GhostMiner

Here is the entry where Jacob finds his brother's killer. April 11 1937 Part One Last night we were visited once again. Sarge brought a guy into camp that said he wanted to talk with me. He told me he hangs out in the tavern in town. He claimed to overhear a couple of guys talking about us. One of them was talking about a large amount of gold he had gotten and laughing about someone working hard to mine it and he took it without having to do any work and now he was wealthy. The guy was getting drunk with another hooligan and he was there now. I thanked him and asked if he'd go there with me to identify the men. He said he would. He told me they were bad news and carried guns and knives. One of them was called Slugger and the other Jim. Slugger was the bigger of the two and he was the one doing most of the talking. I took John and Sarge as well as the informer into town and we parked the truck in front of the tavern. When we walked in, the informer pointed out the two guys. I thanked him again and told him he’d better clear out for his own safety as this might get real ugly. April 11 1937 Part Two I told Sarge to go outside and keep the informer at our truck. We might want him later. I told him John and I would go back outside as well and wait for the two hooligans to exit the tavern. I didn’t want anyone seeing us in contact with them because if they were the ones responsible for my brother’s murder I would kill them both. John wanted them as bad as I did. We all had weapons in case of a shoot out but killing them that way was far too easy for them. I also wanted to get back Jed’s gold. Sarge moved the truck away from the tavern parking lot and kept the informer inside the cab with him. John and I waited in a secluded area across the street from the tavern. It was getting late and I hoped it wouldn’t be too long before the suspects came out. Around midnight we saw them going out the door and starting to walk down the street. The big one was laughing and joking about how easy it was to steal gold and rob people. The other one was laughing as well. My fists were clenched in rage and I told John “Let’s get them.” I was going to make them talk. April 11 Part Three We walked up behind them and they were drunk and didn’t even notice us. John carried a weighted billy club and pulled it out and I had brass knuckles on. We also had sidearms. John eased up behind the one they called Slugger and pretended to know him. He said he had a bottle of good whiskey over at the truck and pointed over there. Slugger acted like he recognized him or knew him and said let’s go drink it. His buddy Jim went along easy until we got near the truck and spotted me wearing brass knuckles. Before he could say anything I let him have a right hand square in the face and took out his front teeth. John clocked Slugger in the knee with the billy and he went down and started hollering and cursing. John cracked him across the face with his fist twice and we threw them in the back of the truck and jumped back there with them. I told Sarge to get the hell out of here before someone sees us and he drove back toward the mine. The two thugs were moaning and cursing and we let them have more of the same and told them to shut their mouths if they wanted to live. We pulled off the main road and drove up to our camp. Ben,Will, and Hudson were waiting for us. We threw the two goons off the truck and onto the ground and the entire crew and security team was staring down at them.

This entry shows just one example of the fights they had back in 1937. It seems the crew had beaten up the brother of these two guys in the infamous town tavern the previous year and they had come looking for trouble. This mining crew was as tight as tight gets & if you mess with any of them you are in for a fight. Kind of like jumping into a pit of rattlesnakes. April 8 1937 Last night we were awoken to the hellish sounds of the bobcats once again. I had forgotten how loud they could be with their screeching. It was around 3:00 in the morning and the stars were all shining and it was cold. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I sat up and got the campfire going again. I could see the silhouette of Sarge over at his post with his trusty BAR. Ben was down near the road with the Thompson. I poured a small whiskey and thought about Jed. I was sure he was watching me from somewhere. Just before daybreak I heard Ben holler from down below and there was a burst from the Thompson. Sarge hollered out to wake the crew if they weren’t already up. They all came out of their tents with weapons in hand. Ben hollered up that a couple of guys had gotten past him. Then I heard Sarge holler out halt and he fired the BAR. I saw two guys standing near camp to the south. Ben had come up behind them and Sarge had them at gunpoint. They were both drunk. They were cursing at us and said they wanted the dirty cowards that had beaten up their brother at the tavern last year. It seemed that the town folk already knew we were here. John walked over to confront them. Will and I walked over and so did Sarge. John got within a few steps of them and told them their brother was a thief and got what he deserved. I told them we were here to work and wanted to be left alone. I said that if they wanted a fight then now was the time. They just stood there cursing and calling us all kinds of names. John walked up to them and cracked the closest one on the jaw with his fist. Sarge rammed the other one in the side with the butt end of the BAR. They both went down hard. One of them had a pistol and Sarge relieved him of it. The first one got up and John cracked him again. The other one didn’t want anymore. We dragged them down to the creek and threw them in the icy water. They came crawling out cursing and hollering and staggered down the mountain to where their car was parked. I told them not to ever come back and tell the same to all the rif raf in town. After all that we had a good breakfast while we talked over the situation. John didn’t think they’d be back. I wasn’t so sure. Then we got to work setting pumps and running water line. Tomorrow we will take the tom up to the dig site and start washing gravels. I am hoping for a quiet night.

