** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **

[GhostMiner]

   May 18   1937

 

   The old wooden chest was half  filled with small gold bars and gold and silver jewelry. There were no markings. My hands were trembling as I lifted one of the bars out and into the sunlight. We started taking everything out and counted the bars as we placed them on the surface. It took us some time and we counted out 200 bars. The jewelry added up to 90 pieces, some with multiple jewels and gold and silver pieces. At the bottom of the box there was an old map and drawing. The drawing showed several men being stuck with swords by men in some kind of armor. John and I just looked at each other dumbstruck.

   The map seemed to give more directions to another hiding place to the north of the rocks. There were several markers along the way to an X in a circle. There was no indication of distance. The treasure spot was indicated to be along the creek near large rocks once again. There were five rocks drawn in a rough line on the west side of the creek near the bottom of the mountain.

   We immediately called a meeting of the entire crew including Sarge and Ben. We needed to protect our treasure and make a plan to continue the hunt. I told everyone that any man who wanted to leave would be given a share of the gold and there would be no questions asked. Not one man wanted to leave even though we were all in danger. We decided to stay the course here at the rocks until we felt everything possible had been dug. John and I would handle the digging while Will and Hudson continued to heal. We would trust our lives to Sarge and Ben. I told them they were equal partners in the treasure as well. Sarge laughed and said he was about to ask me about that. We covered the treasure with a blanket and went back to work. 

 

  TO BE CONTINUED ......................

[geof_junk]

A 1937 recovery by GhostMiner caught on video. Just kidding but it is buried treasure. The video is good from start to finish but have set it to start at the chest section if liked you can start at the start.

 

                          ..................Video LINK...........

[rvpopeye]

Now GhostMiner has to find a real treasure chest out there so he can post pics !?

[GhostMiner]

   May 19   1937

 

   Yesterday John and I dug until nearly dark. We found nothing deeper at the last treasure location and moved to the next untouched area near the rocks. By the time we stopped we were a good seven feet deep and had a trench twice as long. We were dog tired and ready for our supper.

   We had hoover stew and crackers and it never tasted better as we stoked the campfire. I broke out a bottle of Bushmills and some cold Lucky’s and we all sat around the fire. It was a cold and clear night and every star in the sky was visible. Once again our peace and quiet was disturbed by gunfire far up on the mountain. It lasted on and off for over an hour. We couldn’t figure out who these hooligans were or what they were up to. John suggested that they may be what was left of the gang we had just dealt with. He said they were probably conducting night raids on various miners and prospectors up on the higher and remote locations of the mountain. All I could think was those poor prospectors who were probably being robbed and killed. There was little or no law out here and it was up to every man to take care of himself or pay the consequences. I wanted to kill every last one of those thugs. 

   After the gunfire had stopped it was close to midnight. Will and Hudson were asleep in their tents and Sarge and Ben were on guard duty as usual. John and I had a few more drinks and talked about everything that had happened so far this year. John said he hated this place but there was something that wouldn’t allow him to leave. The mountain had a hold on him. I agreed. Most sane men would have taken their treasure and gotten the hell out of here yet none of us was willing to leave. I secretly hoped we weren’t making a big mistake.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...........................

[GhostMiner]

  May 20   1937

 

   I woke up early while everyone was still sleeping. Sarge had come into camp for a fresh cup of coffee and I joined him. I asked him what his thoughts were on our situation. He told me that he and Ben were not afraid to stay and fight for gold and treasure. He said they actually enjoyed it at times. Sarge told me he and his BAR had killed many men during the Great War and death was no stranger to him or Ben who had also done his share of fighting in the Army. Sarge said that he wanted to stay to the end and find every last bit of buried treasure and get all the gold from our mine as well.

   When John got up and moving we had a good breakfast and headed for the rocks to start digging. This was a routine I was very used to doing. Did, dig, dig. There was no end to it. At a depth of around nine feet we once again hit the unthinkable. This time there were three skeletons. It gave John and I the creeps  but we lifted them out of their resting place and gently laid the bones just outside the trench. Then we dug deeper. Sure enough, about three feet further down we hit a wooden box. It was about four feet by two feet and maybe two feet in depth. I busted off the lock and we pried the lid open. John and I looked at each other in horror.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[GhostMiner]

   May 21   1937

 

   Last night we sat around the fire at our temporary camp and talked over the day’s findings. The contents of the old chest were quite shocking. When we opened the lid we were staring at four human skulls that were partially mummified. There was still some skin on them as well as hair. We couldn’t make out enough of the features to guess the origin. The skulls had been placed on top of more treasure. Gold bars and something new, 100 gold coins which were all blank. The gold had a slight reddish tint to it as well. Then at the very bottom of the chest was a gold plate with a stamping. It was a crude H C. Immediately John shouted out Cortez. Hernan Cortez had raided Mexico and stolen vast amounts of gold. John said it is rumored that some was taken to America and buried by slaves. Then the slaves were executed. John said the Aztec gold had a red tint because it wasn’t pure and contained copper. He also told us that from what he had read on the subject the treasures were cursed. Those that discovered it were doomed to die. I took a long drink of whiskey as he continued to speak.

