Cost of Finding Fortune

          In the mid 1800s, many men (and a few women) came west expecting to strike it rich. Some expected to find gold nuggets lying on the ground like acorns waiting to be gathered. They discovered panning for gold was tedious and seldom produced fortunes. Digging for gold or silver was hard work that often brought nothing more than a pile of rock. Those who did not give up and return home often resorted to working for one of the large mines at a daily wage. Mines offered options of pay with or without “board”—a bed in a dormitory and meals.  Those who took their pay without board sometimes shared tents or cabins and cooked their own meals.
          The July 7 1877 Colorado Springs Gazette reprinted from the Silver World newspaper this sample of wages  with and without board (meals and a bed) in the San Juan mining district.

Unexpected Finds

     While digging through old Indian Agent correspondence in the National Archives, I found a letter with a famous signature – N.C. Wyeth. On September 4, 1904 he wrote from Wilmington, Delaware to the “Government Agent of the Ute Indian Reservation.” Wyeth stated his purpose:

To come directly to the point – I am an illustrator - and intensely interested in the “Indian.” I desire this fall to take a trip to your reservation for the purpose of pictureing or “writing up” any of the dances, feasts, or sports that may take place this fall.

     I made a photocopy of the letter and contacted the curator of the N.C. Wyeth museum. She confirmed that Wyeth did make a trip west that fall and set up a studio in Denver for a period of time. We found no evidence that he did any sketching on the Ute reservation.
     The experience reminds me that in research it pays to look carefully at every document available.