Everyone is getting antsy to get out and prospect!
Chris emailed, “I finally got some dirt! It's muddy
muddy muddy! I think I have about 2 inches of mud caked on to the running
boards. The dam's filling up though with plenty of run off coming in.”
We’ve been
out and about also, driving mostly on gravel roads since the frost is just
coming out of the US Forest Service trails.
We’ve gotta
say, though, that Chris’ comments are pretty unique. We’re not seeing much
spring run-off elsewhere.
Some friends
were digging at the Tallent near Rochford… the ground pretty much clear of
snow, the creek more like mid-summer than spring run-off!
About this
time every year, we spend a day or two checking winter damage to claim posts,
location certificates, signage. We were disappointed on a couple of levels.
First we found very little evidence of our lode claim boundaries. We put up new
posts, new location certificates and flagging to help make them visible.
We thought it
a little unusual… our spring check usually means putting a post back upright,
replacing faded signage, etc.
One placer
claim, location certificate in place, sported a new lode claim post right next
to the monument!
Although the
water situation in the Black Hills is pretty grim, there appears to be a fresh
“flood” of lode claims staked in the Rochford area. This time they don’t seem
to care if there are already claims, placer or lode.
So again, we
are researching new claims. If you have an existing claim in the Rochford area,
please be sure your monuments are in place, your location certificate posted.
You can also
feel free to contact us at hillshistory1876@gmail.com
and we will research if you have been overstaked.
Also, we have
one lode claim that we may endeavor to open up the addit into the
workings. If you’d like to donate a
little pick and shovel time to expose an historic mine entrance, drop us an
email! We haven’t made the call yet as to whether we will do it manually or
file a Plan of Operation to allow mechanized equipment. A few days of manual
labor would expose enough to further investigate the integrity of the old
workings.
A winter
storm has us in its embrace… snowed in but breathing easy with temporary relief
from fire danger!
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