Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-08-08
FORTUNE IN DESER'
RICH FIND MADE BY A LONE
PROSPECTOR.
George Simmons Discovery Of Lcng
Abandoned Mine Made Him the
Turquoise kine"-Assassnate by
, Discharged Foreman.

The tGr" Hoise i.i.1G is dead. A care
OF tafi.li-.s adventures aad i sj,
breadth esta :Gs, a life in which 80
smile CT fortune ~ame at the most un
expected ui&es and places. has beer
ended. like tie Ives of SO man, others
bearing royal tits, by an assaSs in 8
bullet.
george Simmons. tie tur.u Use king
was II leCu"lt visitor in Denver dur
ing the later years OF his life Mr.
simmons was murdered ON October
10 at Marvel Cal, an isolated mining
town near the Nevada line. While get.
ting into wagon to drive home he
was shot and instantly killed by W. II
Miller. fireman whom he had dis.
charged 2 e. or so ago.
The dis co. Ary of his mine was an
exan1bl of IS Keen scent for the
Unusual. RidiAg through the Crescent
mountains IL tie Mojave desert one
Gay. he noticed .at :, little distance
slight eIey ton or mound which
although perhaps undisturbed for cen.
turles, had apparently been built by
human ha.f'sS. 4 closer examination
OF the heterogeneous materials COM
posing the iAuah,l convinced him Of its
artificial character aud a5 it was too
large for an ordinary grave. he deter
mined to investigate Itr;sar. Digging
down into the center OF the mound he
came upon d stone and later complete
sets OF the rude stone tools used ir
mining by UHciviized persons. Con-
timing the excavation, he opened up
the Workings of an ancient mine and
she deposits OF turquoise Whieh after.
ward brought him wealth.
For years he kept the location OF
the mine a secret. working it in a des-
ultorE manner. The property was a0t
patented, and lest some wandering
prospectors should run upon il bv
accident he built a stOckade around it
and kept a man With a Winchester on
guard night and day. People who tried
to learn the location of his mine by
following him into the desert founc
that ii was a dangerous business. For
instance, there was Jim McClurg. one
u the first men whose acquaintance
Simmons made in Den.er Unknown
TO Simmons, McClurg boarded the
same train With the owner of the mine
and followed him to Nevada Simmons
quick eye however. caught glimpse
OF McClurg as the latter got down
from the rear end of the train at their
destination, and the Denver man Was
promptly warned that a ballet would
stop him if he attempted TO follow
Simmons to the mine
On Simmons first visits to Denver
he used to bring with m large trav.
cling grip filled with splendid tut.
quoises. The stones were pale blue in
color, while those from the old mines
in New Mexico were dark blue, and
at first it was hard to find buyers for
the product of Simmons mine.
Failing to get enough money from
the sale of the turquoises to pataut
the property and develop it. Simm. ms
went to London to secure capital He
put valuation of $500 600 on his mine
and f1oated il on that basis.
When he returned to New York.
Simmons put up at the Waldorf
Astoria. The collection of turquoises
he had with him we're the talk of the
hotel. Some one got him to show
them to party of ladies. including the
wife OF the manager. Boldt. The lat
ter asked him to put price on a par
tlcHlarly fine stone weighing 32 karats.
Simmons said 81 900, not for a moment
expecting 10 make a sale, but Mrs.
Bolt turned to her Husband and had
him write out check for that
amount One of the stones in the col,
lection was the largest in the world
weighing lG4 carats. An agent of
New York dealer followed him. offer
ing him $4,000. 1t was Simmons am
bition to get a 200-carat stone and he
finally Observation-Disclosures Times,