The O. B. Joyful in Tuba Canyon, $250,000; The Gem in Jail Canyon, $150,000; and Shorty Harris' World Beater, $200,000.
Among the noted of Ballarat residents was John LeMoyne, a Frenchman. He discovered a silver mine in Death Valley but the best service he gave the desert was a recipe for coffee. He walked into Ballarat one day and had lunch. The lady who owned the cafe asked if everything suited. "All but the coffee," John said.
"How do you make your coffee?" she asked.
"Madame, there's no trick about making good coffee. Plenty coffee. Dam' little water."
From one end of Death Valley country to the other, coffee is judged by John LeMoyne's standard. You may not always get it, but mention it and the waiter will know.
For years LeMoyne held his silver claim in spite of offers far beyond its value, which he believed was $5,000,000. But once when the urge to return to his beloved France was strong and Goldfield, Tonopah, and Rhyolite excited the nation, he weakened and decided to accept an offer said to have been $200,000. "But," he told the buyers, "it must be cash."
After a huddle, John's demand was met and a check offered. John brushed it aside. "But this eez not cash," he complained. No, he wouldn't go to town to get the cash. He had work to do. "You get eet."
Disgusted, the buyers left and John LeMoyne continued to wear his rags, eat his beans, and dream of La Belle France.
A young Shoshone Indian came into Keeler excited as an Indian ever gets, looked up Shorty Harris and said: "Short Man, your friend go out. No come back. Maybe him sick." It was midsummer, but LeMoyne had undertaken to reach his claim.
In the bottom of the valley, Shorty identified LeMoyne's tracks by a peculiar hobnail which LeMoyne used in his shoes. He followed the tracks to Cottonwood Spring and there found an old French pistol which he knew had belonged to LeMoyne. Convinced he was on the right trail, he went on and after a mile or two met Death Valley Scotty.
"I know why you're here," Scotty said. "I've just found his body."
LeMoyne was partially eaten by coyotes and nearby were his dead burros. Though tethered to the mesquite with slender cotton cords which they could easily have broken, the patient asses had elected to die beside him.