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GhostMiner

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  1. June 7 1937 Part One This morning was a great weigh with three ounces to put in the jar. The gold along the base of the mountain near country rock is producing a constant supply of gold. This is what we all want to see. There is nothing like gold. Since the crew has worked so hard and we are all rolling in money from our treasure find I called a quick meeting this morning before work started. I asked the crew if they thought we should hire more people to work as security and also some to work as miners. No one seemed to want to bring in any new people. I reminded them that we are very low on security and at risk out here. John said it might be good to hire a big security crew but wasn’t sure how we would find trustworthy people. We had been able to count on Sarge and Ben. I told the crew I was going into town this afternoon to see if I could find some people to interview for security guards. Will and I went up to the hill and dug until about 2:00 in the afternoon. We got 70 buckets down to the tom. Then John and I took the truck into town leaving the rest of the crew at camp. We were on a lonely section of the road when I noticed a big car coming up at a fast clip from behind. I slowed the truck and pulled off towards the shoulder and waved him past as he seemed to be in a hurry but the car slowed down and wouldn’t pass. I asked John what all this was about. He had the BAR with him and I had one of the Thompsons. We also were wearing our 45’s. As I continued to slow the truck down the car came along side of us. It was a black Cadillac sedan with four men inside. I got a look at the driver but didn’t recognize him. They were staring right at us. I continued to slow down and wave them past but they just slowed down with me. TO BE CONTINUED ...............
  2. Jacob is talking. He is Jed's younger brother. Jed was murdered at end of season one. There, all caught up now LOL.
  3. June 6 1937 We did a weigh this morning. It was the first in over a week and we got one ounce. It was good to see gold back in the pan and I felt confident that we would produce a great amount from our new location. We just need to get back on track and stay with it. It is going to be much harder now that Sarge and Ben are not with us but I can’t blame them for leaving. We are playing a dangerous game where the losers can die. I will not be run off my claim by thugs and if they want a fight they will get one. Will and I went up to the dig site bright and early. We worked at a steady pace and carved a nice channel into the bottom of the mountain. My plan is to drive a drift in and work it to the west along the base of the hill. That way we are staying at or near country rock and should not need much timbering for support. The gravels here are solid and stable and the channel rock is rounded but not large enough to cause us much trouble. Once we get a good start we should be able to make hay. Will drives the truck down to the tom when we have a load of buckets on it. Then he brings the empties back after dumping them on John’s big hopper he built. John feeds the gravel into the tom by shovel and sometimes bucket work. The creek is flowing good and we are mining. Today we ended with 155 buckets. I think we will slowly pick up the pace now. TO BE CONTINUED ................
  4. June 5 1937 John eventually gave the all clear with three shots and came back down to camp. He said he had found a dead body up at the edge of the woods. Evidently when we all sprayed rounds up there someone had struck him and killed him. John brought the man’s rifle down with him. He said the thug was one of the foreign buyers. This is what we had all feared. Now we knew they intended to get their money back and most likely knew we had more treasure as well. It was soon to be daylight by now and we kept a close watch until the sun came up. There were no further troubles and we buried the body. The dead man had no identification on him. As far as we were concerned he was just another hooligan who had come up against our crew and met his match. We never looked for trouble but were becoming experts at handling it. After breakfast Hudson took watch on the high ground post and John got the tom ready to wash gravels. Will and I went up to the dig site. We got a good trench going into the last area we had worked before all the treasure hunting had started. It felt mighty good to be digging again. Will was nearly all healed up but I told him to just work slow and ease into the labor over the next week. We were in no hurry. I planned to be here until snow fell in late Fall. We ended the day with only 110 buckets but the test pans all showed good gold and it looked to be coarse. TO BE CONTINUED ................
  5. Not sure if I ever showed this picture. This is an old White military truck that sits near the digsite. It gave me the inspiration to come up with Sarge's charactor in the journal.
  6. I am no expert on gemstones but here is a picture of everything besided gold we found along the creek there.
  7. One thing is for certain. If you look at the picture of the first excavation I based the beginning of the journal on there is no doubt the actual 1936 crew could dig. It was all done with pick & shovel work. Then they opened up more ground along the southern faultline later on. Hard work.
