Let's Talk Wyoming
A podcast about Wyoming and everything we talk about including the weather, politics, energy & agriculture, sports & everything else effecting our state.
Let's Talk Wyoming
Let's Talk Wyoming - Fierce Fires, Dramatic Rains, the Freedom Caucus Battle, and Lost Gold in the Bighorns
What happens when Wyoming's blazing fires are met with a sudden, dramatic rainfall? Join me, Mark Hamilton, on this episode of Let's Talk Wyoming as we explore the unexpected turn of weather events in Springs County that brought relief from relentless fires. As the temperatures cool down, the political scene heats up with the Freedom Caucus and RINO candidates locked in a fierce battle ahead of the state's primary elections. Listen to insights on Liz Cheney's influence and out-of-state money shaping our political climate. We also touch on the broader national stage, discussing President Biden's current challenges and Kamala Harris's surprising candidacy, while underscoring the crucial role of critical thinking in the age of AI.
But that's not all. Travel back in time to 1886 with us to uncover an enthralling piece of Wyoming's history—the saga of seven Swedish miners who discovered gold in the Bighorn Mountains. Their tale is one of courage, tragedy, and mystery, from their initial find to their ill-fated quest and subsequent disappearance. Hear about the legendary lost Bighorn placer gold mine that has tantalized treasure hunters for generations. This episode weaves together the threads of current events and historical legends, offering a compelling narrative that captures the essence of Wyoming.
Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Hamilton, your host Today. We'll be taking a look at our cooling weather here in Wyoming. In our history section we'll be talking about the lost place or mine of the Bighorn Mountains. Thanks for joining us today. Hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 1:Taking a look at Wyoming weather here. On the 14th of August we just had a big storm go through Springs County and we ended up with about three-quarters inches of rain and just a little bit of hail Boy, and it was a soaker for sure. Temps have been cooler this last week and we hit 47 degrees overnight, getting cool. Our fires are still an issue but with this cooler weather and the rain it won't hurt getting these under control. The only issue has been the lightning that caused a small fire just in our area, but around the state it's causing some issues. It's getting to feel like fall right now to me. It's right around the corner and we know that snow will be on the ground before we know it here.
Speaker 1:In other news, in Wyoming our primaries are next Tuesday, august the 20th. It's been a contentious I should say season. Right now, with the campaign season, the main races drawing attention are the legislative races for the House and the Senate, the amount of PAC money is getting crazy. Of course, this isn't for Republicans and Democrats, that a lot of people might see, but for our Freedom Caucus versus the RINOs. Even our RINO governor, a lot of people would say, and I think I'd probably agree has a PAC. I think he calls it PAC-PAC rather original. Probably agree has a PAC I think he calls it PAC-PAC rather original that is donating to the RINO candidates in the race. He's looking how he can get his agenda pushed through. There is a lot of out-of-state money that has found its way to Wyoming. Even Liz Cheney is involved. I guess Liz didn't know that. She lost back in 2022 or still is in denial. The presidential race is even stranger, with Biden being forced out. Maybe some people say a coup to get rid of Biden. Kamala Harris, the new candidate, who previously was considered a liability with zero likability, has suddenly been anointed as the candidate.
Speaker 1:I saw at one of her events where they used AI to generate the crowds for it. Ai is something and I'm getting a little scared of this. To me, it can have a major impact on all of our lives. To me, it can have a major impact on all of our lives. A person won't know if it's real or AI. It will be in everything we do. All I can say is get out and vote, but do a little critical thinking about who you're going to be supporting, the consequences of that vote that you'll be making. Do you feel like that? Your life is better today than it was four years ago? How about those costs for everything we use daily? How about the open border?
Speaker 1:I saw where the English people are feeling the effects of this and have been out protesting to save their country. Are we headed there next? And my mother was English, so I'm half English, so that's why I brought that up. I guess it would be a good time for us all in this country tonight to pray Pray for a little guidance from our Heavenly Father on where we need to be and where will we be in 2028?. Will we recognize this country? What's ahead for our youth? The consequences of all these decisions we're making? What's going to be left for them? It makes you wonder. Today we're going to go back to Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of Old Wyoming by WC Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of Old Wyoming by WC Jameson, and today we're going to learn about the lost place or mine of the Bighorn Mountains, which? The Bighorn Mountains are about 45 miles from where I'm at right now, to our east.
