Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1882-01-19
A pERILOUS SITUATION.
A GOLD HUNTERS ADVENTURE IN THE
BLACK HILLS

a new territory infested by In
'dians, and filing up rapidly with
adventures in quest Of gold, will al
ways be the theater Of thrilling
events. Such region Was the
Black Hills in 1875 81.
Many night has the writer sat
in the light Of camp fire in those
days, and listened to tales related,
with all the hard, graphic earnest
ness of truth, by men who needed
not to embellish their narratives to
render them stranger than the most
sensational of fictions.
These rough narrators. indeed,
would have scoriled to embellish.
The most of their adventures were
not romantic. Commonly they
were stem realities +; difficulties tc
be met and overcome, perlis often
from which men are only too GLAD
to escape with their lives. Such ar
one was the following inciden
which occurred in the experience
of a friend of the writer during ths
season OF 10.
Alon. with many others, Jane:
Bertlv went to the Black Hills a.
soon affter the Custer expedition n
possible. hoping 20 gather a gcodly
portion of the coveted yellow dust,
reported TO be lying loose at th'
bottom of all the streams there.
" 18th five OF six other gold hun
ters, Bently succeeded in avoiding
the Government tr ops-then vain
Iy trying to guard the territory
and arrived on Freech Creek, nea
the present site of Custer City, ear
ly in the spring OF the year above
mentioned.
Provided with mining pans he
and his companions at once tested
the soil along the stream There
seemed to be gold every where. Ir
every pan OF dirt they washed, {
few bright particles were found
yet not enough IN quantity to make
it profitable TO spend time in get
ting it.
They next tried the rocker but
could-not make more than day wa
ges. 'Sluicing' was next attempt
ed, but the water supply proved in
adequate.
They were satisfied, however
that the claims which they had SO
Gated along this stream were val
liable, and that reservoir, or dam
might be built which would give
sufficient amount of water.
Concluding, therefore, to holt
their claims till the reso urces of th
country were better developed
they built cabin and determined
to seek for gold elsew here in tn
Hills, leaving one of their party t.
take care of the cabin and th
claims.
James was the first to whose 10
it feil to guard the cabin Their
were few miners left above an
below him, but most Of those VIII
had gathered there had left so ths
the position Of the solitary guardia
was not only lonely, but a danger
Gus one. The Indians at this tim
were feeling exceedingly aggriev
ed, not without reason; since tt
invasion of their territory wa
plainly contrary to the treaty whic
our Government had made wit
them.
Runners had been rife all I'll
spring that war parties were prov
ing about the Hills watching tor
chance to pick off stray miner
That these reports were true w
pretty well demonstrated by t
fact that numbers of miners "
had ventured out sprospeetin
alone, had never returned. Sc
eral, indeed, had been found de
and scalped.
Bently was a brave fellow,
he naturally felt somewhat ner
Gus during the first few days of
solitary virgil at the cabin.
the end OF the week the ifksomn