  8. I know I posted this in season one but thought i'd post them again. These are photos of the actual camp and first digsite the journal is based on as well as pictures of Jed, Jacob, John, & Will. Also a picture of gold we removed from the digsite.
  9. June 4 1937 I went to Reno and purchased some heavy weapons. I bought two BAR’s as well as four Thompsons. I also purchased 45 auto’s for each man to wear at all times. The crew also all have their own rifles. We are now well armed. During the evening before dark we all practiced with the new weapons. I hope we never need to use them but history here has proven this is unlikely. It was nearly dark before we ate supper and we had a few drinks and turned in to get a good night’s sleep. I took first watch and took one of the BAR’s as well as my new 45 auto. Along about midnight I was ready to wake Hudson for his shift when I noticed some rustling just north of camp on the mountain. I had high ground and a good view with a three quarter moon and a clear night. I scanned all directions from my watchpost and there was no other movement. It could have been a mule deer or bear and there was no way to tell. I debated with myself as to waking camp but decided to wait a while. After about fifteen minutes I headed down towards camp to wake Hudson. As I got near there was the crack of a rifle shot followed by several more. It seemed to come from the north. I opened up with the BAR and sprayed the area I thought the shooting came from. By now the crew had woke up and were crawling out of their tents and getting behind the cover of stacked logs we had placed for just this scenario. John had the other BAR and I heard it barking. It was only a few seconds and the Thompsons were also firing. Then everything was quiet. We waited about ten minutes and John said he was going to loop around and head up north where the gunfire had come from. He said he would fire three rounds with his 45 if everything was clear and five if he needed help. TO BE CONTINUED .................
  10. I would say that the crew itself is hell bent on mining gold and they have it to mine in spades. Gold Fever.
  11. June 3 1937 Yesterday John and I did a patrol of the grounds surrounding the camp to make sure no one was watching our area. It was clear and the crew set about hiding the cache of treasure. Then we had supper as twilight crept in. I stoked up a good fire and we all sat around it drinking whisky and talking about all that had happened to us. It felt like the old days except Jed was not with us. After a few cups we decided to make a new plan. We were a crew on our own once again. We would need to take turns on guard duty. We decided to have one well armed man on high ground overlooking camp at all times. We would divide the shifts. John would run the tom during the day and the rest of us would take our turns on watch and digging. I told the crew I would travel to Reno and purchase some heavy weapons. We needed to be well armed and have superior fire power if we were attacked. John took the first shift of night watch with his rifle and Will and Hudson got some sleep. I sat by the fire for another hour drinking Bushmills and rolling smokes. I felt restless and couldn’t sleep. I still kept thinking back to the visit by the Shaman. Sometimes I felt like I had little time left. TO BE CONTINUED ................
  12. June 2 1937 The chest contained a fortune in gold and silver coins. We couldn’t make out anything on the faded drawings. They were a complete mystery. We brought the truck over near the tunnel entrance and unloaded the coins into our buckets and placed them on the truck with the original chest and put the drawings in the cab. Then we drove back to camp where we had a big discussion on what to do next. Sarge wanted to remove his take from the area. So did Ben. The rest of us were not sure about that. We remembered what had happened to Jed when he took the treasure away to hide it. I told the crew they were free to do as they wished. Sarge and Ben told us they had made their fortune and were leaving the crew. They had money and treasure and were going to head back home and work their farms. The rest of the crew wanted to keep mining. We would need to hide the money and treasure somewhere and soon. Later on in the day Sarge and Ben loaded up Sarge’s truck and headed out. We all shook hands and had a drink of whisky with them before they left. Sarge advised us to get out of this area before our luck ran out. I have to admit that I am giving it some thought. TO BE CONTINUED ................
