New-York daily tribune., 1858-08-18
colpDNslyG ~ MINNESOTA.
ts1,r5,ss.s.. II r,H 2. f:iSsr~

GR,tr COUNTY, Wis., Aug. L., Ioos.
H..ri,g rs2orS Of oi;eveEe' Of soid . 'A''o''
parts OF Isx,, I determined 70 90 so1 see 10Y
pJ,elf, snd for RAT purpose iei; my h'ms u o'A'.
County. IN COMPANY With friend, On inc ZV'a o'
jury last. We travelled Ieisureiy BY our own coz
r.yADce aud visited several locali.i.s n Iowa el'
fond 10 goh. While .hsre We eeSrd rem ma1y
credible sources .ha. gold hii been discOTered n
cOpsderaele quantities at and near Orinoe), ~h'c1
ia a village ON the Zumbro River Formerly Wasi
Oul. in Olmsted County, Minnesota. We fOrth-
with started FOX hlt place, AID arrived there oa
July %.
The chiei direi1gs are. 4 present, asolt four
miles north OF the pltce on tne banks OF toe Huih-
bro. We found fsOm 200 10 400 men prospecting,
or on the Companies ground, WORKING on the ma
cbinery for washing out the gold There are tSo
Cenpsnies gbo have nearly completed thelr works.
They style themselves the orinoco ard the Eureka
Mining Companies. They have built two large
wheels for the purpose OF raising the water oi tue
river into .luces One siuice OF 400 feet length,
in now con pete, and the Company expect . com
mence washing the present week, # their qlck-
.yer arrives.
Claims are s.aSed ou,, and piece of ground -
feet in width and 500 feet iODe, IS assigned TO each
man. Tie grOlndrent is hye per cent OF the gold
diter tLe expenses Oi Alc Fiu WV
of the earnings. \ space OF about 500 rods along
the river is now mostly claimed. Maers must
work ~ least one day in a week 70 keep their claims
good Below these. is another Company preparing
Tor work on what is called Wh,pple's Bar. Most Of
the miners are waiting 70 see the success 0i TIE
Companies before erecting wheels and sluces for
themseiyes or buying water
The bed rock of the river = red sandstone. Up
on H. about twenty feet above the level of the water,
fS -. m ~
constitutes lie main part OF the bluffs. The whole
surface Of the coultry IL covered VIZ drit sand,
pebbles and large granite powders. The gold ap-
pears TO be originally found IN a layer of rsdftSk
sand Of vhich there IS a layer OF varying thickness
spread over large extent OF country. This sand
il a.o found in large, lone drifts, often OF many
feet in depth generally running 10 the NORTH of ives.
and south of east. The line Of powders also ap-
pears 20 run in the same direction.
The deposit on which these companies are work
ing il from eight 10 ten rods ia width, where cut
through by the ZumbrO, twenty feet high above
the water and at least six feet below. What s It's
length ia not yet sscertaned, though some think
they have traced il tor half a mile. Every bushel
OF this appears 10 contain tile tine geld. 10 Is
unlyersaIly believed that the bedrock cOarso
gold viii be found. We washed panflls Of sand
from The surface and foot or tGO below. and found
every one of them To- contain little fine gold.
saw pans washed which produced from fifteen to
twenty cents worth, but did not think il safe 10
estimate the top sand az more than five cents
bushel, or : l)ad. Some streaks are richer than
Others and some persons have washed out as high a.
81 per day, but 1t Is impossible TO separate the
ine gold without quicksilver, they have gwen over
for the present. The companies claim that WIN
their sluces, and With quicksilver, they can wash
and extract the gold from ten wagon-loads Of sand
for each man employed, and tits would yield then
at least ; 10 apiece per day.
The largest pieces found in th. neighborhood are
worth near dollar, and from that down. The
river sand and bars appear tc be- equally prolific of
gold, and there are many old channels of t. liver
filed with sand from 10 to 30 feet deep, through
which tie gold appears to be equally disseminated.
There is enough at any rate IN this locality to give
employment to Thousands of persons for many years,
and have no doubt will afford moderate and regu-
lar wages. The cold II found eyerywhere-ol the
tops OF bluffs, the praires. and on the low lands
and river bottoms. Wherever they sink wells the
Gravel and sand afford gold. Lite ally the Q IS
difiIised that you scarce take mp pan of
earth beneath the soil, and not ind few particles
Of gold.
~ this gold came with The drift we may reason.
ably suppose that the coarser gold was dropped ere
it reached this place. Consequently We may look
northwest for the cCarser gold One thing is evi.
dent the gold was not produced where it is found.
Tie quartz, whose dsintegra,iOn released the gold,
must be sOught for in another countTy, probably in
the Lake Superior formation, or wet oft
Whether 1t be for good or evil. | cannot doubt
hat Minnesota vii produce gold in arge quantities
perhaps inexhaustibIr. Though .he yield is bur
-mall, water is plenty and the sand easily washed.
To those who are desirous of seeking gold, would
say that Minnesota is much nearer than Fr ser
River or California and offers much surer induce.
meLts. Provisions are cheap, lumber penty, and
for trife you can go from Galena, Prairie du
Chen, or La Crosse to Lake City on Lake Pepn,
where you viii be within few miles of ,le
diggings. J..