Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1850-10-18

One of the misforiunes attending the
discovery Of gold in California, is, TINT
the accounts which we have been in the
habit of getting from there, in many
cases, have been Intentionally deceptive.
Ii seems 10 have been The easiest matter
in the world 10 find on, the few who
have been successful in picking mp for
tunes in the mine. or in acquiring large
prospective wealth by speculations in
town lots. Butli,lle is said of thousands
who have made noihing-who are there,
without the means to get away--nor oi
the thousands who have gone down TO
AN untimely grave. Private letters, it il.
true, tell something OF this discourdgeing
state of things. But these seldom find
their way into the newspapers, aal Of
course cannot exert much influence upon
The judgment Of our excitabie people. -
We are led 10 these remarks by The
perusal of letter from Sacramento
City, dated late in July, and wrllen bv
a gentleman whom we know 10 possess
discriminating mind, IN relation to the
Quartz Rock Gold We think he went
there with view to operations in this
rock for gold. He had traye!cds at the
date of his letter some 500 miles, through
The mining and mountain regions OF
Stockton, Sonora, and Mariposa, and up
10 that time. he had been unsuccessful -
He visited Col. Frtmonl's mines, and
spent two days in search of other mines.
He says that Fremont's mine is largely
o,erraied; that the vein is about 400 feet
long, all told; that many rich specimens
have been obtained from this mine, in lhe
shape Of boulders, and that they have
been hawked about, to make all the ex-
element possible. Blu. these specimens
are now entirely exhausted. Tie vein
is open the entire length, to the depth Of
from six to ten feet-lhe ledge is about
five feet, dipping to the south. A vein
which is one TO one and half inches
thick, aboutihe middle of the ledge, con-
.ains the gold, which may be seen with
the naked eye. With the present price
Of labor, it is said, that the yield will not
pay for working the vein. II is ", rked
by differen, parties, who have taken pos
session Of it, in opposition to Fremonts
claim. He had granted leases on this
vein TO Commodore Stockton, and others
the representatives Of whom arrived
while the writer was there, but they
found the whole in the possession of
other parties. Wright. King and others,
who gave such glowing accounts of the
richness of the quartz rock, are severely
censured by the disappointed miners;
who were led to believe that there was
quartz rock enough in California, yield
ing l,50 to rs the pound, to load all
The ships in the world! But the average
product of the rich vein belonging to
Col. Fremont will not yield over five
cents to the pound, in the opinion of an
eminent Professor, who was engaged in
the Lake Superior copper mines, and
who has examined Fremont's vein.
The writer says: 81 saw more long
faces in my trip to the Southern ines,
than ever saw in my life, in the same
length Of time" "rhe emigrants are
arriving every day across the plains,
generally in good health, but much dis
appointed in the prospect for making
money. These is plenty of gold, but,
it requires the hardest kind OF work to
get it, and the expenses are heavy. The
climate is much better than | expected
To find. ST. Louis is well represented
here; cannot turn corner without run
ming against some one have seen be-
fore. Generally, very few intend ,o|
make permanent settlement IN this
country. mo. RepubIcan.