Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1859-08-19
c.
ours
MOUNTAIN CRY X. T, July 10th, ;,

Dear Sir-Sitting upon the ground, with
"gold pan" upon my knees for table, write
this. Before leaving the East, was importuned
by my friends to write communication for your
paper. Without any attempt at rhetorical -four
ishcs, will give few incidents of Q ur trip here
and some facts in regard to this region which may
be of interes. to your readers. In shipping on
board the steamer at La Sale, our wagon with
our entire outfit dumped into the "wet water
Of the river The owners Of the boat however,
duplicated our stock throu ghout at St. louis,
We left Leayenworth X. T. on the Express route
(which has since been abandoned1 the Sd of May.
Those that induced to GO on this route by the
misrepresentation of Leavenworth parties, were
badly swindle1. We were forty-iour days in get
ing to Denver City, after various breakdowns and
mishaps. 4 relation Of what we saw and expert
enced upon the Plains, would fill pa ges but as it
would be tressPassing upon your patience to pub
fish the same. and as have not time refrain.
l will content myself by saying, that We had n
''hard time generally- in the shape of going thr-
ty-six hours without water, and when We did find
it'll was most dthy and impregnatcd with alkali
and ais trouble with Indians, &c. &c.
l was disappointed in the appearance of the CT
les Of Denver and Avena-they are pleasantly sit
uated on an uniula;ing plain, with Cherry Creek
running between, it not for the fact that
the houses are all built Of logs, you lni ght
immaginc yourself in small thriving cities
in the States. They have tim, great engine
for good, evil, the pres, and nearly all the
other concomitants of civilization. siepcd into
the Denver House in company With Judge Smith
with whom l was formerly acquainted in
Mane.l In the front room or Office a mike /
crowd Of Yankees, Spanards, Mountainocrs and
Indians Occupying prominent place Vas the in
dcspeusj ble "bar' where. bad wbiskeys sold read
lily for tventy five cents per glass. In one corner
man was keeping bank; the bills Of which |
hardly think would pass current at the East; said
bank bore the name OF Tavo. In another corner
that old California game Of French monte was
in full blast In other parts Of the room, other
gambling games in progress. Here men
were betting and parting with their hundreds Of
dollars. in many instances no doubt hardly earned
You see Denver ia head of your time.
Twelve miles West at the poin. where
mence to ascend the Rocky Mountains is Soldcn
City, located upon Clear creek. a fine stream af-
iording all the water power needed. This place
no doubt will be the point Tor trade with the
mountains.
The view Of the mount sins from Denver and on
until We reached them, and also in passing
up through them for thirty miles 10 this place is
grand never before did fully realize TIE insult.
cheney Of language to convey impressions rcceiy-
eo from the contemplation of truly sublime Scene
Ga paper will not be foolish enough 20 attempt
a description at tina. -shieh no mortal is able to
give.
OF the mines, most Of your readers will be the
most anxious to hear. will sry to give just
Fcpor, Of tdem. As my particular friend, Judge
Tuck often says; Il will premise by saying
that the stories It'd and circulated by ,hr means
of bogus letters, written ard printed last winter
from Denver and visinity were base anf unm,iga-
cd falsehoods. In all the diggins asou, pen-er.
they never got more than'the color An, ing seme
of those that arrived early in the spring at Dene-
yer, was Capt. Valentine and Bowen from la Sale
Ill. They with others concluded that there asst
be rich deposit Of gold in the mountains. In
April when ice bound the ST. cams, and snow GOV.
almost "untfoden wild" into the solitude Of the
Rocky Mountains aud pTo.pectcd for Gold amid
her deep cayons and her high and rugged hills.
The enterprise successful. Gold has been
found over large of country. This gold
field is different from any yet discovered. The
surface diggings are Of not much account. Some
few gulehes are found that pay we'll. The bulk Of
he gold in
decomposed or rotten quartz, running in re yular
veins OF one to five feet in width, from northeast
to southwest, between perpendicular walls Of
shattered granite.
The decomposed quartz is taken gu, and washed
as dirt and the hard is laid aside to be ground
whenever a crushing machine shall have been ob
TIMED, (Which will be soon) Some of these leads
are very rich, some slniecs have turned GU, over
$1,000 per day. Thi. is not so good region for
general mining as California. 1t will take eapi
tai to dcye!oPe the gold here, to be employed in
putting + quartz mills and tunnelling the hill..-
Some OF these claims loo 80 here have been sold
for $1,000, and even as high as Sal 600. Our
company here made claims upon a rich lead Zeal
led thu virginia. which We Of course hope may
be as rich the richest
Late reports from those who have returned from
the interior mountains 60 to show plainly the fact
that next year there will be room enough for the
thousands that may yet come.
No doubt you have seen the report made ~
Horace Greeley. who has visited the minas. which
report Is very favorable | know Sir g. wrote
thls report, from the fact be told me So I saw
him before crossing the plains, and IN conversa-
ton he gave me TO understand that he feared il
was hunbug of the worst kind, but that he hon
eu IL might all turn out well for the thousands
golnS-oy the finding of rich gins in the noun
talns. had the pleasure of seeing Mr. G. upon
my arrival at Denver. He had seen the newly dis
coveted mines in the mountains and he was hope
iull as to the final result. When that hard SHELF
conservative Horace Greedy gives in to an idea he
has formerly opposed it is time for all to do the
same, Tor he is safe counsellor, being extremely
cautious in his conclusions
To those who think Of coming here wonId saw
wait until next spring, then you can come un-
derstandingly and fully prepared. None here are
furnished with suitable implements for mining.
from the fact that they obliged to mine in rock
instead OF the aluviums they had been led to
suppose. Drills, Ciowbars, powder, fuse &c, are
the great needs here; Another year will show the
thing as 1t really is. The capital and labor can
then obtain suitable return
My space warns me that for a fifty cent letter
even must be brief By "hocus poeus7 ar
rangement they make us pay this price for let
ter ana twenty Is for paper, but measures
nave been taken to right the thing.
Thousands have turned back upon the plains
without ever having gone through, and many Of
Of these represent that they have seen "the Ele.
plant, when they even had not courage enough
to get sight of his tail Rraye hovs snraly 70,