Author: Dory, Ed, Don, and Ron Guenther
Written: September, 2014
The Blue Bucket Mine, Oregon, 1845
Richard Wiley was 20 years old when he came west in 1945. He traveled the Oregon Trail, but in 1845 the train separated into two groups near Vale, Oregon. One group, about 2000 people including women and children, followed a man by the name of Stephen Meek. Meek claimed to know a short cut across the Eastern Oregon desert. Richard was traveling with Isaac Butler and his family. They chose to go with Meek, as they had heard of Indian trouble on the known trail, the normal trail.
Grampa Richard was There
The ‘short cut’ proved disastrous, but there is one little detail to Meek’s Cutoff that brings us to the gold story. The wagon train was lost, Meek was lost, not having a clue where they were or where they were going. People were dying and suffering. Thirst was unbearable at times and it is a wonder that any of them survived. In the end it is estimated that over 50 people died, many others famished and malnourished at the end.
Someone carved on a branch
In this lost condition, somewhere between Vale and The Dalles, one version says a young girl went for water with a blue bucket. She found some shiny rocks and brought several back to camp. When asked if there was more she said there was enough to fill the bucket! Now these folks were farmers and could not identify real gold. One of the men, a supposed old timer but apparently a fraud, thought maybe it was copper. A Mrs. Fisher kept one of the nuggets and left the rest behind. Later the nugget was identified as gold.
Sarah “Sally” King Chambers, 1845 grave on Meek’s Cutoff
There is a couple of other versions but all end the same way. They had stumbled onto a gold mine! Afterwards no one could truly say where it was and could not give significant land marks. It could only be said that it was in a canyon pocked with holes, lava land.
Map of Meek’s Cutoff
Richard Wiley was on that train. We have no record of Grampa trying to locate that mine later. It seems he tried everything else to make a living, why in the world did he not go back for the gold? Or maybe he did. Or maybe the memory of Meek’s Cut-off was too painful. As far as we know none of his descendants have any kind of map or record left by Grampa about that Blue Bucket Mine. Nonetheless, the gold is still there, and if you could trace Grampa’s steps through the barren Eastern Oregon Desert as Meek had led them, you surely would stumble across one the great strikes of our time. It is there all right. Grampa would have seen it.
Authenticity of the Mine
Blue Bucket
In 2010 they made a movie loosely based on the historical Meek’s Cutoff event of 1845. There is no mention of Grampa in the film whatsoever, so you needn’t bother seeing it. Aunt Dory claims that the mine is located between Wagontire Mountain and the South Fork of the Crooked River.
Aunt Dory may look innocent but…
Apparently she is looking for it, but we should all agree that if any of us find Grampa’s mine we should share. Don’t let gold fever get ahold of you.
Aunt Dory Flies over Blue Bucket Area, Searching
For an inside look into the Blue Bucket Mine check out two old geezers’ stories, numbers 2 and 3, at this site: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/08/20/Our_lost_blue_bucket_mine_in_Oregon/
Creditshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meek_CutoffBlue bucket pic: https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+bucket,+pic&espv=2&biw=1024&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=4sQHVLTMDMfxiwLqw4HoBg&ved=0CB0QsAQ
James Ingram(1821-1886), 3rd Great Grand Uncle, 49er
According to Washington County history records, in 1849 a company of men left Washington County, Arkansas, in search of their fortune. They headed out to the California gold strike of 1849. Probably they traveled first The Cherokee Trail, then in Oklahoma continuing on The Oregon Trail, and finally taking the California route in Idaho. Among them was our 3rd Great Grand Uncle James Ingram.
Uncle James
There is no record of James making a strike, unfortunately, so look elsewhere for the family fortune. By 1852 James is back in Arkansas, having married Nancy Graham Bloyed. James was staying put in West Fork, Arkansas, even though some of his relatives headed of to Oregon for the gold of the Willamette Valley soil.
