GhostMiner

July 6 1950 The gravel continues to lack value. The sloping bedrock has flattened out and what gravel layer exists is thin and barren of gold. I have finally made contact with the geologist and he will be at the mine tomorrow to give his evaluation of the project.

May 23 2002 This morning’s cleanup showed .3 ounces in the pan. Jim stayed down at camp while Vern, Jacob, and I went up to work the mine. It was a beautiful morning for working and we went at it until around 2:00 PM when we broke for lunch. Jacob went back down to camp and Jim came up to dig. The rounded channel rocks were good to see but were playing hell with our digging speed not to mention our joints. I couldn’t imagine how Jed and Jacob and the rest of the old crew were able to do what they did. My hands and elbows ache every day. Vern, being the younger member of the crew, was fairing a bit better. Nobody ever complained and Jacob told us to just keep a steady pace and don’t push yourself past the breaking point. We were all hoping the permit would be approved before the weather got too hot. By the end of the day we had managed a hard fought for 12 yards of washed gravels. Now I understand why those old boys drank whisky at night. It killed the pain. After supper that’s what we all did, had a couple of drinks with Jacob. TO BE CONTINUED .............

Our gold cuts were now at around 15 ounces each or about $4500 in 2002 which was a fair amount of money. I will never forget this day as long as I live. It was the beginning of a big change in the way I looked at life and my finances would continue to grow. $4500 back in 2002 would buy you quite a bit. Now gold is hovering around $2000/ounce and probably going higher.

May 22 2002 We were all up fairly early. The weather was warm but not hot. I still have not seen what Jacob refers to as the Big Heat. I suppose it will eventually come and I will see how our crew handles it. We have not had any more issues with trespassers or thieves so guard duty was suspended. However, Jacob will remain at camp during the day to guard things. He did mention that he would enjoy getting up to the site from time to time to check on things and give advice so we will rotate people starting today so Jacob can be at the mine site for a few hours daily. We need him to be a big part of our decision making as far as where and how to run things. After lunch Jacob came up to inspect the site. He gave us some direction as to our digging operations and took some sample pans. He brought one over and showed us some gold. That always fuels us for the rest of the day. Then he grabbed up a shovel and started to do some digging. I could see his face light up as he shoveled the gravels. He worked at a slow and steady pace. By the day’s end we had washed about 16 yards of gravel. Jacob told us the ground was looking very promising. We all want to see over 100 ounces and with the gold caches included we are well on our way. If I can get an excavator up here eventually there will be no stopping us. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

May 21 2002 Part Seven After a bit of trial and error and a gradual widening of the hole Vern uncovered the metal container which held another 20 ounces of gold. He placed it on a rock. Jacob looked at it for a while and exclaimed that this was the very last of the old crew’s gold that he knew of. However, he was quick to say there may be more that was hidden by some of the crew who were murdered. Because of the generosity of Jacob our total gold take now has risen to 60 ounces and it was still May. We all gathered around Jacob to shake his hand and thank him. There was no greed in this man. He was old school. He understood hard work as opposed to instant gratification. He was also as loyal as they came. Once he was your friend he was with you all the way regardless of the circumstances. However, you would never want him as your enemy. The four of us talked happily of the claims and gold mining as we slowly made our way back to camp. It had been quite a day. For our supper Jacob made up some of Jed’s favorite hot water cornbread which we ate with stew and washed it down with some whisky. I sat back and tried to imagine myself as part of the old crew. For a minute or two I drifted back in time to 1936. I felt like I wanted to stay there. TO BE CONTINUED .................

I have shot a Thompson several times. Lot's of fun.

