Breyfogle's Lost Ledge

[skyhawk1251]

Part One --

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[skyhawk1251]

Part Two --

 

[skyhawk1251]

Part Three --

 

[skyhawk1251]

Part Four --

 

[skyhawk1251]

Part Five --

 

[skyhawk1251]

Part Six --

"LOAFING ALONG DEATH VALLEY TRAILS" by WILLIAM CARUTHERS
A Personal Narrative of People and Places
COPYRIGHT 1951 BY WILLIAM CARUTHERS
Printed in the U.S.A. by P-B Press, Inc., Pomona, Calif.
Published by Death Valley Publishing Co.
Ontario, California

CHAPTER 22
LOST MINES. THE BREYFOGLE AND OTHERS

The most famous lost mine in the Death Valley area is the Lost
Breyfogle. There are many versions of the legend, but all agree that
somewhere in the bowels of those rugged mountains is a colossal mass of
gold, which Jacob Breyfogle found and lost.

Jacob Breyfogle was a prospector who roamed the country around Pioche
and Austin, Nevada, with infrequent excursions into the Death valley
area. He traveled alone.

Indian George, Hungry Bill, and Panamint Tom saw Breyfogle several times
in the country around Stovepipe Wells, but they could never trace him to
his claim. When followed, George said, Breyfogle would step off the
trail and completely disappear. Once George told me about trailing him
into the Funeral Range. He pointed to the bare mountain. "Him there, me
see. Pretty quick--" He paused, puckered his lips. "Whoop--no see."

Breyfogle left a crude map of his course. All lost mines must have a
map. Conspicuous on this map are the Death Valley Buttes which are
landmarks. Because he was seen so much here, it was assumed that his
operations were in the low foothills. I have seen a rough copy of this
map made from the original in possession of "Wildrose" Frank Kennedy's
squaw, Lizzie.

Breyfogle presumably coming from his mine, was accosted near Stovepipe
Wells by Panamint Tom, Hungry Bill, and a young buck related to them,
known as Johnny. Hungry Bill, from habit, begged for food. Breyfogle
refused, explaining that he had but a morsel and several hard days'
journey before him. On his burro he had a small sack of ore. When
Breyfogle left, Hungry Bill said, "Him no good."

Incited by Hungry Bill and possible loot, the Indians followed Breyfogle
for three or four days across the range. Hungry Bill stopped en route,
sent the younger Indians ahead. At Stump Springs east of Shoshone,
Breyfogle was eating his dinner when the Indians sneaked out of the
brush and scalped him, took what they wished of his possessions and left
him for dead.

Ash Meadows Charlie, a chief of the Indians in that area confided to
Herman Jones that he had witnessed this assault. This happened on the
Yundt Ranch, or as it is better known, the Manse Ranch. Yundt and Aaron
Winters accidentally came upon Breyfogle unconscious on the ground. The
scalp wound was fly-blown. They had a mule team and light wagon and
hurried to San Bernardino with the wounded man. The ore, a chocolate
quartz, was thrown into the wagon.

"I saw some of it at Phi Lee's home, the Resting Spring Ranch," Shorty
Harris said. "It was the richest ore I ever saw. Fifty pounds yielded
nearly $6000."

Breyfogle recovered, but thereafter was regarded as slightly "off." He
returned to Austin, Nevada, and the story followed.

Wildrose (Frank) Kennedy, an experienced mining man obtained a copy of
Breyfogle's map and combed the country around the buttes in an effort to
locate the mine. Kennedy had the aid of the Indians and was able to
obtain, through his squaw Lizzie, such information as Indians had about
the going and coming of the elusive Breyfogle.

"Some believe the ore came from around Daylight Springs," Shorty said,
"but old Lizzie's map had no mark to indicate Daylight Springs. But it
does show the buttes and the only buttes in Death Valley are those above
Stovepipe Wells.

"Kennedy interested Henry E. Findley, an old time Colorado sheriff and
Clarence Nyman, for years a prospector for Coleman and Smith (the
Pacific Borax Company). They induced Mat Cullen, a rich Salt Lake mining
man, to leave his business and come out. They made three trips into the
valley, looking for that gold. It's there somewhere."

At Austin, Breyfogle was outfitted several times to relocate the
property, but when he reached the lower elevation of the valley, he
seemed to suffer some aberration which would end the trip. His last
grubstaker was not so considerate. He told Breyfogle that if he didn't
find the mine promptly he'd make a sieve of him and was about to do it
when a companion named Atchison intervened and saved his life. Shortly
afterward, Breyfogle died from the old wound.

Indian George, repeating a story told him by Panamint Tom, once told me
that Tom had traced Breyfogle to the mine and after Breyfogle's death
went back and secured some of the ore. Tom guarded his secret. He
covered the opening with stone and leaving, walked backwards,
obliterating his tracks with a greasewood brush. Later when Tom returned
prepared to get the gold he found that a cloudburst had filled the
canyon with boulders, gravel and silt, removing every landmark and
Breyfogle's mine was lost again.

