> the prospector who is holding a gun on you telling you to go away.
That would qualify as assault [1], and should result in the prospector going to jail. But if the US legal system worked as it should, it would be almost completely unrecognizable...
[1] https://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2016/01/is-it-a-crime-to-p...
Likewise, sometimes mining claimants believe they can keep people off their claim, which isn't the legal reality - they have the rights to the materials on the land, not exclusive access. Yet another reality of the West is that you don't argue legalities with the prospector who is holding a gun on you telling you to go away.