May 21 2002 Part Six We got up to the site where the cache was hidden. This area looked like it hadn’t seen any human activity for many years. The old logging road was now just a rough trail. The boulders were nearly 100 feet off the trail and there were other smaller rocks all around the area. Jacob stopped and took a long look around the area as if trying to remember the exact location. He said the area had changed some and he didn’t remember all the other rocks being there. To be honest, the place looked like an old hard rock tailings dump. He said he had buried the cash on the north side of the big boulders and covered it by dragging a big flat rock over from an area about thirty feet away. Now the entire area was covered in rocks. Jacob just shook his head in disgust. He said somebody had dumped rock in this area. I asked him again how far from the big boulders he had buried the gold and he told me just ten paces or maybe thirty feet. So I tried my best to step off ten paces over the rough and uneven rock strewn area. Then the four of us started to look for a big flat rock. We worked slowly and removed as much of the rounded rock as we could and finally found a large flat stone that was too big to lift. Jacob hollered out saying that might be it. Jim got down on his knees and pushed the stone away from its resting place. Then Vern grabbed a shovel and started digging. TO BE CONTINUED ................

May 21 2002 Part Five After several tries we eventually found the second cache of gold which contained 20 ounces. It was buried several feet beneath the surface under a large, flat stone which we had to move. Now there was still one more cache remaining. Jacob said we needed to hike to the north about a quarter mile where we would come upon an old logging road that headed west up the mountain. He said this was the road the logging rif raf crews used back in the day when they made their way down the mountain to head south past the old mining crews camp to get to the main road. Jacob sure had a bad opinion of loggers for some reason but I didn’t want to get him started on another story. It was now early afternoon and we wanted to find the last of the gold today. When we came to the old road Jacob let out a hoot. He said we won’t be running into any rif raf logging crews up here today. We could see that the road had been abandoned for years. He said to start following it up the mountain and we slowly made our way west. I asked him how far and he said we would eventually come across three large boulders on the north side of what was now a rough trail. He said it wasn’t too far. After about half an hour Jacob spotted the rocks. He gave a holler and threw his hat in the air. He said to follow him over to the boulders. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

May 21 2002 Part Four Jacob told us that he had begun scouting a second sight for his gold cache to be hidden. Wanting to save time, he was carrying the gold with him as well as his trusty Thompson. Before he had made it all the way up here he heard some people talking as they were heading down the mountain. This was 1937 and the country was in a tough place and people were desperate. Jacob said he trusted no one. His Thompson was his best friend and had saved him from robberies in the past. When the group of men came into view there were four of them and they were all carrying rifles and sidearms. They started to walk towards Jacob and he hollered at them to stop. He said they looked a little startled and told him they meant no harm and that they were just poor prospectors looking to stake a claim somewhere on the mountain. Jacob said not even one of them had a pick or a shovel nor a pan so he knew right away they were liars and up to no good. He told them he had no idea where there was any good ground to stake a claim and mentioned that all the good ground was probably taken years ago. The four of them began to inch their way slowly in his direction and attempted to make idle conversation about how hot the weather was. Jacob said he had the Thompson slung over his right shoulder and decided to bring it forward with both hands and pointing directly at the strangers. He told them to stop moving towards him. Then he told them that before they could scatter he would have them mowed down before they took two steps. He fired a short burst near their feet and the four of them jumped back in fear. He said their eyes were big as saucers and they now knew he meant business. Jacob told them he'd shoot all four of them and leave them for the lions. He had them lay their weapons down. Then he told them they had better get the hell down the mountain and out of this area pronto or they would never leave alive. He told them there were camps of heavily armed men here and they were stone cold killers of anybody they didn’t recognize. Then he fired off a second burst just over their heads by a foot or so and they ran like hell. As they ran down the mountain he fired off one more burst for good measure. After he had finished with the story he just gave us a cold stare that made my skin crawl. We were sitting with an outlaw from another era. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

