Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-12-29


silver IL very proftably mined. Did
/ you ever hear the atoiy Of the lost
silver miner
Never" said the reporter.
"Well, II Is good enough to print, "
| said Mr.. Leopold. "It is current
tradition at Ontonagou, Hancock,
| Houghton, and especially Duluth, and
while you can bear II y good many
ways. have looked intoit very often,
and believe you viii ilud this about
the truth Of II. About sixty years ago
all OF the country north OF Duluth was
a wilderness. There were q few Hud-
son Bay cOmpany's posts scattered
about the lakes and rivers
up there. and the rest OF that part OF
BrIheh America was the home Of
rowing Indians and nobody else. The
story was current then that somewhere
doen along the northern shore Of the
lake there was mine where virgin
silver waa to be found IN Jumps One
day party Of Indians-this IL the
cold truth, which you can find on rec
ord In books printed years ago-one
day party Of Indians came into port
on Lake Winnipeg to trade, but In
stead OF furs they had solid ingots OF
silver Every one OF the party was
provided with bricks worth hundreds
OF dollars. You may believe this
caused sensation. IL proved that
the rumors current so long had
some foundation. The Indians
were strangers Mt the post. They
belonged To different tribe from any
ever seen there before, and they point
ed out, vaguely, In sOutheaaterly di-
rection, when asked whence they had
come. or course they had the usual
car0uae, aud at last they loaded up
with guns, calicoes. beads and whisky
and started for home. Two French
men who We're at the post tracked them
across the wilderness, shadOwing them
like pair Of detectives and afterabout
one hundred miles further than from
st. Louis 10 Chicago--thro ugh incred-
IDLE hardships aud sutierings- they at
last tracked them 10 earth. According
to the story, the home of these Indians
was In the range OF hills between
Crooked lake and Superior, south OF
Pigeon river, In what is now the state
of Minnesota They did more than
this, they found the Indian mine, and
its wealth was beyond all the stories
told Of IL. Ina gTottO of rotten rock
the virgin silver was 10 be seen veining
the sides in every direction. The two
men marked down the position OF the
mine as closely as could be, taking
number Of landmarks, so that there
could be no mistake. The mine stood
at the head OF a long serpentine ravine
which trended southeast. Then they
loaded up with all the Bilverthey could
carry and started back. All this time
the Indians knew nothing of their
visits Well, they toiled along for
days and days, borne down by the
weight OF metal, and at last one Of
them sickened and died on the road.
Winter was coming on, and the re-
naming explorer struggled onward
after buTying mis- companion, and now
and then stopping aud cscheing some
more silver, until at last he got back to
the post, The work and the exposure
were too much for him, however, and
In couple of days he, too, sick, ned
and died. il gave the most explicit
instructions TO his companions at the
post AZ to how the mine was to be
reached, and you may believe that the
search made the next summer was an
exhaustive one. The body Of the
other explorer was found, as was also
the silver hidden on the road, but the
mine itself was not come upon There
Il an old Canadian that everybody
calls Leon, who Is occasionally To be
seen in Duluth, where he comes to buy
stores, who Ia the son ofOne of the men
that were ut the post when the sur
vivor OF the two first finders got back.
This ION has done nothing all his
life but hunt for that mine. He has
got old papers describing It's location
AS closely as possible, but he has never
found H., although there Ia not raw
Inc IN those hills that he has not exam
intd He will Keep up the hunt until
he dies, OF course, and he may lind il
stranger things have happened
do You believe the story?n
Certainly do, 1t may be oxag-
Cerated, but that the Indiana knew OF
some great silver deposit nobody who
has frequented the north shore has
! any doubt. | suppose that 1000 men
have nc one time or other been at work
! looking for that mine. You can't heir
! believing a story that brings along af
| evidence the aotual ingots of silver
and of these iugots the records are tou
| plain and sure TO leave any dnubt.p
"It seems as though these Indians
would hardly be Satisfied with taking
ono lot OF silver out Of the mine?n
They are not satisfied, There are
hundreds OF stories afioat Of trades
made by the Indians wherein solic
ingots of silver were bartered Off for q
couple Of yards OF calico. Some o.
them, | suppose, are false aud Others
truei but as TO their appearinga at Win.
nipeg with the silver, nobody who
will take record evidence for any faci
can doubt, II is as sure as anything
can be.
Marine Intelligence.