A Golden Truth

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Gold Fever Story

by

Craig MacLachlan

A Golden Truth

Hi, my name is Craig MacLachlan and I am 30 years old. My entire family, well my mom’s side, has been into gold, mines, lost treasures, etc. for their entire lives and I have had gold fever as long as I can remember. I have started a lost treasure/gold book based in Montana I hope to complete sometime this year after I exhaust all my available resources for information!

This particular story happened in the summer of 1992 after my graduation from high school. My best friend, Rod, and I decided to take a road trip to Thompson Falls, MT for a few weeks before hitting the summer job market and beginning our lives as adults. Two guys, on the road, radio blasting, at last free from school, heading to some of the most beautiful country we’d ever seen. We stayed at my Grandma’s house in town, and like every time we visited, used my Grandpa’s metal detector and gold pan to head out into the mountains and try our luck in the many streams that run through the area.

On this particular day, we decided to go up in the Graves Creek area. We stopped at the falls to have lunch, take in the view, and to cast our lines for a few trout. Further on up the creek, we found what we believed to be a good-looking spot behind a large boulder. Rod dug some dirt, panned for a bit, while I used the detector on the dry bank with no luck. I soon decided to detect underwater, and within a minute, I had a signal! It was a good one too. I placed the detector down and using a small garden shovel, began digging into the creek bed, placing the dirt and gravel on the embankment for Rod to check with the detector.

Now, I’ll tell you, we were as excited as two young men could get. I mean we were way down a hillside, at a creek, at a location that no one came too. I had Rod scan the area underwater again, BAM, the signal was louder than ever. I scooped up a mound into my hand, raised it from the water, and the detector went wild over my cupped hands. Our eyes got wild and wide as I dug through the dirt. I know we should have been smart and put this into a gold pan and did the right thing, but we were young and foolish and smarts just flew out the window at that point in time.

Suddenly, there it was, a dull gold colored piece of metal lying in my hand. I picked it up, washed it off and held it up for my friend to see. It was heavy for its size and for a moment we were both speechless, for a moment that is.

“Oh, my gosh! Gold! Rod, we’ve found gold…yahoo!” “Whoo…oh yeah, Craig we’re rich!” “Rod, run up to the truck and get a bucket, anything…whoo-hoo!” I yelled as loud as I could.

Rod then ran hooting and hollering towards the truck that was up the hill. My heart was racing so fast I was shaking. I could hear Rod’s voice echo through the valley along with mine as we could not help letting out our glee. I looked up to the sky, thanked God and Jesus for what they had done for us. We were rich, I was sure there was more to be found. I began studying the small, jagged, roundish gold piece in my hand. I touched it, turned it, brought it closer to my eye for inspection, and that was when I noticed the truth and my heart sank, stopped with the disappointment I had just discovered. In our excitement, I failed to realize what we had truly found. With both of us knowing a lot about guns, especially Rod, we should have guessed. But the thrill had overtaken us; just the site of the golden appearance had momentarily clouded our judgment. Rod’s happy voice was closer now, until he finally reached me. I remember looking up to him, a half smirk on my face as I shook my head.

“What?” He said speculatively as I handed him our prize. “Rod, it’s a bullet slug. Coppery gold in color, we’re still poor.”

Rod looked it over, bent down, sat on the pebbly bank next to me, and sighed. “It sure is. Wow, were we fooled,” he looked around. “There’s no one around is there?” “I don’t think so, why?” I looked at him quizzically. “Uh, well, we looked like fools you know. Happy fools yes, I wouldn’t care who saw us if this was real…but, uh, now…we’d better keep this to ourselves,” I nodded in agreement and looked around myself, realizing the only creatures that probably saw our display was some birds, perhaps a chipmunk, a deer or two, and the fish wagging their tails under the water laughing at the two humans above them.

We sat awhile, had some good laughs at our own expense, and then proceeded to detect five more slugs from the same general area that we took with us to help keep the water clean for the life that lives in it.

Rod and I still laugh at that experience, and hold it as one of the highlights of our friendship. I know God was fooling with us that day, and laughing along with us.

Craig MacLachlan therlot@yahoo.com

Dear Craig MacLachlan,

I read your story, A Gold Truth, on the Gold Fever website. I personally have never been far enough west to have the privilege of panning for gold. However, as an easterner, I have heard all types of stories of the experience. I found your story to be a delight to read. It was so visual that I could see the two young lads who were so excited they couldn't contain it. The ending was adorable in the fact that moments before you and your friend thought you found the dream that many have sought for many decades, without luck. Yet, that excitement quickly turned to disappointment when you realized the mistake. How quickly you and your friend turned back into innocent boys, who until now, kept their experience and their prize bullets a secret. Thank you for sharing those childhood memories with others.

Emma Rose

Story courtesy of www.goldfevertv.com

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