Speaker 1:During the summer of 1886, a party of seven Swedes landed at the North Port of New York City after spending two months crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a steamer. Back in their native country, the Swedes had heard many stories about the numerous opportunities to grow rich from panning gold in America and decide their destiny lay there. The men saved their money, bought passages to America and talked and dreamed of becoming wealthy. After arriving on the American eastern shore, they alternately took jobs to earn money and travel across the continent from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains. After two years they found themselves in the Bighorn Mountains in north-central Wyoming, exploring the canyon and panning the many streams with hopes of finding gold One day.
Speaker 1:During the late summer, the Swedes were riding across a narrow valley leading their packhorses when good fortune struck as they forded a shallow stream that bisected a meadow. One of the men looked down and noticed something sparkling in the water. He dismounted and examined the sands and the gravel of the stream bottom. They glistened with tiny nuggets of gold. After calling to his companions, he showed them his discovery and for the next four hours the seven men excitedly panned gold from the waters, not even taking the time to unsettle their mounts and turn them out to graze. As the sun began to set, the Swedes decided to establish a camp nearby, and while some set up a canvas tent, others gathered firewood and prepared a meal For the next several weeks, they spent their daylight hours banning gold, eventually accumulating several pounds of nuggets, dust and flakes which they placed in canvas or sacks and food tins During their travels.
Speaker 1:Months earlier, they had decided they would divide equally among them any gold they should recover. Each night, as they sat around the campfire smoking their pipes, the Swedes made plans for what they would do with their newfound wealth when they returned to their homeland. One afternoon, the snow began to fall and the Swedes realized they must prepare for the coming winter in the mountains. They determined it would be necessary to construct a cabin to protect them from the snow and freezing temperatures they knew would soon come. While two men continued to pan for gold, three cut logs and dragged them to the site. They slaked over the cabin and the remaining two hunted game which they dried, smoked and stored for the winter. The low crude cabin was more of a rich lean-to than a proper house, but it served the purpose for which it was intended.
Speaker 1:One afternoon, as the two men assigned to hunt for meat returned to camp with their carcasses slung across the withers of their mounts, they heard gunshots coming from the direction of the cabin. After dismounting and ground-hitching their horses, they crept forward through the cover of trees until they reached the edge of the meadow Before them. They could see that the cabin was under attack by several dozen Indians. As their companions fired at the raiders from window ports, the Indians rode back and forth, occasionally lobbing an arrow at the structure. Realizing the impossibility of rushing to the aid of their countrymen, the two Swedes remained hidden in the woods and watched.
Speaker 1:Tired of the standoff, the Indians decided to set fire to the cabin. For an hour the structure blazed, with flames licking up the sides and roof and smoke curling out of the windows. Unable to remain inside the dense smoke and heat any longer, the five Swedes opened the door and ran up, firing their rifles at the Indians. One by one, the miners were shot down and when they fell, the Indians were upon them, taking scalps and hacking the bodies to pieces While the carnage ensued, a half-dozen warriors dashed into the cabin and returned within seconds carrying a few canned goods and some tools. The tents were hacked open and the contents consumed on the spot.
Speaker 1:For three hours the two surviving Swedes watched from their hiding place among the trees, shivering with cold and terror, fearing the Indians might spot them and continue their slaughter. Presently, however, the attackers rounded up the dozen horses in the crowd behind the cabin and rode away into the mountains towards the west. The sun had set and a three-quarter moon hung in the crowd behind the cabin and rode away into the mountains towards the west. The sun had set and a three-quarter moon hung in the heavens when the two Swedes decided to leave their hiding place and advance towards the smoldering cabin. Poking through the remains, they found most of their gold, several thousand dollars worth, packed into baking soda cans and food tins. The canvas ore sacks containing nuggets had burned away, the heat melting the content to form irregular-shaped, baseball-sized lumps of gold. Placing all the gold they could carry in their packs, they returned to their horses mounted and rode out of the mountains, leaving behind tens of thousands of dollars worth of the precious metal.
