GhostMiner

Rather disappointing so far.

June 22 1950 We have made another 25 ft of headway in the drift. At the gravel-bedrock contact it appears that the drift is indeed cutting a Tertiary blue channel. A somewhat muddy condition in the channel, together with the existence of a sand bar in the drift back indicate that we are presently cutting benches near the inside curve of the old channel. There were 30 yards of material washed with a recovery of only ⅛ ounce of gold. Values contained in the gravels occur evenly distributed with no unusual concentrations on or about bedrock, clearly indicating that the bench gravels at our current position were not in the main flow or trough of the channel where more abundant water would have concentrated the values near bedrock. Bedrock conditions appear very favorable, with the constant variance in elevation of five to six feet over very short distances, with many pockets, crevices, etc.

May 18 2002 Part Two The meeting was rather long. We discussed several things such as working at the site, the gold potentials where we have been working, but mostly keeping ourselves safe. Now we have unanimously decided to keep a person at camp during the day to act as guard. We will also post a night watchman for the next week and take things from there. I hate to take this action because it will hurt our gold production. We are in no position to hire a guard but if we could get one more person out here to work with us that would solve our problem. For now, Jacob will stay at camp during the day while we work the dig site. He does some digging with us but losing him at the mine site will not drop total yardage down by more than a yard or so. If we need his advice we can bring him up to the site while leaving one of the other three of us at camp. I have to admit that I am very uneasy about leaving Jacob at camp alone during the day. Not so much because he can’t handle things but just the opposite - he may shoot first and ask questions later. Vern and Jim are going up to the mine to work while I head into town to talk with a few people to see if I can find a fifth person to work on the crew. I’m hoping I can find someone. In the meantime, the season is young and we will make do as best we can. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

May 18 2002 Part One Last night the entire crew sat out in the dark outside of camp to see if the thieves would attack us. They never came. I sent everyone to their campers at 5:00 AM and I stayed out until daylight guarding camp. It remained quiet and the crew slept until about 9:00 AM. Having got no sleep at all myself I am pretty tired but we will have a meeting this morning to figure out a plan to keep ourselves safe. I can’t believe this is happening to us but Jacob takes everything in stride. We will have breakfast, then the meeting. After that I think we will go up to the site and try to get some work done. Perhaps the thieves now understand we are on guard and will leave us alone. That is what we are hoping for. TO BE CONTINUED ..............

May 17 2002 Part Seven We got back to camp and woke up our partners. They were beyond surprised when we told them what was going on. Jim wanted to go to town and get the sheriff’s deputies out here. Jacob became hopping mad when he heard that. He stated that real miners handle their own troubles. He said the deputies would not want to come out here even if we asked them. There was no proof of a robbery being planned. Jacob also said the deputies would never go traipsing out in the dark woods looking for two suspects who might be armed. It would be too dangerous. He also said that even if the deputies went out in the night and found the two men all they would have to do is deny everything and the law wouldn’t be able to do a thing. I have to admit that I agreed with Jacob and the others did as well. So I asked him what we should do. Jacob told us to get our spotlights set up and point them in the four directions away from camp. We all had them in our trucks and campers. He said that would help to light up the mountain some and also warn the thieves we were ready for them. He told us to take positions on all four sides of camp away from where the spotlights were placed. He said to make sure we were well hidden and in total darkness. That would give us a big advantage if the goons came calling. I have to admit that Jacob’s plan was a good one and I now could understand how he and his crew had survived out here for so long back in the 1930’s. We all had weapons and walkie talkies. We took our positions taking care to hide ourselves as best we could. I’m sure that if or when the thieves come down the mountain they are going to be quite surprised. I was also thinking of how unreal all of this was to me. It just didn’t seem possible that this was happening. I prayed that the thieves would not come down here and start trouble. The last thing I wanted was to shoot anyone or have one of us get shot. Now we sit and wait. TO BE CONTINUED ....................

