When it's in that form does it have to be refined? Why didm't the bandits know what it was? They're bandits!
Every third person who complains will be shot. Two people have complained already!
I was wondering if the old man was crazy and it really was sand in the bags.
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I don't know. After watching several seasons of "Gold Rush", I don't know how anyone could make that mistake. Gold flakes are pretty much unmistakable for anything else. Not to mention the weight alone would be much greater than sand. I suppose in their rush to find something valuable, they didn't look too closely at what they had.
And, it is an important plot device so I can overlook that small flaw in the movie.
Democracy is the pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. H.L. Mencken
Remember that the bandits were desperate, and figured they hit a mother lode with the pelts and the burros they could now sell. They didn't take the time to feel or examine the bags, and probably didn't think much about watching the, uh, sand, as it filtered out in the wind.
BTW (spoiler for the book): In the book by B Traven (published 1927), Howard and Curtin find a little bit of gold that hasn't blown away. Not a lot, but maybe $3,500 worth, which in 1927 was about two years salary for a typical U.S. worker with a decent job.
It is explained in the movie that the bandits thought the sand was there to add weight to the furs.
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