Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-11-06
The Lure OF COLD
Romance and Tragedy of the Old
Bonanza Trail.


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 Yir- /
ginia City. In war and Indian depart ]
ment annals II 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. /
ina relatively small territory, that the .
world had ever seen.
Out of Alder gulch and Last Chance |
gulch. within 200 miles of each other !
in Montana. was 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 few years be
fore reused men to brave every hard
ship for these prizes.
1t did not matter at all that these
gulches were 1900 miles from the
nearest railroad and that other gold
fields were far easier to reach. Here
was the great FL Dorado. and with
out a qualm the gold seekers hurried
into the unknown territory, defying
Red Cloud and every other Indian, out
law, renegade and holdup 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 the mysterious country and
the settlements of mining camps grew
up almost in single night There
were only five men in the little party
when Bill Fairweather washed the
first pan in Alder gulch and made dis
covery even more wonderful than any
! in the palmy days of California or
even in the later era OF the KlOndike.
Two years later Alder gulch, at one
of the Bonanza trails two ends, was
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-
tertainment 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 twenty-five cent pinch of gold
dust. taken from a pouch. 1t 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 took the trail at Fort Laramie.
The days of the trail were those or
frenZied lawlessness, aud many are the
picturesque stories that have come
down. Over the big road disputes
about cards were of daily occurrence.
The man who started an argument did
so with the knowledge that it 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 ana
killed without conjunction.
Armed robbers ran off stock, stole
horses from one class of immigrants
and sold them TO another. AS the
horse was the sole means OF transpor
tation and valuable beyond human life
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
r once impaneled among those present,
the man tried and if found guilty han.
7 ed to tree without ceremony.
Hotels fouri>hrd and were prosper
Gus beyond Imagining. for every one
spent money. and there was much
= Haunting In the higher grade estab-
Iishments beverages were served in cut
glass; cha mpaRne was common Every
resort was crowded with people. The
newcomers frequented these places in
: quest of information. paid p cents for
a glass of beer made from barley
r. grown by the Confederate soldiers
: at BOzeman and sold to the Virginia
I breweries for S cents a pound, and not
. enough could be received to supply the
. demand Table board cost 81 day
for the very cheapest and If one slept
. in a chair In the hotel lobby at night
when the rooms were all rented, be
paid $50 for the privilege.
Gold was the only medium Of ex
cnanSe- 4 p!I.cb u IT. btL" -sH bif
forefnger and the thumb. as has been
said. counted - cents. There would
be a tendency with some men to take
: inst a little bit more. When that ten
dency was noticed IN man ne was
given hours TO leave tOwnTand It was
D seldom over two hours. The wise mar
2 did not stand on ceremony or protest
he "vamoosed." 10 camp vernacular.
The newspapers of the city sold FOL
: 25 cents copy, red hot from the press
and full Of news Of lynchings. new dig
7 gings. "clean ups" hold ups" 'baC
men" and gossip Of a breezy charac
ter. Ham and eggs 10 order cost $3.50
, Eggs were worth 80 cents apiece aD'