Many lost treasure stories are based on lore and campfire stories. This one is based on newspaper accounts of a tragedy.
The eighteen-ninety-seven Weekly Journal-Miner article started like many others during the monsoon seasons: “Another victim has been added to the long list of people who have lost their lives in Arizona by attempting to cross the rapidly running waters of a swollen stream.”
Around 1 pm, JP Bruce and George Harrington started out on a buckboard wagon from the Crown King mine on a trip to Prescott via Mayer. The wagon was carrying a bar of gold from the mine, weighing roughly eight pounds, and worth approximately $500,000 today.
It had been raining hard, and there would be several swollen creeks that they would need to cross. Despite finding angry waters, they successfully crossed Bear Creek and then Turkey Creek, “both of which…were considerably swollen from heavy rains in the mountains,” the paper told. But when they reached Wolf Creek, six miles from Joe Mayer’s station, the waters were raging.
JP Bruce was an experienced teamster having “engaged in freighting for several years, and hence thoroughly familiar with the dangerous character of our mountain streams during their flood periods,” the paper related.
ALSO ENJOY: $7 Million in Gold Awaits to be Found
Story of over 230 pounds of placer gold that was hidden around Prescott before the town was founded.
Buoyed by their previous successes, they drew deep breaths and started across. “The road at the Wolf Creek crossing enters the bed of the creek and then follows it upstream for a distance of 200 or 300 feet,” the paper described. But instead of trudging upstream, the “horses, buckboard, and men were carried down the angry waters.” Harrington “was sweated against a tree and by catching its branches, he succeeded in saving his life.” He looked downstream and saw the buckboard, the horses and Bruce disappear.
After making his way to the bank of the creek, he searched for any sign of the lost heading downstream for over two miles. Seeing nothing, he walked to Mayer’s station four hours later. “He immediately telephoned the sad news to Prescott, and a party was sent out to search for the unfortunate man,” the paper related. About 1 AM, Bruce’s body was found about three-quarters of a mile from where they entered the creek. His head was badly beaten, but the rest of his body was unscathed.
“One of the horses was found in a badly bruised and used-up condition,” the paper described, “while the other one was drowned.”
Bruce was a Mason and “universally popular, and his sudden death has caused a gloom over the community [of Prescott],” the paper reported. He was 37 and a resident of Prescott for 15 years. He left a mourning wife and daughter.
The eight-pound bar of gold was never found.
A comprehensive listing of buried treasures, still undiscovered, in Yavapai County, Arizona.
********************************************
COMING FEBRUARY 2026:
(Daily pics and featured articles.)
Drew Desmond is on Facebook (For the latest article and posts about Drew's writing.)
SOURCES:
Weekly Journal-Miner, 9/15/1897; Pg. 1, Col. 6.
IBID; Pg. 3, Col. 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment