Legend or truth? Is there still "gold in them thar hills" of the Palouse?
In 1988, Keith Petersen prepared a foreword to Richard Waldbauer's book "Grubstaking the Palouse," retelling the saga of the Lost Wheelbarrow Mine - alleged by many to still exist on a south slope of a mountain in the Hoodoo Range of Latah County. While never used as the intended foreword, this colorful account, as it appeared in the summer 1988 edition of the Latah County Historical Society's journal
Latah Legacy, is a wonderful stand-alone contribution to our "nearby history."
- Joann Jones
The promise of buried treasure has probably lured more people to Latah County gold fields than has the promise of finding gold in its natural setting. Basically, the story concerns two miners, who in the 1880s found a rich lode of gold on Moscow Mountain and quickly unearthed $20,000 worth of ore, hauling the gold out of the crude prospect hole with a wheelbarrow. As partners are sometimes wont to do, these two got into a fight. The older man, Casper, hit his partner over the head with a shovel and, believing he was dead, left him draped over the wheelbarrow at the entrance to the mine, took the gold they had collected, and headed to San Francisco. After a long binge, Casper found it necessary to support himself as a sailor, and spent the next 20 years at sea. One time, while his ship was moored in Portland, he was shocked to see his former partner, who did not recognize him or remember anything about the mine. Although he had not been killed, he developed amnesia. Realizing it was safe to return to Latah County as he had not committed murder after all, Casper left the sea, journeyed to Moscow Mountain and spent 10 years wandering unsuccessfully along creeks, valleys and ridges in search of a mine with a wheelbarrow at the entrance.
Rumors of the Lost Wheelbarrow persisted in the region, and in the late 1930s, Dr. C. Landis Treichler, a Palouse dentist, and Jack Moore, supposedly a mining engineer, capitalized fully on them. Treichler and Moore claimed they discovered an old mining tunnel with a wheelbarrow near the entrance. The mine was on Gold Hill, supposedly explaining why Casper could never re-discover it in his long search of Moscow Mountain. About a year after the initial discovery, Moore and Treichler announced they had discovered a human skull - supposedly that of Casper's partner. The two worked the claim, but spent most of the time working the press and then began selling stock in the company. For 2 1/2 cents a share, the two entrepreneurs sold thousands of stock certificates. At one time there were as many as 15 cabins on the site, used by people who worked the mine for shares because they could not afford to pay cash. Many of the stock buyers were locals, but the Lost Wheelbarrow Mine gained national attention when Treichler appeared on national radio and Paramount News sent a camera crew to Gold Hill to cover the story. Hundreds of requests for stock followed.
After several months of ballyhoo, operations ceased. Moore left the country, leaving many unpaid accounts in Palouse stores. Miners ceased work, and the truth became obvious - the "re-discovery" of the Lost Wheelbarrow had been a hoax. Treichler was charged with intent to defraud but was acquitted. Moore was not so lucky, being picked up by federal officials as he tried to re-enter the country from Canada. He served a prison term.
While Treichler and Moore were more audacious than most, the Hoodoo-Gold Hill area has had its full share of mining promoters over the years. A good number of mining promoters came from the town of Palouse, and there has always been a direct tie between Latah County mining activity and the growth and development of that Whitman County community.
Keith Petersen is a historian and associate director of the Idaho State Historical Society.
