Gold, Diamonds and Hell

            An hour and a half later, he reached the turnoff to Yreka.  He turned off and followed the short road into the town.  Wanting a hot cup of coffee, Clark looked for a café. He did not have far to look, the “Glory Hole Café“ was only a block away. It was an old wood building with a hitching post in front and a wooden sidewalk which ran the entire length of the building----just as it did in the old days. A sign near the entrance warned, "Miners with boots are welcome, but keep your horses and jackasses outside."  Clark parked in a little lot called "The Corral" and walked to the front of the café.

            Pushing the swinging doors apart, he walked in fantasizing he wore a cowboy hat, cowboy clothes, western boots and had a six-shooter in a holster hanging from his hip.  Inside, he spotted a table at the far end of the small room, he sat down with his back toward a wall.  A long  wooden bar was located opposite from where he sat. It looked authentic western with its bar stools and long brass foot rest.  A few brass spittoons were located at each end of the bar, probably for decorative purpose rather than to be used. Behind  the bar was a large mirror which might have been used in the old days for cowboys to watch what was going on behind them. Shelves below the mirror held various bottles of liquors; the usual drinking glasses abounded.  There were no customers sitting at the bar.

            Of the dozen small tables scattered around the room, one table was occupied by four lumberjacks.  Clark could spot a lumberjack by the type of hat he wore, which was pulled down over his head to almost his ears.  Another table was occupied by two miners.  The loggers were drinking beers; the miners had coffee. 

            There was a physical machismo ego between the two groups.  Many times the miners used the logger’s road for access to drive in as far as possible into the forest in order to prospect virgin areas.  They parked their vehicles at the end of the logging road or on a little clearing to the road’s side.  Many of the logging roads were cut on old prospecting trails so the miners had no qualms that their vehicles partialy blocked part of the road. Blocking the logger’s roads, which impeded logging, was not considered acceptable by the loggers. The loggers also felt more physically powerful due to their type of work they did, i.e. topping trees, sawing huge trunks into lengths that would fit on their truck trailers and loading the huge naked logs. The loggers worked in groups and frequently showed off their physical strength at night in their camps, especially if they had a little too much alcohol to drink.

            Most prospectors either worked alone or in pairs.  Once they found a mineral area with an outcrop showing, and deemed it worth exploring, they marked the four corners of their claim by building a monument about fice feet tall out of rocks. A hand drawn mapand the name of their claim, including the claimants, was put in a tin can and placed in the monument. Next, the miner went to the county seat and filed the proper recording papers.  If the claim was proven substantial, the miner frequently solicited other miners to join them in working the claim on a percentage basis.  It was difficult work climbing in and out of canyons, sampling small creeks and digging in outcrops looking for color. Miners had to climb over boulders, fallen trees, and through tough undergrowth when prospecting virgin mountainous areas.  The animals they feared the most were bears, most of which did not cater to invaders of their territory.  In fact, bears were downright hostile.  

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