Lost gold mine legends haunt the West, among them the story of the Lost Cabin Mine in Northern California. The story starts with three men, Messieurs Benedict, Cox and “Young Compton,” at the headwaters of the Trinity River in the summer of 1850.
One day Compton guarded camp while Cox and Benedict explored the region. When they ran into a grizzly bear in a ravine, they couldn’t outrun it, so they shot it dead. As they began to carve the bear for meat, they discovered it had fallen over a hole that revealed lumps of gold.
The bear forgotten, the men dug frantically before marking the spot and returning to camp. The trio quickly moved to the site and began building a cabin beside the hole. Winter was arriving so they left with intentions to return in the spring.
Benedict and Cox went to Indiana while Compton stayed in California. Before spring returned, Compton died of cholera, but not before revealing the mine’s location to a fellow Mason, a Mr. Maxwell.
Many people have searched for the hole in the ground, but never located the lost cabin or its supposedly rich deposit of gold.
Source: Wells, Harry L. History of Siskiyou County. Oakland: D. J. Stewart & Co., 1881. 116-17. Print.
