In Gold Country

#46 - Ringside - Flashlight beams bounced through the woods and in ones and twos and groups, more folks entered the fire's light.

For my newer subscribers. Here is an earlier post on Substack - A TRAIL’S END RANCH TALE.

And here is this week’s song – “Making You” – on my CD – ROUND PEGS AND SQUARE HOLES. 

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Chaps – 1, 2, 3 

- Ringside -              

Flashlight beams bounced through the woods and in ones and twos and small groups, more folks entered the fire's light. A flurry of activity ensued as chairs were unfolded, and salads, potatoes, and desserts made their way to the tables.  

Lastly, a group from the upper end of camp reached us, their red LED lights leading the way. These guys were younger, and they were having a good time already. They dollied up to the fire a couple of ice chests saying, "Dig in. We have Coronas, Coors, Millers, and Ales."  

A hearty welcome followed. The “Red Light Gang” seemed an apt name for them.

Bottles of wine and fifths of whiskey were placed on the tables, and flasks, from inside coats and pockets, appeared from time to time. 

Jim called out, “Fellow Earth Movers - Let’s Eat!” as he and Robert set down two big trays of meats and sausages. The tables were swarming with hands reaching for food and passing plates and utensils.

Dogs barked excitedly. Otis and four of his buddies made the rounds, darting in and out of the shadows and between legs and looking for handouts. They did well. My quiet evening with hot chocolate was not to be. I reached into the ice chest and pulled out a Corona. 

There were more people than I would have guessed. A mix of ages and professions here in the woods all enjoying the hunt for gold.  

Introductions followed as we mingled, sparks from the fire corkscrewed into the sky and conversation filled the air. It was show and tell of the days’ take. Everyone found some, and some a bit more.  

A pretty gal named Terri, one of the Red Lighters, found the biggest single piece, a nugget, working a crevasse. Maybe two to three pennyweights. About 3 - 4.5 grams worth over $200.00.

The Gang itself dredged the most gold.

They totaled twelve. Five guys and seven gals. They were hitting the same spot tomorrow hoping they were onto something big. These were the guys I had seen furthest downstream. They would be processing a lot of material. 

As best I remember, I met Fred, a geologist from So Cal up here visiting his daughter. He would soon be going up to Baker, Montana to work maintaining the Keystone XL pipeline.

Two guys, Paul and Howard, were drivers for UPS and Fed-Ex. We had driving in common. We each wished we had the others' job. Me, for the regular hours and defined territory, and them for the change of scenery. 

Johnny and Mike, who were running the dredge just downstream from Longino and Alex, I had seen before at Sonora, same as Jim. They said they were headed to Arizona soon. Janet is Mike's wife. She passed around a tray of snacks after setting more foodstuffs on a table. Johnny called her “Mother Lode”. Everyone dove into the eats. 

White Beard Jim with Steve, his son Dale, and Slow Mo Ronnie, and Denny and Rich, had their sluices beyond the dredge and were digging bedrock at the water line. They too, had been at the Sonora Gold Show.  

Jim and I talked about equipment for a while. He had been mining for a long time. Said "Keep it simple, grow into it, don't just buy stuff." He, like Longino, was easy to talk to and full of info. On Monday, he was going up to Rye Patch, in Nevada, an area well known for finding nuggets using metal detectors.  

He was a retired contractor and prospecting full time. His son now runs the company.  

Robert came over, a game warden for the state, up on the Klamath. He knew Jim and Longino “for a long time.” 

Harry and Kent I recognized as the two leading the convoy in as I was loading up my gear. 

Terri, with the day's big find, was a second-year student at UC Davis, studying Agriculture. Her father used to bring her with him prospecting “All the time”. Her boyfriend, Tom, was an outfielder for the school's ball team. I didn't catch what he was studying.  

They were working his dredge. He knows Longino. Their friends were digging for gold for the first time and were thrilled at having done so well. They were in their late teens, early twenties, and in full party mode.  

Gonzalez, a large fellow, was a fisherman gone for weeks at a time up and down the coast. Joe was a waiter at Alioto’s on Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco.  

Charles, a law professor at Stanford, was here with his family. His wife, Betty, was a middle school teacher in Palo Alto. They were well versed in the hunt for gold.  

Their preteen son and daughter and friend whose names I didn't get were down at the creek. They were the young ones at the fire start. Charles called for them to return to the firelight.  

Charles wasn't drinking. Neither was Longino, for that matter.  

An attractive woman, maybe thirty or so, named Jessica, was from Texas, a recent graduate from the University of Texas Med School at Galveston. She had her practice in Durango and was here on vacation.  

She had worked the same mountains as the “Prospectors” show. Her nickname was “Gems.” A curious thing, these miners and their nicknames. She and Longino had a liking for each other. 

Folks were going in for seconds. I was also. The food wouldn’t last long. It did appear there was enough beer for a while.

One of the flasks was being refilled. Slow Mo called out, “Hey, pass that bottle!” 

In the hubbub of the eat, meet, and greet, Alex had retrieved his guitar, and was playing quiet-like to himself, listening to Mike and Johnny and Denny and Rich. Looked like he was just going over scales and such. He had a nice acoustic, a Martin.  

I had played in my younger days. I was hoping he might play something. I made my way over to them. 

Mike and Johnny were going to Nome come summer and were talking to Rich and Denny who had been there before, as had Harry and Kent, who had joined in.  

Mike actually won his trip thru a raffle at the outing at Italian Bar last summer. He was thrilled. Johnny wanted to sell his backpack dredge.  

They talked about the Alaskan summer weather, and the type of sidearm to carry for “bear protection”.

Slow Mo Ronnie, an older guy maybe seventy, was headed to Quartzite for the winter. “Can’t stand the cold” he said. I would say he did seem a bit slow, in movement and speech. Maybe he was just deliberate in manner. Maybe it was his accent, he was from somewhere South.  

Alex went over to Longino and told him about the dredge Johnny was selling. He and Jessica and Alex came back to talk to Johnny about it.  

It was a two-and-a-half-inch backpacker. He had it running today. It was almost new, with pontoons and both suction and jet nozzles. He wanted $2,400.00 for it.  

Longino offered, “I have gold. Would you take a troy ounce for it? Specimen pieces?” Johnny thought about it for a second and said, “Let’s do it.” They shook hands. Sounded like a good deal to me. 

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” said Longino. “Otis, c’mon!” Otis came running. He retrieved his shotgun from the wood stack where he had placed it earlier, and he and Jessica and Otis covered the distance to his tent.  

He reached into the chest at the foot of his bed and pulled out something which he gave to Jessica, then disappeared into the night beyond his tent. Jessica returned, and from a small case, pulled out an old balance scale and weights and set it on the table. It looked like an antique. 

She said, “Gino will be back in a few minutes. Johnny, you want to set the scale up, please?” Nods and smiles answered her, with looks over toward the shadows that Longino had entered. 

Johnny was pleased. With gold going for about $2,000 an ounce, selling it at spot price would bring about $1600. But, specimen pieces, good for jewelry, could bring more than $2,400. He already knew what he would spend the money on.  

“I want a revolver,” Johnny said. “A ‘Taurus Revolver’.” Maybe a ‘Judge’, or a ‘Raging Bull’.  

Slow Mo chimed in, “Get some bear spray! It’s more effective close range.” 

  End Chapter 4 

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