour until early next week. I'll leave you prospectors some good music to listen to until I get back. May your pans be full of course gold & pickers.

June 25 2002 Last night we had a black bear that kept circling our camp. He came near the perimeter a bunch of times but never all the way into the actual camp. Jacob dealt with him as usual by firing a few bursts from the Thompson which sent him packing. That gun will scare the heck out of anyone or anything. Other than the curious bear we had a quiet night which is always welcome out here. We all got to work early and were actually shoveling gravel into the tom at the crack of dawn. We wanted to get as much work done before the big heat reared its ugly head. It would usually be around 90 degrees by 11:00 AM and top out around 5:00 PM in the afternoon at around 100 to 110 degrees. It was beginning to take its toll on us. We are discussing stopping work around 5:00 PM but starting a little earlier to make up for the lost couple of hours. Today we managed to process 36 yards of pay gravel and the weigh brought us 3.8 ounces of gold. TO BE CONTINUED .................

Hopefully there will be good moderators to keep the site in good order.

June 24 2002 When morning came we were all eager to resume mining. Jim took his position as guard up at the pump location. He was getting more mobile now and able to do a little bit of patrolling up and down the water line trail as well. Our gravel pile was getting low so I jumped in the excavator and deepened the trench some while depositing the material near the tom. It was a big plus having pay gravel right at the head of the tom. No buckets to carry and we were only limited by how many shovels full of gravel we could feed into the hopper. By 2:00 PM the temperature sat around 100 degrees. This was a very dry and oven-like heat that sucked the moisture right out of your body. Vern, Jacob, and I all did our work without much talk. Only an occasional grunt or curse word when the shovels struck something large and unmoveable. When that happened it sent a shock wave right up the forearms and into the elbows and shoulders. We always estimated the yardage of pay sent through the tom. There was no way to give an exact figure but we believed we were always within a yard or so either way. Jacob was working right along with us and he kept a slow and steady pace for most of the time. Sometimes it was hard for me to think that he was 85 years old. He could still do a fair amount of work over the course of the day. We always kept a close eye on him and made sure he took frequent rest breaks. By the end of the day we had sent 32 yards of gravel through the tom and were completely wiped out. We headed for camp and some cold beer. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

It took us over 3 yrs to get access to our eastern claims. They were gated and the road in was used by the county, Forest Service, & one home owner who accessed his property through the gate. We finally put in our plans of operation & have had access & our own lock ever since. Make a plan - even if it's just to sample & prospect, & you should be able to drive in. I know you shouldn't need to go that route but it's either that or cut the lock. As a matter of fact, the first wk we were accessing the claims through the gate with our own lock the neighbor who lives east of our claims called the Forest Service. They told him we were ok to be there. We have made friends with him now. However, back then he called the county after the Forest Service. We went to the gate one morning to find 4 county truck waiting for us. I laughed & told the crew that it looks like they have us outnumbered. They wanted to know how we got access & permission. I explained to them that when we applied for our plan of operation it was out for public comment for months & no one responded or cared. Then once we got access a heck broke loose. There was nothing they could do & we are all friends now. Just goes to show how there is such a lack of communication sometimes.

I've actually thought of investing in a mining project in Wyoming or Montana. It would need to be either permitted or permit ready. Something with a crew & equipment in place as well.

According to the Honky Tonk Stardust Psychedelic Cowboy his grandfather kind of knew the old crew from 1936 - 1937. He said his grandfather worked part time at the Paxton Hotel back then as a bartender & sometimes a cook. The mining crew was run by a couple of Irish brothers named Stevens. Sometimes the entire crew came in and sometimes just one or two of them. Supposedly they always carried guns and knives and were a rough bunch. Jed was supposed to be meaner than a snake when provoked and loved to fight. Heavy drinkers and hell raisers according to him. They were involved in a bunch of fights in Paxton. Lots of times it was with loggers who hated the miners and vice versa. His grandfather told him about one fight where one of the Stevens brothers (he wasn't sure which one) threw a logger right through a plate glass window and out into the parking lot of the hotel. They were a wild bunch. This is just a little bit of what the cowboy told me & I will be posting more here soon. Interesting stuff.

