East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-09-23


Guld creek placers were worked by
..nly "a handful of men. 90 whom We're
added that year Ethan Allen and HO-
sea Rall0u GroSh, sons of "A minister
|,t Reading, Pa. In 1856 they wrote
to their father;
Native silver is found i'm Gold Can
Iy,n: it resembles thin shee-lcac,
broken very fine, and lead the miners
suppose il TO be We found silver ore
G.. the forks Of the canyon \ year
later Allen GroSh writes; "Our first
.assay was one-half ounce Of rock;
the result was $500 of silver 10 the
Itan. which was altogether too much
|of q eood thing. We aSsayed small
quantity Of rock by cupellation from
/ another vein. The result was $500 a
ton We have several other veins
/ which are as vet untouched"
The brothers who were proficient
4 81 metallurgy. made their living by
/ washing placer gold, but their hopes
were high for George Brown, a cattle
t.ader Of Carson valley. had promised
I the money to develop a mine should
! they determine the existence of rich
/ ore bearing lodges. The black rock
/ (Which assayed $500 toni presented
SO many difficulties" wrote Allen
Grosh. September II. 1851 that We
lost our patience and. relying on
Brown. we dropped everything, de-
termined to master it. The very day
We had determined it, We heard the
first news Of his murder"
! Their disappointment was relieved
somewhat BY Mrs. L NJ Dettenried-
Ell. who promised to aid them with
money she had saved. Three days
later, however, Hosea Grosh stuck a
ilick into his left foot, and he died
within a fortnight The passing of
his brother was a cause Of great grief
to Allen Grosh, who determined to go
To California, away from the scene
lot his sorrow, and, accompanied by
Richard NJ Buckle, began a journey
/ 4 storm obliterated the trail at Lake
Tahoe, nd they could not turn back
with any degree of certainty nor
could they press forward in security
They killed the donkey which they
had with them and took as much of
its flesh as they could carry, and
moved on. Their sufferings were ter
rlble, for they literally waded waist
high in snow until they reached the
summit. Then a second storm broke
ever them. and they lost their way
completely. Buckle suggested that
they lie down and die, but Grosh
would not hear of such surrender.
That night the men burrowed into
the snow and made their beds The
following morning they crawled on
hands and knees, covering less than
mile between daybreak and noon,
and their eyes were Just closing from
overmastering faintness when they
heard the bark of a dog. But they
were rescued too late. for Grosh died
OIL the twelfth day after reaching the
mining camp - the Last Chance,
Buckle survived, although he suffered
the loss Of one foot and part Of an
other.
1t has been fairly we'll established
that the silver lodges uncovered by
the Grosh brothers were those that
IT. later years were to yield the
worlds richest bonanza. If fate had
fOiled two men of intelligence and
ability in the development of a sill
yer deposit she was to play diff
ferent prank in giving her treasure
to the world Ever since 1851 there
had been at work in the Gold Creek
district James Finney. known to his
/ Companions as "Old Virginny," who
had something of a reputation as a
human diving rod. II was said of
him that wherever he cast his eye
treasure was to be found, but his fell
low miners of the day had great diff
ficulty in inducing him to look any
where with seeing eyes, for he was
Sc Der only when he had no money
with which to purchase liquor But
cre day he looked across the canyon
and caught the sun shimmering on
the peak. He walked to the highest
point Of the mountain, which he
named sun Peak. and placed a notice
0f location in a crevice in a rock
That incident took place on Febru-
airy p. 1858, but it was not until tht
winter Of that year that Finney mus.
tired sufficient ambition to attempt
an exploration Of his location Ther
with three others, John Bishop. Al.
|cEander Henderson and John Pount
he set out TO prospect the ledge, which
had been named facetiously VIRGIN
10 Lead, in honor Of the discOyerer
And here is where Henry Com
stock leaps into fame, if it be fam'
To steal a precious metal ledge ant
/ lose for the glory that may attaci
| to a discovery. In May, 1850, Patricl
Mclaughlin and Peter O'Riley, work
ing on the steep slope Of Sun Peak
discovered sands rich in gold. A
they were preparing to leave thei
claim for the night, Comstock rod
Up. He had already appropriated tn
cabin Of the Grosh brothers and wa
living there in comfort while two In
cans washed placer gold for him. H
sprapg from his horse, walked up t
the rocker, and picked up handful
Of dirt. Immediately that he saw
sTeekled with gold ne announce
that Mclaughlin and O'Reily wer
trespasslng on his land. A self-re
spectlng goat would not attempt t
browse upon that mountain side, ye
blandly he informed the prospectoT