When out metal detecting in the forest south of Prescott AZ, I started working up a long gradual gulch and suddenly noticed a claims marker. It had a small sign on a tree that said "blow-hole #10". I quit detecting but out of curiosity, went on up the gulch and pretty soon ran into the next claim, 'blow-hole #9. Then there was a number 8, 7, 6, and so on till I came to a travel trailer parked on claim #2.
On claim #2 I met this guy who will henceforth be known as Jim. Jim was about 40 and said he had been prospecting for 30 of those years. He worked 6 months of the year on construction jobs, saved his money and prospected the other six months. Said he had made hundreds of thousands of dollars prospecting but his ding-blasted wife took off with most of it. Since I was new to the Get Rich while Prospecting business, I figured I could learn a lot from Jim.
Jim gave me permission to hunt his claims and over a period of time I got to know him a little better. Didnt find any gold but did get to know Jim better. Also got to know quite a bit about his ding-blasted ex-wife. Jim seemed to like me and offered to sell me the rights to any one of his claims for a mere $1600. He knew all of that country well and I was getting all the information from him I could. He said if I wonted to team up with him, we could make a mint working some old dredging piles along the Hassayampa River south of Prescott. I assured him I was ready for the big time so we loaded up the necessary tools and beer into Jims Toyota 4X4 and headed out. I noticed a dent in the top of the dash-board in Jim's truck and wondered what could have caused it but was too polite to ask.
That drive south from Prescott is one of those beautiful mountain drives, winding road, steep drop offs on one side, straight up mountain on the other. You could see vast distances further south out over the Hassayampa River basin, where the gold was. In my mind, I was seeing a rainbow rising out of that area, starting right about where the old dredge piles would be. I wasn't able to concentrate on the rainbow too much though for fear Jim would splatter us on the front bumper of an eighteen wheeler as he was whipping aroung those sharp curves without paying much attention to where the highway center line was. Jim was explaining to me the trials and tribulations of dealing with divorce attorneys.
I was much relieved when we exited the highway and hit the backroads. Jim wasn't exactly finessing the holes and boulders in that road and I was much relieved when we arrived at the Hassayampa and the dredgepiles. I didnt see the rainbow but then Im smart enough to know you cant see them when you are standing right in the middle of them.
Jim explained how we were going to get rich from the dredge piles. It seemed that most of the really good stuff was right on the bottom of the piles. When the river overflowed, his theory was that the old dredge piles would act as a huge sluice box with the piles of rocks as the riffles. The gold of course, as usual, would be settling out to the bottom of the pile. Made sense to me but I looked at these huge piles of rock, taller than me and ranging from about grapefruit size on up. I asked what we were to do with the rocks on top of the pile and Jim allowed we had to remove them. Made sense to me so we carefully metal detected the area where we were going to throw rocks from the first pile to make sure we didnt cover up the good stuff that might be there. Jim suggested we do that and it made sense to me. I was learning some good stuff.
To impress my new prospecting partner, I leaped up on top of the first pile and started throwing rocks while Jim went and got himself another beer. With beer in hand, Jim suggested I throw any rocks that had quartz or old rusty red stuff in them off to one side so he could check them with his metal detector. Made sense to me and I was glad to have such a knowledgeable partner. I heaved away while Jim told me some more interested stuff about his ding-blasted ex-wife. When Jim saw that I wasn't breathing quite right, he said come on down and we will work the side of the pile untill it starts caving in on us before we throw more off the top. So thats what we did and when my breathing got back to normal Jim said he guessed it was time to throw more rock off the top again and went to the truck to get himself another beer. And thats the way we proceeded untill we completely cleaned up that one dredge pile all the way to the bottom, where the good stuff was. When we hauled all the good stuff over to the river in 5 gallon buckets and panned it out we had somewhere in the vicinty of $20 worth of gold.
As we climbed back into the Toyato and headed back to Prescott, I was hoping to relax some but Jim was really wound up and wonting to explain to me the way things were in the prospecting business. He started in on the government in general and then began to break it down into various pieces, like the BLM, Forest Service, Forrest Rangers, Fish and Wildlife, etc. His oratory skills were getting a little cross-wise of his driving skills on that winding mountain road. He would pause to catch a breath ever now and then and pop him another beer. Then he got started in on his ex-wife again, got all excited and started whamming his fist down on the dash-board of his truck, right in the middle of that dented spot I told you about before.
When we got back to Jims claim, he was still trying to tell me how to make it in the prospecting business. He wobbled out of this truck and said, "This is the way to make money in the prospecting business. You file a bunch of claims and then sell your rights to them to some dumb SOB. After he quits the claim, you go back, claim it again and then sell the rights to it again. Hell, he said, he had made ten times more money selling claims than grubbing around for gold. He said he had sold that same string of claims years ago and had just waited untill they came open again to file on them and sell them again. I mentally multiplied 10 claims times $1600 and came up with $16,000. I couldn't help but compare it to the $20 we had made that day, a whole half of it which was mine, all mine. It was right then that I realized that Jim had smartend me up a right smart about the prospecting business. Just file on some worthless claims, sell the rights to them, and if you are hunting dredge piles, find some dumb guy to throw rocks for you. It was a worthwhile experience.......plus some of that stuff about Jim's ding-blasted ex-wife was right interesting!
