Desert Hermit
Jr. Member
- Feb 1, 2014
- 86
- 75
- Detector(s) used
- MineLab GPX 5000
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Found Two Placer Claims Last Worked 1800's
I've been working myself to death trying to locate gold out here in the California Desert, it finally paid off. I've located two separate placer claims that somehow have gone overlooked since the early 1800's. Out physically prospecting didn't reveal these finds, studying closed and abandoned mines and claims didn't do it either; studying history revealed it. For whatever reason neither of these can be found in any database I've researched, how something like this slips through the cracks I have no clue.
One is 160 acres, the other is 40 acres, neither are posted. When you live in the desert one thing you learn real quick is that lots of people come and quickly go, and many things and memories are eventually buried by the hands of time, and mountains of blowing sand
.
I visited the 40 acre placer claim yesterday and collected a pile of rust stained quartz, crushed it up and panned away. One thing I love about panning crushed quartz is the pan empties fast and you get to the bottom of things (gold) real quick. There it was, just like the old feller left her in the 1800's, gold in my pan!
When I can safely share more info. you'll understand one big reason it's lasted this long without being discovered. I owe a great big thank you to the user on TN, rodoconnor. I've explored this desert for years and never knew of a couple places he had mentioned to me, that got me to researching the area much deeper, thank you Rod!
There's Gold In Them Thar Hills! But not just limited to them thar areas alone. One thing this find has taught me is that in the early days not all prospectors filed their finds as claims, this is one of those times. Basically I've called these placer claims but they were never claimed; here you have a great example of two men that wanted to get all they could without alerting others to their find. I didn't live in the wild days of the 1800's but history tells me that these two men probably lived a little bit longer because they only shared their news and location with close and trusted friends.
My heart was set on hard rock mining and filing a lode, but what the heck, this will work!
I have no idea what eventually became of these men or why not a soul followed up on what they had left behind, all I know at this point and moment in time is that I am truly grateful to these two men and Rod.
I've been working myself to death trying to locate gold out here in the California Desert, it finally paid off. I've located two separate placer claims that somehow have gone overlooked since the early 1800's. Out physically prospecting didn't reveal these finds, studying closed and abandoned mines and claims didn't do it either; studying history revealed it. For whatever reason neither of these can be found in any database I've researched, how something like this slips through the cracks I have no clue.
One is 160 acres, the other is 40 acres, neither are posted. When you live in the desert one thing you learn real quick is that lots of people come and quickly go, and many things and memories are eventually buried by the hands of time, and mountains of blowing sand
.I visited the 40 acre placer claim yesterday and collected a pile of rust stained quartz, crushed it up and panned away. One thing I love about panning crushed quartz is the pan empties fast and you get to the bottom of things (gold) real quick. There it was, just like the old feller left her in the 1800's, gold in my pan!
When I can safely share more info. you'll understand one big reason it's lasted this long without being discovered. I owe a great big thank you to the user on TN, rodoconnor. I've explored this desert for years and never knew of a couple places he had mentioned to me, that got me to researching the area much deeper, thank you Rod!
There's Gold In Them Thar Hills! But not just limited to them thar areas alone. One thing this find has taught me is that in the early days not all prospectors filed their finds as claims, this is one of those times. Basically I've called these placer claims but they were never claimed; here you have a great example of two men that wanted to get all they could without alerting others to their find. I didn't live in the wild days of the 1800's but history tells me that these two men probably lived a little bit longer because they only shared their news and location with close and trusted friends.
My heart was set on hard rock mining and filing a lode, but what the heck, this will work!
I have no idea what eventually became of these men or why not a soul followed up on what they had left behind, all I know at this point and moment in time is that I am truly grateful to these two men and Rod.Amazon Forum Fav 👍
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