tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49633718619075867442024-03-12T16:40:33.223-07:00Kerby JacksonThe official blog of Western Author, Historian and Independent Miner, Kerby Jackson.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-77146453206120281982013-01-13T19:25:00.001-08:002013-01-13T19:39:02.360-08:00The Golden Trail: More Stories from Oregon's Mining Years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I am pleased to announce the release of my latest book on Oregon Mining History. "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Golden Trail</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">" is the follow-up to my earlier work "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Dust-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1467995320/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132931&sr=1-2" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Gold Dust</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As Amazon.com explains it: <em>"In his follow-up to "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank">Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years</a>", Oregon mining
historian and prospector, Kerby Jackson, brings you another treasure trove of
stories from Oregon's rich history of gold prospecting, about the prospectors
and their discoveries, as well as about the breathtaking areas where they made
their homes. This time around, Jackson brings us twelve tales from Oregon's Gold
Rush, including the story about the first gold strike on Canyon Creek in Grant
County, about the old timers who found gold by the pail full at the Victor Mine
near Galice, how Iradel Bray discovered a rich ledge of gold on the Coquille
River during the height of the Rogue River War, a tale of two elderly miners on
the hunt for a lost mine in the Cascade Mountains, details about the discovery
of the famous Armstrong Nugget and others."</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Get your copy of "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Golden Trail</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">" from Amazon.com </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">How about a sample first?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><strong>The
Lost Badger Mine</strong></span></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As
the popular story goes, in 1878, a German immigrant by the name of
Karl Meyer was prospecting on Miller Creek in the Lower Applegate
District near the Josephine-Jackson County line. Unlike many such
immigrant miners, Meyer was no greenhorn when it came to mining and
in fact, had a received a degree in mineralogy from the University of
Berlin before he had left Germany to come to Southern Oregon.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">One
morning, Meyer awoke at his camp on Miller Creek to discover that his
mule, whom he called Maud, had wandered off sometime during the
night. The mule was very fond of huckleberries and as they were just
starting to ripen, Meyer knew that he would Maud at the nearest
huckleberry patch.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Meyer
followed the tracks of his mule up Miller Creek for what he estimated
was about four and a half miles, then found that Maud's tracks left
the creek and struck in the direction of a huckleberry patch he had
seen earlier that month that he thought was located about three miles
away. Following the tracks, he crossed several small gulches and
creeks in the direction of the berry patch. Soon, it began to drizzle
and steadily developed into a typical Oregon downpour, wiping out his
mule's tracks.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Soon,
Meyer, who always found the hills and mountains of Southern Oregon
confusing, began to lose his bearings. Soaked to the bone, he desired
to find shelter and wandering into a narrow canyon, discovered a
small cave located underneath a rock overhang. The German climbed to
the cave and sat down on a rock at its mouth, enjoying the temporary
shelter that the overhang offered. His hope was to wait the storm out
and continue on.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A
few minutes later, a large badger came lumbering toward the cave,
also apparently in search of shelter. As the animal came quite close
to Meyer and startled him, he gave it a fierce kick. The animal
snarled at him and then vanished into the cave, disappearing so
quickly that it drew the miner's curiosity enough that Meyer decided
to explore the cave. Setting some dry tinder alight with a match,
Meyer set out deep into the recesses of the cave which soon ended
abruptly. There on the wall at the end of the cave, the firelight
revealed a bright glimmer.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Meyer
was stunned to see a 14 inch wide vein that was heavy with gold
running along the wall and promptly broke out enough ore to fill his
hat.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Crushing
and washing the ore out in the creek, the material proved rich. In
fact, it was so rich that the hat full of ore was nearly 90% gold and
gave up $4984 worth of gold. From that figure, Meyer determined that
the ore would assay at about $415,000 per ton, or about 23,714 ounces
per ton!</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As
Meyer was sure that he would have no problem finding the cave again,
he did not make a map or leave any marks to find his way back. In
fact, all he could really think about was to get back to his camp to
write out a location notice that would give ownership of his
discovery.</span></strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Once
Meyer returned to camp, he found the mule waiting for him, her sides
distended from gorging herself on huckleberries. As it was already
late in the day, Meyer felt that it was best to wait until morning to
return to his new claim. This proved to be a fatal mistake.</span></strong></em></div>
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<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Get your copy of "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Golden Trail</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">" from Amazon.com to read the rest of the story of the Lost Badger Mine </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Trail-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1478353724/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358132557&sr=1-3&keywords=kerby+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-55491373407581656212012-11-25T00:34:00.003-08:002012-11-25T01:06:45.368-08:00Gold Ridge - a Western Novel<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment, I'm currently working on another Western novel entitled "Gold Ridge".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This new novel follows the story of Jim Nelson, a saddle tramp, who comes back to the small Southern Oregon mining town of Gold Ridge to make amends with his younger brother whom he has not seen in five years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When Nelson returns to Gold Ridge, he finds that much has changed since he went away. Not only is the once bustling town now practically a ghost town, but while he was gone, his brother not only got married, but was later shot down in the street for meddling in the affairs of a local lawman who is terrorizing the local population.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Gold Ridge" should run about 40,000 words at completion. My hope is for it to be complete by December 1st, which will still give me time to finish another Western, as well as another mining book by the end of the year.</span><br />
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<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 25%;" title="26.02%">
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10408 / 40000 (26.02%)</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Progress thus far.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-52989366062169179572012-08-01T16:57:00.000-07:002012-08-01T16:57:04.283-07:00A Flash In The Pan: Gold In Winberry; Lane County, Oregon<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYCWDRKlCGaF8WcmFA4II7kndiZ37nchJNJvUiobfesvlFKLhI7TMink_gemHvULDVoL4kxKXdoOIEfAPzp3axzuW-MGdgYOdw9F_UwKn2NqyuiCNvc_BBfaU6p_Zf35qqfjv_nbUoTY/s1600/winberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYCWDRKlCGaF8WcmFA4II7kndiZ37nchJNJvUiobfesvlFKLhI7TMink_gemHvULDVoL4kxKXdoOIEfAPzp3axzuW-MGdgYOdw9F_UwKn2NqyuiCNvc_BBfaU6p_Zf35qqfjv_nbUoTY/s400/winberry.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> sample of what I am working on at the moment; a sort of side project before I finish my novel "Gold Ridge" and my forthcoming Oregon mining book "Boom & Bust"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Introduction</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number of years ago, and quite out of the blue, I received an e-mail from an elderly miner living near Eugene, Oregon. This gentleman, whom I had never heard from prior and who's name I never knew, informed me that he was retiring from mining and that for the last thirty odd years he had been putting in a great deal of study into the history of the Fall Creek Mining District. He remarked that he knew of me by reputation of name only and pointedly asked me if I would be interested in receiving his mining archives on Fall Creek as he desired to see that his efforts in collecting documents would not go to waste. I remarked that I had heard of Fall Creek, but admitted that I had never mined there myself, nor did I know much about the area. That said, I told him that I would be glad to help preserve his research and would be willing to insure that the information was available to others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks later I received a very thick, over-sized envelope in the mail. There was no sender name on the envelope, but upon opening the package, it quickly became clear that it had come from the unidentified elderly miner from Eugene. A quick skim of the material revealed that yes, the man was a very thorough researcher and had put forward much effort to put the mining history of Fall Creek together, as included among the material were numerous location notices that proved to be a record of the very earliest mining claims in that vicinity, not to mention newspaper clippings, photocopies of articles on the area's geology and related information, all neatly arranged by subject in several folders. Included among the material was a folder simply marked “Winberry”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An examination of that folder revealed information about what could best be described as “a neighboring mining area” to the Fall Creek and Blue River Mining Districts. Up until that time, I don't recall having ever heard of Winberry Creek, let alone anything gold mining related in that area. As with anyone else, that is not that unusual, for there are many little known mining areas on the West Coast and in fact, I had previously written a little about a few of them, such as Chena Creek near Mount Hood, as well as Gold Creek in Clatsop County.