The Gold Rush Moment In Season 1 That Pushed James Harness Over The Edge

Tensions between Fred Hurt and James Harness erupted almost immediately after Hurt and his brother first arrived on Todd Hoffman’s site — partially because Hurt himself was employed by the owner of the claim and not Hoffman (who had only rented the claim for work). An immediate outsider, Hurt’s critical attitude earned him the enmity of his fellow miners, especially fellow crew member James Harness.

Harness was already in dire straits when Hurt showed up, having suffered a serious back injury and subsequently lost his pain medication. Without his medicine, Harness looked to be in physical agony and had an extremely short fuse — something Hurt failed to consider when he began criticizing Harness’ work. Although Harness weathered this abuse for a long time, he finally lost his cool in one fateful episode when Hurt stood over Harness and harshly critiqued the latter’s attempt to fix a hose. Harness was pushed over the edge and began to fight back: shouting at Hurt and shoving him back before the rest of the crew intervened.

Although tensions finally settled after that, it’s clear that Harness wasn’t going to idly sit by and take this verbal jabbing forever — something Fred hurt learned the hard way.

After appearing in two seasons of “Gold Rush,” James Harness tragically passed away in 2014 at 57.

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