Peglegs Black Gold Nuggets

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Hey Joe,

Another quick note. I have Borrego 13, and I love the book, buuuuuuuut:

The prospect hole that Gene R. calls the Gonzales/Phantom/Pegleg Mine is NOT it. That spot is only about 20 feet deep at best. I have been in it several times. When Gene first told me where he found the mine, I knew right away what he was talking about.

It maaaay be on Borrego Mountain, as Gene thinks, but what he calls a mine....ain't!

Peggie also would not have been coming around the Eastern Santa Rosas either. He was heading Northwest from Yuma. He would have either skirted the Eastern Coyote Mts or the Eastern Edge of the Fish Creek Mts.

Many people also confuse the three stories (PegLeg/Phantom/Gonzales). While the Gonzales and Phantom Mines are likely one in the same, PegLeg's Find was not a mine, but an ore blowout on top of a hill.

Best-Mike
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

I would like to invite anyone interested in this tale to see my January 11, 2009 New Topic:

The Lost Mines of the Desert - Part III: The Peg -Leg Mine

Also in the "Treasure Legends" Page of this nice Forum.

It's Part III of the "Lost Mines of the Desert" Series. I'm pleased to see an average of 100 views per Part - and some of those are probably not mine.


Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Old Bookaroo said:
I would like to invite anyone interested in this tale to see my January 11, 2009 New Topic:

The Lost Mines of the Desert - Part III: The Peg -Leg Mine

Also in the "Treasure Legends" Page of this nice Forum.

It's Part III of the "Lost Mines of the Desert" Series. I'm pleased to see an average of 100 views per Part - and some of those are probably not mine.


Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
Click to expand...

Already posted there....
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Mike you have been out to Anza-borrego fairly often right? Ever poke around Blowsand Canyon, the area of Adolph Ruth's map? Just curious if it would pan out any gold colors, or has any indication(s) that might be gold present. Thank you in advance,

Roy
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Sorry if this has been posted but I did not see it when I searched. I found this article in the January 19,1886 edition of the Sacramento daily record-union found at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014381/1886-01-19/ed-1/seq-4/;words=Pegleg+Smith . It may shed some light on the area that Thomas Cover was searching.
cover.jpg
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Hello auferret,
The Tom Cover is VERY interesting and thankx for posting that article. I have not seen anything about finding his bones, so that was wayyyy cool. I have about 3 weeks of articles from the Press Horticulturist from Riverside ( that where Cover lived ). It covers from the point of him becoming lost to them finally giving up on him. Here is a pix of T Cover

tcover.jpg​

PLL
 

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Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

I find a lot of articles that are reprinted in other papers. It happens today with the news services like AP. I imagine if we looked hard enough, we might find the original article in the local paper.
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

I was panning through the old Pegleg Posts and came across several references to Tom Cover, his search for the Lost Pegleg "Mine," and his demise in the wastes of the California desert.

Anyone interested in this topic will probably want to read Vengeance! The Saga of Poor Tom Cover by Dan L. Thrapp, (Upton & Sons, Publishers: El Segundo, California, 1989). Mr. Thrapp is a well-known Western historian, and this biography reflects his meticulous research.

From that book's bibliography, it appears the newspaper articles quoted by Peerless67 above (12/25/2008 Post) are from the Press & Horticulturist, Riverside, California October 4, 18; November 8, 15, 1884; December 26, 1885.

Peerless67 - it would be helpful if you would be willing to share where you found Harry W. Splitter's research on "Poor" Tom Cover.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Dan L. Thrapp, 80, Chronicler of West
Published: May 04, 1994

Dan L. Thrapp, a chronicler of the American West, died on Friday at his home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 80.

The cause was a cerebral hemorrhage, his family said.

A native of West Chicago, Mr. Thrapp began his travels as a paleontologist for the New York Museum of Natural History in the 1930's. At one point the museum ordered an aerial search for Mr. Thrapp when it feared he had been lost in a solo exploration of cliff-dweller ruins in an unmapped canyon region of southern Utah.

In World War II, he served with the Army in Burma and China, became a captain and won four battle stars. After the war he was a foreign correspondent for United Press in England, Greece, Italy and Africa. He joined The Los Angeles Times as religion editor in 1951 and retired from that position in 1975.

Mr. Thrapp was an authority on the Apache wars in Arizona and New Mexico in the second half of the 19th century and wrote six books on the subject. They included "Al Sieber, Chief of Scouts" in 1964 and "The Conquest of Apacheria" in 1967.
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He also wrote a four-volume "Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography," published by the University of Nebraska Press in 1991.

Mr. Thrapp is survived by a daughter, Linda Nicholl of Seattle; a son, Col. Richard Platte of Washington; and three sisters, Dorothy Reisner of New Paltz, N.Y., Josephine Drexler of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Beatrice Zeeck of Lubbock, Tex.
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

PLL: Interesting - thank you for posting that!

Mr. Thrapp was not convinced Tom Cover's body was ever found - despite many search attempts. The newspaper clipping reproduced here would lead me to believe it had been recovered. There's a reference in the book's bibliography to an undated clipping from that same paper - perhaps Mr. Thrapp didn't have the whole article (short as it was and still is) or just wasn't sure?

I looked and that volume is now selling for at least $100. The publisher printed, I believe, 750 copies - and they went fast.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

Popular belief is that T Cover was killed in the badlands by people he knew when he lived in Idaho. There was a " family " of thieves, rustlers, crooks and just plain bad people, that relocated to somewhere near the desert ( the name escapes me ). Tom was VERY instrumental on the founding of Riverside, he originally invested in a silkworm farm but his partner died. Tom owned a ton of land and was lost as to what to do.... But a friend told him that oranges would do real well so he started orchards and sold them.... and that's basically how Riverside started.... One belief is that while walking out on some of the hills in the badlands, he walked over a air pocket and fell into the hill and suffocated. I had read something awhile back that some bones were found in the badlands and people thought that they " may " have been Toms.... I have all of the articles from the P&H newspaper from the 1800's ( photocopies )...

PLL
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

PLL:

That was, I believe, the Helm family.

True West published an article "Boone Helm, Man Eater" (April 1973). Kinda sums it up, don't it?

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

PLL: Thank you! I have a copy of that article in my archives - the author's name didn't register when I read it above.

This is why I ask for citations - I need all the help I can get!

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

No problem Bookaroo, I won't mind reading your True West story as well < hint hint >

Thx
PLL
 

Re: Pegleg's Black Gold Nuggets

PLL:

Sorry - I don't have a copy of that article. I found a reference to it while looking for something else. It might have been an old Amazon.com listing - I'm just not sure.

However, if you need help locating a copy of that issue I would be happy to help. If you're patient these are usually available for a couple of bucks. Indeed - often the shipping is as much as the magazine! [That's why I try to purchase more than one copy at a time from any one source.]

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo
 

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