The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-02-12
GOLDEN SANDS
TO BE LAID BARE
Miles of Channel of Snake River VIII
Be Drained.
CHANCE FOR PRoSPECToRS
TWIN FALLS IRRIGATION CANAL
THROWN OPEN MARCH /.
HARVEST Of golden nuggets.

A HAIRY Isl or golden nuggets.
~ \ channel in the Snake river
thirty miles long. 600 feet wide
and an average of 700 feet deep, reputed
To be gold-ballasted from one end TO the
other. but never before accessible. will
be- open to the prOSpectOr and fortune
hunter ON the first day OF next month
and for several days thereafter
Ever since the beginning this chan
mel. which has been hewn out OF the
valley through which it runs by the
waters flowing down from iuuumerable
mountain streams. though judged 10 be
full Of golden nuggets. has defied the
efforts of the miner to garner them by
keeping them concealed deep beneath
the surface of the sUrging torrents in
the rifles made in the lava rOck which
forms its bottom. On the first day of
March the spell is to be brokeu-the
mystery is TO be solved. and man. for
the first time. viii be able To substan-
tiate or deny the stories which have
been fascinatingly told for a generation
past
\ person can leave salt Lake in The
evening and be on the ground jan the
morning. II legend Is to develop into
reality. fortune may bC gathered dur
ing the dav and YOU can return home
the next tf avariciouS. you MAJ wear
OUT a week OF your lucky existence in
adding to your pile. And then, again,
there may be nothing there.
S'iarNE FNiNCl ~ DC II diHEUs
on the first day of March the Twin
Falls Land & Irrigation company viii
close the gates to it's wOrld-famOuS dam
OF the snake river at Twin Fails. and
during the several days that VIII be
/ consumed in filing its immense reSer-
NOir above the falls. not a single drop
[ of water viii find its way into the rock
ribbed caVernOus channel or canyon
/ for distance Of thirty miles below the
4 falls The only water that will remain
! VIII be that which cannot escape from
/ the depressiOns and holes ia the bot
/ toms. Thousands OF bars believed 10
! be heavily laden with gold. and thou
| sands of CTeViCeS in the rocks which
| are believed L" have caught the heavier
| nuggets washed down the stream
/ through the ages, viii become bare and
made accessible TO the prospector- In
/ the distance named it is said there are
4 innumerable places where the pre-
/ cipitous banks may be scaled and the
! bottom of the canyon reached. and
/ there is no doubt that many persons
I will jump at the chance to investigate
/ the channel.
| Tales of the Past.
! It is related that twenty years or
/ more ago the waters OF the Snake river
| became unusually low, and for time
| miners were able to dc considerable
! prospecting along the bars which We're
/ left high and dry Gravel that would
| wash s. a yard was easy 10 find. and in
( some Instances creV1ceS in The rocks
! carrying coarse nuggets were found
| But even at low water the work was
1 risky and the results uncertain. as the
/ particular portions of the canyons
/ bottom that the miner was most anN-
/ ious to get at were still Inaccessible.
! The work of the Twin Falls company
/ viii remove the last barrier. and the
men who undertake the task viii BE-
I able to settle forever the question Of
| the riches thought to be hidden in hat
/ great stream.
Long Record of Failures.
The quest Will be a fascinating one.
( and the knowledge gained viii be OF
! value to the mining world. Millions
! have been spent in the introduction Of
/ machinery and devices calculated To
reach and explore the lower reccsSes
| of that canyon. Failure has followed
failure. Lives innumerable have been
lost, but these have not deferred others
| from taking up the work and cOntin-
ing the search. The millions of acres Of
! gravel and sand along the banks OF the
! famous stream have always yielded
( enough OF the yellow metal to excite
| the credulOuS and tempt the more sober
/ calculator to believe that the bottom
! OF that stream must be the richest
/ .sliuce box" in the world Men IN all
, walks of life have always believed tE1
gold was there. They viii never be
convinced otherwise until they have
solved the problem 10 their own "a It's
I faction. The opportunity il now at
hand, and it may be safely predicted
that it will be taken advautagerof by
how many?