Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-05-28
oRAN0RvILLH.r IDAHO
A PROsPECTOR,s TRIP.

A PROsPECTOR's TRIP.
L. A. Osborne, In Northwest Magazine.
When spring comes, every pros
pector is aglow with the fervor Of
new enterprise-some dream,
scheme, wrapped in the dim vista
of the mountains, that is to bring
the realization ofhis highest hopes
No matter what the failures u
hardships of the past, they arc for
COTTON or but dimly remembered
and he is eager for new adventures
The pr0spector more nearly rcscm.
bles the old-timc "soldier of for.
tune" than any type extant. Sim.
ply exchange the arms aud accom-
termehts, of the one, for the pick,
shovel and pan of tho other, and
you have them pat. The restless
search fer wealth and fame is com
mon to both--and, ! am sorry to
say, in most cases result in obtain
ing neither.
Every thing was aglow and abloom
when our small party left Lewis
ton, Idaho, for an indefinite trip.
The party was composed of men
picked up at random, and each was
independent of his fellows. Some
had one horse, some had two; some
some had delicacies to eat, and
others bare necessities-a bad
eombinationt 1t held together
about three week, and then scat
tered to to the four winds. Pros
pectors get divorced as often if not
oftener as those who follow other
walks in life.
1t was early in May, and seven
ty-fve miles away to the south and
east the mountains were still i'm
passable for prospecting. To put
IN time, course was laid for the
Salmon river, near where it joins
the Snake The way thither, at
that season, was rugged and wet;
it rained, and sometimes the paths,
or no paths, were deep with snow.
To some of the uninured it was
very trying. But there is heal
ing touch in the breath of the
mountain air, and few become sick
through an exposure which, in
other lands, would be fatal.
And now we were in the wild
breaks of the Salmon, where spring
and summer are almost eternal.
Here horse and man soon recover
ed from fatigue. The first went
to work at once ON the fresh grass,
and the last on the low-lying, gold
bearing bars which lie along the
river. The rocker is used by the
average prospector,-and by the
average prospector is meant the
man of very moderate means, to
whom a grub stake means consid-
cradle. 70 them the Salmon is a
fairy godmother-a never-failing
nurse of kindness, who brings to
them at least subsistence in the
struggle for something greater
than she has to offer; and She re-
news herself partially every year,
from some unknown source far
back in the mountains. The pros
pector who is given to dreams has
MS own pet theory of how and
where that golden source may lie.
The party met with only small
success here. Tales have been
old of $3.50 day while waiting
% get back in the mountains to
better; but each man
sveraged but fifty to seventy-five
'ents day-sometimes a dollar,
Along the Salmon there
Ire many mines that bring in big
'eturns from the higher bars, which
ire worked on largo scale by
water brought from some distant
reek by fumes, or by huge wheels
mpelled by the current, which lift
he water to the required height
or sluicing. The first named,
which get away with more dirt,
re generally owned by companies
nd are quite expensive to start
nd work. Still, they have made |
Jig returns, and are still making |
hem along the river. The wheel |
ystem runs things ON smaller
Gale, but makes very fair returns
or labor, time and expense. But,
S l have said, it is to the "bust-
d" prospector that the Salmon
5 new and a better Nile. Ten
months of good weather in a year
'revails there, and to a man that
an attack the mountains on S. a
month, 81 day, or even less,
means great deal, and his returns
re sure. The Salmon is not a
arge river. At low water one can
brow a stone across; yet it RACES
long in May or June, and part of
uly.
left the party, near the big
80 CA1 n |