Natrona County, Wyoming - The whole text, 1923 (part 3 of 15)

Actual construction work was commenced on the Pathfinder project on the 5th day of February, 1905, by Kilpatrick Bros. & ColHns, who secured the contract to construct the diversion tunnel on the north side of the river, which runs a distance of 480 feet through a sohd mass of granite and is thirteen feet high and ten feet wide. It is connected with the surface by two shafts, each one hundred and eighty feet deep. The emergency gates were installed in the upper shaft with a stone and cement building over them. These shafts, like the tunnel itself, are through solid granite, and every foot of their depth from the top of the precipice to the level of the river had to be drilled and blasted, and their construction in a proper manner was one of the most difficult tasks on the project. The finished shaft in which the gates are installed is surrounded by an iron railing with a ladder running from the top to the bottom.

Construction work on the dam proper was commenced in September, 1905, by the Gedis-Seerie Stone company of Denver who was awarded the contract by the government. Before the masonry work could be commenced the water in the channel of the river was turfted into the diversion tunnel by a dam made from many thousand sacks of sand and the dam site at the bottom of the river was left bare and free from water. This site for the full width of the canyon and the width of the dam was cleaned of all gravel, sand, earth, fissured and disintegrated rock to a depth of fifteen feet and a clean foundation upon bed rock was prepared for the commencement of the building of the big dam.

The base of the dam is ninety-five feet wide and eighty feet across the chasm, and at the top of the dam, 218 feet above the base, it is twelve feet wide and 432 feet across the chasm. In the early spring, after the melting of the snow in the water sheds above, there is impounded by this huge structure more than 1,000,000 acre feet of water, and this would reclaim 350,000 acres of the arid land of Wyoming that at the present time can be used only for grazing, but as mentioned above, Wyoming gets very little benefit from it, for the water is carried into western Nebraska where a great many thousand acres have been reclaimed and are growing wonderful crops of grain and grass.

The contractors completed their work on this dam June i, 1909, but since that time a large dyke has been built south of the structure. The land at the point where the dyke was built was about twenty feet lower than the top of the masonry work of the dam and should the water have risen so high that it would have run over this low ground, it would have washed the soft formation down the channel and thus change the course of the river, leaving the dam high and dry in the canyon. It was thought by the reclamation engineers that the reservoir would not be filled for several years after the dam was completed and that there was no immediate danger of the water's rising to the top of this low piece of ground. But on account of the heavy snows during the winter of 1910 and the heavy spring rains that followed, the water rose almost to the top of this low stretch of ground and only by the most heroic effort was the huge body of water kept from cutting through the soft formation. Men and teams worked night and day for several weeks, piling brush, wood, and sacks of sand and dirt in the low place. The flood gates were turned wide open and arrangements were made to blow out a section of the dam with dynamite if the water could not otherwise be prevented from running over this low land. For three or four days it was a hard struggle between the men and teams and the gradual rise of the water, and at one time it was thought there was no hope except to blow out a section of the masonry in the dam. Just at this time, however, seemingly an act of Providence, the water commenced to recede and then all danger was passed. The permanent dyke, which is about 1,420 feet in length, was then built by first digging down to the conglomerate and then putting in a cement core three feet on the bottom and tapering to about one foot on top. This cement core is about thirty-five feet high and the top of the dyke extends eighteen feet above the level of the spillway on the north side of the dam. In the building of this dyke, dirt and gravel was hauled in and packed with a steam roller; the face of the structure is rip-rapped with stone eighteen inches in depth and there is now no possibility of the high waters doing any damage. When the water rises to a sufficient height, it runs over the spillway and is carried into the channel of the river below. A concrete wing 108 feet long and twelve feet wide at the base and four feet wide at the top, with an average height of ten feet, has been constructed for the purpose of keeping the water in this spillway.

In the construction of the dam 340 carloads of cement were used, a total of 19,000,000 pounds. If this cement had been loaded on one train it would have been more than three miles in length or would have made seventeen trains of ordinary length. All this cement, together with the enormous amount of machinery and supplies, was hauled from Casper by freight teams to the Pathfinder over rough roads, through low valleys and over high hills and in all kinds of weather. The quickest trip ever made from Casper to Pathfinder with a freight outfit was three days, and the longest time required was seventy-six days. These freight teams consisted of from two to four loaded wagons chained together and a covered wagon in which the freighter and his family often Hved, the whole being drawn by from twelve to twenty-two horses, which were called string teams and were handled by a single, or jerk line.

The three-mile train load of cement, together with the steel, gravel, crushed rock, concrete and granite in the dam would make a train load of material that would be over forty miles in length. It is difhcult to imagine the size of a building that could be constructed with this immense amount of material. The granite used in the dam was quarried less than a quarter of a mile from the structure, and large pieces forty feet square were first blown out and then split into smaller squares, averaging in weight eight to ten tons; these after being dressed and drenched were conveyed to the works on a tram and lowered to the dam where they were laid in a heavy bed of mortar with the side joints not more than six inches in thickness, and the concrete rammed into place, the largest proportion of stone and the smallest proportion of mortar and concrete being used.

At the base of the dam are two tunnels, each three feet in diameter, and one culvert four by six feet, and through these tunnels and the culvert streams of water went rushing, roaring down the canyon with the force of Niagara. A practically unlimited amount of power could be generated from these three streams that would supply all the needs of ten cities the size of Denver, but up to the present time nothing has been done toward putting this power into service.

In the spring of 191 1 these tunnels and the culvert were bulkheaded and the flow of water sufficient to keep the river up to the level that will supply the needs of the city of Casper and the refineries here, as well as the other towns and the ranchmen along the stream east from Casper, is supplied from a four-inch pipe extending through the tunnel at the base of the dam, in addition to a stream running through the tunnel on the south side of the dam. In recent years the reservoir has been filled to overflowing in the spring of the year and there has been a heavy flow over the spillway on the north side of the dam. When the water runs over the spillway it is within twelve feet of the top of the dam, giving a depth of 184 feet of water at the face of the dam. Then the North Platte is backed up for twenty miles and [the Sweetwater river for fifteen miles, and the width of the reservoir at the widest point at that time is aboui; four miles. About a half dozen ranches containing an area of fully 25,000 acres, which includes the grazing land, have been covered by this immense reservoir, and the government paid the settlers who were deprived of their land in the neighborhood of $170,000.

The Pathfinder Dam 79

tion to the building of the dyke on the south side. Among these improvements is a tunnel on the south side which was installed in 1910-11. It is sixteen feet deep and sixteen feet wide, sixty feet above the bed of the river. This tunnel was built for the purpose of allowing a greater flow of water through during the spring and summer months when it is used for irrigating purposes and to relieve the pressure on the gates of the north tunnel. In connection with this tunnel an air shaft was built similar to the air shaft into the north tunnel. Another tunnel has been built on the north side of the river above the original tunnel. All these tunnels have been equipped with gates and balance valves which are automatically controlled by the reservoir pressure. A set of two auxiliary gates and two hydraulic-operated balance valves were installed on the north lower tunnel in 1920-21-22 and upon completion of this work the portal of the tunnel was bulkheaded just below the air shaft. At this place a by-pass valve was installed. An average of about twenty men were working at the dam since the original contract was completed in 1909 until the summer of 1922. The government maintains an exclusive telephone line from Casper to Pathfinder which is used only in connection with business pertaining to the reclamation service.

H. D. Comstock was the resident engineer during the construction of the dyke in 1910 and until May 30, 1913. S. S. Sleeth was superintendent of the reservoir from 1910 to September, 191 1. J. C. Austin was superintendent from May, 1913, to August, 1918, and he was succeeded by S. S. Sleeth who served until December, 191 8. Then came H. E. Brown who served until July, 1921, and he was succeeded by T. S. Martin as superintendent of construction.

In the spring time when the reservoir is filled to overflowing and the water rushes over the spillway in great volumes, having the appearance of Niagara Falls, there is always some one ready to spread the report that the dam is unsafe and many timid people in Casper do not rest easy until the water commences to recede late in the summer. In regard to the safety of this dam, Director F. H. Newell says: "There is probably no structure in the United States better designed and finished and more deserving of higher commendation for its stability and absolute safety. The absurd stories sent out concerning it cannot fail to do harm in alarming timid people, who have absolutely no occasion for concern."

Since the original appropriation of one million dollars for the construction of this dam, up to June 30, 1920, additional appropriations of $10,279,939 have been made for the project, a portion of which was expended on the Guerensey dam and the irrigation ditches in that vicinity, but the greater portion was expended on the ditches in western Nebraska where the main body of the water is carried and where immense crops are raised each year upon the vast amount of land that is irrigated. Several millions of dollars have also been expended on the dam, for the improvements and repairs before mentioned.

