Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-09-29
FORTUNE IN DESERT
aiCH FIND MADE BY A LONE
PROSPEcToR.
George Simmons Discovery Of Long
Abandoned Mine Made Him tn"
Turquoise king'-Assassinated by
Discharged Foreman.

The trr"uo;se king is dead. \ carec::
ot THRU. anventures and hair
breadth s>,udE Ee@, a lfc il which the
smile OF 1Drts.lle :ame at the most un
expected titles and places, has been
ended, like the i.yes of Sc, many others
bearing royal ti!'ns. by An assass ms
bullet
George Simmons. the turquoise king,
was a frequent visitor in Denver dur
ing the later years OF his life. MT.
Simmons was murdered Oh October
Is at Manvel, Cal. an isolated mlnlEs;
town near the Nevada line. Vale get
ting into a wagon 10 drive home ne
waS shot and instantly killed by W. Fl.
Miller. fireman whom he had dis
charged q yoer or so ago.
The discovery OF MS mine was ar
.Na.14ti of E! (. keen scent for thu
unusual. Riding ,hrough the Crescent
! mountains IN the .lGtave desert one
>lay, he noticed ~ :, little distance 4
slight e!evatso4 mound, which
although perhara tl.tisturbed for cen
turtles, had 80 a:",.t'. been built by
human hands. :. t.s}E>! 2>anlnatiop
OF the heyero&.s materials com
sosi"s the mound rGnvi.tfal him Of its
artificial chafac:t:" H.:t; q; j: vas too
. large for an ord i."rg :,:aye. he deter
mined 10 iuves:i~s. IL - '.Hc. Digging
down into he col:,l II t:.e mound hc
came upuu !, staJ..s 2.i,i a.&ter complete
sets of the ru4a stone tools used III
mining by unciviil ..t persons Con
inning the excavation, ne- opened up
the workings Of al ancient mine and
.he deposits Of turquoise mich after>
/ ward Brought him wealth.
For years he kept the location o;
the mine Il secret working it III d de.-
lltors manner. Tne property was hot
I patented. and lest some wandering
prospectors should run upon II by
; accident be built a stockade around it
t and kept Man with a Winchester ON
| guard night and DAY. People who tried
, to lear. the location Of MS mine BY
following him into the desert tounc
that il was a dangerous business. For
; instance, there was Jim McClurg, one
= ti.e first men whose acQuaint lnce
'tmmons made in Den:er. Unknowr
o Simmons, McClNrg boarded the
same traln 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 bullet would
stop him if he attempted to follow
Simmons to the mine
On Simmons. first visits to Denver
be used to bring with - large trav.
+ cling grip flied with splendid tur-
quoises. The stones We're pale blue in
color, while those from me old mines
n Nea Mexico We're dark blue, and
1t first it was hard to find buyers for
The product Of Simmons nine.
Failing to get enough money from
the sale OF the turquotses to patent
he property and develop It, Simmons
vent to London to secure capital He
put a valuation of 500 coo on his mine
! and foated il on that basis
When he returned to New York
, Simmons pus up at the Waldorf
Astoria. The collection Of turquoises
he had with him were 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 a price on par
! tlcularly fine stone Weighing 80 karats
Simmons said $1,000, not for moment
! expecting to make sale but Mrs.
Bolt turned to her .usban and had
him write out q check for that
amount. One of the stones in the col
lection was the largest in the world
weighing 164 carats. An agent of q
New York dealer followed him. offer.
ing him 1000. It was Simmons am
bftion to get 200-carat stone and ba
nnally succeeded. Denver Times.