Omaha daily bee., 1888-03-23
DEATH VALLEY PROSPECTING.
A Report That Robs the Place Of Its
Terrors.

Austin (Nev.)i Reveille: James G..
Court, one of the party of prospectors
who recently returned from a search for
the Breyfogle mine in Death valley,
gave an account of his trip to the Re-
veille, from which the following is con-
densed:
The men carried their camp outfit and
provisions in a four-horse wagon. They
experienced no great difficulty in re-
gard to scarcity of water, but often
found it of poor quality, barely drink
able, Their principal trouble was the
scarcity of feed for their animals. They
were obliged to spend much time in
clearing powders out of the road in
canyons. This detained them in places
where there was no feed and their ami
mails became very thin and weak. If
they had gone out with pack animals
they would have been all right.
In the northern part of Death valley
they found water everywhere by dig
ging three or four feet, but it was hard
and brackish. They were in Death
valley during the cold snap in January,
at the time when the mercury ranged
from twenty to fifty degrees below zero
in Nevada. The men laughed when
told that fears were entertained that
they had been frozen to death. At that
very time they were travelling about in
their shirt sleeves on account of the
heat. Grasshoppers and locusts were
chirping about them, and their only
trouble was to keep cool.
At Lost Wagons, on Salt creek, they
camped on the ground where the unfor-
tunate emigrant party was cast away in
early days. They brought away with
them as relics portions of the old wagons
and utensils left by the lost emigrants.
h., &c, Il tod tl. ;,
salt and bad, but within four or five
miles plenty of good water could have
been obtained by digging two or three
feet.
The mountains in most places are
lava-capped, therefore, water is not to
be found on their SUBMITS, which is a
great drawback to prospecting. Water
must be looked for in the valleys and
below the line Of the lava. The party
went in search of the Breyfogle vein. in
the existence of which they have much
faith. on account of the data furnished
by Grantsvills men who knew Breyfogle
and who went with him to search for his
lost cole vein. The present party says
that owing to the lava the whole coun-
try presents the same appearance.
Wherever they went they were obliged
to set up landmarks in order to find
their way back to camp.
The men say the whole country is full
Of quartz veins. These crop out in the
canyons where channels have been cut
through the lava into the granite, slate
and other country rock. They saw veins
of quartz $50 feet in width. In one of
these was an unknown black metal.
They got good gold prospects in many
places by horning out the dirt along the
quartz veins and brought back many
SAMPLES for ASSAY.
The men will return about the middle
OF this month, and will make this trip
with pack animals. They think they
will this time stand a chance to find the
''jewelry shop" seen by Brcylogle, as
they will take with them from Grape
vine an old Indian who has agreed for
"heap money to show them the mine.
They believe this old Indian assisted at
the ceremony of scalping Breyfogle,
therefore have faith in him. He says:
you catchum me money, me fetchum
you to place"
The boys-the two Courts and McComb
arc now at Grantsville preparing for
the second trip. They will be joined by
Stinniger at Grapevine. They say "A
railroad has been surveyed from Salt
Lake City that will run through Ash
meudows, near Death valley, and they
want to be on the ground before the
surveyors find out too much about the
country. At Furnace creek they found
Al Maynard in charge of the Calema
Borax company. He told them they
were the first party of prospectors he
had seen in year. OF Maynard they
procured some barley and hay for their
exhausted animals.