Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-11-19
THE LURE OF COLD
Romance and Tragedy of the Old
Bonanza Trail.
A ROAD TO WEALTH AND CRIME

Discovsred-Days of Strenuous Life
and Frsnxied Lswlassness.
The Bonanza trail began at Fort
Laramie, Wyo. 1t ran east Of the Owl
Greek mountains, west Of the Big
Horn mountains, In a northwest direc-
| ton to Livingston and Bozeman, then
! forking to the present Helena and Vir-
gIn1a City. In war and Indian depart
ment annals 1t Is known as the BoZe-
man trail. Immediately, however, 1t
was given the more romantic name,
and for the best Of reasons. 1t led to
what were the richest deposits of gold,
In a relatively small territory, that the
world had W seen.
Out Of Alder gulch and Last Chance
| gulch, within 200 miles Of each other
in Montana, vas taken, In ten short
years, considerably more than $780,
100000 in pure gold. 1t was anybody's
fortune. and the wonderful luck of the
California gold diggers a few years be-
fore reused men to brave every hard
ship for these prizes.
IL ulu uOI hhlltI bL di Ildt lucSo
gulches We're 1000 miles from the
nearest railroad and that other gold
fields were far easier to reach. Here
was the great Eel Dorado, and with
| out a qualm the gold raekers hurried
into he unknown territory, defying
Red Cloud and every oehe- Indian, out
law, renegade and / Up man.
How many lives were sacrificed along
this trail to wealth will never be
known. All that is certain is that
there never was another chapter In the
worlds history like this. The long
road into t. mysterious country and
the settlements Of mining camps grew
up almost in a single night. There
were only five men in the little party
when Bill Fairweather washed" the
first pan in Alder gulch and made a dis.
! covery even more wonderful than any
in the palmy days Of California or
even In the later era Of the Klond1ke.
Two years later Alder gulch, at n
| Of the Bonanza trails two ends, wal
among the most picturesque places In
the country. The world was ransacked
for men and women to give perform
ances at the theaters, to offer free en-
t~ertainment to the patrons OF the vari-
Gus resorts. The gold hunters, gorged
with prosperity, wanted amusements.
Fine restaurants were opened and food
brought In at great expense from be-
yond the seas. The smallest money
was a twenty-five cent pinch Of gold
| dust, taken from a pouch. It bought
less than a copper cent does in any
part Of the United States today.
Meantime an unending stream OF
people poured into the new country
1t is estimated by some that 10000 In
all tool the trail at Fort Laramie.
The days of the trail were those OF
frenzied lawlessness, and many are the
| picturesque stories the have come
down. Over the big road disputes
about cars were of daily occurrence.
The man " o started an argument did
so with the knowledge that 1t was his
life or the other mans. for he was call
ing into question the "honor" Of the
shark" Swindlers sold mines"
fought with their proposed victims and
killed without compunction.
Armed robbers ran off stock, stole
horses from one class Of immigrants
and sold them to another. AS the
horse was the sole mean Of transpor-
tation and valuable beyond human life.
"hoss stealing" was set down by the
districts" as a crime punishable by
death. There were few courts, and
such as there were were miles from
the trail. A jury would hence be at
once impaneled among those present.
the man tried and II found guilty hang
ed to a tree without ceremony.
Hotels nourished and were prosper
Gus beyond imagining, for every n
spent money. and there was much
Haunting. In the higher grade estab-
lishments beverages were served In cut
glass; champagne was common. Every
resort was crowded with people. The
newcomers freQusnted these places In
quest Of information. paid rs cents for
q glass OF beer made from barley
grown by the ex-Confederate soldiers
at Bozeman and sold to the virginia
breweries for 8 cent? a pound. and not
enough could b. received to supply the
demand. Table board cost 81 a day
for the very cheapest, and II n slept
in a chair In the hotel lobby at night,
when the rooms were all rented, he
paid $3.50 for the privilege.
Gold was the only medium OF ex-
change. A pinch of 1t, between the
~forefnger and the thumb, As has been
said. counted rs cents. There would
be a tendency with some men to take
Just 4 little bit more. When that ten
dency was noticed in a man he was
given hours to leave town-and 1t was
seldom over two hours. The wise man
did not stand or ceremony or protest
he "vamoosed." In camp ver%nacular.
The newspapers of the city sold for
rs cents & copy. red hot from the press,
and full Of news Of lynchings, new dig
Qiugs. "clea ups "hold ups" bad
.hen" and gossip of O. breezy charac-
ter. Ham and eggs to order cost $3.50.
Eggs were worth so cents apiece and
an ordinary meal of deer or buffalo
meat. with potatoes or coffee and
bread. WAS never less than $3.50. A
man was very poor to get down to fare
10 coarse MS that.
1t made no difference what a man
might have been back In "the statea:'
~ he was .ton tho Sou9re' in virginia