Gold Fever !!!
Tomah
Wisconsin GPAA Chapter – March, 2014
Welcome
Welcome to the 2014 GOLD FEVER Newsletter.
Another year, another gold prospecting opportunity.
If you have not tried to find gold, you need to give it a try.
Let us know if you need help to get started, there are many people with
experience that the help you.
The Tomah, Wisconsin GPAA Chapter newsletter is your newsletter, please let me
know what you would like to see in it, we hope to bring you more information in
the coming year. I hope you enjoy
the information and articles included in this newsletter.
You can receive this Newsletter by
mail, by either attended a meeting, or sent a book of stamps for postage.
We are also always looking for speakers, we need to help out our great president
(Mike Fait). He has been putting
the programs together with very little help.
If you have taken a trip or just have a story about somewhere, we would
like to hear about it. You do NOT
need to be an expert speaker; everyone likes to hear about what other members
are doing.
Do not forget the Newsletter and pictures can always be found at:
www.huntforgems.com/gpaatomahwi/
President’s Message
The cold lingers, I long for spring and running creeks.
I would like to thank Dan Erickson for coming all the way from Eagle River to
talk to us about gold hag matting. I will have to get some just to see if I
start getting more gold from my sluice box. I should have order it already but
time and money are always in short supply.
I have reserved site # 51 for myself at Nugget Lake for the June 21 outing.
Sites are $20 a day 2 day minimum over a weekend plus $5 a day for your vehicle
and $5 if you reserve by phone using a credit card. The number for the park is
(715)639-5611.
I am always looking for speakers or topics for our monthly meetings so if you
have any ideas call or email me or talk to me at the meeting, thank you.
Stay warm Mike Fait
Tomah
Wisconsin GPAA Chapter Minutes February, 2014
Old Business:
The February meeting was held at the Town Hall at the Town of Lagrange, 22731
Flint Ave. on Route #21 west of Tomah Wisconsin on February 15th.
23 members and guests attended the
February meeting.
We are still looking for a Liberian. Let Mike know if you would like to
volunteer or we won't have one.
Dan Erickson brought a few examples of the Gold Hog Matting the he spoke about.
He also spoke about the angle that sluice boxes should be to catch the
most gold. If the water is running
too slow, gold will be lost, there needs to be some speed to make the most gold.
1 to 3 inch drop per foot will keep the water flow about 1 inch above the
matting. Also make sure that the
sluice is level at the top and bottom.
With the Gold Hog matting the gold settles in the low areas in-between the 3D
surfaces. Changing the matting from
one style of matting to another and back to the original style also will catch
more gold Putting the lower
speed mat at the top of the sluice and higher speed mat at the bottom works
well.
If you would like to get sand from a lumber yard, to try to find gold in it.
Always check where the sand came from and make sure that the sand is
‘unwashed’ sand.
New
Business:
March’s meeting will be on the 3rd Saturday of March on the 15th
at 1:00 pm. Please bring a dish to pass
for lunch.
Guest
speaker
– As of the printing
of this newsletter, we do not have a speaker scheduled.
Donations to the raffle were from:
Wayne Ellefson Sr., Dave Bender, Bev Bender, Jacob Morrison, Diane North, Capt.
Bob, Merlin Meyer, Jack & Rita Jasinski, Ron Rick, Valery Thompson, and David
Vind,
hope I
didn't miss anyone.
Raffles:
50/50 raffle winner –
Diane Kollins
Gold raffle
winners: Dan Kaler and Ron Rick
Gold
Price on 3/3/14 was $1,350.30 Silver
Price on 3/3/14 was $21.51
Respectfully submitted by Diane North –
Newsletter Editor
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when
gold
was found by
James W. Marshall
at
Sutter's Mill
in
Coloma, California.[1]
The first to hear confirmed information of the Gold Rush were the people in
Oregon,
the
Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii),
and
Latin America,
who were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. All told, the
news of gold brought some 300,000 people to
California
from the rest of the
United States
and abroad.[2]
Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came from the east
overland on the
California Trail
and the
Gila River
trail.
The gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849), often faced
substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were
Americans, the
Gold Rush
attracted tens of thousands from
Latin America,
Europe,
Australia,
and
China.
