Hi All,

Went drywashing with Paul a couple weeks ago. He is also known as "Panner Paul" and has it decaled across the back window of his truck. I thought I had his phone and email when I left to come back to NH. I seem to have lost it. Either or both contacts would be greatly appreciated. If you want to keep the information private please PM me with it.

Thanks!

Mike F

Call Cindy at the Sierra Vista Motel in Congress at 928-427-6330. She will give you his number. Cheers! - Terry

Thanks Terry. I'll try that again.

Terry.... Great to see you are out and about. To give you a thought, my step-
grandfather Joseph Vietti has a cousin who was a saloon keeper in Congress
back when it was still a Territory... The point, keep an eye out for "maverick"
Vietti saloon tokens in the Congress area (and elsewhere; Delamar, Tonopah,
Manhattan, and Ely). There were three Vietti's who were early day saloon
keepers. The early saloons were portable and easily moved from camp to camp.
They were meeting places where business was often conducted and offered
a limited lunch and an unofficial "hock-shop." The Delamar token is worth
several hundred dollars or more...

More information... Joseph Vietti was a qualified assayor and had a small
but effient assay lab near his saloon. He closed his saloon and became fully
involved in various mining interests and was very successful at them. Hs Ely
token is not the usual brass, but a smaller aluminum... back about 1916.

Mike... I apologize if I raided your post... but it seems that you have the needed
information... Also, it is nice to be knowlegeable about tokens and coins and even
mining stock cerificates that have been lost or even discarded. Not only that you
might even come upon and old aricraft wreck that was never found and be the
first to report it. The deserts are vast and can hide a lot of stuff... especially gold.

Jim ... No harm done. I have become very interested in Congress and the area around it. I plan to retire within the next 2 years and actually hoping that by the end of 2010 if things, go right, I will at least be semi retired from this grueling real estate market back here in the east. Actually the market isn't much different from the local AZ market ... shall we say a bit depressed! I am looking for a piece of property in the area as we speak. I just met Paul a couple weeks ago and met Terry and one of his guides, sorry I can't remember the man's name, at Cindy's motel while I was staying there a couple weeks ago.

Point here is I like to know a little about the colorful history of the places I reside. I'm no historian but find the past interesting if not a learning experience. So if you have more info about the Congress past you would like to pass on I would be interested in hearing about it. You can PM me or email me at: <m.furness@comcast.net> without the arrows of course if they come through in the post.

Make it a great day ... Mike F.

Hi Jim! Thanks again for your books! I read them all on the plane and benefitted from them greatly during my last gold prospecting expedition. I will keep my ears open for one of Joseph's tokens - I love learning more about the local history of Congress and Congress Junction! I met a lot of people this time in Congress and Yarnell, and made some more friends playing poker at the Arrowhead, and up at the Legion! Thank's again for the head's up Jim! - Terry

Gosh Mike and Terry... actually I personnally know very little about the local history
around Congress other than reading about the history of the area. I'm sure both of
you have a copy of Rich Hill by Katherine Crombie, Chris Gholson, Dante Lauretta and
Erik Melchiorre.

I'm very proud that Chris Gholson sent me an autographed copy (and even mentioned me).
Chris and his father, Steve, are very lucky to share a common interest and are so successful
in finding gold.

Another book... Dr. Erik Melchiorre is an Associate Professor (Stable Isotope Geochemisty)
with the Department of Geological Science, California State University San Bernardino.
I have met and talked to him several times... He has written a book on the Octave Mining
Company, also personally autographed...

Both books are a welcome addition to my library. I recommend both of them. Good Reading.

It is absolutely great to have many good friends, and I consider both of you as a good friends;
and (for me) to still be able to get out and about. I plan on being at Laughlin for the AMDA
hunt later this month... My detector of choice will be a 20-year old White's Eagle ll SL. I hope
to be able to "swing it" as it heavy. Gotta keep active... My Best to All, Jim Straight

Thanks Jim. And yes I have Chris' Rich Hill Treatise. I will have to find a copy of the Octave book as I don't have that one. Good luck at the Laughlin meet. That old Eagle II is truely a beast compared to today's high tech light-weights!

And the friendship is mutual ... although we have never met face to face! Someday hopefully!

Mike F.

Howdy Mike and Terry...

I believe Chris, Bill and or Rob carry Eric's Octave book.

Now more about Paul Clark... it took awhile for the brain cells
to "click-on." He is the Congress GPAA Chapter contact and is
listed as such in the Gold Prospector magazine.

No secret... Paul Clark 928- 427- 5403. I'm sure Paul would
welcome new chapter members... <congresspaul@aol.com>

All of this is on p. 82 in the November/December issue (as
are the 2010 Gold and Treasure shows on the outer cover...)

Yep... the SL Black Box Eagle II with the standard 9.5 donut
coil is a little heavy compared to the modern versions... I
once adapted it to a hip/chest mount but it seemed awkward
so I now use it as a polemount... Needless to say it gets heavier
as time passes...

Again... Thanks for your friendship... too much anger with many
folk's edgy about the economy... plus the sudden changes with
"new laws" that are not popular... Take care!

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the info on Paul. I did get his info from a friend in Congress and have emailed him a couple times and he has responded. I hope to get out to dry wash a little more with him in February when I do my winter trip. He is a fun guy to be with. I went dywashing with him when I was out for my quick trip a few weeks ago now and got a good amount of gold in the few hours we had before it got to be 111 degrees ... by 11:00 AM no less! Seems once I left AZ the weather all of a sudden cooled down according to my friend.
So now thanks to Paul I have two fun ways to get gold. my perferred method is detecting but drywashing for me is a real close second.
Mike F.