The SpokeSman • WedneSday, February 9, 2022 P5
OFFBEAT OREGON
Lost cabin of Steamboat Mountain
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For The Spokesman
Lost or abandoned cabins
pop up so often in legends of
missing gold mines and buried
treasure that they are almost a
cliché.
Most of them follow a clear
pattern or formula — in fact,
all lost-treasure stories do: The
seeker stumbles across the trea-
sure while doing something
else; he is called away for some
reason; and he can never find
his way back, despite devoting
years to fruitless searching.
There may not be a more
faithful example of that pattern
than the story of the lost cabin
of Steamboat Mountain.
The Steamboat Mountain
Lost Cabin Gold Mine story
dates back to 1870, when two
prominent citizens of Central
Point, Constantine Magruder
and Doc Lee, took some time
off to do some deer hunting
near the Applegate River in
Jackson County.
The two of them made
camp near a small spring on
the side of Steamboat Moun-
tain, and for a couple days they
each rode out separately in the
morning to hunt, returning to
their camp at night.
On the third day, Magruder
came across an old abandoned
log cabin, with a partly col-
lapsed roof, tucked away in a
grove of heavy trees in a spot
that appeared to have been
chosen for concealment. It
had been abandoned for years,
maybe decades; a tree was
growing up through its floor
where the roof had fallen in.
Magruder dismounted to in-
vestigate. It looked as if it had
been abandoned in a hurry —
by someone who had come to
a bad end; there was a gold pan
on the floor with a few nuggets
in it, near a miner’s pick.
Magruder pocketed the
nuggets, looked around a lit-
tle more, and got back on his
horse. It was late, and he was
a long way from camp. Hur-
riedly he made his way back,
arriving just in time before the
twilight faded completely into
blackness, and told Dr. Lee
about his discovery.
Miner keep the booze flowing
Magruder and Lee decided
to run into town the next day
to restock their provisions be-
fore investigating; they were
running low, and they wanted
to have as much time as pos-
sible to hunt for the diggings,
which must be near the cabin.
Back in Central Point, they
told a blacksmith, Bill Hays,
about their find. Hays got very
excited. Unlike the other two,
he was familiar with the story
of “Old Set-Em-Up,” the pros-
pector from Yreka who had a
secret cabin and gold mine up
north in Oregon.
“Old Set-Em-Up,” accord-
ing to the story, stayed in his
secret cabin working his secret
mine all summer in 1851 and
1852, returned to Yreka for the
winter loaded with gold, and
Postcard image
of a miner’s cabin
near Grants Pass,
published by Ed-
ward H. Mitchell of
San Francisco. This
postcard was post-
marked Oct. 12,
1908.
Submitted photo
basically kept the whole town
in drinks all winter long. His
nickname was derived from
the shout of “Set ’em up for the
house!” with which he habit-
ually announced his arrival at
the saloon each night.
Then, in 1853, Old Set-
Em-Up vanished, touching off
several decades of prospectors
scouring through the woods of
Southern Oregon looking for
his cabin and mine.
It was Old Set-Em-Up’s
cabin that Hay thought his
friends might have stumbled
across.
Gone missing
Hay joined Magruder and
Lee on their return to their
camp. But in typical “Lost Gold
Story” style, they were unable
to figure out where their camp
had been. And without their
old camp as a starting point,
Magruder had no idea how to
find the old cabin.
The three of them hunted
for several days without suc-
cess. They came back several
more times to search, over the
next five years; but they never
did find the old cabin again.
(Sources: Lost Mines and
Treasures of the Pacific North-
west, a book by Ruby El Hult
published in 1957 by Binfords
& Mort Publishers)
e
Finn J.D. John teaches at Oregon
State University and writes about odd
tidbits of Oregon history. His book,
Heroes and Rascals of Old Oregon, was
recently published by Ouragan House
Publishers. To contact him or suggest a
topic: finn@offbeatoregon.com or 541-
357-2222.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
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William Stone Butner
(Bill)
of Bend
July 15, 1943 - January 20,
2022
Arrangements: Celebration
of Life at later date
Services: Celebration of
Life at a later date
OBITUARY
Patricia
May Clark
May 16, 1925 - January 11, 2022
Patricia May Clark of Salem,
Oregon passed away peacefully
on Tuesday, January 11, 2022
at the age of 96. Patsy was
born on May 16, 1925 to Teddy
and Calista Waits in Farnam,
Nebraska and had 6 siblings.
She had 5 children..
Patsy was predeceased by her last child, Dawn
Clark, her parents, 5 siblings, Budd Kindle,
Merril Clark, and her son, Larry Wayne Clark.
She is survived by her sister, Merilyn House, her
children; Gaye Greear, Gary Duane, and Marsha Clark,
8 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-
great grandchildren, and many others.
An inti mate celebrati on of life will be held at a later
date in order to spread her ashes in the Metolius area,
a beauti ful place that she had always held close to her
heart.
Contributions may be
made to: Healing Reins
Therapeutic Riding Center
in memory of Bill Butner
60575 Billadeau Rd Bend
Benton F Massell
of Bend
August 18, 1930 -
January 22, 2022
Arrangements: Please
visit the online registry for
the family at www.nis-
wonger-reynolds.com for
remembrances and more
information.
Services: A Celebration of
Life is planned for August.
Larry Alan Barney
of Beavercreek
November 19, 1955 -
January 27, 2022
Arrangements: Raised in
Sisters. Attended Redmond
High, active in Rodeo,
worked Construction.
Survived by Wife Polly,
Mother Geneva Sproat,
Daughter Bonnie-Kay Mu-
noz, grandchildren Abby,
Isaac Munoz, Siblings
Jerry, Garry, Theresa
Hillsidechapelfh.com
Services: TBD.
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