Re: Oregon's Lost Blue Bucket Diggins - A Scarce Pioneer Account of the Legend
Hey Cynangyl,
Another two cents here. IMHO the only way to solve the 'Meek' puzzle is to follow the diaries. There are three existing; James Field Journal, Jesse Harritt Diary and Samuel Parker Diary. The Herren diary was burned in a house fire. Also important is the 'Narrative of Samuel Hancock. This last gives an important direction for his portion of the train after the train 'split' before coming back together at Wagontire Mt.
Everyone, it seems, uses the book 'Terrible Trail' by Clark and Tiller and the Grave of Serepta King Chambers as the be-all and end-all to the Meek/ Bluebucket question. I followed this reasoning until I started thinking. Aparently Ruby El Hult started thinking also. She was at great odds with the Clark/Tiller theory.
In their book, C&T, many times dispute the knowledge of the pioneers who 'lived it' and wrote about day-to-day travel on this....cut-off. Paraphrasing, They discounted the diary distances and directions if they did not agree with the grave location and burial date, Sept. 3, (supposedly the key to the location of the gold) 'the gold is one or two days West of the grave'.
The problem is that there is no way these people could start in Missouri and walk Westward, every morning with the sun at their backs and every afternoon with the sun in their faces and not know East from West or North from South. Also those wagons had very accurate odometers on the wheels. The diaries say it all and I am sure they were written accurately.
A wealthy Malhuer Co. cattleman, H. B. Reaves, according to Hult (I found documentation of accuracy) spent much time and money looking for the Blue Bucket. His key was to find the grave.....which he did in 1877......and then he told the world the location. I have seen it, just North of Beulah Reservoir. It used to be just sitting in the ground. It is now sitting on a nice concrete pad.........I have a big problem with a guy who searches for years for something unatainable, the key to a gold mine, then tells the world. Does the term 'red herring' compute? We have a gravestone, sitting up like an outhouse in the fog. I believe Mr. Reaves wanted to send other searchers to the North......then an entry in the Field Journal on Sept. 9 that disputes the stone's veracity.
'Last evening a child of E. Packwood, of Illinois, which had been ill a few days died suddenly. At present there are a good many sick about the camp, the majority of them complaining of fever. The child was buried in the dry wormwood barrens and as we left the camp the wagons filed over the grave, thus leaving no trace of its situation. The reason for our doing this was that the Indians in this part of the country are very fond of clothing, giving almost anything they possess in order to obtain it, and fearing that they might disturb the grave after we left, we took the precaution of leaving a beaten road across it. I cannot say that they would do anything to a grave, were they to find one, for we have passed several made by the immigrants at various times, and none of them apeared to have been disturbed. Went six miles, camping near a spring which sinks near where it rises.'
This is from people in the same train a few days apart, two completely opposite procedures for burial. Another thing about the headstone; My trade for thirty years was journeyman union Stonemason. I can tell you that it would take many hours to face and carve that stone with the tools they had. The train would not stop for that to be done AND I can't believe a husband would be fabricating it days ahead, in anticipation of his wife's death,...an hour a night,....after walking all day.
If you study the diaries you will know they never were on the Malhuer.
Bud
I have heard good things about your coffee... 
Interesting reading indeed. Looking at the similarities and differences in all of the stories reminds me a lot of investigations. Everyone has a different story about just how something happened. When you run across a group that does not, you can rest assured they have rehearsed the story. lol Gracias mi amigo!
