St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-12-10
MINING RUSH IS DUE.
Veteran Prospectors Predict . bsS
Stampe1e In pa Genes
Every Ten Years.

Stampede In 'O0 = Genes
Every Ten Years.
"The next big mining amp stampede
In the United States will be due about
next May" said Col. Edward A. Graves
the other day. "Since the finding OF
gold BY Marshall on the American
river, IN California, there have been
great gold or silver mining excite
ments regularly every decade. Thus,
there was the unpreceGe nted rush Of
10000 men to California in 1919. In
1889 there was The Fraser river gold ex-
element. that attracted 10000 Ameri-
cans. In 1869 the bonanza lodges in
the Comstock lode at Virginia City,
New, set the whole world crazy. In
1879 the american miners were almost
equally divided between the silver
mines at Leadville and the free-milling
gold mines at Tombstone, a. T. In
1859 the newly-found Harqua Hsla
gold mines on the Colorado river, and
the silver mines at Chihuaha, Mexico,
stirred thousands of old-time prospec.
tors and miners as nothing else had
done in several years. The western
miners have come to have firm faith
that there is bound to be great rush
to new dIggings every year that has
at the end OF its date. In my travels
among the California, Arizona, and
Colorado camps lately have been
asked dozens Of times where believe
the prospectors would strike it SO as
to have the expected mining stampede
next year. I confess myself to the
belief that we shall hear of a great
gold strike somewhere in the west in
1892"
The most senseless stampede that cid
miners recall was the one to a camp
Known as the Rocky Belle. 1t was 60
miles northwest from Prescott. The
time was December, 1876. No less
person than john w. Mackay, the DO
rama mining king of the Comstock
lode, was deceived by the news from
the Rocky Belle, and spent several
miners posthaste across the mountains
and valleys to see what the chances
for new mines were. Hundreds of men
travelled 700 and 500 miles on foot and
with mules and donkeys 10 the new dig
gings, and nearly all Travelled across
desert and mountains for a distance
of $50 or 300 miles. A large number of
men coming out Of the warm, balmy
air Of the semi-tropics lost their lives
amid the snowbanks and ice, and many
man was made an invalid for life be-
cause of exposure to the biting cold
during the stampede. A severe bliz-
card ragtG in the mountains for sew
eral days while the miners were slow
ly trudgirg through them. In one
party of 100 men from New Mexico four
men were frozen to death one morn
ing. and 1t is thought that fully 20 more
died in the same way In the mountains
at that time.
When at last the Rocky Belle dig
gings were reached it was soon seen
that there was no ore in the district
worth digging except in the claims
held by Henry Binford and his friends.
and that the report of their find had
been exaggerated beyond all reason.
Binford's own mine petered out year
or two later, and he got only few
thousand dollars from it.
Along in the summer of 1875 miner
named Stevens wrote to n friend in
Phoenix that he had found a claim
that beat anything in mining this side
of the Cnmst Jck lode in Nevada, and
that with a common mortar and pes.le
he had pounded out from $40 to 500
worth OF gold dust day. The claim
was loca, ed 100 miles northwest from
Kingman, near the since famous Har-
qua Hala mining region. and there was
a chance. so Stevens wrote, for other
men to strike it 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 re-
ports, 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 :he
fever so badly that they started on
foot across the country for Stevens
camp without delay. 1t was a hot, dry
summer. and the journey entailed tor
turing thirst and endurance of tenn
perature usually about 40 degrees in
the shade. A dozen men died from
fever under that awful sky. and as
many more miners never recovered
from disorders caused by the priva
tons of that stampede across the
desert Of Arizona. Having arrived at
the Stevens camp, the excited men
realized that there were claims worth
working for about 100 men. Several
hundred claims were staked out Unless
than Fay. but N fortnight the camp
population fell from 1000 to less than
400. In about month no more than
100 persons were left to do all the
mining. The camp was abandoned en-
tirely ten years ago.-I.os Angeles Cor.
Tt