Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-01-24
THE COL. BILL WILLIAMS MINE.

They had struck it at Boulder. The
"Col. Bill Williams NIine" up Boulder
Canyon was said to be richer than the
Comstock. Californians forsook ranches,
mines and vineyards, and poured like
At Denver this tide met like stream
from the East. These streams united
and flowed on together into Boulder
Canyon.
The writer was borne in on the crest
of this flood tide and reached the famous
"Col. Bill Williams Mine" at twilight,
when the Colonel had gone to his sup
per, and his men were busy, lighting
the pine torches and knots that hung
about the mine, preparatory to setting
the miners at work in the shaft for the
night.
The mine was situated on little fiat
In the great canyon, just under the ho-
tel and the few other houses that made
up the town, on one side of the canyon,
the savage cliffs that looked down from
from the other.
An hour later, when the new famous
mine was in operation, there were to be
seen creaking derrick, with ropes
enough to rig ship, shaft, with men
passing up and down, dripping and mud
dy, land talking mysteriously and wagging
their heads at each other, as If down
there they had come upon the hidden
and awful secrets of the earth; while
over all the blazing pine-knots shed a
wild and gorgeous light.
Close by the side of this shaft an en-
terprising red-headed man, called "Gin.
GER" had established a bar for the
benefit of the dripping and mysterious
men who kept climbing up and down
the shaft. An awning of canvas coy
cred the few bottles that stood on the
rough boards constituting this "bar;"
and behind the derrick, which was kept
busy hosting rocks and buckets of
earth from out the shaft, there was
piled up as high as man s head a ragged
wall of quartz and granite. Through
this there was an open pass or gate
way, by which people entered who
wished to see the new discovery, the
great "Col. Bill Williams Nine"
Standing there, and out little from
the light of the flaming torches, thou
sand camp.fires could be seen. The
whole face OF the Rockies seemed to be
illuminated. The host that had poured
in from the four parts of the world were
camped before the mighty citadel of
Fortune as in a siege. Looking up this
canyon and on and up the mountains
into heaven, it was difficult to say where
the camp-ires left off and the stars be-
gan.
The men kept coming up and going
down this shaft so busily that stranger,
or one not used to mines and miners,
would have said there were at least
thousand brave and stalwart men down
there. But an old Californian would ut
once have detected that there was some
thing singularly superficial in this, and,
indeed, in all the appointments of the
place. lie would have noticed, too,
that the men saluted the barkeeper
Familiarity, and drank with suspicious
regularity.
From the rocky side of the canyon
opposite the little town you could some
times hear the call of the coyote, and
the old trapper, "Rocky Mountain Kit"
a wreck and relic who had been at
trac;ed to the new mine by the thirst
for whisky rather than gold, straight
ened up, and once orr vice leaned with
his hand to his ear to listen. at mout
be wolves and it mout be Injuns," NUT
tered tho half-doubled old man as he
hobblcd away from the bar, where he
had sandwiched himself in between two
muddy miners and so had succeeded in
including himself in the treat.
Suddenly there was ripple Of de-
light. The red-headed barkeeper ran
his two hands up through his flaming
hair u 1t shot up like one of the pine
knots blazing about him. The miners
hastelJed down into the mine. Old
Rocky Mountain Kit undoubled himself,
as If he were rusty old jack knife, and
smatked his parched lips. The pine
torones and pine-knots that burned on
every hand seemed to glow and burn
with brighter flame. Colonel Bill Will
lions had come booming through the
narrow rocky pass in the wall
A magnificent specimen of physical
manhood he was. Tall, strong, broad
breasted, bearded like prophet, black
eyed, and altogether Impressive, he
stood before his followers there the &C
knowledged king of the new mining
camp. He had small, feeble and unr
pretentious partner, with stoop In his
shoulder, a squirt in his eye, and crack
In his shrill, piping voice. This little
mans name was Doctor Baggs. The
Doctor seemed TO have been waiting for
the coming of the Colonel, too, for ~