GhostMiner

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.

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