Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-03-14
g by RidSmay Co.


under the brazen sun and amid the
occasional sand,cloudL stirred up by
a slight breeze from the mountains, a
figure appeared in the distance. just
a vague, traceable figure, slowly and
YEARLY pushing along through the
clogging sands. AS it approached,
1t resolved itself into wandering In
dian squaw, apparently half dea> from
lack of water, who. without going
near the workmen, passed on to the
tank and there started to drink from
the small open trough
Thinking to assist her when she
seemed about to drop into heap from
nothing more than the exhaustion of
her toilsome journey, several of the
men started in her direction. She
saw them coming. with an effort she
arose and made off with all speed
down the track in the opposite direc-
ton.
She was followed for a distance,
until she turned off into the desert
again, and having no great interest in
a single squaw, the men returned. On
covered an old piece of blanket Sc
curely tied in knot On opening it
they found lot OF black pieces of
metal, which under a knife revealed
pure gold of darkest hue, They were
nuggets, dozens of them, varying in
size from smaller than dime to the
size of an English walnut, and all of
them black
Hastily the men tried to follow the
squaw, but by this time she had dis
appeared in the same range Of noun
talns to the north from which she
had been seen to emerge. When the
finders of the gold had an opportunity
of having the metal assayed and val
ued, they were brought to realiza-
ton of the worth of the discovery.
The little pack contained more than
$4,000 worth of property.
Such find could not help starting
a search and creating talk and it was
but short time before a number OF
old miners were on the scene. They
knew the value of the black gold and
also that in this section buried far
from observation or generally over
looked by prospectors. who had beer
through the ranges before, lay the old
Peg-leg mine with its tabled wealth
There was stampede from the camp
which did not last long on account OF
the hardships the searchers had tC
face.
Only in the northwestern part o.
the range is there any LIVING water
the Salvation springs. Other portion.
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! tlpe were discovered in all but one
or tWo instances 10 be dried up.
As result, only few hardy prospect
ors were steady in their search, which
mad It's original inception in 1853 when
Peg-leg' Smith wandered into Mo
nave with nearly $4,000 worth OF
Diack nuggets in his possession.
According to his story, he had been
living with the Yuma and Cocopah In
dams along the Colorado river for sew
eral years.
They told stories of great treasures
Of yellow metal, but never ventured
after it themselves. Smith, who had
lost a leg while in an encounter
with the Indians in crossing the plains
boarded up all the stories and after
securing all information possible he
decided on trip to San Francisco tc
obtain partner in mis- work. At that
time the desert was not mapped. and
it was really hazardous undertaking
for any man to attempt.
In this desolate region Smith lost
his bearings. The fierce yellow sun
the dancing, juggling heat-waves, the
dust-furries confused his direction. He
finally climbed upon black butte that
stood near by, and arriving at its sum
nit probably 1900 feet in the air, he
attempted to locate his whereabouts
when / reached the top" he tolt
some of his friends, 81 saw Just a
short distance away another butte oil
exactly the same height and tyne as
the one ON which had stood. 1t was
connected with a low saddle, and the
twin buttes were isolated from the
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