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

[Mike Furness]

Good thing you refused the whiskey. He is/was dehydrated and whiskey would dehydrate him again. Counter productive to saving him!

[GhostMiner]

  August 25   2002     Part Two

 

   We stopped for supplies after visiting Jacob and got back to camp late morning. Neither one of us felt much like mining but I asked Conor if he would like to feed the trommel while I dug up gravels. After all, it’s what Jacob would have wanted us to do. So I fired up the water pump and trommel and Conor fed the beast as we called it. I did some digging with the excavator adjacent to the stockpile of pay and before you knew it was 3:00 PM and we had washed 100 yards of gravel. I signaled to Conor that we were shutting down. Then we washed up and got something to eat before heading to the hospital to check on our mining partner. The day had gone extremely smooth.

   We got to the hospital just as supper was being served to Jacob’s area. They told us we could stay for an hour this time which I figured was a good sign. Before I went in I asked the nurse how he was doing. She said he is feeling pretty good and wanted some canned stew and a cup of Bushmills whisky. She said instead of that he’s getting beef broth, pudding, & tea. Conor and I had a good laugh on that and we went into his room.

   The first thing Jacob asked was if I had brought his whisky. I had come prepared. I gave him a wink and told him to eat his supper and I had a surprise for him. After he finished the meager meal I pulled a small flask out of my back pocket. It contained a double shot of his beloved Bushmills. There was a grin on his face from ear to ear. He downed the whisky in two swallows and said it was the best medicine he’d had since being in the hospital. Then we all had a good talk and before you knew it the hour had passed and they kicked us out of his room. Conor and I drove back to camp in good spirits and we were hoping Jacob would be back with us soon.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

[GhostMiner]

   Going back to the ending of the first mining season of 1936 & the death of Jed Stevens. 

 

                                        EPILOGUE 

 

   At this point there were no further writings in the journal. Several days after the last entry Jed Stevens was found dead. His body had been discovered by some hunters about twenty miles from his claims. He had been shot through the back of the head and was lying on the ground near a large boulder. There was a small hole that had been dug out underneath it but when the hunters searched there was nothing there. He was identified and law enforcement notified his brother of his tragic death. Evidently he had been murdered for his gold. The perpetrators were never found. It is said that his ghost haunts the mine to this day. 

 

   A NOTE TO READERS :    Be sure to watch for the next edition of this series as the 

                                            miners return to the claims and resume their adventures in

                                            the search for gold. 

 

                                                        See you up in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

                                                                              GhostMiner

[GhostMiner]

1 minute ago, GhostMiner said:

   Going back to the ending of the first mining season of 1936 & the death of Jed Stevens. 

 

                                        EPILOGUE 

 

   At this point there were no further writings in the journal. Several days after the last entry Jed Stevens was found dead. His body had been discovered by some hunters about twenty miles from his claims. He had been shot through the back of the head and was lying on the ground near a large boulder. There was a small hole that had been dug out underneath it but when the hunters searched there was nothing there. He was identified and law enforcement notified his brother of his tragic death. Evidently he had been murdered for his gold. The perpetrators were never found. It is said that his ghost haunts the mine to this day. 

 

   A NOTE TO READERS :    Be sure to watch for the next edition of this series as the 

                                            miners return to the claims and resume their adventures in

                                            the search for gold. 

 

                                                        See you up in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

                                                                              GhostMiner

   I will tell you that there are the ghosts of more than one gold miner who haunt these claims.

[GhostMiner]

   August 26   2002     Part One

 

   Conor and I went in to see Jacob early this morning. He was not in his room but was undergoing some tests on his heart. We talked with the nurse briefly and she said he would be undergoing several tests today and we may want to come back in the evening. She told us his condition had not changed and he was stable. He would be staying in intensive care a little longer, possibly another day or two. So we headed back to camp and got to work. We figured Jacob was in a good place and was getting good treatment. He was where he needed to be for the time being.

   The water pump was not priming properly and I ended up purging the line. After that it was fine. Pumps can be finicky at times and I don’t pretend to be an expert on running them. Conor has been working and staying out of the whisky. Aside from the pump problem the day went well with no major issues. We washed 200 yards of gravel. We are going into town soon and see how Jacob is doing. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ..............

[GhostMiner]

   Something Not In The Journal  :  Dreamwind Canyon. This is a deep and remote canyon running north/south on the mountain just above the claims & written about in the journal. Much of the canyon was explored for gold back in the 1850's with varying results. It is told that in the Summer of 1859 a group of prospectors from Montana were working some ground there. The canyon walls are more than 500 ft high in part of the area and the floor is covered in boulders and Manzanita and some  Ponderosa Pine. Temperatures in July and August can sometimes reach 120 degrees. It is not a place for the faint of heart and injury up there can quickly turn to death. 

