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| Vol. 8, No. 2 | March 2003 | |
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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
Greetings to all Gold Prospectors of the Rockies members!
We had another great turnout of members for the January meeting. I want to thank all of you for your patience while the Board members and I settle into our tasks of making the GPR the best gold prospecting club along the Front Range. You can help us by attending the meetings, volunteering for projects, and making your wishes known about the direction the club is taking.
Speaking of volunteers, Nora Dorn has agreed to take over the Question & Answer section of The Gold Nugget, beginning with this month's edition. I have it on good authority that Nora has a large collection of books on Colorado history so I am sure she will challenge us with her Q & A articles.
Sue Clover has been getting some very interesting speakers for the club meetings. If there is someone you would like to have as a guest speaker, please let Sue know who they are and how to contact them.
A few of the other things in the works are: (1) Some changes to the Find-of-the-Month program, including some find-of-the-year prizes. (2) Several weekend outings to visit mining districts, possibly including a trip to Wyoming. (3) Metal detecting hunts--we will need help with this project. (4) Some gold panning day trips.
Ken Barker is back from his gold prospecting trip to Arizona and California and I am sure he will have some great stories to share with us. If you took the opportunity to go on the trip with Ken, please write a story about your experience and send it to Carl Sauerland for publication in the newsletter.
As you can see, the club is on the move. Keep informed by reading the newsletters, attending the meetings, and joining in on the experience of gold prospecting.
Until next time, may the gold you find be worth the effort you put into finding it.
by Ken Barker
At the November 2002 Club meeting I put forth the suggestion that we should put together a trip to Arizona and go metal detecting. A good response was received from members so I agreed to try and put the trip together. I began researching areas in Arizona for the trip. At the December meeting I again asked how many were still interested in going down to
Arizona. A good response was again received and began to tell the folks about my research for the trip. It was at this point that several of the folks mentioned that they would like to go to the Quartzsite Arizona area. I also asked if there were any times that they would like to make the trip. Most indicated that they had no preference as to time frame, some indicated that the end of January would be better for them.
With that in mind I began looking for all the information I could gather on the Quartzsite area and La Paz County. Well I want to tell all of you there is a ton of information on the happenings at Quartzsite with all of the rock and gems shows, RV shows, gold shows, and especially the flea market. However, there was no information about gold mining or metal detecting in La Paz County. I found lots on Yuma County and Mohave County but nothing on La Paz County. I began to look for someone to contact in the area so I called Leonard Leeper, as I knew Leonard has lots of contacts all over the country. He suggested that I place a notice on his web site to see if I could get a contact around Quartzsite.
I received a response from Mike Grivnak who lives in Parker Arizona, which is about 45 minutes north of Quartzsite on Highway 95. Mike was very interested in the group coming down for a metal detecting trip; he felt we would have a very good time. He suggested that we could contact an Old Timer in the area by the name of Stony Collins. Mike began to tell me about Stony. Stony has been a miner for about 28 years and likes to take people out to desert and show them how to prospect. Stony spends the winter in Quartzsite and travels north to places like Idaho during the summer months. Stony does panning, dredging, sluicing, and meteorite hunting. I contacted Stony and Mike and discussed our trip to Arizona--a lot of the information about the trip had not been discussed with the club members at the time and I told them that we were going to have our January 2003 meeting the following week and I would discuss the information with the members and we would set a date for the trip and how many would be making the trip.
At the January 2003 meeting I discussed with the members what information I had found and also my contact with Mike and Stony. We agreed to get together after the meeting and set up what we were going to do. After the club meeting was over, about 8 people gathered and we set the last week in January for the trip. We covered all the requirements for the trip.
We set a meeting site at the gas station at Meadows parkway at the north Castle rock exit for 8:00 AM on Saturday the 25th for all the people who wanted to travel down together.
I had made plans to meet Mike and Stony on the 25th and left for Quartzsite on the 24th. I left Denver around 12:30 PM and drove to Gallup, New Mexico, on the first day. I got to Gallup around 8:00 PM. The next morning I left Gallup about 8:00 AM and headed for Quartzsite. It was another good day for driving and I reached Quartzsite about 2:30 PM.
What a sight there is coming down I-10 west. As you come into Quartzsite, there must be thousands of RVs and trailers parked all over the place. It looked like the biggest trailer park I had ever seen. They say that during the winter that there are 300 to 350 thousand visitors to the area and most spend the entire winter at Quartzsite. The week before our trip they held the annual RV show which is supposed to be the biggest in the country. When you think that you have just about seen it all, you get into downtown Quartzsite and find the largest flea market I have ever seen. I know many of you have been to Mile High Flea Market. Well, if you were to multiple that by 50 times, you can begin to get an idea of the size of the flea market in Quartzsite.
I met with Stony and Mike and we had dinner and discussed some of the areas that Stony planned on taking the group Monday the 27th. On Sunday Stony, Mike, and I went out to the Gold Nugget Road, which was one of the locations that was mined by the Spanish for a long time. We drove to a number of different areas so I had an idea of where we would be going during the week. We also wanted to locate places for camping.
On Sunday afternoon, I made sure I was back in Quartzsite and waiting for the group to arrive. We had made arrangements to meet at the Hi-Jolly Monument. The Hi-Jolly is a monument to a camel driver who was used by the military to handle the camels that were used during the Civil War.
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We can schedule
Contact Ken Barker
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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, your 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! Seventeen members correctly answered the march question, which was: What was the name of the method used when one man held the steel and another swung an eight-pound hammer? The answer is: Double jacking.
Okay, that was too easy. Now, let's dig into the life of Horace Tabor once again. April's question is: What was the full maiden name of Horace Tabor's second wife?
