The Southern Cross Placer Gold Claim offers impressive mining opportunities. An extensive amount of exposed bedrock as well as the natural streambed support productive gold recovery. The claim is suited for most types of gold mining activites from panning, sluicing and high-banking to metal detecting, dowsing and dredging.
The history of Mineral County is rich in gold. Present day prospectors can take a step back into the glory days of mining. The old timers didn't get it all. The Gold Prospectors Association of American estimates that 85% of the earth's gold is still loose on the planet, waiting to be found.
Every season's snow and major melt over the past hundreds of years has carried rich new material into the canyon, creating the potential for rich streambed deposits. Massive boulders and extensive exposed bedrock in shallow water make the Southern Cross Placer Claim prospector's paradise.
I have lowered the price as I am not driving the vehicle and would love to see it go to a collector that would bring it back to its original beauty.
I am selling my 1986 Mercedes Benz 190 2.3 16V automobile. I am the original owner. The car is located in northwestern Montana - it is in excellent condition for its vintage. The car is a dream to drive, handles incrediblly well on all road conditions. I have often driven it over a 100mph and only realized my speed when I glanced at the dash - 100mph feels like 60mph. It hugs the road and accelerates through the gears evenly. This car was proudly driven and maintained to high standards.
Known as the most over engineered car ever, this car was designed for performance and now has its own cult of avid followers. I love this car, it has continurally received compliments on its unique style, power, handling and reliability.
Looks and runs great. Within the racing world, these cars have a remarkable history. This is a great example in good condition. Black exterior with black leather interior. AMG 17" rims. (rims need to be rechromed). Interior leather in very good condition - one split on dash. No rust or signs of accidents. Tires are 70%. Requires minor work and loving care to return to prime condition; please contact me for complete details.
This is a rare and unique automobile with the Dalmer Racing body. Only 2000 were brought to the United States.
Marlene A. Affeld
marlene@nandugreen.com
509-389-2606
Model: 1986 Mercedes Benz 190 2.3 16V
Color: Black - Photos by e-mail upon request.
Mileage
Price: $10.750 or best offer - motivated seller
Buyer responsible for vehicle pick-up or shipping.
A very special automobile with the kind of motor sports pedigree very few share.
By Robert Daschil November 1, 2002 7:32 PM Filed Under: Mercedes-Benz GCF Original Feature
Related content: Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 Revisted
There was a time when cars were designed out of a passion for motor sports. The legendary Ferrari GTO was one of these cars and so was the Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3 16V.
To understand the uniqueness of this automobile we must go back to the late seventies when product planners were conceiving the 190 class and its top model, the 190E 2.3 16V. Mercedes-Benz thought rallying was the best arena to showcase their new model line, named W201, but this plan quickly changed to road racing.
This was the first time Mercedes sold a relatively inexpensive car. As a result, Mercedes strongly desired to promote the new model's attributes and showcase its' abilities in motor sports. Contributing to the fantastic driving dynamic was the now famous multilink rear suspension. It was first released on the 190 series and was instrumental in providing sporty and competitive handling. Mercedes also collaborated with engine building masters, Cosworth Technology Ltd. to help develop the 16 valve cylinder head with mechanical valve lifters.
They came up with 185 hp from only 2.3 liters displacement which may not sound like a lot (compared to today's engines) but don't forget this was 1983 (almost 20 years ago) and the car was lightweight compared to today's heavy weights. In the summer of 1983, the 190E 2.3 16V set out to break as many long distance high speed FIA records as possible at Nardo, Italy.
After 202 hours of continuous running, multiple records were broken including the 50,000 km level at an average speed of 248 kph (154mph). Very impressive when you consider they had to stop to refuel, change drivers and service the car while the clock was ticking. During these endurance trials there were some minor aerodynamic modifications including removal of the mirrors and wipers. In addition, a lower rear axle ratio permitted a higher top speed but overall this car was almost stock and reflected well on the entire 190 series. May of 1984 was a monumental time for the 16V. The brand new Nurburgring racetrack in Germany was hosting its first F1 race and a 190E 2.3 16V won the supporting race which was great public relations. Well actually, all the cars were identical 16V's driven by many former world champions, so a 16V was destined to win, but who's counting. Moss, Lauda, Prost and Hill were all beaten by a young upstart driver named Ayrton Senna as some of us F1 fans know went on to be a 3 time world champion.
The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) race series became popular around this time so Mercedes entered multiple cars after satisfying the rules stipulation that required 5,000 road going versions to be built. BMW entered DTM with its enthralling M3, which was a direct rival to the 190. Competition forced Mercedes Benz to enlarge engine capacity to 2.5 liters and eventually release a more advanced Evolution 1 and 2 versions with more aerodynamic aids and horsepower. At this point, the famous engine tuner, AMG, was called upon to create a team of their own. Mercedes and AMG went on to win over 50 DTM races and numerous titles, which solidified their dedication to motor sports, which lives on to this day.
