Gold in Idaho-the good old days-things changed

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

My name is Lawrence S. Lagal and im from Idaho,my dads name is Roy J. Lagal. He writes Books about all types of Gold Mineing and Metal Detecting . Im not him , but i was there my whole life ,Im telling about the good old days, not selling books , back before we we had Metal Dectors, how we paned, sluced, used rockers , high banked, hydrolicked, worked roots of trees,and moss, chiped away at bed rock with creviceing tools, now days if you can get there then someone has allready been there, you gotta go where they couldnt get . If you use a Detector you gotta think harder , go deeper , basically you have to look at what was left behind, in Tailings, Old Mine shaft muckings, and right in plain site where they went to the easy surface Gold ( basically what they walked over ) Im almost 60years old and I still do pretty good , not like the old days , but I get my share. I learned something ( after all was said and done , more got said then ever done )If your gonna do it , just do it dont talk alot about it, and if you need to learn either listen to someone or buy a book. then get out and do something O.K. Larry Lagal nobody special. Waiteing to hear from my fellow Gold Miners, Espesilly one on the Salmon River in Idaho. Will answer all If possable .

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

Greetings again Larry

Not that I'm any kind of prospecting expert but I have come to a very simalar conclusion on what it takes to find gold these days in what were many years ago the most accesible and productive places. It will take an extra bit of creative thinking and effort to get to what remains unless priviledged to a claim or recent mud slide or flash flood.

In my opinion, Bounty Hunter has produced some very good machines at much more affordable prices for coin hunting but what I wish they would add to their BH line is an affordable real Gold Machine at or about the frequincies of the White's Gold Master or the Gold Bug II. There are many out there who hunt coins and when they find a gold ring, they think they have found Gold not realizing many gold rings have other alloys added to them which make them more detectable than natural gold. Real gold shooting with a detector is a whole other critter to learn though some of the newer machines are making it easier without having to understand why. I strongly suspect you old school manual adjust nugget shoot by sound like I do and not by pre-set tones found in the new coin machines for example. Don't get me wrong, my Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505 is a tone coin machine with all metal but no ground ballance and have enjoyed it much, has done as well as my more expensive Garrett coin machine, but I cut my teeth on manual adjust sound and is still my preferance with headphones.

Funny part is, as the price of gold goes up, so does the price for anything used to find it and I know they are not making them out of gold, yet.

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dear Robert Im glad you found me,im also sorry that i was so negitive about what was left out there , Yes you are a good listener i use my machines the old way, run the coil 4 diferent directions and if i hear adouble blip ods it is a nail or a bottel cap, if its strong its on top probily trash , then if its faint it mite be a coin or jewlery ,back then the only chance you had to find a deep coin was the field around the coin (could be magnetic or iron in the soil, we didnt know back then) We sertinly didnt know about ,hotrocks,high carbon,mineralized ground, and a lot more to deal with. Sure learned through the years.Now I use one machine to hunt hot spots for my dredge, black sand. When i hunt with my pulse , im practical i go big and deep , ya i lose some little stuff , butt i find stuff deeper then others do and bigger . Yes I hunt by ear , but im hard to beat, been doing it to long to change. Well gona give you one. When you go back up to Elk City remember the old tailing piles everywhere , we usto hunt those all the time , the old Bucket dredge had 30 ft. of sluce tray and they lost more than they got , it all went into the tailings . Dad found alot of 3-6ounce nuggets just on the top of the piles ,they fell out of the trays ,hunt fast and set for big there are a lot of hotrocks . Maybe you will do good O.K. Ive got pictures where they hydrolicked whole hills then walked the bedrock and picked up the big nuggets that didnt get blone away , back then they lost alot , you still have a good chanceof finding some dont give up . Rember i told ya i hunt in Nevada Along The Railroad Tracks , think about it the tracks were disterbed ,the nuggets you find are rite on top of the ground .Thats the way to hunt Nevada ,its all that is left ,where you dont get run off ,Well waiting to hear from ya soon , your friend Larry Lagal. P.S. all the gold we found by Elk City looked like potatoes well rounded big but not special looking .

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

[attachment 179561 scan0001.jpg]Dear Robert Just figered i would show ya some nuggies off the Salmon River and charge your batterys[attachment 179562 scan0002.jpg][attachment 179563 scan0004.jpg]

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

I bet those rascals put a smile on your face when you found them.

I'm on winter call out now and first on-call this week so need to get some shut eye so I can get up early before the chickens to check the highway conditions. Supposed to have some strong wind gusts tonight with this rain. Would not surprise me if I get called out sooner for rock fall. You know how steep and rocky this place is. No snow yet down here on the river so can still go detecting. I bet a Bounty Hunter would hit on those nuggets.