May 21 2002 Part Three Jacob told us that the next hidden cache would contain 15 ounces. He said he had hidden it in a completely different area nearly a mile due west of the first spot. We hiked slowly across the mountain and were in very rugged terrain. We eventually made our way down the side of the mountain and into a deep ravine where the north/south running creek was flowing. The water was about two feet deep and we made our way across it to the western side. This is where the mountain began to rise for about 200 feet and it was a fairly steep slope. I mentioned to Jacob that I was worried about him making the steep climb that would be a challenge for people half his age. He just laughed and said to follow him north along the base of the ravine not far from the creek. As we traversed north along the floodplain with the mountain just 50 feet to the west Jacob spotted his next marker. There was a huge rock outcropping about 20 feet up the hill. It appeared that the rocks were resting on a bench. The grade going up to that point was not too bad compared to the rest of the areas we had passed by. I figured Jacob had handpicked this spot for several reasons. It was remote but the access wasn’t too difficult and it was a very easy marker to spot. We followed him up the mountain until he came to the boulders. We all took a seat on a flat stone the size of a car. We drank some water and Jacob pulled out his flask that he always carried. We all had a swig of his whisky and he decided to roll a smoke. As we sat there resting, Jacob started to tell us a story from back when he hid this cache we were near. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

July 3 1950 We continue to follow the bedrock on a gentle downward slope and are washing poorly paying gravel. I have still had no luck in making further contact with the geologist and now assume he has abandoned the project. In camp tonight the mood of the crew was low but no one has left. It appears the men are as stubborn as I am and will work until we find our jackpot or run out of money. TO BE CONTINUED ................

May 21 2002 Part Three Jacob counted off twenty paces due north from the tree. At this point he encountered a flat rock about two feet in length. There looked to be a slight depression underneath it. He gave me a nod and I pulled the rock away from its resting place. He said to dig down about two feet. As I got down to that level I hit something and the shovel made a clanging type of sound. Vern got down on his knees and started scooping some gravel away from the hole and as he did so he exposed a small metal container. He pulled it out of the hole and handed it to Jacob who was now all smiles. He undid a latch and opened the metal box. It contained a nice stash of raw gold, both fine and coarse, and also pickers in a little glass jar as well. We all looked at each other in amazement. Jim started to laugh and we all joined him. After all these years we were looking at some of the old crew's gold. Jacob said there was an even 10 ounces in the container. He said that was the smallest cache and the next two held much more. We could hardly contain our excitement and congratulated him on finding it after all these years. Then we set off with Jacob to find the next one. TO BE CONTINUED .................

May 21 2002 Part Two Jacob slowly made his way on a northeast heading. This took us away from the creek and into some fairly rugged terrain. There were no trails or clearings from previous workings and the pine trees were old. I had never been up to this section of the claims. I saw no sign of any previous mining activity or anything else. After about fifteen minutes we came to a stop. Jacob was taking a look around and muttering to himself. He seemed to be trying to remember things from 65 years ago. We all wanted to help him but there was nothing we could do but remain silent and let him think. After about ten minutes we started moving again. Now he was heading more to the east than north. He said the trees had grown and he was having trouble finding one of his markers he had carved. Jacob said he had made a carving on the south side of a big pine and had placed three rocks on the north side of the base of it. He said if he could just find that first tree he should be able to find the first cache of gold. He seemed to think we were in the right area. We decided to spread out a bit and start searching in a tight grid slowly working east. It was probably no more than ten minutes when I heard Vern holler out to come have a look at where he was standing. He said he found the first marker. Sure enough, when I got over to where he was pointing I saw a very faint carving of two initials in the south side of the tree. JS. I walked around to the north side and there were three good sized rocks lying near the base of the big pine. When Jacob came over he was all smiles. He gave me a nudge and a wink and said I probably just thought he was just a crazy old man. I told him that no, I would never ever think that. I asked him where to go from here. He just chuckled and said to follow him. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

popeye in the house!!

