Show the prospector and his burro 1 I have seen gold in such large nuggets and so pure in quality said gaid the prospector to his burro that all that was needed was the stamp of the government upon it to make it the coin of the realm As a matter of fact in the early history of mining in this western country I 1 have been present at many a faro game where gold nuggets were considered as good as currency and where gold dust was weighed out at so much an ounce there was not much fear of bad money in those days for gold was gold whether stamped as fives tens and twenties or in the pure virgin state and gold was the currency of this intermountain inter mountain region A greenback was a curiosity and silver in dollars halves and quarters was not as plentiful as at af the present time in the mining camps the men were paid off in gold in the consummation of a mining deal gold was the form of payment and in and around a government fort or post go d flowed like water and this reminds me of an experience I 1 had while prospecting in old camp floyd district in utah a number of years ago when I 1 found actual coin and plenty of it you want to know if I 1 was looking for coin no none whatever and yet I 1 discovered something that was even better than a gold mine for my find was ready cash such as men sometimes rake off at the roulette wheel or on the green cloth in places which look so palatial and cheerful to you but my little fortune came even easier th than an this for I 1 was not even looking for it at the time of which I 1 am speaking I 1 was prospecting a region south of the present site of the mercur mine I 1 had been working hard all day and had pitched my camp at a little stream just below a plateau or table land on which johnstons army had once been camped I 1 had finished my supper and your mother was loading up with the fine grass growing in the vicinity another prospector had visited my camp for a chat and while we were smoking I 1 pointed to a mountain on the other side 0 of f the plateau and asked my visitor if any mineral existed in the vein which was so plainly cutting the formation he said he thought not but as I 1 was from missouri I 1 wanted to know I 1 asked him to go with me but he declined saying he had lost nothing and would therefore not try to find it however he said when going over the old camping ground you might keep your eyes open as a 10 gold piece is often found there after a rain well I 1 set out and went over the little plot of table land examined the old 0 d stone ruins and then over to the mountain side I 1 failed to find even a five spot and soon forgot all about johnston and his army and the gold coins the boys had flung around so lavishly in days gone by reaching the ledge which I 1 found was as barren of mineral as your old head is of consecutive thought I 1 started back to camp taking a roundabout round about course circling the plateau the sun was at my back and nearly on the horizon and my shadow was projected a long ways in advance following a rabbit trail in order to avoid the tall and dense sagebrush sage brush of the upland I 1 caught a glint and g immer of something metallic some ten or fifteen yards ahead of me and thought at first that it was the reflection from an old tomato can on approaching pro aching nearer I 1 saw what looked like the remains of an old spur close to a badger hole here I 1 thought is something to add to my collection of antiques and relies relics of bygone by gone days stooping to pick it up I 1 saw a 10 gold piece in the dirt getting down on my knees I 1 began pawing around in the debris thrown out by the badger and to my scraped together fifty one of these thee yellow boys a total of what I 1 thought to be a spur I 1 found to be but the clasp of a purse in which undoubtedly the gold had original y been placed you want to know how the gold came to be there of course I 1 cannot tell nor do I 1 care much it might have been dropped by one of the soldiers or it might have been hidden there by one of the boys who could not find the hiding place afterwards I 1 know however that I 1 returned to my camp a richer it if nota not a wiser man my visitor had gone and I 1 remained in undisputed possession of my find which helped me out in great shape when I 1 laid in my grubstake grub stake for the next long hike I 1 made into the hills 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector one can never tell when things will come his way A man may prospect the hills for months and then find that the ledge he has been hunting for is not fifty yards from his camp he may be nosing around not expecting to find anything when he will stumble upon a bonanza he may nearly kill himself in trying to get to a new strike in a new district only to find the whole thing a fake he may strike out to examine a barren ledge and on his way back to camp find a treasure trove you are inclined to call it luck but I 1 dont it depends on the man if he 1 is always ready always trying always persevering looking at one ledge testing one cropping or following up the float on the mountain side he will eventually strike it rich but if the eff effort ort is not made if the prospector lingers all day in the saloon if he prefers the dance hall to the deep canyons to the steep hillsides hill sides if he prefers to loiter around his camp instead of toiling around the ledges and blowouts blow outs he came to prospect he will find nothing not even a solitary gold piece and there you are and then some I 1 0 |