Gilpin observer., 1912-03-28
THE PRosPEcToR
AND HIS eURRo.

burro. that you had aristocratio
tendencies in your makeup, or tha'
you were inclined 20 makeN class dis
tiIctions between the man who pros
poets the hills and the Individual
who tills the soil; gioritying the one
and ignoring the other; ard yet this
seems to be the case, for | have OF
ten noticed the disdain and indiffer-
ence with which you regard the hay
shoveler' when he peddle:i garden
truck around our camp and the feel
ing cf admiration you show when a
yellow-legged prospector. or her
nit of the hills, finds his way to our
tert.
"Cf course continued the pros
pector, st is generally conceded that
the hay shcveler is somewhat out OF
our class; but, do not swell yourself
with the thought that he krows
nothing about mining; none what
ever. He may net look it, but he
can citen give cards ard spades to
the veteran prcspector. and then
beat him out when it comes to the
possession of n really fine prospect,
or gocdly balk account in the
nearest town: and, when it comes to
buyer for good little mine
he has the prosrectcr pushed way
eff the dump ard into TIE rext coun-
try; and while he doesn't know much
about geology an1 formation, he will
follow in the trail Of an expert and
find bonanza that the gentleman
with y. Y. Y. fastered 10 his name
failed to discover. He just fines it,
that is all; and not because he knew
about the possibilities Of a
contract between quartzite and lime,
the nature OF petite, hessite, or
Drousite, but because he just natur-
ally found som ething that Looked
yoci TO him, ard Iut in a few days
work in following up the lead.
An instarce Of this character
came under my observation several
years ago." continued the prospector.
and if your prejudice against the
hay-shoveler VIII permit you to listen
10 my story without making any
scurrilous side remarks. / will relate
the circumstances to you. At that
time | was prospecting in the Howl
ing Wolf range and had met with
but little success. as | was looking
for fissures in TIE older Archaean
and Paleozoic rocks high up on the
summit of the highest mountains.
But the Archaean didn't pan out and
the metamorphic action | had looked
for failed to materialiZe. and SO
my way down to the foot
hills ard into small valley OF about
forty acres. through which tumbled
and bubled a fine canyon stream.
To my surprise | found this little
valley all fenced in; while, up in one
corner. under grove of spler did
pines, there stood comfortable and
cozy house of five rooms and back of
it were barns and corrals. 1t was an
place. and appealed tc me-
as well as my burro. So | decided TO
camp near by for few days and
make the acquaintance of the owner,
a stalwart young man of about thirty
five who was happy and contented
with his mountain ranch. and who
had a wife and several children with
him. After staying at the ranch for
a few days the hay-shoveler became
much interested in prospecting ex-
periences. ani told me he had a
pretty good looking prospect about
a mile up the canyon. where he
worked in the winter time to good
ard so. one morning. taking lunch
with us. we hiked out. and. follow
ing a well-bui,t wagon road. were
soon at the gold mine. for such it
was. On the way up | asked the
rancher what the formation was.
He said he didn't know but it looked
to him like n claybank that had
turned into stone. | then asked him
II the vein was contract or fis-
sure; ard he said he guessed it was:
and he locked at me with almost an
idiotic stare when | talked of in
trusions, the influence of country
rock, and infiltration, and asked me
to diagram my cOnyersatiO to him.
that he might understand. The mine.
| found. was true fissure in the
rhyolite, fed by prophyry dixie. The
vein was about eighteen inches in
width. free-millings and averaged
about $4,000 to the ton. The ore was
worked through a tunnel which
looked like badger hole. so ragged
and crooked 1t was. but tthe hay
shoveler got out the ore. all the
same. And more, he had rigged up