Graham guardian., 1908-07-17
FORTUNE FOUND IN CAVE
Prospsctor Finds Box Of Virgin
Silver in a Gave Near Pioneer,
ella County

George Washington McFarlan nd
dean Of Arizona printers, who for
the past thirty years has divided
his time unselfishly between the
county seats, mining camps and
villages of Arizona, going north in
the summer and south in the win,
ter, arrived in Phoenix July 10th,
after an absence of ten years to tell
in whispers marvellous discovery
that has just been made in a cave
near Pioneer, Gua county.
By wagon and stage, on foot and
horseback, Mcfarland has put in
the past week coming from Globe
to Phoenix by easy stages, stop
ping two days at Pioneer TO inves.
tigate the finding near there of u
treasure chest, which unfortunate.
ly for Mcfarland was discovered
and pre- cmpted by another.
TIC his taking refuge in an old
cave, which he found while climb
ing a steep hillside to escape u
mountain lion he had shot and
mortally wounded, Jack Thorton,
one of the least known, but Oldest,
of the Arizona gold hunters, owes
his stumbling upon a fortune estl.
mated at $4,000.
Just as Thornton stumbled into
the cave and fell exhausted on the
floor. the wounded lion dropped
at the entrance, and giving one de-
spairing wall, died within a few
feet of Thornton, who, in his ex,
hausted condition, would have been
torn to pieces had not the bullet
from his rifle did its work and
brought death to the monarch OF
the forest.
As soon as be dared venture
forth, Thornton secured pine
torch and again entered the cave,
which had aroused more than COM
mon curiosity in the breast OF tn e
prospector, thankful for his deliv.
erance.
For half an hour Thornton
lighted his way about the cave,
peering first into one corner and
then the other. As he was about
to leave, disgusted with the result
of his search, he saw rotting
board sticking through a pile OF
rock.
II was not hard for Thorton to
reason that the presence Of this
board meant that others had been
there before him, aud pulling aside
the stones he soon uncovered the
frame of what had years before
been u strong wooden box.
To the trained eye of the pros
pector the contents of tho box
were not unfamiliar. They were
slabs aud ingols and Jumps of vir
gin silver, such as made the Silver
King of Pinal county one OF the
great mines Of the country years
ago.
Excited by his find, which had
brought him fortune after years OF
fruitless search, in the hills of Ari-
zoDa, Thorton emptied the contents
of the box on the floor of the cave
until he had pile of silver ii would
take several men to pack away.
By "hefting" some Of the chunks
and estimating the rest, Thorton
figured his find at not less than
$4,000. AS yet he has not re-
moved bis wealth away from Plo-
neer, but will shortly take it to
Globe.
In the early days of Arizona,
Pioneer was a thriving silver camp,
betwe cen 1900 and 1900 men being
employed in the hills around the
camp. With the slump in silver
it was gradually deserted until
today there remains of once pros
porous settlement but one shack
and one man. 1t is on an old
stage road, and that is all that
keeps him there alone.
McFarland's theory is that when
the silver mines were working,
"highgraders" stole this silver as
they worked, hiding it in the cave,
to be taken away later, They new
er came back. No man will ever
know who they were or what be-
came of them. They may have
quarreled over their spoil and
killed each other, or death may
have overtaken those who survived
in retribution for their criminality.