Today Bruce finds a vein of gold, he accumulates 32 weapons-all loaded-and shoots his own self. He becomes a cowboy legend in the back country of San Diego County, the last person to wear 6-shooters on his hips at ALL times.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 28...HELL
Bruce mined the Golden Oaks East mining claim. We had found a vein that assayed out to be a quarter ounce of gold per ton of rock and it was here that Bruce began to dig. The first day that he began to make a cut in the canyon wall, Bruce felt someone standing behind him. Turning around, he saw no one around, but he knew that he was in the presence of one of the Indian leaders. He said out loud that he would always treat the canyon with respect and always acknowledge the presence of the spirits of the tribe. He felt warmth and joy surround him and he knew that we would be protected as long as we protected the canyon.
Bruce was doing hard-rock mining. Hard-rock mining meant that he swung a pick at the canyon wall and chipped off rock bit by bit. It was incredibly hard work. After chipping out a pile of rock he would shovel the rock into a wheelbarrow and wheel the rock to be dumped on top of a dump that had to be situated in a barren area of the canyon, where it would not disturb the flora or the fauna, nor be conspicuous to other citizens enjoying the canyon.
On most Saturdays and Sundays, people would come up to the mountains to see Bruce work his mine. He was always happy to show off his tunnel because, just like in the story of Tom Sawyer and the white-washed fence, once people saw how much fun Bruce was having mining, they all asked him if they could help him. We would not have been able to be as successful as we were without the help of those dear people.
Living in the mountains required work every minute of every day just to survive in the elements. We worked from sunup to sundown in hard labor, and then in the evenings there was cooking and cleaning; and the children had to do their school work.
Bruce had 32 weapons of all kinds; all of the guns were kept loaded. Most of the rifles and handguns were kept in a wooden safe that Bruce built himself and that was kept locked, but there were at least six to ten guns that were out in the open or on Bruce's hips. Bruce felt, what was the use of having a gun if it was not loaded? Bruce also had massive amounts of gunpowder in one of the back rooms and he loaded his own bullets. He also made his own dynamite explosives for shooting the walls of the mine when the rock got too hard to move any other way. Bruce was the only one to get hurt by the guns in all the times we were in the mountains. He was taking a gun out of his holster one day, to clean it, when he dropped the gun and the gun went off shooting a hole in his left leg. We had to rush him to a hospital to have his bullet removed. It hurt him a great deal and he was always a lot more cautious with his guns from that day on.
Bruce had a reputation in Julian and the surrounding area. He would never take off his gun no matter where he went on the mountains, or in Julian. He was the last of the gun-toting cowboys in San Diego County. He would wear his Levi's and engineer boots, a cowboy-type shirt and bandana, a black felt cowboy hat, and a black trench coat that fell to the ground. He wore his belt and holster with one gun, and then he had at least one other gun hidden on his person. He never drew his gun unless he intended to use it, but there were many times that he had to use his gun. There were dozens of rattlesnakes that were shot by Bruce, who would then cut off their heads and throw the heads far away into the brush. Then he would turn the rattlesnake upside down and place rocks on top of it to weigh it down. He said that it was an old Indian method to insure that we would start to have rain soon; it seemed to work, sporadically.
Bruce and his guns and his mining were great stories that went around the Julian area. It was one reason that so many people came up to the mine to see what was going on, and to help. All of the guns frightened me and made me feel uncomfortable. I hated it when strangers came up on the mountain to try to stake claims over our claims. It happened a lot, and almost everyone who came up to claim-jump the mine also had guns. There would be the confrontations of Bruce and the other men and there were many times when things came to a show of guns. Fortunately only a few times did the confrontations come to the pulling out and shooting of the guns, but one group of claim-jumpers started firing their weapons at the back of the truck where there were several children sitting, watching the goings on. Bruce got in the truck in that instant and drove off the mountain to get the Sheriff. The Sheriff came up and threw the claim-jumpers off of the mountain, but that was one of the scariest moments we had. Once Bruce chased off the mountain a group of men who were shooting their guns across the road and not paying any attention to the trucks that drove down the road-the bullets whizzed over our heads. Bruce started firing back until the men begged for mercy; he then followed their trucks off the mountain raining bullets across the top of their trucks. I was so worried that someone would get hit. The men went to the Sheriff's office to complain, but the Sheriff told them not to go back up on the mountain as they had no business shooting their guns off when there were other people around.
