The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1868-01-08

~ mere accident, in the Spring Of 1913, in
the mill race of Captain Suffer. This was in
the American Fork River, forty miles above
the Fort which bears his name. The effort to
conceal the discovery proved fruitlcss and
this may be held a conclusive proof that the
Jesuits were ignorant of its existence. From
the nature of the deposits, it is by no means
singular that Col Fremont should have ira
yersed the country, on tour Of general OBJ
servation, without making the discovery -
Afterwards it was found on the upper Sacra;
mcnto-on the Stanislaus River, tributary
of San Joaquin-in the coast mountains, not
far from Monterey and near Los Angeles in
the Southern part; a section probably much
richer in silver than gold. Subsequently it
was found all along the continuous slopes Of
the Nevada range and almost all the noun.
tains Of that region. The richest placers
were confined to tract. between the Stanis-
laus and American Fork Rivers and to the
foot hills and Nevada mountains-ten or
twenty miles wide, and one hundred, or more,
long-covering an areaof nearly 2 1000 square
miles. Yet the metal there was procured only
in spots, and was by no means distributed
through all this surface. It was found in the
bed Of rivers. The Valleys yielded it, the
low hills, and it was gathered among the
mountains ltappeared to be sprinkled over
the earth to the depth, sometimes, of several
feet, as if thrown up by volcanic action and
subsequently covered by the gradual forlna-
ton Of the soil. Again, it was detected in
sand and gravel beds, among decomposed gran
lite, and yet again, intermixed with talcose
slate A75- FAs
Last Summer geologist from Maryland,
(sent out to look for iron ore,) after passing
Huntersvlle, looked around upon the noun
tains and said to his companion, (who was a
citizen): "tWhy these are the mountains of
California Silver, Copper, Iron, Coal
all are here" Shortly before, something
resembling gold had been discovered in the
waters Of Williams River. But,as Professor
Rogers in his geological survey Of the State
had reported, that no gold or silver was to be
found between the Allegheny and the Ohio,
it was put down as something else. The find
ers of the shining particles now tried to
test and to conceal. They could do neither
Very shortly Col McNeal heard of it, He
sent the sand, the gravel the sandstone and
the quartz to Lexington and New York All
were tested and all gold. The citizens caught
the gold fever" They began to prospect"
Aud it has been found every where, exactly
as we have described in California, on the
Gauly, Elk and Stony Creek Mountains on
the waters and in the Valleys Of William 3
and Elk Rivers and on Locust Greek In
sand, sand stone, quartz Col McNeal has
sunk a shaft ten feet and gold is still found at
that depth. The breadth of the district is
about twenty miles. The length is unknown
as yet. The indications are, that it runs back
into the great Cheat range Of mountains
possibly to natures great Farm cunt the
hay stack knobs :" from the base of which
suethe waters Of the James, Potomac, Green
brier and Monongahela Rivers The ques-
ton now is, whether the shay stacks" are not
natures great matrir; as well aswater works ;;
and we aresurprised that biologists and miners
are not earnestly at work to find solution to
the question. g sew e.t.isg..s-i ]
The physical confguration of the mountains
of Pocahontas, attracted so early as in 1888,
the observing eye of DR.. Ruffncr, then Presi-
dent of Washington College, and we borrow.
the remark, natures great Fairmont," from
him, in an article published in the Southern
Literary Messenger. A Physical Atlas of
1.-THE mountains Of West Augusta" is now and
ever has been, indispensable to knowledge Of
the mountain and river systems of the United
States, as it is to the geologist, the meteorolo-
gist and the botanist. Without it the gener-
al geological structure; of Virginia will never
oC CoItcCtly uuutIStUUu anu kuOWu, 2uQ SlQCC
the discovery Of gold, of silver, Of copper, of
iron, of lead, of marble, of coal, what an in
valuable store-house of information such a
map would be /; Baron Humboldt would have
found food for study among these mountains
almost for lifetime, and we have to regret
that mind SO capacious and so maryellously
trained that it could take in at a single glance
the entire domain of natural knowledge ;iend
view the whole compound system in all its
parts as single and united whole, never stood
amid the mountains of Pocahontas
1t is strange, that neither the citizens or
he armies of Lee, Lorins. or johnson, among
whom were many men of science and observa-
ion, and who remained in Pocahontas two or
hree months, should never have made the dis
,overy Of gold silver or copper butnot stran-
yerthan thatthe Jesuits and Fremont should +
awe failed to discover it in California, and we
zee no reason why we should not reap a gold +
in harvest from the discovery But il is said, I
hat no lodes or veins have as yet been dis,