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A quick look in my own library actually turned up very little in the way of mere mention of the Winberry Mining District, let alone anything solid or very detailed. What was mentioned briefly was that there was some gold in the area and that during the 1930's the area had enjoyed a brief flurry of mining activity which mostly amounted to the mere promoting of some unproven prospects.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upon greater inspection of other material that became available to me through much great effort, while Winberry Creek never was the site of a great gold strike or of any mining of any real economical importance, it soon became clear that the story about the area deserved something more than just a footnote or a dishonorable mention in the annals of Oregon's gold mining history. Indeed, as has happened on so many other little creeks in Oregon, there was a bona-fide gold rush to Winberry Creek in the 1930's. Not only did it capture the imagination of outsiders who looked to Winberry Creek and pondered if there might be untold riches locked away in the hills above, but as so often happens, those who took part in the rush fought bitterly against the forces that were pitted against their golden dream. But unlike their predecessors in the 19th century, who fought against hostile Indians, the elements, Poison Oak, starvation and the general sense of despair and melancholy that often plagued the early mining camps, what the Winberry miners fought against the most were those who simply believed that they were wasting their time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is their story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A
Flash In The Pan</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gold
Mining on Winberry Creek</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lane
County, Oregon</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Coming to Amazon.com, Fall 2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Copyright
Kerby Jackson 2012</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>ALL
RIGHTS ARE RESERVED</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>ISBN-13:
978-1477535325</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>ISBN-10:
1477535322</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-74768221307734260622012-07-29T18:57:00.001-07:002012-07-29T19:04:44.528-07:00Bull of the Woods Mine, Gold Hill Mining District, Jackson County, Oregon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolfU8mpQly8Z2ITJBCcjvZrwlHRNfArVEQUzjvMgkTSFKGHpYnpLOQUXKcrJPyR9zXuQHlCua3gGvupyeY6AwYcsB5mrxTk-eAow58dFvDd_LhD3CD-pVtBltP8TeEWvzhjY1ZDxq4SQ/s1600/BulloftheWoods-workings.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1937 diagram of the workings at the Bull of the Woods" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolfU8mpQly8Z2ITJBCcjvZrwlHRNfArVEQUzjvMgkTSFKGHpYnpLOQUXKcrJPyR9zXuQHlCua3gGvupyeY6AwYcsB5mrxTk-eAow58dFvDd_LhD3CD-pVtBltP8TeEWvzhjY1ZDxq4SQ/s640/BulloftheWoods-workings.gif" title="" width="508" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Bull of the Woods</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Major Commodities:</b> Gold, Pyrite</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Trace Commodities:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Host Rock:</b> Quartz, Diorite</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Legal Description:</b> 36 South, 3 West, Section 15, NE 1/4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Elevation:</b> 1280 feet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bull of the Woods mine consists of 31 acres of patented land located above the east side of the Rogue River on the western slope of Gold Hill. Very little is known about the mine prior to the 1930's except for the fact that the property was originally patented as agricultural land in the 1880's by Francis Marion Fredenburgh who was a prominent businessman in the Gold Hill area until a few years prior to his death in 1903. There is no indication that Fredenburgh engaged in any mining on the property or any indication of when mining began on the property, although it is certainly in a desireable area due to its close proximity to the famous Gold Hill Pocket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1934, J.A. Clements leased and operated this property for two years, producing close to 145 ounces of gold. In 1936 and 1937, George Tulare operated the mine but production figures are unavailable, if any actually took place. In the Fall of 1938, Clements again secured the lease and began to drive a second shaft about fifty feet south east of the oldest workings. At the time, the property was owned by Mrs. Vella Hays of Gold Hill and Mrs. Rena Davis of Fort Klamath, California.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reporting in January of 1939, J,.E. Morrison informed the State Department of Geology that there was a good road into the mine and that the topography consisted of rolling hills. Next to no mining timber was available on the property and no water was available with the exception of about 130 gallons per hour which was produced by seepage in the mine itself. Equipment at the mine included a 7 X 8 Chicago pneumatic compressor that was powered by a 4 cylinder Liberty engine, a small air powered Denver Gardner steam hoist, one ore car, an air hammer and misc. small equipment. Sometime during February or March of 1939, Clements installed a two stamp mill.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Development inside of the mine iconsisted of a total of 266 feet of workings, which did not include a vertical shaft 100 feet deep with three levels at the 35, 50 and 95 foot marks. The 35 and 50 levels connected to the mine's oldest workings, while the 95 foot level consisted of one drift that ran North 55 degrees West for 35 feet and another than ran South 55 degrees East for 25 feet. About fifty to sicty feet south west of the main shaft, a 105 foot tunnel with eight drifts ran North 5 degrees East.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to reports, the dark country rock is: "<i>probably diorite. (The) vein appears to be aresilicified shear zone from two to six feet wide and is composed of quartz and wall rock which breaks free from the hanging wall. (It is) difficult to determine how much of the foot wall should be mined. The values pentrate the walls. A sample cut for for 25 feet along the hanging wall on (the) 95 foot level runs $1.05 (at $34 per ounce). Samples from (the) foot wall run trace to $2.45. The 95 foot level has not tapped the ore shute (sic) found in the upper levels. (The) vein is of good mineable width. Its lateral extent is not known. Ore mined from the upper levels plated $10 per ton (at $34 per ounce). (The) vein dips from 75 to 80 degrees to the south east and strikes North 55 degrees West. (The) ore minerals are pyrite and free gold, estimated 50% free milling.</i>"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing is known about this mine after 1939 and it is presumed to have been shut down in 1942 by Limitation Order L-208 and to have never been re-opened. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sources:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Oregon Metal Mines Handbook: Jackson County, 1943, pg. 57</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Unpublished State Department of Geology Mine Report, March 16th, 1939</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Obituary of "Francis Marion Fredenburgh", The Medford Mail, Eagle Point Eaglets, June 12th, 1903</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihxvz2qKoti12WVwkpqIs5ZEdU5IJNNhvfqyLlkqjH_RXOhTmF6b_3y4vUzxup8WxukozY4tGEpOMLL4hIO24R9JYXBxLr1Zjb7Y92-deOpKxmBtR3dtjIIbEad9JA4zh3jcvMH3wT2IU/s1600/GoldHillMiningDistrict-Cover-WITH-OUTLINE-Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihxvz2qKoti12WVwkpqIs5ZEdU5IJNNhvfqyLlkqjH_RXOhTmF6b_3y4vUzxup8WxukozY4tGEpOMLL4hIO24R9JYXBxLr1Zjb7Y92-deOpKxmBtR3dtjIIbEad9JA4zh3jcvMH3wT2IU/s320/GoldHillMiningDistrict-Cover-WITH-OUTLINE-Large.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">From the forthcoming "Gold Hill Mining District:<br />Mines & Mining in South West Oregon" by Kerby Jackson<br />Copyright 2010 by Kerby Jackson</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-63243871314900961652012-07-23T00:20:00.000-07:002012-07-23T00:20:07.166-07:00Chinese Miners Have Tough Time on Sailor Gulch<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sailor
Gulch, Josephine County, 1864</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
Chinese could be counted among the earliest of miners in South West
Oregon and promptly poured into the areas richest mining districts
within the first few years of their establishment. Sailor Diggings,
better known as the Waldo Mining District, which was Oregon's first
and now oldest organized mining district, was no different in this
regard. With their sing-song accent, odd customs and strange manner
of dress, the Chinese often took the brunt of the abuse which was
dished out by the toughs of the early rough and tumble mining camps.
