Nebraska advertiser., 1875-04-01
BLACK HILLS.
Gen. Sheridan Writes About Them.
He Tells A Ak0at the Mouatains Of G old.
THE LETTER.

4OHlug uAgUlF lLScIceilIS 4cbS-l COl-
cerDing the Black Hills country. II
sets forth what bss been done and
what the government proposes 10 do
in the matter, and Immediately con-
Germs all who contemplate going into
that country for gold:
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIvI-
SION OF THE MISSOURI, CHICAGO,
March 25.-Gen. W. T. Sherman.
! Headquarters Of the Army, 81. Louis
General-In reply 10 your question,
What do you know Of the Black
Hills ?" / respectfully submit the
following remarks: My first knowl-
edge of the Black Hills was derived
from an interview with the late Faith
er DeSmet. a noted Catholic mission
sry, whom 1 met many years ago on
the Columbia river In Oregon, from
whom heard the
INDIAN ROMANCE
of mountains Of gold in the Black
Hills, and his explanation of that ex-
! traoTdinary and delusive story 20 the
/ Indians, frontiegsuen and explorers.
That Black Hills country is much
more extensive shan that particular
/ locality brought TO the notice Of the
public by the recent explorations Of
Gen. Custer and gets its name from
the Black scrubby character of tim
Der which grows on the sides and tops
of the mountains and hills. 1t COM
prises the whole of the conntry bound
on the East by Ion. 102 degrees. on
on the South by Sweetwater and the
Laramie rivers. on the West by the
Big Horn and Wind rivers and on the
North by the Yellow Stone river.
! This il really the country Of the
Black Hills. but embraced in it are
several localities called Black Hills.
for instance the Black Hills of Lara
mie, Black Hills of Powder river,
and Black Hills of Cheyenne river
the latter being the locality in which
Gen. Custar made his reconnaissance
last summer, and about which there il
so MUCH SPECULATION
at the present time, and within the
bounds of which, IL is supposed by q
large number of people. IL TO be found |
gold. Father DeSmets mountain /
gold story was, that while living 4
with the Sioux Indians, he was 1
shown by them nuggets Of gold which I
they Informed had himbeer obtained al 4
different points in the Black Hills. |
supposed TO be from the beds of the 4
Big Horn, Rose Bud and Powder riv-
ers, and from branches Of the Tongue
river, and on his representing that /
such yellow metal was Of great yelue /
they :old him they knew where /
there was q mountain of il. Subse-
auent investigation, however, proved I
that the Indian mountain Of gold was /
nothing more than formation Of
YELLOW MICA,
such as may be found in a number /
Of places In the above described coun-
try. l had scarcely given the story /
thought alter this untilthree years after /
when / happened 10 be in New York, 4
and it was there brought 10 my recol- /
lection by q prominent gentlemen. \
who asked me where Father DeSmet |
was TO be found, and insisted that |
some one should be sent at once 20
get from him the secret of the gold |
mountain, which would pay the na-
tional debt, ETC. After nformed him
that il was an old and exploded story.
his srdor cooled, and the excitement
about the mountain OF gold again
subsided. II so happened, however,
that the Black Hills country was en-
braced in my military command. and
me that a military post in the Black
Hills of Cheyenne would soon become
necessary for the protection of the
settlements in Nebraska from the
raids of the Sioux Indians, who al
knf1ra 1anro-
dations on the frontier. secured q
safe place for their families and viii
lages. in the locality mentioned, and
believing these Indians would never
make war on our settlements as long
as we could threaten their families and
villages in this remote locality
ABoUNDING IN GAME
and all that goes to make Indian life
comfortable, and with this purely
given for Cuslar's reconnaissance.
near Harney's Peak. on the eastern
This was followed, and brought to
the surface Father DeSmet's story for
the third time.
Dc DldCh 1IlIe W SucNeuuc, Uec-
cribed by Gen. Custsr as situated be-
tween the north and south forks OF
that tyiver, one of which Is known as /
Belle Fourcbe. the other South Bark {
and although / have the utmost con-
fidence in the statement OF Gen Cas-
tar and Gen. FOrsythe, Of my staff
that gold was found near Harney's
Peak. / may safely say there has not
been any fair test made to determine s
its existence In large quantities.
There is not Territory in the West
where gold does not exist. but in ma
ny of them the quantity is limited to
the color, which is as much as has ,
vet been obtained near Harney's
Peak. Geological specimens brought
back by Custar's expedition are not
favorable indications Of the exist
enes of
GOLD IN GREAT QUANTITIES,
still It may be there, but as the treaty
Df '69. duly ratified. virtually deeds
this portion of the Black Hills to the
Sioux Indians. there 10 no alternative
but to keep out trespassers. But 70
90 back to the Father DeSmet infor-
nation. there is not much doubt as to
the correctness of his statement that
gold exists in large quantities In the
Black Hills, but much further west
han the Black Hills of Cheyenne:
have seen nuggets of gold from the
Big Horn and Tongue rivers. and
many specimens from near Fort .
in the upper Wind River 4