Through the efforts of the citizens of Natrona county a survey was made in 1920 under the direction of the state engineer of Wyoming for the purpose of ascertaining the number of acres that could be irrigated in Natrona county if a gravity overfall diversion dam 130 feet high were built in the Alcova canyon, so the water could be stored and raised to a level of a proposed canal that would distribute the water over a stretch of land about forty miles in length and then be returned to the river through natural drainage along the fortymile stretch of territory included in the irrigation district, and it was found that more than 100,000 acres, all in Natrona county, could be reclaimed. From 15,000 to 17,000 acres of this land is in the Bates Hole country, but most of it lies in the valley in which the Burlington and Northwestern railway tracks pass through. A resurvey was jointly made by the state and the United States reclamation service in 1921-22, and the investigations and report made by the state engineer was found correct. This encouraged the people of the county to ask for an appropriation by the government of a sufficient amount to build this project, which it was said would be built when the original proposition came up many years before.

This project has advantages supported by few such projects at their inception. Figuring the area to be irrigated at 100,000 acres it is estimated that the acreage can be devoted to production by putting 50,000 acres in alfalfa, 11,000 in sugar beets, 15,000 in small grains, 5,000 in potatoes, 4,000 in corn, 10,000 in pasturage and 5,000 in home grounds, stock corrals, green vegetables and garden truck, etc.

Converting to agricultural purposes the idle land now surrounding Casper is designed not only to produce food products to supply the demands of a growing city, but also to make possible several new industries and to bring about a higher development of the livestock industry, which for years has been one of the foundation stones of the prosperity of Natrona county. The development of agriculture and the building up of a market for agricultural products over a period of years will add an element of permanence to the community and a stability to investment by assuring the establishment of a basic industry which will continue indefinitely into the future.

The North Platte River 51

brought to the fore through the persistent efforts of its people as much as it has by its natural resources. It has always been the custom of the people of this county to give their time and their money to encourage and foster any laudable enterprise, and although a great deal of time and money have been expended which did not bring the desired results, nevertheless the word "discourage" was not in their vocabulary, and one failure seemed to be a stimulant for them to go after the next enterprise with a more determined effort, and although the Pathfinder dam was constructed in 1909, during the past thirteen years the people have constantly endeavored to convince the United States reclamation service and the congressmen that thousands upon thousands of acre feet of water from the Pathfinder reservoir are going to waste during the summer months and that this vast amount of water would reclaim thousands of acres of land in Natrona county, and as a result of this persistency, on August first in 1922, Chief Engineer F. E. Weymouth of the United States reclamation service, Frank C. Emerson, state engmeer, A. Weiss, project manager, and A. T. Strahorn, soil expert, together with a committee of Casper citizens, left Casper and spent several days going over the survey that had been made, for the purpose of determining whether the proposition w^ould be feasible, and even after all these years the people look upon this visit of these men as a sign of encouragement that it will not be many more years until the water from this project will be spread over the land in the eastern part of Natrona county, and instead of the land yielding cactus, grease wood, and sage brush, there will be raised thousands of tons of alfalfa, corn, potatoes, oats, rye, wheat and sugar beets, and this will be one of the richest agricultural sections of the west.

Natrona county's largest and most important stream is the North Platte river. It enters the county at its southern boundary about midway from the eastern and western border lines and flows in a northeasterly direction for more than forty miles to the city of Casper, when it makes an abrupt turn and flows in an almost due easterly direction for about fifteen miles, when it leaves the county and enters Converse county, about thirty miles from the southern border line of Natrona county.

The Platte is one of the most extraordinary of rivers. Its fall is rapid, and its bed being composed of fine sand, one would expect that the rapid current w^ould erode a deep channel through it. No such result, however. The broad bed of the river stands almost on a level with the surrounding country, while the water flows back and forth in such sinuous and irregular courses as to increase in a marked degree the length of the channel. The sand washed up in one place is dropped in another, and the bed is built up as fast as it is cut down. Thus it results that so unresisting a material as fine sand withstands the action of the current better than a harder material, for it is certain that if this river with its heavy fall were flowing over solid rock it would have carved out a deep and canyon-like bed.^ To see the Platte in all its glory one must see it during the spring floods. Then it spreads over its entire bed, upwards, in some places, of a mile wide, and rivals the Mississippi itself in pretentiousness of appearance. Washington Irving described the Platte as "the most magnificent and the most useless of rivers." But despite its uselessness as a stream the Platte has won a permanent place in the history of the west. If boats could not navigate its channel, the "prairie schooner" could sail along its valley, where lay the most practicable route across the plains. It led the overland traveler by gradual and imperceptible ascents from near the level of the ocean to the very summit of the Continental Divide. Along it lay the old Oregon Trail, most famous of all the overland trails. -

In many places the soft banks of the Platte are always undergoing erosion. The shore line here recedes and there advances as the earth which falls into the stream in one place is dropped in excessive bars in another. At certain seasons this action is rapid and destructive, and hundreds of acres in a single locality are frequently washed away in the course of one season. Thus the channel of the river is ever migrating from one side of the valley to the other, destroying extensive and fertile bottoms, and building up new lands.

The origin of the name of the Platte river dates back to the earliest occupation of the valleys of this stream by the French settlers, which occurred in the year 1719.^ These Frenchmen discovered that the Indians called the river the Nebraska, w^hich word in their language signified flat, which, interpreted into French, means Platte, carrying out the idea of a broad and shallow river. Hence LaPlatte river, but up to the time Bonneville made his expedition in 1832-5 it was called by most people the Nebraska river. The early trappers made many attempts to navigate this stream, but very few of them were successful.

"However useless the river may seem to have been in its earlier history, it has been utilized to a remarkable degree in later years for irrigation, and thousands of acres of land in Nebraska and Wyorning have been reclaimed, and during the summer months almost its entire flow is drawn out upon the neighboring lands. In addition to this the stream furnishes 27,000 people in Casper with water for domestic purposes all the year 'round, and one of the largest oil refineries in the world is furnished with water from the "useless" stream.

Powder River 83

Robert Stuart, the man who built the first cabin in what is now Wyoming, the cabin being located about fourteen miles west from Casper where Poison Spider creek empties into the Platte, constructed canoes and launched them on the river in March, 1813, near the east line of Wyoming, but the water was low and sandbars and rocks in the bed of the stream were numerous, and after dragging his canoes over the obstructions for several days he abandoned this method of travel and his party pursued their journey on foot down the banks of the stream. In years to follow many trappers attempted the same experiment. Some succeeded in getting the boats down the streams by taking advantage of the high water season. Previous to 1820 Jacques Laramie successfully launched his bull boats, made from the hides of bull buffalo, laden with furs from the lower point of Grand Island, and the other trappers and traders in after years did the same thing. Edward Everett Hale, in his works on Kansas and Nebraska, published in 1854, says that traders sometimes descended the river in canoes, but the "canoes or boats constantly got aground," he says, "and it seems to be regarded, even at the season of the freshets, as a last resort in the way of transfer of goods from above. The steamboat El Paso is said to have ascended the river last year (1853) when the water was high, more than five hundred miles from its mouth, passing up the north fork above Fort Laramie. In token of this triumph she still 'wears the horns,' for it is a custom on the western waters for a steamboat which has distinguished herself by any decided feat like this to wear a pair of antlers until some more successful boat surpasses her in the same enterprise by which she won them. The distance achieved by the El Paso is probably overestimated for at most seasons of the year the river is of little use for navigation."

Edward Everett Hale no doubt was correct when he said that the "achievement of the El Paso was overestimated," for even now when the Pathfinder dam raises the water from six to eight feet higher than it flowed in ordinary years, it would be a difficult matter for a steamboat to ascend the river five hundred miles from its mouth.

Powder river's reputation for being a quiet and peaceful spot was not of the best, even in the early days when the Indians caused the soldiers much trouble. It seems as though the very air, like the old-time forty-rod whiskey, makes a man want to fight. A few years after the Indians finished killing all the white men they could, a feud broke out between the cattlemen and the rustlers. After a number of the rustlers had been killed and some of the cattlemen wounded, it was a war between the sheepmen and the cattlemen. This sore spot was healed over in a few years and then "Powder River" again came into the lime light and was the most popular war whoop in the great world war. But as to Powder river in the early days, Robert E. Strathorn in his "Hand Book of Wyoming," published in 1879, says:

"In briefly describing some of the prominent streams and valleys of Wyoming we may be frank in commencing by declaring that we have nothing good to say of Powder River, the southern boundary of the Big Horn region. Its waters are darkly mysterious and villainously alkalied; its southern tributaries ditto; and it is far from a fitting gateway to the land of beauty and plenty. However, the valley soils are among the richest in all the lands. The stream rises in the Powder River range, flows almost due north to the Yellowstone and in its tortuous windings has a length of over 300 miles. The valley is from one to three miles wide, is well timbered with cottonwood, and shows coal formation almost everywhere. Cantonment Reno, garrisoned by United States troops, is located on Powder River, near the crossing of the Cheyenne and Big Horn road. It is a general outfitting point for Big Horn miners. The most direct and well-traveled road from Deadwood to the Big Horn region strikes the Cheyenne road near here.

