Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-01-22

3AAA NV
for generations by a merely agricultural
immigration. And when California first
came under the American flag i: was I'M
able for years to attract population by any
of the extraordinary inducements of soil
and climate alone which she hos been
found to possess.
But it is evidently the arrangement OF
Providence that the sterile and precipitous
regions west of the Mississippi Valley shall
prove as attractive to the population and
the capital of the world for their metallic
wealth as the rich, inexhaustible and ex-
tensive alluvions of that great valley for
agricultural purposes.
The order of the metallic deposits on
this continent, and their connection with
agricultural lands is likewise remarkable.
Approaching from the Pacific, while the
precious metals exist in the coast range, it
is only in such small quantities as to have
excited little or n interest. The impor-
tant ore in this range is cinnebar, yielding
the metal which has hitherto been found
wholly indispensable in the extraction of
gold and silver. From the New Granada
mines and other veins OF cinnebar, the
prospect now is that quicksilver will be
extracted in quantities sufficient for the
amalgamation of all the rich deposits in
the successive mountain ranges that stretch
away towards the east. Before ascending
the western slope of the Sierra we find a
belt of fine agricultural lands in the Sac
ramento and San Joaquin Valleys, sufi-
cient for the support of the mining popu.
lation that are attracted by the richness OF
the deposits beyond.
The western slope of the Sierra contains
those wonderful auriferous deposits that
have given about sixty millions annually
to the world since 1919, without, as yet,
showing any signs Of abatement or cx-
haustion. This discovery Of California
gold at once raised that distant and almost
uninhabited COAST to q brilliant and wealthy
Republic.
Reaching now the summit of the Sierra
we enter upon nm extraordinary region
which but for its mineral wealth must
have remained for generations an unin-
habited waste. Called by biologists and
travellers sometimes the Great American
Plateau, the Central Basin, and the Great
Desert of Utah, this region extends from
the Nevada to the Rocky Mountains, Il
width of some 800 miles, and its elevation
is in general 1000 feet above the sea level.
Traversed by irregular chains of rugged
and desolate mountains, divided by wide,
dreary plains Of drifting sand ard volcanic
scoriir, within five years this fo~rbidding
region has developed such immense wealth
that it has been called the Silver Zone Of
America. All the mountain ranges which
traverse it are found to contain argentifer-
Gus veins. At the eastern base of Mount
Davidson is the famous Comstock lode,
which, within four years has added fifteen
millions to the currency Of the country.
fThe writer should have said forty mil
lion..-ED.1
There is every reason to believe that the
silver in this belt is fully equal to the gold
on the Sierra of California. Already,
since 1860, the silver field Of Nevada has
approached in amount the gold Of Cali.
fornia md this Silver Zone extends from
the basin Of the Colorado on the north,
through the scorched plains of Arizona,
to the Sierra Madre of Mexico and those
wonderful veins that have in the hands OF
Mexican miners yielded such fabulous
returns.
Approaching now the eastern verge oil
the Great Central Plateau OF America, we
find gold the predominating metal. From
Longs Peak, northward, for three hum
dred miles, to the mountain valleys at the
head waters OF the Missouri river, the
whole region OF Central Colorado, Idaho
and Montana abounds in auriferous veins
Of different widths n varying IN the
character and value OF their ores. Com
petent and experienced judges have de-
clared that the deposits on this slope are
equal in amount to those west OF the
silver belt. But here the gold is generally
found in strongly defined quartz beds or
lodcs, often covered by n cap rock or dead
rock of more than a hundred feet in thick
ness.
On recount Of the remoteness OF these
mines the great expense Of transportation
and the severity Of the winters in many
localities they have not been developed as
rapidly or to such an extent as the dis
tricts nearer the Pacific. But within four
years they have probably added between
forty and fifty millions to the currency of
the world.
Coming now to the valley of the Missis-
sippi, we find in Missouri. Wisconsin and
Illinois immense deposits Of the strictly
useful metals. The iron Of Missouri and
Tennessee, the copper and lead Of Wis
consiu are found in quantities correspond
ing to the vast extent Of their agricultural
lands, and magnificent treasures of gold
and silver in the western half Of the on
tinent. The system of compensation here
observed is indeed remarkable. AS well
by the broad extent of its farming lands
by these deposits of the useful metals, and
the entire absence of gold and silver, the
valley of the Mississippi seems expressly
designed as the theatre of O dense and in
dustrious population devoted to a%gricul-
tural activity and the mechanic arts.
Coming now to the surface, which is
drained directly into the Atlantic, we have
a country Astounding in coal and contain
ing considerable beds of iron, and near the
southern seaboard furnishing gold but not
in any large quantities. The highest yield
Of the appalachian gold fields, as the gold
counties of North Carolina, Georgia and
Virginia are called, was never much over
q million annually, which is more than a
siYtieth of the MAGNIFICENT returns from