"Some day maybe," George said, "big rain come and wash um out."

Among the freighters of the early days was John Delameter who believed
the Breyfogle was in the lower Panamint. Delameter operated a 20 mule
team freighting service between Daggett and points in both Death Valley
and Panamint Valley. He told me that he found Breyfogle down in the road
about twenty-eight miles south of Ballarat with a wound in his leg.
Breyfogle had come into the Panamint from Pioche, Nevada, and said he
had been attacked by Indians, his horses stolen, while working on his
claim which he located merely with a gesture toward the mountains.

Subsequently Delameter made several vain efforts to locate the property,
but like most lost mines it continues to be lost. But for years it was
good bait for a grubstake and served both the convincing liar and the
honest prospector.

Nearly all old timers had a version of the Lost Breyfogle differing in
details but all agreeing on the chocolate quartz and its richness.

That Breyfogle really lost a valuable mine there can be little doubt,
but since he is authentically traced from the northern end of Death
Valley to the southern, and since the chocolate quartz is found in many
places of that area, one who cares to look for it must cover a large
territory.

 

[skyhawk1251]

A GE image below with some of the locations mentioned in the Breyfogle legend placemarked. Folly's Pass is also mentioned in the legend, but Google searching has failed to find any reference to its location. It's possible that it is now known by a different name.

 

[NeptuneKnights]

A fascinating read. Thank you for providing.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Considerable Breyfogle (and Breyfoglers’) lore has been told and retold around the TN campfire. Some of it might even be true.

I posted the Horace West account several years ago:

The Lost Mines of the Desert - Part VI: The Lost Breyfoggle. | TreasureNet 🧭 The Original Treasure Hunting Website

There are a couple of dozen follow-up posts, as well, including Charles Michelson’s brief mention.

Anyone interested in an important early version will want to read:

The Lost Ledge - Breyfogle - J. Ross Browne's 1869 Account - Part I | TreasureNet 🧭 The Original Treasure Hunting Website

The Lost Ledge - Breyfogle - J. Ross Browne's 1869 Account - Part II | TreasureNet 🧭 The Original Treasure Hunting Website

Few Western writers are as consistently entertaining as the excellent J. Ross Browne.

It’s often useful to take your research back as far as you can. The first steps along the trail are the easiest to read. Cutting a cold trail can lead to wrong turns and dead ends. This is a lost mine legend - later accounts may carry more useless rock and less real ore. Retold versions of the story are often contaminated.

Every Breyfogle (and Death Valley) library should include the essential Death Valley & the Amargosa; A Land of Illusion (1986) by Richard E. Lingenfelter covers Breyfogle, the Lost Ledge, and the remarkable number of times it has been found. Don’t pass this one up! The author’s Death Valley Lore; Classic Tales of Fantasy, Adventure, and Mystery (1988) includes the scarce “Breyfogle’s Lost Ledge” by Standish Road (and J. Ross Browne’s “The Lost Ledge,” noted above). Happily, there are many more reasons to read both these fascinating volume of forgotten lore.

Here are a few more additions to the West account notes (first posted here in the spring of 2018):

In Miners’ Mirage-Land, Idah Meacham Strobridge (1904) is a charming volume with several interesting contemporary stories of mines found and lost in the desert. It deserves to be much more widely read! Lady in Boomtown; Miners and Manners on the Nevada Frontier, Mrs. Hugh Brown (1968), recounts how quickly the Lost Breyfogle entered the Death Valley land of fantasy and illusion. The Shadow of the Arrow, Dr. Margaret Long (1950) is a classic Death Valley work with some useful information on lost mines.

Place “Breyfogle” in the TN Search Bar and your pan will show three pages of relevant TN posts. A typical example:

Legends of Lost Mines - 1892 | TreasureNet 🧭 The Original Treasure Hunting Website

And another -

Hunting Lost Ledges in the Deserts of Nevada - 1907 | TreasureNet 🧭 The Original Treasure Hunting Website

Remember – the desert isn’t kind to the unwary; a sad number of experienced desert rats didn’t add their names to the roster of those who have left their sunbaked bones on the sand because they didn’t respect and prepare.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[skyhawk1251]

Old Bookaroo --

Thanks for another outstanding post. I found your posts concerning J. Ross Browne's account of this tale, but I wanted to "resurrect" the story by adding a post of my own. What you wrote about the older volumes now long out-of-print and gathering dust on many shelves is absolutely true. New is not better. A lot of excess, fictional "baggage" is included in newer volumes with the intended purpose just to sell more books.

The numerous book titles you've included in your post makes it a "keeper." I'll be trying to find those books you've mentioned. Keep on bookin . . .