Quartsville, Oregon, Gold Strike, 1863-1990The initial strike was about 1850, but the miners didn’t come rolling in unil 1863, with a second surge of miners around the turn of the century. It was a rough 30 mile trek in over mountainous terrain in the early days if you came in from the west. From the north a trail was blazed from Detroit that allowed wagons in. There was some gold all right but the strike petered out both times. Today there are still little claims in this area that has become known as Yellowbottom. Small mines are still being worked.
There are designated areas at Yellowbottom that anyone can work a pan or small dredge. It was here that Ed Guenther(1953- ) decided to give his 4 children an inside look at the get rich scheme of gold panning. The one big find, a nugget, well no, a big flake really, was panned out by a cousin Ericka Aranda. Erika took home the gold but it is suspected that she lost it!
Ed’s daughter Crystal, when asked about her gold panning days says, “You mean like the time Mom was panning for gold and got mauled by that big ugly dog? Or when you flicked your gold nugget (i.e. speck of dust) out of the pan? Or how someone almost lost your poke?” Well, whatever.
Ed’s son Jereme says, “You tried panning for gold up and down that little river, sometimes you claimed to find gold, but the particles always required a magnifying glass to see them so I never really saw the point in it; I wanted to find real gold, not some imaginary flakes.” Another Puddleglum.
A guy tries to give his kids an edge up in life, but sometimes…
Still, if you go to Uncle Ed’s house he will show you his small jar of gold flakes, collected for years from various locations. Don’t tell anybody about it and certainly don’t tell anybody that he keeps it in the cupboard.
A pioneer historical account says it this way:
“Dozens, nay almost hundreds, of joint stock companies were organized. Millions of joint stock was issued, wasting heaps of bank note paper and hundreds of hands into hundreds of pockets and pulled out hundreds and thousands of dollars – thousands, which they were destined never to see again, in this life. Mining schemes went up like rockets and came down like burnt sticks, and people with burnt fingers were thicker even than the burnt stocks.”1
Credits
1. http://www.oregonpioneers.com/QuartzvilleGold.htm
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Cape Nome Mining District, Alaska, 1899- 1976
One of the biggest gold strikes of North America happened in 1899 in Nome, Alaska. The only strikes that were bigger were the 49ers of California and the Klondike. One big difference is that many died just trying to get to the strike in Nome, the conditions being treacherous. Many were just swept off the icy trails and left to die. What else could anyone do?
Cape Nome, AlaskaA trail was made from Seward to Nome beginning in 1908. When it was completed in 1911, the miners poured in, mushing or hiking the Iditarod Trail. The trail is nearly 900 miles long and is still used for the famous Iditarod dog sled race. One of the Toffelmyer boys from Coos Bay raced in it.
Uncle Ed in 1972
By 1976 the small timers were not there anymore but great gold dredges were. The dredges look like dry land ships and a lot of gravel is moved through their giant sluices, removing millions of dollars worth of gold annually.
Ed Guenther(1953- ) was working for Chenault Construction out of Kenai, Alaska. He and Mike Chenault were called to Nome to complete a giant generator project. They flew in, the plane skidding to a halt on the short airport. What a place for a 23 year old boy to be. No wheres ville. On top of that they were told not to go into town after dark, as there was much drinking and the natives carried knives, being fond of knifing the visitors. So Ed and Mike decided to do a little prospecting after work each day. They would go down to the beach, looking across the Bering Strait toward Russian shores. In the winter Ed saw great ice chunks in the northern seas and when he would try to sleep on the oil platforms, the ice chunks would bump the legs and keep him awake nights. The Baluga white whales were numerous in this area too, big herds all surfacing together with their white bodies flashing in the moonlight.
Near Russian Shores
In the winter Ed saw great ice chunks in the northern seas and when he would try to sleep on the oil platforms, the ice chunks would bump the legs and keep him awake nights. The Baluga white whales were numerous in this area too, big herds all surfacing together with their white bodies flashing in the moonlight.
