Mining for gold left many men and their families in extreme poverty. The following report from out of California, 1922, tells of a man who ended his life after failing to find gold. He prepared for his end with a coffin and dug his own hole.
Found Dead Beside Coffin
Yreka, Cal. — George Baines, an aged miner, was found alone in his shack near Sawyer’s Bar, with one wrist slashed, lying alongside a homemade coffin lined with flour sacks. Nearby was a will, burial garments, and an empty poison bottle.
A grave, evidently dug with his own pick and shovel, was outside the shack.
Miners declared Baines had waged a long, unsuccessful search for gold.
Source: The St. Charles herald. (Hahnville, La.), 02 Dec. 1922.
