who's who of nugget hunters in Imlay NV area

[thomas49er2006]

Yep, Can anyone send us info on Imlay Nevada & area ? Such as >> who is who & is there a store or hangout for nugget hunters for talk, cookouts & get togethers In Imlay & Rye Patch area of Nevada ? Oh bye the way is Ed & Terry Sweeney of Anaheim California Or Ed Gregory from Congress AZ are You individuals in this forum? Hi Ed & Terri & Ed Gregory>>> This is Tommy , Thomas Barnhart the nugget hunter that hunted & hung out at Ed's store in Congress AZ back in & around the years of 1993 thru about 1999, Write back if ya get this letter Tommy aka thomas49er

[Dakota Slim]

There are only a couple places to meet anyone in that area. The restaurant in the Mill City truck stop and the Rye Patch Pizzaria. Prospectors frequent both.

[Ron in Idaho]

I have been there several times...first of all make sure you have a spare tire... there is not much there but desert and an hour drive to anything. I personally love it there and will be back as soon as I can but don't expect any malls or fast food very close by.

Ron

[thomas49er2006]

I have been there several times...first of all make sure you have a spare tire... there is not much there but desert and an hour drive to anything. I personally love it there and will be back as soon as I can but don't expect any malls or fast food very close by.

Ron

Hi & Thanks Ron, Yes I do go well prepared abroad or at home, I do know well the terrain & the vastness of the area's in rural Nevada. Remember we live in Helena Montana we don't have big malls or the like here lol, I am just a bonified nugget hunter & love doing so & am very good at it. I aint really been doing any nugget hunting since Arizona last I was acive was 1999 , I am well over due to get back into it fulltime this time

There was a Famed man that hunted the area we are talking about, In about the year 1996 he was killed by a frieght train in his truck in the area of Imlay if I am correct, We both hunted together His name was Terry Bones aka T-Bone, Do You know were the accident was per the train/auto in that area of Imlay? Tom & Sonja Helena Montana

[thomas49er2006]

There are only a couple places to meet anyone in that area. The restaurant in the Mill City truck stop and the Rye Patch Pizzaria. Prospectors frequent both.

HI Slim Thanks Sir, Wow we are not that fortunate to own a 35' motor home, But we are working on in the next 4 years in obtaining a 20' approx; RV and a Pet Dog to travel with us also. Maybe we may cross paths in the Rye Patch area this season of 2009 , Tom & Sonja

[~LARGO~]

Hi Tom and Sonja,

Regarding the death of Terry Bone, he was killed at the Pronto crossing, just off Jungo road, which can be found on most area road maps, just west a short way out of Winnemucca. At one time, his leather belt, with his name Terry engraved on it was nailed to a telephone pole at that site. There is much speculation just why he was killed, whether by chance, say his vw bus/pickup, or whatever vehicle, stalling, or simply inattention, or depression from having a big nugget he had found stolen. The trains go through that area pretty fast, and it is difficult sometimes to judge just HOW FAST they are going.

He was a master at using his Whites detector, and could find gold where others could not.

Maybe I will see you out in the area next spring.

~LARGO~

[dutch john]

Gosh Largo... did Terry trade his pickup for a Volkswagan Van?... I still have a photo

of Terry's pickup taken while he was parked at the Truckstop having Buffet. The speed

limit for a freight train in that section of Nevada was a legal 79mph. As you say they

can come upon you pretty fast.

Now changing the subject: Hah, ha... flat tires... If anyone has heard of Sandtrap

who posts on this forum; well he is known as "Flatire Jerry" by some in northern

Nevada. And I will say it quite a choir to change one on his pickup.

Good memories of times past.

[Dakota Slim]

Thomas, you can pick up a good used motorhome for very little these days. Get a couple golf cart batteries and a solar panel or two and you'll never pay another electric bill.

[Uncle Ron]

Yo All...I knew a runnin' buddy of T-Bone, Ross Hefner, who lived around the Wickenburg area...He he was a nugget hunter, bull rider and rodeo clown from the old days and he told me some interesting stories of T-bone's big nugget and how he discovered it over in the Quartzsite area after placing it with some one to sell it for him...Someplace in my treasures I have a picture of Ross holding T-Bone's big nugget....According to Ross, the theft of the nugget, then the finding of it with someone he trusted in Quartzsite (mayor of Quartzsite ?????) messed him up ... Ross wasn't for sure the train thing was an accident, and certainly not suicide...That's all I know about that...Cheers, Unc

[~LARGO~]

Hello,

With all due respect, while I cannot be sure who owned what vehicle at what time doesn't alter the fact that TBone was killed where I indicated. If TB had a pickup then he had a pickup. I changed ownership of the trucks I drive twice this past summer... It could be that I was told that was what he was driving at the time, I wasn't there, but did see what was left: his belt on a telephone pole, broken glass, scattered coins, and twisted metal remnants.

I may be attaching my own experiences with such a vehicle, and can surely see said underpowered bus failing at a critical moment at an inclined crossing, resulting in a catastrophe.

The story does take on different convolutions, but basically holds true that there was a large gold nugget, a trusted friend or acquaintance, the nuggets ultimate whereabouts, and subsequently, the untimely death of an icon in nugget hunting lore.

So there you go...

Have a great day!

