Candy Tuft

Marsh marigold 

Glacier lily

I wasn’t feeling too well, and so ignored my usual testing of the water for fish, just had my lunch and rested a bit.

NOW FOR THE SCOUT LAKE “GUNFIGHT” TALE

Back in pioneer times in Utah there arose tales of GOLD in the Uintas–everywhere from “Montezuma’s Treasure” from the Aztecs, to a series of old Spanish mines, to the “Gold of Carre-Shinob,” and of course “The Lost Rhoades mine.”  People involved in the stories are Isaac Morley, Brigham Young,  Ute Chief Walker, Thomas Rhoades and his son, Caleb.

Eventually from 1906 when Caleb died —  until at least 1920 the search was much in the hands of  a European immigrant, F.M.C. Hathenbruck.

He was of royal European ancestry, but an illegitimate son who nonetheless could have become Kaiser of Germany, and at another point in his life could have become the “richest man in the world.”

He rather won degrees as a medical doctor and mineralogist who migrated to the U.S.  and via working for the Army, having a Medical Clinic & Assay Office in Telluride, Colorado, another in Park City, Utah, ended up in Provo, Utah with a medical practice.  He was an expert in Indian cultures and a trusted friend of the Utes who would come all the way from the Uintah Basin to be treated by him.  He was always a  mineral seeker, had a store in Provo–he neglected by seeking for mineral riches, and in 1920 organized a serious, last ditch  effort to find the Lost Rhoades mine, but by 1928 was selling sewing machines and life insurance door to door in Provo to survive.

Backing up a bit, in about 1894 he became involved with Caleb Rhoades who needed someone the Indians trusted to gain access to Indian Reservation lands in search of the mines mentioned. In those adventures they often needed the protection of “gunfighters,” beginning friendships with Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch.

In 1920 Hathenbruck organized a team to come into the Uintas from Wyoming to avoid detection.  His group of  13, included 11 who were the best gunmen available–mostly connected to Butch’s Wild Bunch, plus a cook and an assayer. The leader, Caleb Landreth,  was also a self-proclaimed prophet who claimed divine guidance from a deceased Indian Princess. On horseback they followed the Bear River south, and then up Hayden Fork and over the pass arriving at their destination SCOUT LAKE, and an old cabin from which a well defined trail led up the mountain.   NOTE:  The Cabin was years later burned down by the Forest Service

There Landreth announced a vision revealing that half of what they found would be used to organize a new church, of course with him as prophet.  That created murmuring and protests in the group–not exactly the religious type.

Rock M. Pope, from Vernal began plotting to kill some of the group as soon as they found the mine. Matt Warner, who rode with the Wild Bunch, heard about it and made a plan to save them.  As they returned to camp after the first day’s search, one apparently having found rich ore, but when asked  where he defiantly told Pope to “Go to hell!”  He was promptly shot, which began a shootout, Warner shooting Pope, and by the end five of them were dead, and others wounded some never to be seen again.

Several efforts were made by survivors to return to the area and find the mine, but with no success.  Matt Warner, was  elected Justice of the Peace, town marshal and deputy sheriff at Price.  He returned several times to the Scout Lake area prior to his death in 1938, but failed to find the mine

(Information above summarized from the book, THE UTAH GOLD RUSH:  The Lost Rhoades Mine and the Hathenbruck Legacy, by Kerry Rose Boren & Lisa Lee Boren).

THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF MANY SUCH HISTORICAL TIDBITS THAT WILL BE INTERTWINED THROUGHOUT MY BOOK ON THE HIGH UINTAS.

Now, back to my effort to determine my immediate future.