Baluga White Wales of the North
The locals’ sled dogs could hardly be distinguished from the wolves. They looked the same. One night Ed decided to slip into town inspite of the warnings. There he was confronted by a native who reached into his jacket. Ed thought it was curtains for sure, but the man produced a walrus tusk and offered it for $20. Ed knew this was illegal stuff and waved him off. Enough of town, too stressful.
Every night after work Ed and Mike would pan on the beach of the Berring Straits, taking in 6-8 decent flakes with every pan full of sand. The gold was situated in a layer of black sand just a few inches under the brown sand. Ed would place the flakes in a jug. This went on for about two weeks. The weather turned cold and the airport runway iced over. Planes could not land. Ed’s gold fever turned to cabin fever. He was sick of Nome, sick of gold, sick of the natives. He wanted out.
Finally, a call came in. A plane would land in a very narrow window of open weather and then would immediately take off again. There was no time to get the gold back in the bunk house. The gold or the plane? The plane skidded to a stop at the edge of the runway and Uncle Ed got on. Gold is slippery stuff, and the Guenther ancestry seems to be unlucky.
Credits:Nome history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nome_mining_districtBaluga whale pic: https://www.google.com/search?q=beluga+white+whales&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=835&tbm=isch&imgil=7paUWWP-lyqPGM%253A%253B5F6pDz773eWvTM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.cms.int%25252Freports%25252Fsmall_cetaceans%25252Fdata%25252FD_leucas%25252Fd_leucas.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=7paUWWP-lyqPGM%253A%252C5F6pDz773eWvTM%252C_&usg=__r_SFeXQ-wZ6e3nEfRLNLPl0dnWE%3D&ved=0CEIQyjc&ei=xXUbVPO4HIeAiwLcwoD4BQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=7paUWWP-lyqPGM%253A%3B5F6pDz773eWvTM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cms.int%252Freports%252Fsmall_cetaceans%252Fdata%252FD_leucas%252FBeluga2_N_Culik.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cms.int%252Freports%252Fsmall_cetaceans%252Fdata%252FD_leucas%252Fd_leucas.htm%3B500%3B375
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The Orient Eureka Mine, Washington,1937
Samuel E. Guenther(1867-1943), our great Grampa, was a man with his finger in many pies. Perhaps his one great venture was an investment in a gold mine in Central Washington. We still have the stock certificate for the Orient Eureka Mine for 2500 shares, the certicate giving it a value to Sam of $150,000. This was issued back in the 1930’s so inflation would put that value many times higher today.
Shares in the orient Eureka
If the mine proves to be still valid and worth millions, the question has arisen of who should be in on the split. Surely not Sam’s origianl partners’ descendants. We don’t even know where they are. Sam had three children: Bircheon, Noma, and John. John was our Grampa. It should be noted that Bricheon’s and Noma’s progeny have shown no interest in the gold. In a letter Sam practically begged Berchion to purchase stock, no interest.
Grampa John did show interest, teaching his children how to pan in their little crik out back. Some say they only found fool’s gold in The Crik but at least they showed interest.That boils down the potential claimants of the mine to John’s 14 children and their children.
2500 Shares Worth $150,000
Jereme Guenther(1984- ), direct descendant, was looking for a way to put the stock into his name, showing great interest in the gold. This is not about money, but purely an interest in the beautiful yellow ore, he claims.
Klaus Guenther(1980- ), a direct descendant, but scoffing at the validity of the Oreint Eureka Mine, is not currently in on the division of the stock. He accused Jereme with the words, “Next thing you know, Jereme will have the SEC and IRS at his doorstep… I can already see the headlines… ‘Army Veteran Indicted for Fraud Perpetrated over 100 years ago.’ ” This is bad PR from Klaus. He is cut off.
