Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-05-27
+ Threatened Destruction Of Border ToWns

MCHOEH UT CdhT D."
Thsea.eneA Destruction Of Border Tewss.
BEYoxD SALT CREEK, N. T.,
Wednesday. May II. 1859.
The great Pixies Peak humbug, sec.
ond, perhaps, to none recorded in
history, save Laws great /" Mississippi
Bubble" has exploded. Not doubt
can now exist but that the whole thing
has been concocted BY designing men
in the border towns, and by the own
ers of lots in paper cities At Cherry
Creek, for speculative purposes.
During the past two days, we have
met over two hundred trains, and near
FIVE hundred men on their way back !;
and while write, the road in front Of
US, is literally covered with returning
teams as far as the eye can reach over
the level prairie. The appearance Of
some Of the returned miners, and OF
the "r,gs" with which they are work
ing their way back, might be provo
cative of merriment, we're it not for
the circumstances which have placed
them in such q condition. One and
all are unshorn, unshaven and sun
burnt their clothes are black and in
rags, and their hair and whiskers are
matted together with the dust and
dirt of the plains. Thus dirty and
ragged, and foot-sore and weary, some
move slowly along on foot; others
ride at a snairs pace behind, with
broken down and tagged out teams
others still, are mounted upon raw,
and bony, and limping nags-the re-
mains of once splendid teams-while
here and there a man lags slowly be.
side crazy hand-cart, to which he
has attached with strings and sticks, 9
single OK or broken down pony.
The story they bring Of disappoint
ment, fatigue and suffering upon the
plains, is a melancholy one. The gold
they say, at Pixies Peak and Cherry
Creek, is a total failure from ten tc
twenty-five cents per day, being the
utmost which man can earn by labor
ing diligently with sluice sixty feet
long; that no man has ever taken out
over fifty cents per day, and that all
the gold ever dug in Pixies Peak will
not amount in yalue to the sum Of fifty
dollars. They also state that in ma
jority Of cases, those who have writer
favorable letters, never worked an hour
in the mines, but have spent theil
time in laying out towns, playing
whiskey poker" and gambling fol
teams and corner lots. They further
say that in many instances, the favora
bic letters which have been received
purporting to come from reliable per-
sons, have been forged, ard to sub
stantiate it, relate cases, giving the
names and residences of the parties
where persons have written home fol
means to return, and the letters wher
received, have contained favorable re-
ports with requests for friend. 70 emil
crate. The greater part of this for
gerry, they state, has been done by 8
man named Bassett, who kept posi-
or express office at Auraria, and who
was shot few weeks since, on the dis
covery of the frauds which he had per
petrated. They also state that JUS
previous to his death, he made full
and open confession Of his guilt, ane
stated that his object was the sale o
town property which he owned. Some
half dozen other cases are also re
lated, in which letter writer's who have
induced extensive emigration from
their places of residence in the East
have been hung or shot, and they
also state that when they left, large
parties were ont in search of vari
GUS other letter writers, who have alb
seconded, for the purpose of calling
them to account. The mines, they
say, have been deserted by all, with
the exception of some seven hundred
persons who have no teams or provis.
ions, and that they also will leave a.
soon as an opportunity offers for them
to take possession Of train Of Mexican
flour, which was daily expected. They
represent that Fort Kearney is filled
with persons who are begging thei'
way back, and that on Elm Greek, "a
short distance before us) several thou
sand men are camped, engaged in
making speeches and organizing them
selves into companies for the purpose
Of burning and sacking the border
towns upon which they lay the blame
of the deception. Over fifteen hun
dred names, they say, are already
signed to . paper which is in circula
ton for these purposes, and that nc
doubt exists but that they will carry