The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-21
ahr Sntelliernfer.
THE GOLDEN TOMB"
An Undertaking. Description Of II California

An shtoftdththH description or n California
Mystcry, Stranger Than Fiction.
Special Correspondence Of the In.eligmor.
Toll l%lousr, CAL, April 13.-It Il
not often told, because few know It; and
when told, is seldom believed, because
It seems as much like fiction. The
Golden Tomb" as they call It, has been
seen by few, because 1t lies remote from
human paths aud ways.
There Ia In the Sierra Nevada noun
tains n region rs large as the State OF
Massachusetts, whcreou the foot of ciyl-
lized man has seldom trodden. In early
wears the indomitable gold hunters
pushed their way into the unnamed
.~ayines and up tho channels Of rivers
white IA snow with white foam, or across
mountains Of broken granite, rising
above The clouds. But the gold hunter
ceased his %wanderings long ago. Ito bus
passed away, and the wilderness and the
rocks that knew him once know him no
mare. la the bitterness OF hia disap.
pointment he passed from tho scene;
"lu since that time tho great desolation
Of rocks anu gorgcs and caves and rivers
far away among the pathless mountains
have known but few human feet. The
dreams OF gold that the miners dreamed,
and tho visions OF wealth that they saw,
failed to mAterialize. And in that vast,
dead, wild region now no voice Is heard,
no campfire Ia seen, all Is silent, save
the eternal dashing OF the waters over
cataracts, and the Ceaseless moaning OF
the winds among the rocks aud through
the COARSE branches OF the trees.
LIKE A MYTH.
Thus 1t Is that the Golden Tomb
seetus like a myth. Far away, Just be-
meath the everything crest OF 1.-The last
summit, ITO travellers feet evcr stand be-
side 1t who does not feel that all the
world is shut out, and he is alone amid
scenes which have been, as they arc
now, siuce the creation OF the world
except that in the years gone by q TRACE
dy was enacted there.
It is no wonder that the place is 80
seldom visited. Some hive the courage
to face the difficulties and the dangers
which must be passed through in reach.
tng that country OF mountains and cliffs.
Even OF those who have the courage,
there are not many who have the phys.
ical endurance necessary for the task.
When the last border OF civilization is
passed, it yet requires five days of toll
and labor to penetrate to the cliffs that
wall around the sources OF the rivers.
II one has the hardihood Tor the un.
dertaking, let him pursue the old In
dian trail leading from Lake Tulare to
Mono Lake, until be cones to the dry
channel Of a river. 1tisdry in summer,
but in winter 1t iB a raging torrent. The
way for fifty miles up this dry channel
leads higher and higher among the
rocks, and into country gloomy aud DIES.
olate. No trace that any human being
was ever there before can DO seen any
where. The bed Of the stream is strewn
with boulders, worn by torrents. Over
them, among them and beneath them
traveller must take his way. Often
Le will be amazed at the depth Of! the
caves and clverns in the bottom OF the
channel-al! dry now-and he will pic.
ture to himself how the water foamed
and poured and whirled through them
the floods Of winter came down.
is no wonder that the rocks are worn
smooth rs glass, and 20 slippery that the
feet a fluid no certainty in them and
hands nothing to grasp.
ptcrIrt,t ~ no rr.c,,