Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-30
TIE GUNSIGHT MINES.
THREE MEN FOUND THEM AFTER
CROSSING DEATH VALLEY.

CROSSING DEATH VALLEY.
Their Wagons ..hriveIed and Their
Water Barrels Burst-Almost Perishing
Before the Mountains Were Reached.
! Gold Discovered in Abundance.
There are now in this city three men who
/ have recently crossed and rr,ross'd the
| famous Death valley uf southern California,
/ and who have succe,-Icd in solving u mine
mystery which has bafiled the most daring
and Skillful prospecturS for many years. The
| GunSight placers were looated in -. but were
/ aftcrward lost, and, though repeated attempts
have been made to find them, most Of the
men engaged in the effort have persisted.
About six weeks ago when \. T. JudSOn,
! a d. Spring and Barney Carter announced
that they were going after the Gunsight
trail their friends tried to 'liSsundc them,
and chance acquaintauces laughinGlv bade
them goOd-hv forever. No one ever expected
to see them again. and when they set out
confidently on their mission they were given
up rs dead mon miTht have been. So many
such expeditions had left this and other
towns only to meet death in its most horrible
forms. that this one was regarded as es-
pecially foolhariy.
About week ago the three men returned.
They came in by rail, ragged, emaciated and
feeble. and one of them, Carter. sick abed.
But all were enthusiastic over their achieve
mentS, and each had in his pockets nuggets
to prove his assertion that the Gunsght mine
had been found The story Of their trip
would be Incredible were they not hero as
living witnesses to its truth their bodies
bearing all too plainly the proofs Of the suf.
feringS which they have undergone.
THROUGH DEATH VALLEY.
Knowing that the diScOvercrs Of the Gun
sight mines crossed the Death valley. these
adventures sought, if possible, to make the
same trail Once through the Mojave desert,
they soon came to the dazzling white sandy
plain. where no life can exist Almost at the
first step they were proStratod by the fierce
heat from above and below. Their feet
swelled so that they We're compelled TO rip
open their shoes. and the goggles which they
had prepared were but feeble protection for
their eyes.
The men had two wagons, each drawn by
two horses, and in these vehicles they carried
water in barrels and other supplies. After
an hour or two Of the most painful locomo-
ton. the heat becoming more intolerable al
every step, the party paused a few minutes
for rest and refreShment. The poor beaSt'
fairly grOaned in their agony, and the men
themselves did not dare look at each other
lest they would read in each others eyes the
despair which all knew was settling upon
them. On every hand they beheld the
whitened skeletons Of men, of horses and OF
burros. In some places they found the re-
mains Of what appeared to have been an ex,
pedition-ruined vehicles. with the skeletons
of horses and men lying about. Nulrures
Swooped down upon them with angry cries.
and other birds of prey circled high above
their heads, following them as they pro
greSscd.
When night came they followed the north
star. one man trying TO sleep while the Others
drove At daybrcak there was nothing tc
relieve the eye. All around them was the
gleamCrinS sand; overhead the braSsy sky
and far away the rocky sides Of mountains or
which no vegetable life was ever found
Wearily they pressed on, confident that the
worst was over, but when almost in sight OF
the east range of the AmargoSaS. to which
they were bound, the blazing heat played
:hem a mercilesS prank.
! ne screening winch men ana baStS were
enduring with reasonable fOrtitude was toe
much for the water barrels and their wagons
The wood of which they were made shrank
and -shriveled until they fell to pieces, tirsi
the wagons and then the barrels. All attempts
to keep them together were useless. With the
water gone the party was well nigh IN despair,
but when the wagons, too. fell TO pieces there
was a minute when all recognized the proba
bility that another expedition was TO be added
TO the long list of those which had gone into
that abode of death never to be heard OF
epaip