Seeking Information
C. B. Minor, 1232 Lombard street, Portland and John McLaren, also
of Portland, were in Rainier Wednesday [May 13, 1931], seeking
information relative to a visit made there by a San Francisco man
in the early 90's who came to claim a cache of gold left on the old
military trail in Washington by his father in the late 70's.
Gold was Buried
The story the visitors tell is that in the late 70's a man made a
trip from the Sound country to Vancouver Wash., presumably trading
with Indians. At a certain point one of his horses broke a leg and
had to be shot, so that a portion of the heavy load of gold
accumulated on the trading trip could not be hauled back to
Vancouver with the remaining horses. Accordingly the gold was
buried at a certain point, a map made of the location and the party
proceeded to Vancouver. But upon arrival there it was found that
the boat for San Francisco was about to sail, and the man who owned
the gold boarded the boat rather than wait for another one. Soon
after he reached San Francisco he died, and his son was too small
then to come to claim the gold left on the old trail "up North."
Gold not Found
But in the early 90's the son did come and he is said to have
outfitted himself in Rainier for the trip. Only one man is known to
have actually interviewed him, and he was the late W. J. Deitz.
After a summer of fruitless search the hunt was given up and the
man presumably returned to San Francisco.
General Location Found
Now Messrs Minor and McLaren have found the location. If they could
only establish communications with the son who has the map with the
exact spot marked on it they feel sure they could find the gold.
Who Was He
Although they failed to gain the information they sought in Rainier
they are still searching through records for a possible reference
to the visitor from San Francisco who came here to search for his
father's gold.
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