In most of the early mining camps, not only did the Chinese enjoy
little in the way of rights, but quite often, they were also afforded
little to no protection by the existing law. This however, was not
necessarily the case in Sailor Diggings, where in 1864, the early
government of Josephine County investigated a major crime against a
company of Chinese miners and successfully prosecuted the white
perpetrators.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On
the evening of February 22<sup>nd</sup>, 1864 a company of Chinese
miners working in Sailor Gulch were relaxing for the night. The nine
men, (identified in the records as best as their names could be
pronounced) were named Gou, You, Ohu, Hung, Ran, I, Fook, Sit and Toh
and they had just completed a hard day's work and were preparing for
dinner. All the while, the rest of the small mining community were
attending a ball at the nearby town of Waldo. At around 6:30 PM, as
most of the other men lounged about the room smoking opium and
reading “China books”, Hung went outside to fetch a load of
firewood.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> While
their partner was outside, three men slipped through the front door,
drew their pistols and quietly took the eight Chinese miners captive.
When Hung came back into the house with an armload of firewood, one
of the men shoved the barrel of his revolver against his back and
ordered him to tie the queues (pigtails) of his friends together.
Once they were restrained, one of the men came forward and tied
Hung's hair into the knot of his compatriots pigtails.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Having
the situation completely under their control and knowing that the
rest of the community was too occupied with their festivities to
intervene, over the next two and a half hours, two of the men went
through every nook and cranny of the house in search of their
valuables, while the third man kept guard over their prisoners.
Whenever one of the captives fidgeted or attempted to speak, the
guard would promptly strike him over the head and threaten to shoot
them all down like dogs if they watched as his fellow outlaws scoured
the building for loot.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> All
in total, the three bandits stole the following items:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three
jackets belonging to I. One clasp knife, one bone handled knife, one
pair of boots, a sliver watch worth $15.00 and a revolver belonging
to Ohu. A carpet bag, one hat, awhite handled sheath knife and a
clasp knife belonging to Gou. A gold ring worth $8.00 and a pair of
boots with plates on their heels belonging to You. One hat belonging
to Fook. They also located nearly 15 ounces (then about $250 worth)
of gold that had been secreted away in various locations throughout
the house.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> To
illustrate the thoroughness of the crooks, the records indicate that
the gold had been split among three separate purses, one of which
contained $110 and belonged to the company and was hidden underneath
a pillow on the bed, another $84 worth belonged to I and was hidden
in a box, while the remaining $56 worth belonged to You and was
hidden in the blankets. Meanwhile, the pistol and the knives had also
been hidden inside of several beds, while the watch had been hanging
on a wall and the gold ring had been wrapped inside of a handkerchief
that was again, hidden inside of a bed.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After
being satisfied with their takings, the three men walked out the
door, climbed aboard their horses and raced off into the winter
night.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Once
the Chinamen finally managed to free themselves, they promptly
summoned the local authorities. The victims described their
assailants as three white men, one of them with a blond beard, one
with a dark beard and the third with nearly red hair and beard. The
red haired fellow was described as being about 5 feet, 10 inches
tall, while the dark haired outlaw was rather short and the remaining
man had a missing tooth.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Sheriff
Jeff Howell and one of his deputies, George M. Banks, followed the
footprints of the men and then promptly mounted up and trailed the
group of outlaws over the next several days into California where
they were holed up at Tenmile House in the mining camp of Yreka. The
three men surrendered without incident and were brought back to
Oregon where they were lodged in the Kerbyville Jail. Once held, the
men were promptly identified and were found to still be in possession
of the majority of their loot.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On
the second Monday of April, 1864, at a regular circuit court of
Josephine County, Judge P.P. Primm called together J. Kennedy, A,F.
