A Hunch and a Mere 30 Cents

By Paisley Kirkpatrick

There's a tale that old-timers used to tell along the sunbaked streets of old Tombstone -- the thrilling tale of Ed Schieffelin's and his gold. Tombstone's founder Ed Schieffelin started with a hunch that ended up bringing the richest silver strike in the nation to this area and making him a wealthy man.

Ed loved the thrill of working for his hands in the earth, exploring for the elusive gold. He traveled to California first, and then, after a few years, headed into the Grand Canyon area. As if searching for gold was no longer of interest, he joined a group of scouts who were fighting the Apaches and ended up going with them into southern Arizona. Not happy with what he'd gotten into, he quit the fighting to prospect in the Huachuca Mountains. He stayed in the vicinity of a soldiers' camp. When one of the soldiers asked him what he searched for, he answered, "Oh, just some stones."

The soldier guffawed. "The only stone you'll ever find in this country will be a tombstone."

The first claim that Ed staked out was named Tombstone, and from it, the town took its name -- which also led the town's first newspaper to be named the Tombstone Epitaph.

The Tombstone claim didn't prove very rich, nor did his next claim named the Graveyard. His luck changed when he worked The Tough Nut. He became rich in both silver and gold. He, his brother, and a third partner traded part interest in the mine to men with money. These men built a mill to refine the ore. In 1879 the mine was bringing in $50,000 a month. For a while, Ed Schieffelin hauled the bullion from his mine to Tucson, but when he became restless, he went back to prospecting again.

In 1880 he and his brother sold the mine for $600,000 -- $300,000 each. Ed returned to what he enjoyed most -- prospecting. When their third partner sold out for a fortune later, he subtracted $300,000 for himself from the sum and divided the remainder equally between himself and the two Schieffelins.

In 1897 Ed bought a quality outfit in San Francisco: wagon, mules, tools, especially fine cooking utensils, and plenty of provisions before he struck north. At Grants Pass, Oregon, he saw an eighteen-year-old boy named Charlie Williams working in a blacksmith shop and asked him if he'd like to go into the mountains with him. The boy was eager to go. Ed was happy he now had a helper in his new project. They stopped at Day Creek and camped in an abandoned cabin. Ed told Charlie they couldn't go any farther in a wagon, so while he prospected in rough country, they would make this place headquarters. He also told Charlie he could go off on his own for a few days and do as he pleased since he would be away from camp a while. They both left in different directions.

When Williams returned to the cabin, he found the dead body of Ed Schieffelin. When he died, Ed had been sitting while breaking stones with a hammer. The rocks were quite rich in gold. The camp seemed not to have been molested by anybody, but some of the new cooking utensils were missing. A theory developed that Ed had taken the utensils himself to set up a sub-camp near where he'd struck the rich ore.

Prospectors hunted for the location from which Ed brought in samples. For a long time, they hoped to find the missing cooking utensils as a marker. Any camp would be made close to the water for convenience. When no one found the cooking utensils, the prospectors searched for the gold near the old cabin on Day Creek. They never located the site. Its whereabouts died with Ed Schieffelin.

True West, October 1958 issue -- presented by J. Frank Dobie

The Midas Touch

By Paisley Kirkpatrick There's a tale that old-timers used to tell along the sun-baked streets of old Tombstone -- the thrilling tale of Ed Schieffelin's gold. Millions of people have read about him and seen the monument to him on the highway near Tombstone.

Ed loved the thrill of working his hands in the earth exploring for the elusive gold. He traveled to California first, and then, after a few years, headed into the Grand Canyon area. As if searching for gold was no longer of interest, he joined a group of scouts who were fighting the Apaches and ended up going with them into southern Arizona. Not happy with what he'd gotten into, he quit the fighting to prospect in the Huachuca Mountains. He stayed in the vicinity of a solders' camp. When one of the soldiers asked him what he was looking for, he answered, "Oh, just some stones."

The soldier guffawed. "The only stone you'll ever find in this country will be a tombstone."

The first claim that Ed staked out was named Tombstone, and from it the town took its name -- which also led the town's first newspaper to be named the Tombstone Epitaph.

The Tombstone claim didn't prove very rich, nor did his next claim named the Graveyard. His luck changed when he worked The Tough Nut. He became rich in both silver and gold. He, his brother, and a third partner traded part interest in the mine to men with money. These men built a mill to refine the ore. In 1879 the mine was bringing in $50,000 a month. For a while, Ed Schieffelin hauled the bullion from his mine to Tucson, but when he became restless, he went back to prospecting again.

In 1880 he and his brother sold the mine for $600,000 -- $300,000 each. Ed returned to what he enjoyed most -- prospecting. When their third partner sold out for a real fortune later on, he subtracted $300,000 for himself from the sum and divided the remainder equally between himself and the two Schieffelins.

In 1897 Ed bought a quality outfit in San Francisco: wagon, mules, tools, especially fine cooking utensils, and plenty of provisions before he struck north. At Grants Pass, Oregon, he saw an eighteen-year-old boy named Charlie Williams working in a blacksmith shop and asked him if he'd like to go into the mountains with him. The boy was eager to go. Ed was happy he now had a helper in his new project. They stopped at Day Creek and camped in an abandoned cabin. Ed told Charlie they couldn't go any farther in a wagon, so while he prospected in rough country they would make this place headquarters. He also told Charlie that he could go off for a few days and do as he pleased since he himself would be away from camp a while. Both left.

