Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-12-11

| the caHnfy Sect
7 Esen IN the ppfsui; Of horticuUare AZ.
Guyer w&s d leader He superintendent
I the constructions OF the main canal
which supplies Riverside with water.
lie YVES further distinguished as the chief
Iintrodncer Of The fag-famed Washington
Tor Riverside Navel orange. Manv hor-
/ ticaltursts Of the State win remember
/ him in this connection
The Cover homestead is worth TODAY
not less than thirty thousand dollars.
The house. square frame, fronting ON
Jurupa avenue, is large and eommodi-
Gus, and furnished with all the eIeoan-
! cies that wealth and good taste might
suggest II is presided over by loving
wife aud two daughters. grown nearly
To womanhood's estate All this Cover
4 left 10 follow his sgnsS tat4us aud perish
miserahly on the desert for the want If
drink of water and crust of bread /!
TRADITIONS OF THE PEG-LEG MINE.
There are many stories extant of the
/ finding of q rich free-gold deposit on the
surface of the ground somewhere in the
Colorado Desert. The exact location of
/ doubt, or it would long ago have been
found, and the truth or falsity of the re-
ports established beyond question.
That these traditions all point TO the
same locality, approximately. there can
be no question; that they are sufficiently
substantiated to command the belief of
some of the Oldest and most discrimina-
1 ting residents of Southern California,
among them experienced miners like
/ Cover, is also certain. As this narrative
will disclose in proper sequence, Cover
was not the only man who conferred his
/ hopes of great fortune upon this lost
mine, and made its rediscovery life
time ambition.
Cover carefully collected these tradi-
tons from widely divergent sources.
treasured them up, and communicated
them to bosom friend. This friend.
considering that the seal of secrecy has
been removed by Covers death, and
that the information can never be of
service to the family of the lost man in
/ further search for the treasure, now
communicates the stories to the writer
as they We're told to.him.
THE PEG-LEG SMITH TRADITION.
In the year 1880 man bearing the So
/ briquet OF Peg-Leg Smith, with party
I of fifty men, left ST. Louis for an extend
ed trapping expedition in the Southwest.
Whether Smith somewhat unique ap-
/ pellation was derived from his possess
sion of a real peg-leg or not, history does
not say. The party Travelled with
| pack-train of mules provided with leath-
er bags in which they were able to carry
weeks supply of water. After pass
ing five years in going to and fro with
varying fortunes, the party struck the
! head OF the Colorado river in 1886
They spent the year in trapping down
that stream as far as the mouth of the
ella, whence they debouched on the
desert TO the northwest The story told
I by members of the party was that. on
the evening of third day out from the
I Colorado, they had eamped, when one of
their number climbed
/ LITTLE HILL or BUTTE
About fifty feet high. He found the
hill covered with loose pieces Of black
rock, intermingled with grains of vel
low metal. The men of the party were
( trappers, not miners, and knew nothing
about ores. 1t did not dawn upon them
that they had found deposit of preci-
/ GUS metal, but they suppose it 20 20
/ copper or something OF the sort. Never
theless their curiosity was sufficiently
\ piqued to induce them 10 gather a num-
Der Of specimens to carry away with
them. The next day they resumed their
journey across the desert. The first set
Element on this side which they reached
was Temeeula, Catholic Indian Mis-
\ sion. One Of the mountains of the San
Jacinto group near remecula still bears
1 the name of Smiths Mountain as a
/ souvenir of the journey. Besides IFS
I captain, of the presumable wooden I'M
derpinning, the only other member of
4 the party whose name has been pre-
served by tradition is one Yount II is
said that a descendant of Younts still
remains, in the person of q grandson
residing at Rincon. Smith and Yount
renamed IN California for many years,
preserving the curious specimens which
they brought with them from the desert.
i When gold was discovered in California
in 1848 their interest in these specimens
was renewed, l. and they caused them to be
! examined by expert mIneralogists. This
investigation proved that the specimens
where charged witt free gold
AN EXPEDITION.
/ In 1850 Peg-Leg Smith organized IN
/ San Francisco an expedition to retrace
/ the footsteps of his trapping party Of
/ fourteen years previous, and re- discover
If possible their chance find of mineral.
The party QUILTED in Los Angeles. On
the way out, and somewhere between
Los Angeles and Smiths Mountain, the
stock of the party was all stolen, with
the exception of Smiths saddle mule
Smith is described at this time as q
crotchety old fellow, and superstitious,
as were most of the frontiersmen and
trappers of his day. He took the loss
of the stock as an augury of i'll luck,
and forthwith saddled his mule and de-
parted for the upper country, leaving
the party TO shift for themselves. Thus
the first expedition of re-discovery fell to
the ground.
AN oPULENT YAQUI.
! When Ex-Governor Downey was oper-
ating Warmers Ranch, in San Diego
county, he had in his employ in the ca
pacity of herder an Indian who went by
the name of "Yaqui,' called so prob
ably from his tribe in Sonora. One
time Yaqui wanted money from his
''patrone'' for the purpose of making
visit 10 Los Angeles. The Governor
knew this meant only prolonged spree,
and moreover work was pressing on
the ranch just then, so be refused to
come down with the funds
'.Buen0," said the Indian, 'pued0
ganarlo. 7enqo bastante - have
plenty. can get it. And he proceeded
to mount an old stock mule over which
he maintained a quasi proprietorship,
and struck out in the direction Of the
desert He was gone three days. Upon
returning he had il his possession q
quantity OF free gold, and il is almost
needless to add that. Immediately ibsre-
after he took his departure for EOS
/ Angeles where he reveled In agnad nie
to his hearts content.
4 Yaqni was very reticent about bis re-
serve fund Of nuggets. and bis ludian
cunning was more than sufficient 70 iaik
every attempt TO find cut its locality.
On several occasions he disappeared
from the ranch. remaining away about
the same length Of tins as at first, and
returned with gold. Once or twice An
attempt was made TO follow him, but he
discovered the trick and went OF IN
| soma baY. S:aaafr1r ~. Ionbted on bsa