Mystery in the Mine- Gold Dust Returns Read online

  Mystery in the Mine

  Gold Dust Returns

  Thomas Trimble

  Second Edition 2-1

  Mystery in the Mine Copyright © 2019 by Thomas Trimble. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Thomas Trimble

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Thomas Trimble

  Visit my website at https://www.ttrimb1e.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: June 2019

  Kindle Direct Publishing

  Second Edition

  Most of the fiction on the California Gold Rush makes it sound like one grand, boyish adventure. However, when you read the real history, you realize that it wasn't that way at all.

  — Laurence Yep Chinese-American Writer

  Quiet Time at Home

  The Start of Life-Changing

  It’s a beautiful warm spring day. The Nevada sun is shining bright, but that notorious heat hasn’t come yet. There’s a cabin sitting on the middle of a good size piece of land. The cabin is old but has been slightly renovated. A man is sitting on the porch reading a sales book that came in today’s mail, just to have something to do. The porch faces north toward Las Vegas. The view includes the beautiful mountains near Red Rock Canyon, adding a nice color to the desert landscape. His land is covered with natural Joshua trees and assorted cactus. A beautiful desert-scape. A month ago, there was a burst of color as all the desert plants bloomed.

  Michael’s faithful dog Blacky is laying at his feet kind of dozing off. Blacky is a 12-year-old black Labrador Retriever who has been with Michael since he was a pup.

  After the last ten years as a casino General Manager, Michael was able to retire comfortably a few years ago. His wife had passed away from cancer two years earlier. He just couldn’t see the need to keep getting up every day and go to work and take on that responsibility. A casino GM is surrounded by constant problems, managing staff, cash flow, and vendors, so he planned and executed his great escape.

  He bought this cabin on a good size, piece of land, about 5-acres in the tiny town called Great Springs, NV. He had this little two-bedroom cabin renovated and modernized with important things like a flush toilet and a shower. He also added a propane stove in the kitchen and a water heater. It’s not fancy but it seems to work for him.

  Great Springs is a very quiet town average population of just over 200 people. The people in the town have tried to turn Great Springs into a tourist destination. No one thinks that will ever really happen even though it’s located about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas. The town does have a kind of famous Gold Rush Saloon. Leftover from the late years of the real gold rush days. It’s a bar and general store combined. The store sells all the supplies people living here need. The last thing they want to do is drive to the big city to shop. The Gold Rush Saloon is now owned by the Jamison family, descendants of gold miners who came here in the first rush.

  Built in 1903, the Gold Rush Saloon is known for having liquored up many a thirsty miner. It's also known for its patterned tin exterior and interior walls, some resembling bricks. The Gold Rush may be the nation's oldest stamped-metal building still standing.

  The town has a small gas station and café combined, run by Mrs. Ruth Markle, a sweet older lady. She and her daughter Sara run the business with a couple of part-time employees to help out and cook. You know the food is good because the truckers driving down I-15 southwest from Vegas drive the extra few miles to come over to see Mrs. Markle. There are always seven or eight trucks parked around the place. Mrs. Markle’s place is also the local post office.

  There is a garage in town where you can get Mark the mechanic to fix almost anything. That’s really about all there is to Great Springs. Michael’s place is a couple of miles out of town and very much alone.

  He just got home from a trip to Mrs. Markle’s to have some breakfast and pick up his mail. She does make the best pancakes you’ve ever eaten. They are the size of a large dinner plate. Three of those, some of the real maple syrup and a side of sausage will hold you for most of the day. That with a cup of the best coffee for miles.

  So, Blacky and Michael are out on the porch so he can read the rest of the mail. He got a very official-looking letter addressed to him, Mr. Michael Bishop, from Mr. Mathew Jones, Esq., Attorney at Law. He was very curious about what fun this could be, so he ripped it open and pulled out a several page letter on very official legal paper.

  As he started to read, suddenly he thought he’d been transported to the middle of a strange novel. The letter explained the kind of thing that just doesn’t happen. At least before right now, he didn’t think it ever happened.

  The lawyer explained that he was the current executor of the estate of one Samuel Bishop, nicknamed ‘Gold Dust’ Bishop. It seems that Mr. Jones over several years had traced the descendants of Gold Dust. What he discovered is that through some ‘relations’ that Michael never knew anything about, old Gold Dust was his fourth Great Grandfather.

  Apparently, from the letter, Gold Dust had passed on about 80 years ago, at the ripe old age of 97. The Will had been given to one or two generations of Bishop relatives and they didn’t recognize the value of the inheritance and let it just slide by. Thinking Gold Dust was just a crazy old man.

  Finally, the Will surfaced when his Grandfather died in about 1985. At that time, his father had already died from cancer.

  It took Mr. Jones the last three years to legally trace the links and find Michael, to resolve the still open Will that had bumped through people in the Bishop family since 1930.

  The reason for his interest became apparent on the next page. It was a deed. Michael carved his way through all the legal jargon and finally realized that this was the deed to what was a gold mine during the 1850s. The Double Pick Mine located near Nevada City, California.

