New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-10-25
ROY THE PIXIES PEAK GOLD REGIONS
LIE PRESENT CONDITION OF GREGoRY's
DIGGINGS
DEVELOPMENT OF ADJOINING MINING DISTRICTS.
n~vsspspSsnee u Tho N. Y. Tnbuns

S~s.spsuSsuee u Tho N. Y. Tnbune.
GREGORY's DIGGISGs, Oct. 3, 1879.
A little over four months ago stood in this val
10y, watching the eager efforts Of few dozen indi-
vidusls in robbing the mountain aides OF their de-
Dosits Of precious by dnt Of picks, shove' and
paAs. A week after that, Thousands Of gold-hunt
srs throneed tho narrow bottom Of the valley, aud
tarrowed the rnsjestic pine covered mountains that
surrounded it a. with all but impsssable walls, 10
every possible direction. All were then moved
With fervent hopes. All expected full realization
Of their golden dreams from the nbospitabe local
Nv. But, alas. the great majority were doomed TO
1ig but graves for their expectations Ere many
weeks had passed from the time Of the invssi IN OF
the Gregory Valley by the bulk Of this years. Pixies
Peak immigration, hundreds, nay, Thousands, were
seen vending once more their wofal way, in utter
disappointment, over the vast desert that separates
the Rocky Mountains from the outposts Of Eastern
civilization on the Missouri River. The second
stampede, although by no means as disastrous and
frassbt with pryatioD and suffering the frat one,
WAS hardly less significant in numbers. steady
sniux took place from the middle Of June TO the
middle Of Aue1,t, and the thousands were reduced
by IT to hundreds. At the present moment hardly
-
The Summer remains 10 the Gregory Valley, and the
vivid recollection Of the active lively picturesque
scenes of those days causes it's appearance, at the
time Of this writing, TO produce an Impression OF
solitude and desertiOn.
The ocular evidence that surrounds me is, in
deed, sufficient to call forth a conviction that
great change has taken place in this already far
FAMED ravine since the memo able day on which
Mr. Greeley paid il visit and that the change eI-
tends not only TO the number Of the miners, but
also to the character Of the mines.
On or about the 18th Of June last there were at
least three hundred sluces in full operation along
side the narrow but swift and turbulent brook that
travertes the valley from the west TO the east
6One fifty quartz veins bad been opeoed and made
70 Weld over ten thousand dollars worth Of -four
gold Der day. by the action Of the former. town
containing hundreds Of log cabins was rapidly
sSrpeipg up, and able to boast Of stores,
. saw-min blacksmith shop, post ,fice, and oIher
Incidents Of the early stages of Western town life.
A good road superseded the awful combination Of
APPS and downs by which the e. d-seeking multi
tado first reached the Gregory Valley bitches for
conducting the water were dog; slides, for trans
porting the decomposed quartz frem the often dis
liant claims to the water, coDstructed; shafts sunk
to depth of from thirty to sixty feet; IN fine all
the symptoms Of successful pursuit OF the mining
bssiness were perceptble.
Different from the above is, however, the aspect
1he Gregory DiggDgs bear to-day. The number OF
aluices now in operation hardly exceeds twenty
I've. At least 0ne-haf of the log cabins erected
during the month Of June are vacant But few
railways are used to facilitate the transportation OF
the pay dirt; but few of the numerous shafts, with
their windasses, ladders pumps etc, resound
with the noise of the pick aud the detonatons OF
bastiDg TO be short, the Indications of reaction
apparently to the worse become visible wherever
the eye is turned
I deem it most likely that the above uncolored
Il afch ~ tha nj o.
giDgs VIII produce u knowing shaking OF the sev-
era cranls Of the Omnscent wisescres OF the East,
who have long ago made up their respective minds
that Pixies Peak" is but the huge monument OF
gigantic swindle and grand public delusion. They
Will probably perceive in the above confirm atom
Of the exaggerated stories of disappointed Pixies
PeakeTs. They will cOnstrue it into q confession
on the part of the writer Of these lines OF the ex-
p}osion of hat they have always considered as
bubble devoid Of all substance and reality. For
their enlightenment / subjoin the following expla
nations, which will prove sufficient trust to the
intelligent and rejecting public of The TRIBUNE
and perhaps even to the benigbted skeptics above
alluded TO.
1t will be reeoected that in most OF the reports
on and the letters descriptive OF the character oil
the Gregory Mines alusion was made to the fact
that all Of the paying quartz leads contain so called
crevices or pockets filled with quartz IN 80 advanced
a state of decomposition as 10 be nearly pulverized.
n "pay dirt" and furnishes the material for suie-
ing operations. The creyices or pockets consist oil
vein-hke concayities, running leogthWse through
the leads and varying in width from a few inches
10 several fact They are walled IN on all SIDES BY
cold quartz. The pTegnsti0n OF the hllng OF toe
pockets with quartz or fOu gold, arises, according
TO frequently advanced theory, from toe gradual
decomposition Of the solid Enclosures OF the creyces
and the dropping, of the disconnected gold ln-
10 the latter by dint Of its specific gravity. This
theory s borne out by the character OF the quartz
forming the crevices. 1t consists regularly OF
combination Of ceues, closely resembling those of
honey combs. From this similarity it has also
been designated by the miners as Honey comb
quartz" The ceNules are universally considered
ss the former places Of deposit of the gold found
in the "psy.dirt"
For two months after the discovery Of the quartz
mines in the Gregory Valley, most OF the opened
lads were found 10 cOntanveiDs OF pay dirt.
The latter proved, in most instances, to be OF
rcbpe,s that fairly outshone the richness of every
other quartz country on the globe. Single pans of
dirt yielded, BY the simple ana imperfect process OF
washing. from 81 10 sis worth Of dust. The
writer himself has obtained on several occasions
Yields amounting TO from 81 10 So worth of dust
per pan. No quartz vein in California could ever
show up Yields of like richness. As soon as the
primitive banning had been superseded BY suicing.
the enormous wages that caused such excitement
and sheptlcsm in the East commenced being made
by the owners Of the numerous rich claims that
were opened and worked in the early part of June
that s, at the time Of MIR. Greeley's visit. Five
kundred pennywGghts per day was then, indeed,
no uncommon Weld. Had the gold crop Of the
Gregory Valley continued to be as plentiful up TO
this hour as if was during that era of uoexsmpled
prosperity its aggregate value would undoubtedly
have exceeded several millions.