From The Overland Monthly. 2:2 (1883). 125-130.

THE FRONTIER PROSPECTOR

When we consider that but a generation ago all the vast territory lying west of the Missouri River was essentially a sealed book, the enormous results which have been achieved by labor and enterprise in that section of the United States seem almost incomprehensible. Towards 1848 and 1849 California became prominent, but not until 1857 and 1858 was that region brought into notice which is now comprised in the Centennial State. Isolated explorations had been made; venturesome hunters, traders, and prospectors had penetrated into unknown regions; but the Indian still remained in undisturbed possession of territory which to-day yields golden returns. Terrible sufferings were endured and hardships were experienced, the recital of which might well blanch the cheek of many a stout-hearted man. No fear of bodily suffering, no menace of an agonizing death at the hands of savage enemies, could daunt those men to whom we owe the rapid development of our extreme western States and Territories. . . .

Although so large a portion of the country has been explored, even now there remain fresh fields for the pick and shovel of the prospector. . . .As soon as the snows begin to melt, the prospector becomes restless. Watching the weather with much anxiety, he turns over in his mind the various attractions offered by different localities. Wherever the most recent discoveries of precious metals have been made, there he longs to be. Someone may have stumbled across a fragment of rich or promising ore, and by some mysterious system of telepathy he most vividly colored reports of "El Dorado" have spread amont the prospecting fraternity.

When the prospector has decided upon the locality which shall be the scene of action during the coming season, the necessary preparations for the trip--i.e., "outfitting"--are taken in hand. The quiet assurance with which a man whose sole possessions consist in a pick, a pan, and a rifle will tell you in the Black Hills that he is going to Arizona next week is somewhat staggering; but he does it. If absolutely "dead broke," he will get his meager supplies on credit, and start on his journey of hundreds of miles with a light heart and an equally light pack. Flour, bacon, blankets, gold-pan and frying-pan, pick, shovel, and a few smaller articles, besides the necessary weapons, complete the outfit of this forerunner of civilization. . . .

The people of this land owe a debt of gratitude to the intrepid prospector whose hatchet blazes the first trail which eventually becomes the highway for traffic and enterprise. Though as a citizen he may have but little worth when confined within a town, though his bank account may correspond with the holes in his garments, yet he has a mission to fufill--one upon which depends the rapid growth of national industries and wealth--and he uncompromisingly fufills it. Rarely does he reap the reward of his privations and sufferings, but coming generations will recognize the faithfulness of his services; they will give honor to whom honor is due, and certainly none more fully merit it than these pioneers who sacrifice comfort, home--aye, their lives--in opening a roadway for the progress of culture and civilization.