I'd like to tell a story

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Can I guess? Was the green rock copper ore?

[Boaz]

Walked back to camp after making coffee in an old pot . Everyone was still asleep , place was a bigger mess than usual . I figured someone would have got killed but apparently not .

[Boaz]

Can I guess? Was the green rock copper ore?

You guessed 100% right ! It was extremely high grade copper ore , assayer called it 'jewelry grade' . They thought they were rich , they had mineral that would help them keep the claim if it was profitable to mine it . They forgot about gold .

[Boaz]

I have drug this thread out too long . Will end it quick as I can .

[rancher1913]

there are longer threads about less

[LAH]

I'm still reading & not bored. Yer doin' good.

[Goatwhiskers]

I'm sure not bored. This is a story that all of us could tell in one form or another of a lifetime of experiences that has made us what and who we are and of lessons learned from all of it. Your family laid the foundation,"as the twig is bent, so grows the tree", and God took care of the rest and made you the man you are. Have a blessed Christmas and enjoy your family. GW

[Boaz]

I was tired of being in this camp . It seems to be getting more crazy all the time . Being as I didn't associate with anyone I was pretty much an outcast on purpose . Too many crazy people , too much insanity and I was tired of it .

I had enjoyed 'prospecting' and ranging out as far as what water I could carry would get me . Saw old mining equipment , old pick ups abandoned you wondered how they got there . Names and dated from the last century scratched in the rocks . Mountain lion tracks , old abandon mines , sleeping out on the ground . Trying to find enough dead cactus or mesquite to make coffee in the morning with a can of beans . Looking at the stars and listening to the coyotes , I was 18 and in good condition, used to the outdoors . I was in a new country , it was a heck of a lot of fun and I enjoyed it . But the camp was a filthy crazy hellhole . I was ready to get out of it .

[Boaz]

Andrew and Micah actually encouraged me to 'prospect' , they never tried to restrict what I did ...I was never one of them . They thought I might find gold , everyone in the desert was gold crazy . I never found anything to speak of . I'd carry dirt in coffee cans back to camp out of the dry washes , remembering where they came from and pan them out . Never got more gold than what it took a pair of borrowed eyeglasses to see a few specks . But it was getting old , needed to get out of camp .

[Boaz]

Needed to shake the trees and come up with some money . Hitchhiked into Apace Junction , I know it's big now but back then was just a wide spot in the road . Checked with a few business for any kind of day work ...no luck there . Walked to the post office and talked to Mr Applegate . Asked him if he knew anyone that might need a hand or need day work .

I liked Mr Applegate , he seems lake a normal person . He told me work was scarce but the 'mining' outfit across the parking lot had men up in the mountains working . Said they had horses to pack in supplies and a camp up north on the highway .But that he only saw a pick up over there every few days and it never stayed long , there was never anyone stayed at the office and their mail was sent somewhere else because it didn't come to him . He said I might leave a note on the door . Told him I'd check back in a couple of day and he said he would ask around if someone needed help .

Went to the A J Bayless grocery and got a can of Velvet , while I was there borrowed a piece of notepaper and a piece of scotch tape . Wrote a note , was looking for work and had experience with horses . Said to tell Mr Applegate if they needed help .Walked over to what Mr Applegate called the mining company and taped it on the glass door . It was the ..New Peralta Mining and Exploration CO .

Hitchhiked back to camp .

[Boaz]

Second day after I was going to thumb it into town to see if Mr Applegate had heard anything , was waiting for evening to give it the best chance . But bout 11 o clock a green pick up pulled into camp ..was looking for me . I saw it , the driver was middle age and he talked to a few at the camp and walked straight to me sitting on my door reading an old newspaper .

Said his name was Ed and shook hands . Asked if I had left a note on the 'Peralta' office . And I told him ..yes .......We talked . He wanted to know if I could handle riding stock ..I assured him I could . He hired me on the spot , a deal was struck . Part of that deal by me was that I had to leave NOW ! And he had to tow me and the old Suzuki to his camp NOW .

He agreed , he had rope , the bike tires were still up and we were out of there quick . He pulled me bout 4 mile north to their camp . I was dang glad and ready to do something different ...I was sick of the old 'camp' .

[Boaz]

Got to the mining camp , was pens for the stock , shade sheds , a tiny RV trailer and a lot of water barrels . He introduced me to 'Glasses' , he was bout 25 years old and wore what in my country ..pop bottle eye glasses ..big thick lenses .

Ed took me to the stock and said ..What do you think ? I opened the gate and went in , didn't take a min and I said ...They backs are eat up ..they are all sore . Some had sores with maggots . And he said ..what do they need ? I said ...Cleaning out ! Get the maggots out , need antibiotic , liquid blue and corona .
He told me to get in the truck and we drove to Mesa . Picked up medicine and some Combiotic with a couple of syringes . drove back and he told me to 'fix' em and left .
It was all happening really fast . Got 'Glasses' to hem the ones up in a corner with a rope , dug the maggots out , soaked the sores with Absorbine , let it dry and 'blued' em to keep the flys out . Couple of the horses were eat up bad on the withers , taped newspaper over the sores a few days to get it healing and keep out the maggots .

[Boaz]

Come dark we built a small fire , heated up some canned goods . Dang there was plenty of food but still all canned . He talked a lot , I did not . I had spent over 2 months at the last 'camp' not talking but didn't take much to figure this boy wasn't ..'right' He was dumber than a box of rocks . Come time to go to bed he said ...You gonna sleep in the trailer ? I said ..No !

[huntnman]

[COLOR="#EE82EE"]Hope you didn't die in the desert. Looking forward to the end.

[Boaz]

Made me a bed out of half bale of hay under the shade shed , it was nice compared to my hollow core door on apple boxes . Did a lot of thinking , I was out of the 'crazy' camp but wondered what would happen here . It was going to be a lot of work , getting supplies , hauling water , taking care of the stock , packing in to the camps and 'Glasses' looked like a liability . BUT I was away from the madness and had a paying job .

[Boaz]

Got up at first light and made coffee , Got halters and fed the stock , there were about 8 donkeys . I didn't know anything about using donkeys , only donkeys in my country were just kept up yard pets , nobody used em for anything . Started looking at the pack saddles to figure them out , had seen em but never used one . All double rigged with britchin and breast rig . I had used regular harness so wouldn't be too hard to do . There were several sizes and didn't take much to figure why so many of the horses and mules had sore backs , someone was using the wrong size saddle and or not enough blankets .

Found some hoof nippers , knife and a couple of worn files . Figured I'd start trimming feet ..they all needed it and one horse had a split front hoof needed shoes on the front feet but no tools to do that .

[Tazman1602]

I'll take #117. This is a great story Charlie.

Art

[Tazman1602]

there are longer threads about less

^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

Art

[Boaz]

Thank you Art .

[Boaz]

When I had made contact with Ed it was at the office , he mainly asked questions about me being able to handle the stock . He seemed to know nothing about livestock .
I could see why he needed someone after I saw the shape their stock was in . The outfit was owned by a man out of California last name of Van Suit , I never saw or met him ..Ed ran the show . Ed didn't talk much and after a week or so he just let me do what I wanted pretty much .

I had a better place to stay with the privilege of having anything in the supplys kept on hand at the camp including rollin tobacco . Pretty good deal from wince I had just come .