Middletown transcript., 1900-02-17
AN ELUSIVE BONANZA
THE STORY OF THE LOST LODE OF
GORE RANGE.


How q TenderfcOt Accidentally Dis
covered This Wonderful Bank of
Gold and why He Didn't Enjoy the
Richness Thereof
They were telling mining stories in
the courthouse, and Dee Reese, the
{ lawyer, asked:
"Did you ever hear Of the lost lode
Of the Gore ranger
The other lawyers sitting around
him said they had never heard OF it
and then waited for him to begin. Mr..
Reese borrowed a fresh chew Of tobac-
CO and told this story:
Hundreds Of experienced and kaex-
perienced miners as well have spent
a great deal Of time and money looking
for the lost lode Of the Gore kdnge,
and they are searching for ia yet.
This famous mine was found and lost
In the fall of 1896. A party Of men
from Iowa visited Routt county, Colo,
In the fall Of 1896 on a hunting and
fishing trip. The party made its
headquarters at Steamboat Springs.
In the latter part Of October the party
moved up and went into camp on
Rock creek, in the Gore range OF
mountains, which runs through north
ern Colorado. One Of the party was
a druggist, who had gone on the trip
for his health. He knew nothing Of
mining. He had been warned by an
old miner before he left Iowa not te be
fooled, as many tenderfoot had been,
by what is known as fools gold or
iron pyrites. So this druggist paid no
attention to the rocks, but attended
strictly to his hunting and fishing.
"One afternoon while hunting FOR
deer he started a fine buck and fired at
him and wounded him. The buck fell,
but got up and ran before the druggist
could get toshim. Where he4fel was a
pool Of blood, which showed that he
was badly wounded. The hunter trailed
him by the blood spots on the dead
leaves and grass for a mile and there
found where the buck had lain down
and then rising had gone on again. In
this way the chase continued until
sundown, and thenSthe hunter, who
was exhausted, sat down on an out
cropping ledge of rocks@to rest.
"In the enthusiasm of the chase he
had not noted which way he travelled
and he realized that he was lost in the
heavily timbered mountains, with
night coming on. He knew 1t would
be useless to try and find the camp.
that night, so he gathered pile of
dead limbs and kindled fire against
the ledge.of rocks and laid down with
his feet to the blaze and prepared to
sleep. While lying there he noticed
the rocks sparkled In the freight. He
got up and examined 1t, supposing it
was the fools gold he had been warn
ed against. But the rock looked so
pretty that he broke of several pieces
and put them in the pocket of his
hunting coat, intending to carry them
back to Iowa with him as curiosities.
"The next day he wandered all the
forenoon, and then found the Gore
pass road over the range and followed
it to the camp. That very afternoon
a regular mountain snowstorm began,
and the party broke camp. returned to
Steamboat Springs and from there
went east.
"The druggist, whose name have
forgotten, staid in Denver for a few
days on his way to his home In Iowa.
In the lobby of a hotel In Denver the
talk drifted to mining, and the drug
gist mentioned the specimens Of stone
he had found and was taking home.
An old miner never misses a chance to
examine specimen and In this group
in the hotel lobby was an old prospect
or, He asked to be shown the speci-
mems. The druggist went to his room,
fished up the old hunting coat from
the bottom Of his trunk and took out
the piece of stone. The miner exam
lned it closely and exclaimed:
"tA1an, that's the richest specimen
Of gold bearing quartz | have ever
seenr
'"rhe druggist thought at first that
be was being joked with. but at last
the old miner induced him TO take the
Burlingame. the best as
sayer In Denver. Burlinga4ne assayed
4 piece Of the quartz and reported that
It yielded gold at the rate of $l7. .000 to
the ton. The druggist was not satiss
ied. He Submitted another piece of
the quartz to another expert assayer
and got a report that it yielded gold at
the rate of $4,000 to the ton
: 1.-THE druggist returned at once to
Stea amboat Springs. but there was snow
In the mountains. He went back to
Iowa and returned TO the Gore range
The next spring and has spent every
summer since then looking for the lost
ode, and others have searched for ifsS
zoo, but no trace Of 1t has been found.
Kansas City Star Il