Mitchell, Daniel Green, John L. Powell, James Turner, James Turnbull
and Henry Thomas as jurors. John Powell was appointed as foreman and
Dan Green was elected court clerk. Some of these names will be
recognized as notable early miners in Southern Oregon. John Powell is
of course, the man that Powell Creek was named for,
while Dan Green, along with his brother George, discovered the famous
Sugar Pine Mine near the mouth of Mill Creek in the Galice District.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With
very little fanfare, the three outlaws (who never would identify
themselves by name) were tried, convicted and sentenced to hard time
at Oregon State Prison in Oregon City.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-16435831831472751352012-06-14T00:44:00.002-07:002012-06-14T00:56:36.614-07:00Northwest Oregon’s Lost Mining Districts<br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even with all the historical data out there that is available to miners and prospectors, in the guise of mineral resource bulletins, books, old mining magazines, newspaper clippings and other references, there is still a lot that we don’t know about Oregon’s gold mining history and there are still quite a few places where gold was recovered in the past that most modern prospectors don’t know about.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chena Creek District:</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of those areas is the little known Chena Creek District which was active around the period of 1900. Located in Eastern Clackamas County, this old mining area is said to be the northern most area of the Cascades Mountain range to contain gold. During its height in the mid 1890’s, about a hundred claims were located in the area, mostly concentrated on Cheeney Creek (formerly called “Chena” Creek) and the Salmon River (reffered to in those days as a “creek”). By 1903, only about twenty of these claims were actually active, as the road situation into that area was quite bad and most of the effort seemed to be focused on improving roads.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only major mine in the area was that of Northern Light Mining and Milling Company based out out of Portland. Their mine was said to be located upon Huckleberry Mountain, near the mouth of the Salmon River where it enters the Sandy River (and is probably the source of what little gold can be found in that river). Development of the Northern Light, sometimes reffered to as the Cheeney Creek Prospect, consisted of an 87 foot shaft and 400 foot foot long tunnel. The equipment was powered by water. In addition to gold, the deposit also contained silver, copper and lead.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This old mining district is located due south of Mountain Air Park near the town of Welches on Highway 26. Most of the area is inside the Mount Hood National Forest and under the management of USFS and appears to have been completely withdrawn from mineral entry (ie. no claim filing). Due to the recent closure of nearly 2000 miles of roads and trails to vehicles inside the Mount Hood National Forest, I imagine that access could be an issue in this area.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rock Creek District:</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to be confused with the mining district of the same name in Baker County, this little known mining district was actually located in Eastern Clatsop County. As any experienced prospector can attest, this rugged coastal forest is hardly an ideal geological setting for gold country, but apparently, nobody ever told that to the early settlers in that area who decided to look for the illusive yellow metal anyway.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On May 25th, 1885, J.M. Weed filed a placer claim on Rock Creek called the “Gertrude”. Subsequent claims were located not only along Rock Creek in Clatsop County, but even extended all the way to the mouth of the Nehalam River, near the town of Vernonia in Columbia County. Weed Creek, a small tributary of the North Fork of Rock Creek, is named for J.M. Weed and was probably the location of his claim.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By July of 1889, so much gold mining was going on this area that the Rock Creek Mining District was formed. Bill H. Braden was elected not only the Secretary, but also the President of the district. Some of the claims filed in the district during the early years included the “Protector”, “Defender”, “Elkhorn”, “Bonanza”, “Mountain” “Last Chance” and the “Rolling”.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By 1894, the whole thing suddenly petered out. Nothing more was heard about the area and in fact, the reality that gold was ever discovered in that area was removed entirely to the old history books.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, most of Rock Creek is now located amongst private timber lands, while the majority is under management of the State of Oregon as the Tillamook State Forest and is therefore, not open to filing claims.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold Creek District:</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some miles west of the Rock Creek District is the old Gold Creek Mining District which is also located in Clatsop County.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was here along the Nehalem River in Cruiser’s Gulch, that in 1901, a man named Sebastian Glaser filed a number of lode claims about two miles from the small town of Elsie. The site of his discovery lies in 4 North, 8 West and right on the line between Sections 1 and 2.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No other records for this mining district exist.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the name “Gold Creek” came to be attached to the locality of Glaser’s discovery, it should be noted that the current name of this waterway is George Creek.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_108125305" style="color: #33aaff;"><img alt="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ85PO7Nq9uuHe5LaDfTuYde4DhRIbc7xH4wS1-K4Pg4qWN_J6yUL5PlR6Hre0n_11PqtXMrikmCDrEz8-SYO1EdYc8Rnid41X1G0ECM2GZd4QRzgwQDcdHBf0xnrqkRBcI9KsZteIbY/s1600/51xliAi+KqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" title="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Dust-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1467995320/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339143080&sr=8-4" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This article originally appeared in "Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years" by Kerby Jackson<br />Available from Amazon.com</span></a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-86331866621221087372012-06-12T17:28:00.001-07:002012-06-14T00:39:51.833-07:00Gold on Humbug Creek<br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humbug Creek is a little known area to gold prospectors in Oregon, but in its day, it was the center of a major gold rush in Jackson County.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, one can access this great old gold creek by following Oregon State Highway 238 (The Williams Highway) and following Humbug Creek Road which is located just due east of the community of Applegate, Oregon. (Take note that much of this area is now private property and care should be taken to respect the rights of the property owners along the creek).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most creeks in Jackson County, gold was discovered relatively early on in and around Humbug Creek. In fact, enough gold was found by early miners that during the late 1850’s, a small mining camp sprung up along its banks and by March of 1860, the Humbug Mining District was established, using the following camp laws (mostly adopted from those used over the state border in Yreka, California): </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Mining Laws Of Humbug Creek</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 1st</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Size of Claims</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each man shall hold a claim 100 yards square by preemption and as much by purchase as he represents.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 2nd</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Priority of Water Rights</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The oldest claim shall have the first right to the water but shall run no water by unnecessarily to keep others from using it.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 3rd</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Necessary Work to Hold Claim</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No claim shall be considered forfeited if worked one day in every five during the time there is a good ground sluice head in the creek.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 4th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Restriction on Dams, Etc.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No person or company shall put a dam, reservoir or any obstruction in the creek, provided it is a damage to those above said obstruction.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 5th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Flood-gate for Dams to Be Kept Open</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any person or company putting in a reservoir shall have a flood gate five feet in breadth and three feet hight [sic] which shall be kept open as long as there is a good sluice head in the creek for washing up.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 6th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Recorder; Fee; When Claim Must Be Recorded</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There shall be a recorder elected and he shall be allowed One dollar per claim for recording. Any person leaving the Creek to be gone two months shall have their claims recorded.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 7th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Judicial Power</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any person or persons violating any of these resolutions or by-laws shall abide the decision of a miners’ meeting.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 8th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Chinese Excluded</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No Chinaman shall be allowed to purchase or hold any claim on this Creek.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Article 9th</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Adoption of Resolutions</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Resolved, the foregoing articles shall come into effect as Laws of this Creek on or after and from the twentieth day of March A. D. 1860.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">J. F. Headrick, Chairman,<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />V. P. Comstock,<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Jas. W. Mee,<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />E. Thompson,</span></strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Committee on Resolutions<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Francis Sackett, Secretary<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />John Goff, Recorder.</strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This document was filed and recorded with the Jackson County Clerk in Jacksonville on March 24th, 1860.