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

[GhostMiner]

   August 9   2002     Part Two

 

   We worked into the early evening even though the temperature had topped out at 108 degrees. There was little talk between the crew and it was dusk when we got back to camp. I washed up and started cooking up some hash and beans and grabbed a cold beer. Everyone was sitting around the campfire after supper as it was getting dark and the temperature had cooled some. I had called a meeting and I wanted to get some things settled. I stood up and addressed the crew. 

   I told them that we were all in a partnership out here as far as the work and the gold. However, I told them that these were still my claims with my name on them and I would not tolerate anyone disrespecting me. I didn’t mention names but everyone knew who I was talking about. To my surprise, Bill and Jacob quickly came to my defense and agreed with me. Then Jacob turned to Conor and gave him a good scolding of sorts. He told Conor that Jed ran a tight ship out here back in 1936 and he would have kicked his ass for back talking. He told Conor that he had gold fever and he needed to control himself. He also said that I was his close friend and he appreciated being on the mine. Conor looked a little sheepish and stood up and faced the crew. He said he had a lot to learn about mining and gold and then he turned to me and said he was sorry for the way he had acted. We shook hands and put it to rest. Then I handed him a beer and we all had a good laugh and Bill said the fever can do that to people sometimes. We all had a few more beers and hit the sack. I felt relieved and I am hoping this will be the end of any problems between the crew.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[Bedrocker]

42 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

We all had a few more beers and hit the sack. I felt relieved and I am hoping this will be the end of any problems between the crew.

Just make sure that Bill doesn't let Conor get a look at that huge hunk of specimen with the 2" wide streak of gold in it..

OTH go ahead and show it to him and let's see his reaction lol.

[JamesB]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:52 AM, GhostMiner said:

   As an introduction, I am the president of a small placer gold mine exploration & leasing company. While doing research on one of our mine properties I came across an old leather journal & thought i'd post the entries over time here. I named it "Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine." Hopefully the old timer who wrote it won't mind. I tried to find any relatives but have run into one dead end after another. I felt it was a story worth telling & over the period of posting the entries I will include pictures of the area as it looks today and what our modern activities at the site have been. The journal was mentioned in a 282 page government report that I stumbled upon while doing research. I was able to secure the original journal from the descendants of the president of a defunct mining company who did some work in the area back in the mid 1960's. The journal itself was written by a prospector who worked the area in 1936. He hit a gold strike of epic proportions and lived an adventure that is very fascinating to say the least. It's a wild ride showing a glimpse back into a long lost time. I hope you enjoy the journal.*

   PROLOGUE : This is a journal of the experiences written in the first person in 1936 by a prospector by the name of Jed Stevens while mining at the Whiskey Jack Mine. Jed had several claims in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. This area of claims produced large amounts of gold from the mid to late 1800's. The old placer mines were abandoned in the late 1800's as a result of California's Sawyer Decision which banned or severely limited hydraulic gold mining operations and left large amounts of undiscovered gold in the gravels. Here is the first entry :

   APRIL 12   1936  :  Today I filed all the paperwork at the county court house for the mining claims I now hold near Lost Ravine. I then drove my Ford truck out to my claims. There was a good spot near Jake's Creek up to the north about 1500 feet from the main road that follows Morgan Creek where I set up my camp. It took the entire day to pitch the tent and set up my kitchen. The tent is a 15 foot cabin tent with a stove jack. I have a first rate box stove set up inside to be used for heat and some cooking. I also set up a second stove about 200 feet from camp for the main cooking jobs during good weather. 

   Today was a good day for getting camp set as it was sunny and not too cold. Tomorrow my plan is to investigate one of the claim sites where the old diggings took place and get a bearing on my situation as far as where I might sample gravels and old tailings. I am losing daylight and getting cold so I will get into my sleeping bag on the cot and get some sleep.

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

   Here is a picture of Jed's journal as it looks today. It is in fairly good shape & also included some old maps.

 

 

*this story is based on a real gold strike in 1936 according to what reports I have in my possession, but the journal itself is a work of fiction.

