A young man from Iowa started at
about the time I did. We both went many days without finding a
diamond. But once he did, he was totally hooked. He went back to
Iowa, sold most of his stuff, and moved back to the mine, living in a
tent outside. He hunted full time, and the hard way. I never knew how
many he found But every day I was there, he was hard at it. I heard
he later found some nice ones along the way. I fully expect he will
be one of those who leaves that field at last, as a totally broken
down old man.
Some got around the "Fill up
your hole at the end of the day" rule by hauling in a piece of
plywood, hiding the entrance, cover it with dirt, and come back to
that same spot the next day. I was busy washing away one day when one
of those guys came up and told me I was working on his doorway,
dumping my mud on it. He had a system of caves dug underneath that
area.
I saw two or three men set in and
dig a new hole, five feet across, and they took turns and dug all
day. They were able to get 12 or 14 feet deep, pulled out a diamond
from the bottom, and still got it filled back up that day.
I dug 30 days that winter, yet my
total find was one diamond and a small amount of gold. I always told
the other guys, "I am the best equipped, most knowledgeable, and
the hardest working of all the Non-Producers."And I think that
was true. The park officials would not believe I found that gold
there, asserting, "There is no gold in this park." But God
and I both know I did.
Though I proved to not be a
productive diamond hunter that winter, I did find two diamonds, of
another type, who totally out shown any type of mineral that might be
found there.
Henry and Lori Emison were mining
away when I first met them. They were becoming regulars, and
everyone soon began to realize, they just worked a lot harder that
anybody else. Henry was a total machine when he has a shovel in his
hand. He could outwork anyone, five to one.
Some Texas diamond hunters were
digging one day, and hit the glory hole. It was a thin strip of fine
creek sand, and deep creek sand is the very best. They found it very deep. An old creek bed from eons
past. They quickly began to find many diamonds, but by then they were
totally exhausted. Time was getting short. They had to leave for
Texas that day.
Henry was working across the creek
from them, and they, like everyone else, soon realized he was a
digging machine. They went over and made a deal. "We are in a
very rich diamond bed. Dig with us and we will split the diamonds
found." Henry went for the deal, and by the end of the day,
Henry had 5 very nice diamonds.
Henry called me that night, and
told me exactly where that glory hole was. Quite naturally, I was
there, ready to dig, the next morning. But a full timer had already
taken over that spot, and he dug there for days. He told me after he
had washed it all out, many days later, that he found no diamonds. If
he was telling me straight, it seems the glory hole was exhausted.
Later, I was there on a day after a large rain, and the glory hole
area was under four feet of water. I told some college guys of the
twenty some odd diamonds found in that hole in one day. When I came
back by later that day, they were sitting in that hole, reaching down
under water, and gathering up that dirt, handful at a time. There are
no lengths to which one bitten by the diamond bug will not go.
My grandson Jordan came with me
one day shortly after that. At the end of the day, he wisely informed
me, "Papaw, anything that is fun can never be this hard."
Great words of wisdom from a child. He was right. Every part of my
body ached. My body was breaking down, and I was becoming one of
those "broken down old men." After 30 days, I hung up my
shovel and screens, and have never been back. But some day I will,
and I have already planned out my approach when I do. I have a spoon
attached to a long handle. I will wait until right after a very large
rain. Then I will walk around all over that field, look for tiny
reflections from the sun, pick them all up and put them in a bucket.
Then wash out only that. Many lucky people have found beautiful
diamonds there, right on top of the ground. Maybe mother luck will
shine upon me some day. Lord knows, I deserve it!
Henry continued his obsession. He
was still working full time, landscaping and construction, but he is
a man among men, one who could come over after work and still do a
day's work at the mines. Just naturally, he found many more diamonds.
They rented a house from me in Gurdon, 16 miles from Arkadelphia.
Partially because they loved that very old, six bedroom brick house,
the oldest brick house in Gurdon. But, mostly, it was close to the
diamond mines.
Henry and Lori didn't just stand
out in their ability to work. Henry preached, for free, at Nursing
Homes. A young girl was desperate for a home. They adopted her, even
though it greatly strained their budget. That kind of people.
When they moved into my old house,
I saw Lori just loved to fix it up, and they hoped to buy it some
day. I made them a rock bottom price, but they didn't feel ready to
take that on yet. I went down to the Hardware store in Gurdon, opened
an account, and told Lori to charge anything she needed to improve
that old house. She did, and she never abused my trust. It was
quickly a far better house that it had been in many, many years.
This is not the end of my Henry
and Lori story. They will come back in later, in a very big way.
Little did I know, they were destined to become my salvation, when an
almost impossible task faced me. A job requiring absolute human working machines.
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