The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-04-30
From the wintersett Madisonial
Hr..o proof NJ the e oldeu Humbug.

From tho wlutersett Madi sonan.
More Proof Of the Golden Humbu2.
Mr.. S. S. CRANpALL, one Of the men who
lief, here some Eve week ago for Pixies Peak,
returned last Thursday Evening. Rev. L.
NJ, GooDFLLow, who also went from here
with the same company, came back with Mr..
CRASp.LL to Council Bluffs. They were
compelled to return on account OF sickness:
Thcv had arrived within one hundred
miles Of Fort kearney, at which place the
rest Of the company have probably reached
bv this time. =.
Mr.. CRANDALL says, that up to the time
he left the company to return, they had met
three men on their way back from the mines.
One Of these men had ten dollars worth
Of dust had been in the mines hve months
thought gold enough could be found to
paw two dollars per day-was gong TO take
his family out-owned an interest IN new
" laid out town, out of which he expected
to make his money ,astead Of digging gold.
When this man arriveiat Council Bluffs,
the merchants of that fast town got out the
report that he had brou hit back tce hou-
sand dollars porth Of gold dust:
his man stated that several letters had
been published in the Missouri River papers
purporting to have b en- written oy him, ana
containing fattering accounts from the
mines that he had nerer rf1ten. others
that he did write, were changed by design
ing men, and then published.
One of the others had been at the mines
two months and stated that no more than
so per day could be made by digging for
gold, and that it cost that mu:h TO i've mere:
| The last one that they met OF the three, had
been there six weeks, and found nothing to
make it pay Mt ali. These two men sad
that this gold excitement was great num-
bug. ~
The company also met lot of govern
mcnt teams. Several of the men that were
with these teams expressed themselves de-
cidedly of the opinion that those who go 10
Pixies Peak, 60 there to be g!oriously hum
plugged. on,,h,
naper stating that there were eight or ten
forrishinp towns between that place and
Columbus. a distance Of ninety-ive miles,
and that at Columbus several companies
had ferry boats, with which to carry emil
grants across Loupe Fork river. lie says
that instead of there being eight or ten
towns between these two places, there is on
" ONE. and that does not contain more than
a dozen houses. all told: and instead Of
there b,ing sereral ferry boats at Columbus,
there is but one. which charges two dollars
for each team that it carries across the NV
or. He also states that the excitement in re-
lotion to the mines, is much greater here
than it is farther West, and that the stories
c;rcnlated here are much more encouraging
tn emiorants than those circulated west OF
o. Riyrr
Mr.. CR,vDALL is we'll known in this city
and his statements are perfectly reliable
We commend them to persons who anticI-
pate going to Pixies Peak.
Verify, from the foregoing, one could but
naturally come to the conclusion that Mi.
CRASpALL had ':secn the elephant" or was
fearfuly exercised least he should come on
him unawares. What blessed thing it IS,
that he was "compclledto return on account
Of sickness" for, if he had been permitted
to see three more "men on their way back
from the m;nes,'' the humbug woull have
been blown to eternal smash and the
occupation of those who expect to make
money out of town-lots ''instead OF digging
for cold,, entirely swept away, like the mist
before therisins sun. Another thing to be
regretted, is, that Mr.. {. did not sooner get
" within one hundred miles of Fort X ear
new" and meet "three men on their way
back from the mines''-give his experience
to a world ploddins in darkness-for then
and in that case, he would doubtless have
prevented "countless thousands from going
to ,he reputed mines "to be gloriously hum
bugged."
The Ii, merchants Of this 'Iast town. Of
Council Bluffs reporting that man had
arrived with give thousand dollars worth OF
DUST" when, in fact he had only ''sen do!!!'ars
WORTH" is rich beyond computation. The
merchants Of this s'fast town" did not know
that there was 'chel among 'em taking
notes, with a determination to "prcnt
,hem,'' or they would not have INDUCED in
such an extravaganza. They should take
warning from this exposure, and put them
selves on their good behavior.
The stem dollar'' man who had letters
"published in the Missouri River pape So
that L" he had never writtcn," and ''others
that he did write, changed by designing men
and then publisced," owes it to his fair
fame, to make an expose Of the parties who
have thus tempered with his literary efforts,
and thus imposed upon the people.
Those government drivers, ''who express
ed themselves decidedly of the opinion that
those who 90 to Pixies Peak, 60 there to be
gloriously humbuggcd," deserve the thanks
Of every friend of misguided humanity
Without, their opinion, Mr.. CRASDALL, would
not, perhaps, been ''compclled to return on
account of sickness" Without their "deci-
ded" expression of "opinion," it would,
perhaps, never have been known that those
now pushing on to the mines, were really
going to be "gloriously humbusscdw
That Mr.. CRANDALL did not see those
"eisht or ten fourishing towns" between
Omaha and Columbus-or more than one
ferry across Loupe Forks surely no fault
of any one residing west of the Missouri
River, and can only be accounted for on the
hypothesis, of total obfuscation on his part
OR, perhaps, he was "sick,' and couldn't
see.
The adventures of Sinbad the Sailor,
Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixotte, CULVER,
Fremont and Lewis j. Clarke, sink into
insignicanee, when compared with those OF
Mr.. S. S. CRANpALL, Of Wintersctt. We,
too, Commend his statements to persons who
anticipate going to Pixies Peak. There may
! be gold out no there-that is. not enough
to pay for minng-but, in the name of all
! that is good, what wonderful perceptive
powers Mr.. C. must have, to have enabled
him to make that discovery, when "within
one hundred miles Of Fort kearney." Oh
those three men sickness !--"ten dollars
,rar,h IF dnstS marnifip,l I n sSfiya thouslnd!''