Prospecting

Prospecting. . In 1900, while prospecting was being carried on in the vicinity of Cumberland, Morgan Griffiths, Gus Paulsen and a party of prospectors went northeast from Rock Springs to prospect in Horse Thief Canyon, since outcrops of a promising deposit of coal were known to exist there. , Only twenty miles out, they established their camp in the picturesque canyon, named by early settlers who claimed that a gang of outlaws had made this their rendezvous and hiding place for their stolen horses. One of the crew was delegated cook for the party, with the understanding that anyone who complained about the cooking would immediately take over the job. , One morning when breakfast was especially inedible, a crew member spoke out unguardedly, stating that the biscuits were nothing but dough, the bacon burnt to a cinder, and the coffee not fit to drink. In the midst of his tirade, he remembered the agreement, and stopped with a smile. “You know, boys, I like everything cooked that way.” The original cook kept his thankless job and the men continued to sit down to their less-than-delectable victuals. , With drinking water from the springs in the vicinity, and wild game, including deer, antelope, and sage chickens in abundance, the crew had all the necessities, and were not dependent on the day’s drive by buckborard and mule to headquarters in Rock Springs. , Morgan Griffiths was a native Welshman who came to America in the late 1870s. Universally liked by all who knew him, he carried on much of the preliminary negotiation work when the United Mine Workers of America organized the miners of the Union Pacific Coal company. , Gus Paulsen, who later became Mayor of Superior and Outside Foreman of mines, had quite a reputation. The miners said he could take a meager lunch, a pocket compass, and a map of any district, no matter how difficult the terrain, and locate the section corners with unerring accuracy. He had the distinction of once refusing a raise in salary when it was offered him, stating that the company was then paying him all that he was worth.