I'd like to tell a story

[Boaz]

They didn't kill him but they beat the snot out of him , 8 0r 9 takers on the offer to help deliver him . The next day I was helping them stake some claims , Andrew came out around noon and his head was purple and swole up bad . Though GOD had nothing to do with the 'deliverance' I never saw him smoke another cigarette . His wife was real happy about it .

[Boaz]

Biggest topic of conversation with most of the desert folks was gold . There were all manner of folks 'prospecting' in many different ways . Lost mines were fodder of worn out conversation and there were many fables , stories , legends of the different ones . To the best of my recollection the most sought were the Lost Dutchman , the Peralta , the Iron door mine , the Cross Mine .

There were outfitters to guide and provide horses and such . There were claim markers everywhere within easy access to the few roads , you didn't even walk across anyone's claim It was legal to open carry in a wilderness area and there were plenty of nuts out there that just knew people were claim jumping them . The farther back in the mountains you got there were less claims and crazy folks that were living out there .

[Boaz]

I said previously I didn't hang around at the camp much . I tried panning , looking for nuggets , ranged pretty far off east beyond Superstition mountain . Didn't buy into the 'lost' mine thing , with all the people that had been looking for it and no results . But it was rough country and at that age was interesting .

There was no way to really take a bath in camp , if you think about being out in the desert in the summer time ..not a good deal . Had one extra change of clothes and would take em and my bedroll , hitchhiked north to Tortilla Flats lake . There was a state park , would wait till dark and take a bath , wash my clothes . Got to go swimming , spend the night and thumb it back to the camp . Andrew and Micah didn't like me doing it but I didn't care

[Boaz]

Revival time .

I had been there for three weeks or so and Andrew 'asked' me if I would go on a revival with him and his wife with Micah to the San Carlos Apache Reservation . They were going to have a revival , I thought about it and said I would .
There was nothing to do in camp and I was curious , had stopped and got a tank of gas when I passed through there before . They rarely left the camp together except for short periods of time . When they were not there a guy named John that lived in a trailer to the back side of the camp was in charge . Personally I thought he was crazy as hell , he never had anything to do with anyone except go to their
meetings' . He had a daughter about 25 years old that stayed bruised up all the time and didn't come out of the trailer hardly at all . John had a lever action 30/30 and every night after dark he came out and fired a couple of rounds in the air screaming then went back in the trailer . I just stayed away from him .

[Boaz]

We got to the reservation , went in Andrew's bus . Went off on a dirt road a mile or so and parked the bus close to a big brush arbor with wood benches under it . Micah and Andrew went out and talked to a lot of folks . There was nothing to set up for the revival at the arbor . I stayed at the bus with Andrew's wife . She made Mexican rice with hamburger in it . DANG ! It was good , I'd been eating out of cans for a while .

Long bout dark folks started drifting in , getting a seat ....there were lights under the arbor . Most all came in pickups , whole load of people in the back . I drifted over and sat in the back . Micah came over to me and asked me to sit up front and when the time came to 'pass the hat'. I said no . It made him pretty mad , They were using this trip to get me involved .

Andrew started off preaching , they took turns ...just a lot of crazy talk with a few verses of king James thrown in for effect . Andrew 'passed the hat' , they didn't get much . Personally I think these folks just showed up to see the show , they had given 'revivals here before .

After it was over Andrew and Micah were trying to talk the people , showing them the 'message form GOD ' in pictures on the side of the bus . They asked what it meant , the Indian folks just blew em off , they knew they were nuts . At the end Andrew and Micah dove off with some locals to have supper with a ..chief . I was invited but declined . Stayed at the bus with Andrew's wife .

[Boaz]

My mother loved to go to tent revivals , as a child I went with her to many . They were common back then , some were actually spreading GOD's word and some were just fakes out to make a buck . This one at the reservation was nothing but a farce . On the way back to the camp I just sat at the bolted down table in the bus and listened to them brag to each other how much progress had been made .

I went to one more at a Hopi reservation , it was farther away out east . It was a repeat of the first one only less people attended . Not worth describing .

False teaching in GOD's name by mentally ill and delusional false prophets . I was there ..I saw it . I don't know how it would have been for me if I hadn't been raised in church , had parents that taught me . I could have bought into it . There are so many out there now that know nothing of GOD and what they think they know would depend on who taught them . I have great concern for those lost or searching now because of all the prosperity and false teaching out there .

[Boaz]

I started smoking a year before . Back then it wasn't what it is now . When I told my folks all they warned me of that it was foolish and expensive . LOL , they both smoked , dad smoked Little Melba cigars because they were cheap . Don't know how many trips I made as a child to go get him some . They were 10 cents apiece or 3 for a quarter , he wouldn't buy any till he was out and got 3 to save that nickel .

All the medical information hadn't come out that that tobacco would kill you . At the camp I'd walk to the highway and pick up aluminum cans (aluminum cans were a new deal ) and thumb it to Apace Junction . An old man bought em in his backyard close to the highway . Then I'd walk to the A J Bayless grocery and get one or two cans of Velvet rollin tobacco in a pocket can . LOL , velvet stayed moister in the desert heat and came with a free pack of rollin papers . Think it was 18 cents a can . Bugler , Prince Albert and all the others got so dry they burned up quick . .......Just a little nonsensical trivia there .

But on 2 of these trips I bought a few prepaid postcards at the Post Office off Mr. Applegate . I sent my folks a postcard every 10 days or so to let them know I was alive . My parents loved me as much as you could love a son . I know they both prayed for me , I knew they feared for me . But dad knew I needed to figure this out on my own , GOD blessed me with my parents as I look back . They gave me the knowledge to deal with the situation I was in , BUT I had to use it and think on my own . Back then at 18 years old I was a grown man in their eyes .

