The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-01-04
0hegnttltiganfer
FRoM ooLoRApo.
An Interesting Letter from west
VirEininn In the Far West.
ta,a GEoRaETowN, COLORADO, s)ttl,
Decamber lS. 1867
Editors InteI,0eMce,;: . 4

Y
ViFSi In the Far West.
tass GEoRaETowN, COLORADO. zOtl
.,...-.- December ls, 1857.
Editors InteLL,gemcey:
This town is built In valley about a
quartero of q mile wide. Thsmountains
on each side re-Vsry rugged and alb.
Eppt, rising at an angle of thirty five
degrees, three thousand feet above the
town. The business part of the town ia
6ui!t IN the sforksSof the creek; which
daahes and splaAhes among the huge
boulders, and roars like a V0un0 Mac
ara. -lfi - S>'"s A'+'s
Atan early day-tonr early DAYS onlv
go back TO IA few prospsctoTs canis
here hunting for gold. one lode was
Iounu whicn yielded quite a nice pile
of tree gold from the surface onRrtZ
and great many large lodes were
found which yielded a beautiful ore
Then the turor for raising companies
In New York came, and three or four
companies were formed on the lodes in
this vicinity. Those who invested had
pettet vouchers for the reality OF The
pFNpeEtg t 80 n ~ il Si,I,.
erally the case In such transactions
me report OF an officer of the U. s, Mint
was considered sufficient TO satisfy the
most 1nefedul0uss Andit did. Gold
was up to two fifty, and people were
crazy 10 get some permanent invest.
ment. The result was we had two or
three fine large mills erected, and seve-
raj hundred thousand dollars expended
in this remote corner of Uncle Sam's
dominIOns. regret to say that in spite
OF all the fair prOmises-In spite of the
mint mans report, after personal in.
spectton, and in spite of all the fine
machinery gotten up on the most APP
proved scientific principle not one
ounce of gold could they get. The
stock holders got sick of paying assess
.ments-the town was deserted and the
mountain lion and beaver came back
to claim their old dominion. The rea-
son why they could get no gold was
simply because it wasn't here.
Late in the fall of '64 some prOspec.
tors found silver ore on the mountain
beyond Georgetown. The place where
1t WAS found (now called Argentiue)
wasseven miles from here and about
three miles above timber line, ItbeInp
too late IN the season to do anything in
that high region without houses to
live in. The matter was kept pro-
found secret until the next spring,
Then there was grand rush for the
silver mines. Everybody got crazy
and saw sulphretts In their dreams,
Past experience had taught Colorado
men that the easiest way to make a
fortune was to sell, not work, the mine:
So each man when he had secured the
titles to his lode by the required
amount of development, rushed OFT to
New York with box OfQuHrtZ and an
abstract of title. Unfortunately
change had come over the spirit of the
New Workers. dream-whether on ac.
count of past experience in Colorado
property, or the change in the price of
gold, it matters not. They didn't bite.
So '65 went by without accomplishing
anything beyond establishing the fact
that we actually had silver lOdes here.
During this time curiosity led some
parties to examine the old abandoned
lodes about Georgetown, and they were
found to be rich in silver. New lodes
were also discovered, which proved to |
contain incredible amounts of silver.
Late that fall smelling COMPANY was
organized, and work began again in
earnest, and on little better basis
Still this was quiet, retired, romantic
spot, during the summer of '66. The |
dark green pines still remained un.
touched, and the sportsman found |
splendid trout in the clear waters OF the |
creek. In December the Anglo SaxOn |
end BethanX, were dtsee e9efeo8 which
phate of silver, and in greater duanti- |
ties than had ever yet been found. In |
fact, the ore from these lodes proved to |
be as rich as any In the known world, |
Georgetown changed its character ut |
once. People rushed tn-houses were
boarding houses, billiard |
saloons and drinking establishments, |
with all the other accompanilnents OF |
civilization. appeared Instantly. Daily |
lines of hacks were put on the road 10 |
Central, which soon were swallowed np |
by w ellis, Fargo * Co. 8 splendid coach |
and six. A newspaper was stRrted-I
the smoke from the smelter curled |
gracefully up to Heaven, and the old |
rusty amps which had slept for wears |
began to pound away. The pine trees !
began to disappear, and the trout found |
1t necessary to seek another home, for |
their native element was filled with |
chemicals and changed to a pink color |
not at all to their taste.
Two companies have now been at |
work saving silver nearly all summer,
with very good success. The aggre-
gate amount of bullion taken out by |
these two companies would weigh over |
a ton, pure silver. Ope is u smelter |
which treats the enaOreexclusively, |
The ore. is Crushed and freed
from all Impurities by washing, |
then roasted in u reVerberatorV
furnace which frees it from sulphur,
when 1t is smelted and run into bar or
pigs. After which the lead and silver
are separated by cuPeling. This is
considered the best process for galenR
ores, and as we have a great many
lodes which yield this class of ores, 1t
will be carried on extensively. But as
our timber will not last over five or six
years hJ tue IdEbueSbS IuOSe kluU OF
works will naturally be put up at the
coal fields, which are found at the foot
Of the mountains. AS we have unlimit-
ed water however the ore can be dress
ed here and carried to the banks below
on cars, the distance Is about 40 miles.
A railroad can be built without great
er outlay of money than was required
in building the Baltimore & Ohio Rail-
road through some portions Of the
mountains. The road has twice been
surveyed and pronounced practicable.
Just now our people are all excite.
ment over railroads. There Is a good
4 prospect for our having two roads
| completed to the mountains next sum-
mer, when we may reasonable hope to
accomplish something big In the way
of mining.
In my next will tell you something
about the California trade here, and
also say something about the mines.
Yours, &C., r. "A. MINER.
l