Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1863-01-14
FROM JAY wHIPPLE.


Dear Lutte More than six months
ago l bid you long farewell, for | was
bound for the golden regions, Salmon
River. Since that time l have been
travelling from place to place, like the ro-
wing Gipsey, or wandering Jew, camping
unon mothe. earth wherever night closed
uDon me; until about month ago | ar
rived in Portland. the metropolis of Or
cgon-a beautiful little city of five thou
send inhabitants, situated Oh the Villa
mette River, twelve miles from its
confluence, which empt;es into the Col
umbia River. Shall remain hero for the
slnter-perhaps for a longer time. Am
engaged in the editorial department of
daily and weekly newspaper Yes, your
correspondent figures under the head of
. We local
OF the thousands That left the States
last spring for tho mining districts, on
the Pacific Coast, but very few Of them
settled in the vicinity Of the mines. AS
the weary emigrant approached nearer
the Ell Dorado, the more frequently did
he hear the contradictions regarding the
" rich diggngs,' and " five dollars to
the pau" These fabulous stories, con
corning tbs immense discoveries of gold,
ARE circulated in tho columns of the pa
pors published in the States, and receive
no contradiction. Such is not the case
n Oregon, Washington Territory and
California. If a disappointed miner re-
turns home where he sees daily pub
iished extravagant stories about the rich
ness Of certain mines, he will writs an
article, have it "struck off" in circular
form and scattered over tho country, in
forming the public that said newspaper is
pail for pulling certain mines 4; fact
that he can certify to, as he has been there
and tried them-and is sold indvid
uni"
Lvrs, editors of newspapers are no
more conscientious here than ia The
States, and newspapers receive RENT
neration for putting mines, as they did in
early times for putting town sites in Min
nesota. For instance, twenty men start
out on prospecting expedition, and find
toIe.ably good digginss; but they find
that they can make fortune quicker if
they could only sell their claims to an adj
vantage. Who will buy them A
sum Of money is raised by this combi-
nation of miners, and one is selected
from tue party who is good talker, and
lie is sent on his mission, with several
ounces Of dust, to the nearest and cheap
est editor His story is related, and in
the next issue of the Miners Friend
can be found an editorial giving glow
ing description Of recently discovered
gold mines, where miners make from
twenty to thirty dollars per DAY. The
result is, that tremendous rush is made
for these new mines, AMI the prospecting
party sell their claims Mt high figures
aud skcdaldio.
Thousands upon thousands Of people
visited these northern gold folds last
spring. and returned to lower Oregon
and California broken down in purse
poor rs n church mouse. They rushed
forward under Tie early excitement Of
Salmon River discoveries, leaving n good
business, with tao expectation of making
speedy fortune N the beds AMI noun
;ains Of Salmon River. Bat alas, their
golden anticipations were not realized
fortune smiled upon but few compared
10 the vast numbers that were in search
ior gold.
This gold excitement. however, caused
he prospecting of an Immense territory,
and tie result has been that the ouro e.
no lies in almost eyeJy crcyice Of rock,
and along the bed Of almost every noun
tain stream along the whole chain Of
mountains, extending from middle Cali
fornia to the Missouri River, near Fort
Benton. In some localities it has been
discovered SO a5undantly that pounds of
gold have been taken out daily, but those
localities are rare. From my observa-
ton, feel confident tia! every year new
discoveries of goodwill be made in north
ern Oregon and throughout Washington
Territory. There is something very at
traetive about mining-something partic-
ularly fascinating in the life of n gold
miner. have met with old miners that
nave followed the gold excitement ever
since its first discovery in California. and
they have scarcely made q respectable
livelihood; accustomed to all the hard
ships and priyations of camp life, they
are ever ready to start upon some new