Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-01-25
,lble. The old Southwest coal plant

was sold the other day for 81. 400 an
today the northeast quarter OF tn
northwest quarter in lot l. section 3;
township 35 north, range 8. was sob
for $50. In selling the property takel
for taxes the county recovers the full
amount of the tax due and the none
paid on purchase and the property 1
thus restored to the tax rolls.
The appointments OF John Smelce
as undersherin by Sheriff G. W
Thompson. and that of C. II. Bartoi
by County Clerk Eddy were approve,
by the commissioners. acting unde
the advice of Attorney Buchanan tina
such approvals should be made by tn,
commissioners.
The county treasurer had not signi
fed his appointment of deputy thi.
afternoon.
| The experiences during the past few
days of the owners OF the Neglected
mine. with others employed. in an ef
fort to open the trail from Junction
| creek to the mine. suggest more for
chilly the magnitude OF the SHOWS and
| severity of winter than anything else
has done. AS announced in The Her
aid Friday they went up Junction as
far AS Hugh Owens cabin. which Is
only little more than two miles
from the Neglected, by the new state
trail built for wagon road last
spring. They had little difficulty in
| reaching the owens cabin, and from
there they begun to shovel and tramp
trail on TO the mine, making good
progress with ten animals and several
men until yesterday, when slides be
gan to run from every source into
the creek canon.
Henry and Jesse Accord. with Billy
Boyle, started out yesterday morning
with eight mule-loads of hay, oats and
beef and canned goods for tne Owens
camp, but when they had gotten ont
eight miles they found they could get
no rather; they met the trail breaking
crew, who had managed to get over
the slides, of which there were fifteen
TO twenty. filling the canon up.
headed for the trail breakers. but all
save Jim German escaped it: he was
covered up, and probably would have
suffocated had not his comrades been
near enough to hurriedly shovel him
out
'McGinty," from the bottom OF the
sea, was with them, and when he
walked in yesterday evening the
icicles on his whiskers made him re
semble a mammoth goat. He said he
never felt more like he needed some
thing. The boys had a hard time get
ting down the canon and the pack
train outfit had a cold day trying to
get in. They left oats and hay on
the road to feed when they make their
next venture, but so doubtful were
they that they would be able to get
irfto the canon for long time that
they packed the food back to town.
McGinty says he thinks August will
he good time to resume trail break.
ing operations. The hign winds were
drifting rapidly yesterday, carrying
snow banks from one place to another
and filling the holes and hollows In
The canon.
This is doubtless the worst winter
n the La Plata mountains since that
If 1884. when Durango was showed
n for rs days, receiving mail from
The Santa Fe road by pony service.
During that winter there were innum.
arable slides and one or two people
we're killed in them. Since the first
3now In the fall every new snow has
started slides during the present win
ter, and wherever 1t has been posi-
Die for a slide to go it has gone. II
$ fortunate that several sections OF
he La Platas have nobody in them
his winter. Places. for instance, like
that around the Columbus basin, Bes
sic G., and Cumberland section, Ken
lebec gulch, Walls gulch and several
1tner localities have been very deslr
able places to be out OF during the
past six weeks. The south and east
slopes of Silver mountain have prob
lbly sent down dozen slides during
The past few weeks.
Deer that remained In the noun
tains this winter will have no chance
o survive, and 1t is a notable fac
that every winter of extremely deer
SHOWS has melted to expose many
carcasses Of deer. And still there ar,
people who have their own way O.
chewing tobacco and telling stories
who insist that a heavy winter is al
ways forecasted by deer leaving the
mountains early.
There are places in the La Plata
which can not be gotten into with
animals and traffic before next jun
and July, and prospecting will be de
layed several weeks In spring. SO tina
| Durango people who send to Crippl
| Greek and Joplin. Mo, to get exper
prospectors will not advise them u
| come as carly as usual.
| There are probably fifty or one hun
lred La Plata miners and prospector
nut OF the district now, the first par
Of winter having been enough TO
hem: some of them are scattere
| along the San Juan from Farmingto
TO Shiprock and the "Hogbacks," an
others have gone into New Mexic