  Michael thought, “What the hell does this mean?”.

  Discover the Mine

  I own a Gold Mine?

  Continuing to read the letter from Mr. Mathew Jones, Esq., Michael learned a bit more about the Double Pick Mine. Apparently, his Grandfather, Samuel “Gold Dust” Bishop had a real going gold operation in about 1853. The Double Pick Mine is located about five miles outside of Nevada City a hub of gold mining at that time. The claim consists of four acres on the side of a mountain. The claim was staked and registered in 1852.

  In his Will, Gold Dust left to Michael’s Great Grandfather, ownership of the mine and about $50,000. Mr. Jones got $20,000 and left Michael about $30,000 and the mine. That confirmed Michael’s thought that there are no other survivors of the Bishop's side of the family. In the details, it said that this deed is also for the complete mineral rights on the claim. The letter contained a plot plan of the mine and the name of a Theodore Burns, a surveyor in Nevada City. It said that Mr. Burns would be able to show him the markers of the claim and where the mine entrance is located.

  According to the letter, there are no improvements on the land except mining equipment, so there is no place to live or sleep. Most of the claim was on the side of a heavily wooded mountain with a large clearing at the mine entrance. Heck, the important part of a mine is underground anyway. Apparently, the
re was a cabin back when Gold Dust was there but it had long ago collapsed and turned back to sawdust. Michael had to jump on the Internet and find out some information about, Nevada City and gold mining in the 1850s.

  Nevada City is now a tourist attraction bringing visitors from all over the world who come to see the town and experience the feel of the gold rush. The entire downtown area is a National Historic Landmark. Offering tourists all the normal restaurants, motels, shops, boutiques, museums and a lot of old-fashioned hospitality. Near the Tahoe National Forest, Nevada City is surrounded by deep green pine-covered hills. Today the town has a population of just over 2,800. Back in the middle of the gold rush in about 1850, there were over 10,000 rowdy people living there. Miners and all the people who supply everything to them. That reminded Michael of an old saying, “… that in a gold rush the people who make the most money are the ones who sell them the food, picks, and shovels.”.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Michael caught the fever and decided that he needed to make plans to go visit his gold mine. He closed up the cabin and with Blacky by his side headed out. They drove his old car up to Las Vegas to get what they needed for this adventure. Michael decided that he was going to make a go at this and stay there long enough to try to revive the mine. He really didn’t like the idea of having to drive back and forth to Nevada City every day.

  So, his master plan was to stay on his property. He needed a place to sleep and eat, he needed a travel trailer but before that, he needed a pickup truck. His first stop was a very happy Chevrolet dealer where he traded his car and bought a crew cab, 4x4, long bed, 1 Ton pickup with a healthy engine to be able to haul things and tow the trailer. Then to make the RV dealer’s day he bought a 50-foot travel trailer with extra-large tanks so it could be self-contained for weeks. He had done a lot of camping with his parents when he was young, so he knew how this all went.

  In about an hour, they had it all hooked up to the pickup truck, batteries charged, propane and water tanks filled. He visited their RV store and picked up supplies, sleeping bags, camping gear, cooking equipment, a good stack of firewood and camp food which lasts for months with no refrigeration. He even thought to buy two portable solar panels and a converter battery unit. In the hot California sun, they could run the RVs electrical system and keep the batteries charged. The trailer did have a small propane generator too. The RV store pointed him to a small place just over the California line where he could buy mining equipment and get some information.

  So, Michael and Blacky were ready to hit the road. It took just a little over two hours to get into CA. They stopped at Sam’s Mining Supply a little off the road place that without the information from the RV dealer he would never have found it. Sam was a relative of some gold rush miners too. This store was a part hardware store, part mining equipment, and part general store. Michael and Sam had a nice talk about mining. Sam had been out there trying the mining routine a few years ago. However, he had just gotten a random piece of land to try. He said since Michael was going to an actual mine his odds were far better.

  Sam sold him some basic mining gear, equipment for six miners (thinking ahead) and showed him how it all worked. Since the mine was kind of, actually very remote, he suggested a Satellite phone. That sounded like a great idea, so Sam fixed him up with one. In about an hour, Michael knew how to find, dig and pan gold. Now all he needed was for there to be water and gold on the Double Pick Mine.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Michael and Blacky headed on stopping at Nevada City. They both needed some food and drink and a little rest. So, they pulled into a fancy tourist truck stop kind of place. After some food and rest, Michael pulled over to an RV parking area and asked the attendant if I could just leave the trailer for a few hours. He collected a fee and pointed him to a spot. He set the trailer like an RV expert and disconnected it. Then they drove into Nevada City to find Theodore Burns the Surveyor. He met Mr. Burns and showed him the letter and the deed.

  He said to jump in the truck and he would direct them out to the mine. Well, the mine was some 8-10 miles outside of town. A couple of miles on well-paved roads and then the roads went really bad, plus climbing up the hill. It made Michael very glad he had gone for the extra powerful heavy-duty pickup with 4-wheel drive. He was going to need it to pull the trailer out here.

