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

[EagleDown]

Hokay, Now that I finally got those 3 photos posted, (after 3 revisions,) perhaps I can get on with Kurt’s questions and comments.

First, I wasn’t in Bishop long enough to do any serious prospecting. But, I was friends with several Piautes in the area. Though I don’t recall any mention of the “Crystal Cave” mentioned in the links you gave us, I do recall a tale about a quartz vein that had large deposits of gold in it. (Large enough that “chunks” of gold could be carved out with a knife.) I didn’t dig for information as it was suppose to be a tribal secret. I don’t know if this is the same vein as the one mentioned in those links, but, knowing that quartz veins can extend for many miles, it’s not unreasonable to imagine that it is part of the same one, but many miles away. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t sure but what they were just joshing the flat-lander. (Me.) I was still young and having been born and raised in Florida, The Mountains of California were a new experience for me.

Though I’d love to see the crystal cave mentioned in the links, I don’t recall ever hearing of it. If you think you could relocate it, I wouldn’t be adverse to going to the area in my Explorer 4X4.

I lived on Triangle Rd. for a while, back in the 80s. On my last trip, I noticed the house across the road from the end of Triangle Rd. (On hiway 140) is boarded up. That’s one place I always thought I’d like to own. But now, with the depressed realty market, don’t know if it would be worth buying. (Even if I could afford it.)

I went to take some pictures of the old “Spanish Mine” I discovered by McCabe Flats, and found that not only did the BLM fill the portal, they seem to have caved it in for at least the first 40ft or so. Grrrrrr!! And if that’s not bad enough, the pictures I took of the location are a part of the ones that mysteriously disappeared during the transfer to my computer. Go figure!!

Well, I have to get busy on a Sterling Silver bracelet I’m making, so I’ll be back later today to answer questions, (if any,) and to post some more photos.

Eagle

 

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[EagleDown]

These first 2 photos are of the same spot. I took the second one just a little lower, to show the bed-rock that was being cleaned. (You'll have to look close at the bottom of the photo to see the bed-rock.

About 1978, I was walking up the road when I spotted the stacked rock that appears on the upper right side of the photo. So, with my curiosity aroused, I just had to climb up the wash to see what went on there. A short distance up, I came upon a flat area on my left side. I couldn't determine what had stood there in the dim past, but someone had built a stone wall to keep the flat area stable. It must have worked, because it was still there.

A year or so later, I was dredging in the river, just down river from this wash when I started getting a lot of "pickers" out of clay that had been deposited on some bed-rock ledges I was working. Later, when I came out of the water, I took a long discerning look at the river bank, between the river and the old rail road. Then I realised that there must have been a small mill up that wash. With what evidence I had to go on, I could see where the clay and small pieces of quartz had built up into a large mound on the way down to the river.

Another place where I would like to persue an idea with my dredge.

The last two photos are pretty much self explanatory.

And, that's it for now.

Enjoy,

Eagle

 

[ellingtonk]

Hi,
thanks for the feedback on the desert crystal cave.

Sorry to delay -- I went hiking on Bear Creek saturday & got bit by a tick -- I fell pretty ill this week & have feared it's Lyme disease. Personal drama aside:

We did hike upstream (from Briceberg), just beyond the retaining wall, and panned some alluvial concentrates from the bottom of the hydro-blasting. We didn't have a detector, but found some gold-dust & large iron crystals (up to 2mm).
We found some drill-holes on boulders that had tumbled down, & I'd say they were drilling & blasting the ore outcroppings as well as squirting down the hill. Or perhaps the bore-holes held equipment but they looked like blasting-cap drill-holes.

Speaking of treasure on this creek,
when I first started going here (in the late 80s, early 90s), a couple of fellas were living in the stone-slab miners cabin.
We shared stuff & swapped stories & became friends. One fella was a native american, and the other I'd guess was Irish.
They often got into bragging wars about who'd plucked the biggest nugget out of the creek. We'd been hauling our dredge in/out of the canyon (me & Brian Osborn) and finding alot of dust & medium pieces, but they always had bigger nuggets. They didn't have many places to hide their nuggets, besides on their bodies, so they hid them in the rock cracks of the cabin & in nooks just outside of it. I remember one of our last visits; they were pretty loaded from partying & couldn't remember where all their nuggets were. Our indian friend was displaying a 1.5oz beauty, after fishing it out from the cabin's foundation, saying he'd plucked nearby doing some 'Cracking'. Then to try to top it, the Irish fella pulled out a 7/8oz nugget & said, yeah well you worked plum near all day for that & I plucked this one out in 1 pan!
Anyway, you get the flavor of our visits... but this time they said the Forest Service was running them out for 'squatting' saying they exceeded the campsite stay limit law (or some BS)... which was reason for their getting drunk & lamenting.

