The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-08

them at the price asked or go without. In
1881 all the Tombstone mines that pald Wen
We're In the hands of a few persons, ana
the population of the place had gone down
to five thousand. In 1883 the mines, win
two exceptions began TO peter out ana me l
population dropped to three Jhousdihu,
Since then II has gone down slowly 10 less
than one thousand souls
OTHER STAMPEDES
In the last ten years there have been four
or five stampedes to mining camps in the
Southwest In the middle OF the winter of
1880 California as far north as San Fran
cisco, and Arizona, as far east as Prescott
and Phoenix were stirred as they had not
been for several years by the news that
rich placer mines had been found by Mex
leans in Lower California, seventy miles
south of San Diego. That was one OF the
most spontaneous stampedes known in that
region. Samples of the pay dirt were sent
to San Diego to be assayed one Sunday art
ernoon. The assayer found it would run
over $500 to the ton. Somehow the secret
got out, and was telegraphed up the Pacific
coast. The telegraph operators in San
Diego spent the next two days and nights
in sending and receiving messages about
the new diggings Before Thursday morn
ing six or seven thousand men and youths
were on their way by cars, wagons, horses,
coasting vessels and foot to San Diego ana
Lower California The hardware stores In
Los Angeles and San Diego and in every
village for one hundred miles around sold
every pickax, shovel, tin dripping pan,
wash dish and milk and bread pan they
themselves for placer mining and started in
day for the mines. For week little
but the discovery of gold in Lower Califor-
MIA and the prospect of another 1S49 gold
in a good part of California. Then, When
the week was over, and the FIRST persons
who had been down to the mines returned
to san Diego, declaring the stories OF
wealth there to be lies and the excitement
over the discoveries to have been manutac-
tured for a purpose, the old miners went
home and philosophically said: Il might
have told you so all the time"
Thousands of people will never forget the
rush for the HarQua Hala diggings in the
spring of 1892 The mines were found IN
the northwestern part of Arizona, close TO
the Colorado river and the boundary INES
between Arizona, California and Nevada;
For several months in the winter OF 1S9l-92
there came almost every week news OF the
big prospects that a half dozen miners, who
had been moving from one camp to another
in the Territories and in Mexico Tor nearly
a generation had at last come across at
Harqua Hala. Along in March and April
quantities of gold dust and nuggets from
the mines came into the hands OF bankers
in San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Inc
newspapers published reports as TO the
prospects at HarQua Hala, and in week
or two there was another general rush for
the diggings. The railroads did land
ing men as far as the Colorado river. From
there the travellers to Harqua Hala packed
themselves on little river steamboats, at
exorbltant rates of travel. Hundreds of
miners who had hardly a dollar tramped
over the mountains $50 and 200 miles to the
mines Some men, in their anxiety to get
to Harqua Hala with their camp outfits and
personal belongings, packed them in barrels
and rolled the barrels over one hundred
miles to the camp. Even schoolboys caught
the infection from their elders, and ran
away from school and home. Several per
sons starved to death in the stampede. In
forty days the population of Harqua Hala
grew from fifty to over two thousand. AS
IS generally the case the few good mines
there were taken up before the news OF the
find went abroad, and there was nothing
for the deluded miners to do when they got
to Harqua Hala but sit about camp and
watch their more lucky associates dig out
the rock. Prices for all kinds of food went
to the top mark with rapidity. After few
weeks idleness the mining population at
Harqua Hala dwindled away at the rate of
one hundred or more a day. large part
of them are now searching among the
mountains, through the canyons, on the
desert and in the foothills for prospects of
their own. A good, active miner will locate
a half dozen mining claims in year, but
less than 10 per cent. of these are ever