The Many Lost Treasures of Mariposa, CA (Photos Added)

[racefanrob]

Hi again Eagle

Do you have a good story about the best nugget you ever found? Hope all is going well for you.

 

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[EagleDown]

Hi again Eagle

Do you have a good story about the best nugget you ever found? Hope all is going well for you.

Halito racefanbob!! Nothing I could make a story out of. If you read the story of the crevasse Pat and I cleaned out, you'll remember the hole was about 9 ft deep to bed-rock. After Pat and Ron had gone home, I decided to widen the hole and see if I could determine just why all of that gold ended in the crevasse. I dredged little more than about 12 inches upstream, and ran into a ledge about 12" high, and as I said, the bed-rock farther up river was rounded making a perfect channel to drop over into the crevasse. So, I was just kneeling there studying the contour of the bed-rock, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned around quickly and grabbed a nice, hefty nugget rolling down the slope of the hole. In an odd way, it was to me, the prettiest nugget I've ever found. It was a little over a half oz., and looked like someone had taken a bunch of small nuggets, (about an eighth of an inch in diameter) and pressed them into a "pinecone" shape. The kind of nugget that you would only have to solder a "jump ring" onto to have a beautiful pendant.

Other than that, the largest nugget I've ever found was about 1 oz. and I don't think that find would make much of a story.

 

[strickman]

was that Pat keene with you ? I think I remember that story , at least a part or two.

 

[EagleDown]

was that Pat keene with you ? I think I remember that story , at least a part or two.

Naw, that was Pat operating a 4" Keene dredge.

Actually, his last name had >Pat< in it, so everyone called him Pat.

Incidentally, if nothing dire happens in the meanwhile, I'll be leaving here tomorrow morning, (Thursday,) and will probably be in Merced a little after noon. I plan to spend the night in Merced with Chuck and his lovely wife. By noon Friday, I should be on the river, below Briceburg. Anyone who would like to meet up and get a free tour of the area, PM me your phone # today, and I'll give you a call while I'm in Mariposa.

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[racefanrob]

Thanks Eagle...

Even recapping a story you write very well. Thank you. Boy you sure do have the life Eagle. I wish I could pick up and go like you. I plan on heading out sometime soon wish it was tomorrow. I have some family up in Oakhurst and Coursegold. Do you think it would be worth trekking around the Briceburg area with an MXT? It has been something I have wanted to do for a couple of years now. There is also a stream by a friends log cabin I have been wanting to go to for years now. It's not very far from Oakhurst. I hope you have a great trip Eagle and I hope you take some nice pics you can share here.

 

[strickman]

if I was a whole lot closer I would take you up on that . That would be a 25 cent tour to remember !

 

[EagleDown]

Thanks Eagle...

Even recapping a story you write very well. Thank you. Boy you sure do have the life Eagle. I wish I could pick up and go like you. I plan on heading out sometime soon wish it was tomorrow. I have some family up in Oakhurst and Coursegold. Do you think it would be worth trekking around the Briceburg area with an MXT? It has been something I have wanted to do for a couple of years now. There is also a stream by a friends log cabin I have been wanting to go to for years now. It's not very far from Oakhurst. I hope you have a great trip Eagle and I hope you take some nice pics you can share here.

Thank you my Friend!! (I hope you don’t mind if I call you Rob, for short.) I had 3 older sisters, and by listening and watching them do their home school work, I learned to read at an early age. I know I was reading second grade books and writing little things by the time I was 4 years old, so I developed an insatiable appetite for reading. I soon developed a dislike for authors who tried to show their intelligence by using archaic words that I had to look up to find out what they meant. (Of course, I learned a bit by doing so.) (lol) Anyway, when I started these “chronicles”, I decided the best way to do them would be, to write the way that I talk. I guess it works pretty well.

About picking up and going like I do, don’t be envious of that. I’m now 75 years of age and on a fixed income. (Social Security) And believe me; I have to make difficult decisions almost daily on how I can best spend my meager income.

As far as the MXT is concerned, I surely hope that it would be “worth trekking around the Briceburg area”, since that’s the metal detector that I use. (lol) I have found a lot of coins and some gold with it, so I know it’s a good detector. Though, I do have my dream of finding a big enough nugget that I can buy a more advanced detector.

Any places you “want to detect”, don’t put them off for too long. I know from experience, chances are that in a very few years, the opportunity will be gone forever. I have a number of stories that I’m not sure would be worth writing about, because the places now have homes on them, or the Fed, State or County Governments have closed them off. My advice would be: Do It Now, While You Still Can!!

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

if I was a whole lot closer I would take you up on that . That would be a 25 cent tour to remember !

Hey, the tour's free!! It's the cost of getting here that would hurt!!

 

[NaturalJWL]

Eagle Down, YOU have some great stories.

I have read them many times and look forward to as many more as you care to share.

Now if I don;t lose the link again, lol.

Thank You !!!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Wow Eagle--you're still the master story teller for sure! I finally got caught up on your thread again.

Well done my friend.

I love your stories, and all the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Wow Eagle--you're still the master story teller for sure! I finally got caught up on your thread again.
Well done my friend.
I love your stories, and all the best,
Lanny

Holey Toledo!!! That's high praise indeed!!!

Especially coming from one that I wait impatiently for, to make his next post.

I'll be leaving here in a couple of hours. I'm driving to Merced where I'll spend the night, then Friday morning, I'm going up to the Merced river. I'll try to bring back enough pictures to cover all of the stories I've written. (Or at least, most.) I don't know if I can still get on the property, but if I can, I'll show you the bed-rock I walked through, where all of the Black Widow Spiders were.

See you when I get back.