I also think this entry in the log was written in part by the geologist who was helping out from time to time. I have no way of knowing for sure.

Readers - they are about to fire up the washplant.

June 20 1950 Particularly interesting in the area of consideration is a capping of rhyolitic boulders and debris resting conformably on bedrock and overlain by the gravels containing values. This capping, as opposed to andesitic flows common to the area, indicates that gravel deposition in the channel flows common to the area, indicates that gravel deposition in the channel occurred in Eocene geology, measurably increasing the property’s potential. With due regard to sound mining practice and possible bedrock contour fluctuations, we are presently making every reasonable effort to bring our working level into accord with gravel elevations and to begin complete analytical washing operations. TO BE CONTINUED ............

Yes, even in the year 2002 I was now learning what Jacob had warned me about based on his experience on lonely gold mines in the Sierra Nevada mts. Things can go south quickly and without much warning. Being isolated and with no way to communicate with the outside world you are on your own. Just like 1936. I remember wondering what had I gotten myself into?

May 17 2002 Part Six I tried to hustle up the mountain without using my flashlight and without breaking my neck on the rough terrain. I was also trying to keep as quiet as possible. As I neared the rise where the two strangers had disappeared from view I could hear them talking. I immediately stopped and tried to hear what they were saying. I was below them and at the base of a rock outcropping. I was just able to make out what they were talking about and it made my skin crawl. They were planning on coming back to our camp later that night and robbing us. Jacob’s instinct had been right. I’d heard enough by now and I quietly backed away from the outcropping and eased back down the mountain. I gave Jacob the signals with my flashlight and got back to where he was waiting. It was just after midnight. I told Jacob what I had heard. He nodded and said his instincts had warned him that these guys were up to no good. Now we needed to get back to camp and wake Vern and Jim. So much for getting any sleep tonight. TO BE CONTINUED .............

June 17 1950 We suffered a partial collapse of the drift yesterday and are re timbering one section. There was no danger to the crew. The assays have faded once again to poor. I still have the option to do two more raises into the quartz zone if needed. The investor we have is leaving this decision up to me but is in this venture for the same reason we are, which is a sizable strike. That, I believe, will only occur on a drop zone of the bedrock which remains elusive. TO BE CONTINUED ..............

May 17 2002 Part Five We sat quietly and watched the two men walking around the area between the creek and camp. I couldn’t believe the situation I was in. I had my gun drawn and was sitting next to an 85 year old man with a loaded Thompson machine gun. After what seemed like an eternity we watched the two strangers talking with each other. They were too far away for us to hear anything. Then they slowly made their way back up the mountain. Jacob said they were casing the camp for a possible robbery. I told him we couldn’t jump to that conclusion and needed to take it easy. Jacob wanted to follow them but I talked him out of it. It was dark and the terrain was not good. All I needed was for him to take a fall and break something. I told him to stay put and I would see if I could trail them for a while and see where they were going. I would give him three blinks of my flashlight followed by three more when I was coming back down the mountain so he would know it was me. That, I hoped, would keep me from being shot. I thought about waking the others but decided against it. As the two strangers drifted up the mountain and out of sight I started up the mountain behind them. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

May 17 2002 Part Four We sat just outside of camp in the cool night air. Jacob did not want to sit near the camp's fire as he was worried we could be targets of gunmen. He was reliving the old days in his mind and it had been set off by the two guys walking up the mountain who I figured were probably harmless. We had a nice, hidden spot that overlooked the camp. Jim and Vern were now sound asleep in their campers. Jacob began lecturing me about camp safety and that we needed to post a night watchman just like they did back in his day. I dismissed it as best I could while trying not to offend him. I wasn’t planning on the two of us sitting out in the night air for very long and I was getting pretty tired. After about an hour I told Jacob we needed to get in our campers and get some sleep. We needed our rest. I almost had him talked into going back to camp when we spotted a couple of flashlights coming slowly down the side of the creek. There were two people and they were moving very slowly. Jacob gave me a nudge and whispered that he knew it, those two guys were up to no good. He said they were coming back to rob us. I pulled my 9mm out of its holster and we waited to see what they were up to. I was wondering if Jacob had been right all along. TO BE CONTINUED .................

June 15 1950 We continue to advance the drift northward and making another 8 ft of headway in the last two days. Gold values have been spotty but still averaging rich assays. We have not seen any sign of sloping or dropped bedrock to date. I still remain very confident that the big strike awaits. For now, I have abandoned the plan for two additional raises into the quartz zone as it would take needed funds from the main plan. Heavy timbering has been needed in this area which has added some expense to the projected cost. There is little to do at this point other than continue north along the 56 ft level collecting gold as we go. TO BE CONTINUED ...........

May 17 2002 Part Three The weather warmed up quickly by late morning and we were hard at it. Gold fever was giving us more strength than I thought we would ever have. Now I understood how the Stevens brothers were able to do what they did. I didn’t even want to stop digging when lunch came and we worked clear into mid afternoon before taking anything but a water break. Jacob had been down at the big wooden table where the panning tub was placed. He had been taking samples as well as watching us digging. When we took our break and had something to eat he was laughing and telling us we were working like all get up. He said we were starting to pick up the pace and he was enjoying watching the crew work as a team. He said the sound of those shovels sure brought back memories. Vern shut down the pump just as darkness fell and we once again pulled the mats using flashlights for light. We had dug close to twenty yards of gravel. Jacob had shoveled two of those yards. On the ride back down to camp I asked Jacob how the sample pans looked throughout the day. He said there was a good amount of gold in every pan. We had gotten down pretty deep in the hill and he figured we were nearing bedrock. Back at camp we saw two guys walking up our side of the creek heading north. It was dark and it was hard to see but it looked like they had backpacks on and were carrying some equipment. Jacob spotted them and didn’t like it one bit. He said we needed to see where they were heading. The crew was cooking up our supper so I went over to the creek and watched them hiking further up the mountain and out of sight. I really didn't think much of it. Probably just a couple of prospectors or campers. However, Jacob was all upset about it. He told us to make sure our guns were loaded and to keep them close. He had the old Thompson sitting right beside him as he ate his dinner. I know he’s been through a lot, more than I could ever imagine. I think seeing those two guys had set something off inside of him. He didn’t have much to say the rest of the night. I told him the crew was turning in but he said he wanted to sit up and guard the camp. I couldn’t leave him out in the night alone so I decided to sit out there with him. TO BE CONTINUED .................

Sizable tonnage means very rich pay. I think converting that $8.50/yd to today's values is over $400/yd. If I was running that through the 15 yd/hr trommel I was using it would convert to over $6000/hr or $60,000 for a 10 hr day.

When I was reading through this log the first time I figured these guys were finished. I was quite surprised when I got to this entry. There's life left in this crew still.

May 17 2002 Part Two All the crew was finally up and we had an early breakfast together and proceeded to get the cleanup done. This was what I was waiting for. I knew the ground we worked yesterday was good and Jacob’s samples remained strong throughout the day. Right off we could see coarse gold popping out of the black sands. It was absolutely beautiful. Jacob said “Boys, this is gonna be a good one” and gave us a wink. As he did the finish panning it just kept getting better and better. Loaded with coarse gold and plentiful pickers. This was the best gold I had ever seen to date. When weighed it up on the scale there was 2.5 ounces. I hollered out loud. We all did. Old Jacob started doing some kind of Irish Jig and we all laughed like hell. Jacob was saying over and over “I told you boys, I told you boys.” Man, we were high as kites with the fever. I threw my hat up in the air and everyone else did the same. We are on it now! TO BE CONTINUED ...............

