The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-17

!
Phoenix Correspondence of San Fran
cisco Call: Leonard J. Court. one of the
oldest and best known prospectors and.
mining men on the frontier. is in this
city, arranging for what he declares will
be the most stupendous gold expedition
ever known since the Spanish conques-
tadors invaded the treasures Of the IN
cas-.
! Court is the owner of several pro 5
ing claims in this territory. and the dis-
coyerer and developer cf any number of
! properties in Arizona and the Mexican
state OF Sonora. He has been some
what guarded in disclosing his present
hopes and plans, and is man of re-
| firing and reticent disposition. He con-
sen.ed to be interviewed by the Call
correspondent today. however, and his
most remarkable story is given in his
own words.
1T may seem a little boastful in me
! to say it" began Court. but 1 have
| every reason to believe that the expedi-
! ton 1 am now arranging for. Will return
| to Phoenix within six months laden
with more pounds of virgin gold than
will ever be taken out Of the Klondike
! in the life time of the youngest member
| of. this generation.
]
must go back TO the year 1874. to give
you a comprehensive history of it
! Those were the days of silver, you
know, and / had QUILTED for a pros
pecting trip in the Cocopah range in
western Sonora. On the old Eltar and
! Yuma trail, about where the Mexican
line crosses. or perhaps a little south
| of it. 1 was set upon and robbed OF
my entire outfit by q band of Sonora
| brigands-we call them 'rustIers' now.
[ was in great luck to escape alive. for
! I had been foolish enough to show fight
| against about a dozen Mexicans. L
! plunged head foremost into a cactus
| thicket, and was safe. L knew some
| thing of the country. and after hours
| spent in extracting cactus spineS. De
! gan to wander off toward the foot hills
in search of water. found water. but
was for nearly four days without
morseI to eat. On the evening of the
| fourth day L reached an Indian settle
ment in a little green canyon half way
up the mountains and about one tnlrd
| of the distance between the Eftar and
the Colorado rivers. They proved to be
peaceable, kindly disposed natives. ana
I was given the freedom of the ranch
erie with regular meals and nothing TO
do but roam around among the hills
as 7 pleased. After a week or so or
resting. [ began to take my bearings
! and look about me for signs of out
| groupings.
"One day I wandered to the summit
of the range, where | obtained mag
niaeent view of the Sonora desert on
J the east and the gulf of California
| westward. l stood there adm1ring the
strange beautiful scene, made Welrd
and awful by the rough, barren nature
| of mountains and the immensely OF sea
on one hand and esert on the other
! AS nv eyes wandered to the different
points OF the compass, finally. IN
southeasterly direction. they saw what
apDeared to be an immense crater on
the side of a distant peak. L started
along the summit, impelled merely by
curiosity, to visit the queer looking hole
When | reached it I found it had g
depth of about 1000 feet, with almost
sheer walls of smooth lava and miner
ais that had run molten at no very dis
| tant date The crater was oval IN
shape, perhaps half a mile in length,
and about half that distance in Wldtn.
| The sun. glistening upon the many col
ored minerals and lava streaks. made a
| wonderful chromatic effect
But had seen other spots like this
they were common enough in the
southwest-and 1 was retracing my
steps. intending to return early TO
camp, when my attention was at
| tracted by a something that seemed
TO be moving down the side of the
| center in one of the big assures or
| cracks in the otherwise smooth walls.
1t was long and slender and appeared
| to be moving rapidly. | could not see
| it all, for at places 1T fell beyond my
| range of vision in the assure. The
thing glowed. could have sworn that
| it moved. [ could see it in big spots
from perhaps half way UP the wall
clear to the bottom, and all these spots
! corresponded in color and glow and
motion. I believed them to be all fartS
of one continuous object that moved
1T was getting late now and could
! not stop to investigate. l asked the
! Indians about it and they at once held
I'D their hands in terror and declared
that / had seen the great vevoia Of the
! Cocopahs. They warned me never,
never to get within sight of it again,
| and declared me to be the most for
tunate of mortals, having seen the We
voia and being yet alive.
81 said nothing further, but the rat
| tlesnake theory did not satisfy me, and
| curiosity drew me to to the spot early
again the next day. 1 got as close to it
as could from the rim of the crater
1t did look a great deal like big
golden and black rattlesnake. l have
seen them of exactly that cOlor-but
| the size of it, Can you imagine a rat
tier 1000 feet long? 1 could not. 1
| decided to get a nearer view, and after
some difficulty found a smaller assure
that ran slantingly toward the insure
| in which the serpent-or whatever 1t
| was-1noved. Many times in the de-
scent [ lost sight of the object, but at
last, turning abruptly, the thing was
fairly upon me. I shuddered. but Gu
riosity got the better Of fear. 1 was
bound to know what It was. Besides.
I had noticed that it kept moving al
ways in the same direction and always
in the same spots in the same insure
| I argued that it would not be likely
for such a large monster to change its
steady course of travel for such an in
significant thing as a man not six feet
long. 1 approached it cautiously. but
could not have kept away from il had
tried. for the thing had an awful
fascination for me.
"At last it was within foot of me.
1t moved onward and downward as
ever obliyious totally Of my presence,
thing. 1 admired it. 1t was beautiful
to look upon. At last, marveling
| somewhat at my daring but seeming
" led on by a power stronger than my
inclination. I stopped and put my hand
upon its pretty back. Being so enor-
mously long, it could not suddenly en-
Irvine itself about me, I argued. Then
my hand touched-what-2
II Jumped back in a hurry. 1t was
cold and clammy, like the scales OF
serpent, but there was no hardness. no
resistance The moving mass mas soft
NV hand sunk into it, 1t parted and
poured over my hand. Strange 70 say
7 was not Mortified, as 1 expected TO
me, only fascinated the more.