I think the crew had made a huge gold discovery. They were probably being watched. Then they were murdered for their gold. The pack of thieves most likely came back to the area weeks later after things had cooled down with the law and mined out the new found rich gold deposit. Just my theory as well as Jacob's. We never found it when Jacob tried to locate it again after all those years. That was most likely because it had already been mined by the new group. As Jacob often said, the law in that area was worthless. As far as we can tell there were never any arrests made. Here are the last two entries in the journal Jacob was writing in in 1937. July 3 1937 There was nothing moving on the mountain last night except for a bear and some mule deer. At breakfast we had a brief meeting and were concerned that whoever had taken those buckets out of the mine while we were in Nevada most likely knew we were on rich ground. We would need to keep a close watch on the mine. Will and I got an early start as the sun was coming up behind the trees. The intense heat was back once again. We worked at a good pace and cut a trench trying to find the depth of country rock. We hit it at twelve feet. I took a sample pan over to the tub with Will and we couldn’t believe the result. The pan was full of small nuggets and pickers as well as coarse gold. We had never seen a pan like this. It was even richer than last year's kettle dig. We still didn’t know how far back into the hill the kettle went. The deposit had the potential to be massive. I kept a thermometer in the shade and it was already reading 98 degrees. It had to be 110 or more in the sun. I sent Will back down to the creek with a lode of buckets filled to the brim with rich gravels for John to wash. I told him to bring up more water and some cool Lucky’s we kept in the creek. When he got back up to the site we found a shady spot and drank a few of them. I have to say that I have never had beer that tasted better on a sweltering hot day. We got back to work and didn’t stop until dusk. We had removed a total of 170 buckets of super rich pay. The weigh tomorrow was going to be a good one as most of the material we took down to John was from deep in the kettle. July 4 1937 I am hurriedly writing this with the aid of a three quarter moon while trapped at the watchpost. It is 3:00 AM and today was to be a gold weigh and celebration of our country's independence. Instead, we are fighting for our lives. I took the second watch last night and all was quiet until an hour ago when we were suddenly attacked by what seems like a small army of well armed men. There has been heavy gunfire until the last ten minutes. I hear no more return fire from camp and I am nearly out of ammo up here on the mountain. I am taking occasional rifle fire and volleys of rounds from at least ten positions which have me surrounded. I am unable to move from cover. I can only think of the Shaman who warned me of our demise. I fear this may be the end. I am seeing my brother Jed and Whisky Jack coming down the mountain towards me with their arms stretched out to greet me.

The report from the 1937 shootout at the mine. Sheriff’s Dept Incident Report July 7, 1937 Acting Sheriff Dan Caldwell Concerning shooting at Stevens Brothers Gold Mine INCIDENT : Sometime in the early morning hours of July 4, 1937 a gunfight broke out at the Stevens Brothers Mine. A small mining crew was attacked by a group of heavily armed and unknown gunmen. A gun battle ensued whereas the mining crew attempted to defend themselves. Six of the attackers were killed in the incident as well as three of the mining crew. The identity of the six deceased attackers is not known at this time. The identity of the three deceased miners is as follows : John Denham, Will Roberts, and Hudson Kane. The fourth man of the crew is identified as Jacob Stevens who remains missing. INCIDENT DETAIL : At approximately 4:00 AM I was contacted in town by a prospector named Ken Stallings. He was camped on his mining claim approximately one half mile north of the mining crews camp and was awoken by gunfire around 2:00 AM on July 4. Upon his investigation into the cause of the gunfire he witnessed what he claimed to be about thirty to forty armed men shooting into the mining crew’s camp. He stated the miners were returning fire. At that time he headed into town where he informed me of the situation. Being the fourth of July and having no staff at the present time as well as being unable to bring in neighboring departments that night I deemed it unsafe to drive out there alone to be of any assistance although I did travel out to the camp later that morning. When I arrived at 11:00 AM there was no gunfire or armed men. There were a large amount of spent rounds piled in the camp as well as at a watchpost on the mountain. I have secured the neighboring Sheriff’s Department and Federal Agencies to assist in a formal investigation into this incident. At the time of this report there are no leads. Filing Officer : Dan Caldwell Acting Sheriff July 7, 1937 Case No. 747 Status : OPEN

