OCR Text |
Show THE ORIGINAL D!SCOVREr! of dead wood. A full-whiskered, clear eyed little man with brusque, western manners, on the eastern-bound train last night ' was pointed out to the Herald man as Mr. JoUn B ho cftj the honor of being the original discoverer dis-coverer of Deadwoud gulch The - train moved out a moment after tha introduction, and an intended inquiry in-quiry mto tho history of this representative repre-sentative miDM and the particulars ol his hrtit entrance into the Black Hills was necessarily precipitately shortened, and Mr. Pearson pa-aed safely on his way eastward. However, How-ever, from an extended interview , just published iu tne Denver Tribune' we are enabled to glean the information informa-tion desired. The Tribune says that ielt' vT?' Witb 6eveu Pa Worses, le t ion - Pierre on the 5th day ol was but a 140 miles, b it of course they moved slowly, being unac qn!U f witU the ways aa by-wa?-oMn. land through wtjicll LJy After reaching the Hills they immediately im-mediately be,.n to prospect ; " y i'ttlc stream that was found was ex-moea ex-moea carefully They prosecu ed their labor for three davs, go.n, direct westward ail the iim3. o the evening of tbe third day afVe" 1 inkmsLho Hill country, they cended a rather high mountain aZ I, descended the weott-iu slope wiih the 'sinking Auut sun pouring its rays j into their faces with its full force. When thev readied the ravine they siupptd to reel on the banks of a jam-jJl stream that ripple! along at their fert. B-ing thirsty Mr. Pearson threw himself ou his hands and knees and bent over thc bank of the creek to take a drink. While pushing his mouth towards tho water his eye met a clear WHITE FLINTY yu'ABTZ, which could easily be seen through tbo crystal waters. This was the discovery. dis-covery. The lucky man drt'W the quartz from the water and triumphantly triumph-antly held it up to the gaze of his companion. There was no extraordinary extraor-dinary excitement. Tho men were all experienced miners and thedis- covery was not unexpected. Without taking time to do much "hurrahing,", they quietly went to work to confirm the inference of the presence of gold occasioned by tho finding ot the quartz. Mr. Pearson simply said, "Boys, you can stick your pegs here. ' There is gold, and we will have it," Vaiuly did they look for more quartz. It was not lo bo found, nnd never to this day lias a piece similar to tho first discovery been seen in the neighborhood. They hud brought some shovels along with thorn, aud right at the point where tho quartz was taken out they ISEGAN TO WJHK. Eureka ! The first shovel panned out twenty cents. Mr. Pearson had been right; they had struck it and there tihey determined to "stick Ihcir i pegs." As the original discover, Mr. Pearson, was, by the miners' laws, permitted to make his choice of claims. He selected the one indicated by his discovery, and this to-day is known us "Discovery." This fortunate accident for such it was iu oue sense occurred on tho loth day of August, 1875, Mr. Pearson is greatly pleased with the Black Hills country, and has concluded to begin operations in the quartz mines, tie is uow uaviug u teu b tamp mill and engine of twenty stamps capacity constructed here, which he contemplates taking with him on his return, and which be proposes to make the most complete outfit of the kind in the Hills. He aud his partners brought' iu 8213 ounces of gold, representing about $40,000 which baa been taken out of one mine, Discovery No. 3, on Dead-wood. Dead-wood. Mr. Pearson disposed of the original discovery, but is now the owner of three or four valuable claims. He was also the discoverer of gold on Whitewood. Omaha Herald. |