Complex sentence: Prospectors, on the other hand, tried to smuggle prize items like silk and whiskey across the pass in tins and bales of hay: the former item for the ladies, the latter for the saloons.
Split into simpler sentences: Prospectors, on the other hand, tried to smuggle prize items like silk and whiskey across the pass in tins and bales of hay. The former item for the ladies, the latter for the saloons.