Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-09-07
SHINING WATER GOLD.

sTlhknG WATER GOLD.
There 10 None OF It There-Whitmoroh
Yarn q Delusion and the Country . Freud
Judge hollins Experience and IA,
Little story.
Judge VIM. g. Hollins, one of the parties
who were so badly taken in by the reports
Of H. G. Whitmore regarding the big find
of gold in the Sinking Water region ol
southwestern Montana, arrived in Yunkton
on the steamer Key West and last evening
he gave us a detailed account of his expert.
ence and added IN emphatic denial of the
the truth of the gold reports from the Stink.
ing Water. The whole excitement, he '
arose from the misrepresentation of Mr.
Whitmore and many men were lured iuto
the..remote wilderness, some to die and som,
to eufier hardships without end in their vai1
pursuit of the phantom Of riches. Judg,
Hollins says, as a mitigation of the offens,
committed that Mr.. Whitmore was made
tho victim of two designing men. They
were his partners in the prospecting bust
ness and first penetrated the mysterious re-
gions o fthe Sinking Water. To Mr.. Whit
more they gave the mos marvellous stories
Of the richness of the ground and detailed
all the circumstances connected with the
"6nd." Mr.. Whitmore was anxious TO ap
pear as the Columbus of this discovery and
reap whatever b%enefi,:would come from the
notoriety that might follow. He therefore
adopted the story of these two irresponsi-
BILE adventures as his OWL and sent 10
the east glowing accounts of discoveries
made by himself, to which be attached all
the details of a laborious prospecting tour,
with himself as the principal actor and hero.
The truth is he manufactured the whole
story from material furnished by profession
al frontier "bilkers." But it had its effect.
Sinking Water became as famous as 1t is
now Infamous. Judge Rollins, then a re-
sident of Dcadwood, packed up his kit on
the 30th of last May and in company with
eight others started across the inhospitable
plains for the Mecca of their hopes. five
hundred miles away. The entire distance
led through a region scarcely trodden by
tie foot OF white man and swarming with
Indians of hostile or of doubtful attitude.
Reaching the base Of the mountains they
were joined by forty others, mostly from
the Black Hills, who had struck out from
the common starting point by a different
trail. This party penetrated the Businesses
of the Sinking Water region and finally
unsaddled their worn out animals in the
land Of fabied wealth. They
met the Whitmore party, mat.
tiers were talked over and were
entirely unsatisfactory to the band Of bold
adventures who had ridden 80 far that they
might scoop up glittering wealth from the
sands and retire to lives Of easy luxury be-
fore the fame of the diggings inspired a
stampede from the states. Judge Hollins
admits that he felt discouraged at first sight
of the burnt and barren region and says that
sensation was confirmed and largely
strengthened after a few days careful pros
pecting. The gold want there, but the
men were, and what to do next was the
query. They still had hopes, based upon
the marvellous accounts of the pioneers who
were there before them.
Judge Hollins, however, concluded he
would get out of the country and told the
balance of the party that he was going to
Fort Custer, four hundred miles away.
They postested against this trip, out of
regard for his personal safety, as
the country was the ranging
ground of hostile Shoshones, Bapnocks and
suspicious Crows. He went, however,
making the entire trip in the company OF
one man who volunteered to accompany
him. On his arrival at Fort Custer he
found Mr.. Whitmore there. He had fol.
lowed on Judge Hollins' trail, with a Crow
Indian as a guide, and made a short cut and
headed him of. After a long conversation
Judge Hollins was induced by the apparent.
ly honest representations of Mr.. Whitmore
to believe all that had been said regarding
Sinking Water gold was really true. In
the face Of his W experiences and his own
knowledge he accepted the Whitmore
theory, wrote to his family to meet him at
Bozeman as soon as they could come on
from the east, and back he started alone
over that four hundred miles of dreary
wilderness. The balance Of his ex-
periences Judge Hollins said might be
summed up briefly with the general result
hat the whole scheme was a fraud-there
was no gold there and nothing upon which
to base the accounts made public by Mr..
Whitmore. He is of the opinion That the
latter gentleman may some day meet his re-
ward, as there is an avenging angel upon
the track of every frst-class "bilk." The
Judge has thrown away several months of
time, and %squandered considerable money.
He has learned by experience and will not
forget his knowledge.
Silk handkerchiefs and linen handker.
chiefs at Wise Bros.