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several notable mines were located in this district, including:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wright Mine (Lat. 42.25537, Long. -123.1442) which was a medium sized underground prospect that was active until it was shut down in 1942 by Government Limitation Order 208. In addition to gold, the Wright also yielded silver, zinc and lead.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nonesuch (Lat. 42.25037, Long. -123.1394) , which was also a medium sized underground mine. In addition to gold, silver was also mined in the Nonesuch. Like the Wright, it was shut down in 1942.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Scott (Lat. 42.26117, -123.13), also a prospect of medium size, but unlike the above two, the Scott was a surface mine. Most of its activity was in the 1930’s.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Victor (Lat. 42.27097, -123.1517), which was a well known and very profitable operation dating from before 1940. Like the Scott, the Victor was a surface mine.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Broken Heart (Lat. 42.27007, Long. -123.1283), another medium sized underground producer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ace of Hearts (Lat. 42.27757, Long. -123.1203), which was a medium sized underground operation yielding gold and silver.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Oregon Belle (Lat. 42.28817, Long. -123.1006), which is a rather famous mine and a fine producer of lode gold. Located due east of Humbug Creek.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sundown (Lat. 42.28317, Long. -123.1047), yet another surface mine, located due south of the Oregon Belle. Also east of Humbug Creek.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Grange Gulch (Lat. 42.25227, Long. -123.1208), which yielded gold and silver until 1942.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally are the Humbug Creek Placers (Lat. 42.26707, Long. -123.1389) which between the 1860’s and the 1940’s had many names, including the Benson Placer, the Johnston Placer, Exter, Pittock and the Kubli Ranch. This last name is attributed to Kaspar Kubli, a very early pioneer in the Applegate Valley. This last operation ran a drag line dredge up Humbug Creek.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_108125305" style="color: #33aaff;"><img alt="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ85PO7Nq9uuHe5LaDfTuYde4DhRIbc7xH4wS1-K4Pg4qWN_J6yUL5PlR6Hre0n_11PqtXMrikmCDrEz8-SYO1EdYc8Rnid41X1G0ECM2GZd4QRzgwQDcdHBf0xnrqkRBcI9KsZteIbY/s1600/51xliAi+KqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" title="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Dust-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1467995320/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339143080&sr=8-4" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This article originally appeared in "Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years" by Kerby Jackson<br />Available from Amazon.com</span></a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-33510630881539500912012-06-11T01:34:00.002-07:002012-06-11T01:37:17.366-07:00A Rich Strike at Rich Gulch<br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following the first discovery of gold in Oregon on Josephine Creek, in late December of 1851 or early January of 1852, packers John R. Poole and James Cluggage who owned a company called Jackass Freight, were packing supplies from the Willamette Valley to Sacramento, California. The two men decided to camp near the present site of Jacksonville, Oregon. Needing water for their animals, the two men headed up the gulch (a tributary of Daisy Creek) and choosing a likely looking place, began digging a hole in the hope that it would fill with enough water to give their mules a drink. Having moved a little bit of material, they spotted pieces of color in the hole that were large enough to be visible to the eye. The two men had accidentally stumbled into one of the largest gold strikes in Oregon history.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Cluggage and Poole" class="size-full wp-image-316 " height="187" src="http://www.oregongold.net/wp-content/uploads/cluggage-poole.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" width="339" /></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Cluggage and Poole </b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They called their find Rich Gulch and soon extended their search to nearby Jackson Creek, where they found extensive amounts of course placer gold throughout its gravels. With great foresight, the two men filed on the land adjoining their find, laid out a town site and both became wealthy, influential men in the brand new community of Table Rock City, Oregon Territory. Today, we know the town that they founded by its current name: Jacksonville.</span></div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_323" style="background-color: white; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 310px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Rich Gulch" class="size-medium wp-image-323 " height="225" src="http://www.oregongold.net/wp-content/uploads/102_2623-300x225.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></span><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="padding: 5px 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Rich Gulch, January 2010</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Miners flocked into the area and Jacksonville promptly grew into the largest community north of San Francisco, its size soon exceeding that of Oregon’s Territorial Capital of Salem. Jacksonville was named the county seat of Jackson County. Major gold strikes were made throughout the area surrounding Jacksonville, most notably on Jackson and Daisy Creeks and thousands of ounces of gold, in both nugget and dust form flowed into town, bringing instant wealth to both miners and merchants alike. One resident who became very wealthy indeed was local banker C.C. Beekman, who’s Beekman Bank held the distinction of being the only bank in United States that charged its clients for the privilege of banking and did not pay interest on accounts. It is said, that during their time, Beekman’s scales weighed over ten million dollars worth of gold.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At today’s gold prices, this would be nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars worth of gold!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; padding: 5px 10px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="102_26211" class="size-medium wp-image-327 " height="225" src="http://www.oregongold.net/wp-content/uploads/102_26211-300x225.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></span></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="padding: 5px 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Plaque at Rich Gulch</b></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_108125305" style="color: #33aaff;"><img alt="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ85PO7Nq9uuHe5LaDfTuYde4DhRIbc7xH4wS1-K4Pg4qWN_J6yUL5PlR6Hre0n_11PqtXMrikmCDrEz8-SYO1EdYc8Rnid41X1G0ECM2GZd4QRzgwQDcdHBf0xnrqkRBcI9KsZteIbY/s1600/51xliAi+KqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" title="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Dust-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1467995320/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339143080&sr=8-4" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This article originally appeared in "Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years" by Kerby Jackson<br />Available from Amazon.com</span></a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-72782324010780991192012-06-08T14:17:00.000-07:002012-06-08T14:36:24.769-07:00Sneak Peek ... Boom & Bust: Gold Mining in the Granite Hill Mining District, Josephine County, Oregon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8Wq-d8Dcr5ZC7PrlX70cLME4g-BSHqjcVY-qgYBF1S5qBWY-on8NKlUOk8iR1E-gB9G-qbtNEDcYAo0mEkjMe5arEPOkCDpuW5A4GfwjtbPJnvralyGwggfFSqWOUUOsgWP_U_DQ8zM/s1600/Boom&Bust-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8Wq-d8Dcr5ZC7PrlX70cLME4g-BSHqjcVY-qgYBF1S5qBWY-on8NKlUOk8iR1E-gB9G-qbtNEDcYAo0mEkjMe5arEPOkCDpuW5A4GfwjtbPJnvralyGwggfFSqWOUUOsgWP_U_DQ8zM/s320/Boom&Bust-Cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A sneak peek into one of the projects that I'm currently working on. Hopefully available by Fall of 2012:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Boom
and Bust</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gold
Mining in the Granite Hill Mining District</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josephine
County, Oregon</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kerby
Jackson</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
Granite Hill Mining District, also known to history as Boardman's
Diggings and the Louse Creek District, is the smallest mining
district in South Western Oregon. Located in Josephine County, the
district starts in the west at the confluence of Louse Creek and
Morris Creek and then extends to the headwaters of the North and
South Forks of Louse Creek. All total, Granite Hill takes in a total
of only about 10 square miles, roughly equating to some 3200 acres of
ground lying somewhat to the north east of the City of Grants Pass,
Oregon. It is bounded to the north by the Jump Off Joe Creek District
(once known as Wines Camp, named for the notorious murdering miner,
Henry Wines), to the east by the Evans Creek District in Jackson
County and the south and the west, by the Grants Pass District.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Yet
despite its small size, Granite Hill represents one of the richest
mining districts anywhere on the West Coast. By today's prices,
millions of dollars worth of gold, both lode and placer, were taken
out of this small area during the course of only a few years time,
mainly by the American Gold Fields Company of Chicago, Illinois, who
in May of 1902 took over ownership of a group of lode claims owned by
the Booth Brothers.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Over
the next few years, the Granite Hill Mine, which included the
patented Granite Hill, Red Jacket, Jumbo and High Tariff claims, as
well as unpatented claims such as the Ida and the Terry, became the
site of a flurry of development.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In
December of 1903, the richest gold strike that Southern Oregon had
ever seen was made at the Granite Hill Mine, with the discovery of an
ore body that was so rich that news of the discovery was reported
from coast to coast, including the gold fields of the Yukon, and the
financial centers of Boston and New York. In fact, the strike was so
rich that for the first time in the history of Southern Oregon's
mining industry, a mine was actually placed under high security and
armed guards were employed.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Following
the strike at the Granite Hill, extensive capital and manpower came
flowing into the district. The Granite Hill Group became more than
just a mine and soon evolved into a community of nearly 200 people,
populated by mine workers and their families, as well as those who
serve the needs of miners.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A
positive side effect of the rich strike was a renewed interest in
Southern Oregon's mines that resulted in an influx of people and
capital into the area. Long neglected mines were re-opened, while new
ore processing mills sprung up throughout the Rogue River Valley.
