The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-08
MIMIC STAMPEDEs.
"Reminiscences of Great Rushes in
the Southwest

SAAACAAea5 Ntils~-&All the INNING men IN
California are talking about the extraor-
binary stampede of men and youths of all
descriptions from every part of the coun-
try to the new mining fields in Alaska
In intensity, spontaneity and generality,
there has been nothing like it since the
days of 40 Naturally, the rush of gold
hungry men TO the Yukon has revived
recollections of famous stampedes TO
other mining fields. In every mining com
muhlty these days "Reminiscences of the
tombstone, the Harqua Hala, Colorado
river ana other eXcitements because of
the hndlnS of great wealth hidden in the
rocks and gravel are related every day. A
host Of grizzled, hard-up, ever-hopeful and
nave been in every rush for new mining
fields for a generation. There is hardly a
MIXER or prospector of the old school any
where In this region who has not joined
IN several stampedes from a played-out
camp for the district where the latest pay
rock has been found. The history Of the
Pacific coast and the territories, from the
discovery of gold in this state in 1S4S to
the present time, abounds in stories of
unrealized expectations among miners, and
OF sutIerings and privations endured in
attempts to reach distant mines from
which reports of riches had gone out.
Probably the widest and craziest STAN
pede ever known in the southwest was
that to the Rocky Belle camp in North
ern Arizona, in the region of the Moqui
Indian reservation, in December, 1874. The
region is 5000 feet above the sea, and lies
among snoW-clad mountains. 1t was an
unusually cold winter when the news went
abroad that Hank Binford and his com
panion had struck a whole mountain of
gold rock that assayed over $500 to the
ton. The report seemed incredible at first,
hut nh. ,11s- &c
miners in Tucson, Albuquerque and Los
Angeles they proved sufficient to satisfy
the most skeptical. \ week more and
over 1000 miners from every part of Ari-
iona and Southern California were moving
day and night, scarcely stopping for food
and sleep, toward the Rocky Belle camp.
Hundreds of men Travelled 200 and 800 miles
on foot and with mules and donkeys to
the new diggings, and nearly all Travelled
across desert and mountain for a distance
of 250 to 300 miles. AS the multitude jour
neyed on the report of the richness of
Hank Binford's new find grew until il
seemed as If wagon loads of rich gold ore
awaited the travellers. Merchants and pro-
fessional men in Maricopa and Tucson
and that part of Southern Arizona became
imbued with the spirit of the miners, and,
turning their business over to others, join
ed in the movement on Rocky Belle. The
hardships that the fOrtune-seekers suf-
fered in the mountains will never be fully
known. A large number of men coming
out of the warm, balmy air of the semi
tropic valleys lost their lives amid the
snowbanks and ice in the mountains, and
many a man was made an invalid for life
because of exposure to the biting cold
during the stampede. A severe blizzard
ragged in the mountains for several days
while the miners were slowly trudging
through them. In one party of over 100
men from New Mexico four men were
frozen to death one morning, and it is
thought that fully twenty more died in
the same way in the mountains at that
time. TO this day there are in California
and Arizona gray-headed miners who lack
a finger, a toe or an ear lost in the terrible
cold of that stampede.
When at last the Rocky Belle diggings
were reached il was soon seen that there
was no ore in the district worth the dig
gng except in the claims held by Hank
Binford and his friends, and that the re-
ports of their find had been exaggerated
beyond all reason. Blnford's own mine
petered out a year or two later, and he
got only a few thousand dollars from 1t.
The specimens of ore shown in Tucson
and Los Angeles were the very choicest
from the mine. and not hit or miss pick
ups, as had been said of them.
Along in the summer of 1878 a miner
named Stevens wrote to a friend in Phoe-
nix that he had found a claim that beat
anything in mining this side Of the Com
stock lode in Nevada, and that with
common iron mortar and pestle he had
pounded out from SO to 800 worth Of
gold dust day. The claim was located
100 miles northwest from Kingman, near
the since famous Harqua Hala mining re-
gion, and there was a chance, so Stevens
wrote, for other men to strike Il rich up
there. OF course, such news could not be
kept quiet. II travelled with miraculous
speed through every camp In the salt
River valley and over to Prescott. In less
than two weeks all that part Of Arizona
was deeply stirred by the reports which
no one seemed to have time to Investigate,
Of the richness Of the mines that Stevens
had found. A thousand or more miners
caught the fever so badly that they start
ed on foot across the country for Ste
Vens' camp without delay. IL was a hot,
dry summer, and the journey entailed sew
eral weeks Of severe physical labor tor
turing thirsts, and the endurance OF
temperature that usually stood over 40
degrees IN the shade. A dozen men died
from fever and In wild delirlum under
that awful sky, and as many more miners
never recovered from disorders caused by
the prlvations OF that stampede across the
desert OF Arizona. Having arrived at the
Stevens camp the excited men realized
that there were claims worth working by
about 100 men. Several hundred claims
were staked out In less than a day after
the excited miners got 60 the scene. but
in a fortnight the camp population fell
from 1000 TO less than 400. In n month
more about 100 persons were left 10 do an
the mining. The camp was abandoned
entirely ten years ago.
with the possible exception OF the rush
70 the Leodvile mining district IN Colo
RADIO. there has been none anywhere IN
forty years attended with excitement that
followed the news OF the finding OF great
deposits OF gold and silver Ia Tombstone IN
1872 Miners from every part Of the Pa
cinc coast caught the foyer Tor gold ana
as week after week samples OF the Tomb
stone rock were more widely circulated,
and rumOrs went forth concerning The for-
tune this or that man or company was
getting out OF the hills and mountains
about the new camp. thousands started for
Tombstone. Hundreds of young mon ana
youths iu the Older states were wild with
zeal 20 hasten 20 tho new kl Dorado ana
started across the continent with little or
no preparation. in Jess than four months
after ORD ana the iawhnHc' bcgan get-
finR several thousand dollars day from
their minca there were OVER 900 parsons