Speaker 1:After two weeks of difficult travel, during which they went hungry and endured numerous hardships. They finally arrived at Fort Reno near the Fowder River. The Swedes, starved, exhausted and suffering from exposure, were taken to the post commander, where they relayed the story of their gold discovery and the massacre by the Indians. Instead of receiving sympathy for their plight, the two men were surprised to find themselves the target of a stern lecture and scolding by the officer. Angrily. He informed them that they had violated a treaty that forbade white men from entering the Bighorn Mountains. The two Swedes, unaware of such a treaty, begged the commander to provide an escort so they could return to their place or mine, bury the remains of their dead companions and resume the business of pending for gold. The officer refused and warned the men to stay out of the mountain range or suffer dire consequences from the military. Angered and upset with the government policy, the two Swedes attempted to talk several of the civilians they encountered hanging around the fort into arming themselves and riding back in the mountains with them, promising each man a share of the gold. When the post commander learned of their efforts, he summoned the two men to his office once again, repeated his warning about entering the mountains and told them if they disobeyed him, they would be arrested, tried and sent to prison.
Speaker 1:The two Swedes remained at Fort Reno throughout the winter. When the spring thaw arrived, they purchased new riding and pack mounts and traveled south to Fort Laramie. Here they believed they would be able to recruit enough well-armed and fearless adventurers to make the return trip into the Bighorn Mountains and resume their mining activities. They hired a dozen men and informed them about the treaty forbidding white men in the mountains and the threats the Army made to arrest anyone caught violating the policy. The risk, they told the men, would be worth the gold they would find on arriving at the rich nugget-filled stream. Two months later, a party of men led by the Swedes rode into the Bighorns, traveling far from the roads patrolled by the US Army. They never returned. Unknown to them, the Sioux Indians from all across Wyoming and Montana were taking refuge in the Bighorn Mountains up that time. It is presumed that once they became aware of the presence of the white men, they attacked and slew them all.
Speaker 1:Thomas Page Comstock, whose name is associated with the famous Comstock Lode, one of the richest mines in America history, decided to try to locate the lost mine In 1870, he solicited backing from several wealthy investors, organized a search party and rode into the Bighorn Mountains. The expedition was a failure and the men found not a single nugget of gold. Comstock was called a failure and his investors were angry. Out of gold, comstock was called a failure and his investors were angry. Short time later he traveled to Bozeman, montana. After several days there he committed suicide.
Speaker 1:A few years after Comstock's failed expedition, an old man arrived in Buffalo, wyoming with a story of finding a rich deposit of placer gold in a small stream in a remote canyon in a mountain range about 150 miles to the southwest, not far from where he panned. The gold, he said, were the remains of a burn law cabin erected many years earlier. He filled several pouts with gold. He panned from the stream and hoped to use it to open a livery stable in Buffalo and live out his remaining years in relative luxury. He displayed his goal to any who wanted to see it and told them he might return to the canyon someday to pan for more. As he was making plans for his livery, he dropped dead of a heart attack before revealing the location of his discovery.
Speaker 1:Time passed and the Indians were finally subdued, removed from their traditional lands and placed on reservations. A few men who were familiar with the story of the lost Bighorn placer mine entered the range in search of it but had no success. During the 1880s, two men who lived in the mountains for several months Trapping Beaver related that they spent some time in an old, burnt-out and abandoned cabin near a shallow stream. On the dirt floor of the cabin lay a layer of ash and debris. They found a heavy, odd-shaped chunk of mineral about the size of a fist. Months later they arrived at the small settlement just outside of the range. They left the piece of metal with the assayer and asked him to identify it for them. The next morning they were told it was solid gold and that they had been melted, probably from fire, and that it was almost pure. While the two trappers were in town they learned the story of the lost bighorn placer mine from some people at the tavern and realized that the stream that flowed just beyond the old cabin was one from which the Swedes successfully panned. Gold. Trappers made arrangements to return to the range to try to find the location and harvest the gold. After purchasing supplies and equipment, they rode away leading their heavily laden packhorses. It was the last anyone saw of them alive Years later, a skeleton of two men were found at the edge of a meadow near some trees in a narrow valley. Though no one knows for certain, many believe the bones were the remains of the two trappers who had hoped to find the placer.
Speaker 1:Mine, now and then another adventurous seeker of wealth enters the Bighorn Mountains in search of the lost Bighorn placer, but to date it remains lost, waiting to be rediscovered. Wow, that is pretty amazing. You can think of all the spots in the Bighorn Mountains that have that. There is a lot of areas with cabins, but something to look forward to next time I go up into the Bighorns, try to find that burnt cabin and get panning in that creek and maybe I'll be rich. Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy our podcast. As per the code of the West, we ride for the brand and we ride for Wyoming. We'll be right back. Come on, come on, come on. © BF-WATCH TV 2021.
