, 1866-02-02
LETTER FROM BLAcKFoor.

= BLAcKFooT, Dec. 18th, 1865.
EDITORS PosT:-l remember being rather sleep
~ argumentative on the subject of '' spotted
diggingt at the close Of my last Communication.
and averred that disbelieved, as a general
rule in spotted" gulehes. One exception,
however, ! must admit, aud that is that where
slate bedrock pitches it frequently la ppens
that il Is worn so sn Doth by the action Of the
water, that no gold viii lie omit. In this eas e,
| the gold will be found at the ottom Of The in-
cline.
CARPENTERS BAR.
Afer inspecting very many kinds Of diggipgS,
| situated ia various localities must award the
palm, for sordid richness aud vast extent, to this
wonderful LAGER. About two miles east from
Blaektoot there is rolling prairie, which eI-
tends about twelve miles in length, and varies in
breadth from mile to FIVE miles. The prairie
| may be compared to a small basin, the rim of
which is formed by the mountains and high hills
which enclose it. The part now worked is Car
! penters Bar-proper-but / satisfied myself
that the whole Of the ground is auriferous-toa
paying extent up to the very timber on the slopes
ot the mountains. The want of water is the
main obstacle, al present, there is but a small
| supply. By next Spring, the ditch company
viii bring in large aqueduct, and the Little
| BlackfoOt will be eventually turned so as to
meet the ditch, and affords hydraulic resources
| ofimmense extent.
As the rolling ground is often very much ele-
Vated, 1t seems difficult, at FIRST sight, to account
| for the presence of the old spread over a sur
| lace OF more than twenty square miles There
is belt Of leads on the north side in the aurif.
erous range, running to Snow shoe, and it is
from these, mainly, that the gold has been de-
| posted. The task before the miners is simply
to wash away the surface Of a country that
would tire your Especial" to walk over, worse
than reading one hundred pages of the ''Whole
Duty Of Won n, " to a Dorcas Society of aged
spnsters. Just suppose yourself on a prairie
running down in undulating swels toward
creek. On the grass is laid a string of sluices,
and-right along side-they commenced dig
ging, shaking out the grass and shoveling into
the sluIce. The bedrock appears to be from
two feet six inches to four feet FROM the surface
and the pay is to be found everywhere through
the dirt. One remarkably reticent individual
was engaged in the pleasing occupation of
"cleaning up," and with every disadvantage of
weather, insufficient water and short days, he
was taking out from SIS to $50 to the hand In
summer time he had realized three ounces per
day per man for each days washing. 1t was |
easy to see that the washing was not complete,
owing to the cold and the small head of water |
lie had scrubbed down three lengths, and be had |
gathered pile of stiff amagam about the size |
of dairy roll of fresh butter. The quality of |
the gold is magnificent 1t is difficult to obtain |
Information from many of the miners. If you
ask them questions, they seem to be afraid or
unwilling to give you information, and look as |
if they suspected your being 'tjumper," or a |
disciple of the N. P. Langford Schol of Alchem-
lists. The "Phil Sheridan is one of the most |
promising of the belt of leads, that has appar- |
emily supplied the gold in the bar.
sNOw-sHoE AND DEADwooD.
These gulches run from the base to the sum-
init of the mountains, and belt OF auriferous
leads connects them with the town of Blackfoot.
The monster nugget, worth over SO, ,0OO was
found accidentally. A party commenced sink
ing prospect hole on the tabe-and eight feet
square, or Whereabouts, and dug right down on
to the nugget. There is rich lode in this vicn-
Ity. The men who first discovered SnOw-shoe
and its head or Observation-Disclosures
driven out by the snow. There Is rich pros
pect in this section.
THE GOLD OF TIE WESTERN COUNTRY.
The gold of all the western diggings is very
coarse at the upper part of the gulches, and gets
finer as you near the mouth The laws Of grav-
ity explain this, and shows that the feeder is to
be found at the head of the ravine. Nuggets are
as common as dust at Blackfoot. | have seen
several feet of buckskin purses all full of them.
| noticed a miner tossing and catching nugget
weighing $ll8 so, taken from No. IL, above
Pense's Discovery, in Ophir Gulch. 1t was a
very nice hand-ball.
JEFFERSON, WASHINGTON, MCCLELLAN, CREvICF AND
NEVADA GULCHEs
Arrived at Rhea City, we held a confab in six
FOUNDER tones, from the top of the hill, with
Sam jackson, who had "struck it big, in tue
willows" Going down l discovered that as
regards the pay streak, ''he was on it," Mrs.
jackson had very pretty "pan out" of scale
gold, characteristicallv enveoped in a curl pa
per- A friend had 50; another Sl.sO; and lin
strict confidence and horribly cold water) !
panued out seventy.fve cents. As it was my
first offens in that line, was informed that |
was a promising Punner. The compliment Tor
the ce.water) brought tears into my eyes. JEFF
ferson is a heavily tImbered gulch, and the same
may be said of Wa hington, Nevada or Williams,
McC, elan, Crevice, Montana, and, indeed, OF
all the gulcbes of this range.
Having been warmed aud refreshed, at the in
vitation Of the lady of the house. 1 commenced
exploring Opposite the Jackson House, there
is high bar, which, am told, prospects as high
as eighteen cents to the pan. On Rhea's Bar,
above there are very rich diggugs. man
named Enos Wall, has cleared, on bis bar claim,
from $50 to $lOO to the hand. The upper town,
about four miles up the guich exhibited some
little signs of life; but Jefferson has gone into
winter quarters.
The road over the mountains, from Jefferson
to Mcclellan, is anything but pleasing to persons :
of q nervous temperament being precIpltOusi q
snowy, slippery and dangerous. Mcclellan is
probably the richest gulch yet struck in the Ter
ritory. CreVice Gucb, at the head of it, is also
wonderfully aurferous. 1t is curious too see
men hooking up nuggets out of the crevices in
which they are lodged. The diggings in this
gulch are, perhaps, one-half mile long, and in
two miles; $3.50 to $500 to The hand =
have been taken out, and Sos in pan have been
obtained on the discovery claim. Jem Wade, =
Robinson L Co., have taken out from seventy
five to one hundred and twenty ounces in day i
On No. 8, below discovery, have heard that t
S., 900 was divided after weeks work. In
this gulch, the rocks close together at place
called the ''Gate." Above it, the diggings are :
comparatively shallow; below, it is nearly all
drifting.
In Washington Gulch, a new channel has been c
struck by drift into The right bank which pays G
St3 to the man. The diggings are, perhaps, six ,
miles long. The French Company on 2I, below,
have made very large runs,f am informed-from
81, 500 to $4,000. The gold is in scales, some ;
thing resembling parsnepseed only irregular in
shape, and. a deep yellow. OF course, you must
not suppose thatall men have done as well as |
those have mentioned.,, Some fail altogether, ,