On claim #2 I met this guy who will henceforth be known as Jim. Jim was about 40 and said he had been prospecting for 30 of those years. He worked 6 months of the year on construction jobs, saved his money and prospected the other six months. Said he had made hundreds of thousands of dollars prospecting but his ding-blasted wife took off with most of it. Since I was new to the Get Rich while Prospecting business, I figured I could learn a lot from Jim.
Jim gave me permission to hunt his claims and over a period of time I got to know him a little better. Didnt find any gold but did get to know Jim better. Also got to know quite a bit about his ding-blasted ex-wife. Jim seemed to like me and offered to sell me the rights to any one of his claims for a mere $1600. He knew all of that country well and I was getting all the information from him I could. He said if I wonted to team up with him, we could make a mint working some old dredging piles along the Hassayampa River south of Prescott. I assured him I was ready for the big time so we loaded up the necessary tools and beer into Jims Toyota 4X4 and headed out. I noticed a dent in the top of the dash-board in Jim's truck and wondered what could have caused it but was too polite to ask.
That drive south from Prescott is one of those beautiful mountain drives, winding road, steep drop offs on one side, straight up mountain on the other. You could see vast distances further south out over the Hassayampa River basin, where the gold was. In my mind, I was seeing a rainbow rising out of that area, starting right about where the old dredge piles would be. I wasn't able to concentrate on the rainbow too much though for fear Jim would splatter us on the front bumper of an eighteen wheeler as he was whipping aroung those sharp curves without paying much attention to where the highway center line was. Jim was explaining to me the trials and tribulations of dealing with divorce attorneys.
I was much relieved when we exited the highway and hit the backroads. Jim wasn't exactly finessing the holes and boulders in that road and I was much relieved when we arrived at the Hassayampa and the dredgepiles. I didnt see the rainbow but then Im smart enough to know you cant see them when you are standing right in the middle of them.
Jim explained how we were going to get rich from the dredge piles. It seemed that most of the really good stuff was right on the bottom of the piles. When the river overflowed, his theory was that the old dredge piles would act as a huge sluice box with the piles of rocks as the riffles. The gold of course, as usual, would be settling out to the bottom of the pile. Made sense to me but I looked at these huge piles of rock, taller than me and ranging from about grapefruit size on up. I asked what we were to do with the rocks on top of the pile and Jim allowed we had to remove them. Made sense to me so we carefully metal detected the area where we were going to throw rocks from the first pile to make sure we didnt cover up the good stuff that might be there. Jim suggested we do that and it made sense to me. I was learning some good stuff.
To impress my new prospecting partner, I leaped up on top of the first pile and started throwing rocks while Jim went and got himself another beer. With beer in hand, Jim suggested I throw any rocks that had quartz or old rusty red stuff in them off to one side so he could check them with his metal detector. Made sense to me and I was glad to have such a knowledgeable partner. I heaved away while Jim told me some more interested stuff about his ding-blasted ex-wife. When Jim saw that I wasn't breathing quite right, he said come on down and we will work the side of the pile untill it starts caving in on us before we throw more off the top. So thats what we did and when my breathing got back to normal Jim said he guessed it was time to throw more rock off the top again and went to the truck to get himself another beer. And thats the way we proceeded untill we completely cleaned up that one dredge pile all the way to the bottom, where the good stuff was. When we hauled all the good stuff over to the river in 5 gallon buckets and panned it out we had somewhere in the vicinty of $20 worth of gold.
As we climbed back into the Toyato and headed back to Prescott, I was hoping to relax some but Jim was really wound up and wonting to explain to me the way things were in the prospecting business. He started in on the government in general and then began to break it down into various pieces, like the BLM, Forest Service, Forrest Rangers, Fish and Wildlife, etc. His oratory skills were getting a little cross-wise of his driving skills on that winding mountain road. He would pause to catch a breath ever now and then and pop him another beer. Then he got started in on his ex-wife again, got all excited and started whamming his fist down on the dash-board of his truck, right in the middle of that dented spot I told you about before.
When we got back to Jims claim, he was still trying to tell me how to make it in the prospecting business. He wobbled out of this truck and said, "This is the way to make money in the prospecting business. You file a bunch of claims and then sell your rights to them to some dumb SOB. After he quits the claim, you go back, claim it again and then sell the rights to it again. Hell, he said, he had made ten times more money selling claims than grubbing around for gold. He said he had sold that same string of claims years ago and had just waited untill they came open again to file on them and sell them again. I mentally multiplied 10 claims times $1600 and came up with $16,000. I couldn't help but compare it to the $20 we had made that day, a whole half of it which was mine, all mine. It was right then that I realized that Jim had smartend me up a right smart about the prospecting business. Just file on some worthless claims, sell the rights to them, and if you are hunting dredge piles, find some dumb guy to throw rocks for you. It was a worthwhile experience.......plus some of that stuff about Jim's ding-blasted ex-wife was right interesting!
