Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-25

Qfosy 81 . Nan whe Nllsse0 m111o1s
ana Died b. HIS OWE Hasa.

OLD GoU8TOCK'S RA1k
aassy u . Man whs Nisse1 Dlillssss
asa Died ~ His 0wn usn1.
Tho otter day stood by the grave Of
- Old Pan Cake" up at B0zeman.
And Who, do you inquire. was Old
Pan Cake p A man known throughout
the civilized world q man famous in
all lands and whose name will live in
history long after presidents and kings
are forgotten man who, If be bad
kept all he had owned, would have been
the richest man in the world, and BE-
side whom the Vanderbilts, Aackays
and Goulds of today would b mere
piQmies-Henry Thomas Paige Com
stock, the owner of the World-knOwn
COmstock lode of Nevada. Poor Od
Pan Cake! He lay there quietly in his
aix feet of mother earth and his grave
vas unmaYked-he, the richest man the
tho world ever knew. Il seems bat yes
tarday be was over at WashOe in the
desh, and yet he has been dead these
thirteen yeen-sO fast do We grow old.
Let me see If can tell you the story.
They called him the Pan Cake booause
he Vas 90 busy, or always imagine him
self 90 busy, he had no time 20 bake
bread. With spoon IN hand he would
beat some -four into batter and bake q
pancake, his dreamy eyes often fixed
Ito while upon some distant lofty peak
and his mind busy With speculati0ns ~
70 how much gold and silver il con-
tanned. His Was dream of wealth, at
last found, but never realized BY him.
Yet he was not the discoverer Of the
Comst0ck lode. know this statement
viii ast0nish many, but IL 10 neverthe-
les true; no more did Constock dis
cover the COmstock than Americus dis
covered America. There are some great
lies in history. Comstock was toilipg
over in American Flat ravine, when
Pete UReilly and Pat Mclaughlin dis
covered the C0mstock lode. John
Bishop, q miner, spoke TO ''Old vir-
ginia" James Finney), another cid
miner, sbout indications seen BY him at
Gold Hill. Finnsy said he had noticed
them when hunting deer, but attached
no importance to them. Old Virginia
told Mclaughlin and Okeilly in .
casual conversation, and they deter
mined TO 90 and zee for themselves.
The parties were then all working in
Six Mile canyon, and Old Virginia vas
drunk most of the time. One day
Saturday, January u, l859-Old Vir-
ginia being sober, O'Reilly, Mclaughlin
and Finney started over to Gold Hill
They peospeoted, but did not fnd much.
One pan yielded fifteen cents, an
other eight cents and third five
cents, but there was little or no
water to work with. Virginia followed
the ravine up and presently came back
and said he bad found plenty of water.
They then decided TO locate. McIIauRh-
lin and O'Reilly sot to work we'll M
toward the head of the ravine. They
used rockers and 90. bat small paw
-$i.50 to 81 per day. 80 they worked
ing discouraged, they were ON the point
OF abandoning the mines and going 70
Walker river. To gather water they
commenced digging hole for reser-
vOir, and when four feet down they
struck decomposed ore at the point
where the Ophir mine now is. The
odd looking black dirt did not at first
attract their attention, but az il the
custom Of miners to try everything, Nc
Laughlin put some of tho dirt and ore
into his rocker and washed it out. The
result was astonishing. The bottom of
the rocker was literally covered with fine
gold. Again and again they tried, and
with the same result. They were taking
out gold at the rate Of $500 per day.
Some Of the harder Jumps of ore we're
teatsn in hand mortar, and one man
took ont 500 per day.
On tho evening Of the great d scoverv
"Old Pancake" II. p. I. Comstock, Who
had been out on the mountain hunting
his pony and found him, came home by
the mines. His long legs were sweeping
over the tops Of the sagebrush az he
rode mp to where the miners were At
work. whoa he saw tho gold his ewes
bulRed ont with astonishment, and he
at once began negotiating for an inter
est. He said the ground upon which
the miners were working was his, and
the water they we're using was also his.
He had located the lanA-l6O acres--for
a ransh, and the spring from which the
water came he had taken MP for mining
purposes. Whether this was 60 or not.
the miners believed him, and, not wish
ing any trouble, put down Comstock
and his friend, Emanuel Psnrod. for
an equal interest with themselves This
being arranged, Comstock declared thew
should give him 100 feet separate for
tho use Of the water. He said he not
only owned the land, but the water also.
and, as they had already Acknowledged
his right to the land, they could not
work 1t without water, and must Give
him another 100 feet. This vas done.
and the 100 feet thus segregated was the
spanish mike and afterwards sold for
81 100000. ~
C0mstock had some show of RIGHT 70
tie water, as he and Penrod had the
year before bought an old set of sluice
boxes from old Joe Caldwell and the
water from a spring. II was from the
Caldwell springs the water Dame to
work the first discoveries on Gold Hill.
i do not believe Comstock had anv
right to the land. II he had ever takc1
1t up as ranch 1t Was not recorded and
was void. After he had obtained his
interest with O'Riley and Mclaughlin
no Dragged SO mach about his mines
that people began to call them the
Comstock. The original locators were
Peter O'kilcy, Patrick Mclaughlin, II,
Il. !. Comstock. 4. Penrod, ]. A. ken
tuck) Oaborn. These men owned the
land from which moro than $500, O0O, 600
Of gold and silver has been taken. Old
virginia Finney) made 4 location ad-
joining Ophir, and claimed il az the
original lode. Il was very base ore. and
dipped towards Ophir. Finney cold bis
claim for S26. pony and . bottle Of
whisky. The parties who boukhs Il pot
$4,000. John Bishop bought Old Wiz.
Rinta's gravel claims, and through than
got IN on Claim Central No. /. after.
wards part Of tho California. ana worth
millions. Bishop paid 600, pht up "a
arastra and sold ont for el0O6, Thinking
he was making big money. The men %
whom he sold, sold ont for $500 q foot.
thinking they were maxine bio MONEY.
and the same land Afterwards eold for
$4,000 rer foot. John Bishop owned
100 fest, and n still . poor miner. Tho
100 teot segregated By O'Railly AID No
LauRhlin TO Penrod and Oomstock they
sold 70 James Walsh and Gabriel Hai.
damaydo.
Many stories have BEEN told u thu
amounts aid for these r:ch olaims, bSs
! have the deeds before me and oan -
all disPoteo % rest. The ara deed Il
dated Augost ID 1858, and d from ON
stock TO James Walsh. Il reads:
For and IN consideration Of 500 10
T. - . y