The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-12-07

ing claim for placer mining not far
from the Grosh discovery claim. Get
ting little by placer mining. they de-
cided to dig a trench straight up the
hill from the small stream to cut
through some hard. blue clay and
yellowish gravel they had noticed on
the hillside.
At a depth Of four feet they came
upon deposit of dark. heavy soil,
which sparkled with minute flakes of
gold. Running for a gold pan, one of
them tested the dirt The pan con-
tanned many dollars worth of gold.
They had discovered the top Of the
famous Ophir claim-the northern
end of the vast Comstock lode.
Just as they were finishing the last
cleanup up rode Henry Comstock. He
had been looking for lost horse and
now galloped down the ridge in time
TO see the prospectors looking at the
gold in the pan and yelling with joy.
Comstock shouted: You've struck IT,
boys-but you're on my land"
comstock Is Foxy.
Comstock. it is believed had no
claim of any sort to the ground, but
he apparently was a foxy individual
and he had done some quick thinking
Look here" he said to the two Irish
men, as he swung off his horse, "this
spring where you're getting your wa
ter for placer mining was old man
Caldwell's. You know that. for there's
his sluice box Well, Nanny Penrod
and / bought his claim last winter and
we sold one-tenth interest to Old
Virginia the other day You two fell
lows must let Penrod and men in on
equal shares with you if you're going
to do any mining here"
ORiley and Mclaughlin objected
strenuously at first, but they were
little afraid of Comstock. and besides
so feet of placer ground was more
than they could work in a season, so
as they thought it over they figured
Comstock's demands would not hurt
them so much after all. When Com
stock added as a clincher to his argu-
ment that five persons of whom he
was one. had located 100 acres on the
bench as stock pacture and he be-
Iieved they were within his boundar-
les, they gave mp meeky and agreed
to everything that Comstock proposed.
The First Freeze Out.
Now occurred the first freeze out"
the district had known Comstock
jumped on his horse and loped off
swiftly to the little camp nearby, call
ed Gold Hill. and found the character
he had mentione dby the name of Old
Virginia. This man was a drunken
prospector and barroom loafer Com
stock quickly explained the situation
to him and offered his horse and part
of bottle of whisky for a bill of sale
to Old Virginia's alleged interest in
the ground. After few drinks the
old man agreed and signed a bill of
sale that Comstock wrote out.
Comstock later told a story about
the matter that was an artistic piece
of lying He said in his account of the
strike: 81 had owned the greater part
of Gold Hill and had given the pros
pectors working there their claims
O'Riley and Mclaughlin were work
ing for me at Ophir and when they
struck the gold I caved in the cut and
went ahead to organize my company
I then opened the ComstoclS lode"
The little drama, as il really was
played. was very simple Comstock.
one of the most ignorant and bombas-
tic of men. managed by loud talk and
pure gall to make himself the most
important parsonage in the camp when
the extent of the strike began to be
realized. He had never in truth
found anything, but he claimed every
thing in sight. In a few weeks when
miners came from all points, the big
man of the new bonanza appeared to
be Comstock.
comstock in His Glory.
Comstock was wildly avaricious I
when mining. and as wildly extrava- |
CANT with his gold when it was OBJ
aimed. He bought whatever his fam
" dictated and gave it away the next /
His only pleasure seemed to
,e spending money like water. and \
most of his companions were like him
n that respect.
Mclaughlin sold his interest in the
-round for $500 ORiley was more
and hung on till he secured
10000 but he spent it all in stock
peculation and died in an insane asy-
nm. Mclaughlin hung around the
district and drank himself to death,
eing buried at public expense. Thus
he real discoveries of the Comstock
old came to miserable ends.
Two months after the ledge was I
truck, JOmsJOcK sold his holdings for {
1000. After spending most of this
a riotous living he started north for |
iaho where he prospeoted. later
rifting into Montana, where he died /
Y his own hand.