The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-19
UNTOLD HIDDEN c n
FRUITJ Bss SEAROHES FOE LOST
MINES IN THE WEST.
a glimpse or Twin Lakes. bat net Those er
the Lest Cabin naine-The Rich Piaeers
Guarded ~ Father Dn snset's 1uhtb,t,on-
A nonhle naYnterY Of the Upper hlissouRl.

community IN inc 0ht, ~ 1Aobio ~
Mexico, which has not an ancient and cherished
tradition Of a lost mine Of fabulous richness.
Here In this northern Montana region ono hears
Of three such mines. Ono Of Thorn is the Lost
Cabin mine. A Frenchman came into Helena
many years ago, bringing with him thousands
OF dollars worth Of gold dust He told his
friends that he had found some placer ground
richer than any ever worked. The dust he
brought down had all been PANIED out. With
sNuice boxes thousands Of dollars could be
washed out in q day. OF course this nows
created the greatest excitement. His friends
prepared to him back, but ere the
day for their departure arrived the Frenchman
was taken i'll and died. Just before his death
he managed to gasp:
"Blackfoot country, two small lakes, cabin
between them I built"
Now this information was very indefinite.
There are two Blackfoot countries. One is that
great expanse Of forest in which rise the Big
Blackfoot River and its tributaries; the other
was, in those days, the eastern slope OF the
Rockies, from the Missouri to tho saskatohe-
wan. The miners wondered which one he
meant. Party after party was organized to
search for the Lost Cabin mine. Both coun-
tries have been explored again and again. Year
after year has gone by and parties are still
searching for 1t, undaunted by the failure of
their predecessors, hoping ever that the morrow
win reveal to them two little lakes Nesting in
the depths Of the forest, and between, a rude
little cabin, long since In ruins, perhaps, but
still the evidence of untold wealth.
One autumn, not many years ago, the Black
foot man and the writer went up into the noun
tains to hunt goats and bighorn. We took an
old Indian trail up the Cutbank stream. crossed
the divide the backbone of the world" ss the
Indians say-over o steep slope Of shell-rock
resting on a clif thousands Of feet high. and
pitched our camp several miles down the west
ern slope. Early the next morning We were
afoot and climbed a high ridge to the south.
Reaching the crest. we sat down to rest and get
,ur wind. Far below us at the foot Of the ridge,
fed by the eternal SHOWS on the summit, were
two mail lakes, exactly In the centre Of the
broad, deep valley. The stream connecting
them meandered through o wide bed of gravel
and sand.
Lost Cabin mine" cried the Blackfoot man.
Sure" l said, land just look at the goats
over on that knoll"
'ro thunder with them,' he replied, and fair
ly few down the mountain, the writer follow
ing closely.
All that day We searched between the two
lakelets for signs of a cabin. and not finding
any. we made all sorts of excuses. An ava
lanche might have carried 1t away; q big
freshet might have swept 1t into the lake; In.
dams might have discovered and burned 1t.
Not satisfied, we returned tho next day with
pick. pan. and shovel, prospected the rims Of
the bars, creviced the bed rock Of the channel.
washing pan after nan Of gravel. But 1t was
labor lost; not q color Of gold, not a grain Of
black sand was to be found. So We gave it up
and turned to hunting. with fair success.
The Lost Cross mine lie q tradition in which
the Church Is mixed up. Many years ago there
came to the american Fur Company,s post, on
AIRY Father De smet; After laboring with tho
Indians in q hat hat vicinity a EE. several years rs he. de- L
the eastern slope Of the Rockies to the north.
and from the yoyageqrs. trappers. and hunters
ssq Im, ali ~ them fas lV Gan n a fao'e French ss : sS ae or mi1es
alien n and be ena q end Enc r like I 5bi% 1n Ss !. t 11ssG Gath h
all things. both spiritual and temporal
Leaving the fort, which was situated at tho
% VsIis1 q # the sSe r MsTia Until RIiy tSsy s 1sSeS wspt thu up tas
n mort Va in along motah" the rest t aqd which shie P the sribes
very slowly. for they had only the horses they
veered from the great trail to the east or the
west: hoping to ana Indians oamPsd along The
; ipe soul until they rode into Mountain Fort on
the Saskatchewan, ono Of the Hudson's Bay
along this route, !. Is said, they
Of fat buffalo ribs. and after I'll the meal was fin:
isheS t one OF the mmsn went to the stream 9t to
now and then throwing out the sand and water
and %scoopipg up a clean supply. When he had
) among the sand in tie bottom tor Of the pot. and
them, and Si"t he buried Tb back AN and gave e them to e
. excited and proposed to return to the Missouri
at SnG e. and nfdo procure Are. the aS.I Necessary : s"s tools to to
a deep thought the father arose and said:
? NY c "a are nri this 6 gold ,h has been ;ht the sS cause a 60 Of
s seen. Think now Of the troublc; and misery you
2 T w a Few SSn %sn shSq tsi.y Ss.s staEt to 1s %tas i a hsTs
mon. They would destroy the great herds Of
gam, We t SOC al about Is on every hand; They The
= country and the destruction Of their food sup
. e sEcry an one these Of your ale n SSaFl Rfo % w ta S0S whose srS
brothers and %sisterss and therefore your rela
tiOe'I should fSSSi YOU YOU we exploit Ho9 eRis 20 Sr% ss u Ses!t ca1
. see that by digging this gold you could posi- i
fore. in the midst of peace and plenty, SO vol
-. can continue to live: You may still traap II,
game Tor the si@iple : wants Of yoSrselSes ant
|. your families, But the Church forbids you t.
y i %5nf THO 10 s SnS one i t dSs0id discovery sSp ever ws R %sn
made this day /: Some time, perhaps, sh f%I,
assaults Of the wicked, but should that da!
never come, then let US bury deep In oul
y Back from the cOek where they were camped
h some 200 PAGES, was a little bare butte, or hill
It and on the top Of 1t the father had thom erect
huge cross, which they fashioned with thei
axes from a tree growing by the bank of tn
II stream, and when they had finished 1t an
70 firmly planted IT in the ground the father mad
"a them all swear that never, so long as they lived
IL would they divuige the location OF or themselve
"a dig the placer found that day. And these poo
ignorant voyageurs. to whom the Church's con
mand was law. kept the secret well, for thes
ar NIAGARA lay6 never been discOyerel. One d
"A them. who was married to a Blackfoot woman
~ often used to tell her that the Church keI
At the gold and what tho father said; how the
10 erected the, cross and his making them, swea
by 1t that they would never dig It or tel TheI
wife married an American. an employee of tn
American Fur Company. and she repeated
him what her former husband had told hi
% about the mine. And he and others went ofte
to look for the ground, but they never found 1
10 Numbers of parties have searched for 1t, but a
W Waxa In vain