  13. Many thanks for reading the story. I think Jed got careless. He drank way too much whisky.
  14. June 1 1937 This chest was about five feet in length by three feet in width and about three feet in depth. It was made of a dark hardwood and there were three locks securing the slightly rounded lid. The weight was such that John and I were unable to budge it. It took John several attempts to break the locks and he ended up shooting them off which damaged the trunk somewhat. When we lifted the old lid there was a rotted yellow and red cloth near the top. We carefully lifted off the cloth and there were some very old drawings on some kind of parchment that we were not able to completely make out. The chest smelled musty and was slightly damp. Beneath the parchment was a row of what looked to be fittings for swords. We removed them and there was a well fitted piece of hardwood protecting the lower contents. John and I carefully lifted it out and set it on the surface. Sarge was watching the drift opening as well as watching us. The entire bottom half of the chest was packed full of loose silver and gold coins. Some were blank while others had strange markings. What appeared to be a crescent was found struck into some of them. Others were blank. The quantity was massive. We stood over the chest too stunned to say a word. Finally I told Sarge to come over and have a quick look see. He let out a soft whistle in amazement. We would need to unload the contents and get everything to a safe place. The problem was that there are few safe places out here. TO BE CONTINUED ....................
  15. May 31 1937 I headed over to the dig site before dawn. I took some beans and coffee with me for Sarge and John. When I got there they said it had remained quiet throughout the night. They had taken turns on watch and both got a little bit of sleep. All three of us were really tired. I told them Ben was sleeping and hopefully would be ok. Will and Hudson kept an eye on him and camp. John and I went to work digging while Sarge stood in the tunnel entrance with the BAR at the ready. We dug straight down and were in a hurry to see if there was anything down there. After a couple of hours we were down over ten feet and had worked up a good sweat even though the morning air was chilly. By now the pick and shovel were like a part of my own body and I had the calluses to show for all the digging I had done. It was no big deal to me anymore and there wasn’t a pound of fat on my body. Along about noon we were ready to take a break when John swung down with the pick and we both heard a thump. We looked at each other and smiled. I called over to Sarge. I told him we had just hit something that sounded like wood. Could we possibly be so lucky and find even more treasure? And if we did what would it be? That’s what I was thinking as we carefully excavated around the side of a huge chest. We weren’t finished yet. TO BE CONTINUED .................
  16. May 30 1937 Part Seven Ben was saying he would come down towards us. When he did we could see that he was in rough shape. He said he had been struck on the head with something and dragged up the hill a ways. He had passed out and never saw who had done it. We helped him into my truck and I took him back to camp. Sarge and John stayed at the tunnel to guard it. When I got Ben back we got him a chair and told him to take it easy. I handed him the Thompson and he was mighty glad to see I had recovered it. Ben was thinking the same as everyone else, that the foreign buyer group must be trying to get their money back and is watching us. It just never seems to end out here. Sarge and John stayed at the tunnel all night and I stayed at camp. We had two places we needed to guard. Everyone is tired. I kept watch for a while until Will took over and everything stayed quiet. I heard no warning shots from the other site. Tomorrow morning I’ll get back to the site and continue digging. TO BE CONTINUED ....................
  17. May 30 1937 Part Six Sarge gave the signal to hold off on any shooting while he edged around the side of the opening and shined his flashlight inside. He shook his head and said there was nobody in there. There was a lantern left lit towards the back wall. It appeared that someone had been inspecting our work. John said it had to be the foreign buyer group. Sarge said they probably came to rob and kill us but saw that we might be onto more treasure. Somehow they must have captured Ben in all that fog. He probably never saw them or heard them sneaking up on him. John said that they must be close by so we looked around for clues. We saw a few fresh footprints that looked like they led up the mountain to the north. We followed them but made sure to keep under as much cover as we could. We cut out the lanterns and moved in the dark heading north. There was a quarter moon which cast a small amount of light. The footprints had vanished and we just kept heading up the mountain hoping to find them. We stopped and just listened for a minute. John said quietly that he heard something moving just up ahead. We moved forward trying to make sure we weren’t walking into a trap. As we moved higher up the mountain there was more noise. It was a rustling sound but we couldn’t quite make out where it was coming from. Then, without warning, there was a holler. There was no mistaking the voice. It was Ben. TO BE CONTINUED ................
