The Elbert County tribune., 1913-03-14
G. by RidSmay Co.

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slight breeze from the mountains. a
figure appeared in the distance. just
a vague. traceable figure. slowly and
wearily pushing along through the
clogging sands. AS 1t approached,
1t resolved itself into wandering In
dian squaw. apparently half dea. from
lack of water, who. without going
near the workmen. passed on to the
tank and there started to drink from
the small open trough
Thinking to assist her when she
seemed about to drop into heap from
nothing more than the exhaustion of
her toilsome journey. several of the
men started In her direction She
saw them coming with an effort she
arose and made of with all speed
down the track In the opposite direc-
ton
She was followed for b distance,
until she turned off into the desert
again, and, having no great interest in
single squaw. the men returned. On
arriving at the water-tank they dis
covered an old piece of blanket Sc
curely tied in knot On opening 1t
they found lot of black pieces of
metal, which under a knife revealed
pure gold of darkest hue. They were
nuggets, dozens Of them. varying in
size from smaller than dime to the
size of an English walnut. and all of
them black
Hastily the men tried to follow the
squaw. but by this time she had dis
appeared in the same range of noun
tains to the north from which she
had been seen to emerge. When the
finders of the gold had an opportunity
of having the metal assayed and val
ued, they were brought to realiza-
tion of the worth OF the discovery.
The little pack contained more than
$4,000 worth of property.
Such find could not help starting
search and creating talk, and 1t was
but a short time before a number of
old miners we're on the scene. They
knew the value of the black gold and
also that in this section buried far
from observation or generally over
looked by prospectors. who had been
through the ranges before. lay the old
Peg-leg mine with It's tabled wealth.
There was a stampede from the camp.
which did not last long. on account of
the hardships the searchers had to
face
Only in the northwestern part of
the range is there any living water,
the Salvation springs. Other portions
of the range contain huge natural
tanks in the mountains. which at that
time were discovered in all but one
or two instances to be dried up.
AS result. only few hardy prospect
ors were steady In their search, which
had its original inception in 1853 when
'Peg-leg" Smith wandered into Mo-
have with nearly $4,000 worth OF
black nuggets in his possession.
According to his story, he had been
living with the Yuma and Cocopah In
dams along the Colorado river for sew
eral years.
They told stories of great treasures
Of yellow metal, but never ventured
after 1t themselves. Smith. who had
lost a leg while in an encounter
with the Indians in crossing the plains,
boarded up all the stories and after
securing all information possible, he
decided on a trip to San Francisco to
obtain a partner In his work At that
time the desert was not mapped. and
it was a really hazardous undertaking
for any man to attempt.
In this desolate region Smith lost
his bearings. The fierce yellow sun.
the dancing, juggling heat-waves, the
dust-ffurries confused his direction He
finally climbed upon black butte that
stood near by, and arriving at its sum-
NIT, probably 1900 feet in the air, he
attempted to locate his whereabouts.
When reached the top" he told
some of his friends. Il saw just
short distance away another butte of
exactly the same height and type as
the one on which had stood. 1t was
connected with a low saddle, and the
twin buttes were isolated from the
main range. Finally decided on the
way l was to continue and started
back down the hill to my mule, which
had remained at the foot of the in
cline.
"I had tied the animal to a boulder
in order to prevent II from breaking
away and carrying off the only water
supply available for perhaps a week
or more. Rather restless. the mule
had stamped about and kicked up
some goodsized pebbles that showed
strange CLINT where the koofs had
struck. Picking one of the black
s ones up. pulled out my pocketknife.
scratched its surface. and found that
it was gold"
1t was repetition of the old ORR
entail fable of the stranded Arab on
the desert who came across a sack
OF pearls when he sought figs and wa
ter. Smith was running short of food
and water and could take only a few
pounds on the already overcrowded
mule. and these he placed in his sad