The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1922-07-21
FOLLOWS LURE OF
GOLD MANY YEARS
LONESOME PROSPECTOR WHO
GETS HIS REWARD IN DUST
EVERY DAY
Spends the Washing of His Summers
Work During the Winter in Nei-
hart; on Arriving in Fall Buys His
Next Summers Provisions and
Pays His Winters Board.

That the lure of gold has held a
man prisoner, summer after sum-
mer, for nearly 20 years, in lone
Iy. almost inaccessible canyon in
the Belt mountains, so miles from
Great Falls, is fact little known
even to local people, many of
whom camp year after year in a
spot but five miles from the cam
yon.
"Injun Joe" is the man. More thar
20 years ago, prospecting along thu
upper waters of Placer creek, hi
found tiny trace of gold in his par
after washing out some sand in the
stream bed. Starting in at Discov
cry he built sluice, and the last 2(
years of his life have been spent in
moving the sluice upstream, follow
ing the elusive vein of pay dirt. Day
after day he spends in shoveling the
rich dirt into the sluice box. Each
night is cleanup time and pan
ming the deposit of silt left in the
rifles of the box has never failed
to reveal from SO to SIS worth of the
precious dust.
Joe's average find this summer has
been a third of an ounce. Gold has
increased in value, according to Joe.
He saws that whereas it used to be
SIG an ounce, beneficient govern
ment has seen fit to raise the price
five cents an ounce, making a diff
ference of about two cents per day in
the price of his output.
Thrill of Discovery
Every prospector nurses in his
bosom the hope of finding the mo
Their lode" from which is supposed
to emanate all the gold of the creek.
Each phenomenally rich strike, or
discovery of nugget-infested pocket,
brings to the one who finds it the
thrilling hope that at last he has
found the source of the gold. Joe
had one such momentary thrill last
summer, when the nightly cleanup
after a short days work revealed $50
worth of dust in the rifles.
The next day, however, the thrill
ended The cleanup dropped to the
routine figure of around SIS. and
never since, according to Joe, has
the sluice box given him cause for
thrill.
The headquarters of the Placer
creek are just over the Cascade coun-
~ line, in Meagher county, IL miles
from the Logging Creek station. On
the Cascade county side of the line,
on the northern side of the divide,
Big Timber creek has it's beginning
A 12-mile hike would seem insult
ficient to secure seclusion, but the
last two miles of the hike. is sheer
ascent, and most people weaken at
the sight of two-mile drag up the
summit in the face of burning sun.
Joe doesn't confine himself to min
ing. If opportunity offers, he func-
tions in the role of cook for parties
of hardy tourists, demanding and re-
ceiving So per day for his services.
Those who have eaten his camp cook
ing say it is worth it.
Has Bump of Caution
During the winter months, Joe be-
takes himself to Neihart, where he
spends all that he has made during
the summer The first thing he does
upon arrival at Neihart is to pur-
chase his summers supply of neces-
sites and pay for board and lodging
through the winter. The remainder
he feels privileged to spend as suits
uIIu D6Sl.
Should he go broke, he knows that
he is taken care of until next sum-
mer, he knows he can draw on nature
for another supply of gold.
Old age, and desire for company, |
have caused Joe to employ another
man to help him this summer, the
first time that he has ever done so.
Joe's camp was visited this sum
mer by F. L. Graybill, scout execu-
tive, together with a group of scouts
Joe showed them his property and
seemed not to worry over his self
enforced solitude. Every one of
you should plan on independence"
he told them. "Get a proposition
like mine, and you will have attained
real independence. If want to work
/ do, and if I don't, l go fishing. My
product never loses value, and l
never have strike. My advice to
you is-go find yourself mine"