"Twenty-six miles north is Crazy Woman's Fork of the Powder. Its waters are clear, flowing over a gravelly bed, and it drains a more desirable region than the parent stream. But not until Clear Fork of Powder, twenty miles north of the last named stream, is reached does the visitor feel thoroughly possessed of that enthusiasm we are endeavoring to inspire. The landscape surrounding is perfect in its loveliness, and the broad valley is very nearly our ideal of a spot for the creation of most inviting homes. The valley is four or five miles wide and seventy miles long, and besides being quite well timbered at the point of crossing possesses greater stretches of hay lands than most others in this section. A ranch and trading post, called Murphy's ranch, the first to be located in the Big Horn region, is found here at the crossing.

"Twenty miles' travel farther north over grazing lands which are not equaled south of the Platte anywhere, brings the visitor to the Forks of the Piney, the road crossing them just above their union. The ruins of old Fort Phil Kearney, near the road, stimulate disagreeable thoughts about the played-out peace policy, and lead us to think what a shame it was for a powerful government to lose its grip upon such beautiful domain, and to allow the massacre of its subjects by the hundred. These valleys are about as extensive as that of Clear Fork, are just as beautiful and fertile, and undoubtedly will soon teem with the best life our Yankee enterprise can bequeath. A few miles away lies Lake DeSmet, named after the noted missionary. It is about two miles long and nearly a mile wide, and for its shores has a circle of gracefully rounded hills. Myriads of geese, ducks and other water fowl, with evidently little appreciation of danger, float its surface, and in the shallow water of the beaches we noticed innumerable small insects, resembling fish animalculae. But the water is so wonderfully brackish and charged with alkaline salts that it is doubtful whether fish could exist in it."

In the early days of Wyoming and up until the early '90's a great many wild horses roamed over the broad plains. Some of these horses had been tamed, branded and worked by cowboys and ranchmen, but when they were turned out on the open range for a few months they again took up with the wild bunch. Cowboys, stockmen and ranchmen often times trapped and caught these wild horses, and broke them, and as a general rule, after they were broken, they proved to be the equal of any of the horses, both in endurance and intelligence.

The Lost Cabin Mine 85

About the first of June, 1890, a large bunch of these wild horses were ranging in the Salt Creek country, and Joseph Slaughter, John Arnold and James and Charles Macy of Glenrock spent two weeks chasing the wild animals. The first band they encountered contained five horses and two mules, and they were all captured after a chase of sixty hours without intermission. The mules were the first to give up, and they were thrown and tied, and the horses were given the same treatment when they were caught. Another band of eleven animals were captured after being chased for seventy-five miles. The unbranded horses are called "slicks," but all of the bunch captured on this trip were branded, but they w^ere all thoroughly wild, having roamed over the plains for a number of years without being molested. When the chase is first begun the wild bunch will run ten or twelve miles in a direct line, and then they will gradually circle back to their old range. The men would station themselves along the circuit with fresh horses, and the wild bunch was kept constantly on the run without rest, food or water, until they became exhausted and gave up. When captured they were fairly w^ell broken before they had time to rest from the long chase.

Sometimes a bunch of wild horses were chased for a week before they were captured, especially if the country was rough, where there was feed and water and an occasional draw or ravine where they could hide for an hour and rest, and sometimes when the wild bunch would get into this kind of country, they made good their escape.

The wild horses in this country, however, like the wild west, are a thing of the past. You come across a bunch of horses occasionally on the range that appear to be wild, the same as you come across some men who would have you believe they belong to that class of men who thirty or forty years ago were rough and always ready for any emergency, but these fellows nowadays are as easily tamed as the bunch of horses on the range that have not been out of the sight of man for a week.

Western legends regarding lost mines and lost cabins are as numerous as tales of pirates' hidden treasure in the South seas. Their foundation is probably built more of imagination than of fact. While each of the Mountain and Pacific states has had a share of these stories of lost lodes of incalculable wealth, yet the Big Horn mountains seem to have been the locality around which most of these traditions centered.

state to come to the Big Horns and search for the famous Lost Cabin mine. This was as far back as 1870. Conviction of its existence and great richness must have been great in their minds to lead them to attempt such a toilsome journey over the main range of the Rockies in that day. Comstock had discovered and sold the famous lode near Virginia City, which still bears his name. It has produced more real wealth than any other strata of quartz in the world. The great fortunes of the Mackay and Fair families, as well as many more, were drawn from this almost inexhaustible vein of silver. The Nevada expedition to the Big Horns was a failure. Either from disappointment or other causes, Comstock committed suicide while camped near Bozeman, Montana, by shooting himself. He was buried near by, but the exact location of his grave is unknown. He unlocked millions for others but none for himself. He was only one of many who lost their lives in searching amid a cruel climate and more cruel savages for this chimera of a mine that never, perhaps, existed.

It mattered little if you dropped under the knife of the red man or under the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" in this mad race for wealth. Our credulity is too highly taxed by most of these mine stories. Even in the earliest days our trappers, hunters and miners were good pathfinders. It is difficult to believe that any pioneer who had built a cabin and stayed long enough in the locaHty to build sluice boxes and wash placer gold should be unable to find it, even if he had been driven from it by Indians in a hurried and disconcerting manner. Neitherwould a man let many years elapse before beginning the search for a lost mine of such extraordinary value. Yet many of these men are said to have waited until they were on their deathbeds, back in Iowa or Pennsylvania, and then with trembling hand sought to draw a map for their heirs of the hidden treasure. Just as they are about to write the name of the stream that is the key to it all the pen drops from the lifeless hand.

Another old man who held the secret came to Buffalo, Wyoming, with three young companions, to whom he was to show the evasive treasure. While getting into a wagon at Well's Postoffice he fell dead and his secret died with him. Another thoughtful owner of the mine had left a blue-print of the location with an old Arapahoe Indian. This Indian died suddenly and the secret of the location of the wonderful mine was buried with him. A strange and mocking fatality has seemed to pursue all those who have evidenced a desire to free their souls of this golden but harassing secret.

Not only as a fact in Casper's early history, but as a piece of humor, mellowed and hallowed by time, we reproduce the following from the Casper Tribune of August 17, 1893. Of that party of six who sought the rainbow's end on that day of high hopes, we beheve that M. P. Wheeler is the only one now living. The story is typical of the many that have been received with credulity since there was a mine or a bad memory:

"A prospector by the name of J. C. Carter, a native of Montana, and a total stranger in this section, came into town on Thursday evening last, and told a very straight story purporting to show that during his wanderings in the l^ig fiorn mountains he had accidentally discovered tiie long lost cabin, about wliich so many conflicting stories have been told. He brought with him a few fragments of cement rock, which he claimed to have taken from the tunnels in the vicinity of the cabin. The prospector's story was listened to with open ears, and, as is characteristic of western enterprise, a fund of ^loo was at once subscribed by the business men of Casper, and a party of six organized to proceed at once to the coveted spot. The party, composed of H. A. Lilly, M. P. Wheeler, A. D. Campbell, W. H. Carter, and J. C. Carter, with his partner, were supplied with a complete camping outfit, stored away in a large wagon. With the exception of Mr. Lilly, they left here for the Big Horn region about 2 p.m. Saturday, full of hopes and anticipations. Mr. Lilly, who w-ent up in the vicinity of Eadsville to bring his family to town, left on a saddle-horse in the evening, expecting to catch up with the party on Sunday.

"The stories concernmg the lost cabin are numerous, and as common-place as ghostystories, but according to that told by Carter, there appears to be something in it. His story coincides very closely with the report made by two miners at Fort Fetterman in the '6o's. As the tale goes, some time before the civil war, a party of prospectors struck the Big Horn region, discovered gold, built a cabin, and began active; mining operations by tunneling. Tliey had proceeded undisturbed for some time and had obtained considerable gold in nuggets, which they stored in baking powder cans, when they were surprised one day by a party of Indians, and all but two of the miners, who had secreted themselves in the cabin, were massacred. These two, feeling that the Indian hostilities were too hot for them, deserted the camp and proceeded to Fort Fetterman, where they exhibited their gold and told their stories. They then departed for the east, and have never been heard of since.

