The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-11-20
Worthless
Lot
It Was Used For q
Bridal Outfit
BY MARGARET c. OEvEREAUx

rauO on the breaking out or the gold
fever there was Amos Clark. His fam
lily consisted Of his wife and his
daughter. Maria. the latter sixteen
years old. Clark was an u%neducated
man. but with a good deal of grit.
Mrs. Clark vas a sickly woman, while
the daughter was a sprightly girl. but
unsophisticated.
The Clarks were Missourians. and
the natural route for them to take was
overland from st. Joseph. Clark pur
chased an outfit consisting Of a "prai
RE schooner" the name given to the
wagon used by emigrants crossing the
plains-draw 10y four horses. in which
were stored such articles as would he
needed on the journey Jacob Cow
dry, il young man who had been a
neighbor of the family in Missouri.
volunteered to go with them. and the
offer was gladly accept ii.
One leaving the Missouri river today
in a palace car and ~EiInming along
owe the plains can hAr!N r,tliZp what
that journey "a SIXTY Years ago
AiuS. uIC ANAL lptlliS tl' llttt. tut.
protected by the comfrrinh.r car. II j.
hard to appreciate what tuiIiM4 along
in q wagon would be over the l!mit.
less. unSilHdr,l stretch Of country be
tween the Missouri ana e." MuuIIiHII>
The route WH< }Mr,~lrd with Ind
the wheels Of III. ~. %. ~ Wunld shrink
and tall apart. Nuu rr.lr WAS lack Of
good water bn tn. Ntl Clark fell i'll
and Cowdrl Wh" was only twenty
years Old assumed the leadership To
his strength Of will Hnh AS manage
ment was due the safe arrival Of the
family ut the foot Of the mountains.
where. in the salubrious climate. they
rested till Clark recovered. Then they
ascendcd till they reached what after
ward became Georgetown
Gold WAS being taken u all along
Clear creek. and Clark and cowdry
rc"Tpicc themselves i'm washing for
ne precious metal-a process which
insisted i'm putting dirt from the mar
gin of the creek into IL pan. washing il
Dat and leaving tiny bits Of gold.
which sank to the bottom of the water
in the pan. In this way they made Il
living, occasionally stopping their work
TO do some prospecting
Hut the story Of the Clark family is
the same as that of nearly all gold
hunters. no great luck came to them.
Mrs Clark died. and Maria. who by
this time WAS eighteen years old. as
obliged to supply her place. 1t was
hard work for the girl. and she repined
that she had beer brought to Il rough
country. where she was spending her
youth without the advantages Of pdu
cation or refinement.
Cowdry adOred her. She appreciated
his worth. but there wns not in him
that culture to which she aspired. The
country was filling up with men who
were bringing capital with them or
representing capital. and Maria had
her eyes open for Il husband from
among them
Clark entered IL number of claims.
but had not the means to develop
them He was tied down to rocking
pans Of dirt in order t. support him
self and his daughter. Cowdry did
some digging for himself and his
| friend. but did not strike pay dirt.
Such was the situation when Clark
died Maria. being cut off from her
fathers support. lived by ~disi'osing II
by n of the claims he had left her
CoWdry would have gladly married
her. but she looked higher. While her
property WAS passing out Of her hands
/; young man named StnpletOn came
from the east. representing Or claiming
to represent eastern capitalists deSir-
GUS Of investing their money in Colo
rad" gold property
One day some prOSIectOrS went to
StapletOn and let him ntO the secret
that they had struck Il vein Of rich ore
and would like to get some money with
which to develop it Stapletou made
an investigation and found that the
vein wideHed toward q five acre claim
to the west He represented no CAPT
tai. as he pretended. but had zone Out
to Colorado to try to make money
by his wits. Telling the ]prospectors
that he would write to his principals
Of the find and endeavor to secure the
capital necessary to develop it. he set
about to discover the owner Of the lot
lying to the west. with u view to get
ting possession Of it before the owner
became aware of its value.
Now. this lot was the last Of the
claims that Amos Clark had left his
daughter. Maria. The only reason it
was the last was that It was supposed
to BE- the least valuable Al any rate.
so she considered it
Learning that the property belonged
to Maria Clark. Stapleton sought her
and. finding that she was Il marriage-
able young woman. laid his plans &C.
cOrdingly. Without saying anything
about her property. he began to pay
court to her This was exactly what
she wished. and had not Stapleton been
an INSCRIPTIONS adventurer there
would have been no eason why she
should not encourage him. He did not
delay his cOurtship. enhancing his suit