Mohave County miner., 1900-06-16

| man oeseeu ocnlemn TO return, saving
that he himself would not 90 on. even
II the hills we're solid metal, but Schief
MN refused to be dissuaded, SO the old
prospector bade him goodbye and good
luck and headed his burro for Fort
Huachuca.
Schieffiin travelled only at night time
and never camped at a water-bole.
where the Indians were most likely to
surprise and kill him. At last he
reached the river in safety. 1t was still
eight miles from the river to the buttes
which he desired to prospect. One
night he slipped across the valley and
before morning was secreted in one of
the canyons. There he camped for
four days, not daring to make a fire for
fear the smoke might be seen by
Apaches, and not venturing into the
open, except after nightfall. To his
greatest joy he found that at last he
had discovered his Dorado. Describ.
ing to friend his experiences, he said
that he forgot all about the danger
from scalping and torturing Indians
when he knocked off piece of ex-
posed rock and saw that it was chuck
full of ruby silver. In his excitement
OF having at last found what he so
dearly sought after so many years, he
sat down in the sun and cried for Joy.
That night, by moonlight, Schieffiin
set up as good as possible the legal
monument on his mining claim, and
the following day he retraced his steps
to Tucson and civilization. In his sad.
die bags were dozens of specimens of
bis find, but at Tucson nobody would
look at them; the Apache raids occu-
pied the minds of everybody there.
At Signal, little copper mining camp
near Prescott, an old boyhood friend
OF his named Dick Gird, who came
from Herkimer, N. Y. was living as an
assayer. Thence Schieffin journeyed,
some 400 miles over desert and sun.
baked mountains. Too poor to pay
cash for his assaying, Schieffiin agreed
to give Gird half of what he found 10
the way of mine. The assays showed
that the ore in Schieffin's saddle bags
ran 3,00os and even 7,0o0s ton. Schef.
fin thought at once Of his brother Al
bert, who arrived at last with 3,Oo0s in
his pocket. That was the beginning of
the Tombstone mining capital.
Two months later when the troops
had driven the Apaches back into the
Chirricahua mountains, Ed. Schefflin,
his brother Albert and Richard Grid
with two half-breed helpers, started
out from Tucson to make their legal
claims to the ledges that Ed. Schieffiin
had found. The three prospectors as
certained in few days that they had
"big thing" and. staked off the Con-
tention, Tough Nut, Lucky Cuss, Good
Enough and Graveyard, all of which
have become famous.
The news Of the new mining strike
spread as quickly as wild fire. Soon
an army of adventures flocked into
the camp. Thousands of locations
were staked out, city sprung into ex-
istence as IL by magic, reduction works
we're erected, and steady stream of
bullion began finding its way out of
the camp. Since the first stamp was
dropped in June 1879, the camp pro-
duced nearly 4O,OOJ,OOOs in bullion. AT
ter the rustlers had driven out the
Indians, and the residents the rustlers,
the camp developed into well built
city of nearly 10000 inhabitants, who
not less than five newspa-
pers, among them the once famous
Arizona Kicker"
In the early sJ's Tombstone was
real "hot" mining camp. Fights be-
.ween the residents and the rustlers
we're daily occurrences, the stages were
held up regularly and often the road
agents would be back in camp spend
ng their booty before the plundered
'tage arrived. The "Bird Cage" va
'iety theatre, was the rendezvcur of all
male and female tough characters.
Many fortune was spent and gallons
# gore were split there. Now the
adobe structure with its boxes
md galleries is still standing on Main
treet as momento of the times by
,one.
The three founders of Tombstone
ook ont an immense fortune, and af.