The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-08-07
THE BLACK ROCK
DESERT COUNTY
RELATES FABLE
MIR. VARY DIED IN POORHOJTSE
WHILE WAITING AT AGE
OF NINETY YEARS.
A LIFETIME SPENT IN HUNTING
The Hardin Silver Mine" Produced
Silver to. Cast Bullets Half
Century Ago.

Old man Vary, who died last year in
the county hospital of HUMBOLDT
county, at Winnemucca, spent forty
years prospecting on the edge of
Black Rock desert in Humboldt, and
who passed away at the ripe age of
80 years, still firm in the belief that
on the rim of that weird spot known
as the Black Rock desert rich silver
ore was to be found. The dream of
Mr. Vary's youthful days never was
realized, and he died and passed out
of this life confident as ever that the
day would come when the Black
Rock country would be an important
mining center The story is again
told of the Hardin silver mine" so
near to the heart of the good old .ur.
Vary in his lifetime The Humboldt
Star tells the story IN the following
article:
Somewhere out on the Black
Rock desert, not many miles from
Rosebud, there is a mine of extreme
richness. 1t is one of the lost mines
of the early history of Nevada 1t is
called the Hardin silver mine and
it's richness has often been told of by
California emigrants who were with
Hardin when he picked up the slab of
white metal.
1T was in the early part of the
year 1850 that an emigrant train
crossed the Black Rock desert on its
way to the then great gold fields of
California. AT point near the ex-
IRENE southern end of the Black
Rock range one of the party, Mr..
Hardin, was detailed to supply the
people of the party with game, which
was then quite plentiful, there being
herds of antelope and deer in that
part of the country. Towards even
ing Mr.. Hardin was coming down one
of the mountains, and, in stepping
from one ledge OF rock to another,
his attention was attracted by the
sound caused by mis- boots coming in
contact with something that gave a
metallic ring. He stopped to investi-
gate and picked up large slab of al
most solid mineral, resembling lead.
Taking piece with him to the place
where the train was camped for the
night he showed It to his comrades,
and they were all of the same opinion
that it was lead.
Little or nothing was known of
silver ore at that time, SO the piece of
supposed lead vas thrown listo ore
of the wagons and forgotten. Sew
eral weeks afterward. as the emf
grant train was travelling down the
Pitt river valley, in California, the
party was attacked ~ Indians and
their ammunition having run short,
one of the emigrants happened to
think of the mysterious metal which
had been found OIL the desert by
Hardin. 1t was melted into bullets,
which were used with good effect in
skirmishes with the marauding rcd
skins. AS the stn"y goes, Lot few
of the Indians WEI sept to the happy
hunting grounds by weltaimed Ills
siles nodded from what aftcrward
proved to be pure silver.
This knowledge did not come I'M
til several years later, after the dis
covery of silver on the Comstock.
Then members of the emigrant party
returned to the Black Rock country
and at their old camping ground
found several pieces of the metal
which they had cast into bullets
years before. 1t was tested and
found to be solid silver.
"a company was organized at Pet
aluma, Cal, where Mr.. Hardin was
running a blacksmith shop, and he,
with others, started for the scene of
the silver discovery. Arriving at
what Mr.. Hardin thought was the
place they commenced to prospect
and spent considerable time in dill
gent search without finding the place
where he had picked up the rich
metal, though he claimed there was
plenty of it scattered on the hillside
Unsuccessful in the search, the party
was forced to abandon the treasure
hunt and returned to California.
"In later years Mr.. Hardin made a
number of trips into the Black Rock
desert, but they. like the first ex.
petition, were all unsuccessful:
1.-The formation where the Hardin
silver was found is very similar to
that at Rosebud. The Brown Palace
has ore of almost pure silver. and
there is good reason to believe that
another rich mineral belt lies furthe,
out on the desert to the west.
1.-The Hardin emigrant party left
the Humboldt river at a point neal
where Mill City now stands ant
passed through by Rabbit Holf
springs, where there was an old for
erected for the protection of the emf
grants passing through to California
This place was the last watering
place before reaching the other sidt
of the Black Rock desert. From thu
fort the train crossed the desert t,
Black Rock range of mountains ant
then northward to Soldiers Mead
ows. When Mr.. Hardin brought il
the rich silver ore the party wa
camped at what is now called Hardin
City, there being a spring of waite
there