The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1900-03-30
AN ELUSIVE BONANZA
TRE STCaY Or TIE LOST LODE CT
GORE RANGE.

GoiI nrd Why IIc Didnt Enjoy the
Richness thereof.
they were telling mining stories in
the courthouse. and Dee Reese, the
lawyc-, 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 fresh chew of tobac-
co ana told this story:
"IIundrcds Of experienced and mex
prrinnccd miners as we'll have spent
u great deal Of time and money looking
for the lost lode of the Gore range,
and they are searching for 1t yet.
This famous mine was found and lost
i'm the fail Of 1896. \ party of men
from Iowa visited Routt county, Colo.
in the fall of lS0G on Il hunting and
fishing trip. The party made it's
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
Crn Colorado. One of the party was
Il druggist. who had gone OH the trip
for his health. He knew nothing Of
mining. He had bCcn warned Gy an
oil miner before he left Iowa not to he
fooled. as many Il tcnucrfoot had been,
by what is known as fools gold or
iron pyritcs. So this druggist paid no
attention to the rocks. but attended
strictly to his hunting and fishing.
nn, ,rt
deer he started Il fine buck and fired at
him and wounded him. The buck fell.
but got up and ran before the druggist
could get to him. Where he fell was q
pool of blood. which showed that lie
was badly wounded. The hunter trailed
him by the blood spots on the dead
leaves and grass for 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 then the hunter who
was exhausted, sat down on an out
cropping ledge Of rocks to rest.
"In the enthusiasm of the chase lie
had not noted which way he travelled.
and he realized that he was lost in the
heavily timbcrcd mountains, with
night coming on. He knew it would
be useless TO try and find the camp
that night, so he gathered pile of
dead limbs and kindlrl Il fire against
the ledge of rocks and laid down with
hi; feet to the blaze and prepared to
sleep. While lying there lie noticed
the rocks sparklud in the freight. He
got up and examined it. suppoSing it
was the fools gold lie had been warn
cd against. But the rock looked so
pretty that he broke off several pieces
and put them in the pocket CT his
hunting coat. intending TO carry them
nacH 10 Iowa with him us curiosities.
The next day ho wandered all the
forenoon. and then found the Gore
pass road over the range and followed
it to the camp. That very afternoon
q regular mountain snowSt0rln began
and the party broke camp. returned 10
| Steamboat Springs and from there
went east.
The druggist. whose name lave
| forgotten, staid in Denver for few
| days OH his way to his home in Iowa.
IN the lobby Of Il hotel in Denver tie
talk Gr!fied to mining. and the drug
Est mentioned the specimens of stone
An old miner never misses = chance to
examine Il specimen and in this group
in the hotel lobby was an old prospect.
| or He asked to be shown the spcc!.
mems. The druggist went to his room
iished up the Old hunting coat from
| the bottom of his trunk ana took out
the piece of stone. The miner exam
incd it closely and cXciaimcd:
"'Mau. that's the richest specimen
OF gold bearing quartz | have ever
! seen.
"Thc druggist thought at FIRST that
he was being jokCd with. bat ut last
the Old mincr induced him to take the
specimens To Bu"lin=amc. the best as.
Saycr in Drlvcr. Eurlngamr assaycd
Il piece OF the quartz ana reported that
it yielded gold ut tie rate of $IT,OG0 to
tie ton. The druggist was not salts
fled. He submitted another piece of
the quartz to another expert assaycr
ana got IL report that it yielded gold at
the rate of $1,000 to the ton.
The druggist returned at once to
Steamboat Springs. but there was snow
in the mountains. lie went back to
Iowa and returned TO the Gore range
the next spring and has spent every
summer since then looking for tie lost
lode, and others have searched for it.
too, but no trace of it has been found
Kansas City Star.
Weighing the Baby.