Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-12-30
ON sUxrLowEa BELKER.
ps,s or Him STANDS Back 81 the Mar
In the rivoii Tavern In vsws.
table Form.


lrew York eun.l
ANACONDA. NJ. T., December 20 Back
of the bar In the Tiyoli Tavern here stands
AN enormous suufiower stalk. dry and
tough, with big faded moon OF blossom
at the top.
"That Is old sunnower Belker," said
the landlord last night, in answer TO
question 10y stranger who manifested an
interest In the plant. "Neyer heard OF
old Becker, I presume? Well, did. III
tell sou about him after awhile"
An hour or two later, when things had
ouietcd down some, the landlord drew up
70 the stove and said "Old Belker was
friend OF mine, and l never 90 back on
friend. He was prospector aud MINER
though be never mined much, and for the
ten years preceding 1876 he was ailoyer tue
country from the Missouri river clear
through to the Columbia. II some men had
covered the ground that be did they would
have been rich twenty times over. lie was
IN the Big Horn range before some OF tue
later explorers who claim to have beea there
first were out Of school. and he knew bali
Of the Indians in the West by name. They
never hurt him, nor be them.
"At the time | am speaking about was
10 come end see me every little while. One
dav In the spring OF 1876 he left my place
10 90 10 Virginia City, saying that he would
he back In month or two. He had con-
siderable dust Just then, and besides
leaving some with me, he took good sack
with him. That was the Inst ever saw OF
him. For two or three months ] thought
little about him, but at length, when he had
been gone month over his time began 20
make inquiries about him. Nobody had
seen him. Parties in from Virginia City
said he bad not been there. and began TO
believe that he had gone off In another
direction. At length | was Obliged to
Give no this theory. The summer passed
with no lidings OF Belker. The Indians
were on the war.path that year, but no one
ever heard OF an Indian who would hurt
the old man, and dismissed that thought
as soon as it entered my mind. All that
winter / kept stewing about him, aud in
the spring OF 1873, as soon as could get out.
I made the trip to Virginia, thinking |
might find some trace OF him. Late In the
summer went out again, taking differ.
emf trail, which be sometime frequented,
hut without any better success. Then |
gave him I'D. That fall / came here, and
The eve OF Christmas. 1878, as ] sat here
alone by this here stove, an idea popped
into my mind as quick as flash. That's
where the old man is / said to myself.
sI'll find him II 1t takes leg
"On nv last trip in the summer | had
noticed down on Crazy Woman's Fork a
cluster of sunfowers. with one particularly
biz one in the middle. | was so much i'll
terested in finding old Belker alive that |
never thought much on this point; but as
I sat here thlt night the whole thing came
nm TO me as clear as daylight. Belker was
under the suntlower. and I'll tell you why.
He ALWAYS carried lot Of sunf0wer-seeds
I'm his pocket-why. nobody knew; but It
was rroblbly that which gave him his
name. Everybody called him 'Old sun
flower but / never paid much attention to
the reason for il. didn't wait long after
that i'm getting for the place where had
seen the Sun flowers. II was hopeless
search. but i made 1t In good faith, coming
back with no success. Later on tried 1t
again, and this time found the stalk-tbat
one there behind the Outstanding just as
YOU see il now. All the others had disap'
peared, having been whipped down by the
winds, but this one stood up straight,
strong, and stiff as telegraph-pole, with.
out even crack in 1t. j had expected
to be compelled TO dig up good many
sunflower stalks, but, seeing only one, |
was considerably relieved. dug the earth
away from the roots, and with the shovel
which | had brought | soon exposed
A skeleton with the big sunl)wer's
roots entwined around every bone. twas
old Belker, sure enough, as j could tell by
the teeth, but nothing was left OF him but
the bones. aud they were beginning to
crumble. He had been killed and buried
there i'm about foot OF earth, and the sun
flower seeds in his pocket had sprouted,
showing where he lay. How he was killed
never learned, but shall always believe
that thieves did Vt. though there were some
ace cunts OF the soldiers finding dead man
in that section and bufying him. His gold
was gone. OF course. II il hadn't been for
the seeds in his pocket no one would nave
| known what became OF HIM.
"Well, things didn't so then as they 90
| now, and after thinking the matter Over
| awhile concluded TO leave the old mans
homes there aud bring the sunflOwer, which
was more like him aud handler to Keep
| back with me. So covered up the skeic
| ton, and piled lot Of stones on the place
10 mark the grave. and brought the stalE
home. It's been behind my bar ever since
and it's going to stay there. call 1t 'Olt
Suplower Belker,' because there is heal
OF him in il, and 1t resembles bin, beinl
tough, Up where his bones lie you cal
now see at any time IN the summer as prett.
n match OF slmfowers as Is TO be found ives
Of the Mississippi, and they all started iron
the seed that the old man carried. That
all there is TO that"