H
14
THE SUMPTER MINER
Wednesday, March 4, 190
LOST MINE FAKK
AGAIN BOBS UP.
Favorite Theme of Eastern
Writers Who Exploit it
Annually.
Tho lont mino story makes Its apcar
anco in tho proHH of tho country every
yonr. It is an intercut! rig thomo for
oaHtorn writcrH, ono that appears to
improve with ago.
Tho Chicago Trihune of taut week
gave ItH reader tho following version of
an oft-repeated tale, the scene of which
is hid in Mentana:
For years void hunters In Montana
have been looking for a fabulous mine.
At one tltno no many deaths resulted
among tho prospectors that it became a
suMrstltiou that to seek the hidden
wealth was to court death. Tho only
man that know its exact location wan
(leorgo Kea, a scout, guide and hunter,
who diod about a year ago, and whb
known tn several ChicagoaiiH.
Itea had revralod thu mino to men
who had lxon Induced to put money in
it, but tho llud did not equal their calcu
lationsin fact, amounted to nothing.
It Ih now a question in Montana whether
Itea told tho truth about tho location, or
whether thu filial gold seeking which
went on for years was, after all a myth.
Then) are many who bulluvo that Itea
never disclosed thu location and that thu
lodge which was worked wuh not thu
one hu found. For that rcann it is prob
able that thu search for Ilea's minu is
not yut over.
Itea was hunting mountain sheep in
thu canyon of Madison river, in Monta
na, when thu ledge was llrst discovered.
Hu found aiuart.-lHaring seemingly rich
ore, and not Isiing a Judge of metals, hu
loaded his pockets with It and took it to
Virginia City for examination. Thu as
say proved that it was rich in gold and
copHir.
Shortly afterwards Itea killed a man
and stood in danger of his own life. Ho
had little money, but Sam Ward, at that
timu one of thu leading criminal law
yers, undertook thu casu on thu condi
tion that hu should receive a share in tho
mine. Itoa was sentenced to three
years in tho enitontiary, and hu began
his term without divulging thu location
of thu mino. All be would say was that
it was in tho middle of thu Madison
canyon.
Now, Madison canyon is ono of thu
wildest parts of Montana. It Is 'JO miles
long, and peaks after peaks of rugged
mountains are piled on one another.
The watershed drained by thu river on
both sides is almost endless, and con
sidering all this, it will bo seen that the
description given by the hunter was no
dese-lptlou at all.
This did not deter uumltcrs ol pro
pectors from undertaking the search for
thu hidden gold. Within a short time
three proiHctors bad met with violent
deaths in the search, and thu saying
that to bunt for thu mine meant death,
became .ilmost a tradition.
One of thu gold hunters was drowned.
He and a companion had endeavored to
cross the Madison on a raft and were
swept from the logs. Thu one managed
to reach thu shore, but on looking luck
he saw thu Usly of his companion tons
lug alHiut in thu water. Ituuuing at full
skh(1, hu managed to get below thu body,
and wading into thu river, dragged it
out. Hu discovered that there was still
some life, but after using all thu means
of resuscitation kown to him, hu was
unable to revive thu man. Thu burial was
madu in a snowbank and thu living pros
pector pushed his way back to a settle
ment. In thu spring an exploring party
found thu buly In the snowbank and
buried it.
Another death wns that of a prospec
tor who was thrown from his horso and
killed. He was missed and his friends
tried to find him. After a while, they
discovered his horso Btanding as If tied
to something immovable on tho ground.
This whs found to Ih; thu dead body of
tho gold hunter, who had been killed in
Htnutly In tho fall from his horso. The
third death resulted from mountain fe
ver and tho skeleton of the prospector
was found near his abandoned but. A
scrawl on a piece of paper told how ho
had died.
After Itea war released from prison he
made no immediate effort to find his
mino again. After about 20 years, dur
ing which time there were numerous
other attempts made by prospectors,
hu Interested two miners in tho fabled
wealth and conducted them to the loca
tion. They put thousands of dollars and
two years of time in working tho ledge.
The first results seemed to substantiate
the stories of the enormous value but
aftorwards it was found that there were
but a few strings of the gold-bearing
quart)! and not a rich ledge.
If Itea told thu truth when he con
ducted thu miners to thu spot, then tho
men who met their death and thu men
who wasted time ami energy, weru hunt
ing a myth.
Timber on Unsurvtyed Lands.
Unusual activity in thu laud depart
ment at Washington, D. (J., has result
ed In thu sui.uru of a largu amount of
cord wood and minu timbers at Republic,
in Washington. This timlcr has been
cut on thu uusurvuyed lands In thu nor
thern part of thu Colvillo reservation.
Thu mining companies did not cut thu
timlKsr, hut as the men who did thu cut- j
tint: aru MMr and unable to pay for tho
trespass, tho government n gouts nre
calling upon thu mining companies for a
settlement. The same thing has occur
red many times in thu past ulsowhuro,
and in each case thu government has
shown a disposition to make tho assess
ment as light as xssible, as tho fact la
recognized that tho timber is absolutely
essential to thu operation of thu mines,
Thu usual practice has been to fix a nomi
nal price on tho timber cut, as determin
ed by thu stumpagu, without assessing
additional charges as penalties. There
is said to bo no timber available other
than that on tho nnsurvuyed lands of thu
government, and should thu authorities
deal harshly with tho mino owners it
would probably result in a susM)iision of
mining ocrationa there. The timber
lands of that section of thu Statu cannot
hu taken up under any of thu laws re
garding timlHir lauds, owing to thu prob
ability of its proving to be mineral land.
In view of thucircumstances, a satisfac
tory adjustment of thu ditllculty may hu
anticipated. Mining and Scieutlllc
Press.
Timber and Homestead Filings.
Timber and homestead tilings, as well
as dual proofs, can bo madu Ix'foro
Charles II. Chance, United Slates com
missioner, olllcu in First Hank of Sump
ter buildiui!, Sumpter, thus saving ap
plicants expense of a trip to Iji (Iraudu.
MIMG-jS
FORTY-THIRD YEAR. Ek3s3
48 Pages t Weekly t Ultatntcd.
INDISPENSABLE
TO MINING MEN.
3 PER YEAR, POSTPAID.
tisu run lAxru corr.
MINING-Sdcntlflc PRESS
ISO HARUT IT., IaM fRAHCUOO, OAL. I
...J. W. COWDEN...
HAS A FINE LINE OF
PHOTOGRAPHIC
VIEWS OF ALL THE
MINES AND PROS
PECTS IN THE
SUMPTER GOLD
fields aaaaaiwa
MINE VIEWS ONLY
Address J. W. Cowden, Sumpter, Or.
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