Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-03-30

are unprepared. At least, / know that d
always my experience. l had got tired
or watching out for dry sticks and pick
ing every step, aud | jus. threw nv gun
over my shoulder and tramped along free
ana easy. l hadn't gone tea Yards when
crash went the brush of to one side and
behind me. / wheeled about and brought
my rire down to a ready, and there
within a tCzen yards or go, stood a big
buii e K, looking anything but friendly.
there vas u good sized tree right
anead, and ! aimed straight for il. Theirs
was no time 10 climb or siacken speed. 80
l ran to pass IL on the right side, and iuy.
rs ! got there embraced the trunk with
my LETT arm, and SWING behind it. THIS.
pull went laundering past ihe tree lust az
l swung ont Of his way, but he made a
swipe at me with his horns and caugh.
my left hand against the tree, giving il n
rake that smashed some OF the bones. He
was q vicious old scOundrei, and chased
me ron in the timber for quite q while.
but finally managed TO scramble up "A
rec n get out of his way. He made
TWO or three bluffs at butting ,he iree
DOWN, and | tell you he made 1t shake.
u reckon ii gave him a headache, and
after paving about a while he gave q dis
gnsted snort and trotted away cliekity-
click down the mountain.
Now, consider myself about ms goott
an average shot as the next man, but I'm
q ghost II didn't miss that elk as clear
as a whistle with the best Remington 4
ever handled. never took much steek
III magazine rides, but | changed my
mind right then and there. When that
Old butt snorted and came for me | would
have given my horse for u Winchester.
Not having one, / remembered that "a
Kind Providence had had the foresight to
provide me with a pair Of legs. and i
made good use OF 'em. The timber was
my hope, and | made for ii on a keen
Jump, with the elk u good second in the
race. Ii II had been tive yards farther
you'd never have heard this story.
II had a hald time with my hand. and,
being practically disabled. | concluded
to get ou OF the mountains. and pushed
along the western end OF the range. n
was on that part of the trip that | struck
1t rich. Getting caught in Il storm i'm IA
very rugged canon, l hunted about under
a nigh ledge fo- a place OF shelter, and
found the opening Of Is small cave be
a clump of thick brush. crawled
in and started a bit of a fire to make
some tea, and when the fire blazei UP I
saw some bones .ying on the floor Of the
They We're human bones, and by
the shape of the skulls | judged hat they
were the skeletons Of white men. The
remains were scattered about, as though
animals had fed upon the carcasses. The
bones were nearly destroyed by the ac-
ton OF the elements. and they crumblcd
easily when | handled them, show mg
that they had been there u great many
years. The cave was not entirely dry. as
a large fissure in the top allowed water
from the mountain side 10 flow through,
and evidently a great deal OF water would
get in there in the winter.
The floor was covered with sand and
dirt varying from "a few inches to two
feet in depth n the skeletons were
about half buried in the silt. There were
no traces Of clothing or weapons, br, ia
poking about in the dirt found "A pick
from which the wooden handle hail
wholly disappeared by decay, and that
made me think that the men had been
miners. l slept in the cave that night and
the next morning | made a more careful
examination, cutting away the brush in
front Of the opening SO as 10 let aylight
in.
Thinking / might find in the debris
something that would give a clue 10 the
identity OF the men, | began digging il mp
and pretty 500 ! came pon "a piece of
gold as big as "A pea. That Whole day l
spent in carrying the dirt down from the.
cave To the stream in The canon and wash
ing IL out, and | PANIED out nearly ten
ounces % coarse gold. 1t al came from ens.
part Of the cave floor near one OF the
skeletons, and as there was not even IA
color in the dirt from other parts ] con
cluded that one of the men must have
had the gold about him when he died and
that his bells or bnCkskin bag had rotted
away and let the gold fail into tue dirt-
This satisfied mt that the three occu
pants of the cave had been prospectoTs ot
early days, probably the frs. white men
to penetrate this region. How they died
cant say, but perhaps they were sur
prised by Indians and killed for their
weapons and outfit. One OF the skulls.
was broken, possibly by q Ratchet. Judg
ing from Ill the appearances, is must have,
been a quarter Of a century or more ago
when the men were killed.
Although my wounded hand panied
me a great deal and was almost useless, 1
determined 10 find where those miners
got their gold if possible, and the next
day took my pan and pick and tried the
creek. AT "A bend in the creek close by
was a gravel bar, and when / tackled
that | washed ont rs cents to the pan.
DO you know what 75 rents q pan means
TO a minerl 1t meaus just about 800 IA
day, and that's good enough for me now
adays.
Il was in no condition TO work the
claim, md, besides, my grub was nearly
gone; 50 ! had TO mosey out Of that, and
in a few days / got around the noun
tains and down 10 Scottsourg, From
there | went Up the Umpqua river and
back 10 Drain, and then came down 10
Yreka TO have my hand fixed up. In
wasn't a very good job, as you see, and
l suppose I've got 10 have something
done down here to straigaten out The
bones.
Next spring ! Am going into the UDp-
qua mountains again with a man frosn
Siskiyou, who has agreed to furnish,
horses and grub enough 10 make an alb
summer trip, and we will pack ont u
pretty good wad of dust from the Skeie>
ton Cave district"
Five Ways 70 stop a Cold
I. Battle the feet in hot water ara
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