The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-03-01

as development" The eyes OF The
world have turned toward this state
and the world is looking with amaze
ment at the tremendous mineral de-
posts that have been proven. In the
early days the mining game was con-
sidered the lot of the adventurer and
plenty of them came to Arizona to
seek their fortunes 1t was these men
who lived what is now tradition. Some
made fortunes and still have them;
others found fortunes, only to lose
them. ~
And so 1t happens that Arizona, like
California, Colorado Utah and New
ada. has its lost mines Almost un-
believable stories are told of wonderful
treasure vaults found and lost in the
early days. Many of these stories are
scoffed at but the rich deposits that
nave been tapped during the history
Of the industry indicate that there was
al least Il foundation for truth in
them On the deserts, in the valleys
and high upon the sides of towering
mountains lie the bones of men who
believed these stories and braved the
terrors OF the land from which few
return. only to cross the Great Divide
before finding the lost treasures.
The Lost Soldier"
Colonel James NJ McClintock, in his
..Arizona, the Youngest State" tells
Of many of these lost mines" In
Volume II of this work Mr.. McClin-
took writes:
zone of the best authenticated of
these stories was the Lost Soldier
mine The story has had little en-
bellshment and, in part, may be true
Briefly narrated it is this:
an the summer of 1859 Abner Nc
Keever and McKeever's daughter,
Pelle. were taken captive. A number
of soldiers gave chase. The sApaches
separated into several bands, VDpse
trails were followed by small detach-
ments of soldiers, the most westerly
by Sergeant Crosswaite and two pri-
Yates, Joe Wormley and Eugene Elan |
nigan
Treasure Vault Found
''Fwn of their horses dropped of ia
tieue and thirst and their provisions
ran ont, Taking some of the horse |
flesh with them, they struck north |
ern Yuma county. Water was found |
Just in time to save their lives, for |
Wormley already had become eaaelri-
ons. In the morning they found the
fai rlu wifi re
Above it were two quartz veins one |
narrow and the other Is feet wide. The |
soldiers dug out coarse gold by the aid |
Of their knives. About 30 pounds of |
this golden quartz they loaded on the |
remaining horse and then set out for |
the ella river Less than days |
journey from the river the horse drop
ped dead. Wormley reached the river.
almost demented from his sufferings
ard unable to guide a party back in
to the desert.
Search Is Futile.
Men struck out on his trail and
soon found Flanagan, who would have
lasted only a few hours longer. He
was able to tell the story of the gold
find and the rescung party went fur
Their to find Crosswaite's body. In a
pocket was map very roughly made
and probably very inaccurate, on
which he had attempted to show the 4,
position of the golden spring. Still
better evidence was secured few
days later In the discovery of the dead
horse with the gold ore strapped to his 7
back. The ore was all that Flanagan
claimed and $500 was realized from
its sale. IN
'Flannigan made several unsuceess- q
full attempts 10 return to the find, but Il
he dreaded the desert and never went :
very far from the river He died in ~
Phoenix in 1880. The district into :,
which the party penetrated has been =
thoroughly prospected during the past II
90 years and contains many mines Of :,
demonstrated richness. It is possible
that the mountain was the Harqua in
Ilala. The find might have been the ot
later famous Bonanza in western =.
extension of the mountain, from which y.
several millions of dollars in free %,
gold We're extracted. Farther west, a,
around Tysons wells, also has been Ia
found placer gold, though none of st
these discoveries seem to exactly fit la
the special conditions of the Lost Sol es
dier mine. on
Indian Treasures. Il,
Most of the stories of lost mines ~,
had to them an Indian annex. Usual tn
ly the story ran that the Indians would
bring in gold and silver but would q
refuse to tell the secret of their
wealth. Ross Browne told in 1868 that r,
at the store of Hooper & Hunter in
Arizona City, he saw masses of pure
gold as large as the palm of the hand. ~,
brought in by the adventures who ,o,
stated that certain Indians had assur- 49,
I'd them that they knew places in the hi,
where the surface ground obi
was covered by the same kind of VEL .
ow stones. But neither threats nor ,
PRESENTS, whisky, knives tobacco mai
blankets all the Indians craved, could ITO
induce the savages to guide the white ,
nan to the fabulous regions of wealth .a,