The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-09-09
THE RUINS OF GALENA.
Pro spectors All Gone, Leaving traces
of Their. search for Gold.
Snohomish Independent.

of Their search for Gold.
Snohomish Independent.
A wreck, a ruin a skeleton Such is Ca
lena Two prospectors, who AFTER iour
years returned 10 the town oewidered,
HELPLESS, asked: where's Galena
Where's the life. the vigor, the gold OF
'9l?r The mountain beavers, perched on
the overlooking rock lodges, screened cut
a quaint answer. The Skykomish shies
abruptly to the south. afraid. Silver creek
rushes past like a frightened child, ana
hides, shrinking further away, in the river.
And the frs and the hemlocks sigh
mournfully. Galena sleeps soundly, or
else is dead one, three, four, slX, seven
houses-rough shake structures all
one. overcome by the last snow, STANDS
hideous wreck of crushed roof and leaning
walls The hotel is just such caravan
sary as one would expect in such region.
Though rough, it is warm and homelike,
and two-storied. Opposite is the assayer's
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. nowhere, in the
years gone by, men were told their ior-
tunes. Heaped in one corner are the re-
suits Of a seasons work OF many feVered
prcspectors, who dug and delved and pack
ed into town their rock for assay. And
it's there yet-worthless as the slate lodges
outcropping everywhere. But the miners
have gone, and with them Galena OF that
time.
Time was when the trail from Index
was nearly, II not quite. as crazy as the
balance of the old Cady trail from Ga
lena on up TO the north fork. One would
have known it was prospector's path,
skrting the base of the cliff, with the
river raging within a foot, then deliberate
ly taking the steep slope of tree-grown
landslide. until 1t capped the ridge for
another down-hill stage. Six miles rs the
pigeons fly is the distance from Index TO
Galena. yet that old trail made Il thirteen
weary mountain miles which, after a
days climb. are geographical miles quad
rupled. But when "cclor" was found
along tho glacier born silver creek; when
was effected Galena's evolution from a
Typographical nonenity into a mining
camp of considerable Importance traffic
demanded a highway suitable at least for
pack animals, Of a width and grade adj
hitting of future Transformation into a
wagon road Thus was the trail born.
and n right good trail it is. too, Of nine
miles length (mountain niles and with
out sleeper than vertical grades
Tales of the town? They are as num-
erous as inhabitants are scarce. The
mining town Of 81 was the scene of many
Httle comedies and more tragedies. Two
years of boom has left us a memory Of
nen-tender set-who came up TO die a
fortune with pr0speotoF's nick and ieft
behind an unsightly hole in some inacces-
Sible place up the mountain side OF rec
ord is the memory Of Roberts TasalIe.
preacher" Thurston, Scott, Howard and
the other moulders Of Caicra's destiny.
who. for the most part came saw and
were conquered. Frank Farrah. who dar-
ed everything. edited composed. printed
ana distributed the Inter-Cascade Miner.
Of which is left a torn. stained copv Of
date February 3. 1891, in which editoriallv
was damned Galena. Silver Creek Skvlxo
mish. Troublesome, Sultan. and the damns
even extended as far as Monte Crfsto
while anathemas We're breathed against
every mine and miner IN every dietrict
both sides OF the other side Of this world
and ell the other worlds. II rni,st
have been cruelty hard to issue a naroy
every week where the frewood was COW
cred by twenty-five feet of snow. and the
INK freeze TO the hardness of anthracite
coal IT must have been difficult 10 write
merry editorials with the mercury out Of
SIGHT IN the thermometer II must have
been far from easy 10 get news. when
noic1hoTs tHnueled 10 each ofhere' homo,
gossiped together and swore ensemble
Tales Of the town. What r,}rire, cs,,,,
81 anY pretenstone % The naDro buf has IN
endless number? Tales - failure. which il
tragedy. tales Of suc~c~s v-hScN - coy,
edv; tales of both which IS -oolo.d7ar,.,
Men came: some struck II rich. o+ha~s "a
some id both, struck n rich thor, eea
over the Invisible line Ra1ph Horn utas
ore such. Listen TO tho tele told as the
rudy campfire painted the vrant faces
~ aWet listeners. I'D whore tho ~rov- taste
~ March and the summer comes in u,l,b
July. az WIN
THE impatient cry of the Trot,blesoroe
was heard al dav long through tba ra--
row canyon. where tho old. lnoes-trir,r,e,,
lfN'" bowed 70 meet one another. and left
for the eyes comic an occasional 49,
glimpse % blue. Il was. ono ro,lI So ~,
Old. old canyon. even as tho mountains
round about were 81 a wora-cue age No.
had the water worn into tre root -ro,r.- =.
and deep, and the swift rush ~ tro arr-r,.
ater through tho grooves could 30 heard
from the peaktope n rr..f b.1f -
nearer the sky. There was no trail then
along the Troublesome. not even n bI7zad
ine 'rom its month 20 the basin Year
after year avalanches o. snow had oiled
the canyon deep with fallen trees. through
Whlch Il we're next 10 impossible - trace
pain RALPH Horn had made Il through
when he went up. fresh from the conuar-
auVely easy grades OF the Cady trail But
after three months prospecting IN aI7,ne-
the headwaters on half ratf0ns Of roeae
and fapiscSs. he found IL different cornf,r,
down. after thirty consecutive hours ~
hard climbing ne storped-00t IA -rart
but 10 die for all the fight was out ~
him. Just whore the waters hai. -
gather force for q fierce plunge through
tae Cedar gorge the bank was sior,fna,
green, and the shade was grateful. RaIph
staggered and fell. He lit his last match
81 smoke nfs iaet pi8eftl Of tohareo al
fell 20 seeing ana hearing things not OF
tGis earth Away back up the mountain
vas his pack and precious barf8l OF
sample ore. II was late IN the se9eo7
and the last biueberry had dropped from
the stunted shrub. Ralph was hungry.
and there was nothing 10 eat He hea
no strength, and civilization vas ter
miles away. Wherefore ne lay down 10
Gle. The creek sans the same old song