Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-09-27
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
ONLY A STRAW IN THE PATHWAY
OF THE AVALANCHE.

toss of the Joe Haines sPArty-rwenty-three |
Men. Ninety Horses and Mules, with
$4,000 Worth Of Goods, Wiped Out on
the New Route Over the Mountains.
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 a 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 1t was rough and rugged,
and many miles of it dangerous to man
and horse as we'll as vehicle, but there
might be more danger in the new route.
In the spring of 1868 word was sent
out that Captain Joe Haines was load
ing his IA 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 emf
grants lost in the grim Sierras; others
applauded the captains nerve and
wished him good luck. Six heavy
horses or mules to wagon, IA drivers,
two bosses, two cooks, five men giving
their services free to get out to the Ne
vada mines. Twenty-three men and 30
head of live stock, and the value of the
goods In the wagons was $50, 000.
One spring day the caravan took the
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
a certain point 18 miles short of the
bend in the trail the caravan turned
sharp 10 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
man had returned to Marysville and
never q 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 a
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 mystery beyond them. Then
the rumor gave out that Captain Haines
had safely reached his destination, but
would return no more to Marysville. II
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 tc
manhood. The railroad came, and the
wagons disappeared from the trail. One
summers day hunter who had become
separated from his companions sa
down on rock in the heart Of thu
mountain range to rest. To the west O.
him there was only narrow trail; tt
the east and north there was more room
As the hunter rested he scanned thu
hillsides to the east and north. The po
sition of the powders, the size of thu
trees, the queer confguration of th'
slopes-a dozen signs gave him to under
stand, for he was something of geolo
gist, that the spot was not as natur,
left it. He clambered up the northern
slope and uttered an "Ahr' Of surprise
Once upon time the ground below hin
had been valley rich in grass ant
flowers.
It was q narrow, tortuous valley no
over 10 rods wide--a valley connectinl
two larger valleys To the east noun
tain reared its head 5000 feet high
mountain Of many mountains. Tw,
thousand feet above him had been tn
starting point of a landslip. Millions 0
' tons Of earth and rock had been set il
. motion by the rolling over of ston
which might nothaveweighed a hundre,
pounds. The discharge of rifle, th
neigh of horse, the shout of a man
even the feet Of bird resting after
flight, might have caused the avalanch
after a long spell of wet weather. ]
r had rushed down into that narrow val
r ley to fill it up as dirt fills ditch, t
bury the green grass and the tender vic
T let's 15, 20, 80 feet deep. The rush, an
: the roar, and the crash must have bee
terrific.
The man looked and descended to tn
:, trail To him it was only point 9
geology. With his own eyes he had see
= one of the tremendous changes nature
:. constantly making in the mountains
: ; Ah, what's this? He has been absen
r less than half an hour, and yet durin
: that time the waters from hidde
= spring have gushed forth from the hill
;, side and formed a creek, which is twist
ing and turning along the trail Th
> hunter kneels down to drink, and hi
eyes rest upon rusty gun barrel. As b
: pulls it out Of the soil he sees the hoe
Of horse with a shoe yet firmly hole
ing to 1t.
Two hours later two men are diggin
d away at the bank on each side Of th
a. spring. They find the bones Of horst
! the skeleton of man, the ironwork {
It wagon. They solve the mystery SUI
l. rounding the fate Of the long lost Haint
n party, Dead, every man and horse
A. dead since the night they camped
10 that mountain cove and the awful av;
D. lanche came rushing down to destrc
& everything in its pathl Of what use fl
,r others to dig2 Men must die, and me
ar must be buried. They were buried {
q deep that trees took root and threw OIL
| - II