Show old prospector now penniless penni 0 ess romantic history of great I 1 buffalo hump gold mines in idaho closes moscow idaho any history which might be written around the early mining days of 11 tha lift west probably would not contain a more tragic chapter than the one which time has just finished over the fate of the three intrepid prospectors and their associates who discovered the mines which gave impetus to tile the great buffalo hump excitement which made the pulse of idaho throb in the late if the whole story of buffalo hump were known there Is little doubt but that its hardships disappointments and tragedies would equal those which owe their origin to the long continued search for tile the mythical blue bucket diggings a fabulously rich lost mine believed to exist someI somewhere lere in south southwestern vestern idaho or eastern oregon it has always been said that a miner of the old school could not stand sudden wealth and the careers of this group bear added proof to that assumption there are many who be bleie that the entire camp was controlled by fate that a nemesis was ever present it if such was the case he gave the prospectors ti the ie rich ore bodies but was mas very exacting tragic fates awaited not only the discoverers but even those who negotiated for the transfer of these properties to the larger companies which started operating locator locater of mint penniless when george overfield locator locater of the jumbo mine the second largest property of the district boarded an eastbound east bound train recently to spend the remainder of his life with a sister the last figure in this tragic chapter disappeared und and tile the end was written Over fields ticket was paid tor for by idaho county lie ile had been virtually penniless for years but infirmity and blindness had almost overtaken him he was no longer able to follow the trail of the sourdough and the county board thought it would be best to allow him to go to ills relatives in the east whom hom lie he had befriended during the years when aben lie he had bad plenty overfield like the mining region which p produced him had a heyday ile he was a true son of the old west kind hearted and so generous that he would have taken ills his shirt from his back to cover a friend ile he got his money without It hout much effort and it left him the same saine way when lie he climbed aboard the train that was to take liliu blin away forever from the field in which his fortune had been made and lost he was heard to remark in a cynical i way that the last time lie he took a train for the eabe lie he had in his pocket paid 1200 for ride to town one time hine lie he got off the train at lein lealton Le iston and not finding failing a cab to take him downtown downton walled walked up to a man who ibo had its ills horse and buggy by the platform find and asked blin how bow much lie ho would charge to take idin downtown the 1 must have felt an injury to his dignity for he curtly informed that lie he was vas not running a cab service whereupon overfield demanded ills price for the outfit after some dickering oer held field paid him 1200 cash clIni climbed bed up in the seat beat and drove hini himself self aou downtown these two incidents and many others mark him blin as one of tile most romantic figures that ever flashed across the pioneer stage a stage which holcli saw some fal famous lious and notorious figures flash into great prominence und and start on a hectic career which abich boon headed them tile the way aay of all flesh overfield eld Is sald said to babe ghen outright to a brother tills this gift and many others othera of lesser ani amounts in addition to ills his reckless spending marked the beginning of hla his decline which ended on the brink of poverty other mining excitements excite ments followed the discovery of the buffalo hump camp and overfield and his bis reckless spending pending were forgotten he bad been a warm went weather bee friend lie ile was however spending all of his time searching tor for another bonanza and he had only visions and memories to urge him along for epars he be searched the hills but found nothing unlike the other discoverers overfield did not meet his financial downfall through dissipation overfield was wa a merely a living example of aas easy y come easy go the sordid fate of the other lo locators caters which has long been history Is vividly recalled by Over Overfield fields 3 departure they were all alike in that eliat they wanted to cash in on their discoveries gold found near old trail charles robbins after whom the mining district was offic officially lally named was a western prospector of considerable fame ile he had worked on the mother lode diggings in amador county california and after much wandering drifted into the idaho fields robbins moved around among the camps but not until he be reached the camp of florence did he find congenial spirits whom he was willing to choose ns as companions they were ferry mallory arthur mckenna Ic Kenna and bert R young a utah man who was sometimes known knon under the alias of bert rigley this quickly cemented friendship could be expressed but one way in those days w alth a party after recuperating from a party which was long remembered oven even in such a camp as florence they outfitted and started out the result was the discovery of the big buffalo outcrop within yards of the old florence elk city trail over which miners had bad traveled for tears ears mckenna and mallory had branched off from robbins and young before the latter two made their discovery the outcrop was within the shadow of the majestic buffalo hump a massive hogs back of granite which dominates the topography of the entire country with impressive grandeur robbins and young camped on the flat where tile the mining camp was later built they noticed the outcrop but did not examine it thinking that its close proximity to the trail precluded any possibility lity of value but in this assumption they erred tor for the miners using the trail had been searching for placer gold and had paid little attention to the quartz of the country therefore the tio men were astounded to find enormous quantities of free gold in the chips of quartz which they broke off 0 ff snow locations sold instead of trying to keep this find a secret they told ee everyone it was then alin almost cist winter but the miners left ti beir work at placers and rushed to the new el dorado claims were staked at random and pren when th the e snow gained its maximum depth snow locations were made and were sold and traded with perfect ease the excitement increased when it became known that ore from tile the discovery site assayed as high its 2300 a ton none going less than to this very day can be atta high in the trees es 20 feet neove the ground the glazes of the now locations wildcatters Wildcat are sam to have made small fortunes dealing in snow locations alone later aweis obliterated most of them in frany respects this camp was the most ceolor ful of any featuring the idaho gold rusti rushes cs at the center of this maelstrom w ere robbins bobbins young and their aix companions w pan ions they had realized handsomely on their find and they realized that they had a fortune within their grasp cresp all were addicted to the use of in toxicants toxic ants and they did not delay pg ing headlong into a career of dis dissipation ipa they had bad true friends in tho the camp who ito sought to control their pas tendencies but they were from the core hall fellows well met and were easy marks for human leeches robbins robbing dies of dissipation robbins bobbins died as the direct result of dissipation young took his own life during a spasm of remorse both had fortunes at their fingertips finger tips alps dell butterworth one of the miners who had attempted to control the pair fell himself and was pursued by the same nemesis that claimed robbins robbing and young butterworth Butterwort li died of consumption mckenna was remembered by later miners as the best educated of them all lie ile was a rollicking son of ireland ian d but like the rest became dizzy at ills his sudden affluence shot ills his wad find and left the country perry mallory and sani sam 1 I silverman iuan en engineers of promotion schemes who handled the transaction which resulted in th the biggest mines of tile the district being bought by a washington corporation also suffered tragic fates about all that and young I 1 did toward the development of their mine was the digging of ft regulation ten foot prospect hole tills this liole hole sold for the highest price of tiny any prospect hole in the of the N world after much anich dilleh dickering and bartering in which one man was vas almost killed the prospect hole and the titles went for KlO fate UPP apparently ardently did not relinquish its hold on oil tile the district after aate r the departure of the locaters locators lo caters the new owners worked it the be ore deposit it a short distance bel below ow what the miners call grass roots and suspended operations no statement was ever made as to the reason for suspension but it Is generally held that they were not satisfied with ill the showing at lower levels it if the rich ore petered out knotter stroke of it may have been fate |