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

[GhostMiner]

 

1 hour ago, GhostMiner said:

That cornbread looks darn good. And it's a southern dish. I wonder if Jed was from down south? I have no info on him. 

 

[GhostMiner]

9 hours ago, Muppet said:

I think I just figured out who the dead man will be...

 

There are a number of people working on the mine as well as gaurding it. Seven counting Whiskey Jack. 

[GhostMiner]

  AUGUST 2   1936

   The entire crew liked Whiskey Jack and we let him do the gold weigh this morning. I think he has brought good luck with him. We saw 3 ounces in the pan. Not bad for our new venture into the fault line. Jack told us that he feels we are bound to find big deposits in this unique feature in the hill. I agree. 

   After breakfast Jacob, Will, Whiskey Jack, and me went up to start working. Jack was there to observe the activity and offer suggestions as well as drive the truck when loaded with buckets down to John who would help him unload them. Jack wanted to be a working part of our operation as much as possible. We took our shifts as tunnel men and struck away at the wall of gravel and rock. We had taken another tub up to the drift and filled it with creek water so we could sample pan the material. It was cooler working in the drift. We made good headway again removing 211 buckets of pay.

   Down at the tom our creek was getting very low. Our area up to the north was beginning to dry up and I feared that soon we would only be able to wash gravels every other day until we began to see rain again. There might even be the possibility of running out of water completely. Jack told us the old boys had the same problems with water in the summer and usually shut down the monitors in July. Then they worked by pick and shovel until late fall or early winter. Eventually they would be frozen out. In my mind I was already starting to see our season begin to fade as far as sluicing time. It was a problem every miner there faced each season.

   At camp Sarge and Ben had been keeping a close watch on the property. It has been quiet and we are all happy to be miners again. After our supper of hoover stew we all sat at the campfire drinking Lucky’s and whiskey and swapping stories. Jack was full of them and had the stage on this night. He told a tale of gold and thieves that had taken place right on our claim back in his time. The crew had made good gold on one of the days and stashed it in a hiding place known to just a few of them. In the middle of a summer night a bear had entered camp and one of the crew hollered out and fired his gun to scare it off. That had woke up the crew and they soon realized one of them was missing. Upon the results of a quick search they found the missing miner trying to sneak back into camp. The crew stopped him and suspected the worst. They checked the gold can and it looked to be lacking what should have been in there. The crew kept hold of the miner and did a weigh which showed it was 3 ounces light. The miner was searched and the gold was found. The crew turned him in to the company bosses and they made an example of him. He was beaten and horse whipped in front of the entire company and then sent packing. Jack said he actually was lucky because he could have been shot or hung. Those were the old ways of the gold rush. He said there were cut throats all over the mountains back then just as today. When times are hard and bad people think you have something worth taking you better be careful. I told him we had dealt with all kinds of problems but were still here mining. Whiskey Jack told us we were a brave crew and hard workers. He had no idea of what we had accomplished up to the time of his arrival. 

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

On 3/17/2022 at 6:57 PM, beatup said:

sounds like they are into it now

For sure.

[flakmagnet]

1 minute ago, GhostMiner said:

sounds like they are into it now

They are literally into it now…good stuff.

[GhostMiner]

   AUGUST 3   1936 

   This morning we had another 4 ounces of gold from our weigh. We talked about our water issues over breakfast. There is another creek on our claims that is year round in supply. It runs near the main road down at the bottom of the mountain. If needed we could set the tom down there and drive the truck down with the buckets. What I don’t like is we would be near a road where hooligans and rif raf might see our workings. John and me went down there and scouted a potential sight. The seasonal creek has dried up except for the small area up north of our tom. It meets the larger creek as it tee’s into it down south near the road. We found a place about 300 feet north of the full time creek where we can put in a short road to the west from the north south trail and set up the tom in privacy. Then we could set the pump in the big creek and pump water up to the tom and let the runoff filter back down the mountain in a south west direction. We should have plenty of water working that way and hopefully not be seen. For now we will continue at our current location. Sarge and Ben are able to stay another week or so but I am trying to talk them into staying for the remainder of the season. I would need to pay them a larger amount to compensate them if they agree. Sarge told me they are giving my proposal some thought. 

   We continued digging about mid morning and made good speed. The drift direction is beginning to curve gently to the southeast but still heading under the bottom and into the fault line. The gravels are becoming finer here with an absence of the larger rounded rock. The test pans are showing rich material. I’m wondering how far this little drift will go before terminating in solid rock.

   Whiskey Jack has come into the tunnel a few times to look at the gravels and overhead country rock. He pointed out the cracks overhead, some of which are as much as 4 to 6 inches in width. These cracks allowed the rich pay gravels to drop out of the river in a concentrated amount. He thinks that if we can find the original area of the deposit we will hit a big strike. We are taking our turns at hammering away with the picks. I have had five new notches punched into my belt and have no more weight left to lose. We could all use a week off to rest our tired bodies but the gold is driving us like mad men. Today we made headway and hauled 203 buckets to the tom. The last load was delivered just before dark. I cleaned up in the creek and had a plate of beans and bacon. Jack and me rolled Burleys and drank whiskey for a few hours before retiring. The rest of the crew had gone to bed long before us. 

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

[Pogo]

Hoover stew

 

https://www.acoalcrackerinthekitchen.com/2020/03/29/hoover-stew/

[GhostMiner]

4 minutes ago, Pogo said:

Hoover stew

 

https://www.acoalcrackerinthekitchen.com/2020/03/29/hoover-stew/

It could also be most anything you had on hand to make up a quick stew. 

[GhostMiner]

8 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

-

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

1000 views & a few likes? The journal deserves something better rhan that. 

[1515Art]

26 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

1000 views & a few likes? The journal deserves something better rhan that. 

I wouldn’t take it as anything more than the highest compliment we can pay… like when the dinners really really good and nobody can stop to talk, we are starving and can only think of food and the next meal. Pardon the bad manners, we like’y a lot.