When it comes to compact German performance machines, one name -- M3 -- stands above them all in terms of street cred. Even my Toyota-driving grandmother knows of the Bimmer's legend and might even forfeit her death grip on the left lane to let one by. Four generations strong, each more astonishing than the last, the BMW M3 was the original wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Autobahn assaulter. Wasn't it? Benz faithful with balk at that claim, and anyone familiar with the past few decades of Germany's ever-evolving horsepower war will know why and agree.
Another homologation special actually beat everyone's favorite BMW to the U.S. in 1986 - the Cosworth-engined Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16. The fact that this rare '80s racer (less than 2000 were officially imported) is so commonly overlooked is evidenced by our initial attempts to find one in the Chicago area, when a mass e-mail to the Mercedes-Benz club returned one reply that began, "Hello, I own a 1991 190E 2.3 that I bought at about 75,000 miles . . ." Even some inside the Merc fold don't understand the importance of the 16-valve version of the 190E, a car that graced the States for only two years: 1986 and 1987. Though nothing in the name implies it, the 190E range of sedans, launched in 1983, spawned today's C-class. Investment in the first "baby Benz" totaled over two billion German Marks, a huge sum of money intended to ensure that a smaller Mercedes wouldn't equate to a cheaper one.
As part of that spending, Benz turned to the British engineering firm Cosworth to stuff some bragging rights into the engine bay of a special racing version of the 190E. Mercedes invested heavily in rallying in the late '70s with a factory-backed team of SLC coupes, but left competition in 1980. Perhaps due in part to the dominance of Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive racer, Mercedes opted to send the 2.3-16 not to the rally piste but to the smooth asphalt of Germany's DTM series, where rules stipulated that 5000 roadgoing examples must be sold for a car to be eligible to compete.
In 1983, Mercedes dropped Cosworth's custom-built twin-cam cylinder head onto a 190E's modest 2.3-liter four-cylinder, bolted in a limited-slip differential, fitted larger brakes inside wider wheels and 205/55VR15 tires, gave it a wing and body kit whose aerodynamic changes helped achieve a drag coefficient of .32 and a top speed of 141 mph, and released the car for public consumption in Europe. A slightly modified, higher-geared version of the car broke twelve speed records by covering 31,000 miles at the Nardo oval in Italy in just eight days, moving at an average of 154 mph. Yes, that includes all driver changes and refueling stops. Late in the following year, Mercedes-Benz would host a special all-star race at the modern Nurburgring as part of the festivities celebrating the track's first Formula 1 race.
A cast of F1 veterans that included Phil Hill, Niki Lauda, and Stirling Moss went out to battle each other in identical 2.3-16s. A young upstart, Ayrton Senna, took the black-and-white checkers.
My own experience with the 190E 2.3-16 doesn't begin as auspiciously as Senna's. I'm merely confused. Is this really a racing car for the street? Then why does it have a power-operated headrest and pillowy leather seats that go every way but sideways? And is that wood trim? It's easy to see why people might pass this off their granddaddy's Benz. The cabin feels more cave-like than that of an E30 BMW, with a rear window that's small and partially blocked by the rear-seat headrests.
I'm also confused as to why I can't get the damned shift lever into first. I tap the gear selector to the left, but then it'll only let me go down. I go straight up but, no, that can't be right at all. What the hell? All the luxurious camouflage around me seems to disappear as I remember the car's racing roots and the concept of a dogleg transmission. Reverse is where first should be, while first is where second usually sits. Such a set-up arranges second through fifth in a simple H pattern, since first is typically used for the first two seconds in a race, then abandoned until the pits come a-calling. Shifting the 2.3-16's transmission is like playing a game of Operation with my right fist. The gears are close and the action is notchy, so the most minute error could result in a loud "BURRRT!"
With how often I need to shuffle gears to stay in the short powerband, this is a challenging game. I spend a while getting used to the car and, being cautious, short shift around 3500 rpm. "Yeah," I think, "it's an old Mercedes with no power. What's the big deal?" Then I honk on it, and the engine lets out its maniacal German guffaw that grows louder as the tach needle sprints past 5000. mb1904_left.jpg The 2.3-16's engine can best be described as a less breathy version of the Honda Civic Si's. With a 7000-rpm redline, it doesn't scream as high as the most famous Honda, but the power comes on in the same manner, only a bit sooner. In normal driving, the car is as docile as I'd expect from a Mercedes-Benz sedan, just as, in traffic, the Civic acts like any other Japanese econocar.
