Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-12-04
0RAET DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
The Rlch hest Deposit X now n In tho 1uis-
tory of she WOT1a-1resn e ndOsae = Il
cite mlcms In Com e Qucncc.

Colonel lnslcc, Of St Joseph, now in
Montana Territory, in letter to his FAM
ly. incloses the following extract from the
Virginia City (Montana) Post, of Novcm
her 4th, relative to some newly discovered
mines. which bid fair to surpass in rich.
ness anything heretofore known in the
world Colonel lnslec writes that he has
seen some specimens ~ the quartz from
these mines which seem To be NEARLY solid
gold" Here is the extract from the Posi- !.
Upon the arrival Of the Helena stage,
last Friday morning, the people of Virgin
Ia City were thrown into a gold excitement,
before which all former cx,itemcnts must
pale The facts, as we get them from ap
parcntly well authenticated sources, are
briefly AS follows:
MIR. Brown, a German, or Norwegian,
and one of the original discoveries of the
celebrated Gould \ Curry lode, of Ncva-
ia, and afterwards of Brown lode in Mel
son Gu!ch, in this Territory, was engaged
in sinking shaft on the "Unclc Sam
lode, about the head of Dry Gulch, some
four miles from Helena. lie had sunk near
twenty feet, when, the indications not
suitiny him, he concluded to change his
course by drifting up hill from the bottom
Of his shaft lie had advanced in this Iii
rcctiOn about ten feet, when he reached a
gold deposit which, in richness and extent.
has, perhaps, no parallel in the history of
gold mining. Gold, in almost solid masses,
glittercd before his bewiliercd vision. For
two weeks longer, unknown to others, he
had accumulated several gunny sacks liter
ally filled with the precious metal, when
In nj. III. g..
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 his seemingly incom
putablc wealth, while he himself, unassi>t
ed, delyes 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 n
scene of wealth more akin to picture Of
the Imagination than actuality. Gold =.
gold gold. met the view on every side
above, below and all around-and reflect
ell back its rich hucs in the glare Of the
candle as il this subterranean vault had
been hewn out Of solid ledge Of the vel
low metal
This gold is found in we'll defined
ledge, fully five feet in width. The gold
vein Is three feet wide-thrce fourths of
the entire substance therein being pure
gold the remainder mainly bismuth. On
each side Of this vein there is a casing Of
one foot Of quartz, which will assay from
*4oO to $1,000 to the ton. The very wall
Took - ich. Specimens can be seen at the
City Book Store
whether this is, to use the familiar
INNING terms, 'hlow.ou or a pocket
We are NOT prepared to admit or DENY. But
DC 1t either, millions are lying around
loose. We can scarcely realize that this is
distinct, continuous ledge, as. in that
case, so vast an amount of gold would af
feet the standard of gold valuation
throughout the commercial world Eu.
our informant, whom We know Ia mo
man of reliability, assures us that a die
tinct ledge has been traced fully seventh.
i've feet"