Golden—Pack-horse Difficulties—Camping out—Prospecting in British Columbia—On an Asphaltum Mine in Texas.

At that time (1894) Golden consisted of three frame hotels, a smelter, post-office, a sawmill, the usual quota of saloons and dance-halls, and probably fifteen houses. Still, all the land was staked out into town lots and streets, and lots were valued at $250 up. I met a friend a short time ago who had just come from there, and he told me it was now a city of about 3000 people. It had three churches, a baseball club, chamber of commerce, mayor, aldermen, and all the appurtenances of civilisation.

We were met in Golden by Mr. Townsley’s younger brother, who had been out at the mines overseeing the work. We hired seven horses—four to ride, and three to pack—and started off. I wanted to take along a rifle I had borrowed, but was voted down on the ground that if I took the rifle I should want to hunt, and this was solely a business expedition. I also wanted to take along a skilled packer to look after the horses, but I was again voted down, on 81the score that it was a needless expense, and that there were enough able-bodied men in the crowd to do all that was needed. I was completely ignorant about packing, and knew it, but the rest of the party were blissfully ignorant of even their ignorance. After this second defeat I swore I would only go along as passenger, and would not be in any way held responsible for the lack of the necessaries I had wished to take along, nor would I assist in the packing, all of which was agreed to; and so the rest of the trip was pure enjoyment to me, whatever it was to the others.

We arrived at Carbonate landing the first night, over level roads, without any mishaps, about twenty miles by land, and thirty-two by water, from Golden. But here we struck off into prospectors’ trails up the mountains. They adjusted the packs for us at the hotel before we started, and we all stood around to see how it was done, and thought we knew all about it and could tie a diamond hitch with any one. The first afternoon after leaving the landing we saw a bear down in the valley below us, and there was much regret that we had not brought the rifle. That night we camped at a deserted hut, and everybody was tired; for twenty-five miles’ riding behind pack-animals at a walk in the hills is tiring work. The 82next morning we repacked and started off, but had not gone a mile when we saw another bear—and more regrets.

There seemed to be something lacking in our knowledge about packing, for every few miles the packs would slide round underneath the horses’ bellies. Luckily the horses were quiet, and really seemed quite accustomed to having packs do this, for they would stop at once and commence eating till some one came and readjusted the load. The work fell on the two Townsleys, who were riding one in front and one behind the pack-animals; and amidst much cussing and reviling of one another, the horses, the packs, and everything connected with the expedition, they would get the packs back, and we would travel a few more miles, when the same scene would be repeated. On one occasion I offered the suggestion that they should put the pack-saddle on top and hang the goods underneath, but they seemed to take it too seriously. The job was not so easy as it looks on paper, as the trail was narrow, and the cliffs very steep in case a man slipped; so each new halt called forth choicer language than had been used at the last, and what one could not think of the other said.

We camped out the second night on a large plateau, but as poor Sayers could not sleep himself, he annoyed the rest of us by gathering wood all night and keeping 83up an enormous fire. The bears and coyotes seemed to have got on his nerves, also portions of his anatomy had acquired saddle-galls. The next day we intended making the mine, but it took hard and late riding to do it, owing to the constant stops to fix packs, which seemed to be harder to handle each time they were unloaded. The only thing that disturbed my complete enjoyment was that I could not enjoy a hearty laugh in peace, as relations were beginning to get strained. Whenever they had breath left over from cussing the pack and the horse, they cussed me, simply because I suggested that they should not undress the pack-animals at night. However, by riding late, we made the mine-camp that night, and none of us were sorry to reach it.

Next morning, bright and early, we started over to see the mine, which was about half a mile from the camp. Considerable work had been done. Two tunnels had been driven at right angles to one another—one about 130 feet long and the other about 50 feet—besides three vertical shafts, or prospect holes, on different parts of the ledge. About a mile above the mine site there was a good-sized glacier, from the ............