Catch the meat of the powerband, though, and this German businessman ditches the suit, tie, and trendy glasses for a Mohawk, a see-through mesh T-shirt, and a soundtrack of angry, mechanical techno music. The cushy bucket seats - all four of them - are more supportive than I'd expect, perhaps because the leather bolsters wrap around me. I lift off the throttle and the thumping beat gives way to a remix of exhaust snorts, yaps, and burbles. Looking down, I'm shocked to find that I'm only doing sixty.
The U.S. version of this car, detuned to deal with our emissions regulations and lower-octane fuel, is rated at 167 hp at 5800 rpm and 162 lb-ft of torque at 5800, and 0-60 acceleration is in the mid-seven second range. Those numbers would be disappointing in a minivan today. But the engine is a thrill to push hard, making stats and seconds seem insignificant. I'm instead thinking about minutes, as in "How many extra minutes can I extend this drive?"
Despite the insanely large horsepower deficit, this car is more enjoyable, more involving than most machines coming out of the AMG garage today. The 1987 model weighs a full 120 pounds more than a normal 190E 2.3, but its 2900 pounds is dandelion-seed light on today's road. As one might expect, the car is balanced and tossable through corners, even if it feels a bit bigger than the BMWs with which it competed. The Benz feels heavier than an BMW M3, too, though the weight differential is only about 150 pounds. That heft is a characteristic that connects it with every other Mercedes, including the current, new-for-2008 C-class. These cars feel substantial.
With this in my mind, I'm surprised by how well the 2.3-16 stops. The brake pedal is firm and the travel is short, and in this aspect the Merc is the M3's equal. Otherwise, this car isn't quite an M3-beater. The steering is heavier and not as sharp, the chassis not as lively. Yes, it begs to be abused in much the same way as an E30 M3, but it just isn't as easy to get in and sprout an instant smile -- it takes more time for the love affair to develop.
Back in 1986, the 190E 2.3-16's price was a faithful reflection of the engineering work that went into it. At a base of $34,800, the 2.3-16 cost nearly $11,000 more than a 190E and about $3000 more than a C300 today, ignoring inflation. The 2.3-16 would fetch more than $66,000 in present-day money, which is just a bit more than the C63 AMG. Today, decent examples can be found for under ten grand, making them one of the cheapest ways to own a truly notable tick on the Mercedes-Benz timeline. So what if no one knows what it is - that only adds to this homologation special's considerable allure. Special thanks to Nick Knauz at Axel's Automotive in Lake Bluff, Illinois for letting us spend a day in fine example of Mercedes-Benz' 190E 2.3-16.
When it comes to compact German performance machines, one name -- M3 -- stands above them all in terms of street cred. Even my Toyota-driving grandmother knows of the Bimmer's legend and might even forfeit her death grip on the left lane to let one by.
Four generations strong, each more astonishing than the last, the BMW M3 was the original wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Autobahn assaulter. Wasn't it? Benz faithful with balk at that claim, and anyone familiar with the past few decades of Germany's ever-evolving horsepower war will know why and agree. Another homologation special actually beat everyone's favorite BMW to the U.S. in 1986 - the Cosworth-engined Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16.
The fact that this rare '80s racer (less than 2000 were officially imported) is so commonly overlooked is evidenced by our initial attempts to find one in the Chicago area, when a mass e-mail to the Mercedes-Benz club returned one reply that began, "Hello, I own a 1991 190E 2.3 that I bought at about 75,000 miles . . ." Even some inside the Merc fold don't understand the importance of the 16-valve version of the 190E, a car that graced the States for only two years: 1986 and 1987. mb1901_center.jpg Though nothing in the name implies it, the 190E range of sedans, launched in 1983, spawned today's C-class. Investment in the first "baby Benz" totaled over two billion German Marks, a huge sum of money intended to ensure that a smaller Mercedes wouldn't equate to a cheaper one.
As part of that spending, Benz turned to the British engineering firm Cosworth to stuff some bragging rights into the engine bay of a special racing version of the 190E. Mercedes invested heavily in rallying in the late '70s with a factory-backed team of SLC coupes, but left competition in 1980. Perhaps due in part to the dominance of Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive racer, Mercedes opted to send the 2.3-16 not to the rally piste but to the smooth asphalt of Germany's DTM series, where rules stipulated that 5000 roadgoing examples must be sold for a car to be eligible to compete. In 1983, Mercedes dropped Cosworth's custom-built twin-cam cylinder head onto a 190E's modest 2.3-liter four-cylinder, bolted in a limited-slip differential, fitted larger brakes inside wider wheels and 205/55VR15 tires, gave it a wing and body kit whose aerodynamic changes helped achieve a drag coefficient of .32 and a top speed of 141 mph, and released the car for public consumption in Europe.
