The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-05-03


SSsESeas completion of the roads there was
yts.AS" difficulty in obtaining water for the
TN[-Tst35 purpose OF supplying the engines ~
the little stations necessary "her-
there siding
In order water in abundance, the
Santa Fe railroad had ordered tunnel bored III
the clipper range. located in san Bernardiho
county from eight ten miles northwest ~
Danny the station which it was to be piped I
discovered in large quantity. This all happened
within a score Of years The man who Folun-
teered for the work competent mining man
who was well acquainted with the sinking Of
shafts and the boring Of tunnels, was Thomas
SchoLeld OF Los Angeles
firing OF work one day in carly June Of 1884,.
he started a prospecting "Trip. something which
he did whenever he felt in need OF relaxation
He wandered into Of the canyons close at
hand and discovered there a spring. What to
him was more surprising and even startling WAS
the trail that led up the canyon, stopping at the
watering place
The trail at times very indistnct because Of
the solid rock formation led over three four
small hills. the hnEbaCk Of two ranges and then
into another canyon. This he followed until it
ended In blank wall and he realized that the
trail had been lost Going back short distance
he discovered it. winding Up the side OF the hill
II led to two immense rocks. riyaliug the towers
of an old English castle. They seemed to form
the portal to the wealth beyond, and nature had
set them so closely together that they allowed
just sufficient passageway to permit a burro well
packed to enter.
And just beyond the portal stood an isolated
rock. There beside the black boulder Of enor
nous size stood the shrads of what had been
camp The wooden upright supports were stu
standing. and draped from them. floating in the
breeze, were the shrcds Of what had been
tent Brush had been carefully piled up around
the sides Inside there bench Of toughs
still covered with a blanket, which was. like the
tont covering dlapidated and ragged The stilI
ness Of the place and the fact that man had been
ak ha
a blow from a fist
pile Of railroad tics. number Of rusty olt
axes which had been used wedges for splitting
the ties for laggiuE a few other mining tools
and some badly decomposed food still lay about
the Place indicating very sudden abandonment
OF the camp by Ifs owner The most coas"i@uous
Of all things about the place was an oldfashonod
heavily rrrsted Dutch oven. the largest Schofod
had ever seen and triH" over two feet in diam.
etcr So oppressive was the place and so rervn-
racl,lnr The immediate strain that he continued
the trail which led away from the camp
Ju-' short distance away hc came to shar'
whcr" considerable work had been done. Il was
sunk unou % SERIES of small striuger4 that ran
parallel to one another for "A long distance and
Intervals or about six inches he counted
twolyr of these peculiar formations in the rock
and they were Of almost solid gold He tested
th'w. 'hnruirE" great strings ot coarse cold.
The surrounding vas Of indigo blue
quart formation and TO mo the strIHgnrs pass
ing through the dark purphyrF. appeared bed Of
giant bed of riolots' said SchoGcd In telling Of
his discovery - traced these lines 1T high grade
orc for a distance of nearly Soon feet. and found
them widening and euarsiuE they went They
Interested me so that failed TO notice for hours
that the day fast waning aud that I would be
forced To remain there over ujGft.
The mystery the awe and even the fear of
that night ! shall never forget Was ] in the
haunt Of rohber crew who had found wealth tar
richer than could be obtained from their nefar-
crueiy murdered and their wealth carried of by
some one ClEco Was the victim of some strange
phautasuBuoria. or would l awaken TO find all
the wealth and the adventure OF the day dream
These and countless other suggestions coursed
through my throbb!ng brain and slept little that
night
"Iu the morning I explored the shaft at the
first light Of breaking sun above the Jagged sky.
line Of broken peaks found that the shaft had
been sunk 10 possibly seventy or eighty feet. that
It was equipped with windass rope and bucket
and that it had been we'll timbered all the
to the bottom Outside | discovered large pile
of ore Indicative of the fact that little of
the product OF the mine had ever been carried
away
After gathering number of fine samples and
q large quantity of the horned gold I went back
TO the camp and there again I was attracted tv
the Dutch oven. Something seemed to draw me
toward it. It contained gold, Half of it full
OF the product and there ! unable TO cart It
away All marks of those who resided there were
of such an old stamp that I never thought wheth
it would be right wrong. The idea Of pos
session OF much wealth nearly overwhelmed
me- and after grasping some of 1t | started back
to the camp by the tunnel. planning trip to Los
Angeles to see whether It was really gold that
had found"
And when Schofed had his ore and his metal
tested he found that it the real article and
that he had made himself richer by several hun
dred dollars with just the small amount he had
been able to lug his person. 1t fred him
with the desire to return at once and obtain all
of the treasure II the right owners had not re-
turned But he has never beer able to get back
to the Dutch oven!
In co.ling back from the mine he had paid 1t
tie heed to the general direction taken. He had
followed the trail blindly his way up and
hir rnt1,r intlrn snfI1nt tor