Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-09-17
\ MYSTERY SOLVED.
ONLY A STRAW IN THE PATHWAY
 OF THE AVALANCHE.

Men, Ninety Horses and Mules, With
 s3O,OOo Worth of Goods, Wiped Out on
 the New Route Over the Mountains.
 The route was from Marysville along the right bank of the Tuba 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 froighters 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 more danger i'll the new route
 h the spring of 1863 word was sent out that Captain Joe Haines was load ing his It 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 8 wagon, 1 4 drivers two bosses, two cooks, five men giving their services free to get ont to the Ne yada mines. Twenty three men and 90 head of live stock, and the value of the goods in the wagons was $50, GOO.
 One spring day the caravan took the road. Word came back from it almost up to the pass through which the rail road track afterward found its way At a certain point IS miles short of the bend i'll 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 man had reached the eastern slope meant more than disaster. It meant terrible tragedy
 One searching party followed the wagons into the foothills and lost all trace of them. X 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 runlor gave out that Captain Haines had safely reached his destination, bU5 would return no more to Marysville. It 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 a 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 a narrow trail; to i 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, tho 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 elambered up the northern slope and uttered an ''Ahi" of surprise. Once upon time the ground below him had been a valley rich in grass and flowers.
 It was q narrow. tortuous valley not over 10 rods wide-a valley connecting two larger valleys To the east noun tain reared its head 3, 900 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 a stone which might not othayeweigheda hundred pounds. The discharge of rifle, the neigh of horse, the shout of a man, even the feet of n bird resting after @ light, might have caused the avalanche after long spell of wet weather. It had rushed down into that narrow val ley to fill 1t up as dirt fills ditch, to bury the green grass and the tender vio- lets h, 20, 30 feet deep The rush. and the roar, and the crash must have been terrific
 The man looked and descended to the ! trali' To him it was only point q