Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-12-03
BLACK HILLS ROMANCES.
Reaped Fortunes from Chance
Discovery of Gold.
AMUSING AND PATHETIC
sest In the HIIIs Discovered as the
Result Of a Joks-Lucky Tender
feet-Lest Gun and Found Rich
MIne-Found Fortune and Drop
ned Dead.

] ClOOANg anu VI NH9s
very discoveries were made by ten
derfeet" who didn't know gold unless
stamped with the American eagle. AS
in almost all gold camps the first
mines were placer ones, and the
placers Of DeadWood were famous in
their day. But they worked out, and
then began the hunt for the lode" or
the vein" And some amusing incl
dents are told Of how some Of the
mines were discovered.
The Ragged Top" district, one Of
the very best In the Hills, was dis
covered as the result of joke. The
discoVerer was green prospector.
He didn't know gold, and he knew
he didn't. But he was doing his best
to learn. and one day, while prospect
ing, he happened across some old
hands at the business, and the tender
foot asked their advice as to where
to prospect, saying at the same time
that 1t was a new business to him.
The opportunity to lode a tender
foot" was too good, and could not be
resisted. He WAS directed to the top
Of Ragged Top Mountain, composed
Of hard limestone, in which gold had
never been known to exist. He thank
ed them, and proceeded to the noun
tain indicated. The joke was too
good to keep, and when the party
Of prospectors returned to Deadwood
they told their friends and enjoyed
many laughs at the expense Of the
tenderfoot.
Three weeks later these same pros
pectors were working for that tender
foot on the summit OF Ragged Top.
taking out ore worth hundreds Of dol
lars per ton. The tenderfoot didn't
know enough about gold to know that
It never occurred In limestone in the
Black Hills, so he tested it. 1t was
one Of the richest strikes in the Hills
in late years, and made the tender
foot rich, while several Of the jokers
are still working for day wages in his
mine.
Billy Delaney, a youth from Madi-
son, Wis, came into the Hills and
Immediately left for the discoveries
on Elk Creek. He wanted mining
claim, but all the old California, Colo
RADIO and Montana prospectors had
located on the north side Of the
stream, where the gold was, and they
told Billy, jokinSly, to go to the south
side and get all the gold. He did
both, and to-day his find, the Manila
mine, is the best on the creek, and
the old prospectors have passed on.
Tom Tierney, an early prospector,
while out hunting and prospecting,
was climbing over reef OF rock
when his revolver slipped from his
belt and fell to the base. He climbed
down to the gun, picked it up, and at
the same time picked up a piece OF
quartz. When he reached camp he
analysed it and found 1t very rich in
gold. Early the next morning he
staked a claim and there was a big
stampede. His discovery made him
wealthy.
T. r. Porter, an Omaha newspaper
man, while tramping through the
Hills with two old prospectors, was
laughingly advised by them to take
up a claim "over there by, that big
rock" Porter laughed and passed on.
Three months later he passed that
way again and saw man from Dead
wood whom he knew taking out gold
bearing sand worth $1,000 per ton
from over there by that Rock" The
Deadwood man is now wealthy;
Porter is still "stringing."
The Lost Cabin mine, somewhere
ON the western slope of the Black
Wills. has been searched for for twen-
tn years and is still missing.
81 In addition to ludicrous and anus
dng incidents connected with gold dis
hoveries in the Black Hills. there are
others pathetic and pitiful. Fred
yfhompson was an old time prospec-
Stor. He had been at it for years
without making 4 stake, although
{many of his old associates had be-
come wealthy. At last, six months
iago his time came, and he made a
first class strike down in the South
|, ern Hills. Standing in his little pros
pect hole, with his hands full Of the
yellow nuggets which would place
him in a position Of honor and wealth,
>the old prospector suddenly dropped
his newly found gold threw up
his hands and sank to the ground.
When assistance reached him, he was
fdead. Heart disease, the doctor said,
brought on through the excitement of
the gold discovery. His claim went
to strangers.
For nineteen years Henry Evans
has prospected in the Black Hills. He
has never made a single discovery
,and has been grub staked" all those
years. The old man is now bent and
gray, but his eyes are bright and his
Spirit undaunted. He is absolutely
sure that sometime or anoJner ne
will strike it rich, and nothing could
induce him to give up the life Of
,prospector. Four years ago the writ
Ter saw the old man working In
b'hole" down in Spearfsh Canon. Then
old Evans was sure this would be his
last hole; he had at last found his
Eldorado. But the hole Is now aban-
doned and Evans Is working on an
other prospect in another part of the
Hills. He has the "prospector's few
fer" and rarely does the victim ever
recover.
LIN THE SECOND HALF
Bv Dorofhv Rlacknore