The Lemmon herald. (Lemmon, Perkins County, S.D.) 1912-1917, 1912-12-13
The LURE OF COLD
Romance and Tragedy OF the Old
Bonanza Trail.
ROAD TO VEAL TIL AND CRIME
u l. 90 TO the Richest Deposits Of Gold,
IN . Relatively Small Territory. Ever
D,seove,eo-Days OF Strenuous Lite
ano ErenxIsu kawiessness.

SACoSofeo-1dyn q SSVeUbous NV
anc Frenx,sd Lswisssness.
The Ronanza trail began at Fort
Laramie, Wyo. 1t ran east of the Ow,
Greek mountains. west OF the Big
Horn mountains. III a northwest direc.
ton to Livingston and Pozeman. then
forking to the present q elena and vir-
ginis City in war and Indian depart.
ment annals 1t Is knowp al the Boze
man trail Immediately. however. It
was gwen the more romantic name.
| and for the best of reasons 1t led to
what wer. the richest deposits OF guid
! In a relatively small territory. that the
world had ever seen.
| Out OF Alder cuIch aud Last Chance
| gUlcb. Within MO miles Of each other
10 Montana was taken. In ten short
years. considerably more than 500.
0O0.oU In pure gold 1t was auybodys
fortune. and the wonderful luck OF the
California gnId diggers a few years Ike
fore ronsed men to brave every bard
ship Tor 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 Ei Dorado. and with
ont q qualm the gold seekers hurried
into the unknown territory. defytng
Red Cloud and every other Indian out
law. renegade and hodup man
aow many lives were sacrificed along
this trail to wealth will never he
known All tina, ,s certain IL that
there never was another chapter In the
worlds history like this rhe long
road into the mysterious country and
the settlements of mining camps grew
up almost in single night There
were only i've men In the little party
when Bill Fairweather washed" the
FIRST pan in Alder guIcb and made dis,
eovery even more wonderful than any
In the paimy days OF California or
even 10 the later era OF the klondike
Two years later Alder guIch. at one
Of the Bonanza trails two ends. was
among the most picturesque places in
the country The world was ransac ked
for men and women to give perform
ances at The theaters to offer free en-.
tertainmenl 70 the patrons of the vari
Gus resorts The gold hunters. gorged
with prosperity. wanted amnsements.
Fine restaurants were opened and food
brought ~ at great expense from he
yond the seas rhe smallest money
was twenty five cent pinch of gold
dust. taken from pouch 1t bought
less than II copper cent does iD any
part OF the ntrd States today
Meantime M unending stream Of
people poured into the new country
1t is estimated hy some that $4,000 In
all took the iraii at Fort Lara mie
The days OF the trail were those of
frenzled mwipssness. and many are the
picturesque stories that hnve 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 1t was bis
life OF the other mans for he was call
ing into question the honor" OF the
shark Swlndlers sold ''mines'
fought with their proposed victims and
killed without compunctiOn
Armed robbers ran OF stock, stole
horses tron one class of immigrants
and sold them to another As the
horse was the sole means of transpor
tation and vhtuabie beyond human life.
boss stealing was set down by the
districts as "A rrime puni>ha bic by
death There were few courts. and
sucn as there We're were miles from,
the trail jury would hence be at
once impan-ied among those present
the man tried and If found guilty hang
ed to n tree without ceremony
Hotels tiourisned and were prosper
ous ~yund imagining. for every one
spent money and there was much
daunting 10 the higher grade estab
Hshments beverages were served In cut
glass; cha mpagne was common Every
resort wa. crowded with people. The
newcomers frequented these places In
quest OF Information paid Is cents for
glass OF beer made from barley
grown by the ex Confederate soldiers
at Rozeman and sold to the Virginia
enough could he received to supply the
demand Table board cost 81 day
for the very cheapest. and II one slept
In chair In the hotel lobby al night.
when the roOIhs were all rented be
paid $50 for the privilege
Gold was the only medium OF ex
change. A pinch OF It. betw the
fOrefuger aud the thumb az has been
said. counted 25 cents There would
be tendency with some men to take
Just a 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 on ceremony or protest.
~ "vamoosed." In camp vernacular.
The newspapers of the city sold for
q cents copy. red hot from the press,
and full Of news OF iynchings, new dig
gings, clean ups" "hold ups" bad
men" and gossip OF = breezy charac
ter Ham and eggs to order cost $3.50
Eggs we're worth 30 cents Aplece and
ap ordinary meal of deer or buffalo