Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-09-14

Psss's Pssk CssssssssSssss.
PsseA D;wiss. DIeAdas f,e~ cssI o,.s
-Hsaseiiies--ZsIsv- 7ssssing - Peck
iao-Nes biscessriss - Cities -As yiest.
fare-Heelfh- 5zs great hsn6sg d;eginss
--AorsA and South n trip to head Of
Platte smd Colorado risers-A aoyd TO
those phc WILL come in the Spring
Dsxvsn Crry, K. 7, Aug %. SO.
In nv last / spoke Of an ore that
Vas discovered 10 the Nevada and
Gregory diggings which VAS supposed
to be silver. II has since then been an
allied and found to be sulphate ofiron:
The patch diggings are on top Of what
Was called Mount Opher. bot now
called Quartz Mountain. They are
very rich, in fact, believe the richest
yet discovered, but water is hard to
get. There is ditch company formed
to drain the water from Clear Creek
to the patch diggings, distance Of nine
/
or ten miles. In all probability the
ditch will not be completed until
spring.
The TunnelIipg Company lin which
our fellow citizens, A. II. Owens, with
his usual energy, is an active member)
had gone into operation, and report
says that the dirt is rich enough to
pay expenses. believe they obligate
themselves to 60 one mile and dyree to
90 three.
There is a great disparity in wages
here some men are paying five dol
lars per day, and some are getting
men for their board, but the majority
are paying one dollar per day and
board. A great many ale teaming
from Denver to the mountains, and
hauling dirt from the leads to the
water. The price Of hauling from
here to Gregory digglngs (45 miles, is
from $500 to $3.50 per hundred
Packing is done where teams cannot
go; mules, ponies and Spanish jacks
are chiefly used; American horses are
not so well adapted the charge is
about $500 per hundred for every 25
miles.
New discoveries are reported every
day among which are Pixies Peak, head
waters of Platte, Arkansas, Colorado,
Sweet Water, Santa Christie, Cache lie
Poudre, Rio Grand aud ella rivers.
Towns, cities and villages are very
numerous here hardly valley or
cavern mouth, but what "city
is springing up. Several pieces have
appeared in the papers about the ag
ricultural facilities of this country, in
which some have said that they can
not be beat but let some Of those wri-
tiers look now at the crops that have
grown in the bottoms the only land
here, that any sensible man will say is
fit for culture) cucumbers and
beans are pretty good, but cabbage is
lost labor 4; potatoes show no signs of
paying expenses. Corn is now about
two feet nigh; | have seen no small
grain yet. Sweet potatoes, | suppose
would do pretty well. On the up
lands it is all sand and gravel, too high
and far from water, and water too
scarce to irrigate it and then | can
not believe that it would yield to pay.
On the river and creek bottoms the
land is pretty rich, but it is SO damp
that it keeps the frost until late in the
spring, and takes it early in the fall,
which renders it vcrv sh ort season
for farming.
Health is very good in general, here
and in the mountains. The typhoid
fever did for a while prevail at the
Gregory diggings,under the name Of the
Mountain Fever, but it has somewhat
abated, owing, | believe to the rainy
season having passed. Four or five
weeks ago the South Park and Color
ado diggings were bowed up as pound
diggings. Hundreds upon hundreds,
and may cav thousands, FASTENED off
to-pade their $4,000 per day. Men
who had good diggings averaging from
$500 to $1,000 per day, con6scated
all and started only to find themselves
doomed to disappointment. l left
here on the 9Th inst, and after an alb
sence of twenty-eight days, haye re-
turned with the firm conviction that
| can do better in the Gregory Dig
gings, or thereabouts. In going to head
of Platte, we passed close by Pixies
Peak. Now tell you it makes the
water come to fellows eyes to stand
at the stream passing its base and
look up at the Peak. On Fontainqu;
Boville, the stream at the base, are two
soda springs which makes it more de-
sirable as q visiting place. We tried
some Of the water in making bread and
it made it as light and beautiful As can
be made. 1t is fully 200 miles from