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

things is there is a great opportunity presented
for the accumulation OF sudden wealth. Strange
alliances stories OF murder long legal nights ana
bitterest enmity have grown up in the southwest
as adjUncts the continued hunt for treasure
Among the strange stories that are more widely
known Is that which has to do with a lost placer
OF great riches
It duds its origin in the early eighties. either
1888 or 1854 when white a lone prospec-
tor, wandered into the camp Of the Piute Indians
ar PIute Bend the Nevada side OF the Colo
rado river The bend only lay few miles above
Fort Mohave and it is there that Jamson which
is generally given the mans name, gathered
his first inklinss OF the s'orled wealth accumulat
ed b. 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 a half third OF its actual value,
buying the baubles and the gaudy apparel so dear
10 the heart Of the red man. 1t also led occa-
sionally to serious trouble attempts of unscrupu-
lous whites to obtain their secrets, sometimes
even by force, usually by some chicanery.
Jamison took course which brought him IN
direct and continued contact with all members of
the tribe. He married one Of the squaws, and
after year or two Of living with the Indians
gained many of their secrets. To his brother-in-
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
We shall walt till the falls and covers all
the land" said the red brother TO Jamison,
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 it came,
the Indian took his adopted tribesman for a long
journey TO a place Of three peaks and a place
where no water obtainabe, through
melting the snow, and there they gathered from
beneath the white cloak much gravel and carried
it back to the camp Of the Indians in three days
Feeling assured, then, OF the wealth he was
to gather Janison wrote old eastern friend
whose name has been lost. 1t Is said to have
been Fields. He told Fields all about the
derfui 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 busi-
ness in California
Then with Fields he went to Homer a station
the Santa Fe.raiIroad in San Rernardino coun-
ty. California There they purchased span of
good mules with some Of the gold that Jamison
had saved from his first trin and they loaded an
old bucEboard 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 dtERinss early The next morning
"Thor" We climbed mesa" said Fields telling
Of th" discovery Ia after years And on top Of
this proceeded with work which merely con.
sisted in scrapiag the gravel in heaps and pan
ming u in tub which Tamison had brought along
for thu purpose The water which had been left
in the barrel was u-s! IA tho tub The gravel
II
ned us. We became careless in work picking
OF only the. coarse gold and the nuggets and
dumped the residue Of fine gold and dust into the
tub II Was far too much work TO pan it clean
Want Of water the bugahoo that has menaced
every prOSTFetOr at one time another in the
southwest came upon them at nightfall when
They were forced to give to the two mules the wa.
tor that had been used for panning 1t was less
than enough to ouench their thirst and in halt
panic the two miners cached their tub. half full
yCIf nan in
they had discovered in of the little canyons
leading on the mesa
Then came their retreat, as icnominious as any
that ever befell an army With all their wealth
they wer forced to A 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 came with It
in that summer period. With coming of dawn
they found themselves in sad plight They
had lost the trail entirely, We're in country new
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 guidepost that has
led To many a salvation in the desert wastes.
telegraph poles strung at regular intervals To
reach them and the railroad tracks they marked
was their aim Through three hours of tortuous
work walking instead OF trying to ride behind
the Worn-out mules they struggled on their
tongues lolling black from out their mouths their
throats burned to a cnder crispness their eyes
bulginE In continued effort and strain
And reaching the railroad, they could discern
just a short distance to the right few strae.
Cling buildings some little outpost of civilization
with promise Of water If nothing more And this
they reached eventually pulling their mules be-
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 noon siesta
OF the town They We're dead than alive
and it 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 it been stoleno They
directed search for it in the wagon and there II
lay in large canvas sack UNTOUCHED by the men
who had cared for the mules When it wa.
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