The Nevada Democrat., 1858-06-09
Tha Frazer River Mines.

FTdLeE river mines. he WTlteS lTOIu COIt I1Op~
Frazer river, May lIth. and was then within
ten miles of the hrst gold fields where the mi
hers were at work. He had much difficulty in
getting that far up the river, the Indians being
saucy and troublesome and demanding high
prices for their services in working the canoes
which services, however, cannot be dispensed
with, as they, and they alone, know every eddy
and current in it.
On the 7th of May, he conversed with Charles
Adams, from Fort Yule, who, it is said, is the
first white man that worked in the mines. He
had been $50 miles up the river, and the fur
ther he went, the richer he found it.
At Fort Hope, there are rich diggings on ev.
cry bar, and the color oan be found everywhere.
AT the Fort he saw plenty of Indians who are
constantly arriving with bags of gold Of four to
twelve ounces each. The gold is fne, and the
Hudson Bay Company pay SIC an ounce for It..
At the diggings ten miles above Fort Hope.
where he arrived on the day in which he writes
there are about forty miners at work, two OF
whom on that morning, took out four ounces
for half days work. At Fort Hope, flour was
selling for S45 per barrel, and at Fort Yale,
twenty miles further up, 1t was worth 81 so per
pound.
'Sailor Diggings is some eight miles above
Fort Yale, and is paying rich. The proof is,
that not one man who has got up here, has any
thoughts OF returning. have not met one yet
he says, save some going dewn for provisions,
etc. Every canoe load of Indians we met show
ed us their bags of dust; aud Mr.. Walker in
formed me that he knew of Indians getting $l00
in twelve hours from the bars when the river
was very low. From Fort Langley here, the
river was lined with mountains, some 2 1000 feet
high, oil giving down their rushing streams of
water from the snow-whioh, however, appears
not to be very considerable, the past winter
having been, / am told, very mild. In about
two months, there will be suoh harvest reaped
here as, perhaps, California never saw. 1t is
Impossible to get more than twenty-five miles
from here, the river narrowing down to rocky
canons, over which nothing can be packed and
no canoe can be got through.
John T. Glnnon, writing from Hills Bar
Frazer river, under date of May sth, says:
awe can make So or So per day, but If we
had quicksilver, we could mako $40 or $12. and
! in about three months time, old miners say that
they can take out $50 to 500 to the hand.
am in a company of six, and think, we will stay
here some time. We cannot get any provisions
up here-all VIC have is fish, -four and coffee.
This is poor living, but it can't be helped at
present"
A Swede, who left San Francisco On the first
excitement, writing from Fort Hope, May 9Th,
says
ITO morrow we leave for Fort Yale, the head
of navigation, about 20 miles from here; from
there we will yet have l40 miles of hard travel
On account of the snow melting, the river ID
very high, and not before two months will the
real mining commence. At present, we cannot
expect TO make more than living-but that
the mines are good, all agree. What makes il
hard just now, is that there is No provisions in
| the mines. We have not been able to get NOR,
| the un0nihia OV,lx. and how will thoi
continue to live, God only knows, but VIC hop
for the best"
An old California miner who has claim neal
DOwnieville, left on the Sth of March, for Fra
zer River, and returned on the Commodore on
Sunday. He informs the Alta that he reached
Mormon Bar near the junction of Frazer and
! Thompson rivers, where he found twenty men
at work, making 81 to SIS o day each. He wen
across the river and washed out two or three
dollars day. He met two or three men who
had worked all winter between Fort Yale and
Thompson river, and who made $500 each. II,
is satisfied that the mines will pay - to SIS G
day to the hand, and while there might be bet
ter diggngs, he had not seen them. The water
being too high to permit miners to work to ad
vantage he returned to California, but intend
to leave again for Frazer River about the Is
of August, when he expects the water will b,
low enough to permit bars to be worked.
From letters published in the same paper, We
make the following extracts:
A German at Victoria. has very recently re-
turned from the mines, who states that he wal
$50 miles beyond the first falls on Frazer river
with pan he washed out two ounces oHe day
and three ounces the next, when the Indian
drove him Off Farther down the river he work
ed one day, making $l8, but the river risin
rapidly he had to leave.
1t is generally understood here [Vict0ria
that there is not much to be made in the mine
at present. as the best dggings are On the rive
bars, which cannot be worked for some months
and the difficulty of taking provisions to tn
mines makes it very expensive living there. an
at present the traders make all the money.
doubt much if the best diggings be got at b'
fore August and then there will be larp
amount of gold taken out and as supplies wi
be abundant in the mines, many will do well.
Numbers arc mining about 10 or Is mill
above Fort Yale, (said fort is some 80 mil'
above Fort Hope,) and are making from So
SIG day. The river is utterly impossible b
yond there.
S. Friedman, formerly of San Francisco, an
at one time a resident of Columbia, Tuolumn
county, who is now at Whatcom, or BellinghaI
Bay, says:
He has seen various persons lately from tn
mines, whence they have been driven for th
want Of provisions. All Of them report favo
ably of the dggings, and he himself is Statistic
that the mines are az rich, and that the imm
grafton will be as large, as in California. n
work is to be had on the Sound, and peep
coming up there without money run the risk
starvation,
Another, writing from Whatcom, says
The miners waiting here, are starving, ha
ing nothing to do, nor oan they get anything
do, besides being unable to get to the mines u
til the trail is cut through, which will be
about two weeks, when l would advise ever
body to come, no matter how many, as Il
mines are rich beyond calculation. / have seC
the gold brought down by miners who haV
been obliged to leave the diggings for want
provisions
Experience by working In the mines Of Cal
fOrnia, during the space of eight years, enabl
me to say that there is no doubt but that Il
new mines are very rich, and very extensive.