The Tragedy at Monte Cristo
A young prospector slips and falls to his death while exploring the treacherous cliffs near the Monte Cristo mining district.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Harvey C. Burgess, a 26-year-old prospector, was killed on Monday in the Monte Cristo mining district. Burgess, along with his companions Nicol and Sampson, was prospecting near Monte Cristo Lake when he attempted to descend a 600-to-700-foot cliff using a rope. He slipped, falling to the bottom, where his comrades found him dead. His neck and back were broken, and his face was badly battered. Men from a nearby camp helped carry his body to the wagon road. Burgess, a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts, had only arrived in the state last December. His remains were brought to Seattle and taken to Bonney Stewart's undertaking rooms to await shipment back to his family.
“He was letting himself down by means of a rope, but in some way he slipped, and rolled and bumped down to the bottom.”
The Monte Cristo mining district is now a ghost town and a popular hiking destination, but it remains a graveyard of broken dreams and real industrial tragedy. This story illustrates the profound risks taken by young men drawn to the Pacific Northwest by the promise of mineral wealth.
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