A slightly modified, higher-geared version of the car broke twelve speed records by covering 31,000 miles at the Nardo oval in Italy in just eight days, moving at an average of 154 mph. Yes, that includes all driver changes and refueling stops. Late in the following year, Mercedes-Benz would host a special all-star race at the modern Nurburgring as part of the festivities celebrating the track's first Formula 1 race. A cast of F1 veterans that included Phil Hill, Niki Lauda, and Stirling Moss went out to battle each other in identical 2.3-16s.
A young upstart, Ayrton Senna, took the black-and-white checker My own experience with the 190E 2.3-16 doesn't begin as auspiciously as Senna's. I'm merely confused. Is this really a racing car for the street? Then why does it have a power-operated headrest and pillowy leather seats that go every way but sideways? And is that wood trim? It's easy to see why people might pass this off their granddaddy's Benz. The cabin feels more cave-like than that of an E30 BMW, with a rear window that's small and partially blocked by the rear-seat headrests. I'm also confused as to why I can't get the damned shift lever into first. I tap the gear selector to the left, but then it'll only let me go down. I go straight up but, no, that can't be right at all. What the hell. All the luxurious camouflage around me seems to disappear as I remember the car's racing roots and the concept of a dogleg transmission. Reverse is where first should be, while first is where second usually sits. Such a set-up arranges second through fifth in a simple H pattern, since first is typically used for the first two seconds in a race, then abandoned until the pits come a-calling. Shifting the 2.3-16's transmission is like playing a game of Operation with my right fist. The gears are close and the action is notchy, so the most minute error could result in a loud "BURRRT!" With how often I need to shuffle gears to stay in the short powerband, this is a challenging game.
I spend a while getting used to the car and, being cautious, short shift around 3500 rpm. "Yeah," I think, "it's an old Mercedes with no power. What's the big deal?" Then I honk on it, and the engine lets out its maniacal German guffaw that grows louder as the tach needle sprints past 5000. mb1904_left.jpg The 2.3-16's engine can best be described as a less breathy version of the Honda Civic Si's. With a 7000-rpm redline, it doesn't scream as high as the most famous Honda, but the power comes on in the same manner, only a bit sooner. In normal driving, the car is as docile as I'd expect from a Mercedes-Benz sedan, just as, in traffic, the Civic acts like any other Japanese econocar. Catch the meat of the powerband, though, and this German businessman ditches the suit, tie, and trendy glasses for a Mohawk, a see-through mesh T-shirt, and a soundtrack of angry, mechanical techno music. The cushy bucket seats - all four of them - are more supportive than I'd expect, perhaps because the leather bolsters wrap around me. I lift off the throttle and the thumping beat gives way to a remix of exhaust snorts, yaps, and burbles.
Looking down, I'm shocked to find that I'm only doing sixty. The U.S. version of this car, detuned to deal with our emissions regulations and lower-octane fuel, is rated at 167 hp at 5800 rpm and 162 lb-ft of torque at 5800, and 0-60 acceleration is in the mid-seven second range. Those numbers would be disappointing in a minivan today. But the engine is a thrill to push hard, making stats and seconds seem insignificant. I'm instead thinking about minutes, as in "How many extra minutes can I extend this drive?" Despite the insanely large horsepower deficit, this car is more enjoyable, more involving than most machines coming out of the AMG garage today.
The compact and extremely high-performance Cosworth-developed Mercedes-Benz 190E saloon or touring cars were very highly regarded during their heyday in the 1980s. This particular example now offered here was campaigned by the Leyton House racing team in Japan during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. The Cosworth-modified engine developed some 280bhp and the Leyton House-sponsored Mercedes-Benz became a familiar competitor within the immensely popular Japanese class of Group A touring car racing. Its rivals included cars campaigned by the cream of the Japanese motor industry, featuring teams from Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Honda, Isuzu, Subaru and Mitsubishi.
Have you bought your Powerball tickets yet? This one may be the biggest jackpot yet!
Feelin’ lucky?
The Powerball lottery jackpot has swelled to $350 million after no tickets matched the winning numbers selected during Saturday’s drawing, making it the third-largest Powerball prize of all-time. Saturday’s winning numbers were 6-13-19-23-43 with 16 as the Powerball.
The jackpot for Saturday’s drawing reached $270 million with a cash value of $175.8 million if taken as a lump sum, lottery officials said. It now stands at $350 million, or a $222.8 million cash value payment if taken immediately instead of a 29-year annuity.
Tickets for each game cost $2 and there’s a 1 in 175.2 million chance that any ticket will win the grand prize. The overall odds of winning any prize, including $4 for selecting only the Powerball, are 1 in 31.85, Powerball officials say.
A $50 million jackpot was awarded to one lucky player on March 30, but the last major Powerball winner was Pedro Quezada, a 44-year-old New Jersey man who won $338 million on March 23. It marked the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
Quezada, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told reporters in Spanish at the time that he was "very happy" and intended to help his family.
