Chapter 48 Nate's Origin

• It started in 1903 during the diamond rush in Africa. Of all the mineral-rich countries there was South Africa, Botswana, and the less-known Gabore. But it would become known when the rumors of diamonds in the small rural country spread like a fire in a dry bush. The rush continued for decades as there were many of the precious stones to be mined. In 1971 Johann Schmidt, a young German of 28 with high hopes for striking it rich gathered his equally young wife, 19-year-old Anja, both blond, blue-eyed, and full of youthful exuberance, and moved to the small country of Gabore. They weren’t the only foreigners hoping to harvest the big diamonds beneath the hard water-ridden soil, there were others; the Americans, the Polish, the English, there were many there. But only a few could survive the harsh, dry, and sunny Gabore climate.
• Johann was full of hope. He arrived in the country by ship and the coal train and immediately sought a place for his wife and himself. There were boarding houses built by foreigners who had decided to settle in Gabore, taking advantage of the influx of people to make fortunes. The boarding houses were good, with hot meals, hot baths, whiskey, and beer and Johann and Anja loved it. They weren’t very rich but Anja was a good girl, she made her own clothes, made her husband’s, and was ready to be by his side when he struck his first diamond.
• For months they stayed in Gabore waiting for the nod from the government to begin looking for their prized mineral. In the months they waited dreams and hopes began to die. In South Africa news spread that all the diamonds to be harvested were gone and the same rumors spread that Gabore didn’t have diamonds as earlier thought. At this time the discouraged diamond hunters had either gone back home, made their home in Gabore, or become shadows of themselves. Johann was one of the many who became shadows of themselves. But his downslide didn’t start until the pub owned by an old soldier who had come with his wife to seek wealth, opened across the street and he met Fredrick.