The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1858-11-25

sns Editor the Missouri Democrat.
fav,ce to those who Contemu1ate
70 tne Mines in the Spring.
LAwRrscE, E. T., Nov. sth, 1858.
In former communication en-
aeavored to give you some satisfactory
of the unfavorable reports
mat mad been circulated in regard to
tne gold mines of the South Platte.
subsequent, and almost daily develon.
ments, have made any farther such ex-
Pianatlons useless. Since NV wr;t;ng
several persons have arrived from Salt If
Lake and other points, confirming what
have said, and bringing even better
reports. Last Friday several more of
the Lawrence Company arrived in this
PIace-Messrs. Edward French. w
N. Smith, f. G. Cobb, and some 9th.
ers. They bring large quantities of
gold with them, and report that the
miners are doing better than when I
LETT Their report is ten DAYS later
than mine. One messn with whom /
was well acquainted, had made from
"a to $40 each, every day since / left.
others are doing even better than that,
and all are doing better than at my
dates. There as no further question,
ds to the richness Of the mines, and i'm
the opinion of the most experienced of
cur men, zoe hdUe not yet found the
Average yield schich the country ,cill
9ford. Sections of the country are
kaoson to be richer than the one in
which they are now ut work, but they
cannot be completed till spring. The
miners are entirely East of the noun
tains, and near the base of spar of
the principal range. A party will be
formed to follow up the streams be-
yond the place where they emerge from
the mountains and into the "parks."
Here the main deposits of gold un-
doubtedly are, as the gold grows coars-
er and rounder," the further up we
go. / would here remark that I was
mainly induced to take the journey to
the mountains by the perusal of an ar
ticle published in the Democrat in the
spring of 1857, and another in the New
York Herald of about the same date,
in regard to the existence of gold in
the mountains, and / have recently
noticed another article in regard to the
resources of the San Juan range. /
know the range very well, and shall ex-
plore it next season. In this way
alone will the country be fully de-
veloped. Let the journals publish such
information as they can acquire, and
let the men who go to the mountains
go with determination to drive
through at all hazards, and something
will be accomplished. Men who are
apt to become discouraged by small OBJ
stacles will do well to stay at home
1t is now an established fact, that mer
of nerve can acquire a fortune if they
will. The papers of Leavenworth and
Kansas City are wrangling about the
comparative advantages of those two
places as Quitting posts. In reality
it makes but little difference to the EN-
igrant at which place he procures hi.
oltfit. l suppose prices are about tht
same at the two places, and the little
matter of thirty or forty miles travel j.
not much in journey of 600 miles
Let fortune seekers come on, and pur
chase their outfit wherever they can ge
it, and be on their way as early as til,
grass is up in the spring. Last spring
the grass would support stock as early
as the 10th of April. After leaving
the Missouri river the grass will grow
better every day by the Arkansa.
route, which is by far the best route
except for Iowa and Nebraska emf
grants. Let those who can afford i
take mules, and as the next best thing
take oxen. American horses are o
but very little account, they are no
able to endure the regimen of the plains
A due regard for safety will induce thu
formation, as far as possible, of com
panies, and these should not be les
than thirty men. Of course no sane
man will think of undertaking the jour
ney until spring, and before that time
information will be collected in som,
tangible form. w. B. PARSONS.