The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-05
A NEW DIAMOND FIELD.
Remarkable Tales of Finds In Hudson
Bay Region.

| Ddy heklOus
Montreal, July 4.-Some wonderful
stories have come to hand from Fort
Francis, Ont, place in the direction
of Hudson Bay, as to the presence of
diamonds.
Some time ago Professor Qmi, of the
geological survey, announced that
from observations which he had made,
and from the nature of the clay that
prevailed there, he was convinced that
diamonds would be found in large
quantities in the new northern On
tario district. The stories referred to,
and which come from good authority.
do not say that his statement is true,
but say that diamonds have been found
IN those parts, some of them hundreds
and hundreds of years ago, others only
within recent years.
The old and extinct Indian tribes
which occupied the country before
the Ojibways evidently must have
found many of them without knowing
their value, for they have been found
in old Indian pottery fields in that
region and. in old Indian funeral
mounds.
George R. Douglass. the resident
agent and assayer for the Rotschilds,
at Mine Centre, near the Seine river,
Is given as authority for most of the
stories. He himself while one day
sitting in his store, which is adjoining
the Rotschild properties, they having
bought thousands of acres as mineral
lands in those parts, was visited by an
Indian, his squaw and pappoose, who
had come shopping from fifty miles
down the Seine river.
When the squaw had put the pap
poOse bound to it's board upright
against the wall, he noticed that it
was playing with glittering pebble,
which it occasionally conveyed to its
mouth. On close examination he came
to the conclusion that it was dia-
mond, and offered the mother $40
dollar Canadian bank bill for it. She.
however, did not have much faith in
the paper money, and said she would
be willing to give it to him for all the
small change in his money drawer.
Fortunately for him, Their was good
deal less than $40 there. so that he
got veritable bargain, the stone SELL
ing afterward for $1,000 in Toronto.
A party of prospectors found a lot
of Indian burial mounds at the mouth
of the Big Fork river, which, coming
into Canada from the United States
west, discharges itself into the Rainey
river. They broke one of these open
and found therein the skeleton of an
immense man around the neck a
broad band of pure copper, while
sort of strange necklace hung over
the bones of the breasts. The neck
lace contained several colored stones.
One of the stones was white and bright
and it frightened so with rubbing that,
they came to the conclusion 1t was a
diamond.
These mounds we're found near the
old Indian pottery.
They found several other mounds.
but, although they found bodies, they
found no more diamnods. On the in
formation of band of Ojibways that
old potteries and bright stones such
as they had found were common, they
pushed on, although it was out of their
way, as far as the Big Falls, which
marked years ago the disputed bound
airy between the Hudson's Bay COM
pany and John Jacob AstOr's Fur COM
pany.
Here they found another ancient
Indian pottery field, and living near it
an old recluse squatter named Daniel
Campbell. who. although not believing
there were diamonds, showed the pros
pectOrs three bright stones which he
had picked up digging about the pot
terry.
He allowed them to take the stones
with them when they went back to
civilization, and they later returned
him his share of the $500 which the
four stones brought.
A man named il mRopes, pros
pector in hard luck. met a drunken
squaw-man one day in one of the
camps in the Seine river district. and
bought from the latter a diamond
which he wore as a watch charm for
all the liquor the squaw-man could
drink. The liquor cost him about 81,
and the diamond sold for about 81 500.
Neither the squaw who sold the
stone to Mr. Douglas nor the squaw-
man could say exactly where they
found their diamonds. They had piced
them up accidentally while going
about the country, but all in the same
region.
Mr.. Douglass spent years in South
Africa. and is convinced that in the
near future big find of diamonds
will be made in the Rainey river dis
trict.