I have a special guest who may be adding to the story soon. From Paxton California - The Honky Tonk Stardust Psychedelic Cowboy. He knows a lot about the history of our mining area as well as some untold stories about the old crew circa 1936 - 1937.

June 23 2002 It’s Sunday and we decided to take the day off and get some much needed rest. The cleanup brought another 3.7 ounces of gold. We still need to guard our pump and water line every day. It’s too bad things are like this out here. Jacob wants to catch the hooligans and beat them up. I bet he could still do it too. Vern sat up at the watch station as darkness came and Jacob, Jim, and I sat by a small campfire. Jacob brought out a bottle of Bushmills and we drank shots and cold beers while we swapped stories. Jacob began telling us about the night he had been run off the mine in the big shootout of July 3, 1937. He said he could hear bullets whizzing over his head and some were striking some big logs that surrounded his dugout where the watchpost was located. The gunfire sounded like a war zone and after an hour he was running out of ammo. Jacob had been surrounded on all four sides by armed thugs and there were a bunch more that had surrounded camp. He said he fought like hell and knows that he wounded at least one or two of the gang but he claims there were at least thirty of them on the claim. The gunfire had suddenly come to a stop down at camp. He tried to holler down there but could hear no reply. Then he said the thugs hollered out that the crew were all dead and he would be next. There wasn’t much of anything he could do at that point and he had the last magazine loaded in the Thompson. The goons didn’t know that the crew had dug an escape tunnel from the watchpost to a safe area to the south. He said he sprayed a burst from the Thompson into the woods where some of the goons were located, grabbed his flashlight, and started crawling through the tunnel to safety. By the time the gang realized he wasn’t there he was long gone. He walked in the woods along the main road back towards town making sure to keep out of sight. He figured the gang would probably drive up and down the road looking for him and he was right. Jacob said they had several trucks with some men in the back holding rifles and driving up and down the road. He quietly watched them from the woods just off the highway. Jacob said that if he had had any ammo he would have shot it out with them right there but he only had a few short bursts left in the Thompson. He felt sick to his stomach knowing what they had done to the crew. He said that he lay awake many nights wishing he had fired on them and took out a few of them before they killed him. It was something he lived with every day since that horrible night. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

Thanks for posting that story. I would have enjoyed meeting him. I had one TV miner lease one of my claims & had a very bad experience with him. Fred seemed quite genuine to me.

June 22 2002 We had no further disturbance last night. It was puzzling to all of us what these guys were intending to do. They must have figured we had spotted them and moved on. My fear is that if they cross Jacob they will not be moving anywhere ever again. We’ll just have to keep a close watch on everything. Jim took watch duty at the pump today while the crew worked the tom. Jacob panned out 4.6 ounces of gold on the cleanup. The day time temperature peaked out at 118 in the sun. The shoveling is not too bad if we pace ourselves. At least we don’t have to dig by hand like the old crew did back in the day. I don’t know how those guys were able to do it. We ended up with 29 yards of processed gravel. The amount was a bit lower because we were all tired from last night and the heat slowed us as well. Still waiting on the pump & trommel. Hopefully soon. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

One of the TV guys I had respect for.

June 21 2002 Part Four I had totally lost these guys and was unsure what to do. I decided to stay near the pump area in a good hiding place. After a short time Jim radioed me. He said the crew had seen the three flashlights heading away from camp to the south towards the main road. Jacob was staying at camp and he and Vern were following them. About a minute later he radioed again saying the lights had cut out and they had lost them. They were returning to camp. I didn’t know what to make of any of this strange activity. Were they playing around with us or had they intended to do harm? The only thing we could do was stay on alert. Jacob said he'd stay up & watch the camp for a spell and I would watch the pump until 2:00 AM when Jim would take over the night watch. All was quiet once again. TO BE CONTINUED ..............

