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A Tiny Story: Romance and Savagery in 19th Century Southwestern Arizona - August 20,2026

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  Updated on November 17, 2024 John reads about the Old West, lost treasure, lost gold mines, and amateur gold prospecting. He prospects in Arizona and photographs mines. A Serial For the second installment, please see Apache-Land-Travels-and-Surprises Prelude Jack had just ridden into town for his long-awaited reunion with his betrothed. Her name was Nell, and as his buddies were apt to say, she was easy-on-the-eyes. Heading across the dirt street, the general store to the right and the saloon on the left, he saw dust in the distance. As he looked down the alley between the two businesses, he saw dust on the crest of the hills of Patagonia, Arizona. It rose like a light brown vapor. Too far to make out the nature of the disturbance, he continued. The hills were sparsely spotted with brush and cholla, the walls and blue sky framed the scene. It was a gorgeous day, and he took note. Nell's Concord stagecoach with burgeoning rear boot arrived in front of the saloon. Jack was almost t...
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The Brass Shell and the Three Coins: A Great Depression Treasure Tale

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  By the summer of 1935, the desert had become Travis’s second home—though not by choice. At twelve years old, he already carried the weight of a grown man’s worries. Every morning he set out across the hardpan with a burlap sack slung over his shoulder, hunting for brass shell casings. A few pennies here, a nickel there—whatever he could earn helped his mother, Clara, keep the lights on and a little food in the cupboard. The night before, a rare desert rain had fallen, soft and steady. Travis loved the world after rain. The sand turned smooth and pocked with tiny dimples, and the brass he searched for gleamed like buried stars. As he walked, the sun climbed higher, turning the cottonwoods along the arroyo into shimmering towers of green coinage. That was when he saw it—something half‑hidden in a rain‑made hollow. A strange greenish‑blue stain, just a hint of brass beneath. His heart thumped. He knelt, brushed the sand away, and felt the shape of something long and cylindrica...
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The Prospector Who Left Out the Pickles: A Tale of Amateur Gold Hunting and Unexpected Forgiveness

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                                                                                  * Updated on April 23, 2025 John has prospected for gold in Arizona 10 years. His experience taught him to deal with the terrain, heat, and gold fever. He makes tools. Gold Is Wonderful to See Very fine gold flake discovered due to hamburger pickle bafflement. This size gold is often referred to as flour gold, powder, micros, micro gold, and oat gold. I am sure there are other designations. | Source Looking Forward to Floods? For years, most people have heard of the drought in California. While hugely significant, particularly with respect to our bread basket struggling for water, Arizona has also experienced a very dry period. For gold prospectors, the occurrence of rain is a welcome sight as well. When...
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Find Placer Deposits, Gold Quartz Veins, Piedmonts & Minerals

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Updated on December 15, 2024                                                           * I've been gold prospecting for 13 years, mainly in the Bradshaw Mountains in Yavapai County, Arizona, where I found over 8 grams of placer. Piedmont or alluvial deposit, eluvial, or alluvium  |  Source Practice Affects Probability "The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again." —B. F. Skinner It is one thing to know high probability areas for finding placer gold near a stream. It is quite another thing to locate property that is a good contender for holding gold. Finding a property that might contain gold is the subject of this article. And, just as there are places to look on a claim where the nature of placer gold is likely to dictate where it "falls out" or settles, there are some fundamental rules for selecting...
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Iceland Citizens and Icelandic Private Banks Repudiate Debt Financial Bailout

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                                                                                       * Updated on October 14, 2022 John has been interested in economics and politics since high school. He wants to vote more responsibly and watches candidates' positions. What should Iceland do?  |  Source Should Iceland Refuse to Pay? In March of 2010, something rather remarkable happened. Icelanders voted not to accept a proposal called "Icesave" which would have provided for the repayment of funds that England and the Netherlands had paid to its citizens who had lost savings in Icelandic private banks. When Icelandic banks went bankrupt in 2008 and 2009 due to the worldwide lack of liquidity, or put another way, money to carry on investment activities (the same reason t...
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