May 21 2002 Part One The Search For Jacob’s Lost Gold Cache Jacob and I were up early and had our coffee together. He did the usual and spiced up our cups with a little Bushmills and we sat and watched the dark night slowly turn to dawn. Eventually the rest of the crew was up and about and we all had a good breakfast together and cleaned up the concentrates from yesterday’s work. We had 7/10 of an ounce. This officially put us at 10.1 ounces for the season. As we were beginning to prepare for work Jacob hollered for us to come over to his camper. He had something on his mind. He told us that he had hidden some gold caches on the claims back in 1937 and had never had the chance to come back to get them. He wanted us to help look for them. He said he’d throw them into our pot to be divided up equally by the four of us. He said that we were his partners and that’s the way it should be. He reckoned there were about 50 ounces hidden up here somewhere. We were all in agreement to help him out. He didn't have a map because he was afraid somebody would rob him and find it so he was working from memory. Jacob said that if he could find the first one then the other two would be easy. He said they were hidden way up on the remote northern section of the claims. He said nobody goes up there but black bears and mountain lions. We grabbed some shovels and started to follow Jacob up the mountain. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

July 2 1950 I was unable to talk the investor into continuing to fund the project. There is still some hope that we may find the drop in bedrock and I am using the last of my personal money to continue work. The bedrock has now begun to slope downward once again and we are all hopeful this is what we have been working so hard for. I have also been able to secure a loan from the bank equal to 50% of my truck’s value. This combined with the last of my personal funds may keep us afloat for several more weeks which I feel is more than enough time to achieve success. The geologist has gone missing on the project and I have been unable to contact him for further advice. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

May 20 2002 We did the morning gold cleanup and had 4/10 of an ounce. We are close to ten ounces now. Seeing as the season is young we are hopeful of making many more ounces, especially once our permit is cleared for heavy equipment. With the permit we will continue to work the mountain just like Jacob did back in 1937 with the exception of using an excavator to dig gravels. We will also replace the tom with a big highbanker and grizzly. Jacob is very anxious for that to happen and said we should then see plenty of gold. In the meantime, we will dig by hand. Today was a hot one with the afternoon temperature getting close to 90 degrees. Jacob warned us that it would get much hotter during the Summer months. He called it the big heat and said it would knock us on our tails if we weren’t careful. He said it was like working in an oven all day. Hopefully, our bodies will be built up and ready for anything by then. Also, if we have digging equipment out here that would solve a lot of problems. The trench we are cutting is growing laterally as well as in depth and length into the mountain. We have seen a bit of bedrock here and there before it mysteriously vanished to deeper levels on steep slopes. Jacob came out and checked our work today. He told us the mountain is full of surprises. It will give you some gold and then suddenly you won’t find it again for days. He said it just takes relentless work and a strong will to make it pay. We are giving it all we have. We ended our day with sixteen yards of washed gravel. TO BE CONTINUED ................

rvpopeye in the house!

May 19 2002 Part Two I was wondering why Jacob was telling this story at this particular time. At a time when we were about to start a night watch of the camp. It was almost as if he was warning us of some kind of impending danger out here. Be that as it may, I was now more curious than ever as to what he was about to tell us. Jacob said that when whatever it was came crashing down the mountain he also heard the scream of a man. Then he saw the man come running down past camp. It was the same guy they had sent packing earlier. But behind the man came what we would now call a bigfoot. Now I have heard that this county is considered a hotspot for such creatures but I am not someone who believes in folklore. I would need to see one to believe it. Anyway, Jacob said the creature was at least eight feet tall and over 400 pounds or more. It let out a blood curdling cry and stopped just short of camp. It began shaking a pine tree violently. He said it woke the crew and they came out of their tents to see what was happening. He said Jed wanted to shoot it but somehow held back. After about a minute Jed fired off several rounds from his rifle that were aimed over its head. This seemed to startle it and it ran back up the mountain faster than any human could have done. Jacob stated that they never saw the prospector again. We all just looked at each other and were trying to figure out if Jacob was trying to get one over on us but he didn’t flinch and remained dead serious. I looked over at Vern and just said “You have first watch.” TO BE CONTINUED ...............