Next visit they were gone. We heard tale (from yokels) that NSF indeed hauled em off & warned them not to come back. I never saw them again.
So are there a few nuggets lingering about that cabin? I always figured so.

I did alot of scouting & cracking myself on this upstream on this creek, as they did, & almost nearly always came up empty, but the few times I hit the gold it was coarse. For this reason I call it 'nuggets or nothing' there. The area I like to go is above the 2nd set of cabins (above sweetwater fork) & the old trommel...

But since I got 'bit' I'm wary to go back now... but had alot of memories there. It's a beautiful canyon;
anyone that goes in please pick up your trash & watch for tick-bites!

One more thing I heard a rumor the tax-collector was coming up out of Briceberg on the Bear-creek trail when his horse slipped fording the 2nd crossing (heading up) & the gold spilled; and the real location was covered up to throw off seekers. But many stories abound & this is just another variant to add to the puzzle.

Thanks for swapping tales (and the photos),
Kurt

 

[EagleDown]

You're very welcome my friend. And thank you for your post, as it adds a little more to the local history. I remember that old trommel. At one time, I had a 977H Catapiller traxcavator down there, (you might have seen one of the piles near the junction.) and was highly tempted to haul it out. But, good sense prevailed. I wouldn't have known what to do with it, if I did haul it out.

By all rights, it should be fairly rich in that area, as the base of the mountain is on the same geological formation that the King Solomon mine is on. And as I stated earlier, the King Solomon was listed in the Colorado Book of Mining and Geology as the richest mine in CA during its' operation. The gold I've seen from that mine is incredible. If you can, picture a piece of sugar quartz the size of your fist. Now, picture that same piece of quartz as having veins of gold throughout it, up to a half inch thick. One of the pieces I saw was at least 2/3 gold. Now that's something to bring sweet dreams. (And that piece came from a surface find adjacent to the King Solomon property.)

Anyway, I hope to return to there before much longer. Perhaps we can get together and check out the area with my detector.

Thanks again to your post!!

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

Well Eagle,

You've certainly been busy since my last visit. You've posted some great pictures of very interesting looking rocks and accumulations of good looking dirt. If I was in your neck of the woods, I'd let you play with the 5000 and I have no doubt that you'd scare up some nuggets with it.

There used to be a tab at the top of my page that let me toggle to find your page. Now it's gone. I had to go to your name and check recent posts by you and that's how I got back to your thread. I wonder why they changed that toggle menu?

Regardless, I'm glad I found a way back here, and it's great to see what a kind person you are to share all of your knowledge and secrets with everyone. You're one in a million and I certainly appreciate every word you take the time to pen, and every picture you take the time to post.

You're doing an excellent job here with your thread, and you're attracting tons of traffic from people that love to sit and learn at your feet.

I'm not around as much as I'm out chasin' the gold now that the weather's shaken out a bit. However, I'll check in when I get the chance. Thanks again for all that you do and for all that you share.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Halito Lanny,

Thank you for the very kind words!! I don't know the reasoning behind moving my thread, (and many others,) perhaps it is easier for Admin. to keep track of. I found a short note by Jeff of PA;

Can't Find a Treasure Legend ?
Posted Jul 10, 2009, 03:27:14 PM
Try

TreasureNet U.S. State Listings

http://forum.treasurenet.com/States

it may have been moved there

When you get there, click on California and it will take you to another page where you have to click on "Treasure Legends". Then you will see my thread. The http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,325842.0.html

No wonder that my reader count has slowed down, huh?

Oh well, I didn't start this thread for the fame did I??

Actually, I started it because of posts like one I just found in CA Treasure Legends. (Actually a reply that stated that

"All the lores and legends you can read of (lost or hidden mines, military payroll heists, and all such superstition), are just that: Mostly embellished superstition, that make for good reading in old treasure mags, dime-store books, etc..."

