The herald., 1894-09-30
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
ONLY A STRAW IN THE PATHWAY
or THE AVALANCHE.

E1en, Ninety I-crscs and Mules. With
$4,000 worth OF Goods, Wiped Ont On
tho New Ecute orer 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 Geld 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 this
freightors 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 tho spring of 1868 word was sent
out that Captain Joe Haines was load
ing his IA wagons for tho 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 luclS. Six heavy
horses or mules to wagon, IA drivers,
two bosses, two cooks, five men giving
their services free TO get olt to tho Ne
vada minos. Twenty threo mon and 30
head of 1.-Two stock, and tho value Of the
goods il SO wagons was $50, 900.
One spring day the caravan took the
road. Word came back from IL almost
every day until it left tho trail leading
up to the pass through which tho rail-
road track afterward found its way. At
q certain point IS miles short of the
bend in tho 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 cano to be gen.
orally believed that the Haines outfit
had met with some disaster. That never
man had returned to Marysville and
never man had reached the eastern
slope meant more than disaster. 1t
meant 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 mystery beyond them. Then
the rumor 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 ought 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 q 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 bowlders, the size Of the
trees, the queer confguration Of the
slopes--a dozen signs gave him to under
stand. for he was something of geolo-
gist, that the spot was not as nature
left it. He clambered up the northern
slope and uttered an "Ah!" of surprise.
Once upon time the ground below him
had been valley rich in grass and
flowers.
1t was narrow, tortuous valley not
over 10 rods wide--a valley connecting
two larger valleys. To the east noun
tain reared its head 1000 feet high-a
mountain Of many mountains. Two
Thousand feet above him had been the
starting point Of landslip. Millions of
tons of earth and rock had been set in
motion by tho rolling over Of stone
which might tnothaveweigheda O hundred
pounds. The discharge Of rifle, the
neigh Of horse, the shout Of man,
even the feet of bird resting after q
flight, might have caused the avalanche
after lcEg spell Of wet weather. 1t
had rushed down into that narrow val
ley to fill it up as dirt fills ditch, to
bury the green grass and the tender vio-
let's Is, go, 80 feet deep. The rush, and
the roar, AID the crash must have been
terrific.
Tho man looked and descended to the
trail To him it was only point Of
geology With his own eyes he had seen
one of the tremendous changes nature is
constantly making in Che mountains.
All, what's this? He has been absent
less than half an hour, and yet during
that timo the waters from hidden
spring have gushed forth from the hill
side and formed q creek, which is twist
ing and turning along the trail. The
hunter kneels down to drink, and his
eyes rest upon rusty gun barrel. AS he
pulls it out Of the soil he secs the hoof
Of horse with shoe yet firmly hold
ing to it.
Two hours later two men are digging
away at the bank on oach side of the
spring. They find the bones Of a horse,
the skeleton of {, man, the ironwork Of
wagon. They solyo the mystery sur
rounding tho fate OF tho long lost Haines
party. Dead. every man and horse
dead since tho night they camped in
that mountain cove and the awful ava
lanche came rushing down to destroy
everything il iss pathl OF what use for