The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1890-03-20
"A TALE OF LONELY GULCH,
TRUE STORY OF TWO GRAVES IN Til
RockY MOUNTAINS.

90 81 -. -
An Old Prospector Tells of an Afrectine
Separation Between Man and Wife.
"Over the Range" from a Miners Cabin
in North Park.
81 noticed a few weeks ago in your
paper description of lonely graves in
the mountains of Colorado" remarked
gentleman to the writer Monday. cat
the time read it / vas travelling in the
southern portion of the state, and it re-
called to mind two lonely graves that
know of which lie hidden in the recesses
of the mountains in Routt county. Of
course, there is a history attached to
them, and if you have time will spin
the yarn"
Being informed by the scribe that he
always had time to listen to good story,
the gentleman said:
in the year 1879 I was prospecting in
the neighborhood of Hans Peak and the
Rabbit Ear range, and at that time very
little was known of the rich silver veins
which traversed that portion of the state,
There were other prospectors in the coun-
try and the few of us felt elated over the
finding of several leads that contained
gray copper, and we went to work with
will to open the veins up. You have
no idea of the many difficulties that one
has to contend with in a new country
and the privations one has to suffer. But
the excitement attending the life of a
prospector that some day he will strike
it and be recompensed for all his trouble
buoys him up, and he endures all hard
ships and privations with good grace.
The country at that time was well
stocked with game, and we never had
any difficulty in procuring all the fresh
meat that was needed. l had built a
rude cabin at the head of small gulch
and not far from my claims 1t was
lovely spot, with groves of quaking as
pen trees surrounding the cabin, and
about fifty yards from the door stood
two majestic pines that l named the
sentinels.
THE TWO VISITORS.
"One day when l returnd from work
l found two strangers, man and wife,
had taken possession Of my house, and
was little astonishCd at first to see a
woman in that part of the country.
They asked permission to remain there a
few days, and it was readily granted.
/ was indeed glad to see strange faces,
and welcomed them to my humble
abode. From the very first | noticed
that the woman was not strong, and
this aroused my curiosity, as could not
figure out why woman in delicate
health should he in such a wild part of
the country. She had been very pretty
woman once, but consumption, the NAL
ady from which she was suffering, had
robbed her Of most Of her beauty. She
had a sweet temper, that wen for her
friends wherever she went. She was
also perfectly resigned to the inevitable,
and knew that her pilgrimage on earth
was short. But she bore up with the
greatest fOrtitude.
''They had been at the cabin about a
week. and everything about it had been
changed. Alice-thut was the woman's
rame-had r2modeled the place, and all
things showed the touch of Il womans
hand. Well, one evening after supper
We were sitting in front Of the cabin.
Gil 10Y liz lllc O-CtliLltS VI 6t4l CNSA-
ing, when the husband. Alfred, told me
what brought him to that section of
Colorado. HIS story was brief. He
stated that after being married in the
east for two years, his wife had shown
unmistakable signs Of consumption, AMI
the doctors had advised hiln to take her
to California, and, if possible to go across
the plains by wagon, as lie would find
that iourneying that way she would gain
strength. They found a party of emf
grants at a small town in Nebraska, who
were going to the coast and engaged
their passage. For the first week out
Alice gained strength, but one evening
she caught cold and this malady in
creased with awful rapility. When
Laramie City was reached she could go
no farther and the trip had to be aban-
doned. At that town they were adj
vised to go into the mountains, as the
fresh air ladcned with the perfume of
pine was beneficial to consumptives. A
wagon was procured that took them to
North Park, and by easy stages on horse
back they had reached my cabin. 1t
was by the merest chance that they
found it, and l was glad they did.
THE LAST FAREWELL.
GA month passed, the happiest in my
life, bat l saw that gradually Alice was
sinking, and that she would never leave
tie gulch. Her husband noticed the
change and was unconsolable. He ad-
ministered toher every want, which were
not many, and realized what an awful
change it would be when she was taken
from him. One night the end came. She
called me into the little room that l had
partitiOned off for their use, and in a
feeble voice thanked me for all my kind
ness to her, and hoped that when my time
came to cross the mysterious river that
she would meet me in that land where
sorrow is unknown. She told Alfred it
was hard to leave him. but that he must
be strong and bear the -aflliction that a
wise master had in his just wisdom sent
him to carry, and that all things were
done for the best. 1t was a scene the like
Of which I wish never to witness again,
the feeble girl, full Of hope for the future,
bidding good-by to the man she loved,
and the strong, powerful man, bowed
down with GRIEF at the l!lOuSht OIL lOSlllS
her who was the only tie which bound
him TO this world. The end came; with
her head pillowed on the breast of her
protector, her spirit winged its flight to
eternal rest. Underneath one of the pine
trees we laid her, and carved her name
and the date of her death on its trunk.
alfred was broken hearted, and wan
dered about the hills like one lost. He
had no purpose in life, so 1 used to ask
him to do the chores about the place to
engage his mind with something. One
day asked him to go out and kill deer,
as we were out of meat. Whether he
committed suicide or whether the gun
was accidentally discharged shall never
know, but found him the following
day, about two miles from the cabin
with bullet through his brain. The
gun could have been accidentally dis
charged. as found the body in a small
thicket of willows, and while passing
through it, the hammer might have
caught on twig, and SO discharged thu
gun.
II got assistance and carried him t.
the cabin, and he was buried alongside O