A Little Here, a Little There

It Doesn't Matter Where

I am a gold prospector, and I have gold fever. What else can I say? Well, there is one thing that disturbs me, and that is a phrase that I often read when I am reading about gold prospecting. And I also hear it often when I am around others talking about gold prospecting. That phrase is, "If you want to find gold, go where gold has been found in the past." I'm not particularly eager to do what it says. Yes, I have gone to the places where gold is known to be, but I prefer to go elsewhere. Now, you may be thinking I am crazy. You may be saying, "Where else would you go?"

I am glad you asked because I would tell you anyway. First, I would like you to look at the definition of "prospect." What does the dictionary say about the word? In my dictionary, the verb form of the word "prospect" is:" to search or explore a region, as for gold?" So the short answer to that question is, "Why would I want to go to where gold is known to be when I want to search or explore a region for gold? " Now, you might not only be thinking I am crazy, but you might be saying it, but let me explain it all to you.

When I began to be interested in finding gold, I wanted to know where the gold was located. Living in Oregon as I do, I started researching in books, maps, and, of course, on the internet. I found certain locations where gold had been found and mined.

There were the gold mining areas in the gold belt of the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon. This area was divided up into smaller places, usually named by the principal mountains of their locations. These included the Elkhorn Mountains area, the Wallowa Mountains area, the Greenhorn Mountains area, and the Lookout Mountain and Pedro Mountain areas. Other names heard when gold was being discussed were the Virture, Unity, and Quartzburg areas.

There were notable load and placer mines in each of these.

There were several districts of note in just the Elkhorn Mountains Area alone. Some in this area were the placers of the Baker, Granite, Sumpter, and Camp Carson districts. They were all important producers in times past, but as stated in Bulletin 61, Gold and Silver in Oregon published in 1968 by the State of Oregon Dept. Of Geology and Mineral Industries: (they) are now largely of historical interest.

But this is only one small part of Oregon. There are a lot of areas left if we mention the Klamath Mountains of southwestern Oregon. The major cities one might drive through in this area might be Medford, Grants Pass, Ashland, Brookings, Gold Beach, and Brookings. Some of the areas that might have been mentioned by the early miners when they talked of where gold had been found after the summer of 1850 might have been the beach placers or the Salmon Mountain-Sixes area, the Mule Creek-Bolivar area, the Illinois-Chetco area, the Galice area, or the Silver Peak area. The Greenback-Tri-County, Gold Hill-Applegate-Waldo, Myrtle Creek, and Ashland areas were also there.

After this, one might think all the gold-producing areas had now been mentioned, but there is another area besides the widely scattered regions that won't be touched. There is the Western Cascaded area. The commonly heard names in this area were North Santiam, Quartzville, Blue River, Fall Creek, Bohemia, Zinc, Al Satena, and Barron. With this listing, all the major gold-producing areas in Oregon have been mentioned. These are the areas that are tried and true. Gold has been found in these areas and is now being seen. But going back to my original thoughts, "Why look for gold where you know it can be found?"

This is what I like about prospecting. A prospector can go prospect where there is no known gold. This opens up the entire state, every creek, river, hill, and mountain. Every square foot of ground that the 1800s prospector failed to find any gold is open. This is what is so exciting. Yes, I can go to the hills and mountains and the creeks and rivers where there is known gold, but I might find some color where there isn't supposed to be any. Now, that is exciting.

I don't have to "make a living" finding gold. It's a recreational activity. It is a good exercise for me. Furthermore, it gives me something to look forward to. Over the next hill on the next mountain, I might find something that needed to be noticed - where there isn't supposed to be any. (I have heard it said at least one time: "They didn't get it all.")

What about that little creek? Let's stop there and try it out. "Look, you can step over it without getting your feet wet." "It's not big enough to pay any attention to it." Haven't I already told you I like to go where there isn't supposed to be any gold? And that creek is too little to have gold, so I choose to go there.

This piece was written several years ago while I was still involved in gold panning. But at 85 years old, my thoughts still go there, but to keep my body safe, I rest with the memories.

If you travel through Nebraska, I can give you directions where I sluiced and found garnet sand and colors of gold. Leave a note in your comment for me to contact you.