The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-12

I first met Lem in a1ifornia, and found
him hot on the trail Of the mother lode 4
so he thought. 4Plaeer4mining was not
o9t ddn Know much sbopt the
mother lode, theory then; nobody did, I
guess, for it was nothing new. But
Lem had picked up the theory some:
where, and he was sure it would pay
him in the end. =, He was a secretive
cuss, Lem was: He d work at placer
mining for quite a spell, never saying
anything to us but always seeming to
up a little pile he'd sell out his mine,
whether he ID worked it out or not, and
We used to think he d gone to Frisco
to get the liquor we COULDN'T get in
camp. But I found out differently.
He was away up in the mountains,
alone. He seemed to think he could
sistance; he didn't want to have to
found it. When his stake was gone
he'd come back, weary and worn, and
| dig in again to make another stake SO
| he could try again. He never lost
faith in the theory, tho unsuccessful 80
| many times.
| "Next time I saw Lem was at Nome.
I was one of the first ones to 20 there
ahead of mo. We staked claims in the
fully, and ala we'll.
"|You III soon have enough laid by
to make you independent, I said to
MN YES 'rf m aoin, fairly well. con-
you don It think you'll find the
center lode up here, do you9' I asked.
"'Not if 1 keep diggin' away
here he replied, somewhat sourly, !
thou ght. I wondered then if he still
chung to his crazy idea, but didn It say
any more. "A, few days later be disap
where he'd gone. I'd heard others talk
ing of finding the mother lode in the
Klondike. A lot of fellows had got the
idea into their heads. Up there thu
streams, carrying down rich deposits
seemed to indicate that there was s
big source Of supply somewhere bach
inland. AS it was, discussed it's con
tackle search. It isn't the sam,
y. proposition we had in' California. TIL,
search would take a man over range
where death from exhaustion or hunge
or freezing would be extremely likely
A lot of fellows who thought the,
could find the mother lode were lost II
that northern Wilderness. e..
"One day, several months later, :
met Hollister in Dawson. His first ex
petition had failed; he had returned
, made another stake, and was going GU
again, His recent experiences had toll
on him; he ,didn It look fit for anothe
journey into those unknown regions.
"'Lem,' I told him, don't you b
} fool now. You re getting on fairl
well here, and you ought to be salts
: fed -. ...s-ss ..=E -...-- r.. ~
+ !" Fairly welll' he sneered. ~a.->.s
: Gas well, yes, better 1.e than lots 9
. states it viii. You won t have to wor
t any more if you live to be a hundre
s and fifty if you keep on at placer an
t hang onto your findings f#&
2 I" It's too slow and too hard.'' h
e replied. Il might as we'll be workin
r on the section. I've looked into thi
9 mother lode matter carefully, and m
q other searches have taught me a 10
8 I'd be fool to give up now. VIII.
t I IN on the point Of finding it. That
n straight III
e II might as well have argued wit
the wind that was bowling around tt
. shanty. I thought that when he lie:
/" me that he was fool. He never can
!, back. rs. So.
& ST got pretty much interested in IL
n mother lode theory. myself, but j new,
ID got the idea into my head that I cou
Of its victims. But } when / can
back home I got to reading eyerythir
could find about gold and gold mimi
I land / declare there is d lot in pri
(. that would encourage 8 man who on