Charles City intelligencer., 1865-12-21
Tbt gntelligenter.
Great Gold Discovery.

Colonel Inslee, of st. Joseph, now in
Montana Territory, in a letter to his
family, incloses the following extract
from the Virginia City (Montana) Post
of November 4th, relative to some
newly discovered mines, which bid fair
to surpass in richness anything here.
tofore known in the world. Colonel
Inslee writes that he has seen some
specimens Of the quartz from these
mines which seemed to be nearly SOL
ID gold" Here is the extract from the
Post:
Upon the arrival of the Helena stage,
last Friday morning, the people of Vir-
cina City were thrown into gold ex.
citement. before which all former ex-
citcments must pale. The facts, as
VIC get them from apparently well au-
thenticated sources, are briefly as fol-
lows:
Mr.. Brown, German or Norwegian,
and one of the original discoverers of
the celebrated Gould & Curry lode, Of
Nevada, and afterwards Of Brown lode
in Nelson Gulch, in this Territory, was
engaged in sinking shaft on the /" Un-
Gle Sam lode, about the head Of Dry
Gulch, some four miles from Helena.
lie had sunk near twenty feet, when,
the indications not suiting him, he con-
clnded to change his course by drift
ing up hill from the bottom Of his
nnaft. He had advanced i'm this di-
rection about ten feet, when he reach
cd gold deposit which, in richness
and extent, has, perhaps, no parallel
in the history of gold mining. Gold,
in almost solid masses, glittered be-
fore his bewildercd vision. For two
weeks longer, unknown to others, he
tunnellcd into the golden wall. Secre-
ted about him, be had accumulated
several gunny-sacks, literally filled
with the precious metal, when longer
secrecy became impracticable, from
the very extent of his unexpected
wealth, and Mr. Brown proceeded to
record and secure his property, when
the public were informed of the great
discovery 1t is said that he now
keeps strong guard, night and day.
over bis seemingly incompatible
wealth, while he himself, unassisted,
delves into the golden walls around
him, and continues multiplying his
sacks of precious ore. One person
who was admitted into Mr.. Browns
drift, states that it presented scene
of wealth more akin TO a picture of
imagination than actuality. Gold !!
gold gold met the view on every
side-above below and all around
and reflected, back its rich hues in the
glare of the candle, as if this subter-
ranean vault had been hewn out of q
solid ledge of the yellow metal.
THIS gold is found in a well defined
ledge, fully five feet in width. The
gold vein is three feet wide-three.
fourths of the entire substance therein
being pure gold /; the remainder MAIN
ly bismuth. On each side of this vein,
there is a casing of one foot of quartz,
which will assay from $500 to $4,000
to the ton. The very wall-rock is rich
Specimens can be seen at the City
Book Store.
Whether this is, to use familiar mi-
ming terms, q blowout" or "pock-
et." we are not prepared to admit or
deny. But be it either, millions are
Lying around loose" We can hard
ly realize that this is distinct, con.
tinuous ledge, as, in that case. SO vast
an amount Of gold would affect the
standard valuation throughout the
commercial world. But our informant,
whom we know to be man Of relia.
bility, assures us that distinct ledge
has been traced fully seventy-fve
feet.