The Lost Deer Antler Gold Of Daniel’s Canyon
In 1905 a cowboy by the name of Harper was working in the Milk Weed Flat section of Western Arizona, when he became so sick with what he diagnosed as bronchitis that he decided to ride to Prescott and consult a doctor.
After passing through Peach Springs (a tank on the Santa Fe Railroad in Northwestern Mojave County), he became so weak he could ride no further in a place he called Daniel’s Canyon.
While reclining in the shade of a large boulder, he observed a buck deer emerge from a clump of bushes up the canyon. He managed to raise his rifle and shot it and dropped it in his tracks.
Making a fire under a Juniper tree, he cooked himself some of the venison and after eating and resting started to feel a little better. As he was resting, he idly kicked his heels in the ground and dug up some quartz and after inspecting it found some traces of gold in it. Further digging uncovered a rich pocket of ore.
After digging out all of the gold he could carry, Harper concealed the spot with earth and brush. He looked about thoughtfully, taking note of all of the natural landmarks, but was not satisfied he could recognize the exact spot.
Cuting off the head of the dead buck, he hung the head and antlers in the branches of the Juniper tree and mounted and continued his journey.
When Harper reached Prescott, a doctor told him he was suffering from an advanced case of tuberculosis and admitted him to the hospital. As the cowboys condition worsened, the doctor persuaded him to send for a brother who was in Texas.
The brother arrived shortly before Harper’s death, and before he died he showed his brother the gold and gave his brother directions for finding the ore in Daniel’s Canyon, stressing the antlers in the Juniper tree.
After the funeral, the brother had the rocks assayed and the gold content turned out to be fabulously rich. The brother went searching for the gold and the tree with the antlers in it, but neither the gold nor antlers were ever found.
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Category: Gold
