The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1896-11-26
HIDDEN TREASURES.
A Golden Cavern in the Noun
tains Of Utah.
The Strange story of Convicted wlfe-
Murderer Who Was Executed Mt Salt
Lake City Taking the Secret
with Him.

Many stories are told in the east
about great hidden treasures in the
mountains of the west, In some in
stances those wild remarks are but the
imagination of thoughtless brains,
while in many cases the stories are
true. The west is filled with treasure
vaults whose gold and silver deposits
are numerous, says the Chicago Inter
Ocean, Old Spanish residences, now
going to decay, contain secret rooms
lined with gold and filed with precious
stones and rich jewels. The noun
tains contain dark canyons where
mines of fabulous wealth have lain
dormant for ages. The humblest Sheep
herder or range rider may accidentally
discover the greatest mineral deposit
ever known, and the most timid ex-
plorer may find the treasured wealth
of q French millionaire stored away in
the caverns of the old dwellings,
Utah was once Mexican property,
and its fertile valleys were peopled by
a wealthy class of men. The old cliff
dwellers of the Colorado left most val
uable homes containing gold and silver
bathtubs, vases and ornaments, while
the workings of miners living CEN
tury ago show the vast wealth taken
from the old arastras and sluice boxes.
A strange story of fabulous wealth was
related by Enoch Davis, a wife.mur-
derer recently executed in Salt Lake
City. He found the most wonderful
mines ever seen by man, and exhibited
nuggets Of gold from the sluice boxes
which excited the curiosity of court
officials so that his life was spared for
many months.
About sixty miles from Salt Lake
City is an unexplored section OF the
Utah Indian reservation. No man has
ever penetrated the deep, dark can
yons of this Indian land since the days
of Brigham Young, the well-known
Mormon leader. After the California
gold excitement it is said gentleman
named George Knowles came from the
diggings of the Golden state and set
tied in Utah He agreed with the
president of the Mormon church to
give him his weight in gold for one of
the numerous women of the Young
harem. The proposition was accepted
and Knowles was given six weeks in
which to produce the gold.
Knowles, with son about fourteen
years of age, started from the Mormon
Mecca Monday morning and within
two weeks returned with eighty-five
pounds of gold nuggets Young ac-
cepted the money, but swore his slave
to absolute secrecy as to where the
gold was obtained. At that time the
church people were opposed to the
! opening Of mines, and no man was per-
mitted to prospect in the territory.
The old man Knowles lived and died in
Salt Lake City with visions of wealth
haunting MS deathbed, but he never
returned to the secret mines.
In after years the son determined to
disobey The orders of the church and
seek the gold fields he had seen in his
youth. He was accompanied by Enoch
Davis, the wife murderer. One dark
night in the month of June the pros
pectors dropped down from the high,
sandy mesas into the gold-lined cavern.
Here they found thousands of nuggets
with the mountain waters flowing over
them. Every pocket and knapsack
were filed with the valuable treasures.
When morning dawned they were met
at the summit of The canyon by band
OF Indians. The red men fred and
Knowles dropped dead. Davis feigned
death and fell to the bottom of the
cavern. The Indians could not get
down the bluffs, and the white man
lay there in IN apparent state of death
until nightfall, when he arose, and
after two or three days succeeded in es-
Gaping from the sayages.
When Davis escaped he made his way
to Vcrnal, wild frontier town near
the Indian reservation. In this village
he took up his abode, expecting some
day to be enabled to return to the
fields Of wealth. He married and set
tied down to the duties Of home life
as the village blacksmith. His mind
became troubled, he resorted to drink,
and at last in fit Of jealous despon-
dency killed his wife and buried her in
q potato pit near the house. The crime
was discovered within a day and Davis
was arrested and imprisoned on the
charge OF numbering his wife.
In the prison all the nightmare Of
golden treasures haunted the doomed
prisoner. He drew map of the coun-
try and presented it with the facts to
the court officials as a ransom for his
liberty. Many thousands of dollars
have since been expended in seeking
this famous gnlch, but nothing has
been found. Davis, after repeated
postponements, was finally convicted
and shot without again realizing the
fulfllment of his dreams. The lost
guleh is yet a subject of much thought
and prospectors seek the place as soon
as the winters snow melts from the
/ mountain slopes.