Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-16
THREW AWAY
BIC FORTUNE
ROMANTIC STORY OF SWlG-
CART AND oUARTETTE
Discovery That Made searohIIght Fa-
mous-Mlne Worth Millions Sold
for Five Hundred Dollars.
Pays Dividends

The story of the Quartette mine forms
an interesting page in the history VI VI
searchlight, for when Charlie SwlggaIt
set his stakes upon the Copper Qusen
claim in 1898, he cast out the anchotr
that was to hold fast the destlnnies W ol
the camp. The ground within the lour
stakes of this claim now comprises tne @
richest part of the present Quartette
TO saw that swiggaIt deserves any
nartic11Iar credit for locating this min~
would be comforting an empty nonor
upon this Teuton-blooded prospector,
for in every sense of the word tne
Quartette mine was originally as nluci' w,
of a wild cat" as is any other uh-
proven and undeveloped stretch OF
desert land any place or anywhere.
story of ouartette Mine
The story of the Quartette mine
forms "a distinct part of the folklore
of Searchlight. and there is not child
in canp to whom it has not been told
many times over by it's mother The
popu1ar version of Swiggart's discov-
ery. as told by an old resident OF the
camp, is repeated here:
"Charlie Swiggart was typical sun
bronzed denizen of the desert. Long
years before l knew him he had been
weaned from the amenities of city
and swell of the wind were filter com
panions than well groomed men and
women and the refinements of civiliza-
tion.
"Swiggart always claimed that It
would fall to his lot to locate great
mine.
n remember seeing him in Wander
bilt, one OF the early mining camps OF
Southern California, where he was en-
gagged in stripping gold prospect of all
hope of eventually being called a mine.
But his hopes were high, although his
grub sack was low, and the next thing
! knew was that Charlie Swiggart
had located group of claims in
Searchlight, which was then a brand
new district. known through its prox-
Unity to Ell Dorado canyon, a mining
camp that has been working since the
early '70s.
Sold Out for $500
"Then B. McCready appeared on the
scene and bought out Swiggart for
$500 and team of mules. 1t took lots
of negotiation to close the deal, for
there was nothing then of the Quar-
tette but dry hole twenty feet down
with no ore in sight Swiggart un-
questionably had the best of the bar
gain on the showings, for if it had not
been for luck and the generosity of
nature in endowing the spot with gold,
McCready would certainly have been
out the mules and the money.
1T took more money than McCready
could swing to develop the property
after he got it, and when Charlie Dunn
of San Bernardino came along and
offered him $4,000, McCready jumped
at it, and this marked the passing. of
the property into the hands of it's pres
ent owners. the Quartette Mining
company.
Since the day that old man Swiggart
erected the discovery monument on
those claims they have yielded over a
million dollars in bullion and each
month there is added to the bank ac-
counts of the shareholders the snug
sum of $4,000. Steadily drop the
stamps upon the gold impregnated ore
and in proportion to the amount of ore
that is being reduced there is being.
developed great deal more in the
lower workings of the mine. until at
the 9T6 foot level the gold bearing lode
still continues down into the earth
and from all appearances there is no
end to its extent and richness. ana
$SeO0oO. is now in sight to perpetuate
Old SW1ggart's desert find"