I know this will make you laugh or grin
I did this really weird thing last week and bid on a gold claim in the Salmon Crk watershed from someone on ebay and after I did it I went up the learning curve and came to the conclusion I really didn't want a placer mining claim after all. I stalled paying them. Luckily I found my way out of the hole. Just gave him the ebay listing fee(115.00) rather than the bid amount (2500). Whew! that was a close call. I got really excited to see this close-by mining claim for sale and then I just got really depressed after winning the bid. It was an odd heavy hearted feeling. And I wondered if maybe I experienced what some of the early miners must have felt but in a modern setting. The lure of far away dream... the fantasy and lust for untold treasure... betting real hard-won money on the rights to hold a paper claim and put up a sign on it...and then a huge disappointment and uncomfortable embarrassment when washing the sands and seeing just how rare a nugget of gold really is and how heavy the boulders are and the mud I was introducing to the clear stream polluted the waters. Real Pollution! After panning for just a few times knew I had so many other things I would like to do more with my time and energy. Maybe that's how the shop keepers and stage and freight companies got started around the miners. Those people were reluctant miners like me. And I feel lucky that while I prospected on this ebay offering I didn't find gold. Because what crazy lust comes over you when you do find a nugget and then crave to find the next piece? And then the whiskey you have to drink to calm the fever... We met an authentic real drunk modern miner while staying at the Kokonee Cabins. He looked and spoke very raggedly. There are still 3 bars in Sierra City. I think I know why. We hear the miners are called Clampers. Funny name but appropriate sounding.
Calling the Sierra County assessors offices and reading the old 1872 mining law and looking into the state and forest service regulations as well as the inherent risks of scrambling on loose alluvial fill with sharp tools. I think I came to know more about what Sierra County is all about. There are about a thousand active unpatented claims still. Countless others are inactive. It costs about $300 to make a claim. There are lode claims and placer claims and mine shaft claims. All can overlap. The land is divided into an even grid and a numbering system to keep track of it all. The BLM at Eagle Lake charges rent for the yearly paperwork or you have to make improvements like roads and give em some proof you did the work. They want you to be an active miner but not too active that you make a mess of everything. For that you need permits from Fish and Wildlife. If the Federal government ever gave claim holders the right to patent the land the whole North Yuba riverside could potentially be developed with riverside houses. The counties yearly 1% tax is based upon an tax assessor table that factors in location, gold prices and whatnot. My mine was going to be $55.00 a year in taxes - 40 acres valued at $5500. Because it was on a side tributary to the main river it wasn't considered very valuable. Then there are the people, like the Gold'n Gir'l Min'g Co., that wanted to sell these claims to others. They exploit the old 1872 laws and mineral claim system and stake multiple claims and repackage with jpeg images of large nuggets and resell the legal rights to the placer gravel....I'll just sign off on the quitclaim deed and it''' all be yours! Guaranteed Excitement! And now ebay's colorful storefront is being used to pull in those at are vulnerable to yarns of riches and the interest in colorful mining history. I think I see now how mining is endless labor and mining is course and distructive. Plus your skin and back are broken while doing it. And it tends to exploit those that don't know any better. I got a little wiser this week.
I'll remember this year... the year I ....almost ....bought a mining claim!
I feel a whole lot better NOT having a mining claim. I can say I came close. The claim sign is still blank! I feel so much better having not gone through with it. Whew!
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