Memorabilia 



with the leading promoters of the 

 enterprise, King hastened to the des- 

 ignated locality, not with the ex- 

 pectation of unearthing a swindle, 

 but for the purpose of studying the 

 new diamond field, and making his 

 official report on what then seemed 

 to be a discovery of great national 

 importance. 



He set out promptly with two or 

 three assistants, and duly reached his 

 destination, following the trail with- 

 out difficulty from Bridger, a station 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad in 

 Wyoming. He soon found diamonds 

 and rubies in abundance, but his sus- 

 picions were quickly aroused by the 

 observation that the plainly visible 

 precious stones lay directly upon the 

 hard surface of rock, where Nature 

 alone could never have placed or left 

 them, and that none could be found 

 in the earth or on the underlying bed- 

 rock, where, had the occurrence been 

 398 



