Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-23
LOST MINE MAY
BE ROYAL FLUSH
FINDING OF ANCIENT TOOLS
LEADS TO CLEW
IMPLEMENTS ANTEDATE AGE OF
DYNAMITE
Are Found in Abandoned Tunnel of
Royal Flush Estate in Gold
Mountain District-His-
tory of Mine

Has the long lost Breyfogle mine
been rediscovered?
That is the opinion of many people
who have recently visited the Royal
Flush property in the Gold Mountain
district. Among those who believe that
the famous property has been relo-
Gated is Jeanne Weir professor of
the University of Nevada and secre-
tary of the Nevada Historical society,
says the Goldfeld News.
Professor Weir visited the southern
portion of the state several weeks ago
and secured some relics which now
adorn the museum of the Nevada His
torical society. They consist of tools
that were used decades ago in extract
ing ore and they are all out of date,
particularly a tamping stick of Shelf
field steel, which could only have been
used in loading holes with black pow
der, which antedated the age of dyna-
mite.
These tools were found in an ADAM
doned tunnel in the Royal Flush es-
tate and the inference is that they
We're used by Breyfogle and his part
ner during the days of the war of the
rebellion.
Following is a brief history of the
Breyfogle discovery:
John Breyfogle was a blacksmith,
who resided in Austin in the early
Cos. He made periodical prospecting
trips and in the spring of 1864, after
a long absence, he brought to Austin
some wonderfully rich specimens and
said that there was a large quantity
just as rich where it came from.
Find Creates Excitement
The find created so much excite
ment that the residents of Austin for
got that war was raging.
Late in the summer Breyfogle again
appeared in Austin, broken down in
health and in mind. He was hatless
and the appearance of the top of his
bald head, which had been exposed to
the torrid sun, was such as to cause
the people of Austin to believe he had
been scalped. This belief was aug
mented when he told disconnectedly
how he had suffered at the hands of
the elements and the redskins
1t required months to restore the
prospector to health, although he re-
manned in semi-idiotic condition as
a result of his experiences. At last
he recovered sufficiently to make a
cross on a map of Nevada, showing
the locality of his find 1t was in the
vicinity of the Gold Mountain range,
fifty miles south of Goldfeld The
only description of the locality he
could give was that it was on a little
hill between two high ranges.
Breyfogle said that he and his part
ners were camped by little spring
near the scene of their find, when, one
morning, they found their horses had
strayed away. For two days they per-
sued them and finally became hope
lessly lost.
While they were wandering about on
the desert suffering from hunger and
thirst, they were surprised by a band
of Shoshone Indians and took refuse
on Jackson mountain, an almost mac
cessible landmark situated between
Goldfeld and Hornsilver.
Indians Kill Partner
The Indians finally succeeded in kill
ing Breyfogle's partner, but spared the
others life, as he appeared to be in
sane and Indians hold mentally UNI
balanced people in reVerential fear. The
suffering endured by Breyfogle in MAX
ing his way back to Austin must have
been indescribable.
Several expeditions were organized
by Austinites and the region where
the strike was supposed to have been
made was thoroughly explored, but
without success, Breyfogle, who ac-
companied the parties, being unable to
locate any of the landmarks he had
described. Since then the Breyfogle
has been the golden fleece" of many
a prospecting expedition.
The Royal Flush, which answers the
Breyfogle description, is owned by
Goldheld people. A shipment was made
recently which ran $72O to the ton,
while picked samples gave as high as
S329.000,