His wife, Ines Sanchez, told The Record in Bergen County that Quezada called her with the news two days after the life-changing drawing.
"I still can't believe it," she told the newspaper. "We never expected it, but thank God."
Prior to Quezada’s winning, no one had won the Powerball jackpot since early February, when Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket and elected a cash lump sum for a $217 million jackpot.
The largest Powerball jackpot of all time happened in November, when a $587.5 million prize was split by one couple in Missouri and another man in Arizona. Nebraska, meanwhile, still holds the record for the largest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket — $365 million — by eight workers at a Lincoln meatpacking plant in February 2006.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time in Florida. Five white balls are drawn from a drum of 59 before one red ball — the Powerball — is selected from a drum of 35 balls
Saskatoon police mourn homeless drunk they considered a friend
BY CHRIS PURDY, THE CANADIAN PRESS MAY 10, 2013
Alvin Cote is shown in a photo posted to the Saskatoon RCMP Facebook page on Thursday April 25, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
He was one of the most recognizable residents in Saskatoon and some people consider the Prairie city a little different now that he's gone.
Alvin Cote wasn't a well-known politician, businessman or hockey player, but a ragged, homeless alcoholic whose tough talk would easily melt into a hearty chuckle and a big smile short on teeth.
He spent the past couple of decades living in Saskatoon. He could be seen curled up on the floor of a bank foyer, sleeping on park benches or reading worn copies of National Geographic in the drunk tank.
He died April 19, a few days shy of his 60th birthday.
Saskatoon police officers are still talking about his death, even though they considered it an inevitable fate. It's believed Cote had been arrested more times for public drunkenness than anyone else in the city's history. Some officers put the tally at close to 1,000.
Although his obituary does not list an official cause of death, police say Cote was in hospital with pneumonia when he died.
BEAT COP A FRIEND
Downtown beat officer Const. Derek Chesney was surprised and saddened when he heard the news. He saw the man almost every day over the past five years.
"It's not often that you can arrest somebody on multiple occasions and end up being friends with them. But such was the case with Alvin," Chesney recently wrote on his official police blog, Cops and Bloggers.
The officer confesses that he had a good cry after writing the online tribute. He fights back tears again as he talks on the phone about the important life lesson Cote taught him.
"You realize that people can fall through the cracks," says Chesney. "And just as much as a good person can have a bad day, things can happen to people in their lives where they end up going on a path that perhaps they didn't choose."
Cote was from the Cote First Nation in the Kamsack area, east of Saskatoon near the Manitoba boundary. He was carted off as a child to a residential school on a neighbouring reserve and suffered years of abuse, says Chesney.
He says Cote never talked about it, but the abuse likely set him on his destructive path. Cote has a sister in Saskatoon and she tried to look after Cote for a while, says Chesney. But he wouldn't stop drinking.
'I'M A FIGHTER'
Chesney remembers meeting Cote for the first time in the winter of 2009 outside the old train station downtown. Chesney had just earned his badge and saw the man with a scraggly beard tapping and flexing his arms, yelling his catch-phrase: "I'm a fighter."
Chesney calmed him down by asking, "I heard you were a lover, not a fighter."
"Well, I'm that too," Cote laughed.
Chesney and his partner then put Cote in their cruiser and, as they were heading back to the police station, Cote knocked on the dividing window with $5 in his hand. He said he was hungry. Chesney ran into a McDonald's and got him two double cheeseburgers. Cote happily devoured his meal during the rest of the ride.
Chesney says he and many other officers looked out for Cote. They checked on him at night and made sure he had enough to eat. Sometimes, when Cote was hanging out on his usual bench in the public lobby of the police station, officers changing shifts would hand him their lunches as they walked by.
BIRTHDAY CUPCAKE
One time, when Cote was in detention on his birthday, staff rummaged up a cupcake and stuck a candle on top. "They actually had everybody on key and everybody else in cells sang Happy Birthday. He blew the candle out through the bars."
Chesney says he last saw Cote a few weeks before he died, sitting outside a Tim Hortons. Chesney patted him on the back and they ended their chat the way they always did.
"OK, Bud. See you later," Chesney said.
"You will," Cote replied.
Chesney says he and other officers have made their way in recent weeks to the home of Cote's sister to drop off sympathy cards and kind words about the man they miss. Some even say they thought of him as family.
But the police aren't the only ones mourning Cote. Chesney's blog has received hundreds of clicks and comments from people who had seen Cote on the streets, even though they never knew his name.
A McDonald's manager wrote about how she will miss waking up Cote outside the restaurant in the mornings and asking him to move along. Another woman said she'll miss buying him lunch. One man talked about how he once saw Cote sleeping inside a bank foyer. He slipped some money under the pile of clothes the man was using as a pillow.
'ANGEL IN DISGUISE?'
