, 1890-07-10
indian, preferred his money In

/ thS btHh We TetuTnth W
my lodging, where II was arranged
,nht ! could lake q friend into tho
secret with me, and when the snow
na1 entirely disappeared In the
spring the three of us would meet
on the bank Of the Pend d'Oriolle
river and proceed to search for the
pears den In the narrow canyon,
anu, II possible, ascertain by what
means this black qusdruped became
possessed of 80 much wealth.
husote agreed 10 notify me when
the snow was all oil and ii was time
To make the trip.
After his departure, / set to work
10 md friend whom | could enlist
In the scheme, one who was willing
to assume the risk Of aiding In the
killing Of n bear, and the possible
acquiring of untold lucre.
After looking about me for a few
days | finally decided to take my
old friend Colonel +. into my con-
hdence, and Induce him 10 make the
trip with me.
Colonel +. had lost heavily by the
great fire, and at the time was out
OF business. When told him OF
what had heard and how little II
would take to investigate the mat ter,
he at first ridiculed the idea and
made sport of the matter by stating
that the best plan would he to buy a
dozen or 80 bears, have them hcrded
IN the canyon, and rs fast as they
became loaded with gold to shear
them, collect the metal and turn
them loose, so they could gather
fresh supply of hair dust, and mug
gets.
Finally, seeing that l was In earn
est, the colonel consented to accom-
pany me ON the "trip when the proper
time came.
These facts occurred, as | stated
before, during the past winter.
Spring finally came and with 1t II
rush Of business.
The colonel was busily engaged In
making turns in real estate, while
was on the road the greater part of
my time visiting the many mining
districts in different parts Of the
country.
Thus matters progressed until
about three weeks aro, when who
should | meet ON Riverside avenue
but my friend, the dusky kusote.
io appeared to be in the very best
Of spirits, and Informed mo that
there had been "hy-iu snow" in the
canyon until recently, which nc-
counted for him not reporting sooner.
He exhibited another sample OF
the clay plentifully spotted with
gold, and stated that he was ready
and willing 10 guide myself aud
friend to the spot where 1t came
from.
That afternoon Colonel f., the
Indian and myself had confer
ence. The Indian narrated the
facts as given above about the hear
and the gold, which finally con.
WINGED the colonel that there was
something In the story, and made
him anxious to 20 at once and in
ves,igate.
We arranged with the Indian to
meet him ut "A certain time about
onc-half mile below the old Hudson
Bay block house, opposite the Calls
pei valley. on the Pend d'Oreille
river.
The following day the colonel and
| began to make preparations for
the trip. We secured two horses
and light wagon, provided our
selves with bedding, provisions,
tools, guns and ammunition, u
twenty-pound box OF giant powder,
caps and fuse, and, IN nct, every
thing necessary for Il hunting and
prospecting "Trip.
Bright and early the following
morning We were on our way. We
dincd, ICl our horses, and had a
good rcst AT Chattcruy at noon, und
when the shades of night began to
fall campcd In the Caiispcl valley.
The next day we cached our wagon,
packed our effects OH the horses and
crossed the river at the place desig-
mated, and found our Indian friend
KinsOte anXiously awaiting us.
We moved bnck from the river II
couple of miles, selected suitable
place, fee from observation, and
pitched permanent camp.
During the evening we smoked
our pipes and laid plans for the NOR
rows campaign.
The sun had scarcely pccped over
the crest Of the cabinet range when
we were up and about. We prepared
and finished our breakfast in snort
order, aud, after selecting what we
wanted for the days tramp rom our
stores, were soon Oh our way toward
the object of our search.
our route led u up "a deep gulch
filed with fallen trees, while the sur
face of the ground was covered with
underground, The colonel being
stout man and not used TO such vio-
lent outdoor exercise, the trip was
very laborious aud tiresonie to him,
but he kept up naniully ant finally
proved himself the equal of anyof ".
BY 10 o'clock we arrived at side
rulch, which Kusote Informed Us
was the one in which he had found
the bear. We followed lis course
for an hour, keeping u sharp lookout
Az ns not to be- taken unnwarcs by
Mr. Bruin or any members of his
family.
In All hour we came to the tree
which our guide had marked during
the winter. We searched around
carefully and We're rewarded 10y find.
ing bear tracks aud numerous pieces
OF clay containing gold. We fol-
lowed fresh tracks UP the hill II Few
rods and came to u narrow opening
leading into the mountain amidst
an immense pile of granite boulders
of all sizes and shapes that had be-
came detached from above by some
convulsion of nature aud rolled down
to this point.