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Archiver > OREGON-TRAIL > 2000-05 > 0957472977


From: "George" <>
Subject: Re: Tale of GOld
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 13:42:57 -0700



----- Original Message -----
From: "George" <>
To: "....." <>
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 9:33 AM
Subject: Re: Tale of GOld


> From the book 'Oregon's Golden Years':
>
> -----page 6. History in gold was made that day, August 25, 1845, when the
> large party of pioneers left the established trail and headed up the
Malheur
> River where no wagon had traveled before. This group was to suffer
> hardships and many deaths before the first tattered remnants started
> trickling into The Dalles in October.
> They followed the Malheur for about twenty miles, over terrain almost
> impassable for wagons. Some broke down, causing delays while repairs were
> made. A few wagons were left behind. One diary states, "You could follow
> the steps of the weary oxen by the traces of blood in their tracks."
> The first person to die was a babe in arms, Emaline McNemee. The
> infant was carried three days before a suitable burial place could be
found.
> The second death was that of Sarah Chambers. She was buried beside the
> rocky trail. After each burial the wagons passed over the graves to hide
> them from the Indians. No accurate record exists of the number who died;
> historians estimate there were at least twenty-three--possibly more.
> Many stops were made to rest and to repair equipment. One stop was
> supposed to have been made near the headwaters of the Malheur River, on a
> clear stream running in a southwesterly direction. One story relates that
> the women took the occasion to do some laundry along the banks. Children
> playing beside their mothers noticed "shiny golden pebbles" in the water
and
> in the grass along the water's edge.
> Another family believes the location was on Canyon Creek, near
> present-day Canyon City. George H. Himes, pioneer and curator of the
Oregon
> Historical Society, has written that William F. Helm said his father,
> mother, five brothers, one sister, and himself were members of the Meek
> party. Helm stated that his family's wagons and camp utensils, including
> buckets, were painted blue. They were camped on a tributary of the John
> Day, Bill Helm said, when the small yellow pebbles were found along the
> water's edge. Nobody realized it was gold. James Terwilliger and Thomas
R.
> Cornelius supported Helm's story that the goldne pebbles were gathered in
an
> old blue bucket and left behind when the wagon train moved on. This is
the
> beginning of the oft-told legend of the "Lost Blue Bucket Mine."
>
> There is good picture of Stephen Meek on page 4 in the book.
>
> George Gildersleeve, also with ancestors from Colfax, Pampa, Washtucna,
> Lacrosse, etc. in Whitman County, Washington
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "....." <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 7:38 AM
> Subject: Re: Tale of GOld
>
>
> > That is what some of the old timers said also...
> >
> > a post script to the article..
> > "Later, at a time when Jack Harryman was U.S. Ranger at Unity, we
> discussed
> > the possible location of the mine. Using the story told me by the old
> > emigrant, plus other known facts, together with our intimate knowledge
of
> > the country, we diecided that the famous old Blue Bucket mine must have
> been
> > either Jeff Davis Creek at Prairie City or Canyon Creek at Canyon City.
> > Both streams were known by the nuggets found in them by early
prospectors
> in
> > this area"...irma
>

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