The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-02-01
THE MILLIONAIRE BURRO.
from Ainslee's Magazines

From Ainslee'S Magazine
The Millionaire Burro was self-made
He never had a pedigree. He was born
to toll amid the rough life of the noun
tafns His companions were adven-
turers, eager for a prospect" fond of a
drink, seldom choice in their language,
and just as seldom gentle toward the
pack animal that carried their burdens
up steep hillSides and down gullies in
their search for hidden wealth.
In 1888 the Occur d'Alene mountains
were known only as a picturesque
range, where deer roamed almost IN
molested by hunters. where trout leap
ed and multiplied in rushing streams,
and where bears were commoner than
men, But in the winter of 1S83-S4 the
word flew abroad that these haunts
of game were scanned with gold. The
precious metal had been found on the
north fork of the Occur d'Alene river,
and thither rushed thousands.
It was in September of1S85 that Cooper
& Peck of Murray, Idaho, had grub
staked n. S. Kellogg. an old prospector,
to look for gold. Part of the outfit was
the burro. Kellogg found some samples
of silver-lead ore, but an assayer told
Cooper & Peck that this mineral was of
insufficient value to be worth any trou-
bic in that country and as a conse-
quence the partnership WAS dissolved.
Kellogg, however, was DOT willing to
give up. He showed his samples to Phil
O'RourlSe, an old Colorado miner, who
recognized their value. The two inmed-
lately started out, laboriously packing
their Quilt Oh CneII DICKS. w nile en-
tering the gulch at the mouth of Milo
creek, Kellogg described wandering in
the solitude his companion of the last
prospecting tour the burrO. When the
partnership with Cooper & Peck had
been dissolved the donkey had been
turned adrift- The animal had wander
ed for two weeks, and now joyfully re-
joined his old friend, and willingly car
ried the packs of the tired prospecfors.
But the pair found only float or sur
face ore Their search for a lead
brought no results. One disappointed
evening they made their camp and fall
ed to tether the burrO securely. In the
dead of night the animal stole away.
The next morning the two set out to find
him. strewing profanity as they search
ed The tracks were plain, and wads of
hair scraped off here and there against
rocks and fallen logs helped them keep
the trail. 1t led along and. down steep
precipice that they had difficulty in
descending.
Finally after entering a canyon and
following it some distance, they saw the
burrOs standing immovable on the side
of a hill and gazing abstractedly across
the canyon The men stole cautiously
forward, expecting a chase.
But the burro remained like statue
When the pair reached the animal's
side they found that he was standing on
an out-cropping mineral veins while he
was gazing at the spot where shortly
ping of glistening galena
At the place where the burro stood
the Bunker Hill mine was located, KEEL
1oggss name being signed as discoyerer
and O,Rourke's as witness. After talking
the matter over. the two men concluded
that if Kellogg was named as discoverer,
Cooper & Peck might claim a share on
the ground that their burro was part of
the outfit. and that, therefore, Kellogg
was still in grubstake partnership with
them. Consequently, the next morning
the original notice was torn down and
O'Rourke's name substituted as dis
coverer
Returning to Murray the prospectors
showed their samples, and a stampede
started-but nobody knew where the
mine was O'Rourle confded in Dutch
Jake Goetz and Con- Sullivan. how
ever, and the latter two located the Sui
Ivan mine at the point at which the
burro had been grazing the day he stood
on the Bunker Hill lode.
After many discouragements the prop