"According to Carter, his party had started out from Montana, visited many mining camps, and in pushing on, finally reached the Big Horn mountains, where the subject of the Lost Cabin mine came up. One of the party, who had visited that section before, said he believed that if they reached a certain camping spot he could figure out the location of the lost mine. Though nearly famished, and their horses in poor condition, they pushed on another day. The mine was not located that day, the 5th of August. With the exception of two men, Carter and his partner, the party gave up hope and suggested that they return. The next morning, Sunday, the party separated. Carter and one other man only continuing the search for the lost mine. After a few hours' travel. Carter claims that in pushing through the thicket, he came upon some logs about two feet above the ground. They were rotted, but still showed evidence of being used in the construction of a cabin. The building had been put up without the aid of axe or hammer, as the trunks, branches, roots and all had been laid together. The door was constructed, not in the end or side of the cabin, but in one corner, by merely not bringing the side and end of the cabin together. There were no windows, and the roof, which had been formed of twigs and branches, had decayed and fallen in. The whole structure was completely covered by young trees, and it was by the merest accident that the men came upon it. Having satisfied themselves that they had found the cabin, they proceeded to look for the gold. Nothing can express their delight, when, not many feet from the cabin, they found the tunnels, partly caved in and covered with a heavy growth of brush. They collected a small quantity of the rock, and proceeded without delay to Casper. On reaching town they were in bad condition - hungry, both horses and men; and v.ithout money. The rock was pounded in a mortar by Mr. Lilly, and three colors of gold were found - sufficient to arouse the curiosity of our enterprising townsmen, and hence the organization of the party."

Three days after the party left Casper they reached the "Lost Cabin," on the Big Horn mountains, near Powder river, after traveling ninety miles. In addition to the mess supplies the party took with them they had picks, shovels, drills, dynamite and other miners' supplies, and they were well prepared to brmg back with them all the gold they might find, but imagine their disappointment when they discovered that this "Lost Cabin," was nothing more than an Indian blind, adjacent to a beautiful mountain park, or meadow, consisting of about one hundred acres, covered with luxuriant grass where deer, elk and other wild game fed, after they had been down to the creek for a drink. The Indians would hide in this blind, or cabin, and when the game was within sure gun shot distance they would fire upon the animals, and thus secure their winter's supply of meat without the irksome task of hunting over the mountains, and through the canyons.

The party enjoyed their trip, however, for there were many fine trout streams in the Big Horn mountains, and those who did not care to look for gold in the hills and valleys, spent their time fishing and hunting. But the party was hastily broken up one morning when one of the men came running into camp out of breath, very much excited and almost speechless, exclaiming: "A bear! a bear! big as a horse!" Some of the men in the party, who were more or less curious, started to investigate. They came across the tracks of the animal, and the investigation ended then and there, without argument. They agreed that the excited man did not exaggerate, and after returning to camp without loss of time, they packed the supplies in their wagon, caught up their horses and started for home. They were absent about ten days. They found no gold, but their experience was worth the trouble and inconvenience of the journey.

During the summer of 1897 C. T. Jones, known as "Rattlesnake Jones," also discovered the Lost Cabin mine. Mr. Jones was an interesting gentleman, who carried rattlesnakes in his pockets and still stranger things in his head. It was a favorite diversion of his to engage a stranger in conversation and then casually draw a pet rattlesnake out of his shirt, and stroke its head affectionately. In the garden of fiction blooming about the Lost Cabin, Mr. Jones planted two new flowers of subtle fragrance. One was his story of putting the bleached bones of the revered prospectors in a sack and bringing them to Casper on his horse. Who could deny that the great mine was at last found when the sack full of dead men's bones would be shaken out on the Grand Central hotel porch! Saint Mark's bones were smuggled into Venice in a bucket of lard; Wyoming has sent the bones of many a mastadon, plesiosaurus and ichthyornis to adorn the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, but these relics

The Lost Cabin Mine 89

The other bud which Mr. Jones pinned upon the wreath of fiction was his confession that he had been directed to the spot by spirits. Fearful that it would be surmised that these spirits were of a bottled variety, he made haste to aver that he frequently had intercourse with spirit friends who used him as a medium for the communication of secrets which were making them unhappy and restless in the spirit land. It was a matter of common report that the Indians who had killed the owners of the famous mine, and had now exchanged their tomahawks for harps in the happy hunting grounds, were very eager to get into communication with Mr. Jones.

This is a world of progress, and we are prone to boast of our many modern conveniences. Yet looking back to the days when Casper was but a village we recall seeing Mr. Rattlesnake Jones giving an exhibition with his snakes on the floor of Kimball's drug store. A man could step into the adjoining Wyoming saloon, take a few drinks of squirrel whiskey and without waiting for the slow action of the booze, could in two staggers fall into Kimball's store and see the snakes. Modern life has given us no recompense for the loss of these conveniences.

The most reliable and authentic account of the Lost Cabin mine is found in an article written by Charles K. Bucknum of Casper and published June 24, 1897. Mr. Bucknum was in Montana and Wyoming at a very early day. He had joined in the gold rush to Bannock City and Virginia, Montana. He had trapped beaver and hunted buffalo. He had seen the old river steamboats come up the Missouri as far as Fort Benton, laden with government supplies. He had seen the squaws shake wagon loads of flour into the river that they might get the gaily printed sacks to work over into dresses for themselves and shirts for the men. Originally the red man lived on a straight meat diet. They were slow to accept the white man's declaration that bread was the staff of life. After an issuance of flour the muddy Missouri ran white for a day. What Mr. Bucknum has written is the story as he got it from the best and earliest sources. Mr. Bucknum was a store house of information on the events of early days. He did not romance nor exaggerate. Much of this article is drawn from books and newspaper articles he had preserved bearing on the subject and which he had reasons to consider worthy of credence. The reader will observe that he gives names and dates and the recital reads like history instead of the palpable fictions we have previously reproduced as examples of the many legends built about the Lost mine and its frequently discovered cabin:

" Perhaps the most famous as well as the most mysterious mine on the continent is the celebrated Lost Cabin lead. It has been discovered, rediscovered and lost half a dozen times, and at present the exact location of this rich lode is as much of a mystery as ever. This mine is one of the magnets that drew Thomas Paige Comstock (Old Pancake) north from the Nevada bonanzas; but he never found the lead and he came out to find a suicide's death and a pauper's grave awaiting him. He drove a pistol bullet through his brain near Bozeman, Montana, December 27, 1870, and his neglected grave is now there, without a sign over this famous man's last resting place and almost unknown. The Lost Cabin has grown to be something of a legend, although there can be no doubt that very rich veins are said to be scattered all through the Big Horn range, and among those mountains this much-sought mine is snugly hidden away, and will probably remain so until some lucky prospector stumbles upon it and becomes a thrice millionaire in a twinkling.

