The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-07
old DUTCHMAN
OF WALKER LAKE
Romantic Tale of Gold and
Gore Mark Milestone in
Mines History.
OWNERS KILLED BY PIUTES
RACE FOR GROUND AT REsER.
WALTON OPENING.

IN
WALTON OPENING.
Inc state of Nevada is regarded as n
new country, and yet it was in 1865 when
an old German prospecto- Schnitz by
name, found in the hills rising above
w alker lake an outcropping vein Of ricn
gold ore He dug and found IL wider and
stronger with depth. 1t was to be his own
secret. and yet in very little while he
recognized his inability to cope with the
rugged obstacles of nature alone. and he
sent for his two nepheWS from GERMANY
Ihese boys he could trust, and with them
he would divide greater riches than he
had ever dreamed of
In time the two Schnitz boys came and
round awaiting them a crude cabin all
ready erected by their uncle at the mouth
of the creek, where a beautiful flat stoned
gently toward the lake and sheltered By
the hills on three sides. gave ample room
for cabin and arrastra. With primitive
tools and n knowledge Of mining consti-
tuted In the uncle alone. the three went
TO work. the two boys digging on the
ledge, the uncle operating the wheel and
hume, reducing the ore to gold.
Sold Gold at Hawthorne.
Hawthorne, which is still a good town.
was, perhaps, more flourishing then than
now, and there it was that they carried
their treasure and exchanged it for money
and for the purchase of supplies The
natural cunning and secretiveness of the
OLD German protected them for a time
out ii came to be known i'm Hawthorne
that the "Old Dutchman" had a secret
mine rich in gold. 1t was probably the
Plute Indians who followed and located
SchnltZ s discovery, and mayhap SchnitZ
and his nephews were becoming less care
full and possibly they were losing respect
for the courage and intelligence of the
Piutes
However that may be. one night early
i'm 1867. after the trio had sought the com
fort of their blankets n small band of
Pfute Indians surrounded the cabin and
called out the little group of Germans.
who found half a dozen levelled and
cooked guns confronting them. The In
dians told the old man they had come to
kill him and the boys
Owners TreacherousIy Murdered.
Indians were obdurate. FINALLY bar
gain was struck which shows the charac-
ter Of poor old Schnitz He would pay $500
In cash if they would spare the lives of
the boys. he himself agreeable TO death
under those circumstances. This was
done. and the money counted out. I'M
mediately upon the payment the old man
was shot down IN the presence of the
nephewS. The nephewS in turn were or
dered to leave the cabin. which they did
by going TO the lake and embarking
thereon in their canoes. AS the BOYS
turned to paddle away from the shore
guns Of the treacherous Indians. The ca
noe overturned and their bodies were lost
in the waters of Walker lake.
Colonel Hart Gets Mine.
After that the Indians worked the mine
and the, arrastra in a lazy sort of fashion
for a few months. but little or nothing
in the way of intelligent development
was done Later in 1861 one Colonel
Hart visited the reservation and made
mine on a large scale. Returning TO San
Francisco he ordered large arrastra and
water wheel. the largest ever construct
ed. The sections were shipped to Dutch
mans creek at great expense and erected
there, and the new operations begun
From this Hart intended TO become mul-
but he had not calculated
on the treachery of the In
dams and the obstacles otherwise encoun-
tered, and frequently recurring attacks
were so annoying that he deserted his
investment with great loss.
Cascade Mining Incident.
This is the same Colonel Hart who ex-
pended $4,000 of Marcus Days money in
building a wagon road into the Cascade
for the purpose of examining
a mine, which was said TO be wonder
fully rich, but after Hart saw it he threw
taking over the property. he purchased
for cash, a number of ranches
near Ruby. Wash, and when he threw up
the bond ne gave back the deeds to the
ranches without any consideration what
ever. Hart is the man who told the
writer that If he owned a million dollar
mine and a parsOn walked over the dump
he would quit the mine.
Property Long Idle.
Thereafter, for a number of years the
"Old Dutchman' mine remained idle and
no one appeared with the hardihOod TO
attempt to work under the known diff
ficulties of the section and those likely
from Indian interference. and so moth
ing definite was done until August of
last year, when a Major Falkenberg and
party knowing the reservation would be
open to the public. determined to cross
the boundary line and investigate. They
had prospected west and north OF Mount
Grant and started on muleback over the
mountain pass. The trails We're steep and
dangerous and but few supplies could be
carried.
Prospectors Investigate.
The Indian police were to be avoided,
for to encounter them would mean that
they would be turned back. How haz-
ardous the trip was may be judged from
the accident that befellf Frank Seykora.
The trail led over a shelf high on the side
Of an almost perpendicular cliff. rising
above the gorge below. The Usual sure
footed burrO lost his footing and went
over into the gorge. Seykora. ny some
chance. caught the sage
brush and was saved. Further down the
mountain Major Falkenberg army mule
slipped and rolled into the creek. This. !
N pitch darkness practically terrorized
he party and the hardy prospectors
,amped for the night with cod and shell |
er lost. They dared rot liGht the Gus |
omary campfires the Indian police were |
gatcnful day and nj -ht. Tho balance of |
he Journey to the cold Dutchman" was |
continued on foot and its location final /
v reached. Their Investigations seemed |
% have satisfied them. for again, on Oct |
Z. afteh the government proclamation had |
)een issued they might have been dis /
.o,-o-oa 81 wheeler -pas &c snrfnoS CARRYING,