Post by Larry Koschkee on Mar 6, 2005 19:58:45 GMT -5
Edward Langworthy along with three other brothers were early arrivals in the Mining District and answered the call for volunteers in the 1827 Winnebago War and the BHW. In a collection of biographies on the brothers, Edward reminisced about a prospecting trip to the Dubuque mines.
In the winter of 1829 and 1830 when on an exploring expedition to thes mines I found several hundred Indians encamped on these islands. This fact recalls to my mind that trip. On the last day of January, 1830, four of us left our cabin near Buncome for the purpose of examining the supposed lead mines west of the Missississippi River. It was a warm dry day, for the season had been so far of that character. No snow, no rain, but dry and sunshinny... Night overtook us at the head of the Zollicoffer Lake where we camped making a huge fire from the dry logs found there. But to start a fire we scraped the wood of a green hickory limb in a fuzz, rubbed it full of powder and flashed the powder from our rifle pan into it.
In the winter of 1829 and 1830 when on an exploring expedition to thes mines I found several hundred Indians encamped on these islands. This fact recalls to my mind that trip. On the last day of January, 1830, four of us left our cabin near Buncome for the purpose of examining the supposed lead mines west of the Missississippi River. It was a warm dry day, for the season had been so far of that character. No snow, no rain, but dry and sunshinny... Night overtook us at the head of the Zollicoffer Lake where we camped making a huge fire from the dry logs found there. But to start a fire we scraped the wood of a green hickory limb in a fuzz, rubbed it full of powder and flashed the powder from our rifle pan into it.