Thanks very much for sharing Larry and will catch up with you again, Robert

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dear Good Friend Of Mine , Way back when we all thought we built the best equipment , Anyting and everything you could think of was built, super dredges the biger and the deeper the beter, we built drywashers to work highbank,sluces to work creeks , spining wheels so we didnt have to pan as much, there were no restrictions, we could build anything, and did.Things went deeper and were biger , they even got places we werent to go but we did anyway.[attachment 179626 scan0009.jpg][attachment 179627 scan0008.jpg][attachment 179629 scan0007.jpg][attachment 179631 scan0011.jpg][attachment 179632 scan0015.jpg][attachment 179633 scan0016.jpg]

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Well, I just decited to post some old pictures of me and dad long ago, back when I was a Garrett Dealer and sold Mineing equipment.[attachment 179715 scan0003.jpg][attachment 179716 scan0012.jpg][attachment 179717 scan0013.jpg][attachment 179719 scan0023.jpg][attachment 179720 scan0024.jpg][attachment 179721 scan0025.jpg]

 

[robertfcarte]

Hello Larry, I know your father very well, infact I spent the afternoon with him in the assisted living home he is in last Sunday the 15th. Where are you located he might like to know.

Bob C

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Who are you ,? Ive never herd of you, and my fathe and Ruth Mince know where i live and dont care , he doesent even want to see his great grandchildren , Ruth Makes sure of that , Larry

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

Now thats some serious gold equipment Larry. Just weekend play toys, right.

Sorry I've not replied sooner but out of our major power and phone outage from the wind storms, my computer modem bit the dust I think from a power surge. Just got things back up this evening after being dead in the water a couple days.

Looks like your dressed very 60's in some of the pictures. I bet those were some fun times at the Meets back then and when everyone was all excited about finding gold and still able to explore old ghost towns or find a stream to work with no worry of seeing another person all day. The magazines Old West and True West as well helped build and fire the spirit of finding lost mines, bank loot, and hitting it big finding gold in them rivers and moutains. Looking at the picture of you by the panning tub, I know I have seen it someplace in years past. Your Father dressed a little different in these pictures than I've seen of him in my books. Can you imagine what that leather he is wearing would cost now?

I'm off to the sack for some sleep. Have a storm moving in and need to be ready in case I'm called out to plow snow or sand any ice in the middle of the night. Great to see the pictures Larry and take care, Robert

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dear Robert My Friend Im gonna Go Real Soon ,So I dont discrace my fathers name , Please forgive me , cause i really enjoyed showing old ways of doing mineing , here are the last pictures im gonna post , from the 60es look hard, its before dad turned writer, rather than hunter , these guyes all say they knew him but i dont rember them from the old days , i rember 50 years of hunting do they?, I ll see ya in the future sorry if i embaressed anybody , didnt mean to, by now Larry Lagal,[attachment 179889 scan0026.jpg][attachment 179890 scan0027.jpg] nobody special just another miner . the black sheep .

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Im leaveing the forum now and wont be answering any more questions , im the black sheep of the family and dont want to give dad a bad name , I have a good wife and grandchildren to keep me company , mi problem with my father is my buisness not other peoples , not even, Mr Garretts , by now just another miner Larry .

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

Hello Larry

Not sure what is up but want you to know I've much enjoyed all you have shared and is a privilege to make your acquaintance. I don't know of anyone who has not had an issue with a family member at some point in life or is without some sort of skeleton in a closet but these Forums are not about those things and we are all a product of our past. I sincerely hope you will reconsider as I have no doubt you've much experience to share on mining and detecting and not just here in the Bounty Hunter Forum, but in the other Forums as well.

Larry, I at age 52, lost my Father this last March when he passed away. The last I saw my Dad was November 2009 when I visited him and family for a week and helped him as so many years before, make up a batch of home made smoked sausage. No one will ever know how much I revered my Dad and though I have never felt I could fill his shoes, you have shown though challenged by what ever circumstance, your reverence for your Father here and I commend you. Though I can only hope I was as much a son to him as the Father her was to me, I helped carry him to his grave and stayed behind to lower him into it and placed the vault. I had to do it though I did not think I could and did.

I have your e-mail but I will encourage you to not be a stranger. And besides, while snow was falling and I was on patrol checking the road conditions, I saw a guy today here in the canyon detecting some roadside veins of quartz. I thought to myself, if only this kid knew how many before him have done the same thing on those same veins. I guess we all have done it and I'm sure I'll do it again not knowing some bedrock rock or spot has been hunted before.

