Old Bookaroo
Silver Member
- Dec 4, 2008
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Victor Shaw’s Lost Mine Articles – Earth Science Digest
I recently acquired a complete set of the nine lost mine articles written by Victor Shaw and published in Earth Science Digest in 1947 and 1948.
Shaw was an experienced gold prospector. He explored the ground where these stories are set. And he had (at least somewhat) a skeptical eye regarding a tall tale.
These articles are not well known. Thomas Probert’s excellent bibliography Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the West (Berkeley, California: 1977) lists just his article on the Lost Dutchman mine and on the Lost Papuan Diggings. John H. Reed’s Treasure Hunting Bibliography and Index to Periodical Articles (Gibson, Louisiana: 1989) includes those two (from Probert, of course) and a third – Lost Portal Gold.
The Bibliography of North American Geology, 1940-49 (Washington, DC: 1957) includes all nine articles – but I don’t think that’s a source most lost mine hunters would turn to today.
Here’s the roster:
The Lost Dutchman; Fact, of Fable? (April 1947 – Vol. I, No. 9)
The Lost Pegleg Smith (May 1947 – Vol. I, No. 10)
Lost Portal Gold (June 1947 – Vol. I, No. 11)
The Lost Dutch Oven Mine (July 1947 – Vol. I, No. 12)
The Lost Arch Diggings (August 1947 – Vol. II, No. 1) - There’s a post on the gold mining and prospecting blog that credits this article as the author’s source and inspiration, but it does not provide a citation.
The Lost Breyfogle (Sept.-October 1947 – Vol. II, No. 2)
The Lost Tub Placer (November 1947 – Vol. II, No. 3)
The Lost Papuan Diggings (December 1947 – Vol. II, No. 4)
The Lost Gunsight Mine (January-February 1948 – Vol. II, No. 5)
The Dutchman, of course, and the Lost Portal Gold are located in Arizona. All the others are California stories.
Careful readers will note several of these stories were recounted in the Lost Mines of the Desert series I posted here a while back.
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo
I recently acquired a complete set of the nine lost mine articles written by Victor Shaw and published in Earth Science Digest in 1947 and 1948.
Shaw was an experienced gold prospector. He explored the ground where these stories are set. And he had (at least somewhat) a skeptical eye regarding a tall tale.
These articles are not well known. Thomas Probert’s excellent bibliography Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the West (Berkeley, California: 1977) lists just his article on the Lost Dutchman mine and on the Lost Papuan Diggings. John H. Reed’s Treasure Hunting Bibliography and Index to Periodical Articles (Gibson, Louisiana: 1989) includes those two (from Probert, of course) and a third – Lost Portal Gold.
The Bibliography of North American Geology, 1940-49 (Washington, DC: 1957) includes all nine articles – but I don’t think that’s a source most lost mine hunters would turn to today.
Here’s the roster:
The Lost Dutchman; Fact, of Fable? (April 1947 – Vol. I, No. 9)
The Lost Pegleg Smith (May 1947 – Vol. I, No. 10)
Lost Portal Gold (June 1947 – Vol. I, No. 11)
The Lost Dutch Oven Mine (July 1947 – Vol. I, No. 12)
The Lost Arch Diggings (August 1947 – Vol. II, No. 1) - There’s a post on the gold mining and prospecting blog that credits this article as the author’s source and inspiration, but it does not provide a citation.
The Lost Breyfogle (Sept.-October 1947 – Vol. II, No. 2)
The Lost Tub Placer (November 1947 – Vol. II, No. 3)
The Lost Papuan Diggings (December 1947 – Vol. II, No. 4)
The Lost Gunsight Mine (January-February 1948 – Vol. II, No. 5)
The Dutchman, of course, and the Lost Portal Gold are located in Arizona. All the others are California stories.
Careful readers will note several of these stories were recounted in the Lost Mines of the Desert series I posted here a while back.
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo
