The daily mountaineer. (Dalles, Or.) 1861-1866, 1866-05-21
9ailp Mouutalnest.
MONDAY EVENING, MAY 81, 1866.
LETTER FROM CANTON CITY.
CANYON Cry, May llth, 1866.

Leen tue huVenL OF u Stnhll party OF CnlneSe
miners. These may be looked upon as the
furerunners of horde of these indurtrous
people. Heretofore the prejndces of the
miners have been SO violent against China
fnen that one of them stood about as much !,
chance here as a TAPPING in the hands of an
Imperialist 10 their own Celestial Empire
Tue character of the diggings here, and the
declining prospects of a considerable portion
of the mines, has at length induced claim
holders to turn their attention to the intro
duction oil cheaper and more abundant labor,
and tits probable that the result will prove
the wisdom OF the movement.
The bed of Canyon Creek, the fats at the
mouth of the creek, and the newly discovered
prospects on the main John Day River, prom
ise well to employ thousands of laborers for
years. to come; that is to say, of that class
who can and will work for compensation of
from So to SIS a day.
The best of Canyon Greek is yet but par
TALLY worked. The ground ranges in depth
from twelve to twenty feet. In order to facil-
itate stripping" expensive hosting ma
chiuery has been erected In all, about
twenty dcrricks have been put up for this pur-
pose; all of which hoist'by water. power, but
one-which is driven by steam. Upon an av-
erage, these derricks have cost about $2,5O0,
making a total of $50,00O for this particular
species of apparatus, to say nothing of the
vast expense entaied in pumping, draining
and opening claims. believe it is still open
10 debate whether the derrcks have proved
more economical than wheel barrows and or
dinary hand-labor. AT any rate, 1t seems as
if the introduction Of Chinese labor would do
away with this cumbrous method of working
The creek claims. But this will soon be dem
onstrated by actual experiment
pRospEors on THE MAIN JOHN DAY.
The first prospects in the main John Day
River were obtained about nine miles below
the mouth of Canyon Creek, and continual
encouragement is derived from the develop
luents of each weekTs labor. For many miles
above and below where these prospects were
obtained, the John Day runs through prairie
hills of very irregular formation, and the river
bottom is of the average width of q quarter o.
mile-all of which is good meadow or ara
BILE land. Prospects have also been obtained
eighteen miles below Canyon Creek, on q ba
where the bedrock is above high-water mark
Wnile it is not to be expected that all th
RIVER bottom will pay, it is pretty well settlet
that o large proportion of 1t is rich Th
depth and fatuess of the ground render it
Development very slow process; but evel
twelve feet of e stripping will not preven
the irrepressible Cinnamon from maxim
money out of this ground, ii properly drecte
z by intelligent white men. 1t is to be hope
that by another year each honest miner i
this country will have his dozen coolies delv
ing in his claims. There is an eminent fi
ness in this relation of the races, which,
think, must recommend itself 10 the reason
every miner who looks forward to time whe
he can quit his present laborious and exhaus
ting mode of life with the means to engage
some more congenal vocation.
3m tbs MIDDLE FORK MINES.
The mines on the Middle Fork Of john Do
are confined to three creeks or gulches, whic
empty into that stream from the north. Goir
down stream, they are named, respectivel
Elk Creek, Deep Greek and Buck Gulch.-
These creeks appear to be crossed by ranl
of gold.beariug rock from two to three mil
up each of them, and from this rock has be,
dislodged the heaviest humps of gold ev
found in the John Day mines; but like {
coarse gold countries, the pay is irreguls
and q large proportion of the miners are, ma
ing nothing. AS general thing, these di
gings are shallow near the mouths Of \
creeks, aud grow deeper as you ascend ,-un
in the upper sections the ground has to |
drifted. .rN,w ssa,fee 4et