The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1900-04-27
TWO ELUSIVE MINES.
LEGENDS OF THE BLUE BUCKET AND
LOST BASIN sONANZAS.

oncc.
"There are two interesting legends of
lost mines that are famous all over the
northwest" said n Spokane mining man
recently. "Many n prospcctor has out
fitted at Spokane for Il search for the
Lost Basin and the Blue Bucket mines,
propositions that have hitherto cludcd all
efforts to find them. The Blue Bucket
mine lies somewhere i'll Oregon, ON n line
drawn from the big bend of the Snake
river, where it sweeps northward on its
way to the Columbia, and extending to
Yreka, Cal.
at was some time in 1850, / believe,
that party Of home seekers struck off
in the foothills of the Rockies on the
Oregon trail for the northwest, intending
to work down into northern California.
They were farmers, pure and simple, and
the news Of the discovery of gold in Cali
fornia had never reached them. They
had left the bend of the Snake river
some overwhelmingly the story is
not definite as to the number of days
behind them, and they camped one even
ing on the banks of n stream, where they
rested their oxen and horses for couple
of days. While the men of the party
hunted the surrounding country for fresh
meat and the women spent the time III
washing clothes, the children wandered
about in the vicinity of the camp picking
berries, carrying with them, as the story
has it, 'one of those old fashioned blue
buckets Old timers say that the blue
bucket was an important part of the
Argonaut's outfit in those days.
One day ut noon the children hurried
into camp, two of them struggling with
A. Of fhair hnnEnf tho hDtfOm
covered with u number of pieces Of yell
low metal. They said they had tried to
dig out of the ground some deep rooted
bush bearing flower that pleased them,
intending to plant it in the bucket and
take it along, and they had found the
pieces of metal in the ground. Every
body gathered about the find, and nobody
could make anything of it. The metal
couldn't be of brass, of course, they
knew, but II might be some kind Of ma
tive copper, as it could be beaten out fiat
with else. The pieces varied from the
size Of pumpkin seed to an egg.
1.-THE argonauts had no use for a single
pound of useless weight, and when the
party started off all the metal was
thrown away but q few pieces which the
children were allowed to keep for jack
stones, and heavy jackstones they were
| too. or course when Yreka was reached
| the playthings were recognized as gold.
| Then there was q stampede over the Ore
/ gon lava beds for the Blue Bucket mine.
| but snow had fallen east of the Cascade
range, and the track was lost. Two or
three Of the party spent their lives look
ing for the lost placer ground and died in
| poverty. The others settled down to
farming and succeeded ut 1t. Every few
years some prospector takes notion to
make his fortune by finding the Blue
| Bucket mine, but no gold has since ever
been discovered III that whole stretch Of
southern Oregon.
1.-THE lost basin Is legendary qsartz
| proposition hidden in u beautiful basin in
the Bitter Root mountains of southern
Idaho. \ packer who was employed by
one of the expeditions that made u PFC
liminary survey of the Union Pacific rail-
way made the discovery in the romantic
way that is characteristic Of the finding
of all lost mines. Several mules got
away one night in the widest part Of
| that mountain range, and George liar
| vcy-that was the packers name-wns
detailed TO find them, having first been
supplied with a horse To carry his bed
ding and grab. lie was instructed to
| hurry along rs soon as he had found the
| mules, as the engineers in charge Of the
expedition had decided that as the coun-
| try was impracticable for n railroad they
would lose no time in pushing westward
to the main camp, where various survey
ing parties were TO meet.
Harvey started back on the trail ear
| ly on the morning of the breaking up Of
the camp and found the mules in a little
valley grazing. He secured them with
out trouble and decided to camp. as night
hud fallen! In the morning he looked
| around. A peculiar rock formation 70
feet wide protruding from the ground n
| foot and extending 100 yards to the edge
Of a stream arrested his attention. The
rock was soft. and Harvey chopped up Il
| yard or more OF the surface. A yellow
CLINT caught his eye, and he picked up n
string of pure gold foot long and
weighing half pound. There was plcn-
ty more of the valuable metal i'll that
spot. aud after chuppins up the surface
If various places on the rock Harvey
satisfied himself that he had discovered a
great free milling gold ledge big enough
to make him millionaire several times
| over.
"Conccaling several pounds of gold
about his person. h" moved OFT of the
valley. after imprrsSiug the narrow ell
trance upon his mind He soon found the
| surveying party had hurried along SO fast
| that they had left no marks, blaZes on
trees or otherwise to Indicate the way
they had taken, and as he had to depend
on the intelligence OF his horse and the
mules to find the way he disrgardcd all
the landmarks. He finally arrived at the
main camp. saying nothing about his dis
covery and working at his job until the
| next summer.
FINALLY he made con6dant of old
Jim Henderson, whose eyes bulged when
he saw the evidence in pure gold of IIar-
vey's discovery. Both men put their say
ings togcthcr-they were afraid to try to
dispose OF Harvey's gold, as then the
secret would have been theirs no longer
purchased an outfit and started for the
basin or valley. or course they never
found it. Rocks and peaks and streams
were no landmarks to Harvey. for he had
neglected TO notice them OH his former
iurried trip 20 the main camp. The two
wandered through the mountains all sum
mer and came out az winter set in. AT
the settlement where the hourishing town
| of Boise now is they took others into
their confidence. who were convinced Of
the truth Of IIarvcy's story by sight Of
the gold which he still kept Many an ex.
petition was organized. but the basin was
lost for good. apparently. Even today
an occasional prospector makes search
for the lost basn."-New York Sun.