Tombstone Epitaph

Trying to Dispel the "Peg Leg" Mystery

If the claims of Mrs. R. S. Dillman, of Victorville, Cal., be founded on fact, and if she is enabled to carry out her plan for a search among forgotten claims on the desert, it is probable that the mystery surrounding the long lost "Peg Leg" Smith mine will be dispelled, and its fabulously rich ore brought to smelters.

Mrs. Dillman, who is the owner of several mines in the great waste beyond San Bernardino, declares that she has secured data which she believes will guide her to the spot where "Peg Leg" Smith is reputed to have taken enormous rich specimens from an Arizona ledge.

Nothing in the great southwest is so mysteriously romantic as the "Peg Leg" mine. According to the records, Smith found it while on the way from Arizona to California. He was one of the first guides to locate the Santa Fe trails. Toiling up one of the slopes, he was attracted by the peculiar appearance of a shot-like rock, which covered the surface of the hill, and gathered a handful of stones. They were heavier than lead, Smith hacked one with his knife and found it to be gold. He hurried to San Bernardino, showing his specimens. Hundreds rushed to the desert, to locate claims, but all failed and many died.