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Show 106 On Gold H i l l , across the Bonanza and above the camp, Ogilvie found a fraction-six feet wide-between two claims. "Six feet a i n ' t wide enough," one man exclaimed, throwing his hat to the ground. " I t ' s better than s i x inches," another said. "Could be six feet of solid gold." "Could be a six-foot blank." The men paced back and f o r th in front of the fraction, wanting i t , but not wanting to make fools of themselves. "If we stake t h i s , by law we can't stake again in this t e r r i t o r y ." "Maybe there will be a twelve-foot fraction on the next h i l l ." "Well, this i s not big enough for a shaft." "Perhaps a shaft, but you couldn't tunnel. You'd be on another man's claim." While they talked I walked over to a tent nearby, picked up two pieces of wood, and s t a r t e d whittling the ends with my pocket-knife. I scratched our names on each piece: Erickson and Trattner. Then I walked back to the fraction and pounded down my stakes. When they heard the pounding, the men became extremely agitated and pounced on me, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" one shouted. |
