Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-05

of social pleasures and dissipations of the camp, Campbell and Darnall on Christmas day, 1866, climbed Saxon mountain to hunt mountain sheep. Fol lowing these fearless horned climb CTS, the hunters soon found themselves clinging to the steep sides of the noun tain, about 2000 feet above the camp. Throwing themselves down to regain breath after sharp climb in the rare atmosphere of this high altitude, they, with the intuition that ever seems to possess every man in a mining camp, began to examine the contents of the broken rock slide on which they were resting. Soon they had gathered several pieces of float" that were the finest specimens they had ever seen. They looked, and their weight indicated that they were rich in mineral. The hunters lost all interest in mountain sheep. They gathered several pounds of the rock, and as night was approaching they made all haste down the mountain to the camp. Before they slept that night crude as- say of the float" had proven that it con tained about 5000 per ton of silver.
 Daylight on December 26 1866. found these two hopeful miners making all haste up the steep side of towering Sax on mountain, and before night they had located and staked a claim each on the first great silver mine found in Colorado, the Anglo Saxon." The 1st day of Jan uary, 1867, found these two men owners of one half of the mine and also $150,000 they had received for half interest they had sold. Though in the dead of one of the hardest winters ever known in the mountains, timber was cut and hauled with ropes by mems strong arms down the steep precipices to the mine, cabins built for the miners, provisions carried up to the cabins by men on snow shoes and active operations began. Clingng to the steep face of Saxon mountain, the ca bins could be seen from the valley over 2000 feet below; they looked like toy houses perched upon a seemingly inac- cessible cliff. When the snow disappear ed, about May l. sixty tons of ore await ed the pack animals. A trail was built up to the mine that was a wonder of en- gineering skill, and amid the greatest excitement the rich ore began to arrive in the camp on the backs of sure-footed little burros, each carrying 200 pounds. And by the crude processes of those days each pound of the ore produced dollar of silver. Since that by improved pro- cesses this sixty tons of ore has been worked over twice and has produced an average of more than $3 per pound in silver, or $6000 per ton.
 As suddenly as 1t was found, the ore streak in the Anglo Saxon mine disap- peared. The mine became barren and has never been regained. For over quarter of a century money and skill have sought in vain for the lost mine. In some violent eruption of nature that portion of the mine found by the sheap hunters that Christmas day had been separated from the parent vein and hurl- ed out to the mountain side.
 Campbell and Darnall exempijhed the old saying, Easy come, easy go," spent their money fast, lived high, indulged in the joys on sale In Denver, backed losing mining ventures and became poor almost as suddenly as they were made rich. The last I heard of them Dr. Darnall was practicing medicine In a Kentucky vil- lage and Campbell was editing paper in Central City, Col. in which he was promulgating advice as to how to make mines pay. ..-
 JOHN HENRY MARTIN.