I addressed that before. He did more drinking in his younger days but not that much as he got older. I never saw him drunk. He would have a little whisky now & then. Same with smoking. He rolled his own but didn't smoke much at all. He was in very good shape for his age and tough as nails.

June 17 2002 Things were quiet last night. Jim refused to go to the hospital to get his knee checked out. It is badly swollen and he is out of commission. He volunteered to sit up at the pump today which would allow Vern to help me shovel gravel but I told him to wait until he is feeling better. Vern must guard the pump and water line during the day so with Jim out of commission it leaves just me to feed the tom. Jacob doesn’t have any concentrates to clean up so he will help me as much as he can. The heat is not letting up but no one complains. Jacob says it will get even hotter come July and August. For someone who is 85 years old Jacob did more than could be expected today. The two of us were soaked in sweat and we sent 15 yards of gravel through the tom. We are hoping to get the trommel back up and running soon. TO BE CONTINUED ...............

June 16 2002 Part Two Well glory be we found Jim. He was laying in a depression he had fallen into. His radio had hit a rock and broke and his knee is sprained. He was nearly ¾ of a mile from the pumps. We kept on calling and he finally heard us and hollered back. Aside from being a little dehydrated he seems to be ok except for his knee. He will have to rest it for a few days and see how it feels. When we eventually limped our way back into camp Jacob was full of questions. He wanted to know if he had hit any of the hooligans with his Thompson. Jim told him he didn’t think so. They must have come back around after Jim had fallen but were scared away by Jacob. Jim said there were three of them from what he could see and they were firing guns either at him or around him with the intention of running him off. We all needed a day of rest and that’s just what we did. Except for Jacob who did the gold cleanup from the previous day’s 40 yards of pay gravel. There was 13 ounces in the jar. We were all pleased except for Jacob. He just shook his head and said there’s that unlucky number again. When sundown came we had to send Vern up on first night watch. It was no fun up there alone with these thugs running around. I just wanted to get back to mining. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

June 16 2002 PART ONE It is early morning and Vern and I are going to search the mountain for Jim. Jacob will remain at camp. He said that last night the trespassers had come back and he had fired in their general direction and they took off. He didn’t know if he had hit anyone. This is turning into a mess. Based on what Jacob told us about the direction the trespassers had come from we think that Jim may be somewhere in that direction. He may be lying somewhere hurt. I told the crew we will give it a try until early afternoon and if we can’t find Jim we will need to contact the law. TO BE CONTINUED ................

June 15 2002 Part Four We are late into the night with no word from Jim. Jacob said there has been not even a sound up on the mountain in the area near the pump. It will be dawn soon and we will need to make a decision on what we are going to do.I will have no choice but to involve the law as Jim is a missing person. I’m also going to have to contact Jim’s family and advise them of our situation. When my wife hears of this she will be beyond upset. I think that - wait - I am hearing the Thompson firing up on the mountain. I am stopping here to try and raise Jacob on the radio. I think that

June 15 2002 Part Three When I got back to camp Vern was pretty upset that we didn’t find Jim. I told him it was dark, we had tried the radio as well as calling out, but there was just no way to know where he had gone. I figured it was probably the same goons that seemed to be against our mining activities. Vern wanted to go charging out into the woods and find Jim. I asked him just where he would start and he replied somewhere up in the area Jim had last been. I said we didn’t know which direction he had gone. He may have taken off trying to pursue the thugs or he could now be lost. He also may have been taken captive. Jacob was up there in case he returned. We couldn’t leave camp unguarded and I was unwilling to risk Vern’s life. I thought about letting the law know about this but decided to wait until morning. Besides, I figured they wouldn’t want to risk deputies' lives on a wild goose chase into the mountains at night. So Vern and I sat at camp and kept in contact with Jacob via the radios. All I could think of was how Jim had wanted to leave the mine and go home because of the danger out here but I had talked him out of it. I felt responsible for the crew. I knew they were out here on their own choice but still felt horrible. I was beginning to think about what had happened to the crews in 1936 & 1937. It gave me the creeps. TO BE CONTINUED ............

