Name’s Samuel. I came into these Hills chasing talk of yellow metal sleeping under the pines. Most men come for a quick strike. I came for the long work — cold water, sore hands, and the kind of patience that outlasts bad luck.
I’ve panned till my fingers wrinkled like old bark, pushed a rocker till my shoulders barked back, and run a sluice through water cold enough to stiffen a mule. Some days you get nothing but black sand and stubbornness. Then — once in a while — you’ll see that bright wink in the pan and it’s like the world remembers your name.
The creek always tells the truth if you listen: heavies tuck behind riffles, color rides low on bedrock or hard clay, and inside bends gather the good pay like a pocket gathers coins. You learn to read water like other men read letters.
How a Prospector Thinks
Gold’s heavy. It settles where the current slows — inside bends, behind boulders, and low pockets on bedrock.
I don’t marry a spot on hope. I sample upstream, downstream, and side bars until the creek gives me a pattern.
Magnetite and “heavies” like to keep company. When the black sand stacks, I pay attention.
Real pay hides low — on hard clay or bedrock. Pretty gravel on top is often just decoration.
Food and tools are the true gold. A man who burns his supplies is broke even with color in the vial.
If the tests stay thin, I don’t waste a season. I roll my bed, pick a new draw, and try again.
Claim & Camp
- Marks and records a claim to keep disputes down
- Keeps camp close to water, but above flood line
- Bedroll, canvas, fire kit, tight food box
- Winter freezes the creeks — time to mend and plan
- Stays clear of hot tempers and town trouble
Tools I Use
- Pan, pick, shovel, buckets, snuffer bottle
- Classifier screen to keep big stones out
- Rocker box when water’s shallow
- Sluice box when water runs steady
- Grease, nails, spare boards — repairs happen daily
Where Gold Hides
- Inside bends and slow water seams
- Behind rocks where the current breaks
- Old benches and buried channels after floods
- On bedrock cracks and hard clay layers
- Fresh storm runoff can shift pay into new pockets
Hard Truths
- Most “rich strikes” are stories told loud
- Many men leave with nothing but blisters
- Luck matters — but persistence matters more
- A good day might be grains, not ounces
- Grubstake and patience keep you in the game
Creeks I Know
- Rapid Creek: big water, steady work
- Spring Creek: pockets that can surprise you
- Whitewood Creek: famous early rush ground
- Horse Creek: sands that sometimes carry color
- I test bends, bars, and benches before I commit
My Background
- Born 1846 near Blue Ash, Ohio
- Came west in the mid-1870s chasing reports
- Spent winters in Deadwood when ground locked up
- Not much for marriage — the Hills became my family
- Still here because I can’t quit the sound of water
Reading the Creek
Prospecting isn’t magic — it’s attention. I watch how the water runs, where it slows, where it cuts, and where it drops its burden. A creek is a moving sieve: it sorts the light sand away and lets the heavy things settle.
If I’m doing it right, I can explain why there’s color in the pan — not just celebrate it. That’s the difference between a lucky day and a living.
Give me a stretch of water, an hour to test, and I’ll tell you whether it’s worth a week of digging… or whether you should save your back and move on.
Rapid Creek
Big water • cold truth • steady color
Rapid Creek is the lifeblood of these Hills — clear, cold, and strong enough to run a sluice proper when the season’s right. In spring, when snowmelt comes down, it shifts bars and cuts new channels… and sometimes it moves gold into fresh pockets too.
I’ve stood knee-deep in that current so long my legs went numb, listening to the stones roll under the water like distant thunder. It’s hard work, but the sound of a creek working gravel is better company than most men in town.
If you want to understand prospecting, watch Rapid Creek for ten minutes. It’ll teach you more than a week of bragging in Deadwood.
“Most days it’s rocks and sweat. Some days it’s a glimmer — and that’s enough to make a man believe all over again.”