Sight

Tales of treasure came in the wake of the 49ers, but it was not until 1860 that the first prospecting party was organized by Dr. Darwin French at Oroville, California.

In the fall of that year, he set out to find the lost Gunsight Mine, the story of which is told in another chapter.

On this trip, Dr. French discovered and gave his name to Darwin Falls and Darwin Wash in the Panamint Range.

He named Bennett's Well on the floor of Death Valley to honor Asa, or Isabel, Bennett, a member of the Bennett Arcane Party.

Indians found there said their tribe was called Panamint, but those around there are Shoshones and Paiutes.

See note at end of this chapter.

Also in 1860, William Lewis Manly, who with John Rogers, a brave and husky Tennessean, had rescued the survivors of the Bennett Arcane Party, returned to the valley he had named to search for the Gunsight.

Manly found nothing and reported later he was deserted by his companions and escaped death only when rescued by a wandering Indian.