Though I respect the right of others to have their own opinions, I do resent them posting their negativity in a forum such as Tnet. I agree that there are a lot of misleading treasure stories floating around among treasure hunters/prospectors, but a large percentage of them are based on very real incidences. Such as this one: by TheRandyMan.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,407858.msg2902430.html#msg2902430

I also recall being told a story (and being shown a $5 gold piece) by a person about 40 years ago; he told me: "I passed this old empty, 1800s house almost every day as I drove to and from work. I always thought that I should hit it with my metal detector. Well, Friday, I read in the paper that it was slated for demolishion within a few days. So, early yesterday morning, I grabbed my metal detector and just after daylight, I headed over to it. I decided the best place to start would be the back yard".

"As I rounded the corner of the house, the first thing I noticed was a pile of dirt where someone had been digging. I walked over and looked in the hole that they had left. The dirt in the bottom was fairly smooth and rounded, which gave me the idea that there might have been one of those small cast-iron kettles in it. I noticed the glint of gold on the edge of the hole and picked up this"; (hands me a $5 gold coin.) So, from the freshness of the dig, it seems that he was about 4 hours late.

My point being; since the dawn of time, man has hidden and buried his treasures, be they stone tools or gold and silver, with the expectations of retrieving them at a later date. Then, due to circumstances, (death, disability, memory, or fear of being caught) never reclaimed it.

There have been so many of these "Lost caches" that have been found and publicized over the last couple of years alone, that it is sheer idiocy to proclaim: "All the lores and legends you can read of (lost or hidden mines, military payroll heists, and all such superstition), are just that"

O.K. Done with my rant!!

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[racefanrob]

Hi Eagle,
I'm finally heading up to Coarsegold this weekend. Hope to see you up that way. I will be trying to make it to Briceburg. Taking the mxt and hoping it finds some of the lost treasures you always speak about. If not atleast the scenery will be way better than the Hemet area. Take care sir and hoping you add more memories soon.

Rob
P.S. Once I have a few extra bucks I will send the rock from my post. It was the pic with 4 rocks and it was the one on the left in the middle right?

 

[EagleDown]

Hi Eagle,
I'm finally heading up to Coarsegold this weekend. Hope to see you up that way. I will be trying to make it to Briceburg. Taking the mxt and hoping it finds some of the lost treasures you always speak about. If not atleast the scenery will be way better than the Hemet area. Take care sir and hoping you add more memories soon.

Rob
P.S. Once I have a few extra bucks I will send the rock from my post. It was the pic with 4 rocks and it was the one on the left in the middle right?

Halito Rob,
Sorry to say, I doubt that I'll be heading that way this week-end. I've been pretty tied up for the past month in the sale of my online business. It seems that with me, it's always been "Business before pleasure". Not that I entend it to be that way.

No rush on the rock, just whenever you do. As we say: "When the time is right".

thanks for the heads up!

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

Eagle my friend. So good to see that you're still posting, and that you're posting about the solid reality of real finds. For some people it's easier to believe that stories of treasures and legends is just hot air, but it's great to know that there are still treasures being found. I'm off to read your link to the Randyman's thread.

All the best, and please, please keep on writing your excellent stories which are genuine treasures in their own right,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Halito My Friends,

Yep, I'm back. I can't help but wonder if anyone missed me.

My computer finally "gave up the ghost". It seems that all of the problems I've been having with it over the past 6 or 7 months were not viruses. My motherboard was sick, and finally died on me. So, I had to save up to buy a new one. But now, she works like new. (Oops, I guess she is.)

I'll try to get back in here soon to post some finds made in and around Mariposa. (Only the ones I have verified knowledge of though.)

Thanks for dropping by!!

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle my friend. So good to see that you're still posting, and that you're posting about the solid reality of real finds. For some people it's easier to believe that stories of treasures and legends is just hot air, but it's great to know that there are still treasures being found. I'm off to read your link to the Randyman's thread.

All the best, and please, please keep on writing your excellent stories which are genuine treasures in their own right,

Lanny

Halito My Friend,

Sorry it's taken so long to answer, but as explained above, my computer went south on me. Anyway, I'm back. No more borrowing someone else's computer for a few minutes to try to keep up to date.

Thank you so much for your post and reassuring words. They mean a lot to me.

Thanks again and hope you're finding a bunch of those sassy nuggets!!!

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

FYI, the market closed about 10 minutes ago. The little nugget that was worth about $46.00 when I got it, is now worth (are you ready for this?).......$99.60. That's at $1660.10 an ounce. My little nugget is 1.2 dwt. (1.2 pennyweight)

Talk about lost treasure, in Sept. 1979, I sold 14 oz. for $92.00 an ounce. I also gave a 3/4 oz. nugget to my good friend Jim. I wonder if he would give it back.

