, 1862-07-26
masbinoton Statesman.
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY &c, 1862.
The Powder River Mines.


enabled to announce that the richness of the
mines throughout the entire Powder river
region, is placed beyond peradventure by
recent reports which have come to us
through the most reliable sources. They
are found to be not only rich, but what !,
better, they give abundant promise of per.
manence. In this essential particular. the
Powder river mines are perhaps superior tc
those of Salmon river or Gro Elmo. It beino
the general opinion among miners that the
mines in the neighborhood of Florence. al
though very ricn, will be exhausted in a
few years. Then again the Powder liver
mines are far more favorably situated fol-
working permanently than those of the 9th
cr localities mentioned. They are much
nearer and far more convenient of access.
and the climate being less severe than in
those points higher up in the mountains,
these mines may be worked to advantage
when the other localities are frozen up and
covered by an immense depth of snow
While mining operations are in all of them
more or less embarrassed in consequence of
scarcity of water during the dry season.
this difficulty may be easily remediisz 4 the
Powder river mines, from the fact that the
>taCo u the country is not so level as to pre-
vent successful ditching, and there are nu-
merous streams contiguous to these mines
which may be made to pour their waters
through the various mining camps, thus
afording all an abundant and never failing
supply. 1t is an easy work to build bitches
in a country situated favorably for them, if
the mines justify the trouble The ques-
ton of paying mines having been settled to
the satisfaction of those interested by a
thorough system of prospecting, several
large bitches have already been surveyed
out and commenced. When these are fin
ished, and a good supply of water brought
in, we have reason to believe that the Pow
der river mines Will furnish as rich a Weld
Of the shining ore as any of tie mines of the
northern country.
A gentleman of this city who spent sew
tral weeks in these mines, and took some
pains to gain information respecting their
richness and extent, with a view to business
operations, gives US most hattering report
of his Investigations He says the district
of mining country in which Auburn is sit
uated, is at least eleven miles long and eight
miles wide, and is almost one continuous
mining camp, afording mines for the en-
ployment of several thousand men. With
in this area the following named camps are
situated, all of which are known to yield
we'll: Auburn, Grifin's Gulch, Elk Creek,
Wilson's Greek, Rich Flat, Freeze out
Gulch, Blue Canyon, Willow Greek, French
Gulch, Forty-nine Gulch, Jackass Gulch,
California Gulch, Five-bit Gulch, Deer
Greek, Bear Creek and Union Flat. On
the head waters of John Days river there
are three mining camps already established,
consisting of Granite Creek, Otter Bar, and
South Fork. There are supposed to be
about thousand men employed in these
last named camps, and they are paying rea-
sonably well. New diggings have been dis
covered on Middle Powder river, twenty
five miles east Of Auburn. Twenty -one
companies are at work on this stream, with
what success we have not learned On
Pine Creek, about fifteen miles from Au-
burn, good prospects have been obtained.
On French Gulch recently, fifty dollars was
taken out of forty buckets of dirt While
we have heard Of several rich strikes in
these mines and some large Jumps, it is ev-
ident the gold is here more generally dis
tributed than in the other mines, and the
yield being much more uniform can be cal
culated upon with greater certainty.