The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-03
OLD LOST CABIN MINE.
Rich Placer Diggings Which Exist
Only In Tradition

spondent of the Chicago Tribune. Here
in this northern Montana region one
hears of three. such mines. One of
I them is the Lost Cabin mine. A
Frenchman came into Helena many
| years ago, bringing with him thousands
of dollars worth of gold dust. He told
his friends that ne had found some
placer ground richer than any ever
/ worked. The dust he brought down
had all been panned out. With sluice
( boxes thousands OF dollars could be
washed out in a day. OF course, TINS
news created the greatest excitement
His friends prepared to accompany him
back, but ere the day for their depar-
/ ture arrived, the F'renchman was taken
/ ill and died Just before his death he
M ged to gasp:
SIackfoot country, two small lakes,
cabin between them 1 built"
Now, this information was very in
definite. There are two Blackfoot
/ countries One is that great eXpanse OF
forest in which rise the Big Blackfoot
river and its tributaries; the other was,
! in those days. the eastern slope of the
/ Rockies from the Missouri to the Sas-
/ katchewan. The miners wondered
which one he meant. Party after party
was organized to search for the Lost
Cabin mine. Both countries have been
explored again and again. Year after
year has gone by, and parties are still
searching for it, undaunted by the
failure of their predecessors, hoping
ever that the morrow will reveal TO
them two little lakes nesting in the
depth of the forest, and between, rude
little cabin, long since IN runs, per-
haps, but still the evidence of untold
wealth.
One autumn, not many years ago, the
Blackfoot man and the writer went up
into the mountains to hunt goats and
bighorn. We took an old Indian trail
up the Cutbank stream, crossed the di-
vide-the backbone OF the world, as
the Indians say-over steep slope OF
shell rock resting on a cliff thousands
of feet high, and pitched our camp
several miles down the western slope.
Early next morning we were afoot and
climbed a high ridge to the south.
Reaching the crest, we sat down to
rest and get our wind. Far below us,
at the foot of the ridge, fed by the
eternal SHOWS on the summit, were two
/ small lakes, exactly in the center of the
broad, deep valley. The stream con-
Meeting them meandered through
wide bed of gravel and sand.
Lost Cabin mine" cried the Black
foot man.
Sure" 1 said, and just look at the
goats over on that knoll"
ITO thunder with themi' he replied,
and fairly flew down the mountain, the
writer following closely.
All that day we searched between the
two lakelets for signs of cabin, and,
not finding any, we made all sorts OF
excuses. An avalanche might have
swept it into the lake; Indians might
have discovered and burned it. Not
satisfied, we returned the next day with
pick, pan and shovel, prospected the
rims of the bars, creviced the bedrock
of the channel, washing pan after pan
Of E11ti was n hnr lost a
color of gold, not grain of black sand,
was to be found So we gave it up and
turned to hunting, with fair success.
The Lost Cross mine is a tradition in
which the church is mixed up. Many
years ago there came to the American
Fur company's post on the upper Mis-
souri, the jealous Jesuit missionary,
Father De Smet After labOring with
the Indians in that district several
years, he determined to visit the diner
ent tribes inhabiuing the eastern slope
of the Rockies to the north, and from
the vOyageurs, trappers and hunters
surrounding the fort he chose six TO
accompany him, all of them Canadian
French or mixed French and Indian,
and, like myself, true Catholics, who
believed the church to be supreme in d.
all things, both spiritual and temporal.
Leaving the fort, which was situated
at the mouth OF the MarIas rlVe1, Iney
NSuI uD tIle hdnCy VI the IcbOll QIlll
they reached the foothills of the noun
tains, and then proceeded nOrthward
along the great trail which the tribes
had used for untold centuries in their
wanderings north and south. They
journeyed along very slowly, for they
had only the horses they rode-nO pack
animals at all-and occasionally veered,
hoping to find Indians canped along
the valleys of the different streams, but
none were found. In fact, they did not
encounter living sold until they rode
into Mountain Fort, on the Saskatche-
wan, one of the Hudson Bay company's
posts.
Somewhere along this route, it is said,
they camoed by a small stream, and
boiled q kettle of fat buffalo ribs and
after the meal was finished one of the
men Went TO the stream to wash the
vessel. He scooped some sand into it,
and began to scOur the greasy sides,
every row and then throwing out the
sand and water and ScOOplng up q clean
supply. When he had about finished,
and the water remained clear in the
ret, he noticed some yellow CLEANS
the sand in the bottom of the
pot, and further examination proved
them to be nuggets OF gold. There was
almost a handful of them, and he hur-
ried back and gave them to the father.
The VoYagerS at once became excited
and proposed to return to the Missouri
at once and procure the necessary tools
to work the placer. But after d few
minutes of deep thought, the father
arose and said:
My children, this gold has been the
cause of nearly all the crime and mis-
cry the world has seen. Think now of
the trouble and misery you would cause
should you start to mine it here. In a
few months this beautiful, peaceful
would be overrun with wild and
desperate men. They would destroy ,
the great herds of game we see about
US OF every hand. They would fight ;
and murder the poor savages who /
would be sure to resent the invasion
their country and the destruction of
their food supply, and these are your
people, for you are, every one OF you, '
married to women whose brothers and /
sisters, and therefore your relatives, /
too, you would doom to certain destruc- !
ton should you exploit this ground.
Now, 1 see that by digging this gold {
you could possibly benefit yourselves.
AS you have lived before, in the midst &
IF peace and plenty, so you can con- il
-inUe to live. You may still trap the
beaver, the otter and the wolf, and kill 2
he game for the simple wants of your
selves and your families. But the {
church forbids you ever mentioning to :
anyone the discovery we have made to-
lay. Some time, perhaps, should the
church be surely pressed she NAV take