"Many descriptions of the Lost Cabin have been in print, but never yet has the true story been told, or how it got the name of Lost Cabin, nor how such a big thing as a gold mine with a log cabin attachment came to be so utterly and totally lost as never to be found again. Allen Hulburt, a California stampeder, of the '49 epoch, was the man who discovered the mine, built the cabin, lost the mine, and never found it again. He was a quiet, sensible citizen of Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1849, when he caught the California gold fever, like a great many others, and so in October ot the same year he left home, friends, and everything else behind him and journeyed across the plains to the Pacific El Dorado. He worked his way north to Oregon, then into what is now Washington, and in the spring of 1863 found himself in Walla Walla without a cent. In company with two other roving spirits, one Jones and one Cox, the trio bought a new prospecting outfit, including six horses, and with a month's provisions in pannier packs, set out over the Mullen trail for an exploring expedition on the eastern slope of the Rockies. After hard trials, and encompassing almost insurmountable difficulties, the little band finally reached the Yellowstone, floated down on a raft to the Big Horn river and made camp on an island in the wildest and most hostile portion of the United States. The geography of the country was little known in those days. Most of their traveling had to be done in the night time, as the country was full of Indians, and therefore not being very able to distinguish the country roundabout as they passed through it at night, the range of mountains that loomed up in front of them one bright morning had neither name or location for them. Into these mountains they hurried, panning and prospecting as they went, and striking better pay the deeper and higher up the gulch they got. At last, coming to a wonderfully rich streak which prospected handsomely, a shaft was sunk to bed rock, which was only seven feet below, and here was found gold from the grass roots down, panning all the way from five cents to one dollar each trial. These frantic men made up their minds to stay all winter. They had plenty of powder and lead, the country was full of game, and so, without further delay, the little pioneer party began work in dead earnest for a long winter's stay. 1 hey whipsawed lumber, built a dam across the creek, put up the sluice boxes, and sluiced from morning to night while the weather lasted. The average yield was about ^100 to the man per day until snow began to fly. When the water froze, and mining operations had to be suspended. Cox, Jones and Hulburt had about half a bushel each of bright sparkling nuggets and gold dust. Now came winter. The time was too valuable while the season lasted to waste it in building operations; but it was now getting late, and the boys industriously whip-sawed lumber and cut logs sufficient to erect a cabin and surround it with a stockade. This is the famous cabin that has been lost so many times. Hay was cut, too, for the five horses. One had been drowned in the Yellowstone. In the spring, when the water began to run again, the three men were at their sluice boxes and taking out just as much gold as ever. One day Hulburt suddenly returned to the cabin for some necessary article, leaving his two companions busily at work. Scarcely had he gotten out of sight when bang! bang! went a number of rifles, and Cox and Jones lay weltering in their blood. From a tree Hulburt saw the Indians strip, scalp and mutilate his comrades, after which the redskins followed the weU-beaten trail up to the cabin and rifled the latter of every article or thing they wanted. They even attempted to set fire to the famous structure; but the logs were green and would not burn, thus sparing the celebrated building to future discovery. After awhile the Indians left. Hiilburt slipped quickly from his perch, gathered together a few necessary articles (the Indians had carried off the horses) packed his knapsack full of gold (burying such treasure as he could not carry), and without pausing to look around or even take a landmark, fled for his life. His route did not lie back over the old trail he and his two friends had come the year before, for the Indians had gone that way, but to the south, in the opposite direction, through a strange, wild, undiscovered country, over which no white man's foot had ever traveled before. After many days, when far away from the camp he arrived at a lofty precipice where to the east could be seen a vast stretch of open prairie, while to the west was a lofty range of mountains whose snow-capped peaks pierced the very clouds. Hoping to strike some trail if he trusted to the open, Hulburt struck boldly out over the prairie, and headed as near as he could judge, for the Platte crossing of the great transcontinental route to California. After eighteen days he did reach the North Platte river, ninety miles above Fort Laramie, at Reshaw's bridge,' and found himself on the old trail which he had passed over, fifteen years before, on his way to California. Here he met the first white people he had seen for nearly two years, except, of course, his slain companions. The country was then on fire over the news from Alder gulch. Rich diggings had been reported on Grasshopper and Alder in Montana, and the trend of the gold hunters was now toward the northwest instead of the setting sun, as was the case in 1849. Hulburt met a big stampede coming up the Platte bound for Montana. Without going back to the state or sending any word to his friends, he joined this party of El Dorado hunters, and was soon en route to the very country he had so anxiously been fleeing from during the previous thirty days. Going along, he told the story of his wonderful experiences to others, which resulted in a split in the crowd, with him heading a new stampede, in which he came near getting killed for his pains. To show the size of this division it is only necessary to state that Hulburt had no less than 140 wagons at his heels, with something like 550 men, women and children, and all of these crazy people going off on a mad, wild chase after the goose that had laid the golden egg for Hulburt in the first instance. Suffice it to say that they never found the mine. Hulburt proved a very bad pilot, and after leading his party everywhere without success until winter came on, he finally and reluctantly confessed that he was lost, and his famous cabin mine along with him. This man, whose word had been law in camp for so many days, was now an outcast and in danger of death by violence. Men and women sprang at him like tigers, crying 'Lynch him; he has lied to us; lynch him!' Preparations were made for an impromptu necktie party, and Hulburt was just about to be strung up, when the one individual in that crazy mob, who had a spark of humanity left in him, stepped to the doomed man's side and drew his revolver. That was enough. Sullen with rage, but cowed by one man's bravery, the lynching bee was postponed and poor wretched Hulburt's life spared. The Indians started on the war-path about this time, which made it an unhealthy country for white people; whereupon the Lost Cabin stampeders hastened westward and scattered through the gulches in and about Virginia City, Montana. Hulburt was last seen in Virginia City in the fall of '64, since when the world has lost track of him, although it still remembers his famous though mythical lead. Hundreds saw the gold which Hulburt brought back with him from the Big Horn country, and since then a sort of blind faith has possessed many that the Lost Cabin mine really exists.

" Bart Beckley, a Colorado miner, spent a year of his life searching the Big Horn, Castle and Emigrant mountains for this wonderful lead, but at last he, like the rest, became disheartened and gave it up, although his belief in the existence of the mine was stronger at the close of the unsuccessful search than when he began it. Jack McDonald spent many years in the mountain mining camps, during a twelve-month of which he was lost to all save himself, somewhere on the southern slope of the Big Horn range. Suddenly Jack turned up all bustle and excitement, leaving hurriedly for Colorado, but there he was taken sick and died in a cabin on Buckskin creek, where the city of Leadville now stands. Before he breathed his last he called his friend and pard, Bart Beckley, to his side and told him of a lead in far-away Montana that he believed to be very rich. Years rolled on and Beckley, turning the story over and over in his mind finally decided to make an attempt to find this famous mine of McDonald's. He drifted thither among the mountains of the northwest, found himself first in the Black

Hills, then in the Wood River country, and finally in the New World mining district, near the Big Horn. He recognized Cloud peak, the loftiest pile in the country, and strange to say from the accurate description given him by his friend, he was enabled to find McDonald's lead, which was halfway up the side of the very mountain he was then explormg. But, alas, the dying man was either deceived or else distance lent enchantment to the view, for the supposed gold had turned out to be only copper, which would not have paid the cost of mining it at that lofty altitude and in that rugged country. Beckley confidently thought he was on the trace of the Lost Cabin mine, but his practiced eye told him at a glance that only copper lay before him, and he gave up the chase, returning to Colorado much disheartened and thoroughly disgusted. Not long after Beckley's failure another prospector from the southern mines, named Joe Sweeney, suddenly appeared in the Big Horn mountains, and spent days and days hunting for the lead that seemed to baffle all efforts at discovery. He finally stumbled upon a vein far up near the head of the Big Horn canyon, which he firmly believed to be an outcropping of the famous lode, if not the mother treasure herself. The news was telegraphed by the Associated press giving an account of the discovery, saying that the 'Lost Cabin lead was found at last.' The discovery was twenty-five miles long, 620 feet wide, and where cut by the stream which crossed it, showed a perpendicular depth of sixty feet. Pieces of it were knocked oflF and sent to McVicker, of Salt Lake City, for assay, and in two weeks a report came back showing 41.55 per cent of copper, with a trace of silver. A great lead had been discovered, for 50 per cent of the rock was pure metal; but there was not a sign of gold about it, and therefore it could not be the Lost Cabin.

"A short time afterward Jack Nye, a well known Nevada prospector, appeared in the Big Horn country, and was lost to view tor several months. All at once he bounded into Bozeman, and startled the natives with the assertion that he had positively discovered the Lost Cabin lead. It was, like Sweeney's find, situated near the headwaters of the Big Horn, where the famous river gushes a torrent down out of the mountains, the stream in question cutting the ledge almost at right angles. At this point the lode was 250 feet wide, and Nye said it showed up sixty odd feet on the washed faces. He traced the lode across the country for twenty-five miles or more, finding it in places as much as sixty feet wide. Nye wired his father and uncle to come on without delay, but the result was easily foreseen, for the vein which Nye believed to be the much-sought for Lost Cabin was neither more or less than Joe Sweeney's old discovery. When Nye learned the truth, that another man had found the very same lead before him, and what was more, had given it up as no good, he, too, surrendered in disgust, and went back to Nevada a very badly disappointed man.

"About this time the Sitting Bull troubles came on, and the country where the Lost Cabin lead was supposed to be hid away became alive with hostile Indians. Old Touka-to-tonka (Sitting Bull) with over a thousand lodges, had his camp near the junction of the two Horn rivers, on the spot where Colonel Custer afterward found him and met his death. Notwithstanding the frightful dangers and almost certain death awaiting any white man who should have the hardihood to penetrate into the country, three white men did go prospecting up the Big Horn about this time, and made their way safely through the hostile regions, traveling nights and resting days, finally reaching the headwaters of the Little Big Horn in safety. Here these three venturesome spirits came across a body of ore so large and so rich that they could hardly credit the evidence of their senses. Old miners believe implicitly that all rich veins in a mineral country must be emanations from a backbone or mother lode. It was unquestionably the mother lode. If the mythical Lost Cabin lead really had an existence, there could be no doubt but what these hardy prospectors had actually stumbled upon it, for, from the descriptions given, it was certainly the largest body of rich quartz in the known world. But listen to the sequel. .After working until their tools were worn out, the brave fellows built a boat with which to descend the river, loaded it down with nuggets and rich specimens, burying what they could not carry, and started down stream intending to float by night to the Yellowstone, and thence on by daylight, and night too, until civilization or a settlement was reached. The plan was then to return with sufficient men and supplies to withstand the attacks of the red men and work the new mine for all there was in it. If they had known that the camp which they intended to steal past at midnight was the largest ever gathered together on the North American continent, stretching up and down the river for more than three miles, and containing between 5,000 and 6,000 warriors, it is probable they would have gone the other way and gotten out of the country with all possible haste. Their boat was discovered by an Indian dog whose single yelp set 10,000 other throats barking, and in their hurry to push forward the frail craft was upset in the rapids of the Little Big Horn, and the poor fellows were prisoners. Two of the men were instantly killed, but the third, in the darkness of the night, managed to effect his escape, and after wandering about for days and days without food and little or no clothing, finally reached a settlement, more dead than alive. He related his experiences, exhibited one or two nuggets of pure virgin gold in proof of his assertion, but could not give the exact location of the lode. Through his privations, sufferings and ponderings over his immense wealth his mind became unbalanced, and the poor fellow, unhappily, became insane; and afterwards, as the country opened up and Sitting Bull was conquered, it was then too late to return to the lead, for the only survivor who might have pointed out the doorway to untold millions was a babbling, senseless fool; his reason had left him."

