OCR Text |
Show "Among tbe articles found near the dead man was a book containing a c!iarj a perusal of which soon showed that the skeleton was that of George Skinner, the missing man, the last entry in the diary referring to the w riting of the latter, telling the secret cf the mine, and indicating that it had been written on the day prior to hi death. An examination of the skeleton skele-ton showed that the skull had been split in two, and Skinner thought it had been the work of Indians. Robbery Rob-bery could not have been the motive, however, as considerable gold and all the paraphernalia of a camping outfit were found near by. "The remains were burled under a large pine tree on the mountain side near where they had lain so long, and Mr. Skinner resumed his homeward trip, which saddened the fate of his brother, yet satisfied to know that he had unraveled the mystery surrounding surround-ing his disappearance. lie headed a party the following summer which endeavored en-deavored to locate the lost mine; in fact, they continued their researches for several years, but the snows and the accompanying slides, together with the forest fires and heavy rainstorms i of summer, had completely obliterated all traces of the mine, and buried deeper deep-er than ever the rich lead of Old Horn's peak. "I accompanied Mr. Skinner one year on his search, and from him I learned the story. lie showed me the letter written by his brother telling of the lost mine, and allowed me to take a copy of IV which I still have among my relics. This nugget of gold I have shown you is on!- one of a number taken from the pack cf the dead burro by his brother, and convinces me tha . the dead man was not far wrong when he said that he had found one of tbe richest mines in Colorado. Mr. Skinner and his party abandoned tbe search long ago, but some day in the future Old Horn's peak will yield the secret of his burir.d treasure." . . J OLD HORN'S PEAR'S LEAD. ; 4 The Lost Mine That Cost George 4 Skinner His Life. - A " NOT long ago a party of mining men gathered at one of the principal princi-pal hotels in Denver to discuss matters mat-ters and things of interest to tbe mining min-ing business. Some of them bad made large fortunes in mining, and net a few bad bad actual exp-erience in prospecting prospect-ing and its many hardships. The conversation con-versation naturally turned to the early days of mining in tbe state, and, after several incidents of interest had been recounted, one of the party drew from his pocket a buckskin bag. from which be produced a large gold nugget of considerable value, and in appearance unlike anything usually seen in that part of tbe state. "This nugget," said he, "has a history his-tory which to me is extremely interesting. inter-esting. Its possession cost one human life, besides years of hardship and anguish. Tbe exact spot where it came from is unknown to man, and I confidently con-fidently believe many years will elapse . before it is known. " "In the early part of the year 13G0, when the country generally in Colorado Colora-do was in its primitive form, inhabited for the most part by coyotes and redskins, red-skins, and before its natural attractiveness attractive-ness had been marred by money-making contrivances, a lone prospector set out from Denver to explore the then uninhabited region in the vicinity of the Greenhorn and Sangre de Christo ranges, in the south-central part of the state, some 200 miles from Denver. Den-ver. No one knew who be was or where he came from few questions wtre asked in those days regarding a man's antecedents. It was sufficient to know he was there and one of them. At tbe place where he bought his outfit, out-fit, however, be gave the name of George W. Skinner, and said he was outfitting for a trip to the Sangre de Christo country. coun-try. Besides paying for what he purchased pur-chased be deposited with the proprietor of the store a sum of money which he did not care to take with him to tbe mountains, saying he would call for it when he returned in the fall. "Several years passed by, and nothing noth-ing was heard of the lone prospector. Tbe beautiful West Mountain volley, which lies at the foot of the Sangre de Christo, was the home of a German colony which had come from the east and settled there. Very little prospecting prospect-ing was done by these pioneers, as they found their time too much taken up with caring for themselves and families. fam-ilies. One day early in the spring of '68 a middle-aged man drove up to one of the more pretentiout-looking renche houses in the valley and asked to be housed for the night. His request re-quest was promptly granted, and, after the evening meal, when the family were ranged about tbe fireplace anxious anx-ious for news from the outside world, the stranger told them the nature of the busine63 which had brought him to that part of the country. "lie came from Illinois, he 6aid, and was in search of a missing brother, whom be bad traced that for and was very anxious to find. Tbe brother bad left home to come to Colorado in the early days of the western fever, since which time nothing had been heard of him. Becoming alarmed at his continued contin-ued absence, he had come to Colorado in search of him, and upon arriving at Denver had learned from a friend of his who was in the grocery business there that a man by tbe name of Skinner Skin-ner had bought ,a bill of good from him early in 18G0, giving the Sangre de Christo country as his objective point, and had left a sum of money on deposit which had never been called for. He had therefore made his way to the valley in hopes of finding some trace of him. The following morning the German accompanied Mr. Skinner through tflie valley, but not one of the residents had ever heard tell of such a man as he was in search of. "Mr. Skinner, somewhat discouraged by the failure of his mission, procured the services of an old hunter and guide and started into tbe mountains in tbe hope of obtaining some information, j Some months were thus spent without I finding even a trace of the man for ! whom they were searching, and as the ; summer season was rapidly drawing