The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1860-07-18
WHOLE NO. 1875.
Correspondence of the North Iowa Times
Letter from the Gold Mines.


Letter from the Gold Mines.
MOUNTAIN CRY, June 2lst, 1860.
Deer Col:-The long looked for point is
arrived at and am in the heart of the gold
diggings, and after looking around little
| sit down TO give some Of the stray ideas
| have cleaned
The idea that a trip from the States to
this country is nothing but a romantic
pleasure-trip is altogether fallacious, and
one soon gets his eyes open to the fact. 1t will
DO to talk about 1.-The fun Of crossing Iowa"
q wrote you from Lewis y when YOU have
no load on your wagons and can get right
up and 60 along, but start out from Omaha
heavily loaded, the only chance for trans
portation over the six hundred miles of
I plains being located in the staunchness and
toughness of your pedal extremities, then
yoi have to get down to your regular knit
ting Eve stood good deal and I've "set''
some considerable, but never knew what
genuine Tampifag was till left the Missou-
n river. And then to be harrassed with the
thought that after your jaunt of twenty or
thirty miles is done you have got to cook
supper for six or half dozen men-its out
rageous! declare I'll never come over
this road again without two or three wo.
men at least to do up the culinary. With
the exception Of about forty miles of Iowa
prairie country from Omaha to where YOU
strike the Platte river the road is level
sandy pralrlc--a first rate road to travel
| over, but waterleSs and almost feedIess: no
water except that out Of the river, which.
before it can be used, has to stand long
enough to settle about a gallon of sand to
every bucket-full, and which has also a
powerful effect on The inner man No town
after you leave Omaha with the exception of
Fremont, which We stopped at long enough
to hear some good music made by Major
WEST, Marshal of the Territory, with his
clarionet, and bloomer-d dressed female
with fiddle. Circuit Court was in session
and "hs Honor filed the wooden seat in
one end Of iog-cabin with as much digni-
ty as though it We're the Chief Justice S
chair in the U. S. court, and he were deci-
ding that bug g-bear for Republicans, the
bred Scott case. At It. Kearney we saw
about $50 sleepy looking e. S. soldiers,
some OF whom were ornamented with bail
and chain attached to their "shanks," and
were paying toll for some deviment, by
| putting roofs on some Of the officers houses
That kind Of iewelry didn't suit my fancy
so did not enlist. We passed just above
the Fort band of Cheyennes going after
party Of Pawnees who had been up after
horse meat on their territory, but the
! Pawnees proving too much for them they
returned 70 their homes minus five scalps.
While in Denver last Sunday | witnessed
the return of an unsuccessful party of Ara,
pahoes and Sioux who had been out in the
ltahs country on scouting expedition and
got Worsted. They brought back their
killed (4) and wounded (32) and oh crackie
what taking on" there was when they
got into camp. The squaws howled and
tore their hair and cut their limbs with
knives and stones until they were covered
with blood, and all because of the death of
four or five "lnjuns." Who'd have thought
it?
But the great things Of this country
Denver and the gold digginss-how shall
! describe them. Doesticks, if he was here,
could find a field for many laughable
sketch, and he might also find good many
Of his relations, that is ifhe is related to the
"Damphool' family they are scattered
all over this country, though most of them
have started home! would like to depict
this country to you just as it is, but I can't
and there is no use trying. Denver is
place somewhat smaller than New York
though Il man on the road would not sup
pose it was. The houses are nearly all
built Of pine logs and the majority of the
Inhabitants are gamblers and fashionable
females. About every other house is sa-
loon Of some kind and between them are
placed wagon-boXcs and tents where on
two barrels with board placed across them
you will always find the ever ready black
junk bottle and a lineup, and where you
can get your regular whiskey" at ten cents
a nip. The streets are continually crowded
with people, the great majority of whom at
present are bound for America. Provisions
are in abundance, and at moderate prices,
and wages are down 10 almost nothing.
In the mines, things are brisker. Work
is going on very lively and the miners are
all in good spirits,-many of them making
money in abundance. Work has been dull
on account of the lack of quartz mills, but
they are coming in now and everything be-
gins to look up. Some twelve or fifteen are
already in, and more are on the road. Min
ing is nice work You may all talk about
five token a day on double medium being
harder than rail-splitting, but if you havn't
tried digging and shoveling down among
rocks that will weigh more than you will,
then you don't know what hard work is,
A fellow keeps so clean and tidy, too! An
old wool hat, ventilated by two or three
holes in the crown, a grey flannel shirt.
pair of worn-out pants, badly patched by
wearing over them dirty pair of cotton
overalls, and fastened around the waist by
a leathern belt, and feet encased in a pair of
heavy cow-hide boots goes to make up the
tout ensemble of your correspondent, and is
a true description of thousand and one
other suits worn by men who, in the States,
could not be hired to wear them. We live
on fat bacon, cold bread and poor coffee,
and when night comes roll up in blanket,
lay down on the ground and sleep as
honest, hard-working men only can sleep.
Strange what effect a little glittering dust
will have on the lords of creation, isn't it /.
Clayton county is well represented out
here; | believe she has as many as any
other Iowa county The McGregor bows
are scattered all over the mining country.
The Rogers, Hibbard-Lampson crowd are
over on the Blue river Baldwin and Har-
rlson are at Golden City; Akin and the
wood boys are about two miles from here,
in Russcrs gulch; all Of Cleghorn's crowd
are with him; Wilkerson and Van Ealken-
burgh, Geaby, Wyman, Burbrage, Willis,
Stone, Ezra Redding. and one or two others
are in Denver; and Uncle Sam with Will
son, Granger, and three or four others LEFT
there on last Sunday to come up to Greg
ory's, and I've not seen them since. I'm
Gle Sam brought me eight or ten copies of
the Times, which were very gladly received
and eagerly read, as they were the only
ones any of us had seen with the exception
OF one got in the B,,gle office at Council
Bluffs. "Nutf ced,' .-...
JOE BAUGH. |