Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-10-30
ROMANCE OF A LOST MINE.
Pathetic story ola Daring ProSpectOr's
Ill Luck i'm Colorado.

'' ''"', VI" Ddrlhg frOSpeCt0r'S
Ill Luck in Colorado.
In the early cos Amos Albright
came to Colorado to seek his fortune.
leaving his wife and children ON an
illinois farm, says the Denver Field
and Farm. His health began to fail.
too, after his arrival in Colorado. and
10 make matters worse there came dis
tresslng news from home, for to make
the journey to the gold fields he had
borrowed money from a rich neighbor,
IN former days an unsuccessful suitor
for his wife's hand, and the wife wrote
that their creditor now threatened IN
toreclose the loan and drive her and
her children from their home. The
news made Albright desperate. He
sold portion of his scanty belongings
IN Denver, exchanged money for pro-
visions, and set out alone for the moun.
talns' He was sick unto death, but
desperation nerved him on.
He reached the mountains. turned
from the trail and began prospecting
on unbroken ground, but day after day
disappointment alone attended his eff.
lorts' In fortnight his provisions
were gone, and he now saw that only
starvation or retreat lay before him.
One weary day at sundowu found him
sitting on heap Of drift at the base of
great rock. He was fearully hungry.
and WEAKNESS and the cold winds of
the mountains bitterly oppressed him.
Then came discovery such as is sell
dom heard outside the pages of old 70.
nance. What was it that he saw in
the rock upon which he was setting?
Gold. The vein was as broad as his
hand in the middle, and dwindled
away in Il wavering line a yard in
length.
Albright sprang up and set to work
with feverish energy and the unim-
pared strength of giant. 1t was a
bright moonlight night, and he labored
without pause until sunrise. When
morning came he had mined more ore
than he could carry away with him.
He saw clearly that the vein he had
discovered was a true one, and prob
ably extended great distance. Within
his grasp lay fortune of millions. He
made careful reckoning of his bear.
ings, staked his claim, concealed all
traces of his labor, and, collecting as
much of the ore as he could carry away
with him, set out for Denver, which he
reached late that night Next morning
he purchased an outfit, an abundance
OF provisions and a mule, and again
set out for his claim. Within a month
he had mined enough gold to load
pack train.
Then hemOrrhage struck him down
and 1t was by miracle that, blind and
staggered, he reached Denver alive.
As soon as he gained sufficient strength
he set out for his home in Illinois AS
yet, though eagerly importuned to do
SO, he had revealed to no one the loca-
tion of his claim. He reached home
only to find that his wife and children
had been driven from their home by
his creditor and to die in his wife's
arms. The money he had taken with
him from Colorado served to recover
the home from which the family had
been diven, but the secret OF the lost
vein died with him. No one of the
hundreds who have since attempted the
search has been able to find it. West.
ern mining history contains no more
pathetic story than that which relates
to Amos Albright and the lost vein.