The Elbert County tribune., 1913-02-28


came upon them. He declared him
self 'in on it." He had prospected
the ground before He was determin-
ed he would not give an inch. They
conceded him half interest. which
he divided with his partner. That
claim afterward became the Ophir
ground
It's gold-bearing days were short
lived. when an assayer named Mel
vile Atwood came along. Struck by
the appearance of the black residue
from the ore. he essayed It and found
that 1t ran three thousand ounces in
silver to the ton. Prior to that the
search had been for gold. Now there
was a stampede. Within two years
virginia City. Nevada. had popula-
ton OF thirty thousand. and the fam
GUS lode named after Comstock has
produced In gold and silver sS50.000.-
700. The mines burrowed down to a
depth of more than three thousand
feet. and for years fought through a
rain of scaldiug hot water under
ground.
In the early 7o's 1t began to play
out The people we're panic-stricken.
thousands faced starvation Then ap-
peared man who seemed to "see
through the moutnain" The great
lode had only been scratched. he de-
clared. John Mackay. with James Fair
and Messrs. Flood and O'Brien, start
ed to sink the Consolidated California
ana virginia shaft. Dark days were
on the camp when that shaft went
deeper and deeper without revealing
an indication of ore. Just as the night
was blacklist. and the people filled
with despair. the bottom of the Con
solidated shaft punctured the top of
the greatest bonanza ever recorded
In history. Stocks scared. The hopes
of the people revived. Virginia City
was a bedlam of excitement Millions
came out of that hole. In the next
two years the Consolidated paid divi-
dends at the rate of s2000.0OO a
month
The Chicken and .he Professor.
A chicken was the accidental means
of halting a party Of gold hunters. at
a point which afterward became a
great city, and the center of the most
remarkable mining discoveries ever
known.
A group of Georgia miners stopped
on the banks of sandy creek in west.
ern Kansas. New Years day. 1853.
They had some poultry with them
which they turned loose for a few
days. They killed one. and in clean
ing 1t small gold nugget was found
in the crop.
Instantly a town was born The
men were from Auraria, Georgia. and
they gave that name to the new place.
The stream was called Cherry Creek.
They panned up and down and within
few weeks SO many trains of prairie
schooners had stopped there that
quite community had been estab-
lished. The Pixies Peak boom was on
From Leavenworth the world had
been notified. There were saloons.
gambling houses. dance halls. all the
indulgences of mining town. when
the placer began to wane The rush
crowded the village. But the supply
of gold was scant. Wagons labeled
Pixies Peak or Bust" came In daily
Some ascended the peak-seventy-f five
miles to the southland If they could
have found the man who started the
rumor there would have been a hang.
ing.
Then John Gregory panned down
the creek to the Platte. and followed
it to its confluence with Clear Creek.
Here he obtained better "colors." He
ascended this stream thirty miles to
the point where 1t forked. He panned
the gravel on each side. and selected
the North Fork. The next day he
lifted painful of gravel from gulch
that will forever bear his name. The
rush that followed changed the name
of Auraria to Denver. and divorced
from Kansas and Utah enough terri
tority to create Colorado. The peopIe
were gold mad
w. Green Russell. another Georgian,
went into the next gulch and almost
the same day that Gregory struck
it," George Jackson. who had reached
the South Fork of the same creek by
crossing the mountains. added another
district
The gold came so fast that the gov
ernment ordered a mint erected at
Denver in 1861. Then evil days fell on
the new camp. The free" gold dis
appeared. 1t was now held in the
clasp of iron and. sulphur and would
not yield. Thousands faced ruin.
Not one. but several cities had beer
built in the mountains. Denver had
grown by leaps and bounds. The
people were in panic. A mass meet
ing was called. 1t was gloomy crowd
that assembled. All agreed that some
thing should be. done. But what?
Send for Professor Hill" shouted
man in the rear OF the room.
Who is Professor HIP" asked the
chairman.