then i turned and saw a character right out of western fiction : the last of the old black hills prospectors , potato creek johnny in the flesh -- a gnarled , bearded , ragged gnome of a man , no taller than i was , complete with burro and gold pans and happy to tell a 14-year-old kid about the half-pound nugget he found back in the glory days. ; potato creek johnny joined wild bill and calamity years ago in the mount moriah cemetery .