The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-22
LOST GOLD MINES.
Some New and some Old stories Com
corning Them.
From the Chicago Times-Herald.

From the chicago lines I1eIdiu.
San Francisco-Apropos of the expedl-
ton which has just started out again in
search of the famous Lost Stuart" mine,
in the Uncompahgre mountains of Utah,
a wen-known character has come to this
city, who has headed several expeditions in
search of the lost Stuart treasure, and
who knows the history Of every lost mine
in the country. They call him Lost
Mine zarah." He never did thing in
ell his life but go in search of rich mines
that other men had discovered and lost
track of. For fifty years he has been fol-
lowing up the gold mine phantoms of de-
lirious prospectors driven from the field Of
their discovery by want of food or Indian
hostility. And he has never found a
| single nugget.
The history of the rich lost mines of
America reads like a page from dime
| novel. Lost Mine Zarah" has hunted
more of them than any man living.
| ''I crossed the plains in So in a prairie
| schooner" he said 81 went as a horse
wrangier for the boss of a big outfit of
wranglers. Like a lot of those blank
| fools who are going to Alaska now, I
ran away from home ] wanted fighting
and hunting, and L got it. The boss of
| our train was a brute But l dared not
| desert i'm the wilderness. 1t. meant GER
| tain death I quit him at Santa Fe and
started home. But when / reached Kan
sas there came to my ears the most fabu-
Tous tales of gold fields in Indian territory.
That's when | began to chase the will
| o-the-wisp called the Cherokee Gold
mountain. You've heard of it. An Indian
showed me a nugget Of gold he took from
1t as big as his fist. A priest told me
the story was true. 1t must exist yet,
If it ever did. It's a mountain filled with
gold, and 1t had been a source of contin-
ual wealth to the CherolIees for genera,
tons. Only three Indians at a time were
let into the secret. When one died an
other would take his place white man
discovered it once. But the Cherokees
did not let him get out of their country
alive. searched all Indian territory for
it. But I never found it, I suffered terri
Bile trials and finally the Indians drove
me out.
"As for the old Stuart mine in Utah,
that's sure if Stuart ever gets the scent
again. Stuart lives down in New Mexico,
and he goes out every year prospecting
for his lost treasure. I've been there with
him many a trip. Stuart won't give up.
It's kind of pathetic, after all. 1t all hap
pened in this way. Stuart had a contract
in 40 with the government to carry mail
from Santa Fe to San Francisco. He
started Sept. to carry out his first trip.
and he lost the trail. In wandering around
with his fifteen mules, nine packs and
eight men, he got into a pocket canyon.
one day he went out to reconnoiter with
Mexican and they stumbled across a
mine rich with big nuggets. They washed
out lot Of gold, and Stuart made the
Mexican swear 10 keep the discovery a
secret. When obey reached San Fran
cisco they found the gold very valuable.
They set out to retrace their steps. But
they failed. Old Mother Nature and the
elements had conspired together and bur
led the treasure from view Stuart has
been down around there nearly every
year since 40. He has sworn to find it
before he dies. But nobody ever has
found lost mine. Anyway, there is a
kind of fascination about it that warns
the blood.
THE biggest lost mine that I've ever
dug around for is the Pegleg mine in
Arizona. 1t is located somewhere around
Fort Yuma in the desert. Pegleg Smith
discovered II in 80, and he went back to
Los Angeles, fired with enthusiasm to
organize an expedition to work it. He pro-
nounced IL TO be the m st valuable mine
in the world. Then he died suddenly. But
he left O lot of specimens, maps, charts
and descriptions Of landmarks 20 verify
his statements.
But that Pegleg mine is a iend and
monster, wherever IL is One million dol
lars have been spent trying to locate It,.
Two hundred lives have been sacrificed,
and ID guards its secret well. / headed an
expedition down there once. We passed
through a terrible experience. There was
no water 10 drink. Cactus and sage bush
was the only vegetation. Serpents, lizards
and scorpions were the only living things
In the big wilderness. The shifting dunes
of all1ali and white sand covered the real
trails. The bleaching bones of ether adj
venturers blazed before US, showing us a
blind trail that led on into a blistering
death-trap. We lost our bearings, and
three out of seven of us died. The rest
of us nearly went mad Not even the
mules survived.
Eyes, the stories of lost mines are nearly
all myths. The mine itself may exist some
where under the blue heaven, but the
wealth Of its treasure is always overesti-
mated Why, since the days when the In
cas- were in the hight Of their power in
Peru stories have been current Of their
fabulously rich mines. l explored their
country once, and IN their queer Old
churches I found affairs of beaten gold,
pictures framed in gold, gold sacramental
service that would dazzle your eyes. But