The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-07-07
STU MBLED UPON \ GOLD
NINE

Charlie and Lee Carr. of South na-
kota. have made their fortunes.
They are two Young ratllcmcn in
Custer County, in the Southern Black
Hills. who heretofore have lived unc-
ventful lives. but by good stroke Of
fortune, they are now no longer hunt
ing lost cattle or stray horses in The
deep ravines of their native hills. Oh,
Nav II the brothers went out ON
their dali V round looking for lost cat
tie. They had been over the same
ground a good many times before,
and had even prospoctcd with pick
and hammer the adjoining cliffs for in
dications of ore, but their mining at
tempts had thus far been Of no avail.
They had looked very thoroughly for
their lost cattle along Lightning
Creek, and had about given up the
hunt when they came to the mouth of
Narrow Neck Gulch, a small tributa-
ry of Lightning Creek. Lee, the old
er Of the two boys, was in the lead,
and thinking the cattle might have
strayed up the narrow gulch to the
right. turned his horse in that dircc-
tion and the brothers proceeded up
Narrow Creek Gulch.
They had not proceeded far when
Lee saw 4 small boulder lying at the
base of the cliff which showed indica-
cations of being highly mincralizcd.
He stopped his pony and, dismounting
picked the stone up and gave it 4 cas-
ual examination. Satisfying himself
that it contained no gold, he threw
down the stone and remountcd his
horse.
"What was it. Leo" Charlie ask
cd.
at was only 4 piece Of iron stained
quartz" was the answer
ron-stained quartz is not found in
this gulch without meaning some
thing. Let me see the rock.
SO Charlie dismounted and picking
up the boulder which his brother Lee
had just thrown away, he hurled it
with considerable force against the
rock at the side of the ravine. The
rock broke into, and with shout OF
surprise both brothers picked up the
fragments. The round boulder had
| been split evenly into halves, and there
on each piece were many gllttcring
specks of gold. There was no cattle
hunting that day. They naturally
looked up the side Of the mountain to
see whence the little boulder had
come.
They climbed the steep side to a
point about fifty feet above the creek
level, and almost Immediately found
a ledge of free gold. Clearing away
the loose dirt and broken pieces OF
rock with their cattle Whips, they got
down to the quartz vein, finding sew
cral nuggets of gold protruding
the hard rock. They traced the out
groupings along the mountain ridge
far enough to convince them that it
was extensive, and then mounting
, their horses returned home. The fol
lowing morning, having taken their
father,C. +. Carr, into their secret,
they returned to their find and pro-
| ceedcd to stake out the ground. Their
secret was their own until eleven claims
had been staked and recorded, and then
| the little town of Custer, with its sur
rounding settlements add camps, was
startled with the news Of the discov-
| cry.
The brothers soon had hole sever
al feet on the vein, and they were
almost crazed with joy at what they
found. There were nuggets of gold
as large as hickory nuts and large
pieces of rock seemed to be literally
filled with gold. One piece as large
as dinner plate was edged with mug
gets as large as lima beans. Several
hundred dollars worth of gold was
taken out in 4 short Whitley. I
SIR.