Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1862-03-05
From the Home Intelligcncer-l
The OREGON Gold Mines.


The following letter was received in this
City IA few DAYS ago. 1t WAS written by
DR.. A q Henry, at present Surveyor Gen
eral of w. shinrton Territory, to his SON.
in-law Francis Henry, Esq who left this
CITY for the mines in the latter part of
january Enclosed IN the letter was a
I slip from the OyegoHiGR, Published at
/ Portland, confirming the Doctor state
ments, from which we also publish some
| extracts The news is considered thor
7 oughlv reliable and has created quite an
/ excitement and an extensive gold fever in
/ our city.
+ The letter is dated Surveyor General 5
/ Office, Olympia, Washington Territory,
Dec 18th, 1861, and is as follows:
/ II wrote Il long letter in reply To the last
( one received from you, in which advised
/ YOU to come to our northern mines. They
are turning out better even than | had
! anticipated 1t is now too late to do much
( in the mines, and yet nearly half mil
/ lion q week in dust is arriving at Port
| land
The widest excitement pervades Orc
/ gon and Wa .hington as well as IN talifor-
MIA. II is conceded that from forty o
fifty thousand people will be in the
mines IN the spring. Salmon river you
will see is a little south Of east from the
Orc Finio mines $50 miles. 1t is not as
far from Fort Benton to Salmon as it is
from the Dallas. and a good trail, with "a
good mining country, | have no doubt all
the way.
\ new mine 80 miles south of Salmon
has just been found Of greater richness
| They are the most singular mines ever yet
{ / I Il
90 up a gradual rise for some 10 or 20
miles when they see be ore them sCr5 of
a basin OF some fifteen square miles, cut
up into narrow wavy ridges, looking like
the roll Of the sea, without any appear
ance of rock They dig down from , to +
feet through a sort Of clay loom to the bed
rock, where they find a strata of from to
t inches thick and from to 10 inches in
width, running with the ridge a sort of
course gravel, or decomposed quartz rock.
4 single bucket full OF which frequently
Yields 20 to 80 dollars
As high as s 10 10 pounds have been washed
out with Il Rocker. All agree that the
gold has never been moved from where it
was left when decomposition OF the ridges
of rock occurred-l recollcct seeing Il
great deal of this kind Of country on Boise
river which empties into the Snake at old
Fort Boise, 40 miles south of Salmon. and
| have no doubt a similar country will be
found extending over 500 miles square In
my opinion they viii turn out as far ahead
of anything In California, as Cal .fornia
were ahead Of Rogue River
The more think of the plan | suggest
ed 70 YOU Of coming by way of Fort Ben
ton, prepared To prospect when you pass
the summit Of the Rocky Nountrins the
better | like It. \. c. HENRY
From the q oregonian.'I
The editor of the Oregoaia,a in his pa
per dated the 10Th of December, pied ges
his reputation for the truth of the state
ments OF the extraordinary richness and
extent Of the new gold mines His re
marks are IN reply to an inquiring friend
IN Illinois, and after answering his friends
queries as to the agricultural resources of
the country, he thus alludcs to the gold
discoveries
You say you " have heard a good deal
of the gold discoveries in Oregon Gold
stories generally increase the farther they
90 from the mines: but in this case we
think we can pledge our reputation that
the publications III regard t. the gold dis
coyeries IN Eastern Oregon and Washing
ton have not exceeded the truth. The
discoveries there are wondcrful-manv
men have gathered their thousand dollars
Of gold day-others less in amount down
to one hundred Miners lrW not ,r0yk
claims that yeild t,cenhl-fre doHars a
day Even III winter discoveries are
made of new mines and in the inclemen-
cy OF the present season, men are now
pushing from this valley for the mines in
the yallies Salmon river. Powder river
John Day river, and new localities on
the north Clear Water and other places
We state only the truth, when we say
such are evidences OF the richness of
those mines-that the country IS wild
with eNcitement-and this excitement i
extending through all the gold diggincs of
California
We have now answered our friends let
ter and the answer Will apply to many
others which are constantly comino to Or
egon from the States If men break m
IN the East and come here to better their
condition, and that Of their families-fhev
can only do 1t BY a constant course of in
dustry- Men and women have to work
mere as much as IN any other part of the
world but labor pays here. whether you
labor Tor yourself or others.
-N"fc-bE obtaining a good man of Or
eGon ana W Washington emigrants will find
that on tho route here they will pass very
ne:r some Of the richest gold di5eines.
NEW DIGGINCS-New and rich diolrinos
have been found thirty miles south IF tho
old dlggIn@s on Salmon river: and 900
miners have gone to them Orc Finio and
Fierce City are nearly deserted Port
land OrcgoHjan.
,'EFF DAVIS lNAUGUEAL-The lnauaur-
a Address of the bogus President Of the
spurious 'ontederacv, which we publish
t0-uIE. Is hnmt Is 49,, :. :, -