Best of luck to you sir.

June 21 2002 Part Three As they approached the trail they suddenly veered off and stayed in the cover of the woods. They were just off the trail and following it toward our camp. I got on the radio and warned the crew. I slowly followed the flashlight beams from a safe distance to the rear. I got back on the radio and told Vern to take a covered position just above camp and have Jim and Jacob watch for them as they got near. I was thinking we might be able to set up a trap with no escape. At about the halfway point they suddenly stopped and cut out the lights. I got back on the radio and informed everyone. They no doubt were trying to take the camp by surprise attack. I still couldn’t tell if they were armed but I was thinking they most likely were. All I knew is they sure didn’t want us mining out here. They had no idea I was following them. I could hear them talking in a low tone but couldn’t make it out. I had to be careful not to be spotted or let them hear me talking with the crew. I was in the woods on the other side of the trail. After a short time I no longer heard any voices or movement from them. They had either stopped or moved away from me undetected. Maybe they had split up, I just didn’t know. I began to worry that they would approach camp from multiple directions. There was no way to tell now. TO BE CONTINUED ................

Just so everyone knows & I have also mentioned this before, there continues to be gunfire from time to time on or in the area of those claims. A few yrs ago my partner was run off the claim by gunfire. This occurred when he was prospecting the area of the original Stevens gold strike of 1936 which was real. He did not know if they were warning shots or possibly just someone shooting randomly & didn't stick around to find out. I had one scary experience out there in 2019. I had set up camp just south of the original gold strike of 1936. I was up there by myself a few days before the rest of the crew arrived. At around 2:00 AM I awoke to gunfire. It was coming from the north way up on the mountain about a quarter mile or so above the old dig site. The crazy thing was that it went on for 15 or 20 minutes. There were different kinds of guns being fired because the sound of the shots were not all the same. It sounded like a war. Eventually things quieted down and I tried to get back to sleep. I will no longer stay on those claims by myself.

June 21 2002 Part Two I was hoping for a quiet night. We hadn’t had any further issues with hooligans as Jacob refers to them. The night air had dropped to around 60 degrees as 11:00 PM approached. It was quiet and I sat in a good hideout watching the pump. I was getting bored when suddenly I saw flashlights in the woods above the trail. I counted three of them. I had my 9 mm with its 15 round magazine. The holster I used also held an additional and fully loaded 15 round magazine. I pulled the semi auto out and was ready for anything. I also had a walkie talkie. Sure enough, three men seemed to be sneaking down the mountain towards the pump. My mind began to race. Would I actually shoot someone if I had to. I figured these guys were also armed because they knew we were. Slowly but surely they moved closer to the trail. They were trying to be quiet but every now and then someone would kick a rock and it would roll down the hill or they’d step on a stick and make a little noise. I extended my arms out and braced them on the flat section of rock I was hiding behind. I had it trained on the lead person. By then they were just twenty feet from the trail and another twenty from our pump. All I could think was not tonight you creeps - not on my watch. I was done tolerating this stuff from them. TO BE CONTINUED .................

June 21 2002 Part One Hot and dry weather again. Over 100 degrees and the ground is parched. Jacob says this will likely be the case until sometime in September. Jim is healing up nicely and able to pull guard duty while Vern and I shovel gravels into the tom. Jacob never seems to mind the heat much and keeps a bandana tied around his head along with a brimmed hat to block out the sun. He cleaned up the gold by early afternoon and showed us the jar containing 4.1 ounces. This seems to be extremely rich ground we have stumbled upon. It’s almost as if Jacob can somehow smell the gold in the gravels. Jacob came over to the tom after the weigh and helped us shovel until dusk. We processed 38 yards by dark. At supper we all had hash and beans and washed it down with cold beer. It never tasted better after such a long, hot, and dusty day. After the sun set the temperature was quickly down into the 60’s and we got relief. After several rounds of beer the crew retired for the night and I took the first watch. TO BE CONTINUED .................