I have spent an entire week sharing with you a small corner of the world that you might have never known about. I will admit, the previous installments have painted an image of desolation. That was my intent. This is the feeling you would have taken away had you just drove through town and not bothered to stop and meet the people. So let me take a second to introduce to the most interesting man in the world.
His name is Jay, and he has been a 40 year prospectin’ resident of Crescent Valley, NV. Yep, you read that right, he is a real live prospector. He has staked claims all over the valley and its surrounding hills. He literally drives stakes into the ground to mark his claim…old school like you read about. But that doesn’t even begin to tell his story. He’s a modern day Indiana Jones. Here is what I know. The timeline might be a bit off but you get the idea. After getting into a few fist fights in Mexico at the age of 20, he dialed in an education in his home country of Canada. Then he spent 7 winters in the Arctic and another year mining back in Mexico. Eventually he ended up in Crescent Valley. He has been here for over 40 years. Since then he ran an Assay lab in Elko, engineered a Baryte mine, and prospected the heck of them hills. You know what comes along with 40 years of prospecting the hills of Nevada? Lots, and lots of stories. Stories that would put the Dos Equis Man to shame. Jay is the real McCoy. Not only is he knowledgeable, he is generous. He spent 3 entire days answering every question we could think of about Gold Mining, Crescent Valley, Remittence Men, and fist fighting.
What’s the lesson? You miss all of this when you don’t take time to visit with folks. I doubt there is another Jay out there, he was 1 in a million, but you get the idea. The world is more than beautiful vistas and tourist destinations. Next time you want to go somewhere, go to the middle of nowhere. That’s where you will find the real gold!
Thanks for the tour Jay, we can’t say enough.
Justin, Shauna, and Betty…..
