Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-04
THE PEEP STONE.

John 4. Thompson, the man to whom
the people of the Pacific coast gave the
name of 'SnOw Shoe Thompson" was
born at Upper Tins, Prestijeld. Norway,
April 30, 1921; and died at his ranch in
Diamond valley, at the head of Carson
valley, 30 miles south of Carson City,
Nevada, May -, 1876, after an illness of
but a few days.
Mr.. Thompson was a man Of splendid
physique, standing six feet in his stock
ings, and weighing $50 pounds. His feat
ures were l,IEe but regular and hand
some He h, d the blonde hair and beard,
and fair skin and blue eyes of his Scan
dinavian ancestors; and looked a true de-
sceudant of the sea rowing Northmen of
old. Although he spoke English as well
rs native born American, one would
not have been much surprised to have
heard him break forth IN the old Morse.
Had he lived in the days when his arces-
tors were carrying terror to all the COASTS
OF Europe, he would have been leader,
II not king, among them. On the sea
he would have been what he was in the
mOuntains-a man most adventurous,
fearless and uncOnquerable.
In the early days, before the discovery
Of silver, Snow Shoe Thompson carried
lTOIl NdlllbIlllh " lnt " hN
were at work in the placer diggings on
Gold Canyon, at and about Chinatown
NOW Dayton), and at Johntown, at that
time the mining metropolis Of Nevada
then western Utah. He also carried let
tiers and papers 10 the miners working on
mile Canyon, at the head Of which
Virginia City now stands, He saw the
hole in which Peter O'Reilley and Pat
,I sfr silyar "a
short time before the strike was made,
and was told by them that they were get
ting very fair prosectsh in gold.
In June, 1859 O'Reilley and McLaugh
lin got into a sort OF heavy. blue mater
ial, filled with gold, which they did not
understand They could get nothing out
of it but gold, yet it was so heavy that
they thought it must be the ore OF some
metal Thompson took a sample of this
stuff. wrapped it in a piece Of ordinary
check shirting, and carried 1t TO Placer
willie There he showed il to Professor
W. Frank Stewart, the well known geol-
ogist and mining expert, who was then
editing The Placerville Weekly Observer,
and TO whom Snow Shoe was wont to
bring items Of news from Gold Canyon
and the Plains" even as far east as Salt
Lake City. Mr.. Stewart at once pro-
nounced the "blue stuff to be silver ore,
Of the richest kind. The sample was car
ried to Sacramento and assayed, where 1t
was found 10 be black sulohuret of silver,
and so rich that the assayer could hardly
believe his figures. About the same time
sample of the ore was assayed at
Nevada City, California, with the same
astonishing result. Then at once broke
out n grand excitement over the news of
the wonderful silver discovery that had
been made east OF the Sierras, in
"Washoe." as the Comstock mining re
giOn was then called.
Snow Shoe Thompson always asserted
that to Mrs. L. S. Bowers, better known
as the "Washoe Seeress," on account of
her many predictions in regard TO mining
and other matters, belonged the credit Of
the discovery of the Comtsock. He said
that in 1853, when Mrs. Bowers (then the
widow Cowan) was keeping a boarding
house in JOhntown, she one day said to
him: Thompson, l wish you'd see if you
can't get me a peep stone the next time
you go down to Sacramento
What is q peep stone:" asked Thomp-
son.
1T is ball of glass shaped like an
egg" said Mrs. Bowers, land to be a
good one, it should be perfectly transpar
ent. | have one, but it is old and has be
come cloudy. / want you 20 find me one
that is perfectly clear"
What use do you make Of itf What is
it good fors" asked Thompson.
Il can find out all manner Of things
with it, said the seeress. If anything
is stolen l can find the thief, and the ar
ticle stolen. BY looking into the peep
stone / can see the faces of the dead; and
trace persons that are missing; can see
hidden treasure, and can see rich ore
lying deep in the ground. What | now
want a good peep stone for is TO find
mine that | have seen through my old
one. 1t is the richest mine in the world.
II is at no great distance from here, but
l can't exactly make out its surround
ings."
Speaking OF this, Thompson said: al
promised to try TO find what Mrs. Bow
erS wanted. When l next went down TO
Sacramento, visited all the stores in the
city in search Of peep stone. They
laughed at ME in good many places.
When l told them what a peep stone was
like, and how il was used, some laughed
until tears ran down their cheeks. i had
to laugh myself, yet l was determined to
find a peep stone, If there was such a
thing in the place. / went TO all the
hardware stores, TO the jewelry stores,
and to every store that kept any kind of
glassware. / then thought / might find
what was in search of in some out of
the way little shop. So / went about
everywhere inquiring for a peep stone,
and nearly everywhere was laughed at.
No peep stone was 10 be had in all Sacra-
mentO.
Thompson then went on to say: my
wife, who is an Englishwoman, told me
that she had seen peep stones in England
and in Scotland, when she was girl. /
think Mrs. Bowers brought her old peep
stone from Scotland" Thompson ap-
peared to be a believer in the virtues of
the peep stone. Superstitions of many
kinds prevail in the land of his birth In
the ''sRter," or huts of the mountain
GERS, wild legends Of witches and enchant-
ers, and their doings in the days before
the reign of Olaf /, are still related. Even
to this day some of the peasantry believe,
with the Laplanders, that certain witches
keep the wind tied up in leathern bags,
letting it out for good or evil, as may suis
their purposes.
Thompson said Mrs. Bowers was
greatly disappointed when he returned to
Johntown, and told her that in all the
great city of Sacramento no such thing as
peep stone was to be found. No doubt
that city fell many degrees in her good
opinion, when she found that one could
not go there and at once get such an or
dinary and necessary little article as a
peep stone.
Not being able to procure a bright,
new peep stone, Mrs. Bowers fell back
upon the old one. In using it, Thomp-
son said she looked through it endwise.
In this way she asserted that she could
see at a certain point an immense deposit
of ore. Tracing the ore upward she could
see the surface ground; but was not sure
that she saw the rocks, soil and sur
rounding hills distinctly. Some of the
cloudy spots in the peep stone appeared
to fall in the way, and mingle with the
various features of the landscape.
In the spring Of 1859, Thompson went
up to Six mile canyon, to deliver letters
and papers TO the miners at work in the