Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-05
THE NEVADA GOLDFIELDS.
It Was Bret Harte Town for Awhile,
but Not Now.

From Golfers Weekly.
There are over 5000 people in Godfields.
1t was a Bret Harte town for while, but
the old flavor is going now. There are tele-
graph lines. young lady typists with side
combs, and fresh drummers. The town act
ually hires press agent, much after the
manner of a circus 1t is Just on the verge
of having railroad. 1t lies in the crater
of an old volcano amid painted hills that
| flame with brilliant scarlets, violet grays,
| ash of roses and azure blues,
There are two stories about the gold
| there; one is told by the disgruntled pros
pector who found nothing but roulette ia
| bleS; the other is the version of the press
| agent and the mining promoter; neither is
! overballasted with truth. The real truth IL
not to be had. The mines all guarded
from the public: some of the ore dumps are
surrounded by big fences At present no
ore to speak of is being shipped out, owifS
to the prohibtive cost of shipping by wagon.
When the railroad comes In it Will be pos
sible to tell the wonderful story of the
Goldfelds ore. AS the mines are just start
ing there are hundreds OF miners looking
for work. and not finding it they rush on
to the Bullfrog region. This is two days
south of Goldfields. These little towns. hud-
died in the Nevada hills. three days ride
| from the nearest railroad. like an old
Scene-loft where the props for a frontier
drama have been slowed away. You can't
believe 1t is all real. The Bullfrog is named
out from hillside in the Amargosa valley
Of southern Nevada. overlooking the des-
ert.
1t was discovered last summer by a miner
named Shorty Harris. in whom no romance
fingered. That ledge might have suggested
to Shorty the sea at avn. or the lure of
the Lorelei. or something equally frivolous
But to Shorty tina: green looked like the
back of big bullfrog. So 1t will be Bull
frog to the end of the chapter. 1t is hard
on the future aristocracy of Bullfrog.
Beatty lies in mountain pass sprawled
across broad mesa Men hunt stray bur
ros in canyons of wild picturesqueness. 1t
is rag town, all canvas; about every third
tent is a saloon, after the manner of border
towns. Hotels are long canvas tents cut
into rooms, that quake and shiver in the
wind. Amiabe bands OF burros meander
through the streets and lick the labels or
tin cans in the back yards. At night. nigh
tenor burros hee-haw across the starlit
canyons to baSSo profundo burrOS untll the
night is hideous, FIe,ghtrrs come craving
in, covered with dust from the dss
Twice week the big four horse stage
whips in from civilization with the mail.
On the bench in front of the tent post office
is the symposium of BullfroS. Beneath
every khaki coat is pocket full OF speci-
mems. Every man believes in the bottom
of his heart that he knows the location of
the mystical lost Bryfosel mine. the ore or
which grows SD richer with every telling
BryfCgel was an old Dutchman. Back in
the sixties he left Oregon with two hot
blooded young southerners on long cir
cuitous route to join tie confederate army.
On the way they came across a ledge of
fabulous richness some here in Nevada.
The two young SoutheTnccs would not stop
but BryfoSefs patriotism dwindIed. lie
took samples of the ore to Austin New.
and got partners to go back with him to
work the mine. They were followed by a
mob of proSpectors shadow.ng them for
their secret. Bryfogel lost his way The
mine was rever found. The parties from
Austin Were disposed to hang him. but
finally relented. He would not go back
with them they abandoned him with
what provisions they could spare. lie
vowed never to go back until he had found
the mine. One day, while drinking at
Stump Springs. 100 miles south of Bull
&. he was hit over the head by a Piu:e
Indian. When he was brought back to lie
all recollection of the mine had been wiped
out of his memory. All the fools in the
southwest who are not hunting for the lost
Peg Leg mine are hunting for the lost
Bryfogel mine. They claim now that il
was in the Bullfrog district