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[racefanrob]

Well Eagle you have lived the life I can only dream about. Maybe not every moment was important enough to you to write about, but the ones you do share are very interesting to me for sure. I can see how things change over time and I will try soon to go back to the place I have wanted to go near Oakhurst. Luckily the property is still owned by the friend of the family and I heard it would be ok to go there still. Be safe up there Eagle and I hope you find a nice nugget to support your trips up there. I am glad to hear you use the same machine for your hunting. So far it is perfect for finding bullets and pennies around the Hemet area lol. If I ever find a nice chunk of gold up that way you can be sure I will finance one of your trips to go back up there. I would like to do it so you will have a new story to write about on here and would love to hear about it. Most 75 year old people wouldn't even dream of doing what you do so I will continue to admire what you do sir.

Your friend,
Rob

 

[Lanny in AB]

Can't wait Eagle, for the pictures or the next stories!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle Down, YOU have some great stories.

I have read them many times and look forward to as many more as you care to share.

Now if I don;t lose the link again, lol.

Thank You !!!

Thank you NaturalJWL!! After I show a few pictures, I'll see what I can come up with. Most of the rest of my stories will be a lot shorter than the last one, but I hope everyone will enjoy them.

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Ho racefanrob, I'm glad if I've brought a little joy into your life. Also, thanks for your well wishes on this trip. Unfortunately, I didn't get to fill my main objectives, but all in all, it was a good trip. I'll be back in later to let you know some of the problems I encountered.

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Hokay Lanny, here we go!!

~~~/\~~~

Good morning all!

Well, I returned from my trip rather early, Friday evening to be exact. Yep, I only spent one day in the mountains, plus a couple of hours driving along the river to El Portal. I thought I’d drive up river and check out a couple of places I had been to before. I did take some pictures I thought you might like to see. But, unfortunately, not all that I wanted to share with you was accessible, but I got what I could. There’s not a lot of places between Briceburg and El Portal where you can park to take pictures, but, I did the best I could. You know, if life throws you a lemon……..make lemonade!!

So, I saw a few places, I took some pictures AND, I found out that I am a “Conspiracy Theorist”.

Now, On With the Show!!!!!!!!

The first picture is looking up-river from the old suspension bridge at Briceburg. The river’s running pretty good, but not at flood stage. That’ll come (probably) in May.

The second one is the mouth of Bear Creek where it joins with the Merced.

From Briceburg, I drove up to El Portal where I could cross the river. Then I drove down-river on the old RR embankment to the site of the Clearing House mine buildings. If I wasn’t mistaken about where I was, the next three are of those buildings.

I have a few things to do, so, I’ll be back later, to post more pictures. Enjoy.

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

#6. Eagle Tower. Perhaps 50ft from the base to the top. I’ve been waiting for it to fall on hiway 140 for years now. (lol)

#7. Savage’s Trading Post at the mouth of the South Fork of the Merced. I’ll touch on this later. As far as the sign is concerned, remember; “History is written by the victors”.

#8. If you’re up here in the summer, watch out. Black widow spiders like to put strands across pathways like this one.

#9. I use to be able to drive down (on the other side,) to this place to visit an old prospector and to prospect. Now, there’s a gate about a mile up the road. I guess the new owners don’t want uninvited guests. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in a position to take a picture of the gulch. Back in the 70s and 80s, I found some sweet nuggets up there.

#10. In the lower half of the picture, you can see what looks like an old road. That was the bed of the Yosemite Valley RR. Just above the RR bed and to the extreme left of the picture, you can see how the old, ancient bed-rock is split vertically. Just one of many, many places that could use a good metal detector.

 

[EagleDown]

Sorry, the last picture didn't post. Or I made a mistake.

 

[calisdad]

Hey Eagle,

Sometimes the lemonade is sweeter than it was remembered. Looks like a nice day, I can't see 1/4 mile at the moment.

Old J. Savage got around. He's credited as being the first white man to step foot in Yosemite valley, finding it after 'tracking' some indians. He also settled Savage Diggins, aka Big Oak Flat, which turned out some $28,000,000 in gold through WWI.

Thanks for the pics.

C-dad

 

[EagleDown]

Calisdad,

Of course, you're right. (About the lemonade.) Yeah, that sign at Savage's Trading Post is a little truth, and a lot of bull. According to townsfolk of that era, the white men wanted the gold bearing land and park so much that several of them dressed up like injuns and attacked a stage stop. I don't remember the name of the mountain, but I think it was around Darrah. (East of Mariposa.) That gave the greedy ones the excuse to invade Yosemite. Actually, the Miwoks were friendly outside of their territory, but refused to leave their ancestrial homes so that the miners could move in.

An interesting story, whether true or not, I can't say: The Miwoks came to the Savage trading post for goods. They thought Savage was crazy to give them fine warm blankets for the worthless yellow stones that were just laying in the creeks and dry bed-rock. But, they were willing to gather as much as he wanted, as long as he was willing to trade for it. So, as the story goes, in 1850, in fear of the indians becoming "angry", he had at least 2 pickle barrels full of gold from his trading. While loading his supplies on wagons, he determined that the barrels were too heavy to risk taking. So, he buried them somewhere near the mouth of the South Fork. He was killed about 2 years later without ever returning to reclaim the gold.

The story on the sign about John hite is pretty much fact. You HAVE to have a 4X4 to get in and out, but you can go into Hite's Cove and see what's left of the buildings. Or, I'd better revise that, 10 years ago you could drive in, but I'm not sure but what a gate might be across the road now.

Anyway, if you can still go in, you'll find a couple of black-sand beaches that are/were rich in fine gold. And it should be great for metal detecting since it's so far off of the beaten path.

If you're able, check it out. (And let us know.) (lol)