The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-12-26
THE CEMENT NINE.
A PRlLAOEtPHiAN'S EXPERIENCE T.,
SEEKING MYTHICAL GOLD.


q Thousand Ounces to the LONESOME
thing About the Lost Cabin Mine.
Jacob Metz. a lastmaker of this CITY.
is an old time California miner and was
for eleven years d prospector in the
mountains, and he tells a curious story
about the alleged rediscovery Of the
Lost Cabin mine IN South Dakota. lie
says:
There are two mountain myths tina;
have been bOthering tie heads of inagi-
native treasure seekers in the Rockies
since 1855. One is Writes CemcU
mine" ana the other is the Lost Cabin.
In 1865 Kit Carson, James Kinney anG
a half breed BlackfOot come into Fort
Randall, on the Missouri river, with a
bag full Of nuggets and a story of gold
deposits Of incredible richness on Cabin
creek. "a branch of the North fork of
the Cheyenne river just west Of what is
now the Montana boundary line. AS
they were old mountain men, and Car
son having a great reputation as a guide.
everybody went crazy. No white man
was supposed to have been within 500
miles Of the place, and indeed men were
being cut off by Indians within five
miles Of the fort.
Carson and Kinney went on a week
drunk, and SOC gambled away their
gold, but showed no disposition to take
Il party to the new Eidorado. The
United States officers at the fort dis
credited the whole thing, and dissuaded
the crowd from following it up, bu,t
men started out and none returned, and
hundreds tried it from time to time. The
Indians no doubt knew of the existence
Of gold there, and Of course wanted 10
keep the whites out, and they did eff
fectually for thirty years. A thousanG
lives and a mountain of treasure wert
spent in seeking the location in vail,
and it was believed by the old timers I
be fraud from the first. Neither ca.
SOL nor Kinney ever made the attelrn
to seek it again, but both repeated tnc.
original story from time to time.
this is about the truth as to the Lie
Cabin bonanza.
Whites Cement mine is much mo.
remarkable as a narrative. White W
q New Highlander, sixty years old, WI
had come TO California in 1912. As
gold seeker he was known and talkc
about IN every mining camp On the coa@
and stories related Of his phenOmen?
luck. He no doubt made many fortune
but was always poor, and tramped ahJG
with a lean mule and half breed Indi..
boy, getting supplies where he cOui..
[ believe lie was slightly demented, l.,
all looked up to him, and he undoubteG
ly knew moro about the gold region tina.
any man liV iug.
One day in 1853 v hite GANG to Horse
Head gulch from the Sierras, drivinc
his mule and looking utterly used up
He got something TO eat, and tlen too
out Of his pack Il number OF pieces {
what looked like hard white clay gill
tering with speCis CT metal, but he S.;
little and went of to an assaycr, a Ger
man named helyat, and an honest man
Before night 1t was known in camp thu
Whites specimen showed 1900 ounce
Of gold u the ton. In i've minutes ever,
Il wcrt crazy. Nobody slept tia
night, but sat around the fires an
talked cement" IN the morning :
party headed by Senator Sharon
brother called on White, who was sleep
ing III Il Of the "shacks." He wa.
told in n few words that he must piiG.
the men to his find, he should have til
pick Of the claims and help TO work i
but go he must. and on his refusal was
warned that l.is life would not be WORT.
shucks if hc."s1ood of" the camp. Then
be consented.
Every one was wild. was offered
81 eco for my TWO mules and outfit, but
like a fool went with the rest. The trail
led right into the Sierras. The first dav
a race and one-third of the mel
broke down. The Indian leaped ahead
like a wolf and then White followed.
lis long gray hair flying in the wind.
By the end OF the second day we were
III the heart Of the mountain, in a des-
ert where 20 human being had ever |
been before. Half Of the animals Were
lost, and the men were haggard VIII
fatigue and excitement. White was to-
that If lie played false he was a de
man, but he still pointed east. Y
passed good indications that shove,
color, but IL that and Of desolation a,
the god in America world not hay.
walled a lca then.
On the evening Of the third day Whit
said We were near to our j~cGrney's end. |
and by toElOrTow-and then he wave.
his long arms and such a yell went u
from the frenziel men that partly mac
the pine clad mountains shake. Ever |
oAe laT down expecting TO arise a mil |
lonairc, but III the morning White va
gone and lett no trace. About one-ha!l |
OF tie party, after incredible sufferin.,
got back 20 life and civilization, anu
yet, despite our story, 100 mer started
back over Il trail two days after. !
Three years after White -reappeared IL
Salt Lake City with his cement specI-
mems d before Incredibly rich aid again
disappeared, and from that day to tbs
. IS never been heard of, but men still
out their lives IN seeking his los,
f-LHelt Tlsac.
After de,ta years labor III the mire,
| got home with 500 and a heap Of
knowledge that viii last for the rest Ct [!