The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-18
BY cY wARMAN.


Copyright, 1897, S. s. Mcclure Coz
1t is fact well known throughout thu
west that somewhere, hidden away il
the Navajo reservation, there is a min,
wonderfully rich in silver Hundreds o.
prosDectors have ventured into the lane
CT the Navajo, in search of the Peso
la-ki mine. and not all of them have
1 returned. In quiet canyons and deer
4 gorges many of them sleep the las
long sleep. Their bones have been scat
tered by the wolves. and now liz
bleaching in the summer sun.
Should this country have the good
fortune or misfortune. to adopt free
coinage, and silver go up to $1.29. the
search for the Peso-la-ki is sure to be
renewed. Although the Indians rely TO
some extent upon the ghost of their
1 dead chief to guard the pathway that
| leads TO the great mine, the live ones
| can be depended upon to do a little
guarding still. and those who enter the
reservation in search of silver may be
expected to return or die about the
present ratio of 16 TO l. This fact. how
ever, will not stop the prospector. He
will continue TO take the very slim
chance. as he has been doing for the
! past 20 years.
1t was along in the '70's that Cass
Hite. fearless adventurer. drifted into
the Navajo reservation. The prospec-
tors attention was attracted by the
splendid ornaments worn by the In
dams. most of them hammered from
pure horn silver. Hite began to cult
vate the acquaintan . of Hoskaninni
who was not long in Office, having
/ ic n " hQ n
Indian, 10 get the position of chief of
the western tribe. He gathered from
the chief that the Indians owned
mine called the "Peso-la Xxi" where
native silver grew on every shelf.
He learned, also, that the Indians
duarried all the silver that was n sight,
and the the mine could be bought.
In time an agreement was reached.
Hoszaninni was to show the Peso-la-h
mine TO the Hosteen Peso-la-ki (white
silver hunter, for 1000 pesos 900
pieces of silver.
Hoskaninni had paid so much atten-
ton to the white man. that the In
dams began to guess that something
was I'D. and when council was called
for the purpose of discussing the pro-
posed sale of the silver mine. there was
already a strong silver sentiment an
tagonistic to the chief
The council was called to meet at
Hoskaninni's hogan, and on the day
designated the braves came sullenly
and squat upon the ground.
The head Indian. in a viva voce mes
sage TO the house. stated the object of
the meeting, and followed with very
plausible plea for the sale of the Peso
la-ki to the white man. In addition to
the 200 pesos. they would have the ad-
vantage Of Tearing from their pale
friend how to mine; they could find
other valuable mines and become rich
and respectable. While he anticipated
To danger from this arrangement, ii
was his intention, nevertheless, to ap-
point a sub chief to assist him in pro-
tecting his tribe. and a second assistant
who would look after the fnine to see
that the white man took no more land
than he was entitled to. Each of these
offices would be assisted by six braves
selected by the head chief. All these
men would be mounted on Mormon
horses. known as Mountain Meadow
stock. and armed with the best rifles
that money could buy.
A few ambitious braves, dazzled by
the grand parade of horses and rifles. |
fell into the trap of the willy chief, and |
signified their willingness to serve.
Hoskaninn was something of a |,
fighter and made, at all times, a |
beautiful bluff; and when Nevada Bill, |
a half-breed. stood up to oppose the /
sale of the mine, the chief whipped out |
his hatchet, and was about to cut the !
warrior off at The hip pockets, when
half a dozen braves sprang between
them.
Hite, at this point made a medicine
talk. in which he counseled peace: the
chief talked more, and ~milder now,
but they would not.
Another brave took the floor and
made manly plea for his people.
His argument was to the effect that
while Hoskaninni had been chosen
chief partly because he had dared to
-emove a man much meaner, if posi-
Die, than himself, he had pledged HIM
ielf to protect the people and their
He told almost in tears how
heir grandfathers had suffered at the
lands of the Spaniards on the big
water. The smooth trail Travelled by
said he, our fathers
,lazed with bleeding feet. They were
laves; they fought and gave US free
lom, and !, for one, will not submit