June 28 1950 After meeting with our investor we have been advised that he will terminate all funding of the project on July 1 unless we have proven ground that will pay for the work being done as well as show a profit. We have advanced the drift and the bedrock has continued to rise to the 44 ft level and we are only seeing trace amounts of gold. We will push on for a few more days and if we fail to hit a streak I may attempt to fund another week from my own funds. Our geologist still believes a payday awaits us if we are able to continue. Spirits in camp are low but no one is ready to quit.

May 19 2002 Part One We had our gold cleanup and got ½ ounce. After breakfast Jim, Vern, and I went up to the dig site and left Jacob to guard the camp as planned. It was a perfect day for working and the three of us went at it hard. We ended the day with 15 yards of processed pay gravel and got back down to camp just before dark. Jacob said all had been quiet and he hadn’t seen anyone go up or down the mountain near the creek. We are going to post guards in shifts tonight with Vern taking first watch. We’ll see how things go for the next few days and then make a decision about continuing with a night watchman or not. After supper we all sat around the campfire for a bit and Jacob brought out a bottle of Bushmills. He poured himself part of a cup and set the bottle on the top of a stump and asked us to join him in a drink which we did. He rolled himself one of his smokes and started telling us one of his stories about the old days out here. The wild and wooly days as he called them. He said one early Summer night back in 1936 the crew was sitting around the fire drinking whisky after a long hard day of mining. This was before the big strike in the kettle. It was around midnight and the crew wasn’t feeling any pain according to him when a stranger was spotted hiking north up the side of the creek. The stranger saw the campfire and walked into their camp as carefree as could be. Instantly, the miners were on alert and pulled their guns. Suddenly the stranger found himself looking down the barrels of four loaded weapons. Jed asked the man what he was up to. The guy told them that he was just moving his prospecting site further north as the spot he was working wasn’t showing much promise. He said he meant no harm and asked if he could have a seat by the fire and warm his bones. Jed told him we didn’t invite strangers into our camp. The prospector asked the crew if they were mining gold out here and was told to mind his own business and get the hell out of the camp. No one was in the mood to be friendly that night according to Jacob. He said the man looked a little surprised but left without any fuss and resumed his hike to higher ground to the north. Jacob took a sip of whisky from his cup and a drag off his smoke and continued the story. He said that the crew went to their tents leaving Jacob on first watch that night. He said it was around 1:00 AM or so when the trouble started. The campfire had burned down to embers and the cold night air was setting in. Jacob said he was in a lookout spot just above camp where he was hidden but had a good view of the ground. He said he heard something crashing around in the trees just north of camp and then whatever was causing the ruckus started coming down the mountain towards him. I asked him what it was. Jacob leaned in a bit and continued. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

June 25 1950 As we are drifting northward we are now seeing bedrock beginning to rise above the 56 ft level and are now at 48 ft. This is a bit of a surprise to me and I have not talked with our geologist as of the time of this entry. The gold values have remained low. I have been expecting the opposite to occur with a sudden deep drop in bedrock leading to rich values. We will continue to drift and are now in all or nothing mode. I have not discussed this new occurrence with the investor but will be meeting with him tomorrow.

May 18 2002 Part Three I had no luck finding another person to work with us in town. I was even told by one old timer that our property was cursed. He said there had been so much tragedy and trouble on the claims that no one in his right mind would go out there to work. He also was of the opinion that the old crews had gotten all the gold out of the ground long ago. I am worried. We have already encountered trouble. I’m working with my mining hero but fear that he may shoot someone. Jacob has a short fuse and does as he pleases. I keep reminding him that this is not the old days. He just scoffs and says the law will not be there to help us and we must deal with trouble on our own as we see fit. By the time I got back to camp Vern and Jim had processed some good material and I jumped into the pit to do my part. I was beyond tired but somehow kept working the gravels until nearly dark. We will have set up shifts for night watch starting tonight. This is just another issue I was hoping to avoid. We have eleven yards of gravel washed into concentrates and will get a weigh done in the morning. We are all hoping for a good one. TO BE CONTINUED ................

And word for word right out of his log.