The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-02-19
From the Gold Mines.

From the Gold Mines.
A gentleman named Tut, having just re-
turned from a trip to Cherry Valley, furn-
ishes the st. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette with
some interesting items, which that paper
vouches for as being strictly correct
Tut left St. Joseph on the second day OF
last December, in company with Mr. Hook
aday, U. s. mail contractor, for the Salt Lake
Route, with whom he Travelled as far as
Fort Laramie. From Fort Laramie Mr..
Tut went to the mouth of Cherry Creek
He found a good, smooth level road between
those points, the distance being estimated at
$50 miles. At the mouth of Cherry Greek
he found two towns on the opposite banks.
The larger is called Auroria City, and con-
tains about 600 inhabitants. The other,
comprising about fifty residents, is called
Denver City. Both seemed to be thriving
little places. A joint stock company from
st. Louis were erecting about fifty new
houses in Auroria, for the use of anticipated
emigrants. They had already built about
$50 for the same purpose. All the valleys
of this neighborhood abound in fine pine
timber and luxuriant grasses. Above, are
two ranges of mountains, the one covered
with pine timber and the other bare and
capped with snow.
The streams between Cheyenne Pass and
Cherry Creek are-Box Alder Crow Creek
and its branches, Cache lie Poudre river, st.
Vrain's Forks, and Vasque's Forks, all of
which have been prospectod and found to
contain shot-gold. At the head of Cache lie
Poudre there is quicksilver. The country
already prospected and found to abound in
gold, reaches from Cheyenne Pass to Pike 8
Peak, seventy miles northwest and south
east, and $50 southwark. The streams
throughout this space are numerous, pure,
clear and never falling, with boulder bot
toms filled with shot gold. They are of
such great fall and rapid current that the
cheap process of dcequid, or ditching, an
swers as we'll as the more expensive plan OF
Tuning, found to be so necessary to success
full operations in California.
water-power saw-mill has been erected
on Vasque's Creek, which will be set run
ming this Spring Besides Auroria and
Denver City, several other villages Of some
note have sprung into existence, viz: Noun
tainia and Russelville, on Cherry Creek
ArrappaLoe City at the Mills, or Vasque's
and Arrappahoe town on Cache lie Poudre
The last named stream is the largest be-
tween Laramie and the South Fork of the
Platte 1t has, throughoutits whole extent
boulder bottom, containing shot gold
Goods are tolerably plenty. Provisions are
rather high. Mexican flour sells at So 81
per hundged pounds, and American at $lC
Bacon 40c. per pound; sugar and coffee 81
cents; potatoes So per bushel; Mexican
onions 25 cents piece whisky IS per gal
lon, or % cents per drink. Ponies sell a
from $l25 to 200 each. Cows are scarce
and would readily bring 500 each Dee
and antelopes are innumeraole and affor
fine sport and excellent food,
Major Tut states that all the valleys an,
hill sides contain scale or float gold, an
there is no question Of inexhaustible guam
titles of the lump or chunk gold in tn
sources from which they were thrown Q
washed. The facilities for mining are crud
and few, and yet the yield is several dollar
to the man per day.