The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-09-15
Nv oHosrs.

of woodruff. Stecbeu county, forced
chs cseek through it's hanks an the farm
sasbsided Il wa found that n ledge of rock
I'D been exposed ny the washout. HE
rock contained . substance that yielded
20 thu knife like lead. A quantity OF u
vas dug out Of the stone. IL was very
Aeavy, and melted I'm q ladle readily.
This discovery has revived interest IN
the traditions of Steuben county about
head and silver mines that were KNOWN
onty % the Indians. One of the traditions
located q load mine in what is now the
town believe that the laying hare ny the
Hood Of the ledge with the traces of lead
in Il has given them a clue tai the exact
there q now q probability of the main tls,.
posit ein discovered. Other legends OF
mineral deposits and hidden treasures arr
this u~ncovcring of the alleged lead ore ia
Woodhull. the most interesting OF which
Inn. It's scenes laid IN the town OF ynsp.,r;
~ confidently IA they believed In any
thing that here within the
Of the town a rich silver mine snis,s s
land their descendants, many of them,
believe, il still. This belief is based ON "a
I Ercnch AMI Asp"' I ,ns ns" Mnr ,% %' Quaker
brothers of the name Of Dickinson came
into the Cohocton valley To trade with the
dence of the Indians to such al extent
chat the latter discovered to the Quakcrsa
silver mine, the existence OF which had
mine was somewhere along Bennctts
creek. The brothers. lost mo time in TAX
ing advantage of this discovery. AMI they
exceedingly pure, night and day. The
treasure they took from the mine they
stored i'm n cave, the location OF which
was known only tai themselves, IL being
their intention. according to the legend,
20 have il removed to Philadelphia.
Quaker had another brother in
i'm the woods an old and trusted family
servant, hut not old enough ar trusted
; srsdis;an ~ !" ~6 p, tarsn ,,i mtg ny , In.
Of the willy Quakers. Near the close of
the French and Indian wars "a stranger
Onakers, which was i'm the deepest part of
the Wilderness. He said he Ind stumbled
ON the cabin by accident as ne was fleeing
French army. just where the army was
the legend does not state. The ranEe
begged for food and shelter, which was
Quakers. That nigh after he had re-
tired to the couch of bear skins prepared
for him In one corner OF the cabin, he
overheard the Quakcrs talking about their
treasure, and from what they said
he learned that they to start
their old servant the next morning ON his
way tn Philadelphia with n message tn
their brother there. This message was
20 give the brother minute instructions
as to the location of the cave, so
that he could find il i'm case anything hap
pened 10 the brothers in the wilderness.
This tho~ughtfuluess ON the part of the
kind old Qmakers started the stranger To
thinking q little ON his own account. The
result OF his thinking was "a determination
To kill III two Quakers i'm the morning,
Phiiadeiphiaward. xiii him. and POSSESSES
himself of the important message himself
and all that IL implied. The legend doesn't
grateful French descrter then said his
prayerr and went tai sleep.
"Early next morning the old servant,
garments, bad a fearful adieu tn his
Philadelphia. The Frcnch descrter while
whipped his knife from his boot or solnc-
where. and stabbed them To death. Then
he followed the old servant and at last
overlook him. He buried his knife in the
faithful henchman's back, and without
any explanation rified him of tina message.
The servant died right away. and the
that was To reveal to him the stors.l,osIsc
of untold wealth. suppose, he was
about I'll the hottest est, man mar nat. eyer a ,ivsd
80 inconsidcrate as to write the message
in cipher. The chances are that the
Frrnch ;n just mors than h1pI.sl and md
legend doesn't actually make that dccla-
ration. He was unable to find a key that
and the legend says that years aftcrwari
"a grinning skeleton was found, with it's
bony hands clutching its skull where
there had presumably been hair at one
time. sitting at "a cr.mnbiing table in the
Quaker's cabin, while before. this rem
i~nisccnce of IA man lay u paper. yellow
with age, and inscribed with mysterious
figures. The paper shook itself into inn
palpable dust when il was touched. and
the bones ratified like "A castinet solo as
they fell To the cabin floor. The skeleton
was accepted as that of the French
soldier. and the vanishing paper was the
luakerfs cipher message, of course. The
Frenchman had died while struggling to
solve il. was all the satisfaction
the legend would give the honest settler
when they went To that part of StculH.n
county and the wilderness.
"Now come some incidents connected
with this legendary measure that arc so
recent as to have been contemporary with
people who are living to-day. hut they are
none the less strange. ] don't know them
they do know them tai IN. true. IL they
are, they ARE stranger than any lies l ever
heard; A man named Gregory. Harding
settled i'm the town of Jasper eighty years
ago. He made a clearing there. Al that
time the legend Of the silver mine and the
hidden cave of treasures was u
subject Of daily conversation among thc
scattered settlers. Har1ing ha,in't been
IN the locality long when c had "a dream.
He dreamed that near his cabin there. was
"a leave. the opening of which was covered
by n large Hat stone. upon which was Il