The Arizona sentinel., 1897-03-20
THE GREAT YUMA STRIKE.
No Doubt the RediscOyery Of the
 esLOst Frenchmen."
From the Phoenix Republican,

excitement in consequence of the late gold strike in the country between Castle Dome and Eagle Tail mountains was on the increase. The still later discovery of gold within the city lim- it's of Yuma, circumstance in itself sufficient to produce wild excitement, has been overshadswed by the phe- nomenal ind Tn the northeast.
 There is DO longer any doubt Tn Yuma or among old prospectors and miners that the "Lost Frenchman" has been rediscovered after more than twenty-five years. The mine whose very existence was half doubt was so named because it was supposed to be worked by couple of Frenchmen, one or the other of whom used to make periodical visits to Yuma after sup plies which were always paid for with large gold nuggets. Fruitless attempts were made to learn from them the To- cality in which thenuggets were found and equally frIitless attempts were made to follow them. The French men always but once succeeded ID leaving town unobserved. That time they were followed by party of Mex jeans whom they managed to elude near Agua Caliehte. At last the Frenchmen came to Yuma no more. As it was evident that they would like ly leave the country in no other way than through Yuma, it was supposed that they had been murdered by In dians. Years afterward @ skeleton was found in the vicinity of the late strike It was believed to be the skel- eton of one of the Frenchmen and though there were no workings in the vicinity, interest in the supposed fab ulously wealthy mine was revived and the whole country was prospected over again and again. Of late years people only smiled when the "Lost Frenchman" was mentioned. The gold brought in from the new strike is said to be of the same character as the gold with which the Frenchmen fired up Yuma a quarter of a centuLy ago. MT. Darlington says there is sick and disgusted prospecting party in Yuma. About three weeks before the country was electrified by the discovery of Eichelberger and his com panion, this party campsd one night on the very ground where the strike was made. The members of the party console themselves by the observation that nobody but an internal fool would think of looking for gold in such an unlikely locality. But it is in such localities that all the great strikes in Arizona have been made and almost without exception they have been ac- cidents. The latest discovery, the Pearce mine,. had been tramped over by prospectors since white men first came into the country, and La For tuna lay on the old Sonora road travelled for years by thousands of men, The discoverer of La Fortuna was in the frenzy of delifium tremens and he afterward admitted that if he had been in his right mind he wouldn't have been in that neighborhood looking for gold.
 Beverly Cox, who returned yester- day from prospecting trip, visited the strike between the Eagle Tail and Castle Dome mountains. He and his party left here several weeks ago think ing that the hard rains of the fall and winter might have uncovered hitherto hidden Hedges. MT. Cox believes that if the great discovery had been post poned two weeks lie would have made it. He agrees with all who have seen it that it is probably the biggest gold strike made on the Pacific coast and that two men who month ago were without cent in the world and were living from day to day on grub stake are perhaps today among the richest men on the coast.
 There is story that Eichelberger, who before the discovery was suspect ed of being of his balance, is drifting toward insanity under the excitement attending his great good luck.