The Lost Mines of the Desert - Part III: The Peg -Leg Mine

[pegleglooker]

Hi Oro and Cactus,
First of all, Thankx Cactus for posting the " correct " dates that will possibly give Mojave a shot ( I still personally think it is toooo far north though ). Oro, as far as what Gollum wrote.... I hate to say it, but what I was told by a old writer friend of mine ( he worked for Desert Magazine ), the story of " the man who found pegleg's gold " was not legit.. Jack Pepper had some of the black nuggets given to him by a friend, and those were the ones on display. After Jack and Choral split up, the letters ( from the pegleg finder ) slowed waaaaayyy down, and then after Jack passed there was ONLY one letter and then no more ( which I was told, was written by Choral to throw people off )..This is why I don't put a lot of stock in the " I found pegleg's gold " story...

PLL

 

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[pegleglooker]

hey gang,
I forgot to add, the reason the Peppars did this was to increase magazine sales..... and it worked BIGTIME!!!!

PLL

 

[cactusjumper]

Hi Roy,

"Wow Joe - that was almost too easy for you! Is that Fort Mohave/Mojave city in Arizona or CA? Thank you in advance,
Oroblanco"

If it were California, it would be Mojave. Just color me stupid.....

Slow night with nothing to do. Should have had a nap today.

Take care,

Joe

 

[Oroblanco]

Pegleglooker wrote

Jack Pepper had some of the black nuggets given to him by a friend, and those were the ones on display.

Hmm...so where did his "friend" get hold of black nuggets? Fall out of Choral Pepper's pockets?

Joe - from that short bit in the article, he didn't actually specify Pegleg went to Mojave CA, it could have been AZ. (A whole 'nother' theory... )
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[pegleglooker]

oro,
Check with Gollum on that I know he has posted here that there have been many places that the nuggets have been found. Could be the Chocolates, Fish Creek etc....

PLL

 

[gollum]

Roy,

I have a map that shows six places black nuggets have been found in SoCal. As a couple of them are in "protected areas", I'll have to wait until the hottest part of the summer to check them out.

The biggest problem is that at most of them, several feet of blow sand needs to be removed before being able to get to the nuggets on the hardpan. Even then, the nuggets are supposedly few and far between. As much as I would dearly love to find the motherload, I would be VERY happy to get one or two nice sized ones.

Best-Mike

 

[Oroblanco]

Pegleglooker wrote

Check with Gollum on that I know he has posted here that there have been many places that the nuggets have been found. Could be the Chocolates, Fish Creek etc....

Gollum wrote

I have a map that shows six places black nuggets have been found in SoCal.

So are you saying that the "nuggets" used for the magazine articles definitely came from one of these sites, or that it "could" have come from one of these sites? How do we know there was no Krylon involved, or that they were even gold?

Goes to show that we cannot believe everything we read!
Oroblanco

 

[pegleglooker]

hey Oro and gang,
From what I was told, the nuggets were real. Remember, Jack and Choral knew a lot of people.. It could have come from anywhere, I don't know just how many places in the states or worldwide that have black gold nuggets.They were kept in a glass case, and yes they would allow you to examine them ( at first ), but due to human nature ( want to be thieves ) they stopped. You could only look at them in the case. I started a post titled " the man who found peglegs gold " and I'm going to try to go in depth on it for everyone. But I will be moving the next 2 weeks, so I probably won't be able to dig in till after the first.... Hope to see ya there..

PLL

 

[Oroblanco]

Well the nuggets being real is in question, since the whole story was false, how could we be sure that those nuggets were genuine, un-altered?
<No hurry to answer, I know how moving can be! >

 

[pegleglooker]

hey Oro,
Remember that Jack (and Choral for that matter ), knew almost EVERYONE in or on the desert.The nuggets could have been " given " to them, or they could have acquired them in a ton of different ways. No one will " really " know for sure, ( except those who were there -and involved- went it all went down ). But what I was told was this " the whole story was cooked up to sell more magazines " ' it was a lie, simple as that ". Then like most Thr's I still started to ask questions about where the nuggets might have been. It was then that I realized that the mild laughter was not " for " me.... more like " about " me ( if you know what I' trying to say ).

