Wealth of the Worlds Waste Places and Oceania | Page 6

needle-like spines which protect them from
herbivorous animals. The bark or outer covering has a firm, close
texture that prevents the sap from evaporating during the long, dry
season. In traversing the deserts during May and June, one is amazed at
the display of beautiful blossoms of white, yellow, purple, pink, and
scarlet issuing from their thorny stalks.
The plant most welcome to the thirsty traveller, and which has saved
the lives of many a wandering prospector, is the "well of the desert," a
barrel-shaped cactus thickly studded with sharp spines. When one cuts
out the centre of the plant in a bowl-like form, the cavity soon fills up
with a watery liquid that is most refreshing.
[Illustration: A giant cactus in Arizona]
Hot and forbidding as are these terrible wastes, they are the dwelling
places of several tribes of Indians. The desert cactus furnishes them a
large part of their food, and the fibre is woven into cloth to provide
them with clothing. These Indians have been acclimated to the desert
for centuries and are well versed in all of its moods and mysteries.
They know of no better abode; neither can they be induced to leave it
for a more congenial climate and fertile soil. Travellers and prospectors
have told many stories about their experiences in these deserts. But
perhaps no story has possessed a greater fascination than that of the lost
Pegleg Mine.

The story of this lost mine has been told and retold with many
variations for the past seventy years, and more than a score of persons
have lost their lives in attempting to rediscover it. In 1836, according to
the traditional story, a man named Smith, distinguished from the rest of
the Smith family by the possession of a wooden leg, was journeying
with several companions from Yuma over the Colorado desert. On
account of his wooden stump he was dubbed "Pegleg" by his
fellow-travellers.
After having been out several days and not finding any springs or water
holes, the prospectors became greatly alarmed and hastened toward
three small buttes which they saw standing out in the desert, in the hope
of finding water in the dry wash leading from their bases. On arriving
at the foot of the hills they were sadly disappointed; diligent search
revealed no signs of water. He of the wooden leg climbed to the top of
one of the buttes to get a better view of the country, and to the
northward saw a high mountain; but before descending, he observed
some black stones under his feet and on picking one up found it heavy
and filled with a brassy-colored metal. He then picked up several of the
stones and put them into his pockets, but being desirous of reaching
water as soon as possible, he gave little thought to his find.
He told his companions of the mountain seen to the north and advised
all possible haste to reach it, saying that he believed that they would
there find water. The next day at nightfall they succeeded in reaching
the base of the mountain in an exhausted condition and found a spring
of cool, clear water. They were thus barely saved from a lingering
death by thirst. The mountain was named Smith Mountain.
At San Bernardino, Smith showed his ore to an expert, who
pronounced it nearly pure gold. The real importance of the discovery
did not seem to dawn on the one-legged man, however, until thirteen
years afterward; then, in 1849, it was heralded to the world that
wonderful discoveries of gold had been made in several parts of
California and that a man could dig out of the ground a fortune in a few
days or weeks. Smith became enthusiastic and organized an expedition
in San Francisco to seek for his desert mine where gold could be had

for the picking up.
The expedition started out from Los Angeles. One night, just before
reaching Smith Mountain, the Indians who had been taken along to
pack the supplies secretly decamped with the provisions, thus
compelling the prospectors to return as speedily as possible to save
their lives. Smith felt discouraged and left the company at San
Bernardino. Whether he perished in again trying to find his mine or left
the country is not known. At any rate, he was never heard of afterward.
In 1860 a man named McGuire deposited in one of the San Francisco
banks several thousand dollars in gold nuggets which he said he
obtained near Smith Mountain. He organized a party of six to hunt for
the Pegleg Mine. What they found, however, will never be known, for
they all perished, and their bleached bones were found on the desert a
long time afterward. They were not alone in disaster, however, for very
many others