The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08
STORIES OF SOME LOST MINES.
The white Cement Tradition Two
Generations Ola.
from the San Francisco can.

! ana AuNeA AulOuS OF narratives NAosl VI
them are credi,able to their authors as
monuments OF invention, but there are
others which carry with them an air of
probability and often have stimulated
search in regions where the existence of
gold was not suggested. The mines of the
Yukon were suggested by the circulation
of the frontier story of the Lake of the
! Golden Bar" and it is more than proba-
/ BILE that the site of the famous lost Peg
| Leg mine will be found in the wonderfully
rich Randsburg district of Kern county,
| but recently discovered
! The story Of the lost White Cement mine
has been current among the miners OF TWO
generations. Early in the So a man nam
ed White appeared in HOrsehead gulch
with a large quantity Of specimens of what
seemed to be white clay, in bedded in
which were numberless flakes Of shining
gold A test Of the samples showed free
gold to the value of l,001 q ton. White
was not communicative as 20 the source
from which he had procured his specimens,
and beyond the admissions that the mine
was located in New Mexico, nothing could
be learned of the whereabouts of the find.
Persuasion was quite lost upon the dis
coverer, and the miners came to the con-
clusion to force the information from the
stubborn prOspectOr. White was told that
unless he would consent to guide GER
tain number of miners to the place where
the gold lay violence would be used to COM
pei him to do so. If he would consent it
was agreed that he should have his pick
of the ground and the miners should have
the rest. White agreed. and delegation
of miners, headed by him, set out for the
camp. The way was hard and the trip
exhausting, but all went well until the
third morning of the trip when White
was found to be missing. The adventur-
ers made their way back to Horsehead
gulch, and arrived there after enduring
great distress. Another expedition was
formed consisting of 100 men, and the
search for the mine was continued for
long time, but without success.
Three years afterward White was again
seen in Salt Lake with large quantity
of the same ore that so excited the Cali
fofnia miners. lie reiterated the former
stories of his discovery and his riches
but again vanished from the scene and
never reappeared. The belief, however,
in the White Cement mine is an article of
faith among the miners of Southern Cali
fornia.
No story of lost mines would be com
plete without a reference, at least to the
famous Peg Leg mines, which John G.
Smith claimed to have discovered. In
August, 1871, Smith appeared in Los An
geles with a large amount of gold In
small nuggets, which he claimed to have
eXtricated from a deposit of marvellous
richness shown him by a couple of Pima
Indians. Smith refused to reveal the cx-
act locality of his mine, and told many
contradictory stories regarding it. After
spending all his means in riotous living
he vanished, and about six months after
wards he made like trips, and the com
munity was highly wrought up over the
mysterious origin of all these riches. AT
tempts were made to follow Smith. but
unsuccessfully. Finally he agreed to al
low two friends into the secret and with
them Smith started for his mine Months
elapsed, but the men did not return, and la
ter the dessicated bodies of the two COM
panions were found in the desert Smith
was never heard of again. The new
Randsburg district in Kern county is be-
lieved by many to be the site of the longed
for Peg Leg mine.
In 1852 William Hackett and Robert
Pope arrived in Red Bluff on a prospect
ing tour. The season was well advanced
toward winter and all advised the men to
deter their expedition until spring, but
this excellent counsel was disregarded,
and one day in the early part of Septem-
Der Hackett and Pope, with a couple of
burros, set out for the headwaters of the
McCloud river The Indians in that early
day were troublesome and vindictive. and
resented any invasion of their territory,
but the two friends were undeterred by
thoughts Of danger, and after a months
tramping found themselves on a small
branch of the McCloud, flowing north
easterly down the slope of Great Mount
Shasta. Here a camp was formed and a
hut built, in which it was determined to
remain during the winter.
Wheh all was completed the search for
gold began. Indications were encoura ainp
and slowly their pile of dust increased.
Winter approached and mining ceased To
occupy the long hours and to provide
themselves with fresh meat the men be-
gan to hunt. Game was abundant and one
/ day bear was wounded which fled from
the hunters and night coming on the
chase had to be abandoned. The next
day the trail was discovered and followed
Tor over hve miles into narrow canyon.
Before cave in the rocks the hear law
dead. With the natural instincts of pros.
pectors the two men entered the cave.
| intending to explore it, but their attention
was quickly diverted from that purnosc
by the evidences that they had unwit-
| tingly come upon a formation that 'ndi-
Gated the presence of rich gold-bearing
quartz in amazing quantities After thar
they left the hut and took up their abode
near the cave. All winter was spent i'm
detaching the ore and separating the rich
from the poor. When summer came Pope
loaded the two burros with all they could
carry and FASTENED to Red Bluff. where
/ he SOlQ II lot SZ,UUU.
| He made immediate preparations for n
return, and, accompanied by number OF
miners, started to join his partner. bur
when about twenty miles from his destin-
alton the party came upon the RESTLESS
skeleton of Hackett tied to a burned san
ling, and tortured and mutilated by the
| Indians. The effect UPON Pope or this
awful accident was to destroy his rea-
son. He became violently insane ana
one night he disappeared and was never
seen again. The secret of the Bears Nest
| mine died with him. and 1t has been num-
| bered with the lost. The search for II is
still continued. and some day 1t way he
rediseovered. 1t is a tradition of Shasta
that miners love to dwell upon.
| The distant Yukon region furnishes the
story of the Lake of the Golden Bar
Hamilton Gait, Charles Ulr!ch and Wal
ter Stamford, three prospectors, started
north from Butte, Mont, in August 1884
and continued their Journey for eight
weeks, until the headwaters Of the Yukon
river was reached. Here in a lake they
/ found small island which abounded in
gold. One nugget weighing six pounds
was discovered, and others of less weight
/ in abundance. During the short summer
/ these men estimated they had cached no
/ Ices uvhf