"Sounds like this guy may have been an angel in disguise?" wrote a woman named Amy. "He seems to have brought out the best in humanity."
Const. Robbie Taylor often sat and had coffee with Cote. He laughs as he recalls his favourite stories about the man, like the one about how Cote used to wear a second-hand sweater from the Salvation Army. On the front it read, "What the world's greatest mom looks like."
Then there was the time when Cote pitched a fit in detention because officers gave him a magazine with singer Anne Murray on the cover. "I hate her!" he ranted.
Taylor says Cote loved to read but was always losing or breaking his glasses. So officers usually grabbed him glasses from boxes of used, donated pairs that were supposed to go to Africa.
Taylor once gave Cote an amateur eye exam. He had him read an oatmeal box while trying on different glasses. If he squinted, Taylor had him try on another pair. The ones Cote liked best were large and red and made him look like TV talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael. Cote suspected they were women's glasses but he still tucked them away in his pocket.
"I still have a couple of pairs in my locker. They were ready to go if he broke them again."
Cote was such a character that a worker at the police detention centre sketched his picture, put his mug on some T-shirts and gave them to other staff. Orders for more are now rolling in so people will have something to remember him by.
DIDN'T LIKE HIS T-SHIRT
The workers tried to give one of the T-shirts to Cote last year for Christmas but he didn't want it. He grumbled that he looked too much like Santa Claus.
Even Saskatoon's police chief knew Cote. Clive Weighill recalls seeing him at a Tim Hortons just a few weeks before he died. Weighill slipped him some cash.
"I think most people thought I was telling him to leave but I was just giving him a five dollar bill so he could go get himself something to eat."
Weighill says a study completed last year tracked Cote and 22 other homeless people with substance abuse problems. It showed that they cost the city $2.8 million over one year in policing, ambulance and hospital costs.
That's why police, health officials and other agencies hope to build a wellness centre in the city to house the group. Weighill says it's a more dignified solution than sticking them in police cells.
The centre could also provide faster access to treatment services, but Weighill concedes some people just don't want help.
Chesney says he did everything he could for Cote. "I couldn't make him sober up. I couldn't bring him home and put him in my basement and give him a bath. He lived the way he wanted to and you almost have to respect somebody for that."
Some officers say they would have gone to Cote's funeral but he was buried on his home reserve some 350 kilometres away. There's talk of a local memorial, but nothing has been organized.
Chesney hopes the bench in the police lobby that Cote sat on for countless hours will be decorated with a plaque in his name and moved into the new police station that's under construction. That way Cote will always be there.
"He was a fighter. He was a survivor. And he'll be remembered."
For lovers of the paranormal who've grown weary of waiting for the Loch Ness monster to reappear, here's a new "monster" to feast your eyes upon.
Three college students were filming a short movie as a class project at Lough Foyle, a large tidal estuary in County Donegal, Ireland, when something very odd moved through the water in front of them, UPI reports.
"Looks like we have our own Loch Ness monster!" Conall Melarkey, a student at North West Regional College in Derry, Ireland, wrote in his posting of the video clip to YouTube. [Loch Ness, Chupacabra & More: Our 10 Favorite Monsters]
"I have absolutely no idea what it is, but it looked amazing!" Melarkey wrote.
The shaky, 59-second video shows a dark object of indeterminate size moving slowly along the surface of Lough Foyle before diving or sinking slowly beneath the waves.
Some observers have speculated that the object could be a large fish, a whale, a dolphin or some other marine animal (Lough Foyle is open to the North Atlantic).
Besides the infamous Loch Ness monster of Scotland, reports of large, lake-dwelling creatures have come from other parts of the world, including the mysterious "Devil of Lake Labynkyr" in Siberia.
Nessie achieved international fame when, in 1934, a now-famous photograph was published showing a large animal with a serpentine head and neck. The photo, taken by a London surgeon named Kenneth Wilson, was exposed decades later as a hoax.
And despite countless searches for the Loch Ness monster using everything from submarines to sonar, no evidence has ever appeared of the mythical beast except a handful of dubious photos and videos. Nonetheless, the legend of Loch Ness — now one of Scotland's biggest tourist draws — refuses to die.
Not everyone, however, believes in lake monsters, and critics wonder if this latest sighting is just a college stunt.
"There are several inconsistencies with the video that point to it being a set-up," the Belfast Telegraphreports.
"The uploader claims the video was taken in Lough Foyle, but the landmass in the background is clearly that of Howth … about 130 miles (209 kilometers) away from Lough Foyle," according to the Telegraph.
"When viewed at higher definitions, there are several tethering cables seen off the second boat, which raises further questions," the Telegraph reports.
And several observers have cast doubt on the video simply due to the college student's name: "Conall Melarkey."
