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| Vol. 7, No. 5 | May 2002 | |
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Lloyd G. Clements Community Center
7:00 PM (Board Meeting at 6:00 PM)
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by Gary Hawley
We had a very busy and informative meeting in April. A bg "Thank You" to Sue Clover for finding a very interesting speaker. I hope Mr Rapp will be able to visit us again when we can offer him more time for his program.
Ada Keim still needs some help with the refreshments table. Check with her at the May meeting.
The "Spring Show in the Rockies" panning demo went well. We had a great group of volunteers and plenty of people wanting to know about our hobby. I'm sure Rick Miska will have more information at the meeting.
Incidentally, Ken Barker will now be completely in charge of all panning demonstrations. If any school or civic organization wants a panning demo, they will have to contact Ken. Ken will need several members whom he may call upon for help with the demos . . . so, step up and be part of this great program. At the GPAa show, I had opportunity to see some of the changes that Ken has made to the demo program: cleaner panning dirt, more black pans, less black sand, and a new lighting system that allows you to actually see what you are panning. Great job, Ken!
The Jefferson County Open Space situation is still in the works. I received a call from our contact person and we will be setting a date, possibly in early June, to hold a prospecting seminar for Open Space personnel. Thanks to all who signed up last month to help with this outing; I will be in contact with you soon.
We have been invited to join the Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club on a tour of Black Hawk / Centeral City mining district. As many of you know, I have led these tours for several years for each of the three Front Range clubs. This year, I wanted to combine the clubs for this tour. This is an opportunity to form new friendships, learn something about the mining district, and have a good time doing it. So, the Ft. Collins club originated the idea of the tour and our club gets to join in the outing. At last month's Board meeting, the Board voted to supply a sandwich tray and soft drinks for all who go on this tour. There will be a sign-up sheet at the meeting so we will know how many to plan for. I will also have maps of the meeting place available. We will be limited on the number of vehicles involved, so make plans to car pool. This tour will take approximately six hours.
Lastly, there have been rumors spread around that prospectors have been kicked off of Clear Creek near Washington Street. I have received some e-mail and a couple of phone calls about this situation. I will address this at the meeting and I think you will find it interesting.
Until next time, may the nuggets you find be worth the effort you put into finding them.
by Gary Hawley
Here's how it works:
At this month's meeting, write down your answer to the question below and give it to Gary Hawley. If your answer is correct, and spelling counts, our name will be placed in a hat. Gary will then draw five names from the hat. Each name drawn receives a free ticket for the door prize drawing.
Wow! Four members correctly answered the April question, "What was the full maiden name of Horace Tabor's second wife?" The answer: Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt.
One of our members brought a book that indicated she was born with the middle name of "Nellis" and changed it to "Bonduel." that's what makes this so much fun; we can all learn something new about mining and the people who made it so great.
Let's try something different this month. How about superstition?
Hard rock miners believed men, two-feet tall, with big heads, wrinkled faces, and long beards, wandered the mines. They were said to blow out candles and tap-tapptap on the walls of the mine. What were these "men" called and, for an extra ticket, what did the miners think they were?
See you at the meeting.
by Don Ditzler
I remember reading about Horace Austin Warner Tabor's second wife, Elizabeth McCourt and how, after his death, she struggled even until her death (starved and froze) to keep open his "Matchless" silver mine. I guess owning a mine wasn't always all it was cracked up to be.
I don't have a gold or silver mine and what money I do have is losing value in the stock market. I think I will draw out all my IRA and invest it with the IRS. Their business is taxes and, as you know, taxes are always going to go up.
In 1978, my unit was going to train at Fort Carson. My mind filled with visions of gold-filled streams and as yet undiscovered gold veins sticking out of mountain slopes. It seemed reasonable to assume one could find at least a reasonable quantity of gold by spending free time prospecting. I sent for a Government Printing Office pamphlet that explained how to gold prospect, what gear to take, and the estimated cost of daily expenses (pamphlet cost--35 cents).
When the literature arrived, I hastily tore off the plain brown wrapper and began reading.
Prospecting Tools: pick, shovel, hammer, gold pan, rifle, shells, and/or pistol.
Food: Bacon, canned vegetables, dried beens, raisins, prunes, and coffee or tea.
Medicine: Iodine, bandages, and castor oil.
Expense (assuming you hit pay dirt: Figure one dollar fifty cents a day per man (12-hour day), dragline operator can run as much as twenty dollars a day.
Well . . . what the . . . ? I looked at the date on the pamphlet. It was printed in 1931.
it seems things have changed some since that information was printed. In 1978, there were better medicines than iodine and castor oil, and it was discouraging to find so few men (total of none) willing to work a twelve-hour day for one dollar and fifty cents. I didn't even ask about a dragline and operator at twenty dollars a day.
A few years ago, I learned my grandfather, Sam Ditzler, went west to the Colorado gold fields in 1930. He never struck it big, never even struck it little, all he struck was "out." Like so manhy others of that day, he counted himself lucky to be working for some mining company. After a year of disillusionment, he returned to Illinois and went back to digging coal in his own small mines. Coal was not as valuable as gold but the coal he dug was his.
An old prospector came down from the hills after prospecting gold, pulling his burro that was laden with pots, pans, and numerous other pieces of prospecting equipment. As he was walking through town, he was stopped by Black Bart and his cronies who were all drunk and standing in front of the town saloon.
