Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-18
Scipio Craig Thinks the Lost
Mine Is Found.
A Reported Fabulous Find OF
Virgin Gold.
The Redlands Editor Tells Re-
porter All About 1t.
A veritable Mountain OF the Precious
Metal In the Wilderness-An Al
legged Mining Fever in
Existence.

Has the lost Pegleg niue been dis.
covered?
Old miners and prospectors in South
ern California believe there is little or
no doubt that it has, but still they keep
on asking one another this question, for
they looked upon the Pegeg and its
three gold rocks out somewhere on the
Colorado desert as something beyond
human reach. Scipio Craig, proprietor
of the Citrograph Of Redlands, who was
in town Yesterday, says the San Fran
cisco Examiner, says that the mine has
been found.
"From the character of the ore
brought in from the desert to Redlands
every other day for week or two, the
newly found lode is the lost Pegleg," he
said.
1.-THE mines or rocks of gold quartz
cropping out of the earth in big hum
mocks, upon which the venturesome
prospectors stumbled in searching for
the lost Pegleg, are situated on the
desert, about eighty-fiv miles, or there
abouts, in line about southeast from
Redlands and nearly east OF Seven
Palms station, on the Southern Pacific
railroad. The prospecting party, wan
dering over the bald hills, were at.
tracted by q curious-looking hummock
OF rusty, dark-red ore that had every
appearace of iron deposits.
FULL OF CLEAR GOLD,
Zone OF them knocked off a lump to
investigate the strange mineral. The
broken ore glistened all over its newly
exposed surface, which was nearly the
color OF gold. 1t did not require Sec
ond look to see that the rock was fabu-
lously rich in gold, and the rare find ex-
cited the prospectors to hammer off
great chunks of quartz from the rust
tarnished hills. Every lump was i'm
pregnated with pure gold, so rich that
the stories of the mysterious Pegleg
were fully confirmed in what was before
the miners eyes.
''They staked out their claims and
camped there until load of ore was
procured for their two burros, and then
started back to Redlands. When thew
arrived in town mining craze broke
out. They had at least $1,000 worth of
ore on their burros, and told Monte
Cristo tales of their discovery on the
desert.
"Since then hundreds of people have
gone out to the new find and within a
week claims have been staked out for
four or five miles along the ledge. A
mining camp has sprung up upon the
scene like magic and great activity is
seen for miles around it. Every man is
digging or packing ore and hopeful OF
making fortune on his claim, but I've
heard that Jim Mack, prospector, is
the luckiest one among them"
The romance of the gold mountain
found by Pegleg Smith in 1857 was pub
lished in the Examiner on February
2lst, when Thomas Doran and j. X.
Bell, prospectors, left San Francisco to
seek the lost mine.
STORY OF THE PEGLEG.
One of them had risked his life on
former occasion in the daring search,
but whether they are the two men who
made the recent startling discovery and
raised gold fever in the southern town
with their saddle bags OF gold was not
known to Mr.. Craig, who related the
story of the new Ell Dorado.
Pegleg Smith, an old-time trapper,
while plotting party across the desert
from Yuma to Los Angeles in 1857, came
upon the bonanza.
There is a remarkable coincidence in
his discovery and that of the two plucky
prospectors a week or two ago. Pegleg
remarked that the hills were composed
almost entirely of blackish spar forma-
tion which he took for rich copper de-
posit, but which subsequently turned
out to be largely virgin gold. lie fitted
out an expedition to the mine, but the
Indians destroyed his train, leaving only
himself and his mule, which he consid-
cred bad omen. He returned and
never again went back to the mountain
of gold. Other expeditions followed,
but the search cost the prospectors their
lives, and although one mana Yuma
miner-discovered the mine in 1850, he
died in Los Angeles from the hardships
he had endured, and with his death the
location of the Pegleg mine was lost
again.
The reckonings of the last party of
prospectors were laid wholly on stories
men have told. But after years have
rolled by the mystery of the lost Pegleg
mine seems to have been solved at last.