The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-08-07

the old ruins Of miners cabins, low, darl
and lonesome, The roofs Of some hai
fallen in; some had gone down inamas
OF rubbish, while others yet stood II
tolerable condition, furnishing q hom'
for bats, Wasps and scorpions. The Oh
mines looked lonesome, and suggested
scenes that had passed away, The whit
bowlders that had been thrown out
searching for the grains Of gold that wert
hidden under them, lay In great heap
along both banks OF the creek. Though.
Of the numbers OF men who had worked
there month alter month, and lived IN
the rude novels, the ruins Of which ART
yet TO be seen, and who never found the
wealth that was sought for, These minei
never paid well. It Is said that all who
ever came here TO nine went away dis
appointed. Yet the miners were SLOW
10 give II up, They worked here fol
years, seeming to be determined to find
gold whether II was here or not. But II
was never found in any large quantities
-iust enough to allure the miners on
and give them hope, only to disappoinl
them at last. These mines are all de-
serted now and as far as We could sec
along both sides OF the creek, no human
being or human habitation was In sight
but the desolate, white bowlders were
strewn like tombstones above the dead
hopes OF gold hunters OF other years,
now A CREEK cor ITsNAME,
This creek IS called Dinkey. / have
been told how II takes its name. Soon
after the occupation Of California by the
United States troops, the Indians from
this region made a raid on the plains,
The soldiers pursued them into their
mountain Businesses, and came To this
creek where all trail Of the Indians was
lost. While searching up and downthe
bank they came TO a white man sitting
on a log, When they spoke to him he
refused to answer, nor could they get
him to speak, But presently his dog
flew at the soldiers and began barking,
whereupon the man turned TO the dog
and said; "Dlnkey, can't you keep
still?" From that, the creek was
named, but nothing was ever known OF
the man who had acted In such a mys'
FERROUS manner, That was before the
mining days, and perhaps before the
discovery OF gold In California.
We had followed the traces Of the old
road as far as Dinkey creek, but II was
not easy to follow beyond, and we halted
there and began searching for a way To
pass over, Prof., Frederick went down
the stream to see what he could find In
that direction. Failing to return as
soon as We expected him, Mr.. Selby and
Istarted to find what had become Of
him. We separated, went different
ways and lost each other. Inthe mean.
time Prof.. Frederick returned, and when
he failed TO find us, he set off in his
turn to find us, Thus we were badly
mixed, and no one knew where the
others were. During the day l met a
miner who had seen Prof. Frederick
that morning, and | thus was pnt on the
trace OF him, and returned the same day
to our place Of meeting, and there found
the other members OF our party. They
were on the point Of starting out anew
10 look for me, but my coming saved
that trouble, and We found ourselves to-
gethef once more,
The old road that we had been follow
ing the past two days, crossed the creek
aud passed along the mountain side be-
yondi but w0 decided not TO try to take
our cart any further, We unloaded our
provisions, packed them IN sacks, and
concluded to make the horse carry them,
II such q thing was possible.
The horse, which was OF Mexican ma
~tlonality, had been full Of ~ill-nature and
rebellion from the first; but when lie
found that We were going to make q
~pack,animal OF him, his anger knew no
bounds. His name was Old Flammerion,
and he seemed proud OF it.
AN oBsrREpERous MUSTANG.
In the morning We prepared to move
forward. Two Of US held Old Flam-
merton while Mr.. Selby strapped the
bundles 10 his back. It was q long and
tedious process, and not entirely a safe
one; for in spite Of our efforts to hold
the horses head, he bitMr. Selby twice
while the bundles were being tied on.
Nor did It end there. Although the
bundles were securely tied, the horse
kicked them of three times before we
had gone a quarter OF q mile. Then
when we cameto deep creek, and tried
to make the horse cross, he ran back
ward, and Mr.. selby, who was leading
him, wac pulled into the water, and the
bundles were kicked of again, but for.
tunately did not fall into the water. It
looked discouraging, but we had made
up our minds that II was TO be a ''sur.
viyal Of the fttest," and all three OF us
believed more or less in the final tri.
umph OF evolution, and we ~perseyered.
The miner had told me that there was
a way, by following along the face Of the
mountain toward the south, whereby
We might REACH a grove Of seguoia trees,
and we decided To- turn aside from our
journey and visit them. The largest tree
In the world was said 10 be in that
group. During the afternoon we travelled
in that direction, and came to q rugged
creek flowing toward the west. Here
we came upon a camp OF miners at work
in tho bed Of the stream, ~shoveling
gravel aud sand into sluice boxes, and
washing the gold out. IT looked like a
dreary and cold place to be. The miners
stood In the water from daylight till
dark. They toldls that they made three
dollars q day to each man, above ex-
penses. One OF them had been there
six months, but the others had not been
there so long. Thay seemed anxious 10
hear the news from the outside world,
and said that travellers seldom passed
that way.
One mover knows when 10 expect a
camp OF miners in these mountains.
Far removed from all settlements and
miles from any road, one Is liable to find
a group Of solitary gold hunters digging
for the wealth that they dug for In
'"40." We passed the mine and pro.
Ceeded upon our journey through the
woods. The miners looked alter us as
far US they could sec US. Nm.