My name is John Carter. I am from the state of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War I found myself without a home, without money and without work. I decided the best plan was to search for gold in the great deserts of the American Southwest. I spent almost a year searching for gold with another former soldier, Captain James Powell, also of Virginia. We were extremely lucky. In the winter of eighteen sixty-five we found rocks that held gold. Powell was trained as a mining engineer. He said we had uncovered over a million dollars worth of gold in only three months. But the work was slow with only two men and not much equipment. So we decided Powell should go to the nearest settlement to seek equipment and men to help us with the work. On March third, eighteen sixty-six, Powell said good-bye. He rode his horse down the mountain toward the valley. I followed his progress for several hours. The morning Powell left was like all mornings in the deserts of the great Southwest — clear and beautiful.