GhostMiner

I agree. We decided to lease claims and take our cut right off the sluice in the form of raw gold. There is no risk or cost. I have seen several want to be gold miners lose everything including their wives. Not a business for the faint of heart. We love the exploration end of the business. I also invest in good mining companies.

Sometimes chasing a dream can be quite expensive in many ways.

July 8 1950 After consulting with the geologist yesterday I am still convinced we will find a glory hole in the bedrock somewhere to the north of our current drifting. I have enough funds to continue mining and exploring for another week. The gravel is still not paying for the work but the slope is declining gently to the northwest away from the fault.

May 25 2002 When I woke up this morning there was a cold drizzle of rain coming down and dampening the camp. We all gathered at my camper for breakfast. Jacob said he wanted to come up to the dig site so we decided we would all just go up together like we used to do. Seeing as it was a little cool we were anxious to get to our work and warm up some. Jacob took a look at our open trench work and made a few suggestions as to widening it out some and cutting a ramp descending deeper into the mountain heading north. So we all worked on that all morning and Jacob took samples to pan every half hour or so. When we broke for lunch we asked him what he thought about the progress and gold at the current site. He was very positive about it and was convinced we were going to hit some heavy gold deposits sooner than later. That was always good encouragement coming from someone like him who had the experience we lacked. He’s been here and done it before and we all trust his judgment. By day’s end we had washed 17 yards of gravel and were all pretty happy because Jacob had been showing us a little gold in the test pans all day long. TO BE CONTINUED ................

No. He usually didn't like to talk much about the old crew and I left it up to him. Eventually, I will write about when & how he passed away. He was one of a kind from another era.

I am going to try to find some pictures of that camp and the area and post them here.

So here is my experience that relates to this story that Jacob told us back in 2002. Fast forward 10 yrs. One of my partners & myself were camped in the same place. We had been coducting grab sample assays on one of the claims along the creek. We were sitting outside the tents drinking a beer and discussing the day's events. It was around 10:00 PM and there was a fire ban in place because it had been a dry Summer as usual. There was a quarter moon and we had several battery powered lanterns hung up for light but outside of camp it was nearly pitch dark. The two of us were talking when suddenly my partner alerted to something. I asked him what was up and he told me he heard someone talking in the trees just 40 ft outside of camp. I stopped talking and listened. I heard the voices as well but the words were unintelligible. They would stop for a few seconds & then start up again. We didn't see anyone and as far as we knew there was no one around this area but the two of us. After a few minutes of this we both got up and shined flashlights in the area of the voices and asked if anyone was there. No reply. So we slowly walked over in that direction with our sidearms at the ready just in case. Then it happened. There were two figures of men that were glowing slightly against the blackness of the forest. At times the figures were transparent.They were talking quietly to each other and paid us no mind. For the life of me I could not make out anything they were saying and the two figures began to drift north up the mountain several feet off the ground. We both just stared at them completely dumbfounded and unable to speak. After about 15 seconds or so they were out of our sight. We tried to follow them but they both had vanished in the night. I will never forget that experience on the claims and thankfully have a witness who saw what I saw and heard what I heard. Otherwise, I may not believe what had happened out there. That's my story & it's as real as real gets.

Yep, this was a real story from him and he was very serious as I recall. I have one to tell along this same line tomorrow. Cheers.

May 24 2002 Part Three Jacob said it was back in late May in the 1937 mining season when it all happened. The crew had decided to go into town to blow off steam but Jacob decided to stay at camp. He remembered it being a cold night and he had stoked up a fairly big campfire and was sipping whisky and thinking about the previous season. Before he went any further he looked at the three of us sitting around the fire with him and asked if we had ever heard any strange sounds around camp since we had arrived. We shook our heads no. He nodded and went on with the story. According to him he had heard voices coming down the mountain along the side of the creek near camp. Jacob said the sounds got his attention and he grabbed his Thompson and got out of the campfire light and hid in a dark spot outside of camp. He kept real still as two figures started to come into view. They were jabbering away about gold and mining and both of them were drinking from whisky bottles and laughing as they came into camp. Jacob went on to say that something about them didn’t look right and he could see right through them at times. He stood up to get a better look and realized it was Jed and Whisky Jack as sure as could be. When Jacob hollered out to them he said they looked him dead in the face with cold stares and it made his skin crawl. He said he was so shocked he could hardly get any words to come out of his mouth. Then he said the two of them kind of floated off the ground a few feet and drifted slowly up the mountain until they were out of sight. Then Jacob looked at us and said this was not a lie but as true as true could ever be so help him. He told us that he expected to see them again out here one night. He didn’t exactly know why but just had one of his feelings. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

May 24 2002 Part Two Jacob Unwinds A Tale When we got back to camp Jacob was working on a good supper for the crew. He told us he was quite proud of the way we were working and our determined attitudes. He said that is exactly what it takes to be a gold miner. He served up hash with hot water cornbread and his own baked beans from a special recipe. I’m telling you that this was one heck of a good supper for a tired and hungry crew. After we ate he broke out some beer and a bottle of Bushmills. It seemed like he was in a pretty good mood and felt like talking. He wasn’t always like that. Sometimes he was very quiet and introspective. We knew when to leave him alone and always let him decide when he wanted to have a good talk with us. Tonight, as we stoked up the campfire and sipped some good Irish whisky, he asked us if we wanted to hear a true story. A story that only the crew from 1937 had been told. I said yes, of course we do. So he began to tell us what he said was a true tale that he had experienced right here where we were sitting. TO BE CNTINUED .................

May 24 2002 Part One We had a pretty good cleanup this morning with .6 ounces in the pan. We got an early start with Vern, Jim, and I going up to dig and Jacob staying down at camp. Our cut into the base of the mountain is quite wide now and we have seen some examples of rolling bedrock. Due to all the upheaval in this entire area bedrock is illusive. One day you encounter it and the next it has dived deeper. Without the necessary heavy equipment and permits we are waiting for the work continues to be slow but steady. Fortunately, the weather has remained on the cool side. At the end of the day we washed 14 yards of gravel. TO BE CONTINUED .............

It's obvious that things are not going well for these guys. Having the actual entries here I know the ending. Of course with mining, sometimes you get lucky. And sometimes you go broke.

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 .................