The Coolidge examiner., 1935-06-21
GOLDEN
PHANTOMS
Fascinating
Tales of ya,,.. w.,...
Lost Mines e~sr
THE LOST CABIN MINE

nels and build n new cabin where
the old one stood.
Three men. Allen Hubert Cox,
ana Jones, were the FIRST to discover
this bonanza. They had gone out
on prospecting trip from Walla I
Walla. and some time I'm the spring
OF 1863 they found themselves I'm /
the widest part Of the United
States. They had been going through
terrible hardships. floating on n /
ratt down the Big Horn. and trav.
cling at night to avoid hostile In. 1
dlans. Men In their senses would
have recolled at the bare idea OF
such nm adventure. but these men
were bewitched by a golden phan- /
tom; they kept on prospecting as
they went.
AZ last. there In the Big Horns
they found a wonderful pay streak. /
which panned "all the way from
five cents to one dollar each trial.
This was their rainbow end, and
here they planned to stay through
the next winter. BY the time wa.
ter froze overnight. each had some.
thing like half bushel OF gold.
Winter passed all too slowly. As
soon as the first spring warmth
came to the little valley, they
were on the job again.
What their plans were. no one
can tell. Perhaps they expected to
20 10 Walla Waila that summer.
laden with treasure or they may
have decided to stay on until either
they or the nuggets were exhaust.
cd. But these plans were destined
never TO be completed. for Indians
suddenly fell on Cox and Jones.
killed and scalped them. and rifed
the cabin. Hubert who had gone
some distance or. saw the horrible
sight. but was powerless TO help his
partners.
AS soon as the marauders left,
Hubert hurried down 10 the cabin.
The gold was stIll there. and he
packed knapsack full, buried the
rest, and struck out in the opposite
direction taken by the Indians. After
is days through Wild. unknown
country, he reached the North
Platte river. and found fhe old
trail 10 California.
Here he met up with a large
party OF gold seekers heading to-
ward the northwest. On hearing
his story. part OF the enormous
crowd decided To return with him
to the mine, and more than 500
people, with 40 wagons. accepted
him as their leader.
How was n man to retrace a trail
like his? How could he remember
every landmark. every direction Of
those terrible IS days Of flight? HUI
bert thought he could. but all sum-
mer long he tried In vain to reach
that abandoned cabin where the
bodies OF his friends guarded the
golden treasure. At last he was
forced 10 admit defeat. and the
angry crowd. after even once gath
ering 10 lynch their bewildered lead
er. started westward.
Since then many a good pros
pector has spent years In the effort
TO locate the Lost Cabin mine. "Old
Pancake" Comstock. grubstaked by
Nevada men, searched for 1t In
rain.
Then, during the Sioux uprising,
when the Big Horn country was
alive with Indians, three men
made their way to the head of the
Little Big Horn. and here they
found what must have been the
real mother lode of the Lost Cabin
gold. 1t was the largest known
body OF rich quartz in the world
The newcomers built a boat,
loaded It with gold, and planned to
float down the river until they
reached a settlement. Here they
would outfit and return to where
fortune had smiled her golden grin
at them. But death lurked down
stream; the Sioux camp, stretched
along the river. was more than three
miles long, and 6,O0O warriors wait
ed and longed for a chance to spill
white mans blood.
1t was midnight when the awk-
ward boat started past this gigan.
tic camp. A dog, shifting the air.
barked excitedly. A sentinel peered
and listened. The rapids of the Lit
tie Big Horn reached for the boat. |
In haste, the miners grew panicky-
a moment more, and the boat over |
.urned-another, and they were
captives of the hostile Sioux.
In the scuffle that ensued one
man managed to get away. He had |
no food, no weapons, and his cloth |
Ing had been torn until only a few |
rags covered him. But he had |
clenched his hand over a couple of |
nuggets, and these he kept during
the days when he wandered In
search of settlement. At last he |
stumbled into a little town.
What happened to Sitting Bull, |
Custer, and the rest, is history. The
haoop,a eofa from Tpd;ona