   It seems that the prospectors had a run in with a group of miners from the local town led by the town doctor. This is the same town that I refer to in the journal. The town doctor had been having an affair with the wife of one of the prospectors. She was staying in town while her husband prospected for gold. Somehow the prospector had heard about the affair and had gone into town looking to gun him down. They had indeed got into a gunfight on main street and the prospector was wounded and treated by the doctor that shot him. When the miners from town and the doctor stepped into the canyon they had no idea what was about to happen.

   The prospectors knew they were coming to steal their claims and work them. I think they had heard this in town. When they got up there the prospectors, led by the guy who had been shot, opened up on them with rifles. There was quite a shoot out with several men from each side being killed. The doctor survived but the prospector who had been previously shot did not. The doctor killed him this time. They say the ghost of some of those guys still roam the mountain. I believe it as I have had many crazy experiences on the claims and on the mountain itself. I may add more info about Dreamwind Canyon sometime. 

[GhostMiner]

Dreamwind Canyon. 

 

 

[GhostMiner]

  August 26   2002     Part Two

 

   We got into the hospital around 6:00 PM. Jacob had eaten his dinner and was in pretty good spirits. When the nurse came in she said the tests on Jacob’s heart were good and they were going to move him into a regular room tomorrow as long as nothing changed. Then it would be up to the doctor as to when he would be released. She figured another day or two but couldn’t be sure. 

   That was good news and we were all happy to hear it. I told Jacob we had run 200 yards of gravel through the trommel and he gave us a nod and told us to keep up the good work and he’d be back in no time. Things were looking up.

   When Conor and I got back to camp it was getting dark and we built a small fire. The temperatures were dropping into the upper 40’s at night now and the day time temperatures were topping in the mid to upper 80’s. We had a couple of beers after we ate our late supper and I told Connor we might have a good ending to our season. Snow out here could come as early as October or might be later. Conor said that if Jacob was still willing he wanted to stay on the mine for the Winter with him. Or at least part of it. I told him that Jacob should not be left alone out here and he was stubborn. I knew he wanted to stay right through the bad weather. If Conor stayed past Fall he would have to commit to the full Winter season. There was no way I was staying past November. Period.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[GhostMiner]

   NOT IN THE JOURNAL  :  Back in October of 2012 I met a guy that prospected the Sierra Nevada mountains. I was camped out on one of the claims with one of my partners. The snow was getting ready to come and the nights were clear and very cold. One night we had a nice campfire going when a man walked into our camp. He'd been roaming the mountain near our claims and as it got close to dark he had spotted our fire. Everything he owned he carried on his back. Simple prospecting tools and a 45 revolver. A bedroll, and a tent. 

   He said his name was Mountain Man Tim and he travelled the mountains year round. He had been to places where no man had ever been and found his share of gold. He was in his 50's now and been travelling since he was twenty. It was the only real life he'd ever known. The three of us sat out under the crystal cold sky and we swapped stories about freedom and gold. Tim didn't much like society and was a true loner at heart. We offered Tim our camp to sleep in that night but he said he needed to move on. Out in the cold dark of the Sierra Nevada. We never did see him again. If you're still out there Tim, this song is for you. 

 

 

[GhostMiner]

8 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

   NOT IN THE JOURNAL  :  Back in October of 2012 I met a guy that prospected the Sierra Nevada mountains. I was camped out on one of the claims with one of my partners. The snow was getting ready to come and the nights were clear and very cold. One night we had a nice campfire going when a man walked into our camp. He'd been roaming the mountain near our claims and as it got close to dark he had spotted our fire. Everything he owned he carried on his back. Simple prospecting tools and a 45 revolver. A bedroll, and a tent. 

   He said his name was Mountain Man Tim and he travelled the mountains year round. He had been to places where no man had ever been and found his share of gold. He was in his 50's now and been travelling since he was twenty. It was the only real life he'd ever known. The three of us sat out under the crystal cold sky and we swapped stories about freedom and gold. Tim didn't much like society and was a true loner at heart. We offered Tim our camp to sleep in that night but he said he needed to move on. Out in the cold dark of the Sierra Nevada. We never did see him again. If you're still out there Tim, this song is for you. 

 

 

I would also like to dedicate this song to GoldSeeker.