Sudden prosperity came to the sleepy town of Grants Pass, Oregon
which suddenly experienced a boom as a result which led to a
population increase of nearly 20% in a few short years. Granite Hill
forever put the town “on the map”.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Among
those who came to join in on the strike was a beautiful young woman
who gave up a promising career as an actress with the popular Anna
Held Company and traded her life on the stage to run the hydraulic
giant at the isolated Forest Queen Mine where she was a full partner
with her father and brother.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Yet
the sudden prosperity at Granite Hill was short lived. Inside of only
a few short years, two shocking, well publicized murders wracked the
small mining community, while the lower levels of the Granite Hill
Mine itself were filled with groundwater that seeped into the mine
faster than it could be pumped out.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Meanwhile,
two shocking murders and their subsequent merry-go-round trials once
again brought national attention on the Granite Hill Mine, reminding
the entire nation that the gold rich hills of Southern Oregon were
still a wild and woolly place, especially since the accused, in both
cases, were so young.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">By
the 1920's the Granite Hill District had fallen into decline as a
mining center until the pieces were finally picked up again by
Charles and Ida Archerd when they re-opened the Ida Mine. Despite
their best efforts, the couple found that the running of a gold mine
was not such an easy undertaking, especially when they were forced to
deal with the United States Government.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Copyright
Kerby Jackson 2012</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>ALL
RIGHTS ARE RESERVED</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>ISBN-13:
978-1477480106 </b></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>ISBN-10:
1477480102 </b></span>
</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-27363254080475257102012-06-08T01:53:00.003-07:002012-06-08T14:36:56.106-07:00The Troubled Land ... an excerpt<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chapter
1</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ken
Payne saw the buzzards wheeling overhead and had heard the low hum of
the busy flies before he saw the men.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There
were six of them dressed in typical rider's garb still slightly
dusted with alkali dirt and they were hanging from the lowest
branches of a gnarled oak tree that stood alone at the bottom of a
dusty wash. Though it was difficult to judge how long they had been
there, the flies had already begun to gather in large numbers to lay
their maggot laden eggs in their wide open dead eyes and a slightly
ripe stench had already begun to fill the air.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
stood slightly in his stirrups to survey his surroundings and then
slowly stepped down from his saddle with the ease of an experienced
rider. Once on the ground, he withdrew a small bag of makings from
his shirt pocket and promptly rolled and lit a cigarette, his half
lidded eyes never leaving the men as he did so. He took a drag from
the cigarette and then after exhaling a puff of sweet smoke, stepped
toward the corpses for a closer look.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
men hung from the lowest branches in three groups of two per bough.
The blue tinged tongue of the one nearest to him hung swollen from
the gash of his mouth, the men having succumbed to death from slow
strangulation. One of them had even slipped his hand in between the
rope and his neck in a futile effort to try to stop the inevitable.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
had seen lots of death in his time and he had even dealt in more than
his fair share of it before packing his gun belt away into his
saddlebags, but the sight of this sort of a slow </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.18in;">hanging
still put a twisting knot in his guts just as it always had since he
had seen his first hanging as a small boy.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Wonder
what you boys did to deserve a fate like this?" he asked aloud
as if the six men might still be capable of answering him.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
surveyed his surroundings again with a pair of sideways glances, but
there was nothing else around him but the six men in the tree.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Well,
I reckon I'll cut you boys down and give you a burial," he told
them. "It's the only thing I can do for you."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
turned on the heel of his scuffed boot to go back to his horse, when
a sick sounding, low guttural sound came from behind him. He
immediately froze is in his tracks and held his breath. His first
instinct was to reach for the .45 that should have been on his right
hip in a well worn holster, but he had hung up his gun a year ago and
it was not there to grab. He wondered how fast he could make it to
the Winchester in the scabbard on his saddle, but he knew it would be
a futile attempt.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
sound came again, followed by the distinct, low creak from one of the
taut ropes hanging from the tree.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Slowly
Payne turned around and faced the six corpses again. They were all
still save the one with his fingers intertwined between his neck and
the noose, whose body gently revolved in a slow circle. That was when
he saw the tips of the man's free fingers articulate weakly. The
man's eyes quickly flashed open and he emitted a weak gurgle of
mostly garbled words.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Cut...
