The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-03-30
ROMANCE AND REALITY
OF PROSECUTORS LIFE
THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE
DEATH OF THE DlScoVERER
OF CRIPPLE CREEK.


and died practically penniless in a hos
pital there was Robert X. Stevens, TO
whom is given the credit of being the
discoverer OF the Cripple Greek gold
field. says the New York Herald.
There are other early Coloradans
who might challenge this claim Of dis
covery, for gold was found at this ia
nous mining camp as early as 1860.
That the field was not opened until 80
years later was due to the rarity Of the
outcrOppings of the veins and pecu-
liar nature of the ores, features which
made the Cripple Creek deposits
puzzle to metallurgists. In 1880 Stew
ems. while riding the cattle range
which covered much OF this marvel
Ously rich deposit, found Outcroppmss
of one of the veins The sample which
he had assayed awakened new inter
est in the field The yellow pine town
of Cripple Creek sprang into existence
The output of the gold in the district
jumped from S450 in 1891 to almost |
$4,000. 900 in 1906 If Stevens was not |
the dlscoverer of gold at Cripple Creek |
he had a not unimportant part in the |
founding of the camp and tho great |
gold mining industry which developed !
in the Cripple Creek district
His Common Fate.
Stevens fate apparently was that Of
many other prospectors who made
big strike. Bob Womacl was another
early Cripple Creek prospector who
reaped little benefit from either his
finds or his theories He always held
that the richest deposits were to be
found in the high levels: he failed to
prove this, but Mr.. Stratton did and
became chief owner of some of the
NOSE valuable gold properties at Grip
pie Creek. Thomas f. Walsh, too
profited from this idea of Womack's
proving it's correctness in the Lead
vile district, by making the Camp
Bird strike 10000 feet above sea level
and becoming the owner of one of the
biggest gold and silver mining proper
ties ever held by one man in this
country. Suffer- on whose place the
discovery of gold was made in Calver- {
as county. California, in 1S47, died {
comparatively poor as did John Mar {
shall. who uncovered this deposit of
virgin gold Yet it was this discovery
which led to the rush to the Pacific in I
1S4S and 1S49 and to the beginning of
the famous miners fortunes of the pi-
Oneer days of California. The pros
pectors who uncovered the first gold 5
in the Klondike and the rich districts (
Of Alaska were not alweys, or even E
the men who reaped the larg- q
est rewards. The miners and the z
workers who followed them were fire. |
luently the men who gained the great =
est profits and who returned to the ,
states rich men.
Famous Prospeetors and Miners.
1t requires financial ability for sue
cess in gold mining as it does in any 1
'ther venture. In this quality many
are deficient; these are the
the Adventures. the match q
RS of pennies with Fate. The men who :
'uilt up the great gold fortunes of h
California were men of affairs as well o.
IS prospectors or miners OF the ia o
nous Bonanza quartet Flood, O'Brien 4,
dackay and Fair the last two were &,
uccessful and practical miners, while h
flood and O'Brien had piled pick and lt
hovel in an attempt to get a living ~
Mt Of the mines. The practical knowl- a,
dye they gained in mining helped al
hem in the speculations and purchases le
rom which came the great wealth w
Which they acquired. Senator Tabor eC
t Colorado was another gold digger
tho accumulated fortune through -
hrewd speculation. Senator William Pl
I. Stewart Of Nevada was a gold pros
ector who was ranked as a million e
ire and who eventually. losing his
'ealth, went back to Nevada to prac-
&c law and again to tramp the hills T.,
l the hope Of making a new strike
hich would restore him to fortune In
A Typical Career.
The prospector of romance and per- 81
APPS too of reality is usually a man Of
no gets his grub stake from the ag
-orekeeper or mine owner in a mining su
llage and goes alone into the hills S CT,
it'll his outfit strapped on the back Of ar
burro. He may not return for a year GS
'hen he does he may have found ~
othing. or he may have made a rich a.
rike. The peculiar thing is, though co
lat whether he fails or succeeds he is La
kelly to return again to his search
nee prOspector. it is said. always a Ia
-ospector A man who has slept so
any nights under the stars and who ~.
IS been inspired in his lonely quest for -
hidden secret of nature falls COM NJ
eteiy under the fascination Of the
'e and he is seldom content to aban-
N it, To
This was evidently the case with
evens, for when his death came he
as seeking the lost mines of Indians
Id Of De Soto's men. It was. too per-
city in keeping with the character of tot
e prospector that he should leave 1s1
me unsolved mysteries Specimens ldt