The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-10-26
FOR THE MOTHER LODE "
Many a Prospector has Gone
to His Death Seeking 1t.
THE SEARCH FOR GOLD
The Theory Seems Plausible One
Lem HOLSTERS Lifelong Search
From California to the klondike
Victim to Its Fascination at
Last

Last.
zone of the points on which many
of the most level-headed and expert
enced of gold miners have a weak
ness" said man who had seen the
gold-hunting game in all its strenu'
BUSINESS in California, South Africa,
and the Klondike, "is the search for
the mother lode, as It is called. 1t Is
search, which. If successful, would
mean unlimited wealth for the lucky
finder There is something in geology
and more in dim historical traditions
to lead men into such search, but its
results so far have been loss of money,
health and life. Yet when a miner
ge the mother lode fever he is apt
to continue the search until death,
and generally death in some tragic
form puts a permanent end to his
wauderings and struggles.
The theory of the mother lode
seems a plausible one in many ways,
and even scientific research has not
been able to decide definitely as to its
truth or falsity. In California, the
<londike and most other gold districts
the first finds of the precious metal
are made in the rivers and streams
which run down from some adjacent
mountain range. 1t Is known, OF
course that this gold comes from tho
mountains and that ii was placed
there by great convulsions of nature
in former geological periods.
.Nf G- an nh
Gates of the mother lode, and in the
end a victim to the fascination of the
search for it, was old Lem Hollister,
whom first met in California just
about the time when the placer mining
game was beginning to fall off in pro-
! fits. ! don't know where he picked up
the theory, for in those days it was a
comparatively new one. But he GER
tainly had it in the most malignant
| form. He would work at placer min.
| ing until he had made fair stake.
| Then he would sell out his claim, re.
gardless whether it had been worked
out or not. And then he would mys-
! teriously disappear. With most of
| that old crowd of miners it would have
been a safe wager that they were in
San Francisco spending their stake in
the many ways open to man with a
goodly accumulation of the precious
metal. With Lem Hollister it was
, different The hunt for the mother
lode was to him what designations OF
various sorts and kinds were to the
rest of the boys. He might be gone
weeks or months. according to how
long his stake held out. In the end
he would return to placer mining
| broke, no nearer the object of his
search than he had been at first, but
with his hopes of finding the great
source of all California gold still un.
dimmed.
when the rush for the Klondike
came Lem was among the pioneers. ]
met him at Cape Nome. He had
made Il good thing of placer mining
there, was gathering in a good amount
of gold from his daily washngs and
there was no reason why he should
not in a short time put by enough
to keep him comfortably to the end
of his days. But he never even
dreamed or thought of such a sane
proceeding. He was more eager to
search for the great central lode
than he had been in the days Of Cali.
fornia placer mining. And he wasn't
the only one with that idea. In Cali.
fornia he had been almost alona
among the miners in his belief in the
existence of a mother lode, or at least
In the belief that the search for it was
practical matter. But there were
lots of men that held the same belief
in that early Klondike crowd.
But the search for the mother lode
in the freezing Klondike is a different
proposition and much more tragic
one than similar search in Califor.
mia. Many an old miner was lured
by 1t into the more desolate and dan.
gerous recesses of the northern ranges
and perished from exhaustion or cold
or hunger. The Klondike is full OF
tragedies of that sort, and the death
of old Lem Hollister was only one OF
many.
THE last time saw Lem was In
Dawson City. He had sold his claim,
and with the money from the sale and
the gold dust he had accumulated had
bought an outfit. He was just on the
point of starting out again on the
search which had filled his dreams
and sapped his energies for so many
years. | tried to dissuade him, and
pointed out the terrible risks he was
running, for the short summer season
was almost at an end. OF course.
simply wasted my words. He had
searched for the mother lode fol
years, he said, and now he was on the
point of finding It. He pointed out
the reasons why the great lode would
exist in the Klondike rather than in
the California ranges which he had
wasted so much time in exploring. He
was confident that this search would
be short one, II it was not, he could
take care Of himself even through q
Klondlke winter. | hated to see him
go to what | felt sure would be his
death Finally he promised me that