Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-04-15
A MYSTERY SOLVED.
ONLY A STRAW IN THE PATHWAY
OF THE AVALANCHE.

Loss of the Joe Haines Party-Twenty-thre
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 alonq
the right bank of the Yuba river. over
the Sierra Nevada mountains and down
to Washoe City and Gold Hill, q haul
Of nearly 200 0miles. 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 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 rs 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 Ii 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 i'll the grim Sierras; others
applauded the captains nerve and
wished him good luck Six heavy
horses or mules to wagon, i 4 drivers,
two bosses, two cooks, five men giving
their services free to get out 10 tie Ne
vada mines. Twenty-three men and SO
head of live stock, and the value Of the
goods in the wagons was $4,000.
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
q certain point IS miles short of the
bend in 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 Marysyille aud
never a 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 q
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 Hainos
had safely reached his destination, but
would return no more to Marysville. 1t
was wartime then. and people scarcely
thought Of auRht else but war. In all
other year ali 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 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 mp the northern
slope and uttered an "Ah" of surprise.
Once upon a time the ground below him
had been a valley rich in grass and
flowers.
1t was a narrow, tortuous valley not
over 10 rods wide-a valley connecting
two larger valleys. To the east a 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 III
motion by the rolling over Of stone
which might nothaveweighed hundred
pounds. The discharge OF rifle, the
neigh of a horse, the shout Of man,
even the feet OF bird resting after a
fight, might have caused the avalanche
after long spell of wet weather II
had rushed down into that narrow val
ley to fill it up as dirt fills ditch, 70
bury the green grass and tho tender VIC.
let's %, 90, 80 feet deep The rush, aud
the roar, and the crash must have been
terrific.
The man looked and descended TO tho
trail. To him il was only q 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 thisi He has been absent
less than half an hour, and yet during
that time the waters from a hidden
spring have gushed forth from the hill
5ido aud formed a creek, which Is twist
ing and turning along tho trail The
hunter kneels down 10 drink, aud his
eyes rest upon a rusty gun barrel. As nc
pulls IL out Of tho soil he secs the hoof