Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-06-18
Aalp 0lniou 4 3nsrIfan
-oaRTaLE TALES OF SUFFERING ON
THE PLAINS.
,rnree Hundrod Immigrants starVc1 70
man ON the smoky Hill Route.

,E-hree Hundrod migrants starsc0 ="
Death on the smoky Hih AOute'
From ths waite clOua CzansasO Chief, june =
To vnune men. named Erastus B. Gr1f1n and
,,-..,on Cstes. of williamsburg, Wayne coanty. In-
disna, have arrived here direct from Denver CITY
STh vent ont last October, and left Denver On the
Stb 81 Nav A gentleman in this place was &C
oueipted with them, and pronounces them 10 De per-
fsctlv reliable. They prOspected two months, ana
nads % 40 all told. They prospected up ana
Snn the Platte and on the head walters Of the Colo
rado They think there may be some geld in the
ouptains but there is chance 10 get 1t, as there
is deep snow all the year round, with the exception
of about two months. The best days digging they
did, paid them 81 o. This was on snotaer mans pa,
claim. who wanted to sell it and come home. They
asked to try it first, when they worked one day at
washing dirt which the fellow had thrown up They
worked with long tom ard sluice, and washed out
81 o. They then worked four days longer, dig
giuR M the dirt for themselves; and In four days
thew took out fifteen esntsl After that the pay was
smaller, when they gave it up. They are confident
that the fellow had prepared his pile of dirt as
bait.
They report horrible sufferings on the Smoky Hill
route, which has been so be pulled in some Of the
papers When they left, but ten persons had rescued
the mines by that ront, who reported that three
hundred had died on the way. One of the men re-
ported that he had seen six dead men lying within
reach Of each other and another said that he had
himself buried twelve men. One Of them had lived
ten days on the hesh OF his dog. They reported
that some had lost their way. Scouts we're imme-
diately sent out, and some of the lost ones were
found within ten miles of the camp, so weak, that
they had to be fed with spoons.
In Denver City, several months since lots were
selling as high as $40. When the young men leit,
donation shares, containing eight lots, could be
bought for SIS. Denver has several hundred small
cabins, many 81 which have no roofs. They are
occupied By any one who chooses TO do So The
proprietors have made poor specHation, IS there
is not money enough in the country 10 pay house
rent. Provisions we're very scarce, and bread was
selling at fifteen cents per pound. The baker was
the only person who had any gold dust, for those
who got any were compelled to buy bread with 1t.
One Of cur nformants gave the baker gan Shleh
Gust him 1885, for four pounds of bread
These young threw their tools into the Platte,
and started home on foot taking only two blankets
with them. For two hundred miles they lived on
prickly pears and wild potatoes. They built hut
two hres from Denver to Fort Kearney Once they
killed-s prairie dog and roasted it. Another time
they came TO where man and mis- family were en-
osmped and asked for bread. This man at first re-
fused it, but at length agreed to let them have
for which he took their blankets as payl They
then had to sleep the bare prairie, and the
Cheyenne Indians came near taking their coats from
theml
A young man named VIM. H. Joslyn and another
person, from Monroe county, New York, have since
arrived, and report similar to the above and much
mere which would be interesting had We room for
it. They spent great part of their time in the
company CT old mountaineers, who assured them
that gold could not be found there in paying guam
titles. We hear enough every week to fill paper
and are enabled to give but few Of the principal
items.