The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1913-05-08


had obliterated all signs Of trail and his knowl-
edge of getting back was gone with 1t.
Men will sacrifice love, life, virtue and kindred
things is there is great opportunity presented
for the accumulation Of sudden wealth. Strange
alliances stories Of murder long legal fights and
bitterest enmity have grown up in the southwest
as adjuncts to the continued hunt for treasure.
Among the strange stories that are more widely
known is that which has to do with lost placer
Of great riches.
1t finds its origin in the early eighties, either
1883 or 1884, when white man, lone prospec-
tor, wandered into the camp OF the Piute Indians
at Piute Bend the Nevada side of the Colo.
RADIO river. The bend only lay few miles above
Fort Mohave and 1t is there that Jamison, which
is generally given as the mans name gathered
his first nklings Of the storied wealth accumulat
ed by several members of the tribe.
They were said to know of several great gold
deposits in the desert and mountain country con-
tiguous to their place of living and from these
they frequently brought to Fort Mohave splendid
specimens Of nuggets and gold dust. This gold
they traded for half third Of its actual value
buying the baubles and the gaudy apparel so dear
to the heart of the red 1t also led occa'
sionally to serious trouble attempts Of unscrupu-
lous whites to obtain their secrets, sometimes
even by force. usually by chicanery.
Jamson took course which brought him In
direct and continued contact with all members of
the tribe. He married one of the squaws, and
after a year two of living with the Indians
gained many Of their secrets. To his brotherin.
law he was indebted for the discovery of an i'm.
mensely rich placer To reach it at all seasons
of the year apparently impossible.
eve shall wait till the snow falls and covers all
the land" said the red brother to Jamison.
ID They waited for two years for such time to
come, snow not being usual thing in that portion
Of the country every year. And when 1t came,
the Indian took his adopted tribesman for long
Journey to place Of three peaks and place
Obtafnahe.
melting the snow. and there they gathered from
beneath the white cloak much gravel, and carried
1t back to the camp of the Indians in three days
Feeling assured, then OF the wealth he
to gather, Jamison wrote old eastern friend
whose has been lost. 1t Is said to have
been Fields. He told Fields all about the
derful gravel and excited his desire for riches
that within few months Fields had arrived at
Fort Mohave. Jamison left the Indians with tho
excuse that he had to look after particular bust
ness in California
Then with Fields he went to Homer. station
on the Santa Fe railroad in San Bernardino coun-
ty California. There they purchased span Of
good mules with some Of the gold that Jamison
had saved from his first trip, and they loaded an
old blackboard with barrel of water and few
provisions and started out, driving south into
Homer Wash. From all reports they probably
Travelled forty miles that day and night, arriving
at the diggings early the next morning.
There we climbed a mesa, said Fields, telling
OF the discovery in after years "And on top Of
this proceeded with our work which merely con.
sisted in scraping the gravel in heaps and pan.
ming 1t in a tub which Jamison had brought along
for the purpose The water which had been left
in the barrel used in the tub The gravel
was nearly half gold so rich that it nearly stun
ned U.S. We became careless in our work. picking
off only the gold and the nuggets, and
dumped the residue of fine gold and dust into the
tub. 1t far too much work to pan it clean"
Want of water, the bugaboo that has menaced
every prospector at one time or another in the
southwest, upon them at nightfall when
they were forced to give to the two mules the wa.
ter that had been used for pannng. 1t less
than enough to quench their thirst and in half
panic the two miners cached their tub, half full
Of dust and their gold pan in small which
they had discovered in Of the little canyons
leading off the mesa.
Then came their retreat, as ignominious as any
that ever befell army. With all their wealth
they forced to run. panic seemed to
take them and they logged their mules through
the desert night trying to get to Homer before
the break of day and the heat that came with 1t
in that summer period. With coming of dawn
they found themselves in sad plight. They
had lost the trail entirely were in country new
to them. had not drop OF water and scarcely
handful Of food.
With breaking light came hope. Way off in the
distance they dscerned the budapest that has
led to many salvation in the desert wastes:
reach them and the railroad tracks they marked
their aim. Through three hours of tortuous
work, walking instead of trying to ride behind
the WORKOUT mules. they struggled on. their
tongues lolling black from out their mouths, their
Threats burned to cinder crispness, their eyes
bullying in continued effort and strain
And reaching the railroad, they could discern
just a short distance to the right few strag.
Cling buildings little outpost of civilization.
with promise of water If nothing more And this
4L4l %Ho;n oo
hind them. They were found by an old miner
who happened on to the broad wooden platform
of the only bar in Blake during the siesta
of the town. They dead than alive,
and 1t took several hours of hard work to bring
them to. For two days they were out Of their
minds
Their first thought on coming to was their gold
Had they lost it? Had 1t been stolen? They
directed search for 1t in the wagon and there it
lay In large canvas sack untouched by the men