Tomorrow Ann comes face to face with a mother Mountain Lion, and a Bobcat invades our kitchen...
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 28...HELL
Bruce mined the Golden Oaks East mining claim. We had found a vein that assayed out to be a quarter ounce of gold per ton of rock and it was here that Bruce began to dig. The first day that he began to make a cut in the canyon wall, Bruce felt someone standing behind him. Turning around, he saw no one around, but he knew that he was in the presence of one of the Indian leaders. He said out loud that he would always treat the canyon with respect and always acknowledge the presence of the spirits of the tribe. He felt warmth and joy surround him and he knew that we would be protected as long as we protected the canyon.
Bruce was doing hard-rock mining. Hard-rock mining meant that he swung a pick at the canyon wall and chipped off rock bit by bit. It was incredibly hard work. After chipping out a pile of rock he would shovel the rock into a wheelbarrow and wheel the rock to be dumped on top of a dump that had to be situated in a barren area of the canyon, where it would not disturb the flora or the fauna, nor be conspicuous to other citizens enjoying the canyon.
On most Saturdays and Sundays, people would come up to the mountains to see Bruce work his mine. He was always happy to show off his tunnel because, just like in the story of Tom Sawyer and the white-washed fence, once people saw how much fun Bruce was having mining, they all asked him if they could help him. We would not have been able to be as successful as we were without the help of those dear people.
Living in the mountains required work every minute of every day just to survive in the elements. We worked from sunup to sundown in hard labor, and then in the evenings there was cooking and cleaning; and the children had to do their school work.
Bruce had 32 weapons of all kinds; all of the guns were kept loaded. Most of the rifles and handguns were kept in a wooden safe that Bruce built himself and that was kept locked, but there were at least six to ten guns that were out in the open or on Bruce's hips. Bruce felt, what was the use of having a gun if it was not loaded? Bruce also had massive amounts of gunpowder in one of the back rooms and he loaded his own bullets. He also made his own dynamite explosives for shooting the walls of the mine when the rock got too hard to move any other way. Bruce was the only one to get hurt by the guns in all the times we were in the mountains. He was taking a gun out of his holster one day, to clean it, when he dropped the gun and the gun went off shooting a hole in his left leg. We had to rush him to a hospital to have his bullet removed. It hurt him a great deal and he was always a lot more cautious with his guns from that day on.
Bruce had a reputation in Julian and the surrounding area. He would never take off his gun no matter where he went on the mountains, or in Julian. He was the last of the gun-toting cowboys in San Diego County. He would wear his Levi's and engineer boots, a cowboy-type shirt and bandana, a black felt cowboy hat, and a black trench coat that fell to the ground. He wore his belt and holster with one gun, and then he had at least one other gun hidden on his person. He never drew his gun unless he intended to use it, but there were many times that he had to use his gun. There were dozens of rattlesnakes that were shot by Bruce, who would then cut off their heads and throw the heads far away into the brush. Then he would turn the rattlesnake upside down and place rocks on top of it to weigh it down. He said that it was an old Indian method to insure that we would start to have rain soon; it seemed to work, sporadically.
Bruce and his guns and his mining were great stories that went around the Julian area. It was one reason that so many people came up to the mine to see what was going on, and to help. All of the guns frightened me and made me feel uncomfortable. I hated it when strangers came up on the mountain to try to stake claims over our claims. It happened a lot, and almost everyone who came up to claim-jump the mine also had guns. There would be the confrontations of Bruce and the other men and there were many times when things came to a show of guns. Fortunately only a few times did the confrontations come to the pulling out and shooting of the guns, but one group of claim-jumpers started firing their weapons at the back of the truck where there were several children sitting, watching the goings on. Bruce got in the truck in that instant and drove off the mountain to get the Sheriff. The Sheriff came up and threw the claim-jumpers off of the mountain, but that was one of the scariest moments we had. Once Bruce chased off the mountain a group of men who were shooting their guns across the road and not paying any attention to the trucks that drove down the road-the bullets whizzed over our heads. Bruce started firing back until the men begged for mercy; he then followed their trucks off the mountain raining bullets across the top of their trucks. I was so worried that someone would get hit. The men went to the Sheriff's office to complain, but the Sheriff told them not to go back up on the mountain as they had no business shooting their guns off when there were other people around.
Tomorrow Ann comes face to face with a mother Mountain Lion, and a Bobcat invades our kitchen...
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