Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-12-19


through it he became acquainted with the
blacksmith, and that blacksmith was Andy
NelGrum. At the grade, in turn, as he
''packed'' back the tools, he made many
other friends, among them Gus Dietlen and
Albert Lang, a couple of Germans, who,
having bad luck on farms in Nebraska, had
come West to make their fortunes. They
were working for three or four dollars a
day; fairly comfortable wages, it is true;
but their dreams were of nuggets of gold
and mountains of silver, and into their
ready ears John Robinson poured Turing
tales Of the wonderful Red Mountain coun-
try just over the range; where no trails had
yet penetrated; where scarce a prospect
pole showed it's black head on a mountain
side, but where the precious metals lay
rich, to be had for the taking. Then he re-
peated the stories at the other end Of his
trail while he waited for the blacksmith to
perform the endless sharpening.
The Germans grew wild; they begged
John to lead them to the Eldorado
he described, and, throwing down
their implements of labor, declared
themselves ready to start at an
hours notice. But there came the rub; they
had no means, and Robinson, why, like
every other old prospector, he was always
dead broke. When he got hold of a little
money he tried to see how quickly he could
''blow it init did not take long-and he
had not nickel with which to equip pros
pecting expedition. So, right here, he
played his big trump, he asked Andy Mel
drum to grub-stake the party.
Andy consented. He purchased the side
meat and -four and Robinson and the two
Germans climbed over the steep San Juan
range into the magnificent Red Mountain
valley and that fall located three claims,
the Robinson, named for Johnny, the Gus
tav, for Gus Dietleif, and the Elnora, for
Lang's sweetheart.
There was game in the Red Mountain
country in those days; the explosion Of
dynamite and giant powder had not fright
ened all the wild creatures from
their ancestral haunts, and the deer,
antelope and dangerous bear fur
nished important additions to the log
cabin men. Consequently the hunting ex-
peditions were of no small interest.
Dietleif and Robinson started out one day,
being short of meat. The game was I'M
accountably shy. Up the sides &C gulches,
down precipitous cliffs, along the beds of
the mountain torrents, the hungry COM
pany Travelled, at last getting up to a small
buck Robinson fired but missed; Dietleif
followed with shot that brought the
creature down. He went after the carcass
and returned to find Robinson reclining On
the ground exhausted and i'll. The long.
hard tramp had proved too much for him.
Dietleif waited some little time for his COM
rade's recovery, but he grew worse instead
of better.
YOU'D better go on, Gus" Robinson
SAID, at length; 81 can stay here all night
and the other boys want the meat"
So Dietleif proceeded with his venison
toward the cabin, leaving poor Robinson to
battle alone as best he could. 1t would not
have been the first time that hehad lain
with but the chill mountain air for a cover
ing through all the long, dreary, lonely
night.
But as he lay stretched out, helpless and
suffering the hand that he threw out list
lessly fell on a small fragment of rock. He
lifted it mechanically, with the instinct OF
prospector, and noticed that it was I'M
usually heavy. He broke it on the rocky
bed on which he lay, and then sprang in ex-
element to his feet his illness entirely for
gotten, for that bit of rock was piece OF
solid Galena, rich with silver. He exam
ined the spot where it lay and found it to be
a great mass, ten feet square, like the small
piece he had broken.
ssGod bless my Yankee girl!'' exclaimed
Robinson. s.How she will be pleased when
she hears that have succeeded at last"
And so the mine was chr1stened.
Robinson dragged himself to the cabin,
but scarcely to sleep. The lext morning ne
came back and staked out the claim. When
the NINE was started it was cut, floor,
breast and sides, out of solid Gaiena- 1t was
a paying mine from the grass roots.
The news few. No one could tell how it
went, but it caused at once the greatest ex-
element ever known in Western Colorado.
Men came from East and West, from North
and South, even from Mexico. The tents OF
two or three thousand prospectors were
pitched in the Red Mountain valley. George
Crawford, an agent for Pittsburgh con-
Germ, paid the four lucky owners of the new
find afive-thousand-do dollar bonus and started
East with q UNDERGROUND lump of the
ore. Within thirty days he returned,
paid the price placed on the
property by the discoveries, $1c5, 900, and
the wonderful ssYankee Grip Mine became
the property, virtually, of the Standard Oil
Company. Then each Of the four fortunate
prospectors pocketed his SS1, $50 and went
back East
Dletleif started for Germany to see his
parents. On the ship going over he made
the acquaintance of pretty German frau
lein. When the fatherland was reached the
twain were made one. and Gus sOcn re-