Father Jean Pierre DeSmet became thoroughly acquainted with the country now embraced in Wyoming upward of eighty years ago, in the early '40's. This intrepid disciple of Loyola emigrated from Belgium to America in 1823, and, proceeding to St. Louis, soon founded the St. Louis university. His abilities as a naturalist, botanist, metallurgist and geologist were very marked. His love for these studies, and a genuine desire to elevate our savage races, soon led him to become a missionary among the Indians. Accordingly, in 1838, he commenced the career which gave him so much prominence, and in 1839, with two companions, drifted northward, destined for the furtrading post of Fort Benton. The gentle manners and sincerity of Father DeSmet soon won for him the confidence and esteem of the Indians. For about ten years his travels and explorations among the northern tribes were practically unrestricted; he was free to go and come, and met with hearty welcomes from the savages. Durmg these years of pilgrimage, Father DeSmet became well acquainted with the geological formation of the country, as well as with its geography and topography. From the forks of the Cheyenne on the east to the Great Salt Lake on the west, and from the headwaters of the Columbia river on the north to the Platte on the south, he was quite generally "at home." On his return to St. Louis from one of his long trips, just as the discovery of gold in California was made known, he heard some acquaintances expressing doubt as to the wonderful stories from the west. Turning to them he said, "I do not doubt it. I am sure there is gold in California," and after a moment's pause he quietly added, " I know where gold exists in the Rocky mountains in such abundance that, if made known, it would astonish the world. It is even richer than California!" Among those who knew him best his statements were taken for literal truth, and when asked to corroborate the assertion, he would make no explanation, saying that he had promised the Indians never to describe the location of this wealth. The story is told that the Indians had handfuls of nuggets which they proposed manufacturing into bullets for an old pistol which the father had given to a prominent chief. DeSmet was taken to the spot from whence the nuggets were obtained, and found it to be immensely rich. He taught the savages the value of it; told them their beautiful country would soon be desecrated by white mmers if the facts became known, and in return he promised never to reveal the secret of its location. To the question once asked him by a bishop of his church at Omaha, "Are those mines on the Pacific coast the ones you have told about?" the father answered in the negative, and then sorrowfully added, "But I fear it will not be many years until they are discovered, and then what will become of my poor Indians?" To army officers and others he often admitted his knowledge of the mmes in the northwest, when closely pressed to do so, and many persons tried in various ways to extract more definite knowledge from him. It was then believed that a careful prospecting of the Big Horn and Wind River regions would certainly reveal the terra mcognito.

While in Cheyenne, in 1868, he gave a most interesting and satisfactory account of northern Wyoming and the Yellowstone region. Among other things, he said, "There are a great many lovely valleys in that section, capable of sustaining a large population. The mountain scenery is truly grand, and the vast forests of timber, wonderful and invaluable. Often have I seen evidences of mineral wealth in this wonderful country at different places. The whole range of the Rocky mountains, from New Mexico to British America, is mineral bearing."

Old Jim Bridget, the mountaineer, who spent fifty years in the Rocky mountains, said, "In the spring of 1859 I was employed as a guide and interpreter to an exploring expedition of the government whose purpose was to explore the headwaters of the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers, and various other streams in the Big Horn country. One day, after having traveled a few days in these regions known as the Big Horn, feeling thirsty, I got off my mule and stooped down at a small brook containing clear and inviting water from the snowcapped mountains to drink, my attention was attracted by the curious appearance of the bottom of the stream. It appeared to me like yellow pebbles of various sizes, from that of the head of a common pin to a bean and larger. Though well acquainted with the appearance of gold, I was somewhat in doubt of its being the precious metal, since it had never occurred to me that gold could be found in that locality; but my curiosity being excited, I scooped up a handful of the stuff, and rode up to Dr. Hayden and Captain Reynolds. Both at once pronounced it pure gold, and asked me where I had procured it. After I had told them where I had found it. Captain Rey- nolds got very much excited, and insisted that I should cast it away, and not tell anyone of the party of the matter under any circumstances, he fearing that a knowledge of gold in such abundance and of such easy access would certainly break up his expedition, since every man would desert to hunt for gold. I very reluctantly complied with the officer's request. Since my first discovery of gold, I have found the same metal in that country while trading with the Indians, though not in such abundance as the first."

Before California was known as a mining country, an old free trapper named LaPondre, who always hunted and trapped alone, making long journeys into the Big Horn mountains, had in his possession several large nuggets sufficient to fill his bullet pouch. But in those days the value of gold in its crude state was not known amongst the trappers, they having come into this country young boys. Old man LaPondre stayed around Fort Pierre and exhibited his nuggets freely to his friends. He told them he was going to St. Louis, and if what he had in his hand was what he expected it was, he was done with trapping for furs, as he could find enough of the stuff to buy up the American Fur company whenever he liked. He left St. Pierre to go to St. Louis, telling the men to be on hand and stay 'round, as he was coming back in the spring, and would take them with him to the place where the gold was. He said it was lying free in the bed of a creek, on bed rock where there was any amount of it. When old man LaPondre arrived at St. Louis he showed what he called his yellow bullets, and found they were gold nuggets of great value. The American Fur company at once offered him great inducements to show them where he had found them and wanted to buy him out, but he refused to tell them or sell at any price, as he said the company did not always act on the square with the people in their employ, and he was going to have the first show for himself and his friends. LaPondre, after finding that he had made a wonderful discovery of gold, feeling rich on the strength of it, and knowing where he could make a good haul in the Big Horn if he got broke in St. Louis, took in too much bad whiskey, forced on him by some of the fur company's men, who wanted to get hold of his secret, and he died without disclosing anything about the place where the gold was to be found in the Big Horns.

It is true that many discoveries of intense historical interest are found in the Big Horn mountains, especially since the advent of the automobile tourists into that section. Unmistakable evidence of old battle grounds, where contending tribes fought for supremacy in the early days, are not uncommon; on these grounds are yet to be found many pieces of flint arrow and lance heads; port holes have been cut through sandstones which were erected in piles and rows ; trenches were dug where the warriors were protected from the flying shafts of their enemies and the partly decayed and weather-worn bones of many horses and buffalo are found scattered about the field. Then there are numerous tepee rings, where the Indian feast grounds were located and the peace conferences were held. A "medicine wheel," 250 feet in diameter, laid out in a great circle of stones in the shape of a wagon wheel, is one of the mysterious finds on these mountains. Tribal lore records that this "medicine wheel" was there hundreds of years ago, long before the white men first came into this part of the country, and the Crow Indians, who claimed this land for many years, say that they do not know what people built this great stone circle, nor can they explain the significance of it. With these discoveries being made, it is contended by some that it is not unlikely that the Lost Cabin mine will also be found, probably by some one who least expects to find it. Many old prospectors haunt these mountains from early spring until late in the fall, when they are driven out by the heavy snows, and there is not one of these old fellows but believes that this mine of untold wealth will some day be found. In the summer of 1922 the discovery was made of an aged, weather-beaten Mexican saddle in the mam gorge of Big Canyon creek, on the eastern slope of the mountains, together with every evidence of ancient mine drifts, and this latest is the foundation for their encouragement and strength of belief that the mine was a reality and that it will some day be found. The remains of this old saddle were found cached in a group of cottonwoods alongside the stream, and although many of the old-time range men have examined the remains of this old saddle they all unite in saying that it had been made many, many years ago, and they had never before seen a saddle of the same make. It was cracked and withered, but the shelter afforded by the underbrush had preserved it in fairly good shape. The mine drifts extended along the bank of the stream; a deep fissure was found alongside this stream from which some loose gravel and rock was taken, and a sample of this debris assayed more than four thousand dollars gold to the ton. Then a thorough search was made to find where the gravel and rock came from, but like the Lost Cabin mine, its location is a deep, dark, perplexing mystery.

