Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1880-04-24
A SOUTHWESTERN BONANZA.

from the ends of the earth that gath
cred around the hearth-stone of, the
hospitable landlord whose carayansa-
ry is the only pleasant thing about his
bare and broken down old mining
town The tales told about the view
from the bleak summit of Mount
Badly, the richness Of the mines, and
the romance of the Maxwell grant,
stirred up spirit of adventure with
in me and led me to challenge the
party 10 make the ascent the next
morning. Accordingly, just as the
sun was lifting itself over the wind
swept summit of "Old Badly ard
sending its slanting shafts across the
Moreno valley against t,e ragged
ridge of TIE Rocky mountains, that
lay piled in solemn grandeur against
the steel blue western horizon, light
ing up with its shining rays the CLINT
ing snow patc1es, which looked like
a flock of sheep feeding on the noun
tain side, party of four horsemen
rode out Of Elizabethtown and began
the ascent of the foothills that lead
up to the timber line of Mount Baldy.
1t was quite
NOTABLE ESCORT
that proposed to chaperon me across
the mountains to view the grant and
examine the famous Aztec mine, and
included, first, Matt Lynch, the dis
coverer of the mine itself; second,
Mr.. Frank R. Sherwin, to whose ener-
gy, judgment, and skill as an organ
izer is due the remarkable success
which has attended the rehabilitation
of this vast Maxwell estate, and whose
abb ity as diplomat has not only Sc
cured to the Dutch bondholders all
their interests in the property, but
has enabled him to do it without an.
tagonizng the thousands of conflict
ing interests represf sfnted by the in
habitants of this territory; and, third,
the noted engineer, E. Platt Stratton,
who formerly had charge of the At
lantic saaboard as United States
steamship inspector, and who resign
ed TO act as receiver during the pend
ing foreclosure proceedings of the
Maxwell property.
MATT LYNCH
is parsonage who deserves, as he al
ways receives from those WHO visit
this section OF the territory, tie ton-
ors duo distinguished o.tizens, for,
al hough an Irishman by birth, o is
. Yankee BY nature and instinct. He
, has been educated in that great
schoo. house, the world, and carries
his diploma in the shrewd, twinkline
eye, and the alert and self-sus. aimed,
although modest, air with which be
asserts his scholarship and his right
10 be recognized as man of affairs.
He has quaint nannerisr which
has become a badge whereby his
friends the ierr tory, without men
tioning his rame, never fail to recog-
nize any allusion ohm. In CONVEX
saticn, whatever statement you may
make whether a commonplace about
the weather, or bold and daring
piece of colossal lying, it matters lit
tie which,-his clear eye will look
you through and through and with
pefect imperturbability he will run
the entire pamut, in an ascending and
descending scale of thirds and ffths,
of-"W- ELL - well - we'll - we'll -
well-well |" and whether the ex-
clamations are inst ired by astonish-
ment, confidence or assent, no one
can ever tell. Before he came to this
rart of the country he prospected
through Colorado thoroughly, and
notwithstanding the temptations Of
fered by the various mining excite
ments IN that state, he has never been
induced to leave the neighborhood
of Baldy and the Morena valley,
which he asserts will in time become
the rict est gold bearing district ev-
er opened in America He has al
ready justi6' d his faith by becoming
very rich man, ow ming besides his
property hereabouts, blocks of stores
in Trinidad, and being one of the prin-
cipal directors and largest stockhold-
ers in the Trinidad bank.
HIS THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE
of the country and its mining history
makes him valuable guide and an
interesting historian and, as we as
cended the steep slopes of the noun
tain, he would point out the Hum
bug gulch, out of which (apparently
| oplv faw ao, on of uroundl ths own