The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1918-03-01
LOON CREEK HAS ITS
LORE In LOST MINE
PoET-PRosPEcToR's sToF Ea.oF
FABULOUS WEALTH TO So aE.
DISCOVERED.
Bg cLARENcE .. EpnY


lts alleged lost mines stories aua-
ment b. 2 love OF mystery. bat some
times founded upon facts stranger
than netlon Tie locallSg OF A0Ua
creek, tributary ot tha uBser iarZ aE
Sslla3n fiNsrt ~ central Idaho, - r..
piete with suei stories. more Than
aAy ether portion OF the west Ii sact
H seems 20 Be an enchanted laad
hoae vast labyrinth Of mouslains
ana streams pewilder q return Is ia
once discovered riches, The Lost
Packer Went lnsarss ana led IN !
lraltiess search f9r ore that mad slaz.
alca his sight. and other men have
rcamed these same mountains for
years. thereby suhstantiafqng their
faith IN bonangas once seen by them
Bat lost Ia hewilderment. interest in
nat REGION Is chiefly conferred il the
feet thai some rich leads lately have
been found beyond likelihood 1T los
ms. bat let Us tell q few lost mine
stories that aeem authentic. for
thereby may be gained some guild
ence for their discovery
Years ago a party of eastcraera
coming west ia guest OF wealth,
made their way from Bannack,
Mant, into the then strange ana Will
couatry OF Loon creek IN the nartv
WAS one. r. J. Cleveland. who was
thought 90 be TOO much af q tender.
foot TO do any prospecting and so he
was appointed cook for the party
The story goes that be played pranks
upon mis- companions, once by plac-
ing rnshes under the bedding so that
the boys thought they we're lying on
a nest af rattlesnakns He SO gained
their diafavor that when he after
ward showed them Il collection OF yel-
low paintings from a rock he had
found in the nearby mountains they
cursed and said they would not be
fooled BY his pranks
Party Disbandsd.
The party broke up and returned
east. where afterwards ii occurred 10
Cleveland TO get ASSAYS on the rock
! containing the yellow substance. To
hik surprise ii weat Sal 900 In gold
per ton He closed up his affairs and
came west again. expecting 10 be
D9ssesaor OF a fortune. but search as
he would the vast mountain conceal
e1 X from him. After many years 0f
digging and aearohing the mountains.
especially IN the locality Of Woodilck
summit, he died old and gray. but
tbli dreaming OF the gold.
II H now thirty years ago that Il
maa named Haggerty. while peram-
bulating the central Idaho mountains
with small pack outfit. struck the
real stuff'' and sacked sufficient OF
u to- 10 back and buy out "Ould Ire
land" and make himself ''imperorF
Of tile same By by adverse fate he
hied him down % Utah and fell 10
ss..H aA.Es. a.. CF,uN Na.EE. A.
the larRe sums received from the
sacks ~ ore Bad cess 10 his blum
dcrs- he died Of snakes In his boots.
Not even a son of Erin knows where
HagReFty rot his ore, but some peo-
pie who know the circumstances.
now thing they have good chance
70 End the mine this coming season
In the boom days OF Bonanza or
about the latter 70's a man named
Swim recorded a claim described aa
being fifteen miles south Of Bonanza
Assays showed &T00 per ton. bat n
being rather late, Swim went 20 Sii-
yer City where be wintered He
came back the following spring via
ketehnm with q partner and a waR-
on load OF provisions Swim. In order
to search out the road kept some
what ahead OF TIE team, and arriving
on the upper Salmon river az Saw
tooth. he rode far ahead 20 make a
reconnaissance and, sad to relate. be
never returned. His saddle. mule and
equipment was east up by the Sal
mon river. but Swim was seen no
more. and the exact whpreabout Of
his mine IL stiil a mystery.
Oiseoverer Perishsd.
Somewhere 0n the hillsides above
rich Loon creek placer beds II n
ledge asSaying SO 000 per ton. but it's
diecoverer. John TsoWden. who alone
knew of It's whereabouts. was killed
by SNOW slide coming IN from his
fnl However the Lost t.owden tai
lies pretty well with the present
Monte Cristo and may in fact. be the
very same ledge
N Custer. Idaho during lts latter
palmy davs. lived Cinnamon called
John Taylor who boa~ted he WAS "ail
same Mellic8n" While on his way TO
Loon creek during the placer DAYS.
he and another Chinaman went of
The main trail somewhere "Maybesp
six miles" from Loon creek. They
sunk a hole INTO the gravel ~ guich
and got many nuggets one going
$3.50 At that time Indians vcr~ 49,
and white men also death on China
mea. 80 bonn Taylor and his nis
tailed connanian got "hsap aaii'
and yrocecded 10 lose the whole -
rahtv
J. is due much 20 the pathetic IN
certainty 81 human life as well as
10 prevaricaiion that there are so
MANY lost mines Earthly affairs are
syer changing and shifting like the
,olors IN q kaleidoscope. One day We
may discover a proposition % almost
pure gold several feet wide and
ready 10 sack Perhaps We could real
y .nN.rnl hl,rar-als Of llnIlars .harn-