The Coolidge examiner., 1935-09-20
GOLDEN
| PHANTOMS
Fascinating
Tales of tsahs /. wst.Oo
Lost Mines o~SU
THE CURSE OF GOLD

They were mining on the san Joa-
quln river. and had not found any
great wealth 10 spur them on. one
day Charles Tooker. one of their
number. went ont 20 hunt herbs
for medicine. and IN his wanderiugs
about he dislodged a boulder aud
uncovered q nugget which weighed
fully 90 pounds. and was nearly
+ pure gold No other gold was TO
/ be found near the place.
Tooker wanted 20 keep this won
derful treasure for himself instead
+ of sharing IL with his comrades.
+ lie concealed the nugget where Il
lay. and went back 10 camp with
+ the herbs and without saying a word
about his golden end.
I In spite OF himself. he could not act
exactly natural lie remained with
+ the party for month. trying TO
avert suspicion. but the spell OF that
F great lump Of gold WAS on him,
and the other men wondered what
was aillng him. At last he could
F bear the suspense no longer. He
I had bought n mule from an immi.
F grant. and one night be took the
animal 70 the place where the won
derful nugget lay. dug Il ont. load.
( ed 6, on the mule. and set out for
other parts
+ Two Of the men az his camp.
who had been suspicious OF his nc
tlons. had followed him. They saw
with bulglng eyes the wonderful
T lump Of gold-at last they knew
what had been on his mlndi They
were justly resentful that he was
trying to get away with the gold
instead of sharing 1t as was agreed.
but they were not quite sure what
/ To do. so they traIled on behind
I him. They followed ali night. and
at daybreak they came up In time
TO nght against a couple OF out
laws who set upon Tooker. hoping
to rob him OF whatever treasure he
might have. They succeeded. too,
and left Tooker and one Of his
former friends dead as they bur.
ried away with the laden burro.
The other man returned 10
/ camp. aroused his friends. and told
/ them the story. Immediately they
/ armed themselves and set out on
/ the trail OF the thieves. catching
/ up with them as they were cnmped
I az night. ln the ensuing fight two
/ more OF the IndIanans were killed.
and one OF the outlaws The re-
naming desperate hid the nugget
7 and escaped he went TO San Fran
cisco and lay low.
After six months. this man felt
that II would be safe TO go back
/ FOR the nugget. Instead OF making
/ the trip alone. for he knew only
too well the perils that lurked In
wait for lone travellers in that
/ rough country. he got together
party for the purpose OF retriev-
lng the gold. and they were to set
out together. Two men In the ex-
I pedition. however. who knew where
the monstrous nugget was buried.
rode ahead. found the gold, loaded
/ IL on a mule. and hurried of. They
had a day and a half start on the
rest OF the party. so they took the
stolen treasure 30 miles away 10 a
small mining camp. buried II there.
staked a claim over IL, and went 10
work ike honorable citizens and
honest miners For six weeks they
Kept up this pretense: at last. feel
Ing that the trail was clear. they
dug up the great lump OF gold and
went their way. Where they went.
and what became OF them. we do
not know.
The next time the nugget was
heard OF. IL was In the possession
Of three miners. who Joined a large
I Immigrant train and showed II to
the travellers. They found Il,
they said. In the Hot Greek noun
tains OF Nevada. After going for
some distance with the immigrants,
The miners and their treasure left.
Only the nugget, II 1t could talk.
could relate the adventures through
which Il passed. Il again dropped
from all knowledge. only 10 be re-
called again by a half-breed In
dian at military post In Colorado.
lie knew where II was, he boasted,
even. In the simplicity OF his heart.
giving directions for It's finding,
and a sergeant and two prlvates de-
serted and went to see II he were
right.
The cache was 80 miles away
from the post, but the three men
reached II. found the nugget, and
headed for Kansas with It, They
had been followed by other sol
dlers with orders for their arrest,
and the party came up with the
two privates al last, but too late,
for they lay dead on the trail. The
sergeant had killed them for the
gold. and had fed onward with 1t.
Strangely enough, In spite Of the
fact that the deserter and murder
er was hunted by the government
as the criminal he was, he was
never captured. The fact that the
nugget apparently passed into the
possession Of Indians may perhaps
suggest the reason why he was