Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-04-13

II M there exists better excuse
for them than the great Ameri-
can desert. 1t 10 the lure OF lost
mines that has caused q great deal OF
the prospecting and exploration OF the
deserts In recent years, and In one
manner or other you win ind that a
tradition of lost mine 10 at the bot
tom OF almost every important dis
covery.
The fame Of Death Valley has been
largely due to the fact that q num-
Der Of glowing stories Of lost treasure
have conferred about It since the ear
Her days of the first explorers who
crossed it's vast and mysterious
wastes. DfF
There is the wen authenticated
story of the Lost Breyfogle Nine"
which As known to many old-timers,
and the golden lure OF which has been
q constant Incentive to prospectors
for half century. Then there is
1.-THE Lost Gun-sight." the story OF
which has spread far and wide and
has become one OF the permanent
legends Of the western mining world.
The Lost Alvord." somewhere In
the western verges of Death Valley,
haa about 1t q tang OF romance like
that OF the Spanish treasures. And
there Is still another treasure story
pertaining to the discovery of noun
tain OF solid black sulphurets of sill
Yer, somewhere In the southern
Panamints. by struggling party Of
immigr&hts, who made their way
through that region in 1850.
rftr. -.
a coloring and allurement that makes
it worth while to here relate them.
Tho 5reyfooIe.
II was somewhere back In the early
sixties when all the southwest was
still an arid and sparsely settled
country. that an early pioneer of the
desert mountains. namely James
Breyfogle. a prospector, made his way
into the Death Valley region, and with
the aid OF q burro, was exploring and
prospecting the Funeral mountains,
on the eastern verge Of the great.
forloru, desoiate and mysterious val
ley Of death. But the burros then
were as burros now and inclined to
stray sway, as only burros can, and
no one day when Mr.. Breyfogle, like
RAVDRNStgA1
had gone In search of his burro, he
found himself lured on and on in the
vain effort to locate the beast or dis
tinguish It from other objects, he
penetrated q vast, far canyon in the
Funeral range. partly for purposes Of
prospecting and exploration and part
~ to determine II the burro might
be found brousing In there somewhere
or seeking the company OF other
burros.
However he found no friendly or
familiar object OF the animate world,
only the vast and sun-blackened,
.weatherbeaten cliffs and crags and
the gray and solemn sage and sand
and the Btrewn debris of the hollows
Finally he espiod lone willow tree
in q rAvine. and with the instinct OF
lone accustomed TO the deserts he
knew that the willow was good In
ldication of water. Upon investigation
no found that there was really q
spring beBide the willow, and what
was more. that big ledge of heavy.
dark, rusty ore traversed the rayfne
just above. Breaking on some Of the
rock he saw that It was permeated
with gold. The yellow, ,lustrous
CLEAN Of the metal everywhere In the
half-corroded ledge quickly gave the
lone prospector the conviction that he
had discovered one of the greatest
gold deposits ever known. He broke
from the ledge number of speci-
mems and finally In the gathering
dusk he resumed his way over the
crags and ridges and after some hours
Of devious travel was again at his
camp.
With great resolve to get out to
the settlements and thence return
with companions and equipment, the
lone prospector with such thoughts
as would come to most men under
such circumstances made his way
across the rugged solitudes. In the
direction OF civilization.
Just what befell Mt certain points
in this journey seems never to have
been remembered by Breyfogle--