THE UNTOLD TRUTHS OF GOLD RUSH
Viewers tune in season after season to watch the cast of Gold Rush live out their modern
day, forty-niner fantasies. But not everything they do makes it to the airwaves. A little
panning reveals that they take this outdated, Old West profession and lifestyle of theirs
way too seriously. Bring the canary in a cage, because we're going into the mines to uncover
the untold truths of Gold Rush.
KILLIN' BEARS, WHO CARES
The Gold Rush boys don't take kindly to any varmint crossing their path, not even bears.
According to the Associated Press, a bear was needlessly killed during the show's production
back in May 2010. The troubles began when the bear stuck its nose in some untended graham
crackers, and there's no worse crime in the world than a bear sniffing at a man's crunchy
sweets. Shortly thereafter, miner Mike Halstead allegedly tracked the bear down and shot it
dead. Though it was miles away from the mining site...and probably wasn't actually the same
bear...justice had been served. Kind of.
SLAMMIN' THE SALMON
The miners don't limit their war on the earth to just bears. They make sure to take out
some kind of wildlife in every way possible. That's why they made sure to drive a 50-ton
piece of heavy equipment through a salmon habitat, according to a report from The Oregonian
newspaper. According to the miners, state laws allow them to drive their machinery through
rivers and streams—it's just unfortunate the fish got in their way. The fish were no
match for the rig. By that tally, they've killed one large land animal and a water animal
habitat. Look out, birds: your days are numbered.
THEY BASICALLY HATE NATURE
The Gold Rush guys have also taken their war on nature to the land itself. According to
The Oregonian, they dug a trench to divert the course of a stream, most likely to provide
water for their camp. This is one clear violation the gold rushers committed, as they failed
to erect a screen to keep small fish from swimming into the ditch. Thus, they not only
increased their fish body count, but they possibly did irreparable damage to the local
ecosystem as well. Nice going, Team Gold.
SLIMEY PRODUCERS
With all the acts of aggression against the Earth, of course the miners have been visited
by state representatives. However, reps weren't there to dole out citations. Instead, one
rep showed the miners how to use ground water, rather than diverting streams. That didn't
sit well with the Discovery Channel's producers. According to regional habitat supervisor Jackie
Timothy, the producers actually wanted to receive a fine. The resulting kerfuffle and
media coverage would have provided the network with some nice, discount publicity for the
show. Too bad for them things went...well.
PARKER SCHNABEL: MILLIONAIRE
Though he pleads poverty on the show, Parker Schnabel is actually filthy rich. In 2015,
Fox News reported that Schnable earned himself a million dollars during season five. A humble
guy, he doesn't think people should be too jealous of him. According to Schnabel, he's
in more debt than anyone else his age, yet he fails to supply any kind of numbers. Sounds
like someone is hiding his gold...
"DAKOTA" FRED SPLIT
Mustachioed Gold Rush villain "Dakota" Fred Hurt was a show fixture from seasons one through
four. Then, he mysteriously up and left the production and his co-workers, dragging his
son with him. Some think he retreated to a hermetic life in the mountains. Others believe
he was raptured. What really happened is, according to the Gazette Review, Hurt bought
up all the Porcupine Creek land, where all that sweet gold-digging action takes place,
and told the Hoffmans and everyone else to shove off. But really, that's not surprising
behavior for a dude named "Hurt," is it?
DAKOTA DEMANDED A RAISE
In addition to thinking he'd find more success on his own, Dakota Hurt also wanted more money
from Discovery Channel. Hurt told the Gazette Review that "if [the channel wants] him to
be an actor, they need to give him the amount of money an actor would get paid." Rather
than accept Discovery's offer, Hurt went on to film his own thing called All That Glitters.
Whether it's a docu-series or a standalone documentary isn't known, as no release information
for All That Glitters has been announced as of this video's production. Here's hoping
Hurt made the right choice.
JAMES HARNESS' FATAL ADDICTION
Miner James Harness was a staple on Gold Rush for the first two seasons before he was fired
for missing the 100-ounce goal set by the team. In his private life, Harness lived in
constant pain, originally caused by a car accident. That led to his addiction to painkillers,
which in turn created Harness' problems on the show. Unfortunately, his hardships didn't
end once he was let go from the production. Harness' addiction eventually resulted in
the stroke that killed him in 2014, as reported by TMZ.
PARTS OF THE SHOW ARE SCRIPTED
As with most reality shows, Gold Rush isn't as real as promotions would have you believe.
In an interview he gave to Oregon Gold, fired miner Jimmy Dorsey claimed that parts of the
show are scripted, and some surprising events on the show are planned in advance. According
to Dorsey, the Discovery Channel's producers had scripted a fight between him and castmate
Greg Remsburg, which would have resulted in his exit from the show. In the process, Dorsey
actually broke his ribs. He went on to say, "They kind of push you towards making these
things happen."
TODD HOFFMAN HAS HIS DEMONS
In the same interview, Dorsey also airs his feelings about his former boss, Todd Hoffman.
Saying he's a troubled man, Dorsey claims Hoffman tossed aside friends and family in
the pursuit of fame and fortune, even to the point where he has no problem with others
getting injured. Dorsey says that a particular on-camera dressing down he received from Hoffman
was not scripted at all. It was pure Hoffman. He also went on to say Hoffman is uneducated
in the ways of mining, but ultimately, Dorsey feels sorry for Hoffman. At least he finally
found something nice to say about him.
Thanks for watching! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more videos like the one you
just saw.