The midland journal., 1913-05-02

had obliterated all signs Of trail and his knowl
edge Of getting back was gone with it.
Men win sacrifice love, life, virtue and kindred
things is there is a 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 more widely
known is that which has to do with a 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 on the Nevada side Of the Colo
RADIO river. The bend only lay few miles above
Fort Mohave and 1t is there that Jamson, which
Is generally given as the mans name, gathered
his first inklings 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 man. 1t also led Occa-
sionaly 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 brotherin.
law he was indebted for the discovery Of an 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 all
the land" said the red brother to Jamson
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 long
journey. to place of three peaks and a place
where no water was obtanable, save 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 Jamison wrote an old eastern friend
whose has been lost It is said to have
been Fields. He told Fields all about the won.
derful gravel. and so 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, station
on the Santa Fe railroad In San Bernardno 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 a 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 mesa" said Fields telling
H
this proceeded with our work which merely con-
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 used in the tub. The gravel
was nearly half gold so rich that 1t nearly stun
ned us. We became careless in our work. picking
of only the coarse gold and the nuggets. and
dumped the residue of fine gold and dust into the
tub. 1t was 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, came upon them at nightfall when
they were forced to give to the two mules the wa
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 cave which
they had discovered in one of the little canyons,
leading OF the mesa.
Then came their retreat, as ignominious as any
that ever befell army. With all their wealth
they wer forced to run. 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 1t
in that summer period With coming Of dawn
they found themselves in q sad plight. They
had lost the trail entirely, were in a country
to them had not drop of water and scarcely a
handful of food
With breaking light came hope way on 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 cinder crispness. their eyes
bulging in continued effort and strain.
And reaching the railroad. they could discern,
just short distance to the right. few strag-
Cling buildings some little outpost of civilization.
with promise Of water II 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 sesta
of the town. They were more dead than alive.
and 1t took several hours of hard work to bring
them to. For two days they out of their
minds
Their first thought on coming to their gold
Had they lost It? Had 1t been stolen? They
directed search for II In the wagon and there IL