PLL

 

[Oroblanco]

Well the "yolk" is on ME - for I was taken in by it. One of the key bits of evidence that will sway my opinion when we hear various stories of someone finding a long-lost mine (or treasure) is some GOLD (or silver, or treasure, etc) and the fact they "supposedly" or should I say "pretended" to have "received" black gold nuggets along with the letters sure was fair "proof" for me. (You know how some stories go - "I found the Lost Jack Mine but I don't have a SPECK of actual GOLD, for <fill in reasonable-sounding excuse here, such as but not limited to Indian attack, it is on a military base, drug smugglers built a crack house on top, etc> you just have to TRUST me")

However now we know it was all just a pack of lies to sell more magazines, how can we really be sure they were actual gold nuggets, or even if real gold, just natural gold nuggets that had been painted black or otherwise coated so as to deceive folks? If they are genuine, then where did they originate? I don't mind having a bit of "yolk" on me, but this does raise new questions.
Oroblanco

 

[pegleglooker]

Sorry Oro,
Maybe I should have been more clearer, the gold was ' verified " as real. Granted, I was there when it all went down. But what I was told is the gold was real. Prospectors and people who would have a knowledge of what " real " gold is, " verified " that is was gold. Now how they did that ?? I don't know, I wasn't there. Choral wore one on a necklace around her neck from time to time as well. The nuggets weren't all that big either ( they were about the size of a quarter ) see the pixs...





The story goes that the nuggets were " as big as walnuts ", well.... maybe flat small walnuts. Oro, I do believe the nuggets were real, they had to be for the story to have some " salt " to it. I don't think that Jack and Choral, would take the " chance " of being accused of a easily proven lie. So the nuggets were real enough.. BUT, that doesn't mean they were " pegleg " nuggets.... Just real gold nuggets that could have come from anywhere. From the Chocolate Mts, Mohave desert, Signal Mt., or points in between.

PLL

 

[auferret]

I've been searching old maps for Mojave or Mohave. I found 3. Fort Mojave, which is in Arizona near the borders of California and Nevada. Below that is Mohave Rock, just south of Needles.



The third is the town of Mojave, which is located east of the Tehachapi Mts



If it was the town above, I wonder if we are looking in the wrong area. This is from Buried Treasures of California by W.C Jameson.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

auferret:

Good research! You were certainly smart to check both spellings.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find any of Mr. Jameson's books very reliable. Most of his information appears to come from readily available sources, and does not reflect local knowledge or original research.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[pegleglooker]

hey gang,
I hope Oro reads the above post, because this " may " explain where the nuggets " may " have come from. I'm sure Jack and Choral had real nuggets. Otherwise, this story would have NEVER gotten off the ground..

PLL

 

[Oroblanco]

HOLA amigos,
Pegleglooker, I do get what you are saying, but IF they were real gold nuggets (do we have any record from an assayer or geologist opinion about them?) and IF the black coating were also genuine, it doesn't answer where they came from. They could have come from Mongolia, where black-coated nugget stories also get circulated. They could have been "manufactured" - taking genuine gold nuggets and creating a black coating by coating with a fusible material (like iron) and heating it up until the fusible material becomes a nasty black coating. IF they came from the American Southwest, then who found them and where?

Oroblanco

 

[pegleglooker]

Hi Oro,
That is a question ONLY Jack, Choral and the man ( or woman ) who gave them the nuggets could answer. It's a question I would never attempt to answer, because I think we as " seekers " will never be able to. It's is the most valid of questions, yet, when there are only a limited amount of people with the true knowledge, and a daunting secret, that if told,would kill a magazine....I think it's a secret that will never be unraveled. You would have a better chance of knowing what color socks the Dutchman wore when he died, then where the nuggets came from..

Sorry

PLL

 

[auferret]

I found this interesting as it may be the area that the indian woman came from when she encountered the railroad workers. I was reading the 1893 report of the state mineralogist and found this section that mentions the “mythical Pegleg Smith mine”. Another thing that stuck out was that the uplift consists “entirely of eruptive rocks”. I have always wondered how nuggets could have ended up on top of a hill like some of the pegleg stories tell and the only thing that I could come up with is volcanic eruption.




It describes an area that is 75 miles east of Mount San Bernardino and 45 miles northeast of Walter’s Station, which is along the Southern Pacific Railroad, north of the Salton Sea. Playing with Google maps, I drew a line 75 miles east of Mount San Bernardino



Zooming in to the area and getting closer to ground level, that area almost looks like 3 hills.

 

[pegleglooker]

Hey ferret,
Remember that almost ANY mine found in ANY desert area, was considered " possibly " the lost pegleg mine. I think this article was simply stating where the " new " mining area was located at.

PLL

 

[auferret]

I realize that it only described a new mining district. The author obviously did not believe in the pegleg stories. There was also no mention of black nuggets. I only mentioned it because it is in the same general area of that the indian woman came from when she met the railroad workers. I hope I did not muddy the waters too much.