Old West Mine Salting Scams With hundreds of thousands of folks coming West during the Gold Rush century, a passel of con men and bunko artists also moved out. They tried to relieve the unlearned of their pokes and purses. Most schemes had something to do with mines and mining stock. Many a man paid good […]
GOLD FEVER EVERYWHERE I lived in the little town of Winchester, Idaho, population about 350, and found a surprise one day. Down at the meat market I discovered people standing six deep at the cash register. I suspected a bit of gold fever happening. You see, the meat market sold lottery tickets and the jackpot […]
TO SEE THE ELEPHANT Of all the 400,000 people called ‘49ers who made it to the gold rush in California those first ten years, very few made any money. They knew they wouldn’t all get rich in the goldfields. But they traveled West anyway “to see the elephant.” The Farmer at the Circus Popular at […]
Western Antique Collecting with A Purpose by Janet Chester Bly A friend claims my house looks like a museum. My late husband and I did gather a few western antique treasures over the years. For instance, until recently we had a genuine Wells Fargo western antique stagecoach strongbox. Very heavy weight of 50 pounds, size […]
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