When Williams returned to the cabin, he found the dead body of Ed Schieffelin. Ed had apparently been sitting while breaking stones with a hammer when he died. The rocks were found to be very, very rich in gold. The camp seemed not to have been molested by anybody, but some of the new cooking utensils were missing. A theory developed that Ed had taken the utensils himself and made a kind of sub-camp near where he had struck the rich ore.

Prospectors hunted for the location from which Ed brought in samples. For a long time they hoped to find the missing cooking utensils as a marker. Any camp would have been made convenient to water. When no cooking utensils could be found. The prospectors searched everywhere for the gold near the old cabin on Day Creek and far out from it. They never located the site. Its whereabouts died with Ed Schieffelin.

True West, October, 1958 issue -- presented by J. Frank Dobie

Gold Mining

www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com

The gold rushes of the 1800’s spurred immigration, migration, settlements and businesses of all kinds in several areas of the United States (and the world). Gold mining actually proved unprofitable for the majority of miners and mine owners, however a few became extremely rich by it, and that was enough to keep men and women dreaming and searching for the mother load. Merchants and transport companies made huge profits and often mines that were lucrative enough, expanded to include these other services, therefore double and tripling the money they made.

Mines were often started by an individual panning for the gold. A simple process of washing the gold out of the sand and gravel with a ‘pie pan’ shaped wash basin. Once it was determined there was significant findings, the individual would set or file a claim and perhaps build a sluice box or rockers, and most likely hire or partner up with other miners. Though the investment at this point was relatively minimal, the work was hard, usually too much for one man to handle. The gold in the stream beds would usually be gathered rather quickly, leaving the miner to search for the vein that had fed the creek bed findings, or move on.

When searching for the feeder vein, more men would be needed to tunnel into the earth, find and transport the ore. Here more capital was needed as well and miners often sold out their claim to larger operations who’d then oversee the extraction of the ore, delivering it to stamp mills, where they’d crush the large rocks, and eventually to the smelters where the gold would be extracted from the other telluride minerals. Sometimes these minerals proved more valuable or plentiful than the gold. Many once gold mines evolved into silver mines, or even lead, zinc, or copper mines.  

Though many advertisements lured folks to the gold mines with promises of nuggets lying on the ground like apples falling from trees, that was far from the case. Mining towns of the old west were some of the roughest places, Tombstone, Deadwood, Telluride. In many of those places it wasn’t the miners causing trouble, it was those striving to ‘make it rich’ by relieving the miners of their hard-found gold.

In March of 2013 Inheriting a Bride will be released by Harlequin Historicals. The story is about Kit Becker who travels to Colorado to claim the gold mine she’d inherited from her grandfather. There she not only meets Clay Hoffman, her grandfather’s partner, but learns family secrets that tear her apart. I dedicated that book to Chris Ralph, a man I will most likely never meet in person, but after I stumbled across his blog, he and I conversed through email and phone conversations, and he taught me more about gold mining than I could have ever hoped to learn.

Oranges and Gold by Paty Jager

Ever since reading about Laura and Mary receiving oranges in their stockings for Christmas in the book The Long Winter, I've wondered about the significance of an orange in a stocking.

My grandfather in California raised oranges and we always received a box of citrus and nuts from him in December, so an orange in my stocking wasn't something that would leave me in awe. But the books and movies in that time period that made a big deal out of the event made me go looking for info on the subject.

In the 1880's oranges were plentiful in the U.S. being raised in Florida and California. And with the transcontinental railroad they could be transported efficiently. With oranges being harvested in the wintertime it was the perfect "fresh fruit".

The story I found that best tells why an orange is placed in the toe of a Christmas stocking has to do with Bishop Nicolas of Turkey. There was a poor man who had three daughters he wished to marry off but they were so poor they had no dowries. Because the man was a good man, on Christmas Eve Bishop Nicholas tossed three bags of gold down the chimney. A bag landed in eachone of the girls' stockings hanging from the mantle to dry. Due to the heat the gold coins melted and formed a gold ball.

To this day an orange or tangerine in the toe of a stocking symbolizes the gold ball and wealth.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century for a child to find an orange in their stocking was like finding gold. The fruit was a precious treat and it also symbolized their parents had enough prosperity to purchase the "gold" for their stocking.

I haven't used this in any of my stories but one day it might just end up in one.

I have a gift for readers. You can download my Christmas story, Christmas Redemption from any ebook outlet for free. Check out my website to more information. www.patyjager.net
Blurb:

Van Donovan returns to Pleasant Valley, Oregon where twelve years earlier as a boy of fifteen he left in handcuffs after standing guard for a bank robbery. He's learned a trade and excelled at it and is ready to prove to his father and the town he can amount to something.

Upon his return he learns the fate of the daughter of an innocent man who died in the robbery crossfire. To make amends he takes her out of the saloon and gives her a job, not realizing she'd been squatting in the very building he'd purchased for his business.

Can two battered hearts find solace or will the past continue to haunt their lives?

Wishing everyone a joyous Christmas filled with family, friends and good times!

Paty
www.patyjager.net
www.patyjager.blogspot..com