History Main / Prospector

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* “Uranium Fever” an obscure song by country singer Elton Britt, tells the tale of a guy who traded his car in for a Jeep, bought a cheap Geiger counter (an instrument used to detect ionizing radiation), obtained some maps from a contact at the Atomic Energy Commission and headed off to find uranium and stake a claim. Only problem is, seventeen other guys have already staked claims on the most promising lead he had. But he doggedly carries on, hoping to still strike it rich.

** Shorty Wilson in the short story ''Hattan's Castle'' discovered a rich ore vein when he drunkenly grabbed onto an embankment to keep from falling over durnk and pulled loose some dirt rot reveal gold. He is shorty afterwards murdered for it by the founder of the shady boom town established nearby.

* ''Series/{{Prospectors}}'', from the Weather Channel, is about, well... prosectors. Claim jumpers, also known as high graders, are a very real problem.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins'': The Doc from Saskatoon, or more commonly, simply Doc, is a frequent patron of the Penguins favourite ice cream parlour. He fits the appearence of the ol prospector type and is prone to telling tall tales of his days in TheWildWest. Voice by Rob Rackstraw.

The stereotypical image of the Prospector is an older man dressed in faded work garb, with a grey beard, missing teeth, a pickaxe and a trusty mule or burro. (See our page picture.) He'll be subject to intense bouts of GoldFever, wild celebration when he does find a rich deposit, and suspicion of anyone who gets too close to his claim. You will rarely see a young, well-groomed prospector in fiction.

%%* ''Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre'': Walter Huston's character is a classic example.

* VideoGame/{{Inscryption}} features the Prospector(or rather, [[spoiler: Leshy wearing a prospector mask and putting on a voice]]) as the boss of the Woodlands, though with the noticeably darker twist that he seems to have been driven insane by GoldFever. His gimmick is that upon losing his first candle, he will kill all cards on your side and replace them with Gold Nuggets that have 2 health and can't be sacrificed.

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' has the Prospector Zombie. They carry dynamite in their back pocket which will launch them behind the plants when it detonates. To counter this, either kill them before their dynamite goes off or use a split pea to shoot them when they're behind the plants.

* ''Literature/MuchAdoAboutGrubstake'': The DyingTown of Grubstake (a mining community with few remaining minerals)'s current population is sixty-two, mostly prospectors who lack the resources to move and still manage to extract just enough gold dust to pay some of their bills

* “Uranium Fever” an obscure song by country singer Elton Britt, tells the tale of a guy who traded his car in for a Jeep, bought a cheap Geiger counter (an instrument used to detect ionizing radiation), obtained some maps from a contact at the Atomic Energy Commission and headed off to find uranium and stake a claim. Only problem is, seventeen other guys have already staked claims on the most promising lead he had. But he doggedly Carrie’s on, hoping to still strike it rich.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has a number of prospectors, appropriately considering the heavy influence the game draws from classic Westerns. But instead of gold and minerals, these prospectors pick over old ruins for ancient pre-War electronics.

The stereotypical image of the Prospector is an older man dressed in faded work garb, with a grey beard, missing teeth, a pickaxe and a trusty mule or burro. (See our page picture.) He'll be subject to intense bouts of GoldFever, wild celebration when he does find a rich deposit, and suspicion of anyone who gets too close to his claim.

In particular, the California [[GoldFever Gold Rush]] brought many people west to seek their fortune. (See FortyNiner for this specific incident.) After the initial gold rush was over, some miners stubbornly refused to quit the profession and spread over the Western territories. At first, gold and silver were the desired commodities, but later oil, radium and uranium became the hot items to search for. Some would spend any money so manically after a rich haul that it raises suspicion that they wanted to get back to the profession regardless.

** In "Sackett" Tell Sackett more or less stumbles into becoming a prospector when he finds the trail to an old mine that was never completely finished while riding cross country to visit his brothers.

%%* ''VideoGame/TheYukonTrail'', unsurprisingly, is all about prospectors.

See also MountainMan for a similar archetype who makes a living with a different commodity, and AsteroidMiners for several elements of this trope RecycledInSpace. Do not confuse with GoldDigger, which is more about hooking up with someone for money.

The stereotypical image of the Prospector is an older man dressed in faded work garb, with [[BadassBeard a grey beard]], missing teeth, a pickaxe and a trusty mule or burro. (See our page picture.) He'll be subject to intense bouts of GoldFever, wild celebration when he does find a rich deposit, and suspicion of anyone who gets too close to his claim.

The stereotypical image of the {{Prospector}} is an older man dressed in faded work garb, with [[BadassBeard a grey beard]], missing teeth, a pickaxe and a trusty mule or burro. (See our page picture.) He'll be subject to intense bouts of GoldFever, wild celebration when he does find a rich deposit, and suspicion of anyone who gets too close to his claim.

* ''Film/TheBravados:'' Douglass's closest neighbor is a bumbling gold hunter named John Butler, who is unfortunate enough to encounter the fleeing outlaws. [[spoiler:He's also a BitchInSheepsClothing, as he's the real killer of Mrs. Douglass.]]

[[folder: Videogames]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'': One of Rudolph's companions on his journey is Yukon Cornelius, a prospector who looks for at first gold, and then silver, before [[spoiler: striking it rich on a peppermint vein]]. His usual method is to throw his pickaxe in the air and then taste it after it lands in the snow.

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies 2'' has the prospector zombie. They carry dynamite in their back pocket which will launch them behind the plants when it detonates. To counter this, either kill them before their dynamite goes off or use a split pea to shoot them when they're behind the plants.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'': Good old Yukon Cornelius.

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Settlers}}'': This is one of the professions in the series.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins'': The Doc from Saskatoon, or more commonly, simply Doc, is a frequent patron of the Penguins favourite ice cream parlour. He fits the appearence of the ol prospector type and is prone to telling tall tales of his days in the OldWest. Voice by Rob Rackstraw.