June 15 2002 Part Two Jacob was out of his chair and walking up the trail towards the gunfire with Thompson in hand. There was no stopping him. I asked Vern to stay at camp in case someone was trying to lure us away and headed up the trail with Jacob. I continued to try to contact Jim on the radio but there was no answer. I was fearing the worst but hoping for the best. By the time we got up to the location of the pump everything was stone quiet with no sign of Jim. I decided to holler out to him. There was no answer. Jacob and I had taken some cover behind a boulder and I was trying to shine my flashlight into the wooded area of the mountain to see if anyone was out there. It was a waste of time because the trees were thick. Jacob said he didn’t like the setup we were in and now Vern was alone at camp. He told me to go back to camp with Vern and he would keep an eye out for Jim up here. Reluctantly, I agreed and left him with a walkie talkie and I headed back to camp. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

Yes.

June 15 2002 Part One Last night we got into a bit of a disagreement. It was Jim who had first watch and when he was getting ready to head up the mountain Jacob handed him a bottle of Bushmills. Jacob told him it would help keep him warm and be good company. I spoke up because the night guards were always armed and I didn’t think it was a good idea to mix guns with alcohol. We’d already had plenty of trouble out here. When I spoke up about it Jacob and Vern came to Jim’s defense. They said that even though it was hot during the day at night the temperature dropped into the 40’s and 50’s and a little whisky wouldn’t hurt any. I didn’t want to make a bigger deal out of it than it was but I stuck to my thoughts. Then Jacob spoke up saying I wasn’t the crew boss and shouldn’t say anything. He said that he was actually the boss and to let Jim be. I didn’t want an argument with my good friend Jacob so I just waved my hand to Jim and said to stay safe. And that was that and the drama was over. Jacob rolled a smoke and poured a cup of whisky for the three of us at camp. I think he knew he had offended me slightly but I was not angry in the least. I smiled and offered up a toast to the gold we would still be digging out of the ground and everything was normal again. And then we heard gunfire up on the mountain. I grabbed the walkie talkie and tried to raise Jim but there was no reply. TO BE CONTINUED .............

At this point in my journal from 2002 & looking back at things I wrote I am sure the crew was sitting on top of the world. We must have all thought we had it all figured out and were on our way to glory like the old timers of 1936. And then there's reality. Tonight, as I put this stuff out for all to read, I am missing Jacob & thinking about all he taught us about life and hard work and of course, mining. Here's to you Jacob - may your cup always be full. Cheers.

June 14 2002 We continue to take turns on night watch but there has been no sign of any hooligans as Jacob would call them. There has been no let up in the heat and the forecast is for more of the same. We shoveled gravel in the morning like there was no tomorrow. We all have gold fever in spades. Even Jacob has it I think. The crew took a long break between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM. We all had a beer and a little bit of food and Jacob brought over the gold weigh from yesterday’s 44 yards of washed gravel. He had a big smile on his face and we knew it was going to be a good one. I could hardly believe what he told us the weigh came to. There were 19.4 ounces in his jar. Jacob laughed and said that if we hadn’t been so almighty lazy and would have shoveled into the tom another half hour we could have hit 20 ounces. We all had a good laugh and cracked open another round of cold beers before returning to the dig site. By day’s end we had processed another 40 yards of pay gravel. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

One of the old timers who lived there full time said not to worry about the water & we'd get used to it LOL. But that guy was permanently preserved by alcohol.

Now the water up in Paxton was another story back in 2015. It came from a water tank up on the mountain & was sent down to the lodge via gravity pipe. After awhile some people were getting sick & they had it tested. It had spider poop in it. We had to boil our water or go to town and haul water in there. They got it fixed after a couple of weeks but we stayed clear of it.

