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

[GhostMiner]

4 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

I must admit you are correct. History also says you are correct. At the time of writing I may have been overly dramatic but if someone were to try to take our gold we sure would fight for it if pressed. 

My name could easily be changed to High Drama LOL. Has a nice ring to it.

[GhostMiner]

   June 28   2002     Part One

 

   Gold Fiends. That’s what I would call our visitors last night. After our supper we were sitting at camp enjoying some cold beer when three men came walking up the creek from the main road to the south. They were all armed with sidearms and cocky as you can be. They hollered over to us that they were entering our camp and for us not to do anything we might regret. Before I could respond Jacob had the Thompson pointed in their direction and he fired off a burst over their heads which sent them scrambling for cover.

   We were all still in camp and we pulled our guns and took cover as well. One of the men started to yell at us to stop shooting. He said they had a deal for us. Jacob hollered back “Here’s your deal” and fired the Thompson high but in their general direction. I told him to hold up on the shooting and I hollered over to the men and asked them why they were here. The answer was chilling.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

[GhostMiner]

7 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   June 28   2002     Part One

 

   Gold Fiends. That’s what I would call our visitors last night. After our supper we were sitting at camp enjoying some cold beer when three men came walking up the creek from the main road to the south. They were all armed with sidearms and cocky as you can be. They hollered over to us that they were entering our camp and for us not to do anything we might regret. Before I could respond Jacob had the Thompson pointed in their direction and he fired off a burst over their heads which sent them scrambling for cover.

   We were all still in camp and we pulled our guns and took cover as well. One of the men started to yell at us to stop shooting. He said they had a deal for us. Jacob hollered back “Here’s your deal” and fired the Thompson high but in their general direction. I told him to hold up on the shooting and I hollered over to the men and asked them why they were here. The answer was chilling.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

Good to see you back snakejim

[GhostMiner]

   June 28   2002     Part Two

 

   One of the thugs told us they were well covered by boulders and not to waste our ammo. I told them we were not shooting at them but just warning them to stay out of our camp and we would fight if need be. Then the guy said they’d been out here on our mine for weeks. They’d been watching us as well as messing with our equipment to show us they meant business. He went on to say that they knew we had found a good gold deposit and wanted to make a deal with us. They wanted to partner up and in turn things would be peaceful & productive. They would help us work and also help guard the mine against any other intruders. In return they wanted half the gold.

   When Jacob heard that he let out a long string of curse words and fired the Thompson in the direction of the thugs. He hollered over to them that was their half and it would be the only half they would get – lead! 

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

[GhostMiner]

   June 28   2002     Part Three

 

   These guys were not backing off. They were insisting on becoming mining partners and threatening us with vandalism if we refused. I told them to get off our mine. I said we are all heavily armed and as they could hear we had a machine gun. If they pushed us too far they would lose the fight. Eventually it got quiet and after waiting about half an hour with no reply from them we realized they had vanished into the night.

   I carefully went out to the rock outcropping they had been hiding behind and checked around. There was no sign of them. I went back into camp and we had a quick meeting. Jim said that maybe Jacob’s Thompson had scared them away for good. Jacob just shook his head and said not likely. He called them crazed gold thieves. He said they had the fever so bad there was no reasoning with them. He warned that people like that will do anything for gold and we were far from finished with them. Now we have a big problem out here with no easy solution. I kept wondering what I had gotten myself into. I do not like this situation one bit. I do know that our crew will stick together and fight if pushed.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[dig4gold]

Some people just can't take no as an answer. Seems a strange way of trying to force your way into a "partnership" with vandalism & threats when it has become quite obvious they aren't wanted or needed & are just a pain in the arse. On the other hand it could end up like it did back in Jacobs day. Who knows what fire power they have or how many of them there are.

Kind of strange the crew didn't know they were being watched for all that time.

D4G

[GhostMiner]

37 minutes ago, dig4gold said:

Some people just can't take no as an answer. Seems a strange way of trying to force your way into a "partnership" with vandalism & threats when it has become quite obvious they aren't wanted or needed & are just a pain in the arse. On the other hand it could end up like it did back in Jacobs day. Who knows what fire power they have or how many of them there are.

Kind of strange the crew didn't know they were being watched for all that time.

D4G

The trespassers usually have the advantage. They can sneak in & out without being detected at times. And yes, who in their right mind would want to be in a partnership with people like that?

[GhostMiner]

   June 28   2002     Part Four

 

   The rest of last night was quiet but the crew was restless and tired. We were being tested, Jacob told us. Trial by fire and only the toughest survive and take the gold home. We had all been through too much to ever turn back now. The hooligans would not win and if they pushed us they would not survive. That was the crew’s mind set as we set out to work the mine. 

   I could imagine the gold hiding in the gravel as we threw shovel full after shovel full into the grizzly on the tom. Jacob came over before lunch and showed us 13.7 ounces in the jar. Vern and Jim took turns on patrol all day long and there was no sign of anyone but our crew on the claim. Tired as we all were we managed to wash 38 yards of pay gravel.

   We finished up the cleanout of the tom and placed the concentrates in the capable hands of Jacob. I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for the lives of anyone attempting to steal gold from that man. Supper was ready just as the sun set and we watched the stars roll out against the darkening sky. The sky out here was as pure as pure can get. We could see every star in the universe and sometimes my thoughts would turn towards home and my wife patiently waiting for me to get back from this wild adventure. She didn’t know half of what was going on out on the mine. I wanted to come home in the fall with jars full of gold to show her and prove to everyone that someone like me and our crew could still get rich by gold mining. Nothing was going to stop us.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

[GhostMiner]

   June 29   2002     Part One 

 

   Surprisingly, we had a quiet night on the mine. I am hoping against hope that the intruders or gold fiends have been scared away for good. Time will tell. We got an early start to our day and were shoveling gravel as the sun came up. There is nothing more satisfying than the sun rising over our dig site and hearing the clanging of shovels against rock and gravel. These are some of the things I will miss when Fall comes and I am sitting at home thinking of this place.

   Along about noon Jacob came over to Vern and me. He told us to shut down for lunch and bring everyone to his trailer. Then he turned and walked away. I wasn’t sure what to think. He had no expression on his face when I saw him. We hurriedly shut everything down and the three of us headed over to Jacob’s trailer at camp.

   When we walked in there was a big towel covering something that was sitting on the kitchen table. Jacob was just sitting there with the Thompson at his side. I knew this was about the time the gold weigh was done and I asked him if there was much gold from the previous day's wash of 38 yards.

   Jacob looked us over and his look was somber. We didn’t know what to expect. He told us we had better sit down and hang on to our chairs. None of us spoke as we took our seats in his kitchen. I started getting real nervous and excited at the same time. I looked over at Vern and Jim and they looked like they couldn’t take a breath. Then he gave us a wink and removed the towel exposing a jar of gold.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[Mike Furness]

And you left us hanging here GhostMiner! 😔😟🙃