The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-05-02

had oblierated all signs of trail and his knowl-
edge of getting back gone with it,
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 anu
bitterest enmity have grown up III the southwest
as adjuncts the continued hunt for treasure.
Among the strange stories that more widely
known is that which has to do with lost placer
of great riches.
1t finds it's 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 a few miles above
Fort MohaVe and it is there that Jamison, which
is generally given as the mans name gathered
his first nklings of the stored wealth accumuat-
ed by several members of the tribe.
They 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-
sionalIy to serious trouble attempts of unscrupu-
lous whites to obtain their, secrets sometimes
by force, usually by chicaneTy.
Jamison took a which brought him in
direct and continued contact with all members Of
the tribe. He married of the squaws, and
after year two of living with the Indians
gained many of their secrets. To his brother-in-
law he was indebted for the discovery of i'm
mensely rich placer. To reach it at all seasons
of the year was apparently impossible.
I'VE shall wait till the snow falls and covers ali
the land" said the red brother to Jaaison.
They waited for two years for such time to
come, snow not being usual thing in t}at 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 a place
where no water was obtainable, through
gathered
beneath the white cloak much gravel, anG carried
1t back to the camp of the Indians in three days
Feeling assured, then, of the wealth he was
to gather, Jamison wrote old eastern friend
whose has been lost. It 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 the
excuse that he had to look after particular bust
in California.
Then with Fields he went to Homer a station
on the Santa Fe railroad in San Bernardino coun-
ty, California. There they purchased span of
good mules with of the gold that Jamson
had saved from lis 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 climbed mesa" said Fields, telling
of the discovery in after years. "And on top of
IA
sisted in scraping the gravel in heaps and pan
ming it in tub which Jamison had brought along
for the purpose The water which had been left
in the barrel was used in the tub The gravel
nearly half gold rich that it nearly stun
ned We became careless in work, picking
off only the coarse 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 time another in the
Thorn OF Mol ffa vxho1
they were forced to give to the two mules the
ter that had been used for panning. It was 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 one Of the little canyons
leading off the
Then came their retreat as ignomnious any
that befell army. With all their wealth
they wer forced to panic seemed to over
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 with it
in that summer period. With coming Of dawn
they found themselves in sad plight They
had lost the trail entirely, were in a country
to them. had not a drop of water and scarcely
handful of food
With breaking light came hope. Way off in the
distance they discerned the budapest that has
led to many salvation in the desert wastes;
telegraph poles strung at regular intervals; To
reach them and the railroad tracks they marked
work, walking instead of trying to ride behind
the WORKOUT mules. they struggled on, their
tongues loling black from out their mouths, their
throats burned to a cinder crspness their eyes
bullying III continued effort and strain
And reaching the railroad they could discern,
Just short distance to the right few strag-
Cling buildings. little outpost of civilization,
with promise of water if nothing And this
they reached eventually, pulling their mules be-
hind them. They found by an old miner
who happened to the broad wooden platform
of the only bar In Blake during the noon sesta
Of the town. They more dead than alive,
and it took several hours of hard work to bring
them to. For two days they out Of their
minds.
Their first thought coming to their gold
Had they lost it? Had it been stolen? They
directed search for 1t in the wagon ard there it
lay in large canvas sack. untouched by the
who had cared for the mules. When it
weighed. the men found themselves in possession
of $4,000 for single days work. The story of
their find made Blake deserted village in few
hours. stampede for gold was on For days
and weeks it continued, but never successfully.
Their trail had been oblterated in the winds that
continually sway the sand from dune to dune and
obterate ceaselessly through ages
week before Tamisop and Fields couId