snakejim 39 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Jim,I found this magazine article a few minutes ago. I remember meeting you in the Dale District about 1988.Here's a link to a pdf file of Desert Magazine 1976. There is an article starting on page 28 that I think you would enjoy reading. Sure brings out some good memories.http://mydesertmagazine.com/files/197602-DesertMagazine-1976-February.pdfBest wishes to you and all the forums members.Rattlesnake JimNew MexicoP.S. We found some nice nuggets thereabouts. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Furness 1,512 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Interesting read! Link to post Share on other sites
Nugget Shooter 4,611 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Thanks Jim! Link to post Share on other sites
jim straight 187 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Snake Jim... Small world... I mention Dowie on pg. k in Successful Drywashing. I hope it is okay to add more about him. I still have most of the original Desertmagazines. However some of the early issues are in terrible shape. But I havethis issue somewhere in my shed. Dowie continued using and selling his small dry-washer for many years after thisarticle was published... He became a well known icon with the First Class Miners.Although he kept well covered from the sun, he developed cancer of the lips. I believehe was 93 when he past away and was still going out to his patch in his 90's. My Best jim straight Link to post Share on other sites
Au Seeker 3,113 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks Snake Jim, that was a great read!!!Snake Jim... Small world... I mention Dowie on pg. k in Successful Drywashing. I hope it is okay to add more about him. I still have most of the original Desertmagazines. However some of the early issues are in terrible shape. But I havethis issue somewhere in my shed. Dowie continued using and selling his small dry-washer for many years after thisarticle was published... He became a well known icon with the First Class Miners.Although he kept well covered from the sun, he developed cancer of the lips. I believehe was 93 when he past away and was still going out to his patch in his 90's. My Best jim straightJim here's a link to Desert Magazine's Archives, it has most if not all of the issues from 1937 to 1985, just find the issue/s of interest and click on the cover page which will download the selected issue/s in PDF form to your computer.http://mydesertmagazine.com/Desert_magazine_archive.html Link to post Share on other sites
Swampstomper Al 1,336 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks for posting this..SA Link to post Share on other sites
boulder dash 1,239 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 I was totally fascinated by that article. What a hard worker. Link to post Share on other sites
Micro Nugget 770 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Soon after I first met Bob Dunkin Dowie's name came up over and over again around our many campfires. I wish I could recall all of the Dowie stories he shared with me, but the old gourd's riffle tray just can't seem to hang on to them as well as I'd like. A big THANK YOU snakejim for posting this historical nugget! Link to post Share on other sites
FlakMagnet 412 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Yup my first intro to the legend of Mr. Dowie was also from 29Prospector Bob Dunkin.I would like to say that Jim McCulloch is right in there with the legends of the Dale and thesurrounding areas. I called him out of the blue one day about ten or twelve years ago,never having met him, and asked if he would be interested in meeting upand taking a day tour of the Dale. I told him that I was a relative newcomer to detecting in the desert but had read many of his articles and hoped he might consider spending a day in the Dale.He immediately said yes. We met some time later and he took me zooming around the Dalein a 2-wheel drive sedan that made all the SUV 4-wheeler's look tame.His knowledge, generosity and whole-hearted enthusiasm for the desert immediately sparked me.I smile to myself each time I remember that first meeting with him.Thanks again Jim. Hope all is well and that we get to do that again some time soon. Link to post Share on other sites
jim mcculloch 32 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Jim and Dave, thanks for your posts and kind words. I first met Dowie in the Dale one morning in the spring of 1981. This "tough old geezer" (I was 28 and he was 78) was hiking up a hill with probably 60 pounds of equipment. He looked like a refugee from the Foreign Legion. His drywashing partner that day was the 29 Palms dentist "DOC" Smeton. Doc introduced me to Dowie, what a guy. He was an electronic genius, founder of Crittenden Transformers. I understand that even today certain types of transfomers are known as "Crittendens." At his home Dowie pointed to his DOORSTOP, a leather pouch. It contained 42 pounds (yeah POUNDS) of gold dust. He had a 2.5 ounce nugget which had initially "grizzlied" off his drywasher. In those days many a granite-bottomed ravine in Dale was totally devoid of sand and gravel, due to Dowie's efforts. It was great to know him. HH Jim Link to post Share on other sites
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