OT - California gold rush

lever-4-life · Post by **lever-4-life** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:53 pm

The gold rush turned 160 this week!! to celebrate I went down to the creek and FROZE, but I did have a pretty good haul with lots of nice color(by my standards

)

I am not the best photographer so please excuse my poor photo

cutter · Post by **cutter** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:00 pm

Cool!

What are you going to buy with your new found riches?

Kidding aside, that is neat. All I have ever found is sinkers...

claybob86 · Post by **claybob86** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:09 am

Gold's high these days, isn't it? Wouldn't take too many of those to add up to a new lever - or fly rod!

jbm1968 · Post by **jbm1968** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:22 am

My daughter and I recovered a bit of that last year ourselves out in the California back country. How do I find out if it is real or not??? It is mostly small flakes.

Gun Runner · Post by **Gun Runner** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:31 am

As soon as the 5 feet of snow melts, plus what ever else falls between now and when it warms up, I can get to where I want. Funny part is I live over the main shaft of the the old Empire mine. Course its several hundred feet down.

Oh well will wait till spring thaw afore I can get out to where I want to be.

Gun Runner

Post by **Old Savage** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:41 am

Big Sam left Seattle in the year of 92 .......

donw · Post by **donw** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:21 pm

with george pratt his partner...

Mike D. · Post by **Mike D.** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:45 pm

Cool! I have worked out a bit of the "yaller metal" myself over the years. Mining is a disease that has no known cure.

getitdone1 · Post by **getitdone1** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:52 pm

Could a guy possibly make a living with a gold pan? Shows how ignorant I am about it. Even with today's high gold prices I'd say no.

Didn't they look for good gold sites with pan and then build a sluce? Way over my head here.

Recall you often find it in black sand and turns in the river. Where at on the "turns" I don't know other than perhaps where the water slowed down helping the gold to settle to the bottom.

Wonder if anyone here makes a living prospecting for gold? Good chance they want to keep quiet about it.

Don McCullough

Gun Runner · Post by **Gun Runner** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:56 pm

I see a lot of "wannabe" miners show up here in the summer, new gear with the price tags still on them. Some get run off of posted mining claims and wounder why. At the end of summer you can buy a lot of minning stuff "CHEAP".
I dont plan on getting rich. I enjoy being out doors, sitting near the creek with my pan and sluice box. My lunch and couple sodas and a hand gun on my hip. Usually I'am back in a ways and dont run across many people, have run across rattle snakes (they get shot on sight-carry 2 rds of snake-shot first up then 4 hard cast), had one meeting with a black bear. He was interested in the berrys growing nearby, discression was the better part of valor and I moved out of the area.

Gun Runner

lever-4-life · Post by **lever-4-life** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:58 pm

I do it when the trout bite has slowed. But thought I needed to get out there on the 160th birth day of the gold discovery in california. When I catch "flatlanders" on the claim where I pan I kindly tell them that they are on a claim and give them the benefit of the doubt and let them stay. But if they are true "claim jumpers" (pros that know what they are doing and are in it for more than a day of family fun) I send them packing.

MikeS. · Post by **MikeS.** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:14 pm

Nice, I did some panning when I lived in Fresno. It was always fun to hit paydirt.

Joe Reilly · Post by **Joe Reilly** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:55 am

Old Savage and donw

Thanks, now I need to find a copy of "North To Alaska"

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:02 am

I will let you know in the spring, mine is a very productive placer.
As I am retiring I will now have the time to devote myself to it.
I am seriously considering moving up to the commercial side of it.

Poohgyrr · Post by **Poohgyrr** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:31 am

Congrats!

And speaking of the Gold Rush, did you hear the governator wants to shut down Sutter's Fort.

Right where the whole thing started and a huge part of local & State history - and he wants to close it..... Sheesh - only a foreign hollywood liberal in Republican clothing would do this. I bet he doesn't own a single Lever............