Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-03-28
THE DAKOTA GOLD FIELDS.
Interesting Accounts from the Rlnc
Hills Of Dn <0tM-Thc Indians pnl
ming Out 500 u lIAy In Nu..c.s.

treasures was we'll known to the In
dians, who took great care to conceal
their locality from the whites, lest the
knowledge of their existence should ut.
tract tide of emigration which would
overwhelm the aborigines in it's course.
THE BLACK HILLS
lie between the 43d and 45th degrees
of latitude and the 103d and 1O5th me-
ridians of longitude, and occupy an
area of about 5000 square miles. The
base of these hills is about $500 to
5000 feet, md the highest peak 6,7OO
feet above the sea. The whole range
is between the north and south forks
of the Big Cheyenne river. These two
branches unite about 80 miles east Of
the Black Hills, forming the Big Chey-
enne, which empties into the Missouri
about GO miles above Fort Pierre. The
hills contain an immense supply of
timber, and the climate is so mild that
as early as the 9th of March flowers
have been seen growing on the foot
hills of the mountains, while the green
grass at the same time was springipg
up everywhere, and the antelopes were
to be seen summing themselves in fiocks
on the hillsides. This is the pleasant
region in which gold, silver and less
precious metals are believed to exist in
great abundance, while it is certain that
BANDS OF HOSTILE INDIANS
are equally plentiful. The last named
fact appears to present the principal
disadvantage of the Black Hills as a
field for explorers. The limited ex-
r,1orokS1voc that 1,o1,o h1o>> ,>oolo J..
the control of government in this d.
rection confirm the probability of its
rocks and rivers containing metallic de-
posits of great value. And from many
sources stories come from persons who
have seen with their own eyes rich
specimens of gold and silver on the
ground, or to have learned from trust.
worthy authorities that in this unex
plored region the Indians know where
gold is to he procured in unlimited
quantities. The Omaha Bee says that as
long ago as 1857 Father de Smit, Jesuit
missionary, Informed Judge Porter that
GOLD By THE BUsHE1
could be picked up among the hills:
but for reasons best known to himself
he refused to say whereabouts among
the hills the precious metal was so
plentiful. A late issue of the Union
County (Dakcta) Courier says that Mr..
Girls. Thompson of Richland, with sew
enteen others, during a recent trip
through the Black Hill country, saw in
the hands o. Indians of various tribes
nuggets of pure gold, some of them
two inches in length, and as thick as a
mans thumb. The Sioux City (lowa)
Times says that at the present time
Mr.. Pease, Indian Agent for the Crow
Indians, is in Washington for the pur-
pose of either getting q supplementary
treaty with the Indians, by
which they will allow miners to
work on the tributary streams of the
Yellowstone, or else inducing the Gov.
ernment to send out u sufficient military
force to retard the steadily increasing
influx of miners who are now collecting
on the borders of his reservation for
the purpose of getting their share of
the golden wealth observable on all
sides of them. Mr.. Pease is re-
ported as saying that there are now
from IS to 100 of his Indians working
on the Pryor creek, small stream that
empties into the Yellowstone river,
and that these Indians, with no other
utensils than an ordinary pan, shovel,
and pick, take out each as high as
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER DAY
! in nuggets from the bed of the stream.
In 1862 Mr.. John Goewey, of Sioux
City, while acting as post trader on the
Upper Missouri, fitted out trusty In
dion tn nof1,n~
about the Black Hill gold mines. The
Indian made frequent trips, and each
time came back laden with rich speci-
mems of qualtz and guich gold; but
owing to the antipa.1y displayed by
the Indians, TO white parties were al
lowed to do any prospecting. Other
testimony in corroborationo of the wealth
of mineral riches to be found among
the Black Hills is brought forward, and
parties are forming to explore the coun-
tro as soon as the spring fairly sets in.
But there is
ANOTHER SIDE TO THE STORY,
and people who claim to be we'll in
formed say that the accounts circulate
ed in regard to the riches of the coun-
try are greatly exaggerated, while others
deny the existence of gold ut oil in
paying quantities. An expedition
which is fitting out in Sioux City pro
poses to explore this new Ophir thor
oughly, without regard to the restric-
ticns imposed by the government in
relation to intrusions upon Indian ter.
ritory, which design, if not interfered
with, will be likely to provoke hostili-
ties with the Indians who occupy the
lands where the gold and silver depos
its are said to exist, some of which are
within the limits OF government reser-
vations. The weight of testimony ep-
pears to be in favor of the existence of
the precious metals in the Black Hill
regions but from present appearances
persons having special desire to MAIN
tain the integrity Of their scalps will
do we'll to hesitate about joining any
of the expeditions forming to make a
practical investigation into the facts of
the case.
DOUBTFUL STORY.
A private letter from Fort Randall.
Dakota, says that few days since a
party of Indians arrived there, direct
from the Black Hills. They had in
their possession a double handful of
nuggets of gold and considerable
quantity of quartz. Officers of the fort
tried to buy this gold, for the purpose
Of sending it to friends as specimens,
but the Indians refused to part witt. it.
The writer says that considerable ex-
citemert exists there among the citi-
zens and soldiers over the recent dis
coveries at the Black Hills, and a party
there wish to join the expedition which
is being fitted out at Sioux City.
Steam Navigation.
1t seems to be but Yesterday s;nca tho