The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-05-15
An Old Miner Gets a Long Stretch Of
sobriety and a Big Fortune.

sobriety and a Big Fortune.
yuma (Ariz) Cor. Chicago Inter
Oceau)
When John D. Riker walks, a free
man. out Of the territorial penitentiary
next week, he viii have a fine fortune
at his command When he was impris-
oned here. nine years ago. he was with
out a dollar. Now $4,000 is in a bank
at Prescott. Ariz., awaiting his order,
and, besides, $4,000 is likely TO be paid
to him for mines belonging to him in
MOiaye county.
Riker came 10 the territory forty
years ago from Newark. n. ]. He was
about 20 years old then. He has been
"a salooHkeeper, stage driver, sheep
herder and tramp. AT one time during
the Tombstone boom, twenty-five years
ago. he was worth about $40 600
But Riker lost his money at faro and
roulette as fast as he made it. Then
he became tattered pr0specUOr in the
desert wastes and among the noun
tains. He made scores of locations for
mines.
Riker was a hard drinker. Half a
dozen times he was imprisoned in Tex
as and Arizona for short terms for pet
ty violations Of the law while drunk
or desperate. for money Finally. he
killed a bartender i'm a quarrel at the
silver mining camp of White Hills in
MoJave county, and was sentenced to
the Yuma penitenuary for ten years.
Along I'm 1885 when the copper boom
swept over the southwest, the CoahiIla
Copper company Of Chicago bought a
group OF copper claims iE YavaDai
county. Arizona, and began develop
-
An Old-time mining prospectOr with a
good memory recoTected the fact that
Riker, had i'm 1877, filed q mining claim
upon a good part of the ledge occupied
by the COahilla company. He told q
lawyer in Phoenix about e.
Riker was visited in Yuma peniten-
tiary, and he gave additional inf0rma-
ton about his claim upon the ledge and
his mines, the Buster and the Bigger.
there. The records of the United States
land Office We're searched and his claim
was found good Moreover. Rfker' 6
friends swore that he had done the re-
quired assessment work on the prop
erty for FIVE years Riker, however,
confessed that he had abandoned hone
Of ever making the property and had
almost forgotten it after ne went to
prison.
The Coahilla company was asked by
y
Buster and Bigger copper claim. and
the company agreed to avbitrate the
matter. The arbitration ended fn the
payment Of $4,000 20 John Riker's at
toTney. OF this, $1,000 went 20 the
lawyer for his services ana expenses
and the remaining S50.0o0 was put at
interest for Riker until he was released
from prison.
StiU more luck was to come to the
old convict miner. About a year ago
the discoveries of gold mines among
the yellow sands OF 1Iojsve county. in
this territory. brought The attention Of
the mining world 10 the value Of low
grade ore claims along the Rio Colo
RADIO. close to southerE Utah.
Ii came about that the Dandy mine.
which Riker had located and partly
developed fifteen years ago. has been
sought after by a dozen buyers. It
was Riker's good fortune that he was
not on the spot and able to accept the
early offers of sums ranging from
5000 50 $500 for his property. for
everybody who knows him IS sure he
would have snapped up one of the Of