Likely from a spring somewhere up high on the mountain. The old timers in 1936/1937 used it too.

Tested & pure. Some prefer to bring in water from town. To each his own. Been drinking it many years & never ever sick.

We don't know the source but it's been tested & is pure. We've drank it for years. Cold & delicious.

A pipe that comes down out of the mountain that is potable & is still there to this day.

June 13 2002 It was another peaceful night on the claim. The only movement I heard was a black bear who had ventured near camp and circled us a few times until Jacob let loose with the Thompson to scare the critter away. It no doubt smelled the remnants of our supper but was too timid to come all the way into camp. We got to work early and tried to send as many yards through the tom as possible before the heat came on. And come on it did. With a vengeance. By noon it was over 90 degrees and we took a short break for lunch. This time I gave in to my yearnings and had a cold beer as did the rest of the crew including Jacob and man, did it taste good. Jacob had the gold cleanup done and we drank out beers and looked at the pan of gold. All 11 ounces of it. And from only 35 yards of gravel. It was unbelievable but it was real gold. I even asked Jacob if he was tricking us and he just laughed and said to enjoy the view. We got back to shoveling gravel and worked until dark. I didn’t have any sweat left in my body and had drank gallons of water. The entire crew was shot to all heck but we had processed 44 yards of pay gravel. We were all pretty damn proud of ourselves as we sat down to supper. We were becoming a rough and tough crew like the old timers. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

June 12 2002 The night had remained quiet and we got to work shoveling gravel into the tom. When we broke for lunch Jacob had the concentrates all cleaned up and there were 6 ounces of gold in the pan. He grinned and told us to shovel like hell because we were in a sweet spot. If only we had our trommel we could make a real killing I figured. But we went back to work and did the best we could. The heat was relentless. By the end of the day we had processed 35 yards. I figured that to be a very good days work in the heat. We were all worn out. Jacob took a few scoops of the concentrates and told us they were loaded with gold. He said maybe we didn’t need any trommel and had himself a good laugh. The rest of us looked at him and I thought he had gone mad the way he was laughing so hard. Jacob stopped and told us we didn’t seem to understand and that we had hit a jackpot. An area of concentrated gold deposit. Sizeable tonnage. Whatever you want to call it he said. Then he began to laugh some more. He said he’d seen this kind of thing several times on these claims. We might just have ourselves a gold strike. TO BE CONTINUED ...................

June 11 2002 We all took turns on watch but there wasn’t much left on the mountain to sabotage except more of the layflat hose and the tom. We got up and running before noon and Jacob had weighed up yesterday’s work. We had an ounce. The weather was hot, dry, and dusty. I had to fight the urge to have a cold beer later in the afternoon. We worked the day without incident and the reliable old tom processed 28 yards of pay gravel. Jacob took a look at it and panned a bit of the cons which seemed to be loaded with coarse gold. He said we might have hit a honey hole in the gravels. We sure were hoping so as we all needed to see more gold. After supper we were all sitting around the campfire except for Vern who went up on first night watch. Jacob was in a rare mood and drinking whisky and rolling smokes. He told us he was going to shoot the next hooligan who messed with our equipment. I think he actually meant it but hoped that would not happen. He said he didn’t care as he had led a long life and was ready for his time to come to an end some day. I knew what he was talking about as he had confided in me previously but the crew knew nothing. TO BE CONTINUED ...........................

June 10 2002 Part Two When I got back to camp Jacob was finishing up the gold weigh and had two ounces in the pan. I told him what had just happened and he was real upset about the situation. We had managed to process 25 yards before being sabotaged. Vern and Jim eventually came back down to camp and then Vern and I took the steer back up to the pump. We put it in the bucket of the steer and hauled it back to camp. There was nothing left to do but haul the pump into town to have a mechanic look at it. When he did he said he might be able to get it running with new parts but we were probably better off to just buy a new one. So we placed an order for a new pump and left the old one at the shop for the mechanic to look over. We still had the smaller pump and extra hose at camp. By now it was past 5:00 PM and we decided to call it a day. We’ll set up the old pump and replace the bad layflat hose in the morning and get a fresh start. TO BE CONTINUED .....................