~LARGO~

[dutch john]

Howdy LARGO old buddy... Jim Straight here. (aka dutch john)... The reason

I asked about T-Bones vehicle is because his muffler was bad. At speed it was

loose from his tailpipe and this could be a possible reason... he may have not

heard any warning whistle... and maybe there was not one.

Also since his pickup no longer had a camper shell, it is likely he swapped for

a Volks-Van to get out of the weather when needed, and they lack power...

Like you, I really miss Terry... he was one crackerjack detectorist... the best

hunting partner you could ever have... I met him through Smokey. We, Terry and

I had a standing date to meet at the truckstop that fall...

Terry told me happyness was a good set of tires. He was positive and in good

spirits and was finding gold everytime he went out.

[~LARGO~]

Continuing on what the man was asking about:

There is a place called Star Point store, at least I think it is...on the east side of the interstate, between Mill City and Imlay.
It is a place that sells prospector supplies...nothing fancy, just the basic needs, pans, little shovels, fishing gear.
BUT ask the lady nicely and she will show you an album of gold finds of the surrounding area, and MAYBE even some tips on where to look...MAYBE.
Also there is propane, groceries, nothing cheap, as it is an interstate convenience store.

Just trying to help!

~LARGO~

[Roland Schoell]

Hello everybody!

I'm a German who also knew Terry Bone, Arizona Al, Ross, Bob, Homer, Dick Bailey, etc. back in 1994/5. We were together off and on in Quartzsite and in Nevada (Burns Brothers Truck Stop). In Nevada we detected in many different areas for a longer period of time. Yes, it was an old white pick-up, a very small one, but it was a Datsun! At least in '94/'95. I still have pictures of him and the truck. My wife and I have the same opinion as Ross; it is hard to believe that he would have made such a mistake crossing the railroad tracks seeing as he went back and forth so often. And he was not depressed or anything like that. He had two daughters and he was very proud of the big nugget he had found (an article came in one of the Gold Prospector magazines with a picture of him and the nugget and he had sent copies to them). Of coure we do not know where the nugget is now - someone wrote that the mayor of Quartzsite has it - we would never accuse anyone of wrongdoings!! Hopefully his children benefited from the sale in the end. The reason I am writing anything at all after such a long time is this: I did not have access to a computer before and we think too much of Terry Bone to have anyone think he would take his own life.

Roland

[dutch john]

Bump....

Old dutch john here... this is an old thread that still lives on... The oldtimers who get

together around a campfire still talk in awe about Terry "T" Bone and his ability...

[nuggethunting]

Hey Jim,

Amen .... Memories of many of these long gone nuggetshooters will live through many generations.

[Dakota Slim]

Not so long gone is "2 Pound" Dick Bailey. I heard he passed away last year.

[pkirkll]

I think someone may have posted this but the Star Point Campground people are real nice.

[BMc]

Bump....

Old dutch john here... this is an old thread that still lives on... The oldtimers who get

together around a campfire still talk in awe about Terry "T" Bone and his ability...

Jim,

Just to keep the thread going and . . . speaking of T-Bone, do you happen to know what became of his Goldmaster V-Sat that he used to find the famous 27 1/2 oz. nugget with?

Bill McLaughlin

[dutch john]

Gosh Bill Mc... Terry was still using the Goldmaster 2 when I met him at the truckstop.

This was after he found the nugget. As I best remember the v/sat was later. ????

Dakota slim and "congress... man" .... I first met Dick Bailey while he was a tireman at the

truckstop. We became friends and I hunted with him several times. Before he passed away

he could be reached by contacting Dusi at the Star Point Trading Post...150 Hwy 400

Imlay NV. 89418... ph 775- 586-7677. Dusti still sells Fisher detectors and other "general

store" supplies.

[BMc]

Gosh Bill Mc... Terry was still using the Goldmaster 2 when I met him at the truckstop.

This was after he found the nugget. As I best remember the v/sat was later. ????

Dakota slim and "congress... man" .... I first met Dick Bailey while he was a tireman at the

truckstop. We became friends and I hunted with him several times. Before he passed away

he could be reached by contacting Dusi at the Star Point Trading Post...150 Hwy 400

Imlay NV. 89418... ph 775- 586-7677. Dusti still sells Fisher detectors and other "general

store" supplies.

Jim: That is interesting . . .and I'm sure you would know what he used. The reason I referred to the V-Sat is, I am sitting here looking at a White's ad in the Feb 1996 issue of ICMJ page 17, which shows T-Bone posing with the nugget and holding a White's detector. The caption below his photo reads, "Terry "T-Bone" Bone shows off the 27 1/2 oz nugget he found in Nevada with the White's Goldmaster V/sat."

Now you got me thinking . . .Did you know Tom Iveson who lived in Imlay? He was a friend of Dick B. and passed on a few years ago, but way back in the day he was a Black Rock Desert Cowboy out of Gerlach. I hunted gold a few times with Tom, Dick and some of the folks thereabouts and greatly enjoyed their company and good stories. Tom told me that when White's "awarded" T-Bone a new detector after finding the big nugget, Tom bought or traded for T-Bone's old one, the one he found the nugget with.

So I am wondering, if maybe the White's ad just happened to "accidently" promote the v/sat since it was the newest, "hot" model or

what the explanation might be.

I thought maybe you had gotten wind of what happened to the detector that T-Bone found the nugget with, because it seems there ought to be a Nugget Hunter's Hall of Fame and Museum, and that detector should be in there.

BMc