The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-02-29
o. C. Cox, PIunges Knife Into
His Bosom.
HE HAD BEHAVED A TRUST
sold Out His Three Partners in Rich
Mine on the Colville
Reservation.
Spokane. Wash. February 2G

O. c. Cox, an old and well-known
prospector and miner, a pioneer of 40.
who has mined ana prospected in near
ly every new camp on the Pacific coast,
stabbed himself to the heart at North
port about noon yesterday, and at last
accounts was lying at the point of
death.
The opening of the reservation and
its attendant rush for gold was the
primary cause Of the deed, but it Is
believed that remorse over the betrayal
of his partners in a mineral location
on the reservation was the direct cause
of the old mans attempt to take his
life.
A gentleman who came down from
Northport last night, and who saw
Cox just after he had inflicted the
CHASTITY wound, furnishes the follow
ing particulars: Cox had been acting
in peculiar manner several days on
account Of a transaction that had
brought him much disappointment and
sorrow, and which, it is believed, unbal-
anced his mind.
About noon yesterday he went into
a drug store and tried to buy some
strychnine. He was refused, and at
rods distant Two men who were in
the store, suspecting that he contem-
plated suicide, followed him. He at
once plunged into the water, and they
pulled him out and persuaded him to go
back up town.
When they got up town he started off
ahead of his guardians and they fol-
lowed a short distance behind. Press
f1xy hA e.
his pocket and placed the point of it
against his breast under his vest and
Immediately over the heart. Holding
the knife in his left hand, with his right
fist he struck the end of the handle
several times to drive the blade in.
1t penetrated deeply, grazing the heart
and inflicting a CHASTITY wound, and he
fell to the ground.
He was picked up and carried into
saloon near by and a physician was
called. The wound is believed to be
fatal.
1t is stated that Cox was one of four
men who had spotted a valuable ledge
on the reservation about two miles
from Northport and were waiting for
the opening Of the reservation so they
could locate it, They discovered the
ledge five years ago. and during the
intervening years have waited patient
ly for the final word to come that would
announce the opening of the reserva-
ton, and, they believed, make them all
rich.
When it became known that the time
was near at hand when they could
claim their fortune they counted the
days, and it was agreed that the mo-
ment the news was received Cox should
make the location.
His partners We're e. d. Cowen the
well-known newspaper man and poll
tician; Don Crown, who lives on Mr.
Governs ranch three miles from Little
Dalles, and a prospectOr named Dyer.
Grown and Cox had been partners in
mining ventures for years. They had
mined together, prospected together
and borne together the hardships that
come to the life of every searcher for
the hidden treasures Of the earth. All
three of Coxs partners trusted him i'm
plicitly.
few days before the reservation was
to be opened Cox, unknown to his part
ners entered into collision with some
Rossland men, whom he agreed to take
in with him on the claims on which he
and his partners had long been looking
with longing eyes, leaving his partners
out in the cold
This compact was carried out. The
claims were located on the goth inst.
in the name of his new associates. At
their suggestion COX's name was not
mentioned in the location notices, in
order that his partners might be kept
in ignorance of his perfidy. The Ross
land men agreed that they would deed
him his share of the property, and with
this understanding he consented to
have his name left out of the location
notices
But when it came to deciding over to
Cox his share, it is said, there was a
hitch, and Cox was Mortified TO find
that he had in turn heen deceived, and
that his just share OF the property was
not forthcoming. He was powerless to
do anything, for the other men were
in possession of the property and it
was located in their names.
Then he realized that he had not only
sold out his three friends, including his
old-time fellow prospector, Crown, who
trusted him as a brother, but that he
had himself been deprived of a fortune
that he had looked forward to as a
comfort in his declining years. From
that hour he became a changed man.
and his attempt at self-destruction was
not a surprise to those who knew the
circumstances.
The ledge that Cox and his partners
had been waiting so long to secure is
located only about two miles from
Northport, and the campfire Of the To-
Gators can be seen from the town as
it shines forth on the side of the noun
tain. 1t is said that Marcus DAILY has