Prospector's Amazing Story! 

With the howl of the wolf nearby...everyone jumps.... feeling a little startled people gather closer to the warm crackling fire and to learn more about  Joe Moore one of our favorite prospectors.....

Before Joe caught “Gold Fever” in the 70’s, he was an avid fisherman. Joe used to drive past the Cotton Patch on his way to Badin Lake for the excellent Bass and Striper fishing. As he drove by the “Patch” he used to think how crazy those people were, panning for gold.

 Then Joe saw some of the gold one of his neighbors had found and decided to stop in at the Cotton Patch, just to look around. What he saw was folks finding gold and decided to try panning himself.

Joe did find some gold that day, which he still has, but he also caught that illness that afflicts a lot of us, “Gold Fever”.

Joe was hooked and eventually became more enthused about gold panning than fishing. Most weekends you would find Joe panning at the Cotton Patch. Now that Joe has retired it is not uncommon to see him 3 or 4 times a week at the Patch.

Over the years Joe has accumulated quite a number of ounces of gold and some real nice Gold and Quartz specimens.

 He also has a number of pieces of jewelry made from gold he has panned, including 2 beautiful nugget rings, a tie clasp, and brooch with a stunning specimen, in the middle, from the 16 to 1 Mine.