In 1847 Marshall and Sutter decided to form a partnership to operate a sawmill. They reasoned that the growing need for it would make the production of lumber an increasingly profitable enterprise. Among the necessary components of the new mill, they included a tailrace, or sluiceway, to carry water away from the mill's waterwheel.
One frigid January morning in 1848, James Marshall walked slowly along the tailrace to check the flow of water. His eye caught an interesting glitter. Without hesitation, Marshall plunged a work-worn hand into the ice cold water and extracted a gold nugget later valued at fifty cents.
With this simple act, James Marshall became the man whose chance discovery led to the first and possibly the wildest gold rushes in American history.
When Marshall showed the nugget to Sutter, however, the latter spoke vehemently against broadcasting the news. He told Marshall an onslaught of uncontrollable gold-seekers would spell ruin to his holdings. Sutter feared frantic gold diggers would turn his land into useless heaps of slag and kill or run off his livestock.
Sutter's premonitions turned out to have zeroed in right on the mark.
The Keepers
Initially, little excitement actually developed back east over the news of the discovery of gold in far-off California. Most easterners yawned at the whole idea, ranking the story with some of the outlandish tales of the western wilderness they had already heard. Then, in December, President Polk mentioned the discovery in an otherwise dry and unremarkable speech. This sparked a sudden interest in California, and men of every age and from every social background stampeded west to make their fortune.
The smarter ones of the new arrivals remained in settlements such as Yerba Buena and set up businesses there. Outfitting stores, hotels, restaurants and saloons sprang up overnight like dandelions in early spring. These enterprises managed to fleece the gold seekers coming and going. They charged exorbitant prices for picks, shovels, goldpans and other mining and camping necessities to those heading for the gold fields. For food, lodging, entertainment and whiskey, they plucked the pockets and pokes of those returning from the hills who had met with a modicum of success.
A very few of the more successful miners managed to keep their new found wealth. Some invested in local real estate and built homes to become California residents. Some banked their wealth or secreted it back east. A few gave up prospecting altogether and made their living buying and selling established and productive mining claims.
For a while, these tales of success overshadowed the failures and kept the California gold rush fever alive and well.
The Losers
As related, of all the would-be gold miners who streamed into the hills of California, only a handful found anything amounting to success. Most prospectors suffered triple defeats: played out, pushed out and starved out. These sorrowful souls either returned to their homes back east or trickled into nearby towns to add to the swelling populations there. In the meantime, Yerba Buena, which had boasted but a few hundred residents in 1847, became an overnight boomtown and changed its name to San Francisco.
Sutter's mill, of course, had become a veritable magnet for prospectors armed with picks and shovels and $1 iron pans that had cost them as much a $20 each. Since the first discovery of gold had occurred on Sutter soil, a sort of reasonless logic told the gold seekers the mill and the surrounding area must contain the very lodestone of this golden treasure. They dug for it, they panned for it and they fought for it.
As for James Marshall, the man everyone credited with the original discovery, many gold-seeking prospectors assumed he knew the whereabouts of the precious metal's source. They followed his every step, hounding him and insisting that he reveal to them the gold's location. At one point, maddened by frustration, some of the miners threatened to hang Marshall if he did not comply with their demands.
Marshall eventually decided to relinquish any idea of prospering as a millwright and betook himself to the gold fields to dig and pan with the rest of the mob. As a prospector, however, he met with the same level of success as the vast majority of the California Forty Niners. He hardly bettered his first half-dollar find.
James Marshall finally abandoned the gold fields. He instead eked out a meager living at odd, low-paying jobs. He took to drink for solace. He died in 1885. He left an estate estimated at $218.82.
It's the same today as it was back in the gold rush days. Prospectors love to gamble. We all enjoy poker games around the campfire. We will have to be wary this summer, the boys from Nevada are pretty good players.They are excited. The online gambling industry is excited. A new legal poker site in Nevada may herald an online gambing boom.There are already a diverse array of online casino, based in countries all around the world.
Are you one of the ones that goes online occasionally to lay down a bet? Mark Gruetze, Administrative Editor for Trib Live reports, "Morgan Stanley Research predict online gambling in the United States will grow rapidly, generating about $9 billion a year in revenue by 2020. That's equal to the current gambling revenue for the Las Vegas Strip and Atlantic City combined." When you go online to place a bet, how do you find a reputable casino? Read the reviews before you wager your poke.
Planning a road trip to Seattle, plan to include this adventure. Then looking forward to heading back to Montana. Snow is melting and the claims are calling. Looking forward to an interesting and adventurous summer.
Road Trip Adventures: Seattle to Leavenworth
The Adventure… Open winding roads, towering waterfalls, rushing rivers, a pristine lake, 200-foot desert spires and a Bavarian themed town to top it all off? Sign me up for this adventure!
