Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1912-09-12

united SCdIeb, vast oulh IhoS
awaits some ones finding, is one
concerning which have sought
the exact truth for the several years
that l have followed this fad Of col
lecting treasure-trove data. The pub
LEGATION of the story or stories about 1t
may bring to light the men who can
say definitely what is what. However
any man who cares to set out after 1t
in a business-like manner may turn
himself into a multi-millionaire be-
tween Christmas and Fourth Of July
This much is certain: somewhere
on the upper reaches Of the Missouri
river lie four large barges, lost In
1866, laoded to their utmost capacity
with gold estimated in amount from
100000 to $25, 100000
Just at the close of the civil war
some rumors of the finding Of gold in
the Black Hills of Dakota and Mon
tana drifted into the towns on the
border of civilization in the northwest.
1t seems odd to think that fifty years
ago that region was frontier, but
there are hundreds Of old Indians now
living on the reservations who then
were fighting braves and fifty years
ago they had never seen q white
mans face.
In the spring of 1866 some old pros
pectors In the back drift from Califor-
MIA found gold In one Of the tributaries
~ he ~ Iafd m h0 the
north fork of the Cheyenne. Why 1t is
no more certain will appear. Others
of thier ilk "smelled" the discovery
and band Of no more than forty
drew into the region, making a won
derful strike, the richest that has ever
been made on America soil according
to all accounts. The strike was made
in what is now called Deadmen's
Gulch, named to suit the story, but
called in the old records Federation,
Desperation and Starvation Clutches.
The gold was alluvial, washed down
from the northern lodges, now being
worked by the rich Caledonia Qaurtz
Mine Company near Deadwood. The
gravel banks and flats were inexpres-
sibly rich with it and all summer the
forty men toiled feverishly, extracting
as much as they could before the win
ter should descend upon them, shut
off their fish, game and vegetable food
supply and drive them to civilization,
where the knowledge Of the vast
wealth of the Black Hills and the re-
mainder of the auriferous region would
become public property.
When the ground froze and they
could work no longer they cut timber
and made four large barges Of shallow
draft and on them laoded the gold In
provision boxes, and mule and deer
skins made into rawhide sacks. Even
then they were compelled to leave
some Of 1t behind because the barges
would not carry it.
The hostile Indians who had not
dared attack so large a party in the
mining camp with its excellent de-
lenses and those who were apparently
on friendly terms with the miners now
took hand in the game. After the
hardy forty had reached the Missouri
and had negotiated a portion of its
distance they tied up one night, not
long before Christmas. They were at
tackled by a large band Of Indians,
who massacred every living soul, sank
the barges and took all their belong
ings except the gold, of which they did
not know the value, Some accounts
hold the Blackfeet responsible. others
the Ogalala.
How the news ever got to the world
I cannot say, save as the Indians told
Of it and friends of the dead men
traced them into the country from
which they never came out. Gradual
" the story took form and 1t set the
prospectors wild. They ranged the
region from the Bad Lands to the Big
Horn river for twenty-seven years and
then came the great discovery in the
Black Hills.
The gold left behind at the point Of
embarkation was finally found. Old
workings which showed the vast
quantities taken out by the forty pros
pectors were discovered and for few
years torrent Of alluvial gold poured
out of the Black Hills. Then the whole
thing settled down to the staid and
regular quartz proposition.
The Kansas City Star some years
ago printed a circumstantial story
stating that young Indian student at
Haskell had told professor that his
father was one Of the braves In the
massacre, knew where the barges were
sunk and was still living on the reser-
walton. It may be that the river has
changed its course and left the barges
under thin layer of gravel easily &C
cessible on dry land The way to find
the treasure is to trace down the sto-
ries, locate some Of the old Indians
and induce them to locate the spot
and point it out from memory. It
should not be difficult
In 1859 there was lost in the Bay of
Islands, at the mouth Of the st. Law
renee river. the good ship Primrose,
with store of gold and silver and
tewels aboard her The exact amount
Of her treasure is unknown, but it
must be vast.