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

[Mike Furness]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:19 AM, GhostMiner said:

Were Garrett detectors one of the best you could buy back in 2002?

No. At that time I believe the new more powerful(my opinion) Minelab GP3000 had just come come on the market at about $2900. The GP3000 replaced the older SD2200.

[dig4gold]

The GP 3000 replaced the GP Extreme.

D4G

[GhostMiner]

   You may wonder what I thought of Jacob and what he was really like. He was a great guy and kept his word. He was also generous. He became my closest friend over the course of the 2002 mining season and I knew I could always count on him. He was quite a character and I could only imagine what he was like when he was on that 1936/1937 crew. It must have been something. The closest way to describe him was to compare him to John Wayne in a western movie but Jacob was real and not some Hollywood character.

   On the other hand there was Conor. Jed's son. I didn't get along with him when he showed up on the mine with his brash and cocky attitude. At this point in the journal things were getting worse between us and about to come to a head. Sometimes it takes a good fight to clear the air. 

[GhostMiner]

   Well, I've come to the post in the journal where the dust gets kicked up. My wife remembers all of this from a phone conversation I had with her back then. I wasn't sure I wanted to post it and had a long talk with her about that night. She said that I've come this far and I might as well continue without leaving out anything. So tonight I will be posting what I called "The Showdown." It was a night I will never forget.

 

 

[GhostMiner]

  August 15   2002     Part One     Whisky, Guns, & Gold  -  The Showdown

 

   Bill went up the mountain with his detector this morning while Jacob, Conor, and I did the gold cleanup. It took us all morning and part of the afternoon. Around 4:00 PM we were ready to weigh it up. Bill had also come back down to camp to see what we got. There was 12.8 ounces. Conor was excited as all getup and could hardly control himself. He was going on about how much gold was still buried in the mountain and how he was going to make a million dollars out here. I didn’t say much and Jacob told me we had indeed hit some nice virgin ground the old timers had missed. It was good to see some nice gold in the jar from our hard work.

   The crew ate a good supper together and made a little campfire as the dusk settled in and the heat of the day was replaced by the cool dry night air. As soon as the sun set the temperature had dropped to a comfortable 70 degrees and was rapidly cooling towards its usual bottom of about 50 degrees by early morning. As the dark settled in the crew was having a few cold beers which always tasted good after a long and hot day. Sure enough Conor broke out a bottle of Jack and started drinking shots with  beer chasers. This was like lubrication to his mouth and he quickly started in on me.

   Now I have seen gold fever and know first hand what it can do to a normal person. However, I did not consider Conor normal. On the contrary, he was a nasty, cocky, sob at times. He knew I didn’t like him and Jacob was caught in the middle. 

   By 10:00 PM Conor was getting pretty well primed up. Then he decided to pull his revolver and start shooting at only he knew what. After he reloaded and fired off more rounds I told him to put the gun away. I said he had done enough shooting and might be drawing unwanted attention to the crew if anyone was camping or prospecting on the mountain. He told me to mind my own business and then said he was thinking of top filing over my claims out here. He said he could trace his rights of ownership back to his father. I just laughed and told him it would never hold up in court. 

   He refused to put the gun away even though Jacob had also ordered him to. Once again I let him know he was not thinking of the crew and only himself. I also stated once again that he might be drawing unwanted attention to our project. He was wild with gold fever and it was fueled by whisky. Then he did the unthinkable. He pointed his 45 at me. 

   Jacob hollered for him to drop it but he was not listening. He just went on and on about how he was going to take the mine from me. I kept talking to him telling him to put the gun away as Jacob slowly walked over from the back side of him. Bill was just sitting in his camp chair and looked to be frozen with fear. Without making a sound, Jacob grabbed the gun barrel and gave it a sharp twist and the revolver came out of Conor’s hand. Jacob shifted the gun to his left hand as he backhanded Conor right across the face. He told him he was ashamed of him and his father would have been as well. Then Jacob walked back to the campfire with the gun.

   I thought this would be the end of it but Conor was far from finished. He started name calling Jacob and I. He called me a low down crook. That did it. I’d had all I could take from him.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[GhostMiner]

  August 15   2002     Part Two

 

   Now Jacob was caught in the middle between his nephew and his good friend. He was the kind of man that believed in getting things settled in a fair manner. I was wearing my 9 MM semi auto handgun. It was still holstered. I looked at Conor and then over at Jacob and told him to give the 45 back to Conor and we’d shoot it out right then and there. I was beyond angry now and not thinking much clearer than Conor.