Karin Guenther, direct descendant, is a lawyer and has been very helpful in trying to secure the mine. She is in. Her father, Ronald B. Guenther(1937- ), has pooh poohed the whole thing from the beginning. He can try to get Karin to split her shares with him. Good luck.
Nicolaus Guenther, direct descendant, has confided that his dad, Donald Guenther(1951- ), had tricked his daughter Autumn out of a pan full of gold from the hills. Some kind of a scam as the story goes. Nic can have Uncle Don’s share.
Delores Guenther(1944- ), direct descendant, has her hands full searching for the Blue Bucket Mine, she doesn’t need a share.
Ed Guenther(1953- ), direct desendant, has perhaps the strongest claim. And he wants to use the gold to do good.
Karin will keep everyone posted on their individual claims.
Here is the map. A little small, but not to worry, Uncle Ed has a readable copy.
Map of the Orient Eureka
All things considered, let’s not lose our heads in this thing. Watch Bogart’s Treasure of the Sierra Madres, and learn what not to do. Let’s be content with what we have. Vote for Uncle Ed as chairman of the board for The Orient Eureka Mine. Vote today.
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Barrick Cortez Gold Mine, Nevada, 1930-2014
The Cortez Gold Mine is a large gold mining and processing operation in Lander, Nevada. The mines were first functioning around 1930. The operation was bought out in recent years for about 12 billion dollars. It primarily processes silver but the gold is plentiful too.
Early Days
In 2014 Don Guenther(1952- ) worked at the mine. The Cortez Mine is huge. It is the largest gold mine in Nevada. Uncle Don’s gold was not the yellow metal, but electrical engineering work for Jacobs Engineering, the company he works for. The mine had large open pits and tunnels. Don did not bring a gold pan with him. He is not a true gold seeker. He feels more security with his engineering.
They refine the gold and make gold bars. Bars are shipped in heavily guarded trucks. Even if a person hijacked a truck he couldn’t fence the gold as it is tracked. Don’s company told him they’d give him work out of the Tucson office but he moved before that occurred. His mining experience was not beneficial. Like his ancestors he saw others raking in all the dough and himself left empty handed.
Most mines today are owned by big companies. Once gold is found a developer steps in and markets the site. It has always been so. the little guy, the discoverer, is left behind. The idea of making it as a small fry is extremely difficult and few can do it. Get rich quick schemes and adventure still appeals to Don though, just not panning.
Uncle Don at the Cortez Mine
Uncle Don likes to invest poorly, buy high sell low. Risk taking is exciting but as he heads into retirement his working days are numbered and his propensity for risk low. There are those who have played it safe in life and have retired early. Don says he took chances and will retire late. Uncle Don’s God was never Gold and He is certainly part of Don’s retirement plan.
Somehow Uncle Don got it into his head to pass a little gold fever onto his granddausghter. His son Nic tells the story:
Dad convinced autumn that there was gold in the woods behind our house. We went out with a bucket and a shovel and got some dirt. For the next hour, Autumn had her hands in the cold hose water outside panning for gold 100 percent convinced that she was going to find gold cause Grandpa told her so. The cold was bad as it was winter in St Louis so it was probably about 30 degrees outside. Autumn never understood why Grandpa would do such a mean trick.
Credits:
history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortez_Gold_Mine
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49er, 1849 California Gold Rush
John Landess(1823-1904), our great great Grampa, was 26 years old when the California gold rush of 1849 happened. Grampa John came to Oregon with his parents in 1847. He was born in Illinois and the family had migrated to Ohio. It was oxen and wagon to Oregon. But John was a rambunctious young man and when the 1848 gold strike in the Sacramento Valley of California became known, people came by the tens of thousands to the San Francisco area seeking their fortune. John came from Oregon. Over 100,000 came that year to California, changing the history of that state forever.