Please .... cut me down."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
could not believe that the man was still alive, but in a flash, he
had drawn a knife from the inside of his boot and was at the man's
side to help him. With one hand he had a hold of his legs and lifted
him up to slacken the rope, while with the other he severed the stiff
rope that was around his neck. Immediately the weakened man collapsed
in a limp pile upon him, his dead weight bringing both of them to the
dusty ground below. The man let out a low moan, but it was at least
proof that he was still alive.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once
he collected himself and was certain that the man was breathing
easily, Payne stood up, walked to his horse and returned to the man
with his canteen. Once at his side again, he knelt down and removed
the plug from the canteen. He poured a bit of water into the palm of
his hand, lifted the man's head and let the water trickle onto the
man's lips until finally the man showed an inclination to drink. He
then did so greedily until Payne withdrew the mouth of the canteen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Easy
there, friend," he told him. "Not too much. You need to
drink it slow."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For
a long while, Payne knelt there beside him until the man had drifted
off into sleep.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While
the man slept, Payne built up a small fire, set a pot of coffee and
then undertook the grisly job of cutting the other men down.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One
by one, he took them down and then drug them a short distance away
from the tree and over the small hilltop where he had dug a wide, but
shallow grave for them. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before
planting each one of them into the thin, dry soil, he dug through
their pockets. Between them all they had little in the way of
personal effects, only the sort of things that ranch hands might
carry: some coins, a deck of cards between them, a Bannock arrowhead
that one of them must have picked up somewhere, a gold pocket </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.18in;">watch,
a few bags of tobacco with papers, a few cartridges and a crumpled up
letter that had probably been read and refolded too many times for
its own good. He tossed the playing cards and the tobacco into the
grave; no sense in one of the men's grieving wives or mothers knowing
about their sinful vices if he could help it. The rest he wrapped up
into a handkerchief that one of the men had worn and he placed it
into one of his saddle bags. Then one by one he placed them in the
grave as gently as he could and pushed the dusty soil over them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When
he was through, he stood back and looked at his completed work. It
was a damn sorry excuse for a grave, Payne thought, and he was sure
that the next coyote or wolf that came by would dig it up because it
was so shallow, but it was the best that he could do with the tin cup
that he had used to carve it out. Payne felt like he should say a few
words over them, but he did not even know the names of the men he had
just buried and he was not a religious man, so the sort of words that
he felt should be said just would not come from his lips.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"This
is all I can do for you boys," he told them. "I reckon I'll
be lucky if someone does the same for me when my time comes. Well,
maybe I'll be seein' you. Adios."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
tipped his hat to them and walked back to the fire.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The
sleeping man instantly stirred as Payne came near and sat up as if in
a daze. He gave a hoarse uncontrolled series of coughs, seemed to
gather his composure and finally looked up at Payne.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"You
the man who cut me down?" he asked in a gravelly voice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
nodded.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Well,
you saved my life then, Mister. I'm much obliged."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I
just hope I didn't cut you down so that they can hang you again,"
Payne told him. He figured him for a rustler, but Payne could not
very well have left him hanging there.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He
knelt down on his haunches and poured two cups of coffee. He handed
one to the other man who immediately breathed in its hot vapors. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Never
thought I'd smell coffee again," he told him with a smile. "It's
one of about a hundred </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">things I thought about while I was hanging
there."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He
seemed to drift off as if in a dreamy state for a moment and for the
first time, Payne noted how young he was. He could not have been more
than 16 or 17 years old.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"What
about the others?" he suddenly asked.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I
buried them up the hill here," Payne told him. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
boy's complexion suddenly grew pale.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"All
of them?"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Five
men," Payne told him.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
boy nodded and took a drink of his coffee.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"It's
hard to believe," he said suddenly. "It all happened so
fast. One minute things was like they always were. We were ridin'.
And then, well, it's just too real. There were riders all over us."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"What's
it all about?"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
figured that the kid and his friends had probably been caught up in
rustling cattle. Ranchers had been forming stock associations all
over Oregon and their vigilantes had been riding down rustlers and
horse thieves by the dozens throughout the region. They had been so
fierce that even the McCartys had been keeping a low profile while it
blew over.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I
really don't know," the boy started to tell him. "I ride
for the Running V ..."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Never
heard of it," Payne interrupted.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We're
just a little outfit, but the boss, Mr. Voorhies, he ain't so
interested in bein' a great big outfit like the P Ranch or anyone
like that. We only got about twelve hundred head, but they're all
good ones of the boss' own breeding. He says he wants quality over
quantity and I reckon he knows what he's doing. But, we've been
havin' lots of trouble the last few months. And we ain't the only
ones. A couple of other outfits have been havin' problems too."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"What
sort of trouble?"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"People
keep seein' a group of riders comin' into their range some nights.
They don't barely make a sound because they have the hooves of their
horses muffled and all the men wear masks. They've been rimrockin'
groups of cattle belonging to every outfit, shootin' riders who make
the mistake of workin' alone and we reckon they've killed a couple of
men who've disappeared over the last month."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"And
that's who strung you up?"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Yep.
The boys and I were riding on our east range looking for about fifty
head of missing yearlings. We found them all busted up in a canyon
and they'd been rim rocked by someone and were too far gone to
salvage anything. So we headed home to tell the boss, and well, the
next thing we know, we saw those riders a comin' at us. There were
fifteen or twenty of them all with hoods over their heads and before
we knew it, they were swarmin' all over us like like a bunch of angry
bees. We took cover in the rocks and we got at least one or two of
them with our Winchesters, but there were just too many of them to
fend off for long and they knew it too.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We
had our backs against an outcrop of rock, so the only way out of
there was to go through them or to come out feet first. After about
an hour they told us to surrender and since we ain't gettin' paid
fighting wages, we decided to do it. It might have been a cowardly
thing, but we didn't have much else in the way of choices and for
that matter, we still didn't know what they wanted. We should have
stayed back and fought it out with them, because you know what
happened next. They marched us all off to the tree and strung us up
one by one."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
sat there sipping his coffee in silence and trying to contemplate the
story the boy had just told him. He had never heard a story like it
before and he didn't think the boy would have made it up. Riders in
hoods riding muffled horses, rim rocking cattle and viscously killing
range riders. Having once hired his gun hand out to anyone willing to
pay a good wage, Payne had dealt with more than his fair share of
cattle rustlers. As viscous and uncaring as some of them could be, he
had never run across any that would destroy fine stock once they
obtained it, let alone any that would intentionally seek out and kill
riders.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Where's
this Running V at?" he finally asked.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"About
half a day to the south west. Maybe further. I don't rightly know how
far they brought us before they hung us and I don't know this side of
the country so well. We're well off our own range."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Well,
I reckon I'll take you back to your ranch when you feel up to it,"
Payne told him. "We can ride double, I suppose."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I'm
much obliged to you Mister," the boy told him. "My name is
Billy Howard and I reckon I </span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.18in;">owe
you my life. I'd like to know the name of the man who saved me."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"My
name is Smith and it's nothin'," Payne lied. "Any man would
have done the same. I just happened by."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Nah,
it ain't so. Most fellas wouldn't have seen it as bein' any of their
business to stop to bury a group of men hangin'. Anyone else would
have just rode on after havin' a look. But you cut me down and I'm
much obliged for it, Smith. I'd like to call you my friend. I thought
I was goin' to die up there on that tree. I dunno if you've ever
looked death in the face like that, but I'll tell you what, I did
lots of thinkin' while I was up there hangin' from that branch..."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Billy's
voice trailed off and he looked down into the camp fire in deep
thought.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"You
ever felt that, before?"</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Payne
thought back on the many times that he had faced death looking over
the barrel of his .45. He had killed a few dozen men in his day,
looking them in the eye as each one had screamed out in agony when
his own lead had hit them and shattered their bones and had ruptured
their hearts. Not all of them had deserved death, but he had dealt it
to them anyway, cutting them down in the prime of their lives like a
newly sharpened scythe takes the head off of a stalk of ripe wheat.