Have a great weekend with wife and family and if weather permitting, hope to hear you have been out detecting. From your old stomping grounds along the Salmon River here in Idaho, Robert

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dear Robert here are som pictures of me and my wife Gloria, And some of our grandchildren , Dads great grandchildren that he has never seen , the pictures are for you bro,[attachment 180007 scan0028.jpg][attachment 180008 scan0029.jpg][attachment 180009 DSCI01382.jpg] so you will know what i look like now , by for now bro , nobody special Larry Lagal. P.S. What do you think of the custom Garrett Jackets? (blue)

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Sorry I forgot their names and yes they are paternal twins , her name is Alanna And his name is Lucas, and they are even cute .Next generation miners HaHa By Bro , Just anoyher miner , nobody special Larry Lagal.

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

You are so fortunate to have children and grandchildren. In short, up to age 34, I never met any girls interested in marriage let alone a child or two as they were not going to allow such things to ruin their party and have fun lives. Did marry at 34 but to a woman who had already raised her own 4 children. After 10 years, we divorced. I do from time to time still keep in contact with her though she is in SE Idaho. You will sure have much to share with the grand kids and to get them into prospecting early.

Still have not figured out where I saw the picture of you and the pan and tub. It had to of been a long time ago. I know as soon as I saw it, I had seen it before someplace or in a magazine. Maybe you can tell us where those old pictures were taken and about what years. The little shop is also interesting. Is your Father a Veteran? I see him wearing what looks like a military hat and pants in the two pictures.

That is interesting about the Garrett Jackets. Have they gone away from Green? I can not make out the shoulder patch but assume it is a modern Garrett Logo. Look like great coats and I like the wet look. Must be with other folks who detect. The one fellow with the beard looks like he could tell a story or two.

Sure wish I was not on-call this weekend, I'd fire up one of the detectors and dig some dirt. Seeing that guy detecting that big quartz vein the other day while patroling the road got me thinking about it. I see alot of this stuff though along the Salmon all year long. Guys detecting the hard rock, picking away at the quartz, filling buckets with material from here and there. Even saw another guy with Tom Lindsey at his tunnel along the highway possibly getting ready to go do some detecting for him back in the hole. Tom's Dad Tucker did a lot of gold digging here in the canyon.

I have a few buckets of material I got from a clay layer down river this summer I still need to break up and pan. It was a layer under ancient placer that was exposed by machines for a short time so I hurried and got some of it to see what is in it. Today would have been too cold to pan it out. Right now I'd have to dig out my classifiers, pans, and blue bowl and such I put away for the winter.

Good to catch you around and you and the dear wife have a great evening, Robert

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dear Robert is this what you wanted to find in quarts? and yes dad was a Marine Drill Sargent , Hard to live with , and you had to do it right or not do it at all,hard act to follow . then i put some pictures of the river between Golden and Elk-City, dredgeing in cold water .it was all cold back then , you should rember the bend in the river ,just a miner nobody special Larry Lagal Oh the jackets were special (search unlimited 1000dallars a day to find it if its there , and patches were old )Thats what my dads card said to public.[attachment 180027 scan0001.jpg][attachment 180028 scan0002.jpg][attachment 180029 scan0004.jpg][attachment 180032 scan0007.jpg][attachment 180030 scan0008.jpg][attachment 180031 scan0009.jpg]

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

Dad and me, dredgeing on the Snake River, in Hells Canyon, near Lewiston Idaho. Back when we were trying new ideas.[attachment 180080 scan0005.jpg][attachment 180081 scan0010.jpg][attachment 180082 scan0011.jpg]

 

[Lawrence S. Lagal]

This is a picture of the first Detector i ever used , i entered the meet and competed with the big boys, this was back in the early 60s Metal Detectors werent much to look at back then, youd never guess what kind it was , before them, all there were,[attachment 180101 scan0014.jpg] was Mine Detectors , I thought you would like to see what we had to work with back then ,

 

[Dustyroundup]

Mr. Lagal
Ive done a little Prospecting , even made some good money at it a time or two.
But like you say, it aint the same nowadays.
I just want to say SIR.
You arent just nobody special.
I liked reading your posts. i apreciatte you sharing with us.
I really dont know or care about the Family issues,
BUT, I would definitely like to hear more from you.
You are Special, in the fact that you have a world of knowledge .
Knowledge that I love to hear.
I have a buddy , that all he does to make a livin , is Gold, and firewood.
He taught me. Heck the first year I met him, we would break ice in a hole every day.
to run a highbanker.
Ive also moved rocks for him at 20 feet down, below an 8 inch dredge.
Thats the highlight of my life.
I also have Guided around Elk City, Id. Up by Meadow crk, and Schwarr crk.
I live in MT. and am in no way looking to jump claims or spots.
I would just like to hear more from you, and see more pics of the good ole days.
Just remember ,theres those of us , that will never know ,or see, the things
that YOU have known and seen.
Please continue to share .
Sincerely,
Dusty