Remember to submit your answer to me at the meeting and you could get a chance at a free drawing ticket!
by Ken Barker
Sunday the 26th of January, 2003, at 4:30 PM, Paul & Norma Mayhack from the Ft. Collins club showed up and around 5pm Rich Crist and Bob and Darlene Miosek arrived. We went out to the 14-day free permit camping area and found a place to set up camp. I set up a meeting time with the group for the next day and passed the information on to our "guide," Stony Collins.
On Monday the 27th, we meet with Stony and he gave an overview of the things that he could do or show us in the area. Well of course the only thing on our mind was to get out to the desert and to get those metal detectors working. With that in mind we headed for Gold Nugget Rd. Once we were back in the area, we got some additional instructions from Stony and we took off to look for all that gold we just new were going to find. The day was great the temperture about 70 degrees with a nice breeze, we spent about 4 hours searching the area and came up with nothing. We had some lunch and moved to a new location and tried again, still nothing.
Around 4 PM, we headed back to town. We had a great evening, the stars are just amazing in the dark, not like in Denver.
We all had a good night's sleep and meet up again at 9:00 AM the next morning and went to a different location. We spent two hours there, then moved to a new location and spent two hours, and moved again for another 2 hours. NOTHING.
After about two hours we decided that it was time for dinner. After dinner we watched the ultra-lights flying for a while and then went back to camp.
The next day was the same so we stopped and decided that we would spend some time at the flea market. After about
3 hours we decided that it was time for dinner so we went to the BBQ place and had some good BBQ. During this time it was decided that some of the folks would head for Stanton and try their luck there, others decided they would head on back home.
We all agreed even though we did not have any luck, that we had a great time at Quartzsite. By noon time the next day most of us had headed to our next location all feeling that our time in the Quartzsite area and meeting Stony had been a good adventure.
I would like to thank all of the people that made the trip to Quartzsite a great trip.
A lot of times it's not the trip but the people that make the difference.
Check out our website for photos of the trip.
Thanks Again,
Ken Barker
Thanks to the Hales for the Snack Table goodies at our January meeting. The pumpkin cake was delicious.
Kathy Hawley has signed up for the February meeting.
We still need volunteers for June, July, August, and November! PLEASE sign up at the next meeting. Thanks!
Kathleen Graham
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| Wednesday, January 15, 2003 | |
| 0.7 gram nugget - | Donna Mosteller |
| 0.6 gram nugget - | Hank Innerfeld |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Donovan Greene |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Henry Chambless |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Jill Eads |
| 2.0 gram nugget - | Teena Swisher |
| 0.6 gram nugget - | Sue Clover |
| 0.8 gram nugget - | Glen Godat |
| 1.0 gram nugget - | Terry Weatherly |
| 1.0 gram nugget - | Pinie Conell |
| 1.0 gram nugget - | Sue Clover |
| 1.0 gram nugget - | Pinie Conell |
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| 0.7 gram nugget - | Julie Conell Donated by the Club |
| XXX gram nugget - | GPR Bumper Sticker Donated by the Club |
by Doug Taylor
The first meeting of the New Year had a great turn out for January's Find of the Month.
Glen Godat brought in gold ore from Idaho Springs, along with gold that was separated from the ore, some nice looking pieces. Glen found his treasure with a "Whites" Gold Master Tracker.
Martin and Teena Swisher found an arrowhead and matching piece of Obsidian from Clayton's Cone in Saguache County. Teena entered a rock covered with tiny Quartz Crystals that had a piece of Rhodochrosite at the tip of it. Teena and Martin found this beautiful specimen while searching the Sweet Home Mine dump.
When the votes were counted up, Teena and Martin's piece of Rhodochrosite took the win for January's Find of the Month.
A big thank you goes out to the members who continue to bring in finds to share with the rest of us, it's always nice to see what you're uncovering out there.
by Nora Dorn
Who donated the famous Allison collection of 80 specimens (mostly Colorado gold specimens) to the Colorado School of Mines?
Hint - This donation resulted in the forming of the Boettcher Foundation!
The answer will be published in next month's newsletter. Sorry about last months answers,
there were to many questions for the newsletter editor to write down all the answers.
Letter to Mr. DeVries from the Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan
Dear Mr. DeVries.
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the referenced (T11N: R10W, Sec. 20, Montcalm County) parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity. Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated. The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2004. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that our staff may schedule a follow-up site inspection. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action. We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
David L. Price
Dear Mr. Price,
You're certified letter dated 12/17/99 has been handed to me to respond to. First of all, Mr. Ryan DeVries is not the legal owner and/or contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan. I am the legal owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood-debris "dams" across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natural building materials - debris. I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or anyplace you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their DAM skills, their DAM resourcefulness, their DAM ingenuity, their DAM persistence, their DAM determination, and/or their DAM work ethic. As to your request,
I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of DAM activity. My DAM questions to you are; (1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or (2) Do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said DAM request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. Perhaps we will see if there really is a DAM violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 24.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.
I have several concerns. My first concern is, aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation, so -- the State will have to provide them with a DAM lawyer. The Department's DAM concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing flooding is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the Department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling their dam names. If you want the stream "restored" to a DAM free-flow condition, please contact the beavers; -- and are you going to arrest them (they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, being unable to read English)? In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue; the grass is green, and water flows downstream. They have more DAM right than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams). So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this DAM case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2004? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the DAM ice then and there will be no way for you or your DAM staff to contact/harass them then. In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real environmental quality (health) problem in the area. It is the bears. Bears are actually defecating in our woods.
I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecation bears and leave the beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beavers dam, watch your step (the bears are not careful where they dump)!
Being unable to comply with your DAM request, and being unable to contact you on your DAM answering machine, I am sending this response to your DAM office.
Sincerely,
Stephen L. Tvedten
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Items For Sale
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Wet Suit For Sale
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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. |