The Portland daily press., 1894-10-22
THE LOST SILVER VEIN.
How Albright Carried His Secret to the
Grave.
(From The Washington Post. )

The Lost Vein OF Colorado still eludes the
eager prospector. Behind it range the in
cidents of one of the most touching love
stories ever witten. In the early sixties
Amos Albright went to Colorado to seek his
fortue, leaving his wife and children on an
Illinois farm. Ills health began to fail soon
after his arrival in Colorado, and. to make
matters worse, came distressing news from
home, for to make the journey to the gold
fields be had borrowed money from rich
meighbor, in former days an unsuccessful
suitsr for his wite's hand. and the wife
wrote that their creditor now threatened
to foreclose his loan and drive her and her
children from their home. The news made
Albright desperate; he sold portion of his
scanty belongings, exchanged the money
for provisions, and set out alone for the
mountains He was sick unto death. but
desperation nerved him on. He reached
the mountains, turned from tho trail. and
began prospecting on unbroken ground, but
day after day disappointment alone at
tended his efforts. In Il fortnight his pro-
visions were gone,and he now saw that only
starvation or reteat lay before him. One
weary day shutdown found him sitting on a
heap of drift at the base of a great rock.
IAO was loaL1ully huhSiye eldA WSAAAi1Soo
andsthe cold wind OF the mountain bitterly
oppressed him. Then came discovery
such as is seldom heard of outside the pages
of old romance. What was it that he saw
in the rock upon which he was sitting? Sill
yer! Not quartz norsglance, but virgin ore.
The vein WAS as broad as his hand, in the
middle and dwindled away in wavering
lines yard in length.
Al
feyerish energy and the unimpaired
strength of giant. 1t was a bright NOON
light night and he labored without pause
until sunrise. When morning came he had
mined more ore than he could carry away
with him. He saw clearly that the vein
he had dicovered was a true one, and prob
ably extended a great distance. Within
his grasp lay fortune OF millions. He
made a careful reckoning of his bearings,
staked his claim. concealed ali traces Of his
labor, and, collecting as much of he ore as
he could carry away with him. set out for
Denver, which city he reached late that
night. Next morning he purchased IN
F, outfit, an abundance of provisions. and a
mule, and again set out for his claim. With
in a month he had mined enough silver 10
load a train. Moreover, he had traced the
assure 10 its origin IN the hills. and satisfied
hirnseEthat he was the owner Of one of the
richest claims in Colorado. Then a hemor-
rhage str uck him down md il was by 4 III if
ac1esthat, blind and staggering, lie, reached
Denver alive. As soon as he had gained
sufficient strength he set out for his home
in Illinois. AS yet, though eagerly impor-
tuned to do so, he had revealed TO no one
the location of his claim. he reached.
home only to find nat his wife and ch ldren
had been driven from their home ny rs cred
1tor, and to die III his wife arms. liz llosl-
ey ne had brought with him from COLORADO
served TO recover the home from wAilh his
family had been driven. but he secret OF
hundreds who hive since attempted TO
search has been able to ind it. Western
mining history, contains no more pathetic
story than that which relates to Amos AL
bright and the Lost Vein