John Landess, about 1900
There were those who made big money selling outfits to the miners. There were those who worked various jobs to supply the miners with the necessities of life, like food and lodging and laundry. The big money people would follow when the miners would sell their claims due to lack of capitol to develop them. All manner of vice was to be found in the gold fields. It attracted thieves by the score, men looking for easy money from someone else’s back breaking work. There were the countless saloons with the shady ladies. Anything that 100,000 men would want, it was there. What money was made by the miners was usually swallowed up by the vice.
A miner
Grampa was no shop keeper, he was a farmer. What in the world was he thinking, going into that sinful place? But he went nonetheless. It is not known if he actually had a claim, but it is thought that he did. Furthermore, it is believed that he came up with a dry hole, nothing much but dirt and gravel and rocks. Oh, he would have seen a little gold all right, but very few miners ever got rich on the gold fields. Riches came to the money people. We can be thankful that John came to his senses after 11 months and went back to Oregon. Gold. Huh.
John’s Obit
In 1862 John found the real gold, our great Gramma Leodicia Ingram(1847-1909). Leodicia traveled the Oregon Trail with her parents at age 5 in 1852, hailing from Arkansas. John married Leodicia in 1862. She was 15. Grampa’s second strike was the double land he got homesteading by having a wife. He got his claim, she got hers. The real gold.
John with two of his daughters, and granddaughter Wilda on his real gold strike, the homestead
credits:
Miner pic: https://www.google.com/search?q=1849+california+gold+rush+pics&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS472US472&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&imgil=4kOLeWaVkKueBM%253A%253BunV1r4s0d_IyHM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fhomepages.wmich.edu%25252F~nwitschi%25252Fteaching%25252Fgoldrush.htm&source=iu&fir=4kOLeWaVkKueBM%253A%252CunV1r4s0d_IyHM%252C_&usg=__uBQ4uTxSZAdPMSjIB8r4RiT0NL4%3D&sa=X&ei=zNcNVKCDCcW5igKW54C4CA&ved=0CDQQ9QEwCQ#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-ym6sY53vb5zUM%253A%3BfW-nwbOsE_F78M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.historichwy49.com%252Fphotos%252Fminer.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.historichwy49.com%252Fgoldrush.html%3B217%3B271
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Another 49erJames B. Wiley(1814-1888), our GG Uncle, was Richard Wiley’s older brother. It is uncertain just when James got in on the California gold rush of 1849, but he may have been a trifle late, maybe late in the year of 1849. By 1852 Uncle James says mining did (not) well agree with him. He was too late for the big money. He made a little, saved a little, but by 1852 he is cashing it.
Gold seekers came from everywhere
James wrote brother Richard Wiley a letter from the gold fields of St.(San) Francisco in 1852:
Dear Brother
I take the present opportunity to write you a line or two on the Eve of my departure home word I leave tomorrow on the steamship Gold Hunter for Panama thence by New Orleans— Home and would inform you that I am in middling health but not good as mining did — (not)well agree with me. I hope these lines may find— you enjoying the very best of God’s blessing— I have had but one letter from you— since I have been in the country I have— written you half a dozen. I must poin— y if you have not already recvd the melancholy — news of the death of Vincent R Wiley he died on—the 26th of June last of inflamitory rheumatis— at Carthage H be Ohio I wish very much I could— have saw him one more in this world but—Heavens decrees prevail and all is well. Sooner or—later we must all pass the same dark and gloomy—bourn from whence traveled retiring all the rest of our people was well when I last heard William has— not been heard of since he came out to California— I believe he is dead otherwise he would write to his—family which he has not I think California a goo— Country for a person to make a permanent—Home but the time is past when a man can make a fortune in a short time unless he be lucky—I have not been one of the fortunate ones here but have save— a little I wonder much you have not came to this —country I think you might have had a million— had you pushed in in 49 but all right I spose—you have an ough as it is I thought you would— of come down to see me as you are Rich and— abke ti travek but you have not even written— to me. Well fare well and I hope your path may (ba…)—thee through the suny and flowery vales of this life— Then (…) meet in a Brighter and better would is (gone)— unfortunates Brothers prayed them fare well and if — forever then forever fare well
R E Wiley ESQ… James B Wiley
James’ Letter, 1852 from St. Francisco
James married Elmira in 1840. This was his real strike, but maybe James didn’t realize it at the time. Gold fever took him in 1849. James, at age 34, left his wife and three kids for three years, hoping to strike it rich in the gold fields. By 1852 James was played out and headed home. His wife welcomed him home. What a woman! Unfortunately for James, she died at age 38. Like James’ gold, his woman got away.
