History of the big bonanza

by Dan De Quille

On one occasion a Virginian was coming up over the Divide from Gold Hill late at night. He had three twenty-dollar gold pieces in his breeches’ pocket, and, happening to be sauntering along with his hands in his pockets, had the coin in his hand. Suddenly a masked man stepped before him and thrusting a pistol into his face, cried: “Hold up your hands, sir!” The gentleman held both hands high above his head, when the footpad searched his pockets and found nothing. The gentleman had closed his hand upon the three “twenties” and held them above his head while submitting to the search. The footpad was evidently much disappointed, as he said: “If you ever come along here again without any money, I’ll take you a lick under the butt of the ear. That’s what I’ll do with you!”

One night a stout young German was passing over the Divide, when he was suddenly confronted by two masked robbers, one of whom placed a six-shooter at his head. The level-headed German just reached out and twisted the pistol out of the robber’s hand; whereupon he and his partner in the business of collecting tolls from belated travelers took to their heels, zigzagging and dodging industriously in the expectation that a bullet would be sent after them. Some one asked the young German what put it into his head to go for the pistol. “Py dunder,” said he, “I did vant him; because in der spring, you see, I goes to der Bannock country!”

Although few dead bodies were found on the roads, it is supposed that many murders were committed about this time, the majority of the victims being strangers in the country; yet not a few well-known residents of the State have from time to time mysteriously disappeared. Almost every year the remains of human beings are found in old shafts. Inquests are held by the coroner of the county, but the remains are generally so much decomposed that they cannot be identified, and the witnesses summoned can only make mention of the several men known to them who have at various times suddenly and unaccountably disappeared. In one old shaft, when work was resumed on it after the lapse of some years, no less than three dead bodies of men were found. Pieces of rope were found tied about the arms and legs, as though for the purpose of making the bodies up into a bundle convenient for transportation to the shaft. This shaft was located below the town of Gold Hill, a short distance from a road on which there were few houses. Many persons have also, no doubt, accidentally walked into these old abandoned shafts, which everywhere cover the face of the country, in the night or in the winter, when their mouths were covered with drifts of snow. There are many instances of this where persons have narrowly escaped death.

In Virginia City and other Washoe towns many goats are kept by families for their milk. There are hundreds of goats to be seen everywhere on the hills and mountains. The goat is an animal that is fond of caves and caverns. De Foe was right in putting an old goat into a dark cavern, in his “Robinson Crusoe.” The goats in Washoe constantly frequent the old tunnels high up on the side of Mount Davidson and other mountains. In many of these tunnels, at a distance of from two hundred to five hundred feet from the mouth, vertical shafts have been sunk, to the depth of from one hundred to two or three hundred feet. It often happens that the goats, in the darkness of the old tunnels, walk into these shafts. Some years ago a man living on Gold Cañon went out to look up a strayed goat. He found the fresh tracks of goats leading into an old tunnel, and ventured in. In walking back along the tunnel in the darkness he fell into a shaft in its bottom. The shaft was about eighty feet in depth, and he would probably have been instantly killed, but that there were at the bottom the bodies of four or five dead goats; as it was, he had an arm and a leg broken.

The man being missed, his neighbors turned out in search of him. They found his tracks leading into the tunnel and went in after him, in Indian file. Suddenly the head man disappeared, he having in the dim light of the place, stepped into the mouth of the old shaft. From the groans heard below his friends knew that he had not been killed, and at once procured a windlass and rope and descended to his rescue, when, to their surprise, they found that they had two men in the bottom of the shaft. The man who last fell in had a leg broken, and by his fall came so near jolting the life out of the man of whom they at first came in search, that when first taken out it was thought he was dead.

In Virginia City, some men who were one day at work in a lumber-yard, concluded it would be a good plan to pile a lot of boards over the mouth of an old shaft that was in a part of the yard, not far from the principal street leading to the town of Gold Hill. After they had commenced the work, one of the men said that as he put down a plank he thought that he heard a groan in the shaft. All listened. After a time another man said he had heard what seemed to be a faint moan at the bottom of the shaft. All again listened, and hearing nothing more were about to go on with their work, when there came up from the bottom of the shaft a deep groan that was heard by all. A windlass was procured, and on descending the shaft a man was found lying at its bottom in an unconscious condition. He was brought to the surface, when it was found that he had a leg broken in two places, and was badly cut and bruised in many parts of his body. He was a man weighing about 180 pounds, and had fallen a distance of over one hundred feet. He proved to be an engineer employed at one of the mills at Silver City, and finally fully recovered. He remembered nothing about falling into the shaft; he only remembered that on a certain day he was in Virginia City and started for home very drunk. From this it was shown that he had been in the shaft three days and nights when found. He stated, that while in the shaft he regained his consciousness for a time, and to some extent comprehended his situation, as, looking about, he saw the walls of the shaft and the light of day at its top. When he recovered he “swore off” drinking—never would drink another drop as long as he lived—and did not get drunk again for nearly a month.

“HOLD UP YOUR HANDS!”

A BONANZA OF BEEF.