The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-09-12

Oh IL was Tc1S IN duu ruggeU- anu many
miles of it dangerous to man and horse
rs well as vehicle. but there might be
more danger in the new route In the
| spring of 1868 word went out that Capt
Joe Haines was loading his fourteen
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 emigrants
lost in the grim Sierras. others ap-
plauded the captains nerve and wished
him good luck. Six heavy horses or
mules to a wagon-fourteen drivers
two bosses-two cooks-five men giving
their services free to get out to the
Nevada mines. Twenty-three men and
! ninety head of live stock, and the value
Of the goods in the wagon was thirty
thousand dollars.
One spring day the caravan took the
road. Word cane back from it almost
every day until it left the trail leading
up TO the pass through which the
railroad track afterwards found its
way. At certain point eighteen
miles short of the bend in the trail, the
caravan turned sharp TO the east to try
the cutoff route. 4 trapper saw the
wagons among the foot-hills-an IN
| dian hunter 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 generally believed
that the Hsines outfit had met with
some disaster. That never a man had
returned to Marysville, and never a
man had reached the eastern slop Q
meant more than disaster. 1t meant a
| terrible tragedy.
One searching party followed the
wagons into the foot hills 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 re-
turned, and the hunters and Indians
sent out reports that the disappear
ance of the outfit was a mystery be-
yond them. Then rumor gave out
that Capt. Haines had safely reached
his destination, but would return no
more to Marysville. It was war time
then, and people scarcely thought OF
aught else but war. In another year
all was forgotten, save perhaps by the
shippers who had had no returns and
were hoping against hope.
wo-three-fve-ten years passed
| away. Old men died-boys grew to
manhood. The railroad came and the
wagons disappeared from the trail.
One summers day a hunter who had
become separated from his compan-
ions sat down on rock in the heart of
the mountain range to rest. TO the
west of him there was only a 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 position of the powders
the size of the trees-the queer con-
fguration of the slopes-a dozen signs
gave him to understand, for he was
something of geologist, that the spot
was not as nature left it. lie clam
bered up the northern slope and ut
tered an ''Ahr' of surprise. Once upon
time the ground below him had been
valley rich in grass and flowers. 1t
was a narrow, tortuous valley not over
ten rods wide-a valley connecting
two larger valleys. To the east a
mountain reared its head three thou
sand feet high-a mountain of many
mountains Two thousand feet above
him had been the starting point of q
land-Slip Millions Of tons of earth
and rock had been set in motion by the
rolling over of a single stone, which
!. a Il
pounds The discharge of rifie-the
neigh of horse-the shout of man
even the feet of bird resting after a
flight, might have caused the ava
lanche after long spell of wet wealth
err 1t had rushed down into that mar
row valley TO fill it up as dirt fills a
ditch-to bury the green grass and the
tender violets tifteen-twenty-th
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 vet during that time the waters
from hidden spring have gushed
forth from the hillside and formed a
creek which is twisting 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 OK
the soil he sees the hoof of a horse
with shoe vet firmly holding 20 IT.
Two hours later two men are digging
away at the bank on each side of the
spring. They find the bones of horse
the skeleton of a mantle ironwork
of wagon-they solve the mystery
surrounding the fate of the long-lost
Haines party. Dead. every man and
horse - dead since the night they
camped in that mountain cave and the
awful avalanche came rushing down -
destroy everything in its path. OF
what use for others 70 dig? Men must
die and men must be buried. They
were buried so deep that trees took
root and threw out great branches
above them as they slept. Twenty
three MCKINNEY horses and mules
fourteen wagons - $50. 900 worth Of
carro-only a straw in the path of the
avalanche
THE ROMER ISLAND.
F-o-- The N-ev, yo-, 81,