Southwest Sierra #95 – The Colonel

My first year at school in Alleghany was the fourth grade. As shared in previous articles, the family had moved north from Southern California to get out of the suburbs of Los Angeles. Dad had decided to pursue his ambition to become a gold miner with the move. He had been a recreational “sniper” in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just south of Yosemite for many years. Grandma and Grandpa Bell moved to Oakhurst near Bass Lake after their youngest child, Polly, turned 18. It was on our visits there that Dad took to crevicing and panning the creeks, looking for “color.”

When we moved to Grass Valley in 1974, Dad had invested in a dredge and other accouterments of the trade. During the year that we lived in Grass Valley, he spent his days sniping for gold, weather permitting. He couldn’t use his dredge because he didn’t have a mining claim. After we moved to the Mott Cabin, Dad staked several claims on nearby Rock Creek. He was now working as an underground miner, but on weekends, and whenever he had a chance, he worked his placer claims. This had the dual benefit of creating summertime swimming holes for us kids. He often employed our help throwing rocks off the sluice box.

I remember clearly that “history” was only a word to me until the fourth grade and the subject of California History. Suddenly, my textbook was using words that I knew and explaining something that was so familiar to me! Panning for gold, sluicing for gold, and mining for gold. I was so excited that I brought my history book home to share with Dad. He was delighted and spent a long time pouring over it. The book showed a rocker box used to separate gravel, and we had a similar one sitting outside near the Lawry shaft hoist house.

Dad and his younger brother Mickie were both bitten by the Gold Bug. Uncle Mickie, who lived in Simi Valley, also staked a claim on Rock Creek and came up to dredge in the summertime. After he moved to Idaho in the early 1980s, Mickie dropped the claim. About ten years ago, my cousin Donna was exploring the Bell family history when she came across something that made us all smile.

The following information is paraphrased from an article by Susan Robinson: “In 1891 sculptor Alphonse Pelzer was commissioned to create a statue of an iconic gold prospector to stand on top of the new seven-story Mining Exchange Building in downtown Denver Colorado. For the 12-foot tall, 490-pound sculpture, Pelzer chose Colonel John William Straughn as his model. Straughn was a Civil War veteran, prospector, and wheelwright. The “Old Prospector” stood atop the seven-story mining exchange building until 1962 when the building was razed. Before the building was razed, the statue was moved to the south side of Fifteenth Street between Arapahoe and Curtis Streets, where he stands today.”

Colonel Straughn was born on Feb. 4, 1842, in Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana. He had one younger sister, Mary Elizabeth (Mary E.), born May 31, 1843. Their mother died from complications related to Mary E.s birth, and they were raised by their maternal grandparents, Elizabeth (Kurtz) King and William King, on their farm near Greencastle, Indiana. Mary E. was Dad’s great-great-grandmother. Grandma Bell’s great-aunt Dottie wrote a beautiful description of their beloved “Uncle Will” as they referred to the Colonel.

“He was very tall and stood very erect, had the kindest blue eyes and always had a twinkle in them as if laughing. His hair was long, laid [sic] in soft curls on his shoulders. He wore a beard and never had it cut, only trimmed, and his skin was rosy. His hands were very expressive and he always used them to emphasize his speaking’ he was quite the story teller. When he made trips to Denver, he wore white starched shirts and they were tucked into his trousers and he always wore a long frock coat. He wore high boots and tucked the trousers into the boots, very neatly folded. He always wore a fine Stetson hat. He called all women ‘daughter’. He never smoked, chewed or drank and was never heard to use profanity. Tho not a church goer, he lived his religion every day; he gave freely to those in need of help. When he laughed, he would shake his head and his curls would roll over his shoulders: to know him was to love him dearly. My sister, brother and I were always happy as larks when he came to visit. He would often give us a silver dollar for sugar, the whole dollars’ worth had to be made into candy (20 lbs. for a dollar in those days.) He did not believe in buying candy. ‘Make it yourself Dot’ he would say to me, as I was the oldest.” (This account is courtesy of a biography of Mary E. compiled by one of Dottie’s Grandsons in the 1990s)

We all smiled when we learned about the Colonel because that prospector gene continued with his great-great-nephews, Dad and Uncle Mickie. I was also struck by how much “Uncle Will’s” character reminds me of Dad. It is fascinating to discover the significant role that DNA seems to play in determining character traits.

Special thanks to Daniel Thomason, grandson of “Dottie,” for compiling and sharing the information on Mary E. and her brother, Colonel Straughn.