Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-31

stole In among the little band and. the
weaker ones perishing in quick succession,
were buried where they fell. Finally the
survivors scant stores were exhausted and
no water could be found. Within a month
the party was reduced to four men. There
was no chance for retreat, and, though
dying by inches, the survivors pressed on
toward the southwest.
One night while camping near a rocky
ledge George Dennis discovered that the
sight on the muzzle Of his rife had been in
some way loosened and lost. Searching for
something with which to replace 1t he no
ticed a whitish metallic substance in the
rock close at hand and, securing a piece of
It. he speedily Whitfield out and fitted into
HIS rife a clumsy substitute for the lost
sight. The following morning. without par
ticularly noticing the locality Of the camp,
the four men resumed their journey. Two
Of them, falling by the way, died during the
following week, and only two survivors of
the party finally reached a settlement In the
San Bernardino valley. Here the gunsight
which the amateur gunsmith had carved In
the desert attracted the attention Of an old
miner, who at once pronounced 1t pure
native silver, and eagerly inquired where IT
had been found. Dennis told how 1t had
come into his possession, but could give only
scanty information as to the locality OF the
ledge from which It had been taken. A
careful computation of the number Of miles
probably covered by the unfortunate men.
together with a reckoning Of the number OF
days they had wandered after leaving the
camp, enabled a general idea to be formed
Of the probable location Of the ledge. A
prospecting party was at once organized and
a careful search made for what has ever
since been known as the Gunsight ledge, but
failure attended the effort. Every year from
1854 till now some men have gone in search
Of the silver gunsight. Only a few weeks
ago a party Of three prospectors started out
from the desert town Of Barstow, CAL, 70
follow what they believed was a sure trail to
the long and dearly sought Gunsight mine OF
Death valley.
Peg Leg Tradition.
The Colorado desert, In the extreme
southern part OF California. and the noun
tains on the boundary between California
and Mexico have been secured annually for
more than thirty years by adventurous gold
seekers in quest Of the Peg Leg mines. Nc
lost mine, after the Gunsight, is more ia
nous han the Peg Leg. Once every few
years the mining population Of the coast if
excited by the news that the lost Peg Leg
has been found again. Even now there are
parties OF miners prospecting for some indi-
cation that will show the location OF the
rich ledge that Peg Leg Smith found years
ago. A drunken, rollicking gold miner, John
o. Smith, who was known as Peg Leg
Smith, because Of a wooden leg that he wore
In place Of a leg, came into Los Angeles
one day in July OF 1868 with his camp out
at and his mules laden with several sacks
Of gold ore. The rock was assayed by min
ing experts in Inc place, and The new
quickly spread that Peg Leg" Smith hat
ore that ran all the way from $3.50 to $500
a ton. OF course the whole country in ant
about what was then the little Mexican towr
! Of Los Angeles was soon wildly excited a
the news OF the find Of a mine that yielded
such ore. Nothing like II had ever beer
found south Of Amador county.
peg Leg Smith was a curious. taci-
turn kind of fellow and Il was several
weeks before he could be induced to say
a word as to where ne got his ore and the
quantity there was of such rock. When at
last he did say something about his dis
| covered treasure he refused to give more
| than a vague idea Of where his claim was
| situated. He said, however, that 1t wal
down across the Colorado desert, In the
mountain range in San Diego county. and
that until he knew whether this mine wat
| situated in the United States or Mexico
he must keep that part a strict secret to
himself.
He said that he had spent Ave months
in the locality Of this mine. with two half
breed Pima Indians, who had guided him
Il th.~o a., ,o.n,apk 4Ar Lfndnoaa ha had
rendered them In serious illness. He told
again and again. and always with rare
exactness Of detail, the surface indica-
tions Of his mine. the direction and slant
Of the gold bearing lodges and the sur
rounding geological and mineral condi-
lions and characteristics. Peg Leg said
he was confident there was as much gold
ore in his claim as in Mackay, Fair and
Floods Comstock lodges In Nevada, and
| every miner who Questioned and cross
questioned him day after day made the
| same estimate from the old prospector's
statements. Probably $50, 900. 900 or $780,
000, 900 was in the mines.
A Fatal Search.
Early in September Peg Leg Smith
turned up missing In Los Angeles, and
the news came across the country a week
OF Two luloT lIOm a DOA tnaN
he had been there and hastily and Sc
cretly "ntted out" for a camp Of several
| months in the mountains and q mule ride
across the desert. He had, ct the
last moment, taken two old mining
| chums with him and set out in the
night. II is almost impossible to
track a man across a desert Of
ever-shifting sand, so the several thousand
men who had made up their minds and
prepared themselves TO follow Peg Leg
Smith to his treasure md were forced tc
await the next appearance Of the old fel-
low in public. From the time that "Pel
Leg" and his companions set out from
San Bernardino absolutely nothing hal
ever been heard from the prospector
Several years later the dried and mummy
like remains Of the two men who &C
eompanied him and the skeletons Of tn
mules and remains Of their wagon an
mining tools were found over 100 miles on
on the Colorado desert. but not one traci
Of peg Leg" II is impossible that h
could have escaped from that spot in tn
desert In September on foot.
The reputed treasure is still awaiting tn
man who will disclose II.
THOMAS RESIGNS HIS J0I