Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1895-02-26
DOWN IN A CRATER.
Wonders Witnessed by q Noun
tain Explorer.
IndEan Legends of = Famous Eztincs Vol
eano In the West - Strange Ant.
mails Found In tho Subter-
ranean CRvernS.

tilla Indians great spook depots from
ancient time, says the Baker City Dem
ocrat. Bucks that are now white with
She hoary frosts of many winters rec
"llect hanging in the trees tightly
strapped to their nursing boards. while
their mothers roamed the forests IN
Tcarch of game for the lords OF cren-
ton or wood for the tepee, and from
infancy love to relate how the great
,pirit spoke to them with the awful
?Oice of terrific thunder in the bowels
of the earth. Many are the stories and
legends of Indian lore told of Crater
mountain. One of the favorite ones is
told of q great war between the
ShoshoneS and Umatillas. When the
Umatillas had conquered their foes
hey proceeded to slaughter old and
Jung, regardless of sex. One beauti-
II Shosione maiden, seeing that
'rath was inevitable from her pursu-
'.lg foes, plunged headlong into the
turning crater, and instantly the vol
cslnic eruption ceased, much to the
::nnstcrnation of her pursuers, who on
:hc following day found, on looking
own the schasm of inlSy darkness a
T',picndeEt light with the form of the
'hn>hone anaidcn in the midst of the
pparitian. They told il to their dusky
'6aTriors-and to this day Crater noun
tain is booked upon with reverence
rom an'gndian poi mt of view.
The following is from the diary of j.
y Wright: Crater mountain is located
ONE eleven miles from the Camp of
Gornueopia, on the south side of the
range whose caps are tipped with
eternal snow. Many chaSmS and fis-
iureS have in the misty past cleft the
mountains and left them in the most
fantastic shapes. Vegetation ceases to
grow after Il certain height is reached,
and close under the base of one Of the
gceat peaks is the famous extinct vol
canO- Ashes and lava are found in
great profuSion and in such indeScrib-
able masses that it makes the ascent
one of peril and great difficulty. How
ever, once at the top, Il peek down into
the blank, fathOmlcSS abyss Supplic:, the
most morbid minds with all the scnsa-
tionalism necessary for Il lifetime. A
favorite amusement was to throw rocks
down and listen to the sounds as they
struck on the projecting sides of the
| dark chimney until the sounds died
away, leaving nothing but for the
mystified explorer to guess it had
reached the bottom"
Many have been the stories circu-
lated of the wonderful cavern that ex-
tended from the sides Of the great
chimney. A stout cable was provided
| and a 'basltet swung from Il pulley.
| Hon. .SoSeph, with camera and note
book, was carefully lowered some
! three hundred and scvcnty-cight feet
chen he noticed an aperture in the
side of the chimney, ana, ~ nirn,..
| creed upon, Il halt was called in hi,
| Dwnward career, and he crawlcd
| through a cleft in the great chimney,
and She work Of exploration began.
The first sight that met his astoni>hcd
':aZc was most stupcndous chamber.
rom whose mighty dome hung stalac-
! t;'cs of great beauty, which were en-
! Aanccd by the light of the candle, and
fairly struck terror to his heart, as the
!licllcring candle seemed to possess the
! power of some unseen hand that made
milliOns OF the brilliant stalactitv:
dance in respondent beauty. \ great
snowy owl blinled at the astonishcd
Joseph.
The explorer CROPPED his way TO the
end of the chamber, where he
ITha he Heard the sounds of falling
,cr-~nnr was he mistaken. for
..:rczing himself through an opening
=; found himself in another chamber
t great beauty, with u stream of hot
nlphur water running into the eaG'th
he incrustation from the sulphur
fater had transformed the cavern into
cOral-lilc substance and left it il
:ah fantastic shapes. He found in The
liter some lively little lizards an,
inc frogs that change color on tho
lightcst provocation and two large
rats. who eyed the explorer with n Gu
rioSity that seemed to bodc no good
and he longcd for his little gun.
One of the earliest shipwreclIs re
corded in this country was that of
Dutch vessel on Sandy Hook in 1920
A SMALL horse power engine whic
is said to make forty-two cigarettes