The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1914-04-18

IL, oiioN lIN1 NOI EN- LED
value and then, for no apparent motive
go off and leave it, telling everyone
that he is going bac!; 20 it some
time" which he may do-twenty
years later. if he lives that long
First White Man.
All of which may or may not apply
to William Hamblin of santa Clara, to
whom tradition assigns the distinction
OF being the first white man to look
upon the wonderful veins and ores
Of Phoebe. In the fall of 1863. it is
said party of Pahute Indians came
to Hamblin at his home in Santa
Clara, some rich specimens of silver
ore. which they called "panacare, Of
fering to pilot him to the spot where
1t was found. Hamblin, with Nor
mon thrift, was determined not to
| overlook any bets, and he gladly ac-
ccmpanied the Indians After a te.
dious journey they camped for the
night at beautiful spring of pure
water, surrounded by luxuriant natur.
al meadows-the site of what is now
Panaca. The next day the Indians
took Hamblin to range of low, iso-
lated hills, where, near the head of a
little draw or wash on the north slope,
they showed him the groupings of rich
ore in place from which their ''pana-
care had been taken. Hamblin was
delighted with what he found, and
with much hesitation as to just what
the due and proper legal form might
be, he posted location notice claim
ing his right, as an American citizen,
and as the original CD discoverer to
all veins. lodes and deposits compris-
ing the "Panacker Lode" and to the
enjoyment of all surface rights there
to appertaining, thereby rendering
into immortal English" and be-
queathing to posterity the picturesque
"pancare" of the Pahute tongue, still
recognizable. even under the Missouri
fled spelling which Hamblin gave it.
| Hamblin went back to Santa Clara,
and gathered small party, among
whom were John Vandermark and
Stephen Sherwood, who accompanied
him on the return trip to the new
discovery the following spring. They
|
joining the 'Panacker." and on their
way out spent the night at the spring
| i'll the meadows where Hamblin had
camped with the Indians on his first
trip. Here, on March is, 1864, they
organized the Meadow Valley Mining
district which they described as a
rectangle sixty miles square. the cen
ter of it being the spring. situated in
washington county. Utah." then sup
posed to extend much farther west
than the present boundary line. This
is the last recorded instance of any
attention paid by Hamblin to discov-
cry which, as he must have guessed,
would have made him a multi-million-
aire. Thus that peculiar indifference
to fortune, which was to characterize
so much of the subsequent history of
Phoebe, was manifested in the very be-
ginning. 1t is even claimed that some
of these early Mormon prospectors
melted down ore from the Panacker
or adjoining claims in blacksmith
/ FORCES, and ran the rich silver-leao
bullion into molds for making bullets,
We do not, however, vouch for the
truth of the claim. as this story of the
Mormon silver bullets" is told of
nearly every early-day silver-lead mine
in Southern Nevada-notably of Pc
tosi. near Goodsprings, in what is now
CLARK county. A little later Hamblin
with his family. moved to Clover val
ley. about twenty miles northeast OF
the present site of Caliente, where he
died in 1871.
The interest of Vandermark and
Sherwood was not so easily side
tracked. They took samples Of ore
from the Panacker, Vermillion. Creole
and other claims to Salt Lake City
where, as matter of course, they
tried to get the backing of President
Young. The sagacious prophet, how
ever, was not looking for mines. mol
for historical and unsettled condi
ltions commonly associated with thu
Exploitation Of great bonanzas. HI
was engaged In the difficult task o
building an empire. and he knew in
tuitively what the. history of Nevada
has proven to be true: that rich mines
may help men to build empires il
New York or san Francisco. Paris O
London. but not in the territory whicl
actually produces this form of grea
wealth. Speaking in the vernacula
of the present day, Vandermark ant
Sherwood found that there was moth
ing doing with Brigham.
This did not deter them from contin
uing their project General p. +
Conner. commanding the Unite'
States troops stationed at Fort Dous
las, near Salt Lake City, had no scru