Gilpin observer., 1913-03-06
THE PRosPEcroR
AND HIS BURRo.
(Salt Lake Mining Review.)

II have a hunch that we with have
am early spring." said the prospector
to his bur,ro. Already the wood rat
is piling up material for her nest and
the who-who bird is calling for her
mate; and, even the boys down In
the Bucket of Blood saloon are be-
ginning to get uneasy at the faro
table, and the man who is putting
his chips down on the 90, with the
green to win, hes!tates while HIS
thoughts wander out into the hills
in contemplation of the finelooking
cropping he bumped into last fall
just as the snow began to fly and the
wind howled down the canyon. Even
you. see, fall into deep meditation
as you munich away on your barley;
and you are evidendly thinking of
that lop-eared outlaw burro whom you
have not seen for nearly a year; all
of which rs a harbinger of spring, and
indicates that the hills WE'LL be full
of prospectors at an early day.
But" continued the prospector,
''the wanderlust Is getting it's grip
On us, and within month we will
ibe out in the canyons as free as
the birds of the air and looking for
trouble as industriously as a Piute
sqIaw when engaged in hunting for
livestock on the head of her papoose;
for, as you wen know, we will have
our ups and downs out in the hills
the same as we have when bucking
the tiger i'm our winter quarters, or
when we keep our feet too long on
the rain at the bar. But we will have
our time, however, and this reminds
me of prospecting "trip of mine
several years ago, when you looked
more like a jack rabbit than you do
now, and when your legs seemed to
be all there was to you. Ait the time
l speak of. l was out in the Nestor
range early in the spring, and had
established my camp at the base Of
jagged and rugged cliff. Your moth
er was with me at the time, and she
had selected a grassy patch below
our camp, near purling, sparkling
spring, which she claimed as her very
ownest, and where she hoped to re-
main for the balance of the season.
was well satisfied, too, for the re-
g.on seemed exceedingly favorable for
mineral deposits, and / had noted
quite a number of outcroppings ON
an adjoining hill, which / proposed
to prospect as soon as possible. The
first thing did, however, was to get
my camp in shape, SO that l could
be. comfy and homelike. managed
to fix up a nice cache for my pro-
visions and supplies. and / found a
small cave, some little distance AWAY,
where stored my powder, caps and
fuse. You want to know If / was ex-
cited over the prospects! no, none
whatever, for l was then pretty well
seasoned i'm the prospe citing business.
and had long ago ceased to go up
into the air upon the discovery OF
copper pyrite OF a small seam of
rich ore. And l took things leisurely
and it was three days after making
camp before crossed the little can
yon and began examining the veins
and groupings on the other side.
From the very first found good
looking float. and this l followed up
the mountain side fer a considerable
distance. AT last, way up, near the
mouth CT a box canyon, l found
the cropping, which stood some two
or three feet above the Level of the
ground. 1t was at le.3t two feet wide,
and gave every evidence of continu-
broke off my pick, and In
which l could see free god, judg-
ed 1T would go at least SIS to the
ton. Upon examining the ledge fur
ther l was surprised to find what
appeared to be shallow SHAFT which
had been sunk upon It. The little
dump was overgrown with sage and
mahogany. and an almost obliterated
trail seemed to lead off into the box
canyon. This followed, and was sur
prised when found that 1t led to
little rock cabin buflt into niche In
the rock so snug that, even If one
knew It was there, It would take
some time to find II. II must have
been buflt many years before. for
it's walls were badly cr7imbled and
the chimney had fallen I'm. 1t was
miners cabin, all right. though. and
few old ptclus and shovels were
scattered around that were plainly
marked with the ravages OF time.
Jnist below the cabin a nice stream
bubbled from spring that gushed
from one OF the wtanhs Of the canyon.