to I a close, Mr. Skinner and bis guide started start-ed for the valley, where they proposed to winter, intending to take up the search again in the early spring. They camped one night just at the timber line on ..the eastern slope cf Horn's peak, near what had apparently been at one time the camp of a prospector. Mr. Skinner's curiosity prompted bim l to make some explorations in tbe gath-pring gath-pring twilight, "and while removing some of the brush and debris that had evidently formed the floor and roof of the cabin, he found an old leather pocketbook, partly rotted away and 1 carefully tied up with wire. Worn out : with the travel of tbe day, he put his find in his pocket, intending to examine ! it in the morning. J "In the night one of the snowstorms i so common in the mountains at that time of the year came up, and when the j travelers awoke in the morning they found several inches of snow awaiting them, with no signs of the storm abat- i ing. Hastily getting their camp fixtures fix-tures together, they packed their bur- j r os and made their ways as rapidly as ! possible to the home of the German in the valley below, where they arrived safely in the course of a few days. Not j until the animals bad been safely housed and everything made snug for , the winter did Mr. Skinner think of ! his find, and when he finally unfolded his pocketbook tbe secret of his long ' search was revealed to him. Carefully j rolled up on the inside of the pocket- book was a let ter, written by his brother more than eight years before, which, said: " 'My weary search !s ended, and my efforts ef-forts crowned with success. To-morrow I start for the settlements, to return In the t spring to uncover nrd work tho valuable mine which I have discovered. Realizing the fact that I am a long way from civilization civiliza-tion and liable to meet with serious mishap if not death lac fore I reach t he outer world, I am prompted tomaLe tho fcilcwinp statements, state-ments, which may reach the hand of some friend should misfortune overtake me, This letter I will leave i.i my cabin, hcplrs that I will be cn the ground again In the spring', as soon as anyone. My name 1? 1 George W. Skinner, and my home Is In the j city of . 111. Early this eprlng I started for the Sangre do Christo mountains from Denver to prospect, being Impelled to come t here by the reports cf cold ilr.da dlscloscc: j I to me by some friendly Ir.dlara. God knowr ; the hardehlD I endured In reaching this1 country, and after ecruing tne greater part of the sea?on In fruitless search I finally discovered what I believe to be one of the richest mines In Colorado, ar d will carry out with me all the gold I cm manage with my limited facilities. To tind the discovery dis-covery shaft of the property. Which I have purposely filled up, you will stand with your back to the west side of th cabin, alongside the door, walk In a westerly direction direc-tion about 22 paces to a ravine or gulch; then turn to the left and walk up the gulch 105 paces; then turn to the right and walk 20 paces, when you will arrive at the place. The lead is a blind one, and I accidentally found It while digging rear the roots of a tree that had been blown over. Should any person find this letter Inside cf one year it will avail him nothing, as I have i complied with the law sufficiently to hold ! the property for that length of time. If I I do not return within that time the property can be located by anyone. The only request I have to mako la that the finder of this note notify my brother at the above rd-dress. rd-dress. " 'GEORGE W. SKINNER.' "The brother was tow thoroughly convinced that some harm had befallen be-fallen his brother, and without telling anyone of bin discovery, determined to set out in the spring and endeavor to solve the mystery of his disappearance. The snows of that winter were unusually un-usually severe, and heavy slides were often heard tearing down the mountain sides, sweeping everything before them. With the opening of spriDg the snow on the south and east sides of the mountains moun-tains rapidly disappeared, and early in March Mr. Skinner and his guide efruck into the mountains, tbe guide being .informedthat . -they, would take up the search where they left off the' year before. When they arrived at what they supposed was tbe place where the old cabin had been found, everything every-thing was changed. Tbe heavy snows and the terrific snowslidcs had completely com-pletely changed the face of nature, and they were unable to find even a vestige of the cabin. Trees had been swept away, heavy bowlders removed, and the general appearance cf the country completely altered. "Nothing daunted, Mr. Skinner determined de-termined to spend the summer in that locality in the hope of obtaining some . clew of his missing brother, and, if '. possible, of locating the lest mine. All ! their efforts were without avail, and when fall set in they reluctantly aban-I aban-I doned the search and again staited for the foothills. Mr. Skinner had de-i de-i c'ided to organize a party and make a systematic search the following year, after returning home and arranging necessary business affairs. One day's travel from where they started on the return trip the mountain broke oft very abruptly, the dim trail which the party was following leading them along the rocky side of the precipitous j mountain, overhanging n chasm hun-' hun-' drcds of feet deep. While carcfullv i picking their way along this dangerous trail, one cf the burros became frightened fright-ened at seme imaginary object, and in his p'.unglng and bucking jumped off the cliff and rolled down Into the gulch below. As several articles of value were in tbe pack, the two men secured tbe remaining burro and carefully picked their way to the bottom of the gulch to tave what they could of tbe wreck. At the place where the burro had lodged, some 200 feet below the trail, they were horrlfitd to find the skeletons of a man and some animal an-imal lodged on a small shelf of rock near where their burro had struck. Portions of the pack were still on the animal, r.nd some of the clothing stiil bung to the skeleton. |