Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-24
GOLD DUST IN OLD BOOTS.
How a Montana Merchant Got His
Treasure Through to the East.

Treasure Through to the East.
Henry Elling came to Montana in
the early eos. Then greenbacks
were practically unknown in Vir-
ginia City. Gold dust was the circu-
lating medium and every counter and
bar was equipped with gold scales,
and instead Of being dollars and cents
the reckoning medium was ounces
and pennyweights. Every miner had
his buckskin pouch instead of a
pocketbook and generally this pouch
had several ounces Of gold dust in
1t, for those were the days Of plenty
in Alder Gulch and all other parts
of the territory which is now known
as Montana.
When his stock of goods was sold
out Mr.. Filing decided that 1t would
be q good investment If he should
make a trip overland to the states,
purchase a new stock of goods and
continue in the clothing business.
He had aboAt $4,000 in the best
of gold dust to his credit in the banks
then established in Virginia City, and
question which bothered him sore
ly was how how to get this money
to civilization without losing 1t, for
road agents often disputed the right
of way with the stage coaches, and
they levied frequent tributes on the
passengers, sometimes stripping them
to the hide. Wells, Fargo & Co.
made a practice Of shipping gold
dust east for the miners, but this
was expensive, the ratio for insurance
being sometimes as high as 10 per
cent on the amount carried. This
meant a great deal Of money to q
man, even in those days. and Mr..
Filing thought he could find a way
to get his money to Omaha which
would beat that scheme all hollow.
After considering the matter in its
different phases he finally expressed
the money to his own order as far
as Salt Lake City, taking passage on
the same coach. To Salt Lake City
the express rate was not so high. and
practically the danger zone Of road
agents was passed after this point
was reached, the Portneuf canon and
Beaver canon in Idaho and the sec
ton along the Beaverhead valley be-
tween the Pete DAILY ranch and Will
liams Junction, in what is now Mon
tana, being the most dangerous.
Mr. Elling and his gold dust ar
rived In Salt Lake City without incl
dent. For some reason the road
agents had not learned that the
coach carried a great amount Of
treasure and no attempt at a holdup
was made, though more than one Of
the passengers breathed hard and had
his heart in his mouth when some
unexpected stop was made during
the dark hours of the night, for the
coach travelled night and day and as
fast as four or six horses could bowl
1t along, and It made an average
speed of about ten miles an hour.
After a days rest In Salt Lake
City the journey was resumed. Mr..
Filing had already secured his gold
dust and, as 1t was strictly against
the rules of the company to carry
gold in the baggage, he was in a
quandary for a while as to the man
ner in which he could get that gold
to Omaha. The express company
knew he had the dust and knew he
was going to Omaha, so they were
watching him. The morning the
coach was hitched up and drove
around to the hotel after him he
wandered into the back yard Of the
hotel and spied a pair Of boots not
too badly worn, which some one
had discarded.
These gave him an idea. His gold
dust was in two packages, and Sc
curing a stout buckskin string he
tied the two boots together by their
ears, and putting a part Of the gold
into either bootleg he threw them
into the bottom Of the coach with the
remark that his boots hurt him and
that he, could change If his feet got
to hurting him too badly.
Nobody had a suspicion that there
was $4,000 in those old boots, and
Mr.. Elling kept them under his feet
night and day until he reached
Omaha. When coaches were changed
he generally carried the boots across
his arm, and retiring to some con-
venient room would actually change
his boots, in this manner hoodwink-
ing the express messengers, the
driver and every one else as to the
amount of money he was carrying
with him, and he got a great deal
Of sympathy from the rest Of the
passengers on account of the pain he
was suffering from his tender feet
Anaconda Standard.