The Kanzas news., 1859-07-23
Letter From the Mountains.
CLEAR CRrEk. RocsY MousrA1Es.

FRIEED SToTLsR:-0ur company arriy-
ed IN Denver City on the 9Th inst, and
came here next day. we intend to make
this place our head-quarlers until We sasis-
fy ourselves whether there are any diggings
near here vhich5wiH justify as IA working
them. There are eleven men of our COM
pany. eight Of whom are now in the noun
tains prospecting Il have DELAYED writing
in the hope of hearing something definite
from them IN regard to the newly discover
ed diggiags. but learned last evening that
they had found nothing yet. although they
have been out a week, and that they intend
ed 10 remain in the mountains another week
unless they should 6nd good diggings
sooner. l have therefore concluded to write
at once. rsssaa = .zsesfsa
When we started from home one of our
men was sick with the ague; but it only
lasted few days, since which time there
has not been days sickness among US all.
We had a tedious journey. lasting 81 days.
but We met with no misfortunes and our
cattle are in much better condition than
they were when we started: That portion
of our route lying along the Arkansas River
is the best calculated TO give a person the
horrors of any country oyer which ev-
er Travelled. The river itself ia a broad,
shallow stream, with low, level banks. and
not stick of timber, is to be seen for dis
tance of about 900 miles, with the exeep-
ton of a few clumps of Cottonwood bushes.
The country the whole of that distance is
very much the same, and there is no game
or anything else to relieve one from fhe
monOtony OF the trip. The whole route
has so often been described, by persons
more competent than myself, that I shall
not attempt anything of the kind: but I
found that region ol country called the
i"Pinery" to differ so materially from the
representation made by persons who visited
the country last summer, that desire to
say a few words relative to it. One ac-
count of it which remember to have read,
describes it as ga dense body OF pine TIM
Der, 30 miles long. and fifteen miles wide,
at the narrowest point" We first entered
the ..Pinery," at the head of Squirrel
Creek, which has Its source among high,
rocky hills. covered with fine pine timber
This body of timber was the heaviest we
saw, and was FIVE or six miles in width.
We next crossed a prairie Is miles in width,
10 the head of Cherry creek. This creek
also derives Its waters from hills, similar TO
those OF Squirrel creek, AMI which are also
covered with timber, but not so plentiful AS
on tie former. We saw several small bod
les of pine at distance from the, road. A
short distance from the head of Cherry
creek, is R,tssellville, very small town,
where there is a steam saw mill in opera
zion. Pine lumber is sold at the mill at
So per thousand feet. While travelling on
the Arkansas We met hundreds of leans re-
turning home. Many of them turned back
befpre reaching Benr's Fort We were ldld
at Denver that many more had turned back
on the Platte rouue than on the Southern.
The cause of this stampede for the States
was the discovery that the gold mines dis
covered last summer would not paw Tor
working. We saw no miners at work on
Cherry creek. neither have | seen any at,
Wei 1 on The Platte, but only SAW a small
portion of the mines on the latter stream
AT Denver we were told that one Gregory,
a member of the Georgia company, had re-
Gently discovered new mines in the noun
Iains, thirty miles west from that place,
which were richer than any ever before dis
covered. This, of course. we were not
prepared 10 believe, but as the road leading
to the foot of the mountains was crowded
with wagons, pack -horses, pack-mules,
Land carts, and footmen, all bound for the
Gregory Diggings." we concluded to re-
main near town till morning, when we
would "fall in" Horace Greeley, accom-
panied by several other gentlemen of New
York. arrived in town next morning. They
were on their way to California, and had
come this way to "see the elephant" The
South Platte has to be crossed in going from
Denver to the mines. The water runs very
swift in this stream, and we found it nee
essary to s'taAe the boat which we did at
an early hour. This was ''frst class
boat. Judging from the .'fare,'' which was
Sc, SO per team, and our ''Capting'' de-
clared her to be the fastest boat on the line.
Her rigging" struck me as being remark
ably well adapted to country like this,
where the wind blows strong enough, as
one of the natives informed me, to 'tblow
the rain all away before it reaches the
ground" We reached our present quarters
after travelling fifteen miles, over the finest
country have seen since we left the Cot
tonwool. Clear creek receivs its waters
from the "snowy range" of mountains, if
teen or twenty miles from here, and issuing
from canon about one mile above US, it
comes rushing and foaming across valley
of about one and half miles in width, and
escapes between high. rocky cliffs a little
below US, into the plain below. 1t is
narrow stream, but dangerous to cross.
Several men have come near losing their
lives in il since we came here, by Eaving
their horses carried down by the current.
Greeley and company crossed it on mules
the next morning after we camped here.
Three hearty cheers were sent up as Gree
ley gained The "ppnsie shore. They were
in The mines a couple of days. There is
small paper published at Aularia, called the
- 'IR0aky Mounfqia -News." in which il is
said Greeley published a report on his re-
Iu' n from the mines
OF the mines koov notbinor huf what