Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-09-17
THE NEW COLD FIELDS.
From New York Tribune Correspondence.

the services of two skilled and experienced
miners, who should supplement the accurate
geological survey of Prof. Winchell by
minute and special research for valuable min
erals. The men selected for this purpose
were II. y. Ross and W. L. Mckay of Bis
marCk. Dakota. who As prOspecters and prac-
tical miners had served long apprenticeship
in California. Montana and Nevada. They
provided their own team. wagon, and mining
outfit. and had liberty t. prospect wherever
they chose on the route of the expedition.
The result of their labors has justified this
foresight. and converted a sllcrng fable
into sIii,criny fact. The hints and Surmiscs
ot geology have been tested and proved by
tie pick. pan. and scales.
As we left the lIcenya- la-Kara and en-
tered Floral Valley, we lett the jurassic aye
with its flaming rel walls. and came suddenly
upon calcarcOu> chapter of the carbOniter-
Gus age. in tables Ot stone which had been
broken INTO fragments, the fractured slabs
left living on the older beds underneath. Be
tween these two beds thinks the Professor
the one Of broken CarbontrrOu> limestone,
the other 4 limestone OF the upper >ilurian-a
volume has been lett on, ut the geological
record The whole dcvonlan period. with It's
coral. fern. and yanuid chronicles. is missing.
The history of great age has in some way
dropped ou,-murr Likely il was not stitched
in at the binlcry, leave tn" solution I"
the ycooyi>,> Below this neither limestone
which, hv the way, would make very
good uuicklinr and !; line building stone
was "A sandstone OF still earlier rerutc. As
we proceeded up the valley and reached high
or attitudes. the geological formation persist
emily became older. The discovery "t some
Linyua flags identified the Po,>,Iam sand
a. Il L., ,.,f nail
shell peculiar I" this formation. Stralitied
rocks with their included fossils then gave
place IT, mc,amurphiC rocks. which. if less
communicative to our yeol"gi>tS. were more
communicative to our miners. Huge masses
of mica schi>t protrudcu from the hills. in
clinei at AN angle of - degrees, showing the
effect of the great upheayal which produced
the Black Hills.
TIE FIRST GOLD.
Here, on the 26,h of July. the day Of our
little Indian excitement. W. found also the
first good evidence of quartz rock. Oar min
ers experience chimcd in with the surmiSe Of
the geulugist. They began to prospect here.
but did not find the glitternS encouragement
they sought, The discovery further en- Of
large quantities If icld>pathic and granite
rock. and lc,lges of sold-bearing quartz
winch. with alienation Of mica Schi>t. re-
placed all other exposures. set our miners to
work sill more diligently What they most
needed was not field. but an opportunity.
The discovery Of gold was not the prime OBJ
jcct of the expedition. and the other interests
Of the exploration could M" be entirely sacri-
feed tO the incidental one. Our marches were
SO long that after getting INT" camp, the min
erS had but little time To search. However.
they made good use ot their time, and worked
.:.t. dahl s,>l,, ctra,
The sight of gold-bearing quartz I" an old
miner kindles hopeful arlor which is not
easily discouraged
At last this hope and patience were more
tanyibly rewarded. On the Both of July we
halted about noon in pleasant valley, within
ten miles of Harney's Peak. Nnc of our
miners took his pan. went to the stream, and
washed out pan or two of earth taken right
from the grass roots There was gold there,
but 1t was merely color, requiring careful
manipulation and nm experienced eye to find
il. The few glittering grains, with slight
residue of earth. were carefully wrapped up
i'm small piece of paper and put in the min
er's pockethook X was simply an earnest of
what was 10 come The discovery announced
created good deal of interest, but little COM
motion. not half tho excitement, indeed. that
the blooming cxul,erance Of Floral Valley
produced. Perhaps many were still incredu-
lOus.
The next day the expedition remained in
camp, and the miners had chance to renew
their search. The result was the discovery
of good bar. yielding from five to seven
cents per pan, which could easily be made to
pay if water was more plentiful there. On
the succeeding day the expedition made
march Of hut five miles, and found another
excellent camp. in which General Custer de-
cidcd to remain for tour or five days. ROss
and Mckay. in a literal sense. found this
their golden opportunity. Along the creek.
running down the valley. very good cOlOrs
were found in the loose dirt. none of which
were worth less than half q cent u pan, and
some worth three or four cents. A hole was
then sunkn \ promis ing bar to the depth OF
six feet. Water intruded and embarrassed
the work but the earth lanned out as high
rs ten cents The miners were not able to
reach the bedrock on account of the water.
An examination of the gulch for two or three
miles show the existence of u succession "
gold bars of equal aud some perhaps OF
greater value Time proved insufficient. how
ever. to test them all. or vet to define tue
limits Of the gold belt even in this special 10.
Cslitv.
vALCE Or TIE GOLD YIELD
T" one unacquain,ed with the details ana
methods "f mining, the discovery ni g"'"
field yielding anywhere from I" 10 cents
,nn NAV not seem very valt's"le discovery
II dep. nds altogether, h"wever. On the con-
~tancv and uniformity "f the yield. an" tile
facility with which Il II worked. Man! Mo
nld miner will prefer digging wm"n yieMs
ten cents pan n nn~ which yields dollar
pan, and viii justly his preference ny ""k'