White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-10-07


about forty miles to the westward.
The prospector said Dan was a crus-
ty individual, but his friendship
could be secured by the use Of plen-
~ of whisky. The rrospector left
the next morning for the Snake
mountains and the engineer secured
two demijohns OF whisky by going
100 miles out of his way, with which
he had little difficulty in getting Dan
to tell him about the lost mine and
finally in inducing him to go along
and show him the ruins of the old re-
duction works.
Dan took him to a little stream
where he said the Mexicans secured
their drinking water while working
the mine. From that he pointed out
a deep trail leading over a point. The
old furnace ruins were about a mile
from there. After camping over
night the men secured their horses
30 that they would not leave and fol-
lowed the trail on fooa. 1t was plain
though slightly dim in rocky places.
1t went around the sharp point of a
mountain then up on a broad table
land, across which it passed for a
quarter of n mile until it reached the
base OF a projecting ragged mountain.
Here in a gulch were the remains Of
the furnaces. the walls being crum-
bled into dust mostly. The exteriors
Of the furnaces were square and the
interiors circular, so that the corners
were thicker than the sides and in
better preservation. Above the old
site were two level grades
or benches ten or fifteen feet wide,
extending along the side Of the noun
tain for 200 Yards. 1t was 4 granite
formation and had been much eroded
by wind, which scattered a great deal
of sand about in the vicinity. In
this sand many pieces of earthen pots
were found, with pans and fragments
of iron in the shape of hooks anG
rods, and some similar to modern
picks. Large piles Of Stag lay in
front of the furnace, against which
the sand had drifted, almost cover
ing 1t. There was a stream below
in the gulch, hut unfit for drinking.
1t had been used for the furnaces.
No mine had been found. Dan
could not guess where it was and he
was compelled to return to Wah Wah
to look after his stock. The engineer
hired other men to assist him, Much
time was spent and the enterprise
was about to be given Up when one
evening one of :he men reported find
ing what seemed to be an opening
in the mountain near the north end of
the upper grade ard running on a
level with the grade and at right an
giles to it. It had been filled with
dirt, apparently tamped and packed
in hard. The dirt presented a diff
ferent color and appearance from
that beside the opening and other
portions of the grade. Some dirt was
removed and it was found to be an
old tunnel. II was eight feet high
by six wide and properly arched at
the top. It proved that the dirt had
been crammed in at the portal and
yielded readily to the pick. He hao
u bth iOASS Va i-ICIt aIu Woih e
them by turns and by 3 o'clock in
the afternoon succeeded in making
an opening to the untitled portion of
the tunnel. But then there emitted
such a foul odor and nauseous air
from the tunnel that the men had to-
quit. Having nothing at hand to
construct any kind Of apparatus to
rv0t vii ~ III, k~-,
| gas, the engineer claimed that he
could make no further explorations
at the time. Since then up to the
date of writing he had not done so,
but had taken the steps to secure
title to the property. He said i'm
| closing that he was about to leave
for Mexico and that as soon as he.
came back he would proceed to open
up tn old mine in 4 thorough man.
ner, and was sanguine Of realizing an
immense fortune from it. He said
in conclusions:
In the meantime if any of my
readers are excited. and they de-
sire to obtain further information
in regard to tho old Mexican mine
of Utah. I can only refer them to
Dan of Wah Wah springs and
recommend the same plan that I
did to draw him out
That was written a long time ago.
and old Dan and the engineer botE
must have long since gone hence,
so there is not much use in looking
the world owe for either. But Wah
Wah springs. where old Dan -four
ished and had an immense cattle bust
ness fifty years ago, is a little east
of the Wah Wah summit on the Ely
Milford highway, about 100 miles
from Ely.
What may have happened in re-
gard to the old tunnel or mine pos
sibly may be learned from subse.
quent files of the Reflex or contem
poraneous newspapers, hut as yet nc
information has been unearthed re.
garding its later history. At AM