Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-03

with certainty. Breyfogle, as might be
suspected from his name. was a German.
He was not prospector. but he ran across
q lode of fabulous richness In the early
mites while attempting to cross the desert
near Death valley. He got out with a
pocket full of nuggets, but died soon after.
His discovery caused a stampede in the
direction of his find, but though sixty men
died in one season in the search the mine
remained hidden till 1892 Then prospector
named Montgomery relocated what is sup
posed to be the Breyfogle lode near the
Ash meadows in Death valley close to the
California and Nevada line 1t is very rich
and not likely to get lost again.
Another of the lost mines that is said
to have been relocated is the MoJave desert
mine, known to have been worked by the
Apaches under old Chief Arataba. 1t was
rediscovered by George Nye. a miner a
few years ago. and is being worked now at
a considerable profit
"One of the most remarkable of all the lost
mines however, is the great Cement mine,
that has never been located by more than
three men. There are varying stories told
about this. One is that German drifted
INTO aurora, Nevada, about 1885 with lot
or specimens of a hard red cement full OF
gold.
1T was wonderfully rich ore and different
from anything that had ever been seen in
that country before. The rumor of the
discovery caused such a commotion that
the German got frightened and disappeared
would be wrested from him.
Another story of the sort Is told
OF a mine located at Horse Head Gulch, in
Colorado. 1t is said that there was a miner
named White who made that his head
quarters and was out prospecting most of
the year. He had one Indian cook and gen.
eral assistant One day he came in for
supplies and displayed some specimens of
the cement ore. 1t was SO rich that the
camp promptly went crazy with excitement.
white was importuned to tell where his
discovery was located He only laughed
and said that there was plenty Of it, and
that was all. The leading lights of camp
society prayed and wrestled with him. but
he coolly declined to say anything more
about the find. Then he was called on by
the vigilance committee, with rope and
told in effect that IL he wanted to be hung
he would be accommodated right there. On
the other hand, If he would lead the camp
to the spot where he had made the find he
would be given the pick of the claims and
the camp would work 1t for him. II he
chose. But he simply would not be allowed
to hold out the Information altogether.
White succumbed to this form of per-
suasion and said that the mine was located
about $50 miles to the southwest. and was
through n hard country But IL the boys
wanted to follow him, to come along. The
general store was dismantled, the outfits
divided up fairly and about 200 men, with
White and the Indian In the lead, set off
across the mountains. They travelled for
two days. during which time the band got
pretty well strung out. The second night
when they camped there was less than
100 Of the original party They slept that
night. and In the morning, when they
awoke, White and the Indian had disap-
peared. 1t was many years later when he
was heard of again. This time he turned
up in Utah with a lot of the cement ore
He and his Indian bought what supplies
they needed. paid for II with the cement
ore and disappeared. They have not been
seen since.
lone of the better authenticated OF the
lost mines ranking almost with the Pegleg
In notoriety, is the 'Gunsight Lode This
was the original discovery of Mormon,
who was crossing Death valley with n
wagon train in 1880. He had broken off
some metal specimens from a cliff along
the way, and when he got into California
he went to gunsmith to have his rifle
fixed. 1t had lost the front sight. and the
Mormon pulled out piece of blackened
metal from his pocket and said that If 1t
would do the gunsmith might as well work
II up for the missing front sight