Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-02-27

the presence of the Indians, rather
than 10 the right, where there were
better mineral indications. that caused
him 70 stumble on the great silver
deposit
Where the Indians Got Their Paint.
piece of rock left on hot stove
by accident unlocked treasure house
The Indians about Prescott. Arizona.
had al abundance of paint Where
they obtained it was a mystery. The
fact that they had it excited party
Of prospectors. who followed them
They tracked the redmen up Jerome
Canyon. and saw bright red and green
stains on the side Of the canyon walls
They went above these. and located
silver mine, which they worked out.
Then they sought purchaser They
did not want to risk their money III
searching for greater wealth.
They interested Senator ". A. Clark
OF Montana. He investigated. When
and sank shaft and gave up in dis
he saw the red and green stains he
knew that back in the hills there was
deposit of copper. He bought the
mine and commenced the sinking Of
a shaft that has MADE famous the
United Verde.
The Cripple Creek Enigma.
Pixies Peak has always been ascot
ated with gold. In 1859 a camp was
located In one of the many natural
parks Oh the side Of it. Several thou
sand people were there There was a
town. district rules were adopted. and
location monuments established The
prospects were promising. There was
everything to make a good town-ex-
cept gold.
1t fattened out and the place got a
hard name. Then a man went over to
Mount Pisgah. sailed some claims, and
started a rush He left the country
about twenty-five hundred feet ahead
of thirty-foot rope and several hun
! dred angry men.
Some hardy prospectors went
around on the south side of the peak
gust. For years expedition after ex-
petition wasted time and money on
the sides of the great peak.
Finally man decided that the way
! to get gold out of that section was to
! feed cattle on the sides of the peak.
| He acquired ranch. Later he bor-
rowed some money on it and could
not pay the mortgage. The holders
of the notes offered to give him more
! time. He would rather they would
| take the ranch. Bob Womack dug
| prospect hole in one of the gulches. A
! COW fell in it and was crippled. The
! owner of the ranch threatened to eject
| him. Womack sought aid to develop
mine. In response to his request,
! eminent mining men investigated his
property and tried hard not to laugh
| in his presence. Dignified mining en-
/ gineers shook their heads knowingly,
and warned capitalists not to risk
their money.
Then some one bought Womack's
claim for a song. and commenced to
work it A little gold was found but
! there stood Mount Pisgah, that had
| been sailed, and all around it aban-
doned prospect holes that told OF
blasted hopes of bygone years. 1t had
the curses Of thousands Of men upon
it. A little gold came from the sur
face of the ground. But specialists
sat up nights advising friends and
clients to keep as far away from Grip
pie Creek as they could.
Then silver was demonetized Thou
sands were thrown out of employment.
| They needed not the advice of the ex-
perts They rushed into Cripple Greek
| by the thousand and accidentally dis
covered it. They crowded the trails,
and tramped in over the snow. The
first winter was terrible. They work
ed a placed on Mineral Hill-Wo-
macks mine the Ell Paso, began to
ship ore Then, like a flash, came the
news of the finding of Bonanza on
Gold Hill, Battle Mountain and Bull
Hill
The secret was revealed. The bright
silver-lOoking ore, that disappeared
before the flame of the blowpipe, was
gold disguised by tellurium. 1t was
man left a piece of it on a stove by
accident. The slow heat drove off the
tellurium and left the gold in shining
specks. peeking through the rock.
The Opening of the Yukon.
When the Telegraph Expedition
forced its way through the northwest
in the middle of the nineteenth cen
| tury. it found evidences of gold along
the Yukon river.
The party was locating telegraph
line that was never built. All that
is necessary to start prospector over
the trail is word of rich diggings at
another place, the farther away the
better. Every year after that miners
sought the north.
In 1896 the world was electrified by
the discovery of George Carmack,
who forced his way up the Yukon,
| 1860 miles from the sea- He pros
pected the various rivers in search of
the gold which the Telegraph Expedi-
ton had reported.
He stumbled into Klondike Greek.
Two miles above that he turned into
little stream, where he washed from
forty to eighty dollars gold to the
pan. His fortune was assured, and
his discovery started the rush into the
frozen north, for he had turned the
key that opened the door to millions
| away up in the Arctic Circle.
Thanks TO the Reindeer.
Nome was discovered because some
reindeer strayed away in 1898 and
Lapland reindeer herder at Nome
stumbling along after them. accident
ally kicked a nugget from the sands.