   Jacob shook his head no and said we needed to fight it out with our fists like they did back in the old days and get it over with once and for all. I removed my holster and handed it to Jacob who now had possession of both guns. He placed them behind his camp chair and produced a couple pairs of leather work gloves. He told us to put them on. Then he walked us down near the creek to a sandy spot. He told Bill to bring three lanterns over to the area. We weren’t too far from the campfire so between what light was getting there from the fire and the three lanterns set up in a circle we could see each other pretty good. Conor and I were standing there and facing each other at a distance of about four feet. I could see the cold sneer on his face and I was ready to knock it off him for good. Then Jacob hollered out “Fight.”

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

 

[Mike Furness]

On 1/19/2024 at 4:41 AM, dig4gold said:

The GP 3000 replaced the GP Extreme.

D4G

Yup! Totally forgot about the extreme.

[GhostMiner]

   August 15   2002     Part Three     Knock Down Drag Out

 

   Now I had some boxing training and quite a few gym fights and sparring sessions under my belt and I knew how to throw a good punch. With that being said, boxing and street fighting are not the same thing and there are no rules. I put my hands up and took my boxing stance. This prepared me to block a punch and counter with my own. I had been trained by retired professionals to throw punches from the shoulder and not to draw back your arm. You also turned your hip into the punch. This gave more power and the punch traveled a shorter distance and arrived faster.

   Conor was wild with rage and let loose with a wide right hand that he telegraphed. I slid my head to the left and it sailed past my face. He drew back his arm and tried another which I slipped and countered with a quick left followed by a right cross. Both punches connected and Conor staggered backwards. This made him even more angry and he lunged forward and tackled me.

   I went down hard on my back with Conor on top of me. He had his hands on my throat and was choking me. I was able to get my right hand in between his arms and I shot a series of short punches into his chin. I felt his grip on my throat loosen. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to the right side of me and as he was rolling off me I let loose of his shirt and used my elbow to crack him a good shot to his nose. I heard him let out a curse as the blood streamed out. I quickly got to my feet and gave him a solid kick to the side. He  grunted and started to attempt to get up. As he got to his knees I brought down a solid right hand that landed on his left eye. He kind of was just swaying while still on his knees. I stepped back and told him to get up and fight. 

   I looked over at Jacob and he had no expression on his face. Bill was watching and shaking his head like he couldn’t believe this was happening. Conor got to his feet and started calling me a few choice names. Then Jacob stepped in and told Conor to either fight or shut his mouth. I just stood there waiting on him but he wasn’t moving. All the fight had gone out of him.

   I walked up on him and cracked him with one last right hand which landed solidly and square on his chin and he went down hard. He was done. Jacob and Bill helped get him up and put him in his camp chair. All Jacob said to him was that he wasn’t much of a fighter and he had better learn to keep his mouth shut. It took all I had to walk away because I wanted to hurt him even worse but enough was enough. It was over.   

   TO BE CONTINUED ............... 

 

[GhostMiner]

   August 16   2002     Part One     Missing In Action

 

   When I got up just before sunrise Jacob was already making breakfast and was sitting at the table where the crew sometimes ate dinner together. I walked over and poured myself some coffee and the two of us sat alone together like we used to do. He said Conor had drunk himself into a stupor last night and woke him up at 3:00 AM and was rambling on about all kinds of crazy things. He said Conor seemed to have many demons. I told Jacob I’d had enough of him and if things didn’t change I was going to throw him off the property. Son of Jed or not I was sick and tired of him.  

   Jacob wanted some time to talk with him and try to get him straightened out first. Because we were friends and Jacob was his uncle I agreed to give Conor one more chance. I made it clear it would be his last chance and I was done putting up with his attitude. To me he was nothing more than a drunken loose cannon. 

   Bill eventually showed up at breakfast and said he was heading up to the Hidden Mine with the detector. He never mentioned the fight. Eventually Jacob and I got to work washing gravel. When we stopped for lunch Conor was gone. His truck was not at camp but all his gear was still in the camper. Jacob didn’t think much of it and I was too busy to care. We got back to work and stayed at it until about 5:00 PM. We had processed 130 yards of gravel and moved some tailings to boot. Conor was still missing in action.  

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