June 13 1950 Having completed just two of the raises above bedrock we have secured the confidence of one interested party who has now agreed to fund a continuation of our northward drift along the 56 ft level. Drifting in the old channel just 12 ft north of our previous stoppage we have hit an area of what I believe will prove out as sizable tonnage. Several samples have indicated a gold content of $8.50/cubic yard. The gold there consists mainly of colors retained on a 20 mesh screen. We will push on and we now believe in the possibility of a massive deposit that may lie deeper as dropped bedrock is encountered. The mood of the crew is high. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

This is good to hear. Hopefully they can get the gold needed to bering in an investor. The clock is ticking on this project.

May 17 2002 Part One I was up before Jacob this morning. I was having a hard time sleeping because I was thinking about what this morning's gold cleanup would bring. Jacob was up just after me and we sat outside his camper with a small fire going and had morning coffee together. The air was a little chilly and we had heavy, insulated flannel shirts on. I had bought a nice one for Jacob a while back. This was my favorite part of the day along with cleaning up the gold. I got a chance to talk with my mining hero before the rest of the crew was up. We drank coffee sometimes spiced with a little Bushmills and once in a while Jacob would talk about the old days out here on the mountain. This morning he was telling me about all the rif raf that used to travel up and down the creek looking for gold anyway they could find it. He said a lot of them posed as prospectors but in reality were just looking to steal a man’s gold or other goods. He said times were tough and men were desperate. The rif raf would set up remote camps all over the mountain and look for easy targets. His crew had been tried many times until they built up a reputation and then the thieves stayed clear of them unless they were newcomers to the area. There had been a lot of gun play out here according to him and people had been shot. I just couldn’t believe I had a guy like this who against all odds was still alive and sitting in my camp and working with us as a partner. TO BE CONTINUED .............

June 6 1950 Most of the crew has gotten back to work. The first raise shows consistent values in the gravels above bedrock. The raise holds promise and there is renewed investor interest in the project although there has been no formal commitment. We are proceeding with steady work. TO BE CONTINUED ..........

Murphy has gone off the main plan of drifting north along bedrock at the 56 ft level. He was planning on finding some gold at that level until he encountered the drop off point where bedrock fell away and a huge jackpot awaited. Unfortunately, he is quickly running out of funds and hasn'r been able to impress investors. So now he will raise shafts into some better values above bedrock which is not what he expected to do. He needs gold to pay the bills and get back to his bigger plan. A cost of $990 was quite a bit of money back in 1950. We'll see if he succeeds. I wonder what kind of flu bug took out the entire crew and put them out od commission? Sounds nasty.

May 16 2002 We did our cleanup with much anticipation. We were hungry for gold and saw some. There was ¾ of an ounce. Better than yesterday but still not what we hoped for. We had a good mountain man’s breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, and gravy over biscuits. I washed mine down with strong coffee with a shot of Bushmills in it. Jacob’s morning starter. We got up to the mine and had a bit of trouble with the pump up on the mountain and Vern and Jim had to work on it to get it going. It took an hour of valuable time away from digging but we finally got gravel being washed through the tom. Everyone agreed to work straight through lunch and even Jacob was in the trench shoveling away. Around 3:00 PM we finally had our break and gulped down some light snacks we had with us. Jacob rolled one of his smokes and leaned back against a tree. He said we were all doing good and this reminded him of the crew back in 1936 when they were all busting tail and not seeing the gold they wanted. Then one day it was there in spades. I think it was his way of giving the crew a pep talk and it worked. We went back to shoveling until just after dark and finally shut down. We had sent 19 yards through the tom and were all proud. Then we pulled the mats using flashlights and drove back to camp in the truck. We were all tired and hungry. Tomorrow we all hope to see more gold. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

May 29 1950 The mine has been shut down for several days.The entire crew including myself has become sick with some kind of influenza. Only the watchman, who is tending to the mine pumps, has been out working on the property. The rest remain in camp and in rough shape. I have been too ill to attempt any work for more than a few minutes. The estimated cost of raising is $990 and may be our last attempt to mine depending on results. TO BE CONTINUED ................