  Eventually, Mr. Burns pointed to a pole on the side of the road and said, “Pull over there.”. Michael pulled over and they got out. Mr. Burns walked up to the pole and pointed to a metal plate attached to it. On the plate were the words:

  CA Claim 63452 – Northwest marker

  Mr. Burns told him to get back into the truck. After driving another mile or so, downhill, he pointed to another pole and said stop there. They again went over and walked up to the pole. Another marker plate said:

  CA Claim 63452 – Southwest Marker

  Back in the truck in about a half a mile, they came to an unmarked ‘road’. Mr. Burns said to turn there so Michael turned left into this almost road. Came to another pole. Similar marker sign read:

  CA Claim 63452 – Southeast Marker

  Another left turn and they came to the final marker and the plaque that read:

  CA Claim 63452 – Northeast Marker

  About 50 feet further Mr. Burns said turn left into this road. They quickly came to a sign across the road. Held ten feet in the air, by hand-hewn posts on each side, the wood sign proudly spanned the road. The sign was also hand made with words carved into the wood. They said Double Pick Mine. It had a crude carving of a cross pick logo and the name, S. ‘Gold Dust’ Bishop 1852.

  Mr. Burns said, “This is the place! Pull right over there.”. He pointed to a clearing in the forest, where there was an entrance to a mine which had been boarded over to keep people out, “No Trespassing” carved in the outer board. A bunch of heavily rusted mine equipment sat all around the entrance. Michael didn’t even know what some of it was. The most exciting thing was that his Grandfather was smart enough to build the mine next to a stream and lucky for Michael it hadn’t dried up.

  Michael got his flashlight and walked up to the entrance trying to see as much as he could through the interlaced boards. He actually couldn’t see much of anything except some more mining equipment and a very deep tunnel. The light kind of just disappeared down this hole.

  He asked Mr. Burns, “How long is the tunnel?”.

  “It’s about a half-mile long. It took Gold Dust over a year to dig it with his two helpers.”

  “Did they ever find much?”.

  Mr. Burns responded, “I am not sure but I did find some records that said he showed up one day at the assayer’s office with almost twenty-five pounds of gold nuggets or 400 ounces. At the gold price then of $20.67 an ounce, that was a value of $8,268 in one day. Today that gold would be worth $510,800.”.

  “Mr. Burns, do you think there is any left?”.

  “Mr. Bishop, I certainly do and I wish you good luck!”.

  So, they jumped back in the truck and he took Mr. Burns back to the office. “Mr. Burns I hope to be talking to you again and I thank you for your help.”.

  “You are very welcome Mr. Bishop. Maybe after you get it going, I will stop out and see if I can help.”.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  After dropping off Mr. Burns, he headed back to hook up the trailer. He towed the trailer out to the mine. It was a very slow trip bouncing over pot-holes and rocks. Places on the road were not even as wide as the trailer so it pushed the bushes out of the way. Michael was now even happier about selecting this muscular pick-up to tow the trailer over these bad roads. However, they did get there.

  He unhooked the trailer and got it set-up and level. He set out the solar panels and ran the power cable to the trailer. Everything was working fine. Michael changed into work clothes and grabbed some tools. He wanted to get a look at this mine that he owns.

  Grabbing a big prybar he forced off the boards blocking the entrance. The rusted nails made a loud creaking sound as the pr
ybar showed them no mercy. He grabbed the nice orange helmet that Sam at the mine store had recommended. It had a battery pack that clips on your belt and a very bright LED headlight. He took his backpack with some water, extra flashlights and some small tools. Took along the prybar and welcomed himself to his Double Pick Mine.

  Blacky decided to tag along for a while. The dog was bravely walking four feet behind Michael. They walked in about 50 yards. Then Michael noticed a place where the wall of the mine had been opened with a pick. Dirt and rock were laying on the ground. He shined the light on it. What he saw was very strange it appeared that it was a new pile of dirt. Everything else in the mine was dusty and looked undisturbed. This pile looked fresh. Michael thought, “Why in the hell would that be?”.

  This didn’t make any sense so he decided to keep walking as the dark damp mine sloped down into the mountain.

  Maybe a total of 75 yards into the mine now. He could just barely see the light from the entrance. Now he found out what they mean when they say it’s as dark as a mine. If he didn’t have the bright headlamp, he wouldn’t even see the walls around him. Blacky was now only two feet behind Michael, it looked like the darkness was getting to him too. Michael thought he needed to make a mental note they need work lights in here and some ventilation.

  Walking on, they came to what looked like the start of a tunnel branching off the main mine shaft to his right. He pointed the light in and could see that it only went about 20 feet. Looking closely at the walls, this too looked fairly recent.

  Had someone been breaking into the mine and then replacing the boards on the outside? That didn’t seem possible because those boards looked undisturbed too.

  Looking closely at the back wall of this new looking tunnel, it appeared that there was a dark band of rock about halfway up the wall. Maybe two feet high, it ran almost horizontal from one side to the other. It had a completely different consistency than the rest of the wall. He could almost picture that at one time in history it had been the bottom of a river and he was looking at the side view of a layer of sediment.