The chronicle=news., 1913-06-16
"Reminiscences of
The Frontier Days

Ine cAtl OF tue Wilu mas AWdSb
proven u great porous plaster In
drawing men to the glorious hills
md holding them there IN the pa
tient search for the golden fleece.
Every old mining camp iu Colorado
possesses u thousand of these an-ISat
mariners who started out In lie hs
nrgOnnuts on the Aegean sea ntrOss
which somewhere is supposed to l.:
the port of good fortune. One q:
these tOilcrs Of the troubled ;aep
was Uncle Jimmie kewiey Of Oarny
county who for forty years pounded
away at the unyiclding face o: the
Sawtooth range In the vain hope OF
Eventually striking II rich by op-
eninx up the great treasure tro.c hs
rich as the tabled iodes Of Ophir.
He located the Black Cave In n
Wild and Inaccessible spot Just with
In the mouth Of Pouhkecpsic gulch
near the head OF the uncompahsrc
and there far from the haunts of
men he worked through all :hosc
tircsome years waiting for the d"oi
that never opened. He was beloved
by all the kindly people Of thu rug
keu Wuo INV
were the d-rclicis Of civilization tls'
upon the uncertain sea Of unds''rm-
inabie fate. Iured by the sirens
song perhaps but always M ans Co
iinx. The hand OF time. however.
laid the weight Of years upoL bis
back aud the story Of Uncle Jinni"'s
denis. at Mercy hospital In Nrny Ia
u pathetic tale.
A newspaper reporter on hi,
ro.inds one day slipped softly into
III. ward whrr" the old man lay iy'
ing on u cot. Slater Mary Luke w,s
supporting him In her arms 10 make
the old man more comfortable - the
thread Of life ran out aud his mortal
,pirit passed slowly away. H's mInd
was wandcrin. aud In the d.i!rimM
Of death he Imagined himself talking
to an old sweetheart. We haN.
struck Il ri.h." he said exui'tntiS.
land now We ran go back nom"
where the green xra~s crows mud 'he
Ohio river flows ON Ia the srn u
was the last words Of = grand oii
churactcr who had worked all hn
life to succeed only to fall n the
end.
Another hero Of the hills is irs.
ling Martin. who has plugged avn,
sinslr-js~k on the same old hard
quartz for a like number Of y,ara In
the Immediate nsixhborhood ara
kccps iamping away with hammer
aud driii. His principal loca,loa 10
the Pine Squirrel In Corksercw s.'lch
two and onc-hsif miles east of Iron
ton. lie has suffered the thoasini
siisappoinlurnta Of prospcrt"-'i
life almost unaidcd and alone bat IL
Nil these two score years he han n":-
Icr g'-.n ap aud II still on the Job "
hopeful A. ever. following ihs
l9,ransc ignis faius which lead
men on toward the setting sun a.
their amhitions.
Once a great snow slide Siinr d
down into the gulch and came crowd.
ing aior- with It's hungry nav. u
took away lrving Martins cabin IL.
Its ficndish grasp hut the folio" ;ns
spring he was back on the s-"rn''
and built n new cabin In . safc' sis'
and II II there today. This fla, old
specimen Of ;hc whaietonc fnmil,
ikOcs out to tho lower valley every
winter TO hibernate among the f.u!,
trees but In the joyous spring tine
he and the Jacks with the sacks oi
= grub and giant are pointed h'ca
q toward the everlasting rocks wher.
the dnuntlcxs pursuit of the bidder
= vein is taken up again. lie can no.
e resist the call across the low-ian,
IL s..t,l 1,r IA i'm, - 4.
Il the golden land of dreams.
ci II anybody should happen to travc
r along Crokscrew g,ich some Tin: er
l. .ning this summer he will see the oil,
prospector sitting before his little
shack m the twilight shadows toncl
tho suow-clad peaks far up in III.
p" sky above him. softly on the Gra.
volcano falls the beam Of dyihg iav'
and 1t will lingcr lovingly over th'
~ old prospector OF Corkscrew g,ilcn g.
he IN still on the job. or late year
his patron s,int has been Marsi!t
w Orcn'orff. a well-to-dO follower, o
the mineral faith who stakes tn. O.,
~ man to do the assessment work on ,
:" group Of claims while piodding ava.
y at his own and In this way he make.
,. both cnt;s meet. when Strike ".
~ he often says. and I'll get = u
two or 'htee years. then ! AM goth.
to pack the jacks and hoof II a,i III
re way back to West Virginia to di,
among my hchoolboy friends In th'
I" land OF realization
A Frontier EiOpenent: This tai, l.
10 not lonx hut Il fs true The prndtlss
~ girl at Fort Union. New Mexico. IL
nc 1872, was Dolly Shoemaker ard "
she was the only young woman a
the post her popularity was a mutt
IT, OF common consent from Ration 4
'o the tornado. A young lieutonan II
IL named william l.. Black was st1