The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-07-16
From the Gold Mines
Letter .rsa cur speci,i cosrssp0ndsas'
". H. KNSMAN, ESQ,
.u.. . .os MAkLIxSPIKE."


h,.,Ie. in from, Of our brush house, with
7 fiddle box for q writing desk, / take the
/. top o the morning" to send you greeting
and break the ice for q mountain cores
pondeuee. Away up here among the "s'ef-
.. nal hills With massive piles OF rock. and
waving pines, and deep ravines, around me-
and the snox-capped mountains in the back
ground, looming Up in the distance like
giant, in ghos,ly drapery, am perfectly al
home, and suppose l take about as much
endowment rs commonly falls to the LOT OF
ram bling bachelor morsals. You have ere
this, been startled by rumors Of immense
deposits Of gold in this region, and before
this reaches you, you will have probably
published my Auraria letter of she4'h inst.
l think il very probable that some Of your
readers who don't knov me, will say at
once on reading that letter that ! have
been bought. fear no such suspicion from
those who do know me, and | hope " in the
course of human events" to gain the comb
dence Of the others. an still satisfied
that some Of the claims here are paying
largely and tina. there are immense quanti-
ties Of gold in these decomposed quartz
leads, bu. there is certainly more difficulty
10 striking paving leads than was a, first ap-
pretended. Many Of the miners estimate
that there are Eve thousand men now pros
pec,ing in this region. think that there
are at least half that number, and, Of all
that have entered the mountains to look for
gold, probably not more than one hundred
have yet found anything to pay. This looks
discourasing, but bear in mind that only
Eve weeks ago tomorrow the FIRST lead was
struck, and remember, also, that the great
mass Of these prospectors have como in with
in two weeks; that the country is entirely
different from any other gold region ever
known, and consequently that only very
few are anything like adopts in the art of
finding the precious stuff, aud they are chief
ly men who have been here from the begin
ing, and tramped over these hills almost
every day since the first discovery; and all
the RESI-, although they may be /" we'll post
ed in their various ca!!.ngs at home, are
perfect green horns in bunting gold out
here. True, some Of these green horns
may accidentally strike rich lead, bu, it ia
generally purely accidental, unless they
g drift for it, which few have the patience
! and perseverance, to do. said they are all
srcenhorns-they uere, but of course those
who keep their eyes open are learning every
day, and they who would find gold in these
mountains mus. be willing to learn how
OF course, it will take some longer than 9TH
ers to learn, and some will never learn; but
SO i, i, in all trades and professions. When
the reports from here rsacl the States,
some OF your readers may wish to come on
and try their luck this summer. To all such
| would say, wait till next spring-the sum-
mer here is very short, and if you come now
You viii! have little time to do any thing
there is room enough for you, it is the opin-
ION OF many, that the gold is not confined
to an area Of one or two hundred SQUIRE
miles, but that it extends through the entire
chain. 1t is no. SO easily found and gath
cred AS corn and wheat are sown and har.
vested, and men who come here to dig gold
must make up their minds to take things
rough and tumble" and work very hard,
and they should bring enough provisions or
money with them to last them all summer.
We had distinguished arrival night before
last; HORACE GREELEY, en- route for the Pa
c'hc' called up to see US. lie spent yestcr
day in visiting the claims and sluices. get
ting statistics for the Tribune. saw one
man offer him very pretty specimen of
gold, which he woul no, accept, as he said
he d'd not come out here to beg gold. Last
night, at ! O'Clock, he addressed the miners. !
When he took the stage, three cheers from
the assembled multitude made the rocks and |
the CLUTCHES ring, and no dpub. Horace felt
that he was welcome to our mountain home,
ana mountain Injuries. lie spoke Of the
mines, said tina: he thought the richest de- |
posits would be found a. the base Of tho
highest range. Ills theory was, that when
these mountains were heaved up, the mos,
precious things came from the deepest parts
OF the earth. lie encouraged the miners to
persevere, and warned them against the ex.
cesses peculiarly incident to life Of 80
muon exc temeu' as gold mining. lie told
'hem that when the gamblers came pourino
IN among them, they had better notify them
to leave, and if they would lot take the hint
then they might furnish them with mule
10 ride out, never to return. thought he
was very accommodating to these fa,hiona-
bic robbers, and 1t occurred to me tina, tho
anterior extremity Of a cowhide.boot iudic.
lousIy applied. would be better than mule.
lie eads them beware Of strong drink said
he should not argue the case with than
whether or not it is erer beneficial The had
his own opinion on that point. bu, he knew
II they drank little they would be likeIv
to drink too much. He appealed to their
nooier feelings, spoke of fathers and mothers
brothers and sisters, wires and children NJ |
nome, who were anxious for their welf,-.
ana many strong heat thr, bed ouicks,
ana many tear stole uubidden down the
oronaed checks of sturdy men, as he told
them that, although far away from loved
ones, he hoped they would still be restrain
60 and guided BY the sacred influences of
home. lie spoke Of the new Stats which
Will spring into existence here, il the ro]d
mines prove to be all that i. now exp.etsd.
ne said territory was something be never
hked-i' was neither The one thing nor the |
Other lie spoke cheerinsly Of the pro.pec,
Tor Pacific Railroad, aud said be intended
to stir up the people on the subject. for
words to that eHecs.) lie wore the fsmau.
Old Write coat" looked abou, a. careless,
- toe papers generally represent him to he
and spoke pleasantly aud earnestly. When
M .zl u.