For a number of years dazzling fortunes seemed to smile on the prospectors who staked out mining claims on Casper mountain in 1888-9. All were wrapped in visions of clustering millions. The lust for gold permeated the land, and men left their stores and shops and offices and gave up their vocations to become miners and millionaires. Camps were established from the east to the west end and the north to the south side of the mountain. The sound of the pick and the drill and the blast of powder could be heard in all directions from early dawn until dusk. Everything was lively and everything was humming on the mountain in those days.

Reports were brought down from the hills each day by miners and related to the unfortunate business man who could not close up his doors and hie himself to the El Dorado. Excitement was rampant over the finds of silver and gold, copper and galena, and asbestos that were made by the fortunate men. The newspapers of Casper heralded the good news to the outside world with each issue. Some of these reports are herewith reproduced. After reading them, he indeed must be a pessimist who doubted the riches hidden away in the bowels of the mountain. In the summer of 1890, it was announced that "J. B. Smith and J. Allen struck a lead of ore on Casper mountain that was pronounced by one of the leading mining experts of England to be unusually rich in silver. The expert did not make an assay of it, but was of the opinion that it would be away up, and told the boys they had an immense thing if the lead was sufficiently large. They are at present engaged in opening the lead, which is a three and onehalf foot ledge, dipping tolerably steep and gradually increasing in size."

On August 21 of the same year, it was proclaimed that "Interest in the Casper mountain mineral deposits is intensifying. Several families are residing on the mountain now, some in tents and others in cabins, and numerous parties have located claims there. An assay of the Smith and Allen ore was made and it showed that it carried $666 in silver to the ton, and when the news reached here there was a great rush to the mountain to locate new claims."

The first mention of the finding of asbestos on Casper mountain was in September, 1890, when J. C. Hogadone brought samples to town and it was then said that "Asbestos will become an important factor in Wyoming's mining wealth, and it is but one of Casper's diversified interests." In the spring of 1 891 , we were told that " prospectors have met with highly satisfactory results in searching for asbestos on Casper mountain. Indeed, every stroke of the pick seems to have been prolific of excellent results, and deposits of asbestos have been exposed over a considerable area. The fiber ranges from two to nine and one-half inches in length, and the quality has been proven, by comparison, equal to the best product of other states and countries. Indeed, there is no longer any question about the quality.

The only thing now to be taken into consideration is the quantity, and as it is found extending over such a large tract of country, the quantity is probably sufficient. The prospects are so flattering that a number of our prominent business men have interested themselves in various claims this spring and will assist in the work of development. A dozen or more claims have been located thus far, comprising about three hundred acres, and good asbestos croppings have been exposed on every claim, though none of them have been penetrated more than six or eight feet. However, many of the claims are now being worked and are showing better every day. Several parties have refused good offers for their claims, all being desirous of developing and determining the value thereof, before selling."

About the middle of July, 1891, more than 100 asbestos claims had been taken up. During this time no actual money had changed hands, but transfers of mines were made and the boom continued without interruption. On August 6, 1891, it was said that the "reports from the mountain mining district are most flattering. A great amount of work is being done and surprising results are looked for this fall. Jack Currier has a force of men at work on his galena claims, while Messrs. Eads, Hogadone, Montgomery and others are working and have men at work developing their asbestos. A big boom is just about to open in this camp."

Professor Henry Zahn, a mineralogist from Chicago, arrived in Casper in August, 1891, and spent several days on the mountain. When he came down, he made the announcement that, "You have the perfect formation for asbestos, and the quality is as good as that of the Canadian mines." He spent the greater part of a day making examinations of specimens of ore he had brought down and he pronounced many of them free gold-bearing rock. He also said we had the greatest natural fuel on earth at our very door, that the coal in this vicinity was of the best, some of it being fine blacksmith coal, while one of the specimens would make good coke, and all of it would be good for the manufacture of bricklets, which are composed of coal and crude petroleum, the process being patented, and he was the owner of the patent.

On September 8, 1891, Professor Zahn took a thirty-day option on thirty-two asbestos claims on Casper mountain, the agreement being that each owner should have forty-nine per cent of the amount of stock issued on his claim. It was figured out that each claim would bring its owner $3,300 spot cash, in addition to the forty-nine per cent of the non-assessable stock.

Mining On Casper Mountain 99

1891, he took an option on three of the most promising copper claims on the mountain, one from Chris Baysel, one from Charley Jones, and one from Abe Nelson. From this date until the summer of 1892, items of encouragement appeared in the local newspapers something like the following:

"The Zahn buildings are about completed and all arrangements for the comfort and convenience of the miners are being put in. Professor Zahn feels very confident that he will strike a big lead of copper, and says there is unlimited capital back of him to open up the mines, put in a smelter, and build a railroad from Casper to the top of the mountain if necessary. The ore is there, it is good, there is plenty of it, and the future of the camp is assured. Professor Zahn is much worked up over the finds that are being made and is anxious to get shafts down on the claims on which he has options. He has made cash oflFers for several properties, but the owners refused to consider them. The Zahn Syndicate is not idle. About two thousand pounds of freight, consisting of tools, powder, drills, and a complete blacksmith outfit, has been sent to the claims on the mountain along with extra men to work on the claims, there being day and night shifts working at two different points for this syndicate."

Early in March, 1892, a report was brought in from the Zahn Syndicate to the effect that a depth of twenty-eight feet had been reached and a soft lime formation that looked as though it had slaked and melted had been encountered. All through this formation lay traces of copper and copper stains and that the "lead" was within "smelling distance." The two claims being worked by this syndicate were known as the "Cross Fox" and the "Blue Cap."

Six of the claims upon which the syndicate had taken an option were released to the owners, Charley Jones, Matt Montgomery, Charles Hogadone, Chris Baysel, William Walls, and Charles Dasch. Nature's latch string on these claims was not hanging out as it was on the other claims and the six miners were somewhat disappointed, but not discouraged when their options were released.

"Important discoveries were again made by the Zahn Syndicate the latter part of March on its 'Cross Fox' claim. Just as soon as the discovery was made the shaft was locked, work was suspended, and no information would be given out as to what had been found. The syndicate had an option on this claim from John Johnson for $10,000, but the money was not yet paid over. After work had been suspended on the 'Cross Fox,' the miners commenced to sink the shaft deeper on the Abe Nelson 'Blue Cap' lease, but the work was carried on so mysteriously on this claim that no one could ascertain the nature of the ore, none of which was brought to the surface, but was stored

About this time the professor left for Chicago where he remained two weeks, and when he returned the indications were that the bottom had dropped out of his "Cross Fox" and "Blue Cap" claims, for he made the statement that he would settle up all debts against the syndicate, but he would not say whether he would go on with the work. The sun did not shine as brightly on Casper mountain then as it had the year previous. The whole place looked desolate. The sound of. the pick and drill and the blast of powder was not as pronounced and as frequent and the glittering reports were not brought down to the Casper business men as they had been. Instead of glee there was gloom for several years.

But in 1895 and 1896 life was infused into the almost deserted mining camp and the Casper Mountain Copper Mining company was incorporated, with J. L. Garner, president; John D. Allen, vicepresident; F. H. Barrow, secretary, with a capital stock of $10,000. The shares were to be sold at a dollar each and there were takers for the entire issue.

A local newspaper said: "This company has been operating on the mountain this winter, and has taken out some very fine ore. The lead has been tapped in several places, and the extent of the ore is inexhaustible. As soon as the snow leaves the roads passable, shipments to the Deadwood smelter will be commenced. This smelter will use twenty cars of our ore a day, and arrangements are being made to take the ore out in large quantities. This mine, when the work is fairly started, will prove a big thing for our city, and our citizens are looking forward to a prosperous mining year."

If twenty carloads of ore a day were ever shipped to Deadwood, or anywhere else, from Casper mountain, no mention of it was ever made in the local newspapers and it must be presumed that the Casper Mountain Copper Mining company discovered to its sorrow, like all the rest of the companies, that while there is an abundance of ore on this mountain, it does not carry enough copper, silver, or gold to pay for the mining of it.

