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

[GhostMiner]

52 minutes ago, Mike Furness said:

Having a city slicker investor coming to the mine site reminds me of days gone by much earlier in this story! If they are smart they wont return. But then again money grabbers think they can out smart a 'dumb' miner or two. Didn't work so well for the old crew doubt it will work for this crew.

   Yes, we just wanted to keep our small scale operation and 100% of the gold as well. 

[GhostMiner]

   August 21   2002     Part Two

 

   We had a good afternoon of mining and ended our day with 230 yards of washed gravel. Conor didn’t have any luck finding buried gold but was having a good time searching. I encouraged him and told him he just might find something if he stayed with it. It was getting dark when we had our supper and cracked open some cold beers. Conor said he was going to stay clear of the whisky. 

   Jacob had a couple of shots of Bushmills and started talking about Jed. He was remembering Jed and how much he hated it when uninvited people came into camp. He told Conor and I that Jed could be a dangerous man at times but only if provoked. He said Jed never backed away from a fight and had started a few as well. When he did start one he usually had good cause.

   I asked Jacob about that 1936 gold strike and the gravels they moved up there. That excavation remained to this day and was quite impressive. Jacob said the crew were working fools. They’d set out in the morning and settle into a steady pace. He said there was little talking and a hell of a lot of pick and shovel work. There used to be arguments about who moved the most gravel. Every man took it seriously. They were a prideful crew. Jacob said that once you toughen your body to long, steady days of hard work it becomes second nature. He said the worst mistake was acting like Conor had when he tried to work too hard and too fast.

   The three of us talked about the claims and how much gold might still be out here. We talked about trespassers and the old days. We went on and on and the night chill was setting in. Before we knew it the clock was past midnight and we turned in. It was a good day. 

   TO BE CONTINUED  ............

[GhostMiner]

   I have been on this forum for just over two yrs now. I just wanted to thank Steve as well as all the readers. It's been a long & winding road. More journal to come.

[GhostMiner]

   August 22   2002     Part One     Thugs On Our Northern Dig Site

 

   We were up and working by 8:00 AM. Once again, Conor took his detector up to the northern area of the claim. Jacob and I hadn’t been working much more than an hour when I got a call from him on my walkie talkie. He sounded excited and told me there were people on our rich dig site that we had left for now because of the lack of water. He saw four of them and one of them was Nick Allen. They were digging in the last trench we had worked up there and were taking sample buckets of gravels and carrying them west over to the creek that came down the mountain. There wasn’t much of any water in that creek now but there were a few low pools where you could still do a little panning. He gave me his exact location and I told him to sit tight and I’d be up there as quick as I could.

   Jacob had his radio turned low and hadn’t heard Conor’s call so I told him what was going on. We shut everything down and Jacob stayed at camp. I charged up the mountain and found Conor behind some rock outcrops just east of the creek. We were looking straight down at the four claim jumpers from a position just above them and maybe 100 feet away. They had taken the bucket samples to the water and were getting ready to start panning the material. Then Conor admitted something to me. He said that the night he had gone into town feeling sorry for himself he had run into Nick Allen and some of his crew at the bar. He had told them about some of the rich ore on our claims and where we were working. Conor said he didn’t mean to divulge anything but was drunk and got to bragging. Then Allen and his crew left. Later that night we had come and he was afraid to tell us what he had done. He begged me not to tell Jacob. He said Jacob would throw him off the claims and disown him. I told Conor we’d talk about all this later but right now we had thugs to deal with. I looked him straight in the eye and asked him if I could count on him because things were about to get rough and it would be us against them. He nodded and said yes, I could depend on him. We both had our sidearms and plenty of ammo. I stood up and hollered out as loud and with as rough a voice as I could muster “Hey! What in the hell do you guys think you are doing? You’re on our claims.” Then we started walking in their direction. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ............

[Old Miner Don]

Oh Sarge ol boy... where are you when we need you?

[GhostMiner]

13 hours ago, Bedrocker said:

Oh Sarge ol boy... where are you when we need you?

Yes, all heck would break loose.

[dig4gold]

As I thought. The "thugs" would return.

[GhostMiner]

August 22   2002     Part Two

 

   After I hollered out I saw Nick Allen and the other three of them turn quickly towards us. We were about 70 feet apart as Conor and I walked toward them. Allen looked surprised. I asked again what they thought they were going to do on our claims. Nick Allen gave me a sleazy sort of half grin and said arrogantly that they were testing gravels from our unfinished dig site. I told him he had not asked our permission to take any samples and we would not give him  permission. 

   Nick Allen quickly changed the subject. By now we were ten feet away from each other. He said we should keep a close eye on Conor because he had told him all about our mining operation when he was in the bar. He said  we should put him on a short leash. He continued to insult Conor and was saying he was a drunken cry baby who couldn’t hold his liquor and that we needed to kick him off the claims. I looked over at Conor and he was fuming. His face was red and his teeth were clenched. I noticed his right hand start slipping towards his 45 which was holstered on his right hip. I touched his arm and shook my head no.

   I told Allen that he had no call for that kind of talk. Conor was more blunt. He called Nick a big mouth con artist and said he’d put a hole through his head with his 45. Allen wasn’t carrying a gun. I only saw one sidearm on one of the men unless some were concealed. I told Allen to put the buckets down and get off the claims. He said they needed to make a few tests on the digsite before his investors made us an offer. Once again I told him we were not interested. Before I could stop him Conor pulled his 45 and fired a round about a foot over Nick Allen’s head. He dove face first into the wet gravel by the creek. I  told the other three to get the hell off the claims and pronto. They said they were just prospectors who had been hired by Allen to do some sampling. They didn’t know anything about the claims or who owned them. I told them to git and never come back. They turned and walked off following the creek south towards the road.

   Allen got up slowly. He had some nice clothes on that were now covered in dirt. He was the type that didn’t do manual labor but was there to supervise the other three prospectors. Conor walked over to him and smacked him across the face with his 45. The blood gushed out of his mouth from the front teeth that had just been removed. I told him the same thing, get out of here and don't ever come back. He had his handkerchief stuck up in his mouth in an attempt to stop the bleeding and staggered off in the same direction the prospectors had gone. I looked at Conor and we gave each other a nod. I told him his father would have been proud of him. He was showing me that he had some sand to him. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

[GhostMiner]

   Ghost Riders or GhostMiner In The Sky

 

 

[GhostMiner]

   Conor passed away some yrs back. He had told me about his personal problems and about his wife leaving him which I don't think he ever got over completely. This was a song he would listen to every now and again. This one's for you Conor.