, 1923-10-17
Gourley Tells
of Search for Gold
Continued from Page ~

tSOlllluCu IiOiH dSC -
When we returned to camp after
two or three days prospecting, we
passed through a large band of elk
so tame that they only moved aside
little to let US go by when we vent
between them.
We made "a camp on the Yellow
stone river below the Grand canyon.
Henderson knew that the falls were
not a great distance away so | thought
/ would go up and see them from be-,
low. After Laundering through wa
ter, over boulders and clinging to
rocks on the bank of the river for
seven miles, l concluded to return.
From this camp we took the ridge
between the Lamar river and Yellow
stone river to the Divide at the head
of the North Fork of the Shoshone
and Crandall creek. Here we had u
horses taken-not stolen-by a band
of Indians. They were a part of the
band that had killed Lieutenant SIAM
baugh and some soldiers near the
South Pass country.
They had with them two of the
Springfield carbines of the first issue
to the army.
Hahn ("Horn") Miller and / were
in camp while Henderson and Hibard
were out looking over the country
when the Indians drove off the horses.
! was 80 yords away from the camp
when I found the Indians all around
me. l got to camp and called to Mil
Ter not to unload his rifle except to
kill. / shot at the leader of the band
as he swung his horse toward camp.
i do not know that ! hit him but he
flattened down on his horses neck.
/ had been in a number of Indian
fights before and l knew that Indians
will not attack when there is a chance
of them losing man for man. Also, l
knew that they would have to smoke
before they made anther attack
Our camp had been made at a clump
of nut pines with some old log butts
in it.
/ started in to dig a breast-work
and Miller afterward told the others
that | had dug a foot in bed rock be-
fore | knew it. As for Miller, l was
willing to bet that he could not lift
one end of the log that he had picked
up like a stick of cord wood when the
Indians were getting ready to attack
us.
Just as we got through with our
plans of defense, / had one certain
good bunch. | went to the rim of a
deep coulee formed by the SNOW wa
tiers flowing over a rock dike-per-
pendicular for some thirty feet-and
called as if | saw our two partners
coming in.
Four Indians got up from behind
a low ridge not more that forty feet
from where | stood, each with a long
gun.
Apparently it was their intention
to force us out of camp and when we
made for the coulee these four In
dams were to shoot us down like cat
tie.
1t seemed a long time waiting for
Hubbard and Henderson . Lord! how
long it seemed before they came!
After they got back we were no
longer afraid and all we had to do
was to protect ourselves from ambush.
We spent the next day destroying
everything that would be of any va
lue to the Indians and poisoned any
article they would like to use.
We travelled so as not to leave a
trail on our 200-mile return to the
settlement and slept in places where
they could not find us. At Boulder
river we made the mistake of throw
ing away our meat, believeing that
we could get more in an hours time.
But the flies had driven the game to
the mountains and we went two days
and n night IN nothing except a little
tea.
When w finally got back to Boze-
man, we made ready to return
again to Cooke City, which we did in
n few days. We found that the In
dams had followed us.
The next spring quite n party went
to the district where Cooke City is
now located with the result that many
locations were made on silver-lead
properties.