Like James says in his letter, “I have not been one of the fortunate ones here”.
James’ and Elmina’s Grave in IllinoisBuried side by side
If James could write his own epithet he might say : Gold is fleeting. A good woman passes. Heaven is forever. One person suggested that James coined the phrase, “Life is tough, then you die”. James is buried in Olney, Richland County, Illinois, next to Elmina. As far as can be known, no family riches came through James, he hit a dry hole also, as did Grampa John Landess, both 49ers.
Outfitted miner
Credits:
Gold rush poster: https://www.google.com/search?q=1849+california+gold+rush+pics&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=835&tbm=isch&imgil=WVoQGMWlq7QmUM%253A%253BgmKAzxqEr9i28M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fen.wikipedia.org%25252Fwiki%25252FCalifornia_Gold_Rush&source=iu&pf=m&fir=WVoQGMWlq7QmUM%253A%252CgmKAzxqEr9i28M%252C_&usg=__SYsfx-nNeDbesrXxcVpZlyb_2vY%3D#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=fbDIncsEHX1iVM%253A%3BrHBoHFCQXhnL5M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fpixcdn.posterrevolution.com%252Fpr%252F1%252F572117f.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.posterrevolution.com%252Fgallery%252Fitem.cfm%253FID%253D572117%3B800%3B800
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China Flats, Powers, Oregon, 1947
Running from the east of Powers, Oregon, in the Siskiyou National Forest, the South Fork of the Coquille River dispensed gold from along its banks, flooding bringing more gold into the river. One area in particular was laced with flaked gold, a place called China Flats. It was called China Flats because when the big company was mining there in the early part of the 20th century with rock crushing equipment, the workers were all Chinese and they had a bunch of shacks there for there workers. Cheap labor. But to the credit of the Chinese, they did much to build up America, including helping to build the railroads.
China Flats
The gold played out and the company abandoned the mining operation which consisted of great sleuce boxes. But even today a person who knows how to use a pan can find gold there.
In about 1947 a couple of boys wanted to try a turn at the big money. Their father had instructed them in the finer arts of panning in The Creek running through their property in Glasgow. Problem was, they didn’t really know what gold looked like. Every time they would come up with something shiny their father, who claimed to have panned real gold up around Mount Lassen, would say it was fool’s gold. Fool’s gold can certainly be a tricky thing to a boy. What in the world did real gold look like if there were things out there that mumicked it? What chance did they have of telling the difference? The truth is, they had no chance. They would not have known a gold nugget from a steel ball bearing. Nonetheless, they set out for China Flats to seek their fortune.
One of the boys was Ronald B. Guenther(1937- ) and the other was his younger brother Robert John Anthony Guenther(1939-2001). Uncle Ron and Uncle Bob, or Ronny and Bobby. Ronny never was much of an outdoors man, so this venture was a stretch when one considered possible success, but Bobby thrived on the wilderness and never quite gave up his search for gold to his dying days. It can only be ascertained that Bobby likely did all the back breaking work while Ronny probably told him how to do it.
Ronny, about 1947
There was gold out there all right, but our boys did not get one single particle, at least not one they recognized. Which was odd because Bobby always claimed to know everything there was to know about gold. Remembering back, Uncle Ron says not only did they not get one single flake, but they did not get any ‘color’ whatsoever, nuttin’, he says. It is wondered if Uncle Ron even knew what ‘color’ was. At any rate, after two days the boys were played out. They would find work in the local saw mill and in the woods, and their dreams of gold would have to be shelved.
