Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-05-05
The board of trade win consider the
matter in a few days and the people will
be asked in some way to give their views
on The matter.
Goi Il in One M1ssonrl.

Oh Iu0 mHtIeT. Y AtN N E
sold in the Missouri.
Twenty years ago to-day whoeye
CHANGED to be in Yankton, could hayt
seen Il number of white canvass tent
erected along the banks of the Missouri
near the present residence of ex-Gov
Faulk. These tents belonged to O party
of explorers or adyentnrers who were JUS
setting out on an expedition to tn.
Black Ellis of western Dakota, a region
then supposed to be rich in gold ani
valuable minerals. Col. Davey, O.
Minnesota, was the leader OF the band
and Byron NJ. Smith. then q citizen o
Yankton, was one of the party, and {
Jealous advocate OF the valuable
natural of the region
which has since won :
world wide fame as one of the leading
gold producing regions of the globe. a
number of experienced gold miners were
of the company, some of whom had wash
ed gold from the sends in California and
Colorado, and while encamped on the
river bank these miners could be daily
observed at work in the gravel
beds that form The river bank zeal the
locality where their tents were pitched,
and it was then reported that they were
washing out flakes of gold from the
grapelly cement which Is. alb.
undant near the waters edge
The party remained in Yapkton several
weeks e~ndeavoring to get permission
from the military authorities up the
river, to go into the Hills, but after
much parleying and negotiating they
were denied the privilege and threatened
with the confscation of ali their effects
and whatever punishment the law i'm.
posed if they attempted it. The deter
mined stand taken by the government,
had the effect to prevent the company
fron making amy further organized ad-
vance, and 1T soon dissolved, its mem
bers scattering, Dayey himself turning
up a few years iiater in Montana. This
incident in the history of Yankton is
not now recalled with any design of
creating an excitement or stimulating
hopes that @ fortune can be made in
digging gold out of the gravelly river
bank at Yankton, but its purpose is to
introduce some corrsboratiye testimony
from an old gold miner who has recent
ly been revislting some old friends at
Ponca, Nebraska. The name of this old
pioneer is Archibald Mckenzie, and he
spent sometime with the Ponca Indians
in this vicinity nearly thrty-fve years
ago. In company with an
old hunter named Lapeer, Mckenzie
undertook a trip from what IS now
Ponca, then an Indian village, along the
Missouri to the mouth of the Niobrara
river. Their. object was to find gold,
and their trip was a prospecting tour.
Concerning the adventure the Ponua
Journal relates the following:
They prospected or iourneyed along
during the day, and at night camped
neag some indian village. Game of all
kinda YES abundant. Near where the
village OF st. James now stands they
saw O greater herd of bGffaloes than MIR.
nj. has since seen during the years he
was in Montana. The Bow valley
which is very wide at ST. James, seemed
to be packed full Of buffaloes as far as
the eye could reach up and down the
valley. At several places in the sands
of the river they tried to find gold. They
occasionally found what they at frat
thought to be gold dust, but which Mr..
Lapeer said, was pyrites of iron. He
said, however, that pyrites of iron was
an indication of gold, and that such
indications were similar to those along
the Sacramento river. at two
places pot far from Ionia, Ia point
on the Missouri about ~thirty-fve miles
below Yanktonl they wero enabled to
dig down in the sand very deep, some
ten or twelve feet, without having their
work drowned out by water. and they
found at that depth what Mr.. Lapeer
pronounced to be gold without mistake.
A small bucksikin bag was partly filed
| with it, ard two or threa years after
wards when MIR. Mackenzie went to Iihi-
cago, he found that it wes, in fact, gold
| OF the finest quality, and he realized from
tho dust he had about $40. The Missouri
is a rapid stream, and itself and iii
its tributaries howfor long distances
through countries which are rich with
gold, and it requires no great stretch OF
limsgihation to see that the resistlees
force OF a great river which pulverizesand
brings down for thousands of miles the
rocks of Montana, might also bring the
more valuable minerals.
Ii one could investigate TO the lowest
strata of sand where the gold by reason
of its weight would naturally gravitate
it would not be surprising If UNTOLD
wealth was found.
Wanted 70 or 50 acres of breaking
done. Call on or address,
W1Inox & Wrnr1AMs-