Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-11-19

Leg Smith" mine
Smith, after whom 1t was named, was
California trapper before the discov-
cry Of gold in that state. In the fall of
1885 he Joined a party to hunt on the
banks of the ella river, where fur ami
mails were reported to be very plentl-
ful. Shortly after their arrival Smith
had the misfortune to suffer COM
pound fracture Of one of his legs, the
bone being crushed in such manner
by huge mass Of rock as to render
ineffective the crude knowledge of sur
gerry possessed by his comrades. He is
accredited with amputating his limb
with an old saw and of soaring the
bleeding stump with red-hot ramrod.
Incredible as 1t seems, there are men
who say 1t is fact. They trapped up
the east bank Of the ella river for some
distance before they crossed, but how
Gar up Is, unfortunately, not known.
ghe location Of their ford would be a
key to the lost wealth. After crossing
the river they continued on westward
for the purpose Of exploring the then
unknown desert. The second or third
hight after crossing their pack animals
strayed away from camp and their
half-breed herder, whom they had
brought with them from Santa Fe, took
their trail. He returned late in the af-
ternoon with the animals and his pock
cts full of dull, yellowish metal. He
reported having found the animals Sev-
eral miles to the southwest, feeding
around the base of some small hills,
One Of these he climbed to take OBJ
servations as to the location OF the
camp and found quantity of the met
al along the sides and on the summit.
Gold, 1t must be remembered, had not
yet been discovered in the west and
placer gold was an unknown metal. At
ter trying It with fire and their knives
the trappers, being illiterate, pro-
nounced 1t brass, not knowing that
that metal was a composite. They tried
it in their molds and found that 1t made
excellent bullets. AS their stock Of
lead was running low, they decided to
send detail to the hills the next day
to lay in a supply. This was done and,
according to Peg-Leg, who accompan-
led the detail, "three little dark-red
hills were literally covered with the
metal, some of the chunks being so
large that one man could hardly lift
them" In a short time the detail had
picked up all the metal that could be
conveniently carried without any ap-
parent diminutlon in the supply. The
detail returned to the camp and the
next day was employed in making
large supply of bullets, as there was an
abundance Of Indian signs and the red
skins gave evidence Of becoming trou-
blesome. The day following the party
took up It's line of march along we'll
defined Indian trail, their experience
teaching them that 1t would pass by
some water hole farther on. They had
hardly got we'll under way when they
were attacked by Indians and run
ming fight ensued for the entire day.
But as few of the Indians were armed
with old rifles, the majority having
lances, bows and arrows and clubs, the
trappers had little difficulty in keeping
them off. While passing a high clay
butte along the trail bullet whizzed
by Peg-Leg's head and buried itself in
the sun-baked clay. From curiosity
Peg-Leg dug 1t out with the point Of
his knife and found that it was yellow
metal, similar to those the white men
were shooting. After Marshall's dis
covery of gold Peg-Leg compared that
find with the yellow metal in his pos
session, and then he realized that the
supposed "brass" was virgin gold and
they had been shooting 1t at Indians
At the time of the discovery Of gold in
California Peg-Leg was a confirmed
drunkard and was we'll along in years.
He sold his brass" nuggets and soon
swallowed the proceeds, and then made
several Intellectual attempts to return
alone to the three little dark red
hills" Later he had no difficulty in
organizing expeditions among his ac-
ouaintances who had seen his gold and
heard his story, but he could never re-
turn to the spot. The last time he
fetched up at the river, and, giving up
the search, he returned with his dis
gusted expedition to Los Angeles, and
some time after is reported to have
died in hospital in San Francisco. No
doubt of the truth of his story is enter
tained by old California miners. Those
who are now preparing to search for
this lost mine say that the fording-
place of the trappers on the Colorado
would be a probable key to the lost
mines. 1t is generally known that there
are but two running living waters be-
tween the river and the scene of the
last fight with the Indians, within the
number of days travelled. These waters
are those in Carrisco creek near the old
government trail to Puma, and those
Of Dos Palmas, on the old Butterfeld
stage route. The number of days may
have been overestimated, for time
stops and the road lengthens when one
is compelled to fight Indians day and
night Taking all these things into
consideration, a search for the lost
wealth entails the perilous hardships