Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-12
4 STRANGE DISCOVERY.
Finding Of IA Mine Once worked b.,
the AncicntS

the Ancicnts.
Silver Cliff Col Prospect, On list
sunday. Monday and Tuesday Il severe
snow storm ragged in the mountains. ex-
tending to the valley below The pros
pectors III the range who were out Of
sight of their camp, were forced to seek
shelter in the canonS and under the
large lodges of rock, il being impossi-
bic to follow guides to any designated
point, all traces of paths being entire
ly obliterated. ;. j. Hartman. T.. Il.
Oliver and II. \. Melton were prospect
ing in the Sangre de Cristo range, on
the San Luis side, about two miles
north of what is known as Dead Mans
camp, on Sunday afternoon, when the
storm came upon them in ill its fury,
rendering 1t dangerous to travel. Being
near deep canon, they sought shelter
from the wind by entering. Not far
from where they stood, On the same
side, they noticed an opening, and con-
cluded to make an examination. Draw
ing near, by feeling around they found
that there was quite long tunnel
thong not very deep. They deter
mined to enter and proceeded to gather
dry pine for torches After getting
sufficient quantity they entered on
hands and knees, iii single file. In this
position they crawled for ten OF twelve
feet, wnen they entered into i large
chamber, where they could easily stand
upright. This chamber enlarged for
twenty feet, where they reached what
SCI med to be Il second passage, when.
as before, the walls closed, and it be-
came necessary for them to proceed in
single file The second passage was not
over ten feet III length, when they
emerged into Il Il somewhat deeper and
much larger chamber, the walls widen
ing to such I'M extent that in order to
tell the size Of the room il was neccs.
sary to follow them up from either side
of the entrance. About ten feet to the
III Int Mr.. Oliver, who was in advance.
struck his foot against something that
moved very easily, and. thinking il
strange, lowered his light, and to his
horror found i human skull. 4 fire
was then llindled on the floor out of eX-
ira fuel, in order to get better view of
the floor and surroundings. Not far of
lay four other human skulls. Not be-
ing satisfied with this discovery, they
I ItNldNfd Illtll slNIS, anu ODldlIllllS
fresh fuel, rc-entercd, determined to
know the secrets Of the cave. Return
ing to their fire, which was still burning,
they lighted new torches and continued
their explorations About twenty feet
to the left, and near the western wall
another skull and bones were found.
There was no trace of any tool, knife.
or gun-nothing but the half decaycd
bones. The cave extended to the north
and, as in the previous chamber, CON
tracted somewhat, leaving another mar
row passage. This passage, unlike the
other, however, WAS much longer, and
| by no means rs narrow, it leading them
into smaller chamber, the walls of
which were very irregular, having large
projecting rocks resembling in some
places the shelving in Il storc-room. On
the western side of this chamber, near
the north end, ono Of these shelves ex-
tended to Il considerable width from
the wall, about ten inches from the
floor. Mr.. Melton, who was examin-
ing this particular spot out Of idle en-
riosity, lowered his light and STOPPING
down looked under the ledge and no
ticing what appeared to be peculiar
shaped stones concluded to draw them
out, when to his amazemeut he found
them heavy enough to require his en-
tire strength 70 remove them. He
pulled them out, however, and called
his companions, who were examining
the opposite side Of the room They
were not long iii discovering that he
had found three gold bars that have
since proved TO he worth 5000 Elated
over their strange and rich discovery
they remained long enough ID notice
chat the cave extended in northerly
direction and through another small
passage. They did, not however, fol
low il, but secured their treasure and
retraced their steps to the first cham
ber where they camped until morning,
when they shouldered their gold and
departed for their camp. reaching it in
Safety They refuse to tell the exact To-
cality of the cave, but declare their in
tention to return TO it rs soon rs the
weather moderatoS, and make Il
more thorough examination. We OBJ
tanned our information from gentle
man who had just arrived III the city
and who vouches for the gold part Of
the story, having seen il and felt H.