Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-10
II
Skeletons and an Abandoned Placer That
Recall an Arizona Tradition.

Recall an Arizona Tradition.
Ever since the days when people in
this country considered all new COM
ers, even the track layers on the rail
road, as tenderfeet, there has been a
tradition among the old inhabitants
about the Bartarnole mines. Three or
four old fellows earned a living for
years by telling strangers about them,
and many a drink has been obtained
by some chap who pretended to know
all about them and the fate of the men
who worked them.
'The Bartarnoles," the ancient Ezra
Bowen used to say, when he could get
q crowd around the barroom stove and
there appeared to be a prospect of a
few drinks ahead. The Bartarnoles,
quartz and placer, were the richest
mines ever found in this country. No
body used to talk about them like they
did of other diggings. The Bartarnole
ore was so mighty nigh solid gold that
we'd figure, not how much gold there'd
be in a ton of quartz, but how much
rock and refuse. 1t was easier"
If anybody in the crowd manifested
a desire to know about the B%artarnoles,
Ezra would observe that it was a long
story, and he didn't know as he could
finish it that evening, but if urged, and
if a little liquor was produced lust at
the right time, he would proceed some
thing like this:
"When the Apaches had this whole
h110Iu oOJ,rf,.- ~, c,,Isoo+;1, a..z.. ~
few spots which lis pioneers held by
sheer valor, some strapping young
men came in here one day and showed
us some nuggets that they'd found up
between the Sierra Colorado and
Sierritas. They were after supplies,
and they were that well heeled with
gold that Shey didn't make any note of
the value of it. If they saw anything
they wanted they bought it and gave
all that anybody wanted to take for
it. They came down here several
times before we found out much about
them, and then they told lis that
they had q gold mine, or a lot of
gold mines that they called the Bar
tarnoles. Some time after that, when
they disappeared, we had a great time
remembering the name. 1t Slipped
every mans memory, and we used to
meet night after night and figure on it.
I'll bet there were over five hundred
names suggested, but we all shouted
No. to every one. Finally, one night
after we'd been asleep awhile, | woke
up, looked around on the boys, and it
came to me.
Boys says I, its the Bartar.
noles!'
"'Bartarnoles she is they all
yelled, and from that day to this I've
been the sole custodian of the name.
"Well, as l was saying, the young
,nen used to come down once in :
while and report progress and lay in
supplies. They didn't raise no liars in
thts country in those days, 1 want yor
to understand. and when they told yor
what they were adding you could de
pend upon it the story was straight
They had found a regular mint. There
were no transportation facilities, anc
the young men said they were Just hiv
ing the stuff, and when they got enough
they would hire a regiment of regu
lars at fifty or a hundred dollars
head, with a little extra bonus to tn.
commissioned officers, to escort then
owe to the coast with it. The Iniun:
were powerful thick in them days, anC
three or four times the B]artarnoler
got a bad scare on, but as near as W,
could make out they got along al
right. One time two of the boys cam,
over here and said they were going tt
start for the coast in about ten DAYS
that they'd got a regiment of soldier
and a lot of wagons, and that whe1
they got all ready to start they would
send a messenger down here to let III
know and escort a few of us out, ant
that if we'd watch the mine when the,
were gone we could have all we coulc
get out of it during their absence.
That struck us as being a pretty nice
thing, and the six of us as was invited
got ready for the excursion. I CUES
W. spent thirty or forty dollars apiece
laying in supplies and things, and whet
the ten days was up we were all read0
and mighty anxious. At first we didn'
worry much because nobody cam
down to escort us up; but after five O
six days had gone by, and nothing
had been heard from the Sierritas
there was a good deal of grumbling
and one or two of the boys began t
swear that the Bartarnoles was a fraud
after we'd waited two or three
weeks and heard nothing, we drank
up Il supplies and went out in search
of the miners. After we got out abou,
fifty miles we ran foul Of q party Of
Apaches, and they drove lis in. W.
didn't get out that far again for g
month, but, though VIC laid low for the
boys for years, they never come.
"Now, what became of them? We've
hunted this whole country through and
SO have others. Prospectors have been
all over the Sierritas, and hundreds OF
men have crossed and re-crossed the
place where those fellers must have
worked, and slid out without finding
any trace of them. Some of our boys
died with the belief that the Bartar-
nolos was a fraud, but l always in
sisted that there was some pretty good
reason why they didn't keep their
agreement with u.s."
Ezra died about a year ago in total
ignorance of the explanation of the
mystery, but profoundly impressed
with tho ho1iof that bo >uo :, ,o.cao