At first, the gold nuggets could be picked up off the ground. Later, gold was
recovered from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as
panning.
More sophisticated methods were developed and later adopted elsewhere. At its
peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was
required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold
worth tens of billions of today's
dollars
was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home
with little more than they had started with.
The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial.
San Francisco
grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a
boomtown
of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built
throughout California. In 1849 a state constitution was written, a governor and
legislature chosen and California became a
state
in 1850 as part of the
Compromise of 1850.
New methods of transportation developed as
steamships
came into regular service. By 1869
railroads
were built across the country from California to the eastern United States.
Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the
settlers. At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property
rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. The
Gold Rush also resulted in attacks on
Native Americans,
who were attacked and forcibly removed from their lands. An estimated 100,000
California Indians died between 1848 and 1868, and some 4,500 of them were
killed.[3]
Gold mining also caused environmental harm to rivers and lakes.
Items for Sale:
Tomah Gold Club t-shirts –
with Gold Club emblem and created either with your personal name or without your
name. Contact Mike Fait if you are
interested.
Officers – all officers were re-elected for 2014.
President – Michael Fait (mgfait@charter.net)
715-384-9265
Vice-President – Gary Morrison 715-316-2160
Secretary – Jeanne Morrison 715-316-2160
Newsletter Editor - Diane North (dbnorth@centurytel.net)
608-635-7031
Treasure – Gayle Fait (mgfait@charter.net)
715-384-9265
Outing Chairman – Richard Niemyjski (richnski@frontiernet.net)
608-637-3295
Claims Director – Richard Niemyjski (richnski@frontiernet.net)
608-637-3295
State Director – Mike Flint (mwink12@excite.com)
608-372-0694
Upcoming Events
March 15,
2014 -
Tomah
Club Meeting at Town of LaGrange Town Hall – at 1:00 pm
March 22-23, 2014 - Greenbush gold and treasure show at Municipal Building, 375
Buffalo St., Sheboygan Falls, WI.
Guest Speakers, Demonstrations, Vendors, Children’s Treasure Hunt, Prospecting,
Metal
Detecting and other Treasure Hunting Clubs.
We will also be featuring the Wisconsin State Gold Panning Competition!
Raffles! Brat Fry and other refreshments available.
FREE ADMISSION!
CONTACT: Ron Smith,
920.207.4092or
ausmith2005@yahoo.com
April 25, 26, & 27, 2014 – Springtime in
the Parrish Outing.(Wausau Outing)
May 3-4, 2014 - Heart of Wisconsin Rock and Gem show Marshfield senior High
School
June 23, 2014 - Nugget Lake County Park. Call for camping reservations
715-639-5611
July 18-20, 2014 - Upper Michigan Copper and Rock hunting (Wausau Outing)
July 19, 2014 - Metal Detecting - site to be determined (Tomah Outing)
July, 2014 - Dredging and sluicing in Indiana (Greenbush Outing)
Sept 12-14, 2014 - Snider Lake outing (Wausau Outing)
Sept, 26 – 28, 2014 - Fall in Parrish (Dennis Laubenstein outing)
Wisconsin Area Clubs
Greenbush Wisconsin GPAA Chapter – holds their meetings on the 2nd
Saturday of each month at 3:00 pm in the Greenbush Town Hall, N644 Sugarbush Rd,
Greenbush Wi. – Contact: Ron Smith 920-207-4092
Midstate Metal Detecting Club – meets every 3rd Wednesday at 7:00 pm
at Shooters Bar and Restaurant at the intersection of Hwy 39 and 54, next to the
Shell Station. Contact: Steve
Miller 715-572-1845
Wausau Prospectors – meets the 1st Saturday of the month at 11:00 am
in the community room at Cedar Creek Mall next to I-39 just north of Gander
Mountain. Take I-39 exit 185.
Contact: Kurt Bublitz
715-340-2831 or e-mail
lizzy101@charter.net
Wisconsin Northwoods Adventures GPAA Chapter – holds their meetings on the 2nd
Saturday of every month at 11:00 am, at B.S. on Main, 34 N Main St. Rice Lake,
Wi. Contact: Mike Wiersma
715-833-7603
MAY THERE BE GOLD IN EVERY PAN !!!!