I hope you've all been saving your gold and silver finds. The economy is getting hairy.

Eagle

 

[Got_4by4]

Hailto Eagle,

I hope everything is alright with you. It has been awhile and we miss your conversation.

Take care,
Steve

 

[calisdad]

Hailto Eagle,

I hope everything is alright with you. It has been awhile and we miss your conversation.

Take care,
Steve

ditto.

As I look out my window I see smoke from a fire that is burning on both sides of the Merced that must be quite near Briceburg. Hope you are well.

C-dad

 

[Flakmagnet]

As we now all know the fire was upstream from Briceburg.

I dredged with Jack in Briceburg for years in the late 70's early 80's.
I still have the five inch dredge I used, it's stored in perfect condition
at a friends house in Mt. Bullion.

I miss those days.

 

[EagleDown]

Hailto Eagle,

I hope everything is alright with you. It has been awhile and we miss your conversation.

Take care,
Steve

ditto.

As I look out my window I see smoke from a fire that is burning on both sides of the Merced that must be quite near Briceburg. Hope you are well.

C-dad

As we now all know the fire was upstream from Briceburg.

I dredged with Jack in Briceburg for years in the late 70's early 80's.
I still have the five inch dredge I used, it's stored in perfect condition
at a friends house in Mt. Bullion.

I miss those days.

Halito My Friends,

Yep, I'm back. Sorry if I caused any concern. I've spent the last month or so traveling here and there, trying to find a spot to migrate to. I think I want to get totally out of CA, as I don't see much of a future here. (As far as dredging and prospecting is concerned.) It seems like the "bonds" get tighter every year. Of course, it's getting the same throughout the U.S., but there are other states that don't intrude as much. Right now, in my mind, it's a "toss-up" as to whether I want to move to Montana, Colorado, Oregon or Idaho, though I'm leaning a bit towards Idaho. Gold, Opals and other gemstones.

In any case, I'll try to get back in here tonight to make a post about several finds that I have knowledge of, either from the local paper, or from a person that I'm sure was being truthful.

In the meanwhile, have a great day and I'll do my best to see you this evening.

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Hokay, here they are. Please don’t shoot me if you have knowledge of these finds and my dates are a little off. After all, it’s been over 25 years. (lol)

About 1984, I was down-river with my Miwok Brother Russell, when we came upon a big old “Bull Pine” that had been blown over by high winds during a rain storm. Russell said; “See that Bull Pine there”? “Two years ago, my Uncle was doing some panning here and when he went to dig some clay out from where the roots were, he found a pint Mason jar full of gold nuggets”. (We were about 200 yards up the N. Fork, from the Merced River.)

About 1984, there was an article in the Mariposa Gazette about a young boy at the middle school who during recess and during a break in the daily rain we were having, found a “sizable nugget” that had been uncovered by the rain.

In about 1985-86, a man was panning on Mariposa Creek just below town. When he went to dig between the roots of an oak tree, he found a old half pint whiskey flask. After taking great pains to get it out of the roots without breaking it, he found it was full of gold nuggets. (Mariposa Gazette)
About the same year, there was also a story about another person, who while panning in the same general area, found an old .32 cal. revolver.

There have been other finds in and around Mariposa, but I’ll save them for later, as I have some work that needs taking care of. Dang, I’m sure behind!!

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Halito My Friends,

Just a brief note to any of my friends who might be interested; I'm leaving here this morning, headed North. I entend to spend the night in Merced with a couple of friends. Then, I hope to be at Briceburg around noon on Wednesday.

Anyone who is interested and has the time are more than welcome to meet with me and join me in metal detecting and prospecting some of the places I've been writing of.

And, if you can't be with me, you can join me Spiritually and wish me luck.

In any case, watch this thread for my return. With any luck at all, perhaps I'll have some exciting photos too show.

Hoping to meet you there!!

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[calisdad]

Best of luck Eagle.
The water level has dropped considerably.
I'm off to Fallon to compete my boys or I'd join you.
regards-
C-dad

 

[EagleDown]

Hokay, it's Sunday morning and I've got most of the "pressing" work caught up. I still have a couple of little things to do, then.....I'll be back in this afternoon to tell you about my little trip to the Merced river.

Also, a short story about a very findable.....RICH.....vein of gold bearing quartz.

Later,

Eagle