Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1873-07-18

ttous Thcreon The Town OIL
Prattsviiie-A Wonderful spriug-
I~udacements 10 Anglers asd Am.
at-ur Boatmen Fourth Of July
Bali Travels Mineral Wealth
and Fo.siIized People, Etc.
I'VE received this morning the following letter
from ". Frank Stewart. Like all his writin. q.
iii felicltous In expression and exceedingly en-.
tertainins. 1t will be read with interest, not
only BY his numerous personal friends, but BY
the general public.-Ep. NEws.l
At Susanvillc you accidentally form
the acquaintance Of a dashing gentle
man who resides IN a ~nelghboring val
ley. and who Il much addicted to thee.
retical speculations In regardt to lumber
and blind mining lodes. Dashing gen.
tleman owns a dashing turnout of flhe
horses and splendid buggy for two. In
a dashing sort of way, strange gent
proposes that II you will meet him at
Prattsville, Big Meadows, on the 4th
OF July, A. n. 1873, 1t will afford him
unalloyed satisfaction to whiz you over
the mountains IS miles to Chico. In
the simplicity OF your natural green
ness you accept Of the profiered kind
ness-pay your little old s. stage fare
ride 35 miles to Prattsville-loaf
around three mortal days waiting Tor
the dashing turnout, to find at last that
your speculative friend Is a bllk-Selah.
The road from S%usanville to Chico Is
about 100 miles In length, and Is as
good q mountain road rs cal be found
anywhere. 1t was mainly constructed
at the expense Of that sterling old plo-
ueer, General Bldwell, and Is a lasting
monument to his enterprise and liber-
atty. For 60 miles of the distance the
route passes through an almost un.
broken forest Of the finest timber Oh
this continent. Sugar pine, white and
yellow pine and arborvl'n FREEDOM
mate, aud it Is safe to say that so vast
Il body Of gigantic conifers cannot be
found upon any known spot OIL this
planet. Many Of the sugar pines, the
lumber of which Is now so greatly In
demand, will measure from six feet to
ten feet In diameter and will yield
from five to seven saw logs to each
tree. l predict that 1t is only a ques-
ton OF a short time when this prodi-
gious source Of wealth will be tapped
By a railroad or otherwise. Even now,
parties are earnestly discussing the
practicability OF sending the lumber In
n big tlume down Feather river to
Oroville.
In a geological sense the Bidwcll
route Is the most sterile aud monoton-
Gus imaginable. For the entire dis
lance of one hundred miles, even OH
| the apex of the Sierra Nevada and to
the very suburbs Of the town of Chico,
there Is nothing but one vast bed Of
azoic mud thickened with ill-shapcn
! blocks and boulders of basalt, tuia,
lava and other, volcanic emanations.
Lassen's Peak Is the axis and source
OF this wide spread sea Of silurian mat.
ter, aud In travelling over the ragged
ruins OF the long slumbering old giant,
one cannot avoid specializing upon the
awful forces which SCARED, shook and
blistered the world when Hood. ShaS.
Ia and Lassen were simultaneously
ablaze.
Prattsyille Is a pretty new town site
on the southern verge Of Big Meadows,
aud Is named In honor of It's locator,
than whom a jollier landlord aud more
genial gentleman cannot be found IN
tho Sierra. Recently, this ehterpris-
Ing citizen, ut great expense and
much labor, has completed a superb
hotel Of large proportions for the ac-
commodation of visitors to that incom-
parable pleasure resort, Big Meadows.
Some idea Of the building may be
formed from the fact that the ball
room OH the second floor Is G5 feet In
length by % In width. The house Is
we'll furnished and we'll kept IN city
style. and visitors are treated with that
courtesy which renders q strange
place u temporary home. One OF
the most attractive features Of Pratts-
Vile. Is the spring Of fresh water
i WHICH UOW5 ITOlu lilC Hlii iui'iSui'ec'J
below the hotel. This spring Is really
one of the principal sources Of Feather
river, and flows out In such volume
that the sprlng branch Is more than n
hundred yards In width. cold as Ice,
clear as crystal and Astounding with
splendid trout. Pratt has constructed
n commodious boat.houSe and has lots
of boats for visitors. On the evening
of July 4th there was r big house
warming In the shape Of n ball I; guests
we're there from Susanville, Indian
valley, Chico and the surrounding
country. to the number Of about five
hundred. The party was really n good
one, and the folks enjoyed the holiday
most glorIously from eight on the
evening Of the Fourth until sunrise OH
the fifth.
Since writing the above I have
crossed the Sierra. visited Chico, Oro-
vile, Morris Ravine, Oregon City,
Cherokee, Dogtown and surrounding
country. As, TOR the grandeur and
picturesque beauty of Big Meadows,
the sterile solitude Of the grim old
fmountains, and the matchless wealth
Of the tertiary beds ut Hendricks mine
at Morris Ravine and at Cherokee, |
shall have to devote another letter.
Suffice 1t now to say that, with few ex-
ceptions. the denizens Of Oroville,
Chico aud surrounding country. are
either In a state OF unrousable somno-
lpncv. or are totally fossilized,