The Kanzas news., 1859-06-25
Correspondence Leavenworth Times
Highly Encouraging from the Mines
Denver CRY. June 1st. 1889

that reports of rich discoveries in the val.
ley of the North Fork, OF Vasquer's Fork,
of the South Platte. had reached this city,
and that ] contemplated trip to the alleged
gold fields. for the purpose of investiga-
ting the matter. have Just returned from
this mountain tour, and the following en-
braces its fruits:
On or about the 4th ult., Mr. J. II. Gre
CORY. from Gordon County, Georgia, start
ed with party of seven. with vieu to q
thorough exploration of the northern tribu-
taries of Vasquer or Clear Greek. On the
9th ult. they struck what has since been
called Quartz Greek, at point about thir-
iy mile due west of this point, and pro-
ceeded to handle their pans and shovels.
At point about three hundred feet above
the right bank of said creek, on the north
side of an extremely steep hill, Mr.. Grego-
ry gathered pan of surface dirt, took i!
down to the water, and was rewarded for
the washing of it By four dollars worth OF
fine dust. This, of course, stimulated him
and company to vigorous and extensive
prospecting, which resulted in the striking
of a bed of sand, amidst bed of partly rot
ten and partly burnt quartz, that was found
to yield from S5 to 80 to the pan. The
lead WIS traced over the m untain, by dint
of layers Of burnt quar- tz, which were found
on the surface in northeasterlY and south
westerly direction, and every member OF
that party at once took up claims. At that
time snow and ice were yet plentiful in the
valley, and for several days the working OF
the leads had to be delayed in consequence
of the continued blockade of the creek by
ice. None of the claims made on the lead
discovered bv Mr.. Gregory-from whom
the diggings at once took the name-had
been worked more than six days, and yet
the yields enumerated below have been OBJ
tanned.
The news of the striking of this rich
lead soon reached this and adjoining towns,
and various prospecting parties set out.
which succeeded in discovering number
of additional Ieads-the yielding of which
l also give below.
During the last ten days perfect stam-
pede has taken place from this locality, in
the direction of the Gregory diggings, and
five thousand men are, undoubtedly, exam
lining at the present moment the bowels of
Mother Earth, in that vicinity. New veins
are struck almost every day, but on account
of the local obstacles in the way of rocks,
rich growth of timber and steepness of the
mountain sides along which the leads run.
etc., it will take some time before they will
be. in fact, in working order. All that has
been done is comprised in the following:
]. H. Gregory worked his claim five
days. and took out 81, 100.
William s. Day, John w Zeigler, Charles
NJ. Zeigler. David P. Spain. Archibald De-
fress, Wilkinson Defrees and William Chess.
all formerly of South Bend, Indiana. form
ed the party that accompanied Gregory.
and had all taken claims on the latter's
lead. The four first mentioned commenc-
ed working their claims on the 25th ult.
and took out on Wednesday. 25th. 1895
Thursday, 26th, $3.50; Friday. 9th. S495
Saturday, 98th, S34O, which shows an ao-
gregate result of four days work, amount
ing to 81 $50 The three last mentioned
worked their claims jointly FIVE days, du-
ring which they realized S1,1
w. II. Bates, formerly of Dubuque
Iowa, w. S. Foster, of Council Bluffs, and
Charles flasher, of Wisconsin, prospected
together and struck a lead on the side of 6
mountain, right opposite to that on which
the Gregory lead is located, which yields
them on an average, SIS to the pan.
Marshall Cox and brothers work lead
on the same side of the creek, not far from
the last described, with about the same re-
suits.
DR.. D. B. Casio and W. T. Kendall, both
from Butler county, Indiana, and James
Hunter, from Illinois. have worked lead
not far from the Gregory claim, with an av.
erage result of 500 per day.
In the above the first and most favorable
stratas are enumerated. In considering the
yields of these leads, however, it must mol
be forgotten that but one of the Indians
parties has had sluices to work with, while
all others worked simply with ordinary
pans, in consequence of the impossibility
of procuring lumber; which want, of course
caused great waste of the extremely small
particles of which the gold found along
Cherry Greek consists. And again, il
must be remembered that all the owners ot
the different leads were thus far obliged tc
pack their dirt in sacks on their own shoul-
ders from height Of several hundred feet
to the water, which Inconvenience natural
ly impedes their working and greatly redu-
ces the daily yields.
Most of the gold mentioned in the above a;
having been taken out, have seen with my
own eyes and held in my own hands. Al
together / know of about So, 600 worth tc
to be in the possession of different indiyid
uals, all of which was taken out within &
week. AS soon as the required sluices car
be had, the daily yield of the leads thus fal
struck will certainly exceed So, 900.
The gold is of the species known by tht
name of quartz gold. The leads of sane
are, as already stated, surrounded by beds
of rotten and bursled quartz, from which
the gold settled in the sand by virtue of it:
specific gravity. Il is so fine that it is diff.
icult tc perceive with the naked eye. wher
mixed with the dirt. It has to be collected
with quicksilver.
Mr.. Martin Field, the head of the mai
department of the Express Company, visit