   John said that he didn’t believe in curses and wasn’t one hundred percent sure this was Cortez loot but it made sense to the rest of us. Sarge said that if anyone tried to get his take he would cut them down curse or no curse. Hudson and Will told us they were beginning to feel better and wanted to help act as guards along with Ben and Sarge until they could work again. I agreed to let them see if they were able. So with four guards in place John and I went back to digging. I figured one or two more days here before we went on the next search for buried treasure indicated by the map. Now we all figured we were on to something even bigger than any of us had imagined. I feel like I am selling my soul for treasure.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[GhostMiner]

  May 22   1937

 

   Yesterday John and I dug the last side of the rocks. We got a good long trench started and ended our day at a depth of about six feet. We found nothing. We decided that we would spend one more day there and try to get down to ten feet or maybe a bit deeper. Then we will try to find the next X on the map.

   After supper we all sat around discussing our fortunes. Sarge said he was going to start up a big cattle ranch. Ben was going to retire and move to Mexico. Will and Hudson said they were building new houses and planned to start some new businesses where they lived. They asked me what I was going to do with my new found wealth. I told them I was going to continue on as a gold miner next year. I asked them if they would be returning to mine for gold with me. They were a bit vague with their answers and I figured this might be our last season together as a crew. This made me wish we had never made this discovery because our team was family to me. It was all Jed and I had last year and I didn’t want to lose them. John told me he was expanding his farm and hiring some help and would probably stick with me for a few more years if I kept going. That made me feel a lot better. 

   Once again Hudson and Will turned in early while Sarge and Ben took night watch. We hadn’t heard any more gunfire up on the mountain lately. It was getting cold and all the stars were out. I stoked the fire some and brought out a bottle and John and I filled our cups. Then it happened. There was a sudden cold blast of wind that came through camp and chilled us to the bone. What I saw next I couldn’t believe. Then what happened next made me rethink even staying here another day.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   May 23   1937

 

   This morning the camp is uneasy to say the least. Last night John and I saw some kind of figure in what appeared to be armor appear just at the edge of camp. Then it was gone. As I got up to find Sarge we heard a scream. It had come from Ben’s post. John and I headed over there with rifles in hand. Ben was on his knees. He said he had been slashed by someone  with a sword. His Thompson was lying by his side. 

   We immediately got him to his feet and brought him to camp. We made sure to get his Thompson as well. By then Sarge was in camp. He was stunned. Ben was bleeding and had been cut across the upper right arm. Lucky for him it was a cold night and he had a coat on. The wound was not too deep and we dressed it with a bandage.

   Hudson asked me what in the hell was happening to us. I couldn’t give him a good answer. Will said it was the curse. He remembered that the Indian Shaman had warned us we were walking dead men. He began to shake.

   Sarge and John told everyone to calm down. They said there was no such thing as a curse. Ben was shaken but told us he was ready to resume guard duty. John and I had one more day of digging to do at the rocks. I was willing to die for the treasure. I wasn’t sure about the rest of the crew. I knew that if Jed was here he’d tell everyone that nobody runs him off his claim. And they might die trying. If only my brother was here with us now. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[GhostMiner]

 May 24   1937

 

   Yesterday John and I dug to a depth of nearly thirteen feet. It was a large trench with nothing to show. We decided to stop all work at this site. We had amassed a great fortune in treasure but had paid a heavy price. The crew was beaten up and stressed out but no one had quit. Before we left the treasure site I made a speech to the crew. I told them how proud I was of every one of them and we now had riches beyond our wildest dreams. Once again I told them that anyone who wanted to leave could do so and there would be no hard feelings. Again no one wanted to quit the crew. We were a tough bunch of men and were willing to do what few men are, and that is to die for what we believe in. That put us a step above all the scoundrels and rif raf we had dealt with out here. 

   Will and Hudson were coming along good and mending up. I left them to guard camp with Ben. John, Sarge, and I went up the mountain on the hunt for the treasure X. By late afternoon we had found it. It was very obvious because of the map and the way the big rocks were sitting. The problem would be finding the exact location of a buried treasure. The X was marked between the large rocks and the base of the mountain to the west. There was about 100 feet of ground between the rocks and mountain. There were no further clues.

   John let out a curse and said we might be digging up here for a month of Sundays and we didn’t even know for sure if there was anything in the ground. The new site was about a half mile higher up the mountain and very remote.

   I suggested to John and Sarge that we kind of walk the ground carefully to see if there might be any clues. After about 15 minutes Sarge hollered for us to come over to his location and have a look. There was a good sized stone about five feet high and by itself. On the west side was a faint X that was nearly worn away. I told Sarge he had a good eye and he had found the location. Now we just needed to move camp up here and start digging. John and I just looked at each other knowing this might be something even more historic than the previous site. We set about moving camp and by the time we were done it was nearly dark.

   I cooked up some beans and bacon and we broke out a bottle of whisky and some Lucky’s to ward off the cold night air. It was real quiet. Almost too quiet.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................