And each time he had stood over them with the smoking gun in his
hand, he was always reminded that had they been a little faster or
had a little more sand than him, that it may have been him lying on
the ground instead of them. Every night those men would come back to
him to invade his dreams with their pale white, agonized faces, their
putrid flesh starting to hang off their bones. Though he had hung up
his gun, the men still came to him each night in his sleep, bent over
and whispering death into his ear with their rotten breath and
reminding him that he would eventually join them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Billy
looked up from the camp fire in time to see the hollow look of
torment in Payne's eyes and pushed the discussion no further.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally
Payne looked up at him as if he was going to answer the question.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Let's
ride," Billy told him.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.18in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Without
another word between them, they kicked out the fire and saddled up
double and headed off to the south west.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuwv_DhV0y5qqahgDPzhSzTiMNHKlLoQuMn5PeqO04OTUk_QFafjIfbC-2dXpyg9o8mfKazwzeIrkG0KB7UIbDWVfjIe0_sgsEA0PKccf14vEK5-JtYuyA-CYsq6HtPRFsZFtSVF0yTY/s1600/troubled-land.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Troubled Land by Kerby Jackson</span><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1463787243/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d1_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=14J4W2CHR0RNG9VZPCR2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Available at Amazon.com</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4963371861907586744.post-24066965419203748952012-06-08T01:26:00.001-07:002012-06-08T14:19:55.611-07:00Great Gobs of Gold Abound in Southern Oregon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The largest gold nugget ever found in Oregon was discovered on the East Fork of Althouse Creek in the Illinois Valley in 1859. Its discover, a small Irish miner by the name of Mattie Collins found the whopper in the face of the stream bank under a large stump located about twelve feet about the normal waterline. Dubbed the “Collins Nugget”, it weighed in at a whopping seventeen pounds!</div>
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After Mattie Collins found the nugget, he lived in constant fear of being killed and robbed until he hired a fellow countryman of his by the name of Dorsey to help him transport the nugget out of the Althouse. With the nugget hidden in a sack on Dorsey’s back and Collins taking up the rear armed with a double barreled shotgun, the two men trekked down the old Althouse Trail (which still exists in places to this day, and upon which this writer has walked) and spirited the hunk of yellow metal out of the district under the cover of night. Every twenty or so feet, the two men would stop and peer into the darkness, mistaking every other stump or some other object for a highwayman, until finally, certain that it was a trick of the eye, Collins would tell Dorsey to go forward. Local legend has it that after selling the big yellow marvel to the smelter at Jacksonville for $3500, that awash in wealth, Mattie Collins celebrated his discovery until he drank himself to death.</div>
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Today, the Collins Nugget would be valued at about $375,000, though a gold nugget of this size and notoriety would certainly carry a hearty premium.</div>
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Other notable large nuggets found in Southern Oregon include:</div>
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The Vaun Nugget which was discovered on Slug Bar, near Browntown, also on Althouse Creek. Weight: Approximately 40 ounces.</div>
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The Oscar Creek Nugget, discovered in 1892 by Boardman Darneille. It weighed over 18 ounces. Three additional large nuggets were discovered on Oscar Creek around the same time, weighing respectively 12 ounces, 6.25 ounces and 5.75 ounces.</div>
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The Klippel Nugget, found in 1904 on McDowell Gulch, weighing approximately 25 ounces.</div>
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The Burns Nugget, discovered on Brimstone Gulch at the Stovepipe mine near the site of Leland in 1934, weighed 34.47 ounces.</div>
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Also in 1934, Ed Prefontaine discovered a piece of quartz float on Foots Creek that contained 13.63 ounces of gold.</div>
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Several large nuggets, one weighing almost 15 pounds were also taken from Sucker Creek which is due east of Althouse.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Numerous discoveries of rich gold “pockets” which Southern Oregon is famous for have dotted the mining maps of this area, not limited to the fabulous Gold Hill Pocket discovered in 1860 by Thomas Chavner and partners which some say contained over 250,000 ounces of gold, the famous Revenue Pocket (2500 ounces) discovered on Kane Creek by Enos Rhoten, the SteamBoat Pocket in the Upper Applegate drainage and the famous Briggs Strike of 1904, as well as a rich discovery by Orval Robertson and Ted McQueen at the Bunker Hill Mine on Silver Creek exceeding some 5000 ounces in 1926. One piece of nearly solid gold ore from the Bunker Hill was so heavy that when it fell from the side of the tunnel, it broke the leg of a miner named Bill Mitchell who was operating a drill. The piece of ore was only a foot long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches thick, but it contained nearly 20 pounds of free milling gold. There was so much gold in this vein of ore that Mitchell called it the “Ham and Eggs Vein”, because of the amount of ham and egg breakfasts he had been able to buy with his share of the gold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">As recently as a half decade ago, a couple of pound sized nuggets were taken from a small tributary of the Applegate River, proof that the “big ones” are still out there if you are willing to work hard to find them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi692ytQ_m0yZufNx7Viqs9XrifM4penisuvD2ZllabchbYPQ7mIf7V3q1Ns3sq-w4mxRl7jQUMZUsnB_A6lsn_zeE10QKKxHEVBZ4zZUjIu1Z4Q-PzmS4jFEWPxu3xodobLhRbDCST4oM/s1600/Biscuits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi692ytQ_m0yZufNx7Viqs9XrifM4penisuvD2ZllabchbYPQ7mIf7V3q1Ns3sq-w4mxRl7jQUMZUsnB_A6lsn_zeE10QKKxHEVBZ4zZUjIu1Z4Q-PzmS4jFEWPxu3xodobLhRbDCST4oM/s400/Biscuits.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The crew at the famous Bunker Hill Mine on Silver Creek show off a two week clean up. The man at far right is pioneer Galice area miner, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">John Robertson. Photo courtesy of Sharon Crawford, who is the grand </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">daughter of Orval Robertson, who discovered the Bunker Hill with his </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">partner Ted McQueen in 1926.</span></span></em>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_108125305"><img alt="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ85PO7Nq9uuHe5LaDfTuYde4DhRIbc7xH4wS1-K4Pg4qWN_J6yUL5PlR6Hre0n_11PqtXMrikmCDrEz8-SYO1EdYc8Rnid41X1G0ECM2GZd4QRzgwQDcdHBf0xnrqkRBcI9KsZteIbY/s1600/51xliAi+KqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" title="Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years by Kerby Jackson" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Dust-Stories-Oregons-Mining/dp/1467995320/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339143080&sr=8-4" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This article originally appeared in "Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years" by Kerby Jackson<br />Available from Amazon.com</span></a></i></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127550813041219446noreply@blogger.com0