Bart asked the old prospector how long he had been in the hills and the old timer said, "Bout fifteen years I guess, Bart." Bart said, "Did you ever learn how to dance while you were prospecting?" The old timer said, "No, I don't recon I did, Bart." Bart said, "Well, you're gonna dance now!" and pulled out his trusty .45 Colt and started shooting into the ground around the old timer's feet.
All of Bart's cronies were laughing and whooping it up watching the old timer dance. When Bart was out of ammo, the old timer pulled a 10-gauge shotgun from the burro's pack and said, "Have you ever kissed a burro's hind end, Bart?" Bart replied, seriously, "No, but I've always wanted to!"
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
by Frank Fannon
The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Jim Davis.
A plea for snack table volunteers was made. Volunteers are needed for May through September.
Gary Hawley discussed the results of a survey that was conducted of the membership. We may have the opportunity to attend an outing with the Springs club in Wyoming. This promises to be a nice time.
There have been some questions concerning the club and whether it should acutally acquire a claim. Apparently, there remains a lot of work in the research arena to do this. Gary mentioned that maybe if a volunteer could be found, they could investigate the possibility of leasing or renting a claim. This would alleviate the club of much administration. If you are interested in doing the research, contact Gary.
On Sunday, June 9, 2002, Gary will again conduct his wold-famous Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho Springs, and cemetary tour. This will begin at 9:00 AM in Golden and end at approximately 3:00 PM. The club will provide lunch. Be prepared at the May meeting to let Gary know who will be going so he can calculate how many.
Rick Miska is working on a new, more descriptive website name for the club. If you have any suggestions, send them to him.
We had a guest speaker, Ed Rapp. He is the founder of the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation. Their purpose is to find ways and volunteers to clean up Clear Creek along Rt. 70. He discussed a little about the history surrounding Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. Mr Rapp said that there are 2,000 "orphan" mine openings there and that they are considered an EPA Superfund Site. However, since these old mines have no current owners, the EPA cannot force anyone to clean them up. Mr Rapp also stated that during the 1861 time frame, there were 60,000 to 80,000 people looking for gold here. He noted that Colorado has mining in its roots so deeply that there are mining symbols in the state seal. Mr. Rapp discussed our plight in Jefferson County and surmised that we may ba able to gain entrance to Clear Creek and Gilpinb Counties by approaching them with the idea that while we do our prospecting, we can also be cleaning up the creek. It was noted by one member that simply by removing black sand that we would reduce the iron content, however insignificantly. Mr Rapp provided the names of some contacts in the counties for Gary to call and said that he would be happy to help facilitated things with them.
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| Wednesday, April 17, 2002 | |
| 0.9 gram nugget - | Larry Armstrong |
| 0.7 gram nugget - | Fritz Meyer |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Gary Keim |
| 1.4 gram nugget - | Larry Boyes |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Ben Pappas |
| 0.7 gram nugget - | Frank Fannon |
| 0.7 gram nugget - | Ken Oyler |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Skip Mancheski |
| 1.0 gram nugget - | Lew Turk |
| 0.9 gram nugget - | Gale Herbertson |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Chuck Cown |
| 0.7 gram nugget - | Terry Winters |
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| 0.4 gram Aussie nugget - | Larry Armstrong Donated by Randy Solomon |
| Gold Prospector Coin - | James Jarnutowski Donated by Steve Rice |
by Doug Taylor
Ken Oyler and Jerry Jones entered the Find of the Month/Year for April. Jerry brought in a nice nugget he built from the gold he has dredged out of Clear Creek near Federal. Ken had some jewelry and fine silver pesos that he found while he was in the Philippines. Ken used a metal locator to find these items. After the votes were cast, Ken's jewelry and pesos came out on top for the win.
Thanks to all the club members who participated in the Find of the Month/Year; it is always good to see what you are finding out there.
We still need a volunteer
by Ada Keim
Thanks to Walter and Elizabeth Schlomer for the great food at the April meeting.
We still need a volunteer for May's meeting. Please contact me to volunteer.
Remember, your donations pay for the food on the Snack Table.
Thanks,
Ada
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Wet Suit For Sale
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White's V-Sat Wanted
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is an official publication of the Gold Prospectors of the Rockies, a Denver-based, Colorado nonprofit organization established in 1995 for the enjoyment of gold prospecting and metal detecting. Club meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month, 7:00 PM, at the Lloyd G. Clements Community Center, 1580 Yarrow Street, Lakewood, Colorado (1 block west of Wadsworth, 1 block north of Colfax). Individual or family membership fees are $30.00 for the first year, $25.00 for each subsequent year. Non-commercial business-card-sized classified text ads for members are free of charge. Commercial display ads must be detecting, prospecting, or treasure related and are available to anyone at a modest charge: 1/8 page (approximately 2"h x 3.5"w business card size) - $6.00 per month. 1/4 page (approximately 4"h x 3.5"w) - $12.00 per month. 1/2 page (approximately 4"h x 7"w or 8.5"h x 3.5"w) - $24.00 per month. Full page (approximately 8.5"h x 7"w) - $48.00 per month. The Gold Nugget is open to and gladly accepts submission of information and articles. All article submissions must be received by the editor no later than the first Wednesday of the month for inclusion in the next month's issue. The GPR must receive any required payments for commercial ads prior to their inclusion. Include publication information on articles clipped from other publications. The Editor reserves the right to edit all submissions. Bulletin editors may print any article from this newsletter with credit given to the newsletter and the author. Contact: The Gold Nugget Editor, The Gold Prospectors of the Rockies, PO Box 621988, Littleton, CO 80162-1988. E-mail: The Gold Nugget Editor. |