Ethel Bush Berry’s golden honeymoon

Years before gold was discovered on the beaches of Nome, Alaska, it had already been claimed in what was to become Canada’s Yukon Territory. In the fall of 1895, a California farm girl named Ethel Bush accepted a proposal of marriage from her childhood sweetheart, Clarence J. Berry. C.J. had just returned home to Selma, California from the Yukon Territory, where he had spent 18 months prospecting for gold. Like many other victims of the hard economic times of the 1890s, C.J. had been seduced by the dream of riches beckoning from the streams of the Yukon. In 1894, when he had abandoned his failing fruit farm to follow his golden dream, the muscular, 27-year-old farm boy had asked the girl next door to wait for him. Ethel had promised that she would.

Idaho’s Silver Valley

“If it’s not grown, it’s got to be mined,” Lenny the mine guide stated matter-of-factly as he led our hard hat-wearing group into the dim, damp underground Sierra Silver Mine outside of Wallace, Idaho.

“If you really think about it, you’ll realize how true that is,” he continued, proudly. “The manufacture of everyday products requires silver, gold, copper, lead, zinc and other minerals.”

Gem Fever

Blue Sheppard and the Stewart Mine

When I first met Blue Sheppard at the Gems of Pala, I saw a miner, a master gem cutter, a mentor and a man — all shrouded in the mystique of the world famous Stewart Mine.
Wearing his trademark black leather vest, a rumpled shirt, heavy boots and holding his miner’s helmet under one arm, Sheppard wiped the sweat from his brow as the Californian sun began to beat down on Queen Mountain.

As the small but fascinated crowd of weekend gem hunters began to sift through the fresh tailings he had just brought down from the mine in the hills above Pala, Sheppard’s eyes lit up as he began to talk about gemstones. His spirit and brilliance came shining through. I knew then I was only seeing the surface of Blue Sheppard and the Stewart Mine. I just had to dig a little deeper.

Lost Stagecoach Loot

Wells Fargo stagecoaches rolled across the West for more than a half a century carrying special mail, passengers, gold nuggets, gold bullion and gold dust. By the time the Civil War came around, the Wells Fargo Company was so well known that a number of publishers began to print a new form of literature referred to as the “dime novel.” These booklets featured the tales of stagecoach holdups and train robberies to satisfy their adventure-starved readers. The most popular of dime novels told of Wells Fargo stage robberies done by daring bandits decked out in colorful kerchiefs and “dusters.” of course, every highwayman carried a six-gun and was, supposedly, quick on the trigger.

The Silver King of Colorado

Great events that change our world are not always caused by the actions or wishes of important people. Often, it’s the ordinary folk going about their daily work who are responsible for greatness. In 1848, a group of laborers in California found a small nugget of gold and the world was never the same again. As news of the find reached them, people from all over the world were gripped by an overwhelming desire for wealth and soon thousands of hopefuls became part of the historic migration to the West. A few did become wealthy and famous, but the majority faded into history.

Billy the Kid’s lost Colt .45

William H. Bonney, more commonly known as Billy the Kid, was one of the most famous desperados of the American Southwest, but he was not a bandit who robbed trains, banks or stagecoaches. He didn’t leave behind a strongbox or any money, but he did leave a very valuable treasure. It is the only cache Billy has ever been known to make — a Colt .45-caliber revolver worth about a quarter of a million dollars on today’s open market.

When Billy made his famous escape from the Lincoln County jail on April 28, 1881, he headed into the nearby Capitan Mountains, where he stashed one of the guns he used in the fight. While in the small town of Las Tablas, he told his friend, Yginio Salazar, about the hidden gun and gave him explicit directions how to find it.

A tribute to Mountain Millie

It was with a sad heart that I heard a few weeks ago of the passing of Carolyn Dobbs. She was 99 when she died. For the nine years that I have been here at the GPAA, her little notes to me and my predecessors have always been a highlight and a lift to our days. She always had such a lovely way of letting us know how much she appreciated us.

Hands-on History

 If there’s just one thing that a bunch of wild-eyed fourth graders have in common with the ’49ers of the Old West, it’s their unbridled spirit of exploration and discovery. And, maybe even the hope of finding a big, shiny gold nugget.

Panning for Gold!

"I found GOLD ... GOLD!” echoed through the canyon.

The old prospectors must have turned in their graves, hearing this sweet outcry. The call had come from Parker, who had been panning the river sand accumulated between a cluster of smooth rocks by the water’s edge.

Fortress Fervor

Many of us combine our love of metal detecting when cruising to exotic tropical ports. Tourists, suntan lotion, beaches and metal detecting just naturally go together.

I’ve read many stories about finds at ports of call, but with airlines now charging extra for baggage and ever-tightening security measures, taking a metal detector on vacation is not as easy as it once was.