The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-04-13
A WOMAN AND A MOB.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE IN A COLO
RADIO MINING CAMP.

\ II aSsdycr anu nls young WIZ Cdlnt Jo
Rosita, Colo, In the early days of the
town. He had little money, but managed
to start a store, where he dispensed grocer
les to the miners and prospectors during
the day At night he assayed the rocks
that the boys brought In from the hills
Poor enough they were for the most part
and he became discouraged at the outlook
He GRUB staked" many of the prospect
ors, but the samples were all of the Same
low level. Some of the men were too proud
TO ask aid, but they ran up long accounts
at the store for coffee and tobacco, which
the assayer could only hope TO see liqui-
dated when they struck IL rich. But no.
body struck it rich for long time, and
the bills of the searchers ran up into large
sums One day miner who had paid a
bill of about $50 at the store came in with
n sackful of ore that he had found in a
new location. He asked that it be assayed
The assayer looked at it and laughed. 1t
seemed to be of the same old sort. But he
agreed to make a test, and that night
when the store was closed he went at it,
The result astonished him. Instead of its
being the same old sort it showed indica-
tions of riches running 81, 200 to the ton
The next morning he told the miner that
buy the claim. The best offer he could get
was third for the bill the man owed and
500 additional. This was accepted, and
as the assayers wife had little legacy
just left her he gave the claim to her. and
she paid for it.
few days after 1t became noised about
that there was new bonanza, and all the
miners went in u mob to the vicinity of
the mine and staked out their claims. But
the Pocahontas was the only one that
proved rich and IL was really bonanza.
The discoverer sold his interest for for
tune and went back to the states. The
new two-third owner ran the mine on
scale of expense that, while 1t paid him
handsome profit, did not show any divi-
dend for the assayer's wife. One day two
men, giving their names as Boyd and
Stewart, came to her with a proposition
They would buy her share for $50, 900 and
compel the new owner to tote fair and to
make enough TO pay for their purchase
The papers were drawn up, and the men
proceeded TO prepare TO seize the mine
They secured n company of men and went
out in the night. When the watch changed,
they rushed in and drove the guards away
and had the mine TO themselves 1t was
an unheard of proceeding and created a
great excitement in the vicinity. The old |
miners all took sides with the dispossessed |
major owner and would not listen to the |
pleas of the new purchasers that they only |
intended to shut down the mine until they |
had n settlement
That afternoon mob gathered at the |
saloon. 1t grew with each company that |
came down from the mountains. They |
vowed vengeance on the interlopers and |
on the assayer and his wife, who. they |
thought, were at the bottom of the deal
The assayer left that afternoon on foot for
Canon City, and in hurry too. The mob
called after him "a little too late and then
set out for the mine. Raging up the hills
1t went, and the business men, who had
the move, followed eau
tiously. The mob charged on the mine
and secured some OF the guards, but the
new owners of the woman's third had fled
to Denver and were not caught-luckily
for them. The mob went to the saloon
and "liquored up" for spell and then de.
cided that somebody must hang.
Hang the woman" was the demand of
many, and the sentiment was evidently in
favor, though there was some opposition.
Hang one of the guards who helped
the strangers!" suggested somebody, and
the next two hours were spent in putting
the suggestion into practice Then came
The old cry, Hang the womanl"
The assayer's wife was frightened, and
so were her friends. She had made many
warm adheronts during her residence i'm
The camp, and they gathered around her
that night. With her two boys she was
taken 10 the only two story house in the
place, and the men who were on her side
stood guard on the lower floor while she
waited on the upper one. 1t was a long
and nerve wearing night. Twice the lead
ers of the mob came and parleyed with the
men on guard and declared that they could
not keep the miners from the deed they
contemplated. Up stairs the woman heard
It all and wondered if they told the truth !
)nce the mob itself came and for an hour
waited around the house, hoping to catch
! sight of the woman perhaps But at last
daylight came, and nothing had been
lone. Said one of the two boys in relating
he experience, II know that my mothers
hair grew whittier that night, and almost
eel that, child as l was, my own did the
anne"
The miners went out to the Pocahontas
lgain that morning to see that the old
owner was in possession, and in the inter.
val the assayer's wife and her sons were
'laced on horses and hurried out of the
amp. They trudged all that day in mo.
nentary fear that they would be pursued ,
nd reached safety at nightfall When they
rrived at Canon City, they found that
he father and husband had been three
ays getting there, taking as he did lone.
ONE and unknown way through the
Mountains. There was still the store and ,
ne accounts against the miners over at
'osita, but somehow the essayer did not e
vant to go after them. The sentiment of
ne place was that he and his had tried to '
% mine, and 1t was not exactly healthy Q
o try It, The matter of the mine was aft.
rward settled In the courts, and the as .
ayers wife received for her share SIC. 600
C. nj. Harger in Chicago Times Herald !;
stopping Horse With a Sermon