Newstory:Kokoweef Peak

Thanks for the link.


Steve


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Consider this. While John D. Mitchell (author, prospector) was camped on his claims at Crescent Peak near Searchlight Nevada, an old prospector with his burros entered camp.The old man said his name was Riley Hatfield, and he was from the Carolinas. He was headed for Searchlight to find a doctor, and to sell some gold that he had found. Mitchell gave him directions to the assay office, and told him where to find a place to stay while seeing a doctor. Some days later, Mitchell had occasion to be in Searchlight, and encountered Hatfield. The two men talked mining, and the old prospector showed Mitchell some of the gold that he had not sold to the assayer, along with an interesting story. Hatfield had come up through the Clark mountains on his way to Searchlight, and had camped at the foot of Clark Peak with his burros. He climbed halfway up Clark Peak to see if he could see any sign of water nearby for his burros. Off in the distance to the east, he saw a lake with trees lining the shore, and in the direction he was intent on traveling to find a doctor. Hatfield started towards the lake across the desert and noticed some small limestone hills that rose up off the desert floor. He climbed up one about fifty feet, and saw the entrance to a cave. After he entered the cave for a short distance, he heard the sound of running water. The old man went back out of the cave to find something for a torch, and reentered. He noticed that the water would rise and fall, making small terraces of sand around the floor of the cave. The terraces were filled with black sand, so he scooped up some and panned the sands. Gold!, and lot?s of it. After leaving the cave, Hatfield continued on to the lake only to find that it was a dry lake (Ivanpah), and no water. He skirted the lake bed to the south, and noticed black sand mixed in with the desert sand. He dry panned a small amount, and again found gold. Finding Mitchell friendly and a kindred spirit, Hatfield offered him a partnership in his discoveries. The two men agreed that as soon as Mitchell could dispose of his claims at Crescent Peak, they would meet in two weeks time to work Hatfield?s cave. The old prospector never returned. Sometime later his body was found on a dry lake bed near Nipton California. Mitchell tried to find the cave to no avail. In the early 1990's, I explored the area around Clark Peak, and Kokoweef, and Ivanpah dry lake. I climbed up high on Clark Peak, and you can indeed see the dry lake to the east.  While climbing up to the peak, I found a small burro shoe partially buried in the soil. I headed towards the lake bed, and noticed two small limestone hills off to the south. They were the only limestone hills in the entire area. I found no cavern entrance, or any indication of water or black sand there. Upon reaching the dry lake bed, I found several dry wash piles all along the lake bed, and after digging in the area, I did find good amounts of black sands.(this area is in the Mohave Preserve, and off limits to mining) I became interested in the area, and talked to several people around Nipton, which is just a stones throw from Kokoweef. One of the stories was very interesting indeed. It seems that a traveler on his way to Searchlight had stopped near Nipton to rest in the shade of a small hill. He hears running water, and after investigating, found a small cave hidden by brush that led to an underground stream. Unfortunately, that is the extent of THAT story.

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Great stories......Thanks for sharring

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