Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-03-17
From the Kansas City Time

ton was attracted. and he was somewhat
surprised to hear loud and boisterGus laugh
ing and talking lust outside the church.
Father Donnelly observed a crowd OF noun
tainecrs and trappers seated in the shade Of
the building. tauntlng and plaguing an old
F7enehman, then nearly or about one hun
dred years Of age This old man i remem-
bered by MesSrs. =. NJ Chouteau. Peter Re
ward, Charles Dripps and Others as a quaint,
simple old man, who had spent the better
portion of century in the west, and who
became and was at the time Of his death
protege Of old Mrs ChOuieau. lie never
understood the English language sufficiently
well to speak it. and was, when discovered
that fine Sabbath morning, quarter Of a
century ago, endeaN oring TO make his tor
mentors understand, in his Canadian paf0N
something about scourging he had re-
ceiyed. and assuring them, as well as pos
sible, Of rich gold region in the west The
worthy father inquired OF one of the hun
tiers, Monsieur Tougeou, why the men were
always plaguing the old man about a whip
ping and about gold, when the following
story OF the first gold discovery in ls42 was
told
In the earliest exploration Of the Rocky
mountains the hunters were surprised to dis
cover among the te Indians golden bullets
and golden trinkets, formed out Of rough
golden nuggets Fort Hall, then in posses
sion of the British was the objective point
where many Of the mountain trapper- re-
ceiyed their supplies and disposed of their
! peltries during the summer season The
only trail then used in crossing the noun
I H.
and south pass Late IN the autumn Of 1913
party OF hunters, commanded by a cap
tain, were making their way through the
mountains to the coast, when snow began TO
fall in the snowy range, and warned them
to hasten on their way If they. did not want 70
be caught in the winter storms which pre-
vailed IN those elevated regions two-thirds Of
| the wear The silent warning given by the
silyery white blankets which were being lain
upon the peaks above the black pine belt
was not lost upon the watchtul mountain
GERS.
Finding 1t would be impossible to &c. out
OF the mountains and across the plans as
fast as desirable, the trappers and hunters
decided to turn southwark and make all
haste toward Taos, Mexico They left the
Sweet water q short distance above its mouth
crossed the Elk Hills, the Medicine Bow
and struck down through the foothills west
OF Denver lhey were in great haste and
did not stop, lest by delay they might be
overtaken by the winter storms ere they
reached the nj der climate Of New Mexico
One morning one Of the hunters announced
his intention OF remaining behind to perform
some trifing repairs to his moceasins and
leggings He bade the party not TO delay
for him, but 10 push onward toward laos,
while he would take trail and soon oyertake
them This w.s agreed to BY the captain
and the old frenchman was left iu'one OF
those pleasant valleys in the heart Of the
mountains
The old hunter was left 10 himself. and
in a few minutes found himself in soli-
tude, performed the task he had DELAYED to
accomplish, picked up his rifle and blanket
and started out 10 take the trail lie dis
covered that owing 10 the rocky nature Of
the ground the moccasin tracks OF the hun
tiers had failed to leave even the laintest
trail Not all at fault, OF for a moment
alarmed at the prospect before him, the old
man cast his eyes upward, and finding the
sun at meridian started forth taking as near
as Ipossible a southeastern direction He
wandered all that day and the following day
in the many ranges of hills and romantic val
levs at the base of Pixies Peak. Toward
the afternoon Of the second day he found
himself in q barren, lonely sand guleh or
canyon, where the waters from the noun
tain peaks had forced their way through
the soft, rotted, white quartz, having an
open sandy fat, dvested of all vegetation,
Il. 81. .-f
soap-weed, ora scrubby young box elder.
He was hungry and tired, and had not tasted
food since the day his comrades left him,
two days before. He was examining the
earth carefully, with a view Of discovering
if possible. where the party Of hunters cross
ed the dry stream, when his eyes became
attracted by a number of bright yellow peb-
bles scattered in among black sands and
driitings. He picked some Of them up care
lessly at first, but became more interested
when he found they were metal, though the
simple old hunter never for a moment sup
posed it was gold. He gathered up num-
Der of the largest nuggets and placed them
in his gun pouch, and then turned from the
mine OF wealth which has since conyulsed
the world with the gold fever, and sought
for fsod. He had no desire for all the gold
laying scattered upon the the bed Of that
dry mountain gulch He wanted food !,
without food be must die. He wandered
away, and all the next day staggered on in
hopes of finding his friends but in vain
lie was diving with hunger, with countless
wealth at his disposal.
The party of hunters proceeded upon their
way down into the st. Louis park, and
there, on the second day after leaving their
comrade went into camp and waited. Becom-
ing uneasy at his long absence, and fearful
lest he might have come to harm. the party
started back to search for him They dis
covered him upon the following day, half
starved and too weak TO walk. They in
quired Of him where he had been, and &C
cused hin of following after the Ute Indian
women, of whom he was very fond. He
said ne had been lost, but exhibited the mug
gets to the party, informing them at the
same that in valley north of Pixies Peak
there was plenty of il They examined the
pocket full of nuggets, and they were pure
gold. They then demanded 10 be led by the
old man back to the golden valley, which
he agreed to do. They started back under
the guidance of the old man. but after a
thorough search for about three DAYS, the
old man was unable to distinguish the same
valley where he had found the gold The
mountaiaeers. believing that the old man
had deceived them, and bad got his gold
nuggets from some Ute Indians, who also
had abundance of the precious metal, and
naturally indignant at what they termed his
wanton deception and its consequent delay
tied him up to tree and whipped him:
They whipped him for delaying them, and
then for deceiving them. But the old man
always maintained that he found the gold
near the base OF Pixies Peak. The whip
ping had a curious effect upon the good old
hunter He became reserved and misan-
thrope. and, when he returned to Kansas
City, made his home and his companion
ship with old Pine" the man who died
about a year ago in this city, about I25
years old. He was nearly of the same age
as Pine, and died few years ago in st
Geneyieve, Mo, where he had been taken
! by his protector, idrs. Choutean. DE be
came quite deaf before the discovery of gold
was made in 1859, and, though he had sui
iered the tsunts and jeers of his friends iol
wears for what they termed his lying anc
crazy idea about gpld at Pixies Peak, be
never could be made to understand that the