Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-10-20
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
Only A STRAW IN THE PATHWAY
OF THE AVALANCHE.

Loss Of the Joe Haines Party-Twenty-three
Men. Ninety Horses and Mules, WIN |
$4,000 Worth of Goods, Wiped Out on |
the New Route Over the sIountains.
The route was from Marysville along
the right bank Of the Yuba river, over
the Sierra Nevada mountains and down
to Washoe City and Gold Hill, haul
Of nearly 200 miles. Except in the dead
OF winter there were always freighters
going and coming There had been talk
of cutoff route over the mountains-a
route which would save many miles Of
heavy hauling and of unloading and re-
loading the great wagons-but the
freighters still stuck to the old trail.
Every mile of it was rough and rugged,
and many miles Of it dangerous to man
and horse as well as vehicle, but there
might be moro danger in the new route.
In the spring Of 1868 word was sent
out that CAPTAIN Joe Haines was load
ing his ii wagons for the Gold Hill
country and would be the first to try the
cutoff. Some men sagely shook their
heads and recalled the stories of emil
grants lost in the grim Sierras; others
applauded the captains nerve and
wished. him good luck. Six heavy
horses or mules to q wagon, II drivers,
two bosses, two cooks, five men giving
their services free to get ont to the Ne
vada mines Twenty three men and 90
head of live stock, ard the value of the
goods in the wagons was $50, 900.
One spring day the caravan took tho
road. Word came back from it almost
every day until it left the trail leading
up to the pass through which the rail
road track afterward found its way. At
q certain point IS miles short Of the
bend in the trail the caravan turned
sharp to the east to try the cutoff route.
A trapper saw the wagons among the
foothills, and Indian hunters saw them
two days later After that no man saw
them and lived to tell of it. Days and
weeks passed by, and the weeks had run
into months before it came to be gen
orally believed that the Haines outfit
had met with some disaster. That never
a man had returned to Marysville and
never 4 man had reached the eastern
slope meant more than disaster. 1t
meant a terrible tragedy.
One searching party followed the
wagons into the foothills and lost all
trace of them. A second traced them up
one valley and down another, but at
certain point time had obliterated all
further evidences. Winter came, and
they were forgotten. Spring returned,
and the hunters and Indians sent out
reports that the disappearance Of the
outfit was a mystery beyond them. Then
the rurlor gave out that Captain Haines
had safely reached his destination, but
would return no more to Marysville. 1t
was wartime then, and people scarcely
thought of aught else but war. In an
other year all was forgotten, save per-
haps by the shippers who had had no re-
turns and were hoping against hope
Two, three, five, ten years passed
away. Old men died; boys grew to
| manhood. The railroad came, and the
wagons disappeared from the trail. One
summers day hunter who had become
separated from his companions sat
| down ON a rock in the heart of the
mountain range to rest. To the west of
him there was only narrow trail; to
| the east and north there was more room.
As the hunter rested he scanned the
hillsides to the east and north The po-
sition of the powders, the size Of the
trees, the queer CONFORMATION of the
| slopes-a dozen signs gave him'to under
stand, for he was something of a geolo-
gist, that the spot was not as nature
left it. He clanbered up the northern
slope and uttered an "Ah!'' of surprise.
Once upon time the ground below him
had been a valley rich in grass and
flowers.
1t was n marrow, tortuous valley not
over 10 rods wide-a valley connecting
two larger valleys. To the east noun
tain reared its head 8, 600 feet high-a
mountain Of many mountains. Two
thousand feet above him had been the
starting point of a landslip. Millions of
tons of earth and rock had been set in
motion by the rolling over of stone
which might not hundred
pounds. The discharge of a rifle, the
neigh of horse, the shout Of a man,
even the feet of bird resting after q
flight, might have caused the avalanche
after long spell Of wet weather. 1t
had rushed down into that narrow val
ley to fill 1t up as dirt fills a ditch, to
bury the green grass and the tender vio-
lets Is, 90. 80 feet deep. The rush, and
the roar, and the crash must have been
terrific.
The man looked and descended to the
trail. To him it was only a point Of
geology. With his own eyes he had seen
one of the tremendous changes nature is
constantly making in the mountains.
All, what's this? He has been absent
less than half an hour, and yet during
that time the waters from hidden
spring have gushed forth from the hill
side and formed creek, which is twist.
ing and turning along the trail The
hunter kneels down to drink, and his
eyes rest upon a rusty gun barrel As he
pulls it out Of the soil he sees the hooi
of horse with shoe yet firmly hold
ing to it.
Two hours later two men are diupina