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

[GhostMiner]

On 10/31/2022 at 8:12 PM, Bedrocker said:

Lol! I thought for sure it was going to be that hairy man that was spotted at the beginning of Jed's journal. Don't remember if it was Sarge or John that got there first but it was them that fired off some warning shots while on watch duty one night.

Good job on the story telling!

Many thanks Bedrocker. Many twists & turns. Lots of adventures. I wonder how many readers would like to live this life. 

[dig4gold]

On 10/31/2022 at 10:03 AM, GhostMiner said:

   June 7   1937     Part Seven

 

   We fired off short bursts from the BAR and the Thompson. The four thugs fell down in the hold they had dug for themselves. Then John and I began to laugh. We had fired into the air but the gangsters thought they were all dead men. They laid in the dirt shaking. I told them they had nothing left in this part of the country worth dying for. Their car was destroyed and we had taken their guns. I instructed them to walk out of this state and keep walking. I told them that if they ever came back they would be placed in the hole they had just dug and buried there. With that, John and I got in the truck and drove back to camp. 

 

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

In the real world it would be a huge mistake letting those thugs go free.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, dig4gold said:

In the real world it would be a huge mistake letting those thugs go free.

   Might be a mistake in their world as well.

[GhostMiner]

   June 8   1937     Part Four

 

   I blinked hard and looked again. I thought to myself this couldn’t be happening. But it was. It was Whisky Jack as sure as my name is Jacob Stevens. I tried to speak but nothing came out of my mouth. Jack was smiling and laughing as he always did but I could see straight through him. Then the other man turned and looked at me with a grin. It was my brother Jed. I let out a gasp and cried out to him. He was fading in and out and his hand reached out to me. I fell to my knees and couldn’t move. Jed and Whisky Jack were passing a bottle between them and pointing toward the Eastern Drift Mine. As suddenly as I had seen them they faded away. They were gone. I grabbed my flashlight and walked over to where they had been digging. There were no shovels or picks and the ground had no marks on it. But I had heard the sound of digging. I felt a cold shiver pass over my body and I slowly walked back to my watch post. I took a drink of whisky from my bottle and tried to understand what had just happened but there were no answers.

   Eventually the night ended and I headed back to camp. The crew was beginning to stir and I made coffee. Then I told everyone what had happened out there. My story was met by silence. There was nothing more to say. Nothing more to try to explain. For the first time since being out here I felt like I wanted to go home. I wanted to rest. Have I lost my mind?  

 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

[Bedrocker]

You probably haven't lost your mind Jacob, but you guys better get to work on that eastern drift mine.

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, Bedrocker said:

You probably haven't lost your mind Jacob, but you guys better get to work on that eastern drift mine.

   This part of the journal like some of it is based on a true event. My son in law and I were camped near Jed's dig site back in 2012. This was a year before we had the government report and had no idea what had taken place on our claims. My son in law heard voices in the woods and we shined our flashlights and caught a brief look at several figures that vanished before our eyes. We figured them to be ghosts. The true story (the report) tells of the miner (Jed), who's name I changed, finding a huge gold deposit and being murdered up there. 

[Quick]

I have only read 4 pages of this story. I find it interesting that the gold weights are listed in grams in the journal. Back then it would of been in Dwt and grains one would think.

[GhostMiner]

7 hours ago, Quicksilver said:

I have only read 4 pages of this story. I find it interesting that the gold weights are listed in grams in the journal. Back then it would of been in Dwt and grains one would think.

   Thanks for reading the journal. I believe grams were also used. Remember, this is an adventure story based on some true events and not a factual history lesson. Enjoy the ride.

[GhostMiner]

   June 9   1937

 

   Will and I worked the dig site yesterday. I kept looking around expecting to see Whisky Jack and Jed working beside us. I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being watched. I brought a bottle of whisky with me to keep my nerves steady. We all wear our 45’s at all times and bring the Thompsons with us as well. It’s always an uneasy feeling out here now. It seems like we are just waiting for the next shootout. We weighed up four ounces in the pan this morning. That was from only 110 buckets.

   We are working prime gravels again. Most gold miners could only dream of digging this material. Some might kill for it and that’s what worries me. Once again, we got a good head of steam worked up and made hay. The digging is not hard in any way and the two of us took 200 buckets down to John. He was grinning from ear to ear. I told him I had done a few pans up at the dig site and they were loaded with coarse gold. We are near country rock and cutting along the bottom of the mountain going in as far as we can before the hill collapses. Then we move laterally. We’ll find out how good these gravels are soon. 

   John went up to the watch post after supper and the rest of the crew drank beer and whisky and talked about last night. There’s something unsettling about this place and it draws trouble. Our crew is tight and like family. We watch out for each other. We have become a tough and dangerous crew if messed with. I’ve been going stir crazy and was talking with Will. We decided to go into town for a spell and get a few drinks at the tavern. Hudson and John didn’t like the idea much but we went anyway.

   It was a Wednesday night and I figured things to be quiet. When we pulled into the parking lot there were only a few cars and a truck parked there but there were plenty of people inside. Will and I walked up to the bar and ordered drinks. Then we found a quiet spot at a corner table. We were only there a minute when Will poked me and said to have a look at the end of the bar. Well, well I thought. What a surprise.

 

   TO BE CONTINUED .............