The daily tribune., 1908-10-16
A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS.

The lust for gold in the days OF
Coolrado's early history brought
many desperate men to this country.
In 1880, man named Dain and a
partner named Wslskene came out
from Dubuque. Iowa, and located at
the mouth Of Cottonwood creek on
the Arkansas river two miles below
the present city Of Buena Vista
Placer washing was fairly good and
the partners were fortunate in find
ing = lonely and abandoned cabin
close at hand. The cabin WAS erec-
ted over big pine tree stump re-
tainng three or four feet of a huge
limb. Walskene soon became dissat.
isfled and restless and at the end Of
three weeks bade his partner good
bye and drifted away. Dain never
met or even heard Of him again.
After Walskene's departure the
plaoers showed up with increased
riches and by the first Of the follow
ing September Dain had pouched
90, 900. Early in his solitary ooou-
pancy of the cabin Dain had discov-
cred that the fragments of the limb
attached to the stump was hollow
and had utilized this natural recep-
tacle as place Of secret deposit foI
his rapidly growing buckskin of gold.
Two miles above the Dain washings
or on part Of the very ground
where Buena Vista now stands WAS
tine placer camp of two brothers
named Walsh, while several miles
still above half dozen or more men
we're washing in the golden sands
of the ArkaneAs.
Returning from work one Saturday
evening Dain removed his bag of gold
from its hiding place in che hollow
limb and added to its contents the re-
suit Of the days work. Instead, how
ever. Of replacing the golden pouch
in its sacred repository Dain laid it
upon one Of the cabin shelves, in
tending before he slept to conceal it
as usual. However. he forgot all
about 1t and went to bed leaving the
gold exposed upon the open shelf
The single window Of the cabin
fronted the river and on awakening
the next morning Dain's eyes rest
ed upon noble buck standing
broadside on the opposite bank of
the river and within easy rife
shot.
Leaping from his bed Dain seiz.
ed his gun and at the report the
big deer fell in its tracks. Hurry.
ing down to a floating bridge he had
thrown across the river the miner
his quarry As he drew
near however the deer sprang to its
feet and made off. Two hours were
In tracking the buck down
and securing the fne venison saddles,
and then Dain returned toward tine
cabin. Arriving at the bridge he
WAS startled to see in the new fallen
snow fresher tracks than his own and
from the cabin itself. As a
lightning flash there came to his re.
membrance the big bag of gold on
the cabin shelf.
Breaking into a breatbless run, he
re sched the cabin, rushed in and
found his fears realized-the gold
was gone. The plundered miner at
once took the trail Of the robber
and followed it for two days, final
ly losing it in the present vicinity of
Canon City. On his return to the
cabin he found awaiting him one
Of the miners from up the river
who informed him that ON the
previous Saturday evening one OF
the Walsh brothers had murdered
the other and had fed down the
river with % 900 in gold that the
brothers had taken from their plsc-
or ground. Nothing more WAS ever
heard Of either murderer or money
the fratricide, with his double
burden Of guilt and gold making
good his escape.
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