The morning call., 1894-02-03
Worth Hundreds of Thou
sands of Dollars.
1T WAS LOST IN A STREAM.
A Party of PrOspectOrs in the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado Pushed
1t Over a Precipice.

says the Phoenix (Ariz.) correspondent of
the st. Louis Globe Democrat. where they
have been exploring and prospecting for
the past four months. They put In most
Of their time. it seems, toward the lower
end OF the canyon, where the river forms
the boundary between this Territory and
the State of Nevada. They did not sue
ceed in finding the gold deposit they had
hoped for, though they discovered a gil
gantic silver ledge. big enough. so they
say, to have made all their fortunes had
they discovered it ten years ago. AS it is,
with silver in its present low spirits, they
did not even take the trouble to monument
or locate il, feeling confident that its
isolated situation would prevent its being
discovered by any one else. Should
brighter day at leugth dawn for tho white
metal they will know just where to 60 for
a mine.
Among the curious and noteworthy cpl
sodes Of their trip, the story of their en-
counter with huge nugget of gold. as re-
lated by Jim Wagner, is by no means the
least In terssting. Jim says:
we were about twelve miles up stream
from the opening of the canyon, camped
On one OF the high mesas extending north
west from the foot of the mountains that
rim OF the inner canyon, where they fall
| OH I'D perpendicular cliffs, whose elevation
| is 1000 or 1000 feet above the level of the
] river. or course we could not get down
! to the river, for the wall was fully 300
| feet high wnere we were camped, but we
| found spring in one of the deep. lateral
gorges near by, and there being plenty of
| good prospecting ground in the vicinity
| we stopped there several weeks, living
mostly Oh venisOn and bighOrn mutton.
Zone morning all five of US were out OIL
the cliffs, near camp. looking down on the
| river dashing through its bOwlder-strewn
| channel far below us. From where we
stood the water scarcely seemed to be in
motion. and all the sound that reached us
was a soft muTmur, as of some far-off
ocean beach; but we knew from the black
rocks in midstream and the white patches
OF foam constantly forming and vanishing
that the roar and turmoil below must be
deatenlng to the ear. One OF the boys
pushed Dowlder over the edge, and 1t
was grand TO watch its hurfling flight into
the abyss. This started all of US, and i'll
few moments we were scattered all along
the crest, straining and heaving at loose
powders aud yelling like schoolboys as we
launched them into space. Soon | pied
guod-s!Zed one, few feet from the edge,
ut seemed TO be lying loose on the base
rock and should be al easy one to start, as
the surface Of the rock sloped off cOnsid-
IL.
But, strain and tug as l would, l could not
even shake IL. Ii was evidently attached
TO the bed rock on which it appeared to
lie, and, indeed, it was much the same
color. brOwnlsh clayey tint / called the
others to my assistance, and presently
fJur OF US were eXerting our strength in
vain. We did succeed in shaking 1t, and
that was about all. It seems to me now
that, finding 1t so heavy, we should natur-
ally have had our curiosity aroused and
have stopped 80 examine 1t. But the ex-
citement of the sport and our boyish flow
OF spirits at the same time bantshed from
our minds everything except the desire 10
conquer so obdurate specimen of inani-
mate nature.
Finally l ran over to Doc. the geologist
of our party, and borrowed the pole-pick
with which he was pecking about among
the rocks, and. inserting the long-pointed
steel under the refractory bowlder while
the others braced themselves for a mighty
effort. L shouted. Now! We raised il an
inch and blocked it up. Then. taking a
new hold, with another effort we raised it
still higher, until the center of gravity rest
Ing on more rounded portion of its sur
face, it began slowly to revolve down the
three or four feet of slant between it and
the edge, gathering momentum as it rolled.
Just then Doc called out: Hold on.
boys, L want to examine that bowldey';
but we had already thrown ourselves for
III.
for, as its under side came into view, the
scratches and abrasions made bp the tenn
pered steel of the pick glittered bright in
the morning sun, and We knew that the
bVwlder that four strong men could not
move was nugget of solid gold. In our
mad excitement we almost forgot our
perious position on the edge of that beet
ling preclpice as we frantically struggled
with the relentless monster during those
few seconds OF Its start. AT the risk of our
lives we threw ourselves Oh our knees at
the very brink of the gulf, clutching in
despair at the moving mass, with cries of
Stop Ill Stop itl till, topping for a mo-
ment on the dizzy verge. it dropped out of
sight Down on our faces we went. re-
gardless OF the danger, ana clingng there
at the edge, hanging. as il were, in space,
we peered over and saw sight l shall
forgot our regret and rage to wonder and
ADMIRE. Like plummet our bOwlder
dropped for 800 feet, where it struck
steeply sloplng abutment of smooth solid
rock, and, sliding with the speed of a loco
motive to the lower edge. hundred feet
or more, 1t left behind 1t broad, glistening
trail that glittered in the sunbeams a
stream of molten gold. Bounding from
The lower edge of the abutment it received
rotary motion, the side on which it had
slld rejecting the suns rays two or three
times IN second. SO rapid were its revo-
4 Luhohos SuCC6SSIOu Ol
hashes that daZZled our eyes.
railing thus rapidly for 1000 feet it
struck jutting cliff with a report like the
explosion Of dynamite cartridge, and
detaching from it mass OF rock about the
size of an ordinary district schoolhuuse 1t
bounded outward and upward in a beauti-
full curve and dropped like meteor into
the boiling food, but close behind it came
the avalanche of rocks that il had de-
tached ana distanced in its more rapid
flight. and then. for a few moments. the
whole channel was a perfect papdemo-
mum OF splitting waterspouts and heaving
waves, while the angry roar of the waters
echoed and re-schoed along the canyon
walls.
"As we got on to our feet looking sheep
lshy at one another. Doc had just fin
ished rapid calculation on leaf of his
notebook. Gentlemen said he, that
bowlder, as doubtless you, all of you. know
by this time. was nugget of sold gold,
deposited on this bare basaltic plateau dur
ing the glacial period.
Roughly estimating its bulk as one
cubic foot, which you will all agree is. if
anything. an underestimate, l fiud its
value to be. or, rather. to have been, Just
hai NrSh