The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-04-12
STRENUOUS WESTERN SENATOR.
Has Faced Death in Mining Camps
and Assisted Judge Lynch.
New York Journal.)

Nebraska's new senator. c. H. Diet
rich, played a part in the early history
of the Black Hills only second to that
played by his old friend, Seth Butler. the
rich has looked into the face of death
many a time at close range, and. as a
member of a vigilance committee, he has
helped Judge Lynch.
The new senator went west from Au-
rora, Ills. He began to make his living
when he was s years old He chored for
farmers, snatching what schooling he
could get from the little log school house
during the winter months. Then he be-
came a blacksmith. and. saving $120 in
1875, he paid his expenses to Cheyenne.
Wyo. Here he bought provisions and
blankets, and, hiring transport to
Deadwood. he tied the blankets on his
back and trudged along beside the wagon
that contained his provisions. The jour
neY was made in winter, 400 miles along
trail that led through Red canyon. in
which. Just before he went through and
Just after many white immigrants had
been killed by Indians.
Early in 1876 Senator Dietrich helped to
build the first store of Deadwood, The
Pioneer" After it was built Dietrich
delivered merchandise all over the Dead
wood country, travelling at night most
of the time, to avoid the Indians
@ g @
In the winter of 1S76-U Dietrich and his
two partners located the Aurora mine. 1t
Dttdttlt idUiOuS DttdUSe Ol TIE numerous
attempts to dispoSsess the three men
who located it, and the stanch resistance
made. The owners of the Hidden Treas
ure and the Keats were the men whom
Dietrich blamed for the trouble made for
him and his partners.
In those days all prospectorS were tres
passers. and the man in possession was
the man who had the cinch on the situa-
ton The owners Of the Aurora were
well intrenched. They publicly stated
what would happen We're attempts made
to drive them out The opposition was
afraid to make an open assault
The Aurora people had built sod
house and sunk a shaft. They kept one
man on guard all the time. This man
heard a pebble fall from the hillside
above the cabin. a man he saw and
challenged gave no answer and ran
away. The man dropped something 1t
was a giant powder bomb. 1t was learned
afterward that it was the mans inten-
ton to ignite the fuse, drop the bomb on
top of the Aurora cabin and blow the
Aurora outfit into kingdom come.
There was lull in the fight for
while. Then the Aurora people were
offered $4,000 for their mine They de-
clined to sell. So the conflict reopened.
Tunnels were run. and it was the opin-
ion of the Aurora people that failure to
blow them up from above was to have
been followed by an attempt to blow
them up from below. &c. just as their
night shift went into the Hidden Treas
ure to relieve the day shift. Dietrich and
his partners and their men lined up at
the mouth of the Hidden Treasure tun-
mel and refused to let the day shift out.
This was after Cephas futile had been
shot and killed and Dietrich himself had
been shot twice one bullet cutting his
forehead When the owners, of the Hid
den Treasure found the Aurora people
had laid powder mines above the tunnel
and could blow up the shift in the mine
if so disposed, there was capitulation.
Dietrich sold his interest in the Aurora
to Brown & Thun, bankers, and to SEN
ators Roscoe Conklin and Thomas Platt
of New York and ex-senator George A.
Spencer of Alabama. Then Dietrich be-
came member of the vigilance commit
tee, which took the place of the conven-
tional court of the east.
The. first case the vigilance committee
handled impressed Dietrich greatly with
the charm under which his life is pro-
tected d. Thomas Smith was the cul-
prit. His wife had been a rich widow