GhostMiner, I appreciate you sharing the contents of this journal. I love hearing about old mining ventures.

[GhostMiner]

9 minutes ago, JamesB said:

GhostMiner, I appreciate you sharing the contents of this journal. I love hearing about old mining ventures.

It's a long & hard ride. Enjoy the read.

[geof_junk]

1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

Then I handed him a beer and we all had a good laugh and Bill said the fever can do that to people sometimes. We all had a few more beers and hit the sack.

A few ???

[rvpopeye]

Hey guys he can't go back and change the story now , this is the real part remember ?   

Or CAN he ?   hmmmmm GM , you're not one of those alien fellas come here to mine our planet arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ya ? ?

[GhostMiner]

1 hour ago, geof_junk said:

A few ???

I'll let you in on something - during the hot days of Summer the cold beers tasted mighty good after supper. I averaged 6 - 8 of them every night. 

[GhostMiner]

  August 10   2002     Part One     A Discovery Is Made

 

   I was up before daylight but Jacob and Conor had already made breakfast for the crew. Bacon and eggs with pancakes as well as a cup or two of Jacob’s Irish Coffee. We trudged up the mountain as the sun was coming up. Everyone was in a good mood and my worries had been laid to rest for now. We were back to being a gold mining crew of determined partners. We all went back to moving gravel and rock. For some reason Bill decided to take a walk around to the northeastern area of the slide and then further north of where the slide ended. I went over to the area with him to see what he was doing. Bill told me he’d never looked in this area for another entrance or air shaft to the mine. He said that he was told there was another entrance way up to the north farther from here but he never could find it. 

   The two of us started poking around with our shovels. We were about 200 feet from the front of the slide where the main entry was located. Our elevation was a good 80 feet or so above that location. I started moving some flat rocks away. They looked out of place and were on a fairly flat part of ground. As I pushed them away I could see some heavy timbers partially covered by gravel and smaller rocks. I hollered over to Bill and he came over to have a look. He started getting real excited when he saw the timbers. He told me he didn’t know how I did it but I had found another opening into the mine.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[GhostMiner]

August 10   2002     Part Two     We Enter The Hidden Mine

 

   Jacob and Conor made their way over to our discovery. Jacob told everyone to stand back a ways from the timbers. He said we needed to inspect the opening and make sure there was nothing ready to collapse. Bill and I carefully started to remove the old lumber that covered the entry. The shaft seemed stable and was about 5 feet by 5 feet in diameter. An old wooden ladder made from cut timber disappeared into the dark down below. We shined our flashlights down. There was a wood plank a few feet below the surface and fastened against the wood side wall supports. On it was painted a crude skull and crossbones with the words dead men tell no tales. Bill laughed and said the old miners must have put it there to scare off unwanted intruders.

   I volunteered to be the first to go in. Bill shined his light on the ladder and I carefully tested each step as I went down. At about the 10 foot below surface level there was a wooden floor with a hole cut for the ladder to continue down. Everything was still solid and Bill came down and shined his light through the opening as I continued down. Each level of 10 feet in depth had a floor. We did this for 80 feet until we made it all the way to the bottom. Then the shaft opened up quite a bit with tunnels running south back towards the buried opening we had been working on and also to the north and east. Everything that needed support looked to have it at this junction. I radioed to Jacob at the top and told him that Bill and I had made it all the way down and were going to check the three tunnels. I could feel fresh air coming from somewhere so we figured there must be at least one or more air shafts or pipes that were still functioning.

   The first tunnel we took was to the south. We didn’t get far. The entire drift had collapsed. There were cracked and broken timbers and heavy rocks lying in with the gravels. We didn’t see any sign of a quartz vein but it may have been buried under tons of material. It would have taken our little four man crew a full year to make entry from our initial sight.

   We carefully eased on out of that tunnel and headed into the one that went east. We shined the flashlight down the drift and it looked to make a slow turn south and sloped upwards on a gentle angle. There were big support timbers on the sides and ceiling which was high enough for us to stand upright. There was also a lot of overhanging rock. We carefully made our way in. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............