Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-26
IDAHO HAS
LOST MINE
A FORMER LIBBY MAN GIVES
HISTORY OF A DAZZLING
FAIRY TALE OF GOLD.
DEATH SEALED THE LIPS
OF A LUCKY PROSPECTOR.
Found Quartz of Exceeding Richness
and Left a Map Describing
Its Location.

for years adventurous spirits have sac
|!lllced time. means and frequently life
IN the search for mythical lost gold
mines. Montana has not beer chino in
furnishing men with an inclination to
pursue these phantoms and the history
OF several expeditions to search for the
Lost Cabin mine is yet fresh in the
minds of the public.
The vicinity of Colburn, IDAHO, fur
nishes the latest evidence of men who
are still willing to believe in such fairy
taleS, and a stamped is threatened. A
gentleman named Gordon, who formerly
resided at Libby, this state, but Who is
now a resident of Colburn, gives the Lib
by News an interesting history of the at
fair, as follows:
II seems that a good many years ago
q prospector was prospecting in the hills
pack OF Colburn and brought out with
MIN a piece of exceedingly rich decom-
posed quartz, so rich that it was held
together by seams of gold. He took the
quartz to Walla Walla, at which place
he was we'll known, and organized a
company for the purpose of returning
into that section and finding the vein
from which the quartz had come, for it
was only a piece of float. AS is custom
airy in such cases, almost Immediately
after the company had been successfully
organized and only a rough ma~ of the
country in which the find was made had
been drawn, the prospector died and his
S~
enthusiasm of the other members of the
party and a further search was newer
made.
One Of the members of that ompany
organized for the purpose of making a
search for the vein, retained the map
which the dying prospector had drawn.
on which We're also some instructions
about how to proceed, the initial point
being a certain place on the old KOOt-
.enai river trail, which is one of the his
tnric Ia n1r1 q tkS ia rY1i1iar tn fhn,1Sa n6S nf
old-timeTs who tIamped through this
section of the country long before any
of the western railroads were though of.
This initial point is thought from the
map and Instructions to be in the neigh
0borhood Of Colburn, and there is now at
that place a party of five prospectors.
who claim Spokane as their residence.
and they are putting in all their time in
~endeavoring to get on the right track.
At his place the trail is all but obliter-
ated, ON account of the rank vegetation,
n this makes the work of the party all
the more difficult. The party is we'll
supplied with all the n~ecessaries for a
long and continuous search and from an
appearance of the party it is thought
they will stick to 1t until the snow flies,
unless they meet with success before
that time.
None of the members will have any
thing to say, not even satisfying he Gu
riosity of inquirers to the extent of say
ing that they are p~rospectoq's, let alone
giving anything of the history of the rea-
son why they are in hat section. What
makes it all the more noticeable is the
fact that it is generally understood there
are but few indications of mineral in the
range of mountains back of Colburn. 1t
may be that success will reward the eft
forts of this party, n if they succeed
in finding the vein from which this piece
of ore came, which is reported to be OF
marvellous richness, there will be a SIAM
nede into that section which will make
the diggings on the beach at Nome look
like a side show.