The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1859-06-25

result 1s72; soon after sold my two elai1s ~
$2l,0o0, the parties buying to pay me a3ter oeDl.
ing their expenses, al they take from the Slnl1
paid. since that time have been prospsssiaS ~
other parties ct about $500 Per dsy Hayo r. -
another lead on the opposite side Of ~ va11ay,
from which / washed out ia, out of Gnin6iD IN.
Some forty or nifty sluices oomms - nst
| yct In operation; bat the owncrs tn&de - AhaA
their fsprospecting" shows from 10 oonts q ox u
tho pan. AZ the "leads' are all found On the
hills, many Of the miners constructing trench.
- 70 carry water 70 them, instead Of building their
luicss in the ravncs and carrying the dirt thithsr
| In wagons or saGks. Many persons who have GENE
here without provisions or money, are compolled
to work - common laborors, Ut from 81 to q pr
day sndl board, until they can procure ms6ns e1
sustsnanoe for the time necessary to prospecting,
building sluicss, stc. Others, not hn1ing gold the
third day, or disliking the work necessary to OBJ
tanning it, leave the mines In disgust, after very
short trial, declaring there Ii gold here in pay
ing quantities. 1t should b remembered that the
discoveries made thus far the result OF but ave
weeks labor.
In nearly every instance the gold ID estimated
by the miners ~ worth $40 per ounce, which for
vAustion though this IL undoubtedly Of very great
purity. The reader can reduce the estimate II he
sees 1T. We have no data on which to aot in the
premises.
The wall rock ID generally shattered, 30 that the
vein-stone is readily taken ont with the pick and
shovel. In single instance only did We hear Of
wall-rock too hard for this.
OF the vein-stone, probably not more than ono
half is 50 decomposed that tho gold can b washed
from it. The residue OF the quartz il shoveled out
Cd hereafter. The miners estimate this equally rich
with that which has "rotted" 20 that the gold
may 20 washed from 1t; hence, that they realise,
- yet, but hall the gold dug BY them. This seems
probable, but it, truth remains to be tested.
It should Be borne in mind that, while the miners
here now labor under many disadvantages, which
must disappear with the growth Of their expert
enos and tho Improvements Of their now rude ma
chinery, they 1t the same time enjoy advantages
which cannot be retained indefinitely, nor render
cd universal. They are all working near small
mountain stream, which affords them an excellent
supply Of water for washing 1t very cheap rate
and, though such streams arc very common here,
the leads stretch over rugged hills and consider
able mountains, down which the vein-stone must
DO carried to water 1t serious cost. II does not
seem probable that the thousands Of claims AL
ready made or being made on these leads can be
worked 30 proftably in the average ~ those al
ready in operation. We hear already Of many who
have worked their claims for days (by panning)
without having "raised the color" ~ the phrase
is-that is without having found any gold what
ever. We presume Thousands are destined to en-
counter lasting and utter disappointment, quartz
veins which bear no gold being prominent fsA-
ture Of the geology Of all this region.
We cannot conclude this statement without pro-
testing most earnestly against renewal OF the in
fatuation which i'm PEELED Thousands TO rush TO this
region . month or two since, only to turn back be-
fore reaching 1t, TO hurry away Immediately A.
ter more hastily than they came. Gold mining
Ia business which eminently requires OF its votA-
ries capital, experience, endurance, and in which
the highest qualities do not always command sue
cess. Thee may be hundreds Of ravines in these
mou ntains a. rich in gold ~ that in which We
write, and there probably are many; but, mp TO
this hour we do not know that any such have been
discovered. There are said to b five thousand poo
pie already In this ravine, and hundreds moro pour
Ing into 1t daily. Tens Of Thousands more have
been passed by us our rapid journey To this
place, or heard Of their way hither by other
routes For all these, nearly every pound OF pro-
visions and supplies of every kind must De hauled
| by teams from the Missouri river, some TOO miles
distant over roads which are mere trails crossing
countless unbridged water courses, always steep
banked and often miry, and at times 20 swollen BY
rains ~ to be utterly impossible BY wagons. Part
Of this distance 10 desert yielding grass, wood
then very scantily. To attempt 70 cross this dcs-
ert on foot is dness-suicide-marder. To GROSS
it with teams in midsummer, when the water
| courses mainly dry, and the grass eaten up, il
possible only to those who know just whore to look
FOR grass and water, and whore water must be
ried along 70 preserve life. A few months hence
probably BY the middle of October-this whole Al
pine region will be showed under and frozen up,
to put stop to the working Of sluicee ii not 70
mining altogether. There then, for period Of at
least six months will be neither employ ment food
nor shelter within i've hundred miles for the thou
sands pressing hither under the delusion that goM
may be picked up here like pebbles the shore,
and that when they arrive here, even though with
out provisions or money, their fortunes are made.
Great disappointment, great suffering, are inevita-
bic; few escape the latter who arrive at Denver
City after September without ample means TO sup
port them in very dear country, 1t least through
long winter. We charge those who manage the
telegraph not TO diGuse : part Of our statement
without giving substantially tho whole; and we
beg the press generally to unite with NJ in warn
ing the whole people against another rush to these
gold mines, ~ ill-advsed that OF last spring.
rush sure to be followed like that by stampede,
but far more destructive Of property and life.
Respectfully,
HORACE GREELEY,
A. d. RICHARDSON,
HENRY VII.ARn