Firewood

A 1921 article I came across recently tells about a frantic race by two competing Seattle groups to stake "a Pitt Lake Valley," ending with the following comment:

The Seattle men are much more excited about the possibility of finding gold around Pitt Lake than the old-time prospectors who have worked the district for many years.
"Shuck," said a gray-haired veteran, "I wouldn't go across the street to stake that valley. And yet, every ten years or so, there is a new gang goes in with dreams of buried treasure. There's enough stakes in there now to keep those Seattle fellows in firewood for a month."