But with all the discouragements and failures to find ore in this mountain rich enough to pay for mining it, we find that in October, 1897, A. E. Minium "made one of the greatest discoveries of goldbearing rock yet discovered in Central Wyoming, or perhaps in the state, on the northeast slope of Casper mountain, about thirteen miles from Casper. Having brought samples of the quartz in, it was found to be free milling and a pan test showed that it run between $3 and $4. The vein which is a true fissure, has a width of sixty feet, and a depth exposed of 120 feet. It has been traced over 5,000 feet long, and Mr. Minium staked off two claims 600x1,500 which he named 'Tillie Miller,' and 'Klondyke,' respectively. Robert Ottershagen, of South Dakota, accompanied Mr. Minium to the scene of his new discovery with a view of examining and passing judgment on the value of the property. He was so well satisfied with the ore that he traced it out and staked off a claim for himself the same size as Mr. Minium's, which he named 'Yukon.' When asked regarding the vein and kind and quality of the ore Mr. Ottershagen said the ore is a well defined fissure vein of white and blue gold bearing, or, at places, an iron stain auriferous quartz, on the north slope of Casper mountain between the heads of Hat Six and Goose creeks, and a million tons of the ore are actually in sight. No assays are received as yet, but it is believed the quartz is much richer than the surface pan tests. Mr. Minium will begin work at once, as will also Mr. Ottershagen and developments will be pushed as fast as work and weather will permit. The vein has granite walls."

Just about a month after this great discovery, it is recorded that "A. E. Minium sold to Theodore Becker and Tony Walters a onethird interest in the 'Tillie Miller' gold claim and the work of building a shanty is now in progress, after which the gentlemen propose to run a 150-foot tunnel, commencing at the base of the exposed lead, nearly 500 feet from the top of the lead, in Goose creek canyon. At an entrance of 150 feet, the gentlemen will be in nearly 200 feet perpendicular. Minium is not an experienced miner, and has associated Messrs. Becker and Walters with him and proposes to forge forward and learn the value of the ore. No doubt has been expressed as to the ore paying at the end of the 150-foot tunnel. Tools for driving the tunnel have been ordered and are expected to arive at any time. The work of sinking a shaft on the Billy Mosteller claim, adjoining the 'Klondyke' claim, on the same lead, will be begun this winter, that is, it will be started and the work carried on next spring. F. W. Okie is connected with the Mosteller enterprise. Robert Ottershagen has an open cut made and it will be continued as a cross cut, until he will sink a shaft on his 'Yukon,' adjoining the 'Tillie Miller' on the east. The above is the work proposed on the recent gold leads, though without preparations they may do but little this year."

But, alas! "Tillie Miller," "Klondyke," and "Yukon" soon joined "Cross Fox," "Blue Cap," "Galena Queen," and the many others that had gone before and again the sound of the pick and the drill and blast of powder failed to disturb the quietude of the mountain.

In December, 1897, the greatest excitement prevailed in Casper over a strike that was made by Dr. J. F. Leeper, on the head of Elkhorn creek, and men on horseback and in buckboards flocked to the mountain in great numbers. Ore had been taken out of the old "Galena Queen" shaft at a depth of eighty-five feet and sent to Denver for an assay. The assayer's certificate showed that the ore indicated a run of ^1,012.83 to the ton. Within an hour after the report was received, every available means of transportation in town was procured and men were rushing to the mountain to stake out claims. Some of the men stayed on the mountain all night locating claims for themselves, as well as for their relatives and their friends. A few days after this report had been received and after the many claims had been properly staked and legally recorded, the mails brought a statement that a mistake had been made - that the assay should have been ^3.10, and once more all was gloom. Dr. Leeper said he was perfectly satisfied for he had known for at least twentyfour hours how it felt to be a millionaire.

In 1905, the "Blue Cap" was being worked again and it was reported that a " carload of copper ore would be shipped to the smelter at Denver, which, after paying all expenses, would net the company from $700 to $1,000. In about thirty days thereafter the company expected to ship a carload of copper concentrates which would net between $3,000 and $4,000." This beautiful dream also turned out to be a nightmare and it was not long until the "Blue Cap" was as innocuous as the other "great strikes."

Asbestos then again came into the limelight, with A. E. Minium as the chief promoter. Companies were organized and stocks were sold which netted the promoter many thousands of dollars. If the money had been expended for machinery and the improvement of the mines as it should have been, there is no doubt Casper would today have the largest asbestos plants in the world. Minium, on account of his fraudulent methods, narrowly escaped being sent to the penitentiary and at the same time gave the asbestos properties on Casper mountain a black eye. Ore is being taken out, however, and asbestos shingles, chimney blocks and tiling are manufactured.

A scenic road is cut through the mountainside to these mines and during the summer a great many automobile parties go to the mountain top on picnic and pleasure trips. Many homesteads have been taken up on the mountain and there are numerous comfortable cabins there where people spend the summer months. But even now, with all the past failures, every year new mines are located, new companies are organized, and new hopes are entertained of striking a "lead" that will produce millions.

The Soda Lakes Io3

Soda deposits in Central Wyoming attracted wide interest among scientific men and capitalists of the eastern states as early as 1880. A few years afterwards men of money came from Europe to make an investigation of the wonderful deposits in the Sweetwater country, where there are half a dozen large soda lakes, covering a vast acreage. Concerning the deposits the United States Geological Survey report of 1886 says: "There are four claims under United States patents in the name of L. Du Pont by five eastern companies. The first claim covers 20,000 acres, of which five acres contain carbonate and sulphate of soda, averaging six feet deep. The second claim is about one mile west of the first; the soda is in solution. The third claim is one-fourth mile farther west and includes sixteen acres of soda solution, the depth of which has not been reached. It has been sounded forty feet without touching bottom. The solution contains 2,343 grains per gallon. The fourth and fifth claims are four miles west and are on the same lake of solid soda. The depth fifty feet from shore is four feet of solid soda. Two hundred and fifty feet from shore showed fourteen feet of solid soda without touching bottom."

Tom Sun, Boney Earnest and Frank Harrington were the first to make a filing on the land containing these soda deposits. These men built cabins in the vicinity of the lakes in the early '70's? but the Indians burned the cabins after they had stood for several years. Very little development work was done on the deposits and after the cabins had been burned by the Indians but little attention was paid to the claims by the owners. Some eastern men who passed through the country on a hunting trip told of the lakes when they returned home and in a short time L. Du Pont of Pennsylvania came to make an investigation for his associate capitalists. He first came to Rawlins and made the trip to the Sweetwater country with the intention of filing on the land, but when he arrived he found Tom Sun holding down the land and ready to back up his claim with a Winchester rifle. It did not take Du Pont and Tom long to reach an agreement and when Du Pont returned home he was in possession of the land, having purchased a relinquishment from the three men above mentioned and in due time he was given a patent by the government, which was the first patent given to soda land in Wyoming. Development work was at once commenced and continued on the deposits year after year by E. C. Merrill, who was field manager for the Du Pont companies.

arrived in Rawlins in February, 1891, and after traveling from Rawlins to the lakes in a buckboard, a distance of sixty miles or more, over rough roads and through the severe cold weather, he became disgusted and would not consider the purchase of the land. He said he would rather make the trip from Liverpool to Rawlins than from Rawlins to the Sweetwater soda lakes, and he returned home fully convinced that the country was too rough and the weather too severe to spend any of his time or money here.

On January 14, 1892, there were filed in the office of the secretary of state at Cheyenne articles of incorporation for the Syndicate Improvement company, composed principally of Chicago capitalists. The object of the syndicate as stated in its articles of incorporation, was to buy and sell lands, build smelters, develop mines and oil property and build pipe lines in Natrona county, with offices at Chicago and Casper. The capital stock was placed at ^3,000,000, divided into 30,000 shares of $100 each. The incorporators were John Weir, Arthur Townsend and James D. Negus. Negus was the man who conceived and carried through the survey of the Pacific Short Line railroad and built the road from Sioux City, Iowa, to O'Neill, Nebraska. This syndicate had purchased an interest in the land from the Du Pont company and it was announced that they would build a railroad from Casper to the soda lakes. The people of Casper and those living along the proposed new railroad were highly elated over the encouraging prospects for a bright and prosperous future. During the first part of February, the syndicate received in Casper a carload of freight, consisting of tools, implements and supplies of every kind, including six large tents, 18x30 feet, which were to be used for storage rooms and cooking and sleeping apartments for the force of men employed at the lakes putting up vats. It was announced that the company intended starting a new town at the lakes and would run a regular train of freight wagons between the new town and Casper, hauling soda for shipment to Chicago. Two more carloads of machinery arrived on February 24 and was immediately taken to the syndicate's properties.

J. D. Negus, head of the syndicate, arrived from Chicago on the first of March, 1892, and he said that the syndicate had more than one hundred thousand pounds of machinery which would be sent to the lakes at once. He said the plant that was being erected at the lakes was an experimental one and if it proved a success, a business of great magnitude would be started at Independence Rock.