  18. May 30 1937 Part Five On the way out to the drift mine we speculated as to what might have happened to Ben. Sarge said maybe the foreign buyers had decided to get revenge and they could be laying for us. John agreed. I didn’t say anything but was thinking this might be something on the supernatural end of things. The Shaman had warned us. Where did that fog come from so quickly and then disappear just as fast? We had disturbed the dead in our quest for treasure. We had fought and killed for gold but only to protect ourselves and our goods. Were we now just like the gangsters we had fought since last year? I couldn’t make myself believe that we were like them. We had worked hard for everything we had achieved. We didn’t steal. Yes we had killed but not without being provoked. We were put in situations where we had no choice. My fear was that it was becoming easier. When we pulled up to the site we saw the glow of a lantern inside the tunnel. John and I had taken our lanterns with us. Who or what was in there and what were they doing? Sarge hollered out from just around the outside of the opening but out of direct line of gunfire if there were hooligans. He said if there was anyone in there to come out. He said there were heavily armed men outside and if no one came out we would open fire. There was only silence in response. I repeated Sarge’s order and said they had ten seconds to come out with hands in the air or we would spray the tunnel with bullets. Still no response. I looked at John and Sarge to wait for their signal. TO BE CONTINUED .............
  19. I thought it might be nice for readers to know the process I use to write. It's called "seat of the pants" LOL.
  20. Just a note on how the journal gets written : Some readers may think that I have a complete series or season written and I post a little of it every day or so. That is not the case. When I feel like writing I sit down and write on Google Docs so it is saved. When I write I really have no idea what I will write until I write it. Nothing is pre planned or outlined. It is like I am reading the story just like the readers are except I get to read it first. The story just comes as it will without much thought process from my part. I liken it to a guitar player who is in a jam session. He doesn't know where it is going but just lets his mind and fingers do the talking. Sometimes he paints himself into a musical corner and has to work his way out. Exactly how I feel with this story sometimes. This is what makes it so much fun for me to write it. I have no clue what will happen or how this will end. Thanks to all you readers out there and hang in there with me as this journal continues to unfold. Cheers, GM.
  21. May 30 1937 Part Four We were nearly a mile from camp and couldn’t see ten feet in any direction. It was stone quiet. John said the best thing to do was to go back inside the tunnel and wait out the weather. He said standing out here in the open unable to see what was out there in the mist was a bad idea. So we went back inside taking the Thompson with us. The skeleton was over against the wall of the drift and I tried not to think about it. We were both really worried about Ben but helpless to do anything. We kept our rifles pointed towards the opening and the lanterns shined a faint glow but we still couldn’t see much of anything. Finally, after about an hour, the mist began to fade away and we could see the opening again. We ventured out cautiously. It was still quiet, not a sound. We both called out for Ben but there was no answer. We decided to go back to camp and organize a search party. Ben could be anywhere in these mountains but we had a feeling he wouldn’t be too far from the drift. When we got back to camp everyone was waiting to see if we found treasure. We told the crew what had happened and they were all stunned. They said the weather had been crystal clear at camp the entire time we were gone. Sarge grabbed his BAR and said let’s go. We left Will and Hudson at camp and Sarge, John, and I got in my truck and headed for the dig site. We were determined to find Ben. TO BE CONTINUED .................
  22. May 30 1937 Part Three We started digging and John was saying we were sure to find more treasure. There was only one way to find out. After about half an hour we took a short break and suddenly Ben hollered into the tunnel for us to come out. When we came out Ben was all upset and pointing his Thompson up above us towards the mountain. He said there was something moving up there and he wasn’t sure what it was. John and I always carried our rifles out here so we had them at the ready. We shined flashlights around that area but saw nothing. Ben said he was sure that something or someone was up there. Ben said the tunnel and skeleton inside gave him the creeps. I told him that I felt the same way. John just laughed and told us to take a swig of whisky and calm our nerves. I told Ben to keep a good watch and we were going back in to dig. When we got back inside and started digging again the fog seemed to be coming into the tunnel from outside. It was like a really thick mist and I couldn’t see hardly anything. I tried setting the lantern closer but it didn’t seem to help. Even John was getting a little skittish. I hollered out to Ben to make sure things were ok but there was no answer. John and I eased out of there and didn’t see Ben. He should have been right at the entrance. John called out his name but got no answer. Then we saw it. His Thompson was lying on the ground. Ben would never leave that gun laying like there like that. Something must have happened to him. Something bad. John and I clutched our rifles and stood back to back trying to see through the thick fog. I had a real bad feeling come over me and remembered what the Indian Shaman had told us. TO BE CONTINUED .................
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