The herald., 1893-11-20
PECULIAR TALE OF THE DESERT
An Old Miner Tells Some of
His Experiences.
The Strange Finding of a Noted
Desperado's Body.
How Tom Cover, the Riverside Pioneer,
Lost His Life the Sandy
Domain Other Min
ing News

'This prospectin' business is full o
danger and oftentimes DEATH" remarked
an old miner in the Hoilenbeck lobby
last night.
''Desert prospecting has, however,
died out considerably during the last
few years, owing, probably, to the dan
ger attending'it. There's more gold in
that vast field OF sand than the mind
can conceive, but the men who will risk
their lives to penetrate its parched soli-
tude are growing fewer.
"'How many desert trips have 1
madeT Oh, about a dozen, should
think. Let's see; it was in '7S that l
first got the desert prospecting notion
in my head. A party Of four was made
up here in Los Angeles and we struck
out. None of us had evsr traversed the
region before. We had rations enough
to last three or four weeks.
''It was exactly Is DAYS after leaving
that we found we were lost. l suppose
we we're between Ell Compo and Yuma,
near the place where the two Breedloves
of San Diego perished last spring.
That's one OF the most dangerous trails
on the whole desert, and l never went
that way again.
well, we wandered around until we
found the spring near which the Breed
loves died. After four days rest we
gave up the search, found our bearings,
and got back to civilization. That being
my first desert trip, naturally hank
I ntt ttnr ia
desert prospectors had only one object
in view"
''Oh, you were hunting the Peg Leg ?"
Exactly 30. And it was a dreary,
almost hopeless hunt. More than 20
prospectors have been known to perish
in the hunt for Peg Leg Smiths myth
ical mine. But the saddest death--or
dissppearance--was that of Tom Cover,
Riverside pioneer. The remains of
most of those who perished were found,
their bones lying beneath desert cac.
tus, dried and whitened under the fierce
sun.
tom Cover was like the rest OF us.
He got party of prospectors to start on
trip from which he never returned.
He was not G stranger to the snsres and
dangers that beset the desert traveller,
and was a man of indomitable courage.
Well, to cut long story short,
Tom agreed to mset his companion on
the brow OF distant hill. They then
separated. His campanion was W. 3.
Russell, another Riverside pioneer who
has hunted in vain for years for the Peg
Leg. Russell was in charge of the
wagon, and in his attempt to drive to
the meeting place his wagon was over
turned and all the water lost. He drove
back to the spring to secure more water,
but before he could reach the place
where they had agreed to meet darkness
came on and he could go no farther.
Daylight came, but Cover never did.
Many man has gone as he did.
'His relatives and friends searched
many day for trace of the missing
man, but as the years rolled by no dis
covery was ever made even of his re-.
mains. He disappeared just like many
other men before him-went on the
dreary, sandy domain in search OF the
golden nugget, but never returned.
my experience on one of the trips
was far from pleasant-it was peculiarly
romantic. During my visit to the vicn-
ity Of Indio in the winter of 'S6 had a
most unusual experience, one that shall
always remain emblazoned on my
memory, Our party had been among
the bleak mountains go long that our
provisions had given out. 1t had been
three days since we had tasted bread.
and the water gave out the evening be-
fore.
"We moved rapidly in the direction
of Indio in the hopes OF getting some.
thing to eat and save our lives. instead
OF reaching Indio as expected we struck
the line OF the Southern Pacific railway
about midway between Jndio and Sslton.
A more dreary and lonely place 10 never
encountered. We knew that it would
take at leaet hard days travel to reach
lndio, and our suffering became intense.
Night came on and we decided to
camp, for few hours at least. The
cold desert wind was blowing hard end
our faces were sore from the contact
with flying sand. Seeing bunch OF
cacti up the track l started to it in the
hopes OF securing fuel to add to our di-
minished stock of kindlng.
81 had gone but a few steps when l
stumbled across the body of some one.
Startled Well, that's no name for it.
Think drumming unexpectedly across a
dead person at night in such vast soli-
tude. My blood ran cold through nv
veins and yelled for help.
Bob Jefferson, my companion, who
has long since sstaked out his last claim.
ran to me.
9" Here's a dead man, Bob. What
does it mean said I.
"The torch was lowered and it WAS
found the body was that of bov and
that he had been dead at leaet IL hours.
The long cash on the forehead and the
VXTnDT n,cS DArD