The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1859-01-20


or,ssar Pixies Peak, seems, notwithstan-
ding previous experiences, to have been
greedily swallowed by credulous people,
and hundreds, aye, thousands, are al
ready making every effort to leave their
present homes, and venture in search of
the yellow treasures. The exodus from
the Western States already promises to
exceed anything heretofore heard of in
the history of emigration. Every paper
that we pick up informs us of scores of
their neighbors and friends who design
10 leave in the spring for the new Ell Do
RADIO, until it seems as if the whole west
had determined TO transport itself a
thousand miles further onward towards
the setting Sun. 1t has been deemed a
fair estimate to put down the number of
those who will seek the new land of gold
en- promise at fifty thousand, and Con-
gress has already under consideration a
proposition to give them the advantages
and dignity of a separate sovereignty
To this end, CoLFAx, of Indiana, has in
uoduced into the House, bill to estab-
fish the Territorial government Of Colo
IA.
1t seems TO us, that in view of past
experiences, men would be less chary Of
believing and acting upon first reports
in regard to such matters. A few
months ago, California lost very APP
preciable portion of her population
through similar excitement. Miners
with claims worth several dollars day,
sold them for song, or left them un-
tremendously. Premiums were offered
fer berths in the several steamers which
left for Frazers River, and sailing vessel
after sailing vessel carried sanguine hun
dveds northward to the dominions of
Her Majesty. Glowing accounts of
nuggets of magnitude being found-of
fortunes made with unparalleled rapidity
filled every journal on the Pacific
slope, and it only seemed necessary to
secure a passage for Frazer to make one
wealthy man. But soon there came
fcvulsion. Letters from the mines, Cor
where the mines were supposed to be)
placed different face upon the matter.
Gold was deposited in the alluvial form
alton, that was certain, but not in guam
titles to pay the trouble and expense of
washing. Still, the trouble was, for a
time, attributed to the swollen state of
the streams. When the water should 90
down, there was no shadow of doubt
but that the bars that were known to
exist in the river, would be found rich
in auriterous deposits. Well the
water finally fell, exposing these sup
posed places of deposit, but, though
gold WIS found. as expected, it failed to
exist in quantities sufficient 10 promise
more than meagre returns. Provisions
we're at almost fabulous prices, and diff
iicult to procure at any cost, and the
end was, that in month or two the cur
rent q emigration from, was as great as
it was 10, that locality, and petition
has been sent to Congress asking an
appropriation for the purpose of bring
ing back to San Francisco those who are
unable to get back themselves.
At, or about the same time, another
aurilerous region was discovered within
the new Territory of Arizona, on the
ella, and It's tributaries. In this region,
too, fabulous amounts were said to re-
ward tie labors of tie miner. Gold,
Silver, and other precious metals were
scattered indiscriminately over that re-
gion. Parties left California for the
ella, well provided with provisions and
apparatus for successful mining, should
there be gold in that vicinity, as had
been officially, and otherwise, represent
ed But the last overland mail brings
intelligence that they have mostly re-
turned, after thoroughly prospecting the
country, having found gold. it is true,
but never in quantities to pay for the
labor Of procuring it. @
Now We have, in our opinion, another
bumbug nearer home. Pixies Peak,
we feel confident, will turn out to be just
such bubble as these we have been de-
failing. That there is gold there, as
there is in the Fraser River and ella re-
gions, and as there is sea altered through
out all the alluyial deposits of our west
ern plains, we do not doubt. But we do
submit that there has not yet been evil
dence sufficient given TO the public to
prove that mining on Cherry Greek is
likely to be more remuncraa;ge than min
ing on the rivers and in the regions men
toned. We do not doubt that when la
Dor becomes cheap and provisions plen-