Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1910-01-20
IS NOT LOST IsHAM NINE.
e. O. Cotton of This City Gives Out
An Interview.

bidge camp is not the lost Isham
mine. which has been so long
searched for in that locality. is the
belief Of T.. o. Cotton of Mountain
Home Mr.. Cotton has been spend
ing the past few days in the city
under the careOf an Oculist ah1 en-
ioyed hugely reading the thrilling
story which recently appeared in the
Denver Post of the recent discov-
cries at Jarbridge; the entire tale,
he says. is simply due to the lurid
Imagination of a reporter, with hard
ly a thread of truth in It,
In the newspaper story the men
who find the lost mine discover
seated at the entrance skeleton
with a gun in its arms pointing
toward any invader Mr.. Cotton
says that he and the late John Pence
of Mountain Home We're well
acquainted with John Isham, and it
were to them that the unfortunate
miner sent the specimens from the
famous mine to have them assayed.
''1sham, according to Mr.. Cotton,
had gone into the Jarbidge country
in the fall and it was some time in
February, about five years ago, that
he sent out the samples, which were
in appearance not unlike a fine black
dust with apparently no gold in
them The samples were enclosed
in two envelopes. and Mr.. Cotton and
Mr. Pence sent one to the Boise
Office and one to Colorado to be
assayed When thereceipts came
back from the assay offices they were
almost identical, and the surprise of
the two men was great when they
found that they run about S14O0 to
the ton Mr. Cotton does not recall
the exact amount, but says that he
still has a copy of one of the orig
ina allssays among his papers at
Mountain Home.
"They were able to bring the well
come enws to Isham some time in
April, and when he received it he
pointed to a hill not far away. and
said: There is the mine, right up
there. He did not seem disposed
to give them any further information
as to the location Of the Eldorado.
About May of the same year lsham
was taken with a stroke of paralysis,
after which he never spoke He
died within a few days and for a
year afterward diligent search was
made for the lost mine
cit is an absolute impossibility.
Mr.. Cotton says. to enter this can
yOn unless one goes af0Ot with a
mack mule. And even then il will
not be accessible until about June Of
this year. on account of the deep
SHOWS and the extreme narrOwness
of the canyon entrance. He antici-
mates an immenes rush into the camp
as soon as spring opens, but lis not
very sangrine as to the amount of
gold W hich Is to be found there, as
Ne states that one asav report which
was shown to him only assayed 81
ner ton. and he has not been able
to see any other The report of the
formation Of the gold. sticking out
so il it could be chiseled off, is CON
trary to anv information which he
knows in the camp, he says"
More evidence piled up Monday to
nrove thatthe famous lost lsham
mine, discovered bv John Isham. n
sheep herder. is not one Of the prom
critics located in the great gold
camp at Jarbi'ge. when James p.
rpncaan. one of the biggest owners
in the district, who is STOPPING at the
ldanha. pronounced the suppositiOn
as impossible
Mr.. Duncan lived at Three Creek
FOR ~ years and knows all about
that country. He said in part.
John Isham was tending sheen for
John Pence down there about six
years ago this winter One day he
came into my store at Three Creek
and he said to me. Jim. ! have some
thing up there on mountain that
! wouldn't give for all of John
Fences sheep. I asked, We'll. John.
what is it2' lsham reached a hand
into a pocket and drew out a piece
Of ore which he handed over to me.
saving, That's the stuff Well.
lsham sent the rock to John Pence.
az Mountain Home. and had it ASSAY
ed. Two assays were taken by diff
ferent assayers. in BOist and Denver.
so the truth of the wonderful gold
values is absolutely unquestionable.
But Pence couldn't reach the place
where he found the rock that winter
because the snow was too deep. after
the returns had been made by the
assayers, and he knew the value of
the rock In the following spring,
May -, 1902. John Isham suffered
a stroke of paralysis and died two
DAYS later at Mountain Home without
being able to speak So the secret
cf his marvellous gold mine died with
him.
But know positively that IS
hams lost mine wasn't at Jarbidge,
because he couldn't have gone from
his camp to Jarbidge and back, 15
miles across the mountains each way,
in half a day. and everybody con-
nected with the case knows that IS
ham had only been out from his
sheep camp half a day when he came
in with the wonderful specimens of
rock to have them assayed.
Weak Point in the Local Option Law
(Midvale Reporter)
The county attorney recently noti-
fed the p. & J. n. railroad that it