Bobby, about 1947
For Uncle Ron this ended his gold hunt. He is still skeptical about family gold, lost and otherwise. He even foes so far as to say that the Blue Bucket Mine is made up. The nerve.
But Uncle Bob had the opportunity to make his millions. Uncle Ron tells this story: The situation was this. Bob was living during the week at the logging camp and this old geezer came in, he was ancient, said he had been in Siberia at the time of the Russian Revolution and he and a couple of other guys had hidden a fortune in platinum in an old abandoned mine. They had then tried to get out, but the other two fellows were killed and he is the only one left who knows where this platinum is stored. He figures he could get it out for $10,000. He would like to have the loggers pitch in and help him with the money. Well, Bob came home to Mom and said, it must be true, he had no reason to lie. He wanted to invest in this venture. Mom looked at him and said it looks to her like he had 10,000 reasons to lie. Well, Bob opted out of this venture as did most of the other men. Those who invested never saw the return on their investment. Uncle Bob was nobody’s fool.
Uncle Bob dreamed of having his own company set up where the older kids would bring in the gold and the little ones would separate out the big nuggets from the little ones and Angie would keep the books and so on. It was going to be a real operation. Bob would be the super.
Uncle Bob with his real gold mine, Angie and the kids, and the Pinto
One other thing Uncle Ron has to say about this adventure, ” We were about as lucky as our great great Uncle James” (see the James Wiley 49er story).
Uncle Ron’s true Gold Mine: Mary Ann and the Girls
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Geraldine’s Gold Nuggets, Arago, Oregon, 1925
When Gramma Geraldine Delsman’s(1916-2012) family lived on their Arago farm they had chickens. Each time they would butcher a chicken they would check the bird’s craw for small gold nuggets. Over time they collected one or two small jars filled with nuggets, very small nuggets. Their farm was located on Hall’s Creek, which no longer exists, but directed drainage ditches have replaced it. Gramma says the nuggets were well rounded from the creek, meaning that the Mother Lode was somewhere upstream.
Louise and Gerladine in Arago
Geraldine often played with her sister Louise and brother Dick right there in the creek. It’s a wonder they did not find some of those nuggets themselves. Perhaps they were content to let the chickens get them.
Louise, Dick, and Geraldine
One day the gold disappeared! They thought one of their previous hands had snuck back in and grabbed the gold!
Gold Nuggets
The jars were small potatoes compared to the big strike that is still out there. Nobody ever looked beyond the chickens for the gold. Geraldine’s Dad was a farmer, not a miner. If we can get someone to go down there and find and develop this known mine, they could have an extra 10% of the profits, or they could have a finder’s fee, whatever. The point is, we need to find that gold!
Credits:
Gold nuggets: https://www.google.com/search?q=jar+of+gold+nuggets+pics&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=835&tbm=isch&imgil=DmuNgv06QWw-vM%253A%253BkwmhlSgBEJYLCM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fnevada-outback-gems.com%25252Fprospect%25252Fgold_specimen%25252FNatural_gold.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=DmuNgv06QWw-vM%253A%252CkwmhlSgBEJYLCM%252C_&usg=__OByWpn0MikyOFUTq5LAK4h5hySM%3D&ved=0CDMQyjc&ei=UCsSVLLxI6q6igLtjICgDg#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=R9uM9siOQ1VB9M%253A%3BFHvAiBXAMs7y_M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F1.bp.blogspot.com%252F-7ki8xTqqnOw%252FUlHKJif8XXI%252FAAAAAAAACbI%252FiLBhBjzpZQU%252Fs200%252FArizona%252BGold%252BNuggets%252BGemHunter.webs.com.JPG%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fsearching-for-gold.blogspot.com%252F%3B200%3B137