Leaving from Seattle, Highway 2 serves as the perfect passageway to escape the city for a weekend and discover some outdoor fun in central Washington. This recommended two day adventure takes you from forested hikes across a mountain pass and over into central Washington’s unique arid environment. Along the way, you’ll visit three great state parks — Wallace Falls, Lake Wenatchee and Peshastin Pinnacles. Each park offers its own unique activities ranging from waterfall exploration to desert rock climbing.
Don’t Miss… Approximately nine miles east of Gold Bar, you’ll begin a small ascent as you climb into the Cascade mountains. Keep an eye out on your right for a 10-foot statue of Sasquatch and a small espresso chalet. The landmark was a shoot location for the 1987 movie “Harry and the Hendersons” and features a number of Sasquatch-related wood carvings. As you take a pit stop, be sure to head behind the chalet near the picnic tables for what is certain to be a jaw-dropping view of 5,979 ft. Mt. Index off in the distance.
As you begin you’re journey on Highway 2, you’ll run into the quaint town of Gold Bar about 14 miles east of Monroe. Keep an eye out for the sign directing you to Wallace Falls State Park. On a clear day, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the falls from the highway. Park the car and spend a few hours hiking the trail and soaking in views of the upper and lower Falls.
Stop Two: Lunch
Continue down the Highway for 21 miles for a lunch stop in the small town of Skykomish.
Travel another eight miles down the highway and you’ll find a great roadside treasure at Deception Falls. Deceptive indeed as the casual traveler will mistake the parking lot for a normal rest stop area. A quick stop here is well worth 20 minutes of your time as you roam around the quick half-mile loop trail that brings you alongside a raging river. Cap your stop off with a climb up the stairs to view the roaring whitewater rushing from Deception Creek.
Continue your adventure as you coast along another 28 miles through Steven’s Pass. Eventually you’ll end up in Coles Corner, WA where Highway 207 intersects with Highway 2. Grab some supplies from the local market and head onto Highway 207 for four miles to reach Lake Wenatchee State Park. Set up camp for the night and enjoy some great hiking, biking and swimming at the Lake.
Ease into the morning before heading back to Highway 2. Take your time to pullover and enjoy the picture-perfect views of the river below as you head another 15 miles down the road to the amazing town of Leavenworth. First time visitors will think that they have stepped into the town of Fauxvaian (“fake Bavarian”) while return visitors will relish in the German-themed goodness that embodies the spirit of the town. Grab lunch and head down to the Waterfront Park to hop in the chilly water. Those looking for a touch of adventure can find plenty of options for fun whitewater rafting, kayaking and paddleboarding trips.
Before you head back home, travel 11 more miles east down Highway 2 to Peshastin Pinnacles State Park. Hiking, birdwatching and rock climbing await at this 34-acre desert park that features a group of sandstone slabs and spires called “the pinnacles.” You also find climbable spires that reach 200 feet into the air. Rocks and trails provide views of surrounding orchards, the Enchantment Mountain Range and the Wenatchee River valley.
Ready to head out? Check out our interactive map below to plan out your trip!
Several prospecting buddies have called to inquire about the snow pack and to determine if the roads are open to the claims for sale in Mineral County. Its been a long winter and everyone is ready to be out in the woods. Gold Fever is catching.
Many thanks to Todd and Starr for checking on the conditions. We are all eager to go prospecting and are getting our gear together and organized. Cedar Creek Road is accessible to the turn off to Freezeout and the historic Giltersleeze Mine. Heavy snow prevented the guys from going up any farther. Todd reports the road is sluffing off in several places, fallen trees and rocks blocked their way and the road was quite muddy; 4/wheel-drive is required. The No. 1 Wildcat Claim and the Eden's Gate Claim now accessible. Call me for information and to access the gate key.
Starr reports the road to the Gray Lady Down claim should be open by now. She went up early last week and was able to get within a 1/2 mile before rough road conditions and snow pack were encountered. Starr remarked that it is as beautiful as ever on the mountain with lots of spring greenery. Wildlife and birds were celebrating the arrival of spring. Starr noted that her faithful companion Tucker especially enjoyed the drive.
I received this note from a very knowledgeable friend in the mining industry. I wanted to share it with our readers. Food for thought.
Greetings, As we discussed, its a great time to buy a claim.
Many people are wondering about the dip in the gold price as compared to the increase in the stock market. People are saying that investors are getting out of precious metals and going back into the market. If this is the case, they are going to get slaughter like a bunch of sheep. More smoke and mirrors out of Washington DC. As they say and in my humble opinion, you cannot fix stupid. If you have an opportunity, these three articles on a collective basis spell out what is really going on behind the scenes.
All the little people are getting nervous and the big boys are buying everything that comes to the market, a real scam of the highest order. Cheers, Jay
The Adventure…