More may be said of Andrew , I think 2 times I gave him a postcard to mail when he went to 'town' .

[jmort]

Like the way you pace your stories
Works well
We all want more, faster, but that misses the point
So keep at it, at your pace

[Boaz]

Thank you . My stories are all of personal failure . My intention of putting them up is not to get any kind of credit , I deserve none . GOD has tested me as he has us all . If you remember ..if you consider and look back you have been tested also . It's a common experience . folks seem to like my stories , I'm a redneck with no education to speak of , my claim of not being too smart is honest . Everyone here has ..stories , ...if they would take the time to tell them .

I have failed many times , my failure gives to me understanding the hard way . My hope is to pass it along . ........WE ALL FAIL ! But Our Lord understands .

[Boaz]

God loves unconditional if we try . Trying is what matters . To the best of our ability . Understanding , ability , perseverance and sincerity .

[Boaz]

Two or three days after I had gone to San Carlos It was mid morning , I was sitting on my door reading an old newspaper . Micah came out of his shack and walked straight over to me . He was babbling , frankly he did that a lot . He said ..do you know what this is ? He opened his hand and had what looked like a small piece of cactus in it . Heck we were surrounded with cactus . I just said ...Looks like a piece of cactus .

He told me it was peyote and that GOD left him some over the door to his shack every once in a while . He just walked off back to his shack . Was the end of the conversation . I didn't even know what peyote was .

[Boaz]

Picture from my backdoor about 10 min ago . It looked like the world was on fire . GOD is amazing .

[Boaz]

Rode to Phoenix with Micah , He was going to file mining claims we had staked , I was bored enough to make the trip with him to get out of the camp . He drove to the Phoenix courthouse , parked on the street . There were pretty bout 10' foot trees all around the block with small oblong 'dingle berry' clusters all over them by the street . I didn't want to go in the courthouse ..courthouses are boring places . I asked him what kind of trees they were , he was trying to arrange papers on the claims and just said ...olive trees .

Heck ! I liked olives , never saw an olive tree! When he left to go in the courthouse I eased out and pulled a shirt tail of olives , got back in the truck . Threw a couple in my mouth and started chewing them up . Threw up in bout 2 min , didn't know they had to be 'processed' to be edible . NEVER EAT A FRESH GREEN OLIVE !

[Boaz]

On the way back to the camp we got to Apache junction , turned up the Apache trail highway and got bout halfway to the camp . All at once Micah phased out , just drove off the road into the desert . We were knocking down 10-12 foot high saguaro cactus , I thought he had a heart attack or something . Was trying to steer and couldn't' t get my foot over the floor shift to get his foot off the accelerator. Ended up bottoming out in a dry wash . Scared the heck out of me ..I figured he was dead .

It was dead silent , I was trying to think of what to do and he started coming to himself . I was asking him if he was ok , he just looked around in a daze . Then he said ..I have to go to those mountains .

They were some low mountains to the west . I kept asking if he needed to go to the hospital . He just said he needed to go to those mountains . He had a come along on the bed , I spooled it out and tied off to a good size rock and with me pushing ' jacking the come along got out of the wash .

He got on sold ground and told me ...I had a vision , I have to go to those mountains ..come with me . I will not repeat here what I said to him but told him he needed to have visions when he wasn't driving . I walked to the road and thumbed it to camp .

Late that evening he drove into camp , went to Andrew's bus . They talked outside and Andrew got his paint . They painted a mountain on the 'message' on the side of the bus . GOD's message to them .

[Boaz]

Good news at the mine .

Few days later the black guy came out and drilled some holes over at the 'mine' . I figured we would be dynamiting the next day and sure nuff we loaded up , went over and blew several charges . Nothing was visible after the smoke cleared , Andrew and Micah were sad as usual and started walking back to the camp leaving me to clear rock .

It was tord noon and I had hauled out all the big stuff possible to load and I noticed a streak of green rock bout an inch wide at the bottom of where we had blasted . I unloaded what I had and drove back to camp . Told Micah about the green streak of rock , he fetched Andrew and we went back to the 'mine' .

They were ecstatic ! They went kind of nuts and decided they had struck turquoise ! They had me get a pick and work out some bigger pieces to have assayed . It was pretty rock .
They were really worked up and excited , they got everyone together and got them worked up . Micah said come sundown they would have a party !

Andrew and him took off to the assayer and to get 'party supplies' .

[LAH]

NEVER EAT A FRESH GREEN OLIVE!

Mental note made.

[mozeppa]

i'm here at #97

[Ateam]

i guess that makes me #98

[Boaz]

In a post on the thread I said I climbed The Superstition mountain . I started out at first light . The mountain seemed close but took me till noon just to get to the slope getting to it . I had a half gallon of water , trying to cut down on weight ...a foolish move . It was the desert , there was no more water .
I figured out there was no easy way up the west slope , walked a day getting around to the west side . Had two cans of chicken and a pocket knife . spent two nights out ...yea I was unprepared . Made it to the summit and stayed a while , walked it from end to end . It was an amazing view . Could see Apache Junction to the west and to the east solid desert . Spent the night on top sleeping on the ground . Started down at first light , had bout a glass of water left . I remember .. it was worth it . Amazing the optimism of youth .

[Boaz]

The party .

I'll disappoint you here . Andrew and Micah got back bout dark , told the 'folks' to start fires for light and cooking . Unloaded two cases of Old Crow and Cornel Lee whiskey with hot dog makin's and junk food . Watched em going nuts building for the party . This was a big deal .

They got started after dark , I rolled up my bedroll , gathered some split pallet wood (what was for fires) and walked to the 'mine' . Bedded down , had coffee and a couple of canned goods . No one even saw me leave .