Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1901-01-24
ROMANCE OF A MINE.

Bonapartc mine, in Elmore county,
and will open it up in good shape
as soon as the weather will permit.
This is a new company, organized
in New York, and at its head is
Jerome Carly, a well known jurist
OF that state. This information
in private letter. to this city.
There is hardly person in Ell
more county who does not know
"Uncle Ben" Nordyke, who has
been mining in the vicinity of
Rocky Bar for the past 40 year s
and who discovered what is now
known as the Bonaparte. The
story is one of the many told Of the
olden day, but it has never been
published.
When Rocky Bar was in it's in
fancy Ben Nordyke drifted in. He,
like many a hundred other pros
pectors at that time, had been
called to this, the newest and rich
est camp of them all, by the tales
OF tremendous pay and fine situa-
ton. He found some ground and
went to work on it, doing no good,
all the pay material having been
taken before he reached the camp.
Going broke, at the same time he
became disguised, so securing a
sack of flour and few other things
from friend, he packed his last
cayuse and started out, not in the
least caring or knowing where he
was going all he was after was
pay" He was entirely alone and
in strange country, having gone
into the camp by way Of Boise, and
upon starting away from it he
went in exactly the opposite direc-
ton. He Travelled for three or four
days, keeping off the beaten paths
and testing the gravels in every
gulch and depression.
One night about s o'clock he en-
tered new gulch, one he did not
detect till almost inside, and there
was good feed for his cayuse and
good water. He resolved to camp
for the night and unpackitg, got
his frugal supper, and went to bed.
Rising before the sun in the morn
ing, he soon had his breakfast ready
and eaten, and was starting to pack
his animal for the days travel
well nigh disguised with everybody
and everything. But he thought
finally he had better test the sand
in this gulch.
Taking his pan and shovel h.
went the few steps from the camp
fire to the stream and, digging up
couple of shovels full of the loos e
gravel, he proceeded to pan it out.
At first his work was of a perfume
tory nature, like that of an auto
matom-but all at once, he changed
these tactics. His eyes became
rivuted upon the pan, the swaying
back and forth Of his arms became
more gentle and careful, and as it
got down to pretty fine black sand
he began to heave great breaths-
he had struck it rich 1t was, in
deed, one OF the richest gulches of
the section, though there was not
very much gravel to be utilized, the
gulch being diminutive. He again
made camp, this time permanent,
turned his animal loose to Craze as.
it would, and began mining. He
made rocker from the raw mate
rial at hand, and for two months
he worked from daylight to dark.
1t was bonanza, and at the end
of that time, winter coming on, he
he quit, found the cayuse, and
stared for the outside, going almost
directly through to San Francisco,
where he had determined to spend
the winter,
When he arrived in San Francisco
"Uncle Ben" had a cool $4,000 as
the result of the three months soil
tary labor. He was an ardent poll
tician, and because it was good to
him he had named the gulch
Democrat" and to this day it is
SO known to him at least. San
Francisco at that time was not the
abode of angels--nobody at that
time accused "Uncle Ben" of being
an angel. In the spring he bor-
rowed sufficient money from a
friend to return to Idaho-but
when he reached his gulch he four d
Others had found it, and every foot
OF the ground was taken and being
vigorously worked. Uncle Ben has
had a number of good stakes in his
life, but the one he took out of
Democrat gulch was the best and
easiest made, so his disappoint-
ment was keen, indeed. He drifted
off, into Utah, Montana, California
and New Mexico, but always his
mind would turn back to old Altu-
ras county (now Elmore)
Some ten or more years ago he |
came back, and again went to Demo-
2rat gulch. There were tumble
lown old cabins, rotten sluices and
Itch trestles; plenty of rats and |
pats, and now and then a crow or
'oyote, but not person. The place \
lad been abandoned for many I