The Lost Gunsight Mine

In 1850 there was a party of 49ers that were crossing Death Valley. They had originally been part of a wagon group that was lead by Captain Jefferson Hunt. Four of them decided to take a short cut across the Panamint Mountains and traveling along the bottom of the mountains for a few days trying to find a route over the range. This small group was lead by a man named Captain Towne and when they arrived at the base of the Tucky Mountain, it is said Captain Towne struck his rifle barrel against a big rock and knocked off the sight. Inside Towne discovered what seemed to be pure silver. There are several versions to this story and nobody is quite sure which is the correct one. However, it is said that Towne was aware of what he had found immediately but that given the danger their lives were in, his crew decided to just take what they were able to pick up and get out of there. They claimed that the small canyon they found the silver in was covered in rich ore. The Captain Towne and another member of the party, a certain James Martin then went back to Death Valley the following year to find the mine. They died in their attempt though and their bodies were found in a small canyon, apparently they had been murdered. There are people that believe it was the Indians that killed them in order to avoid them from getting to the silver.