Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1875-04-02


Investigation. however, proved that the lndi-
| an mountain of god was nothing more than
1 a formation of yellsw mica, such as may be
| found in number # places in the aboye-de-
| scribed country.
| had scarcely givta the story Thoughts
| after this, until abolt three years ago, when
/ / happened to be "a New York, ana IL was
| there brought to mr. recollection by prom
| inent gentleman, who asked me where Father
de Smet was to be found and insisted that
| some one should besent at once TO get from
/ him the secret of The gold mountain which
would pay the natioial debt, etc.
/ After had informed him that it was an old
and exploded storyhis ardor cooled, and the
excitement about 5he mountain OF gold
/ again subsidized.
| Tt SO happened, however, that the Black
| Hills country was embraced in my military
| command, and two gears ago it became ap-
parent to me that a military post III the Black
| Hills of the Shyenne would. soon become nee
/ essarv for the proper piDteetion of the settle
ments in Nebraska froh the raids of Sioux
warriors, who always before they commenced
/ deDredating on the hertier secured as safe
place for teir fa-.llies ana villages IN the To-
canty mentioned. Believe that these indians
wouia never MAKE MAJ eva, war e our settlements as
villages i'm this remote locality, abounding in
| game and all that goes to make lndlan LIE
comfortable, and with this purely military
object in view, the order was given for the
| Custer reconnaissance.
The discovery of particles IF gold by alluvial
washing near Harney's Peak, on the eastern
slope of the Black Hills of the Shyenne, fol-
! lowed, and brought to the surface the Father
| de Smet story for the third time.
The Black Hills of the Shyenne, described
| by Gen. Custer, are situated between the
| north and south forks of that river, one OF
which is known as the Belle Fourche, the
| tl,o Go,1th althOHoh | have
| the utmost confidence in the statement OF
| Gen. Custer and Gen. Forsyth of my staff, that
| gold was found near Harney's Peak, L may
| safely say there has not been any fair test yet
| made to determine its existence in large
| quantities.
There is not Territory in the West where
| gold does not exist, but in many of them the
| quantity is limited to the "color," which is
| as much as has yet been obtained near Har-
news Peak. The geological specimens brought
| back by the Custer expedition are not favor
| able indications of the existence of gold in
any great quantity. Still, it may be there;
| but as the treaty of 1869, duly ratified, Vir-
tually deeds this portion of the Black Hills to
| the Sioux Indians, there is no alternative but
! to keep out trespassers.
| But to 90 back to the Father de Smetin-
| formation, there is nok-much doubt OF the
correctness of his statement that gold exists
in large quantities in the Black Hills, but
much further west than the Black Hills OF
| the Shvenne. [ have seen nuggets from the
Big Horn and Tongue Rivers, and many
specimens from near Fort Stambaugh, in the
| Upper Wind River country, where mining
| has failed for want OF water for alluVlal
washing and from hostilities Of the Indians;
and have good reason to believe--in fact, IL
| is quite certain-that gold exists in the
| Owl Creek Mountains, in the Lower Wlnu
| River, and in the headwaSers of the Powder
| River and the Rosebud, all these localities
being, under the general meaning, in the
| Black Hills, and outside OF the sherman
Augur and Terry treaty Of 1862 except SO far
as the privilege to hunt game. 1t has been
my intention to communicate much nior1na,
| ton this coming summer to the GoVefnmeh'
on the above-d described country; and as the
Indians have no absolute right to the sou
| there may be but little difficulty in eXtlngulsh
| ing their hunting privileges.
| Ipurpose, if you do not object, to open up
the Yellowstone River by sending Gen. George
| A. FORSYTH and Col. Gwslt, OF my stan, uI
| the Yellowstone TO tao s1Too.sh of the- BIZ
Horn, as soon as the ice breaks, which VII
| give the lowest tide of water, having alreadJ
secured a steamboat to make this exploration
| If Gen. Forsyth is successful will send Gen
Custer, with command from FORT Lincoln
across the mouth of Powder River, thence uI
on the south bank Of the Yellowstone, cross
ING Powder River, Tongue River, Rosebud
and on to the mouth of the Big Horn.
This country is as yet entirely uneXplored
and the expedition may develop very valu-
able auriferous section and make the Father
| de Smet story to some extent true, but am
of the belief that the mountain of mica has
not changed to gold.
will also send an expedition down Wind
River, through the Owl Creek Mountains,
| from Fort Stambaugh, ViG Fort Brown, TO the
mouth of the Big Horn, and will bring 1t back
| through the parks about the head waters OF
| Jl.- Tod I.xy Ta,N lie ON
command last summer. These parks are Tor
beauty fully equal to those described SO
| graphically by Gen. Custer as existing in the
Black Hills of the Shyenne. | may also say
from my own knowledge that the valleys OF
the Big and Little Po-po-agie, Little Wlnd
River and Main Wind River can scarcely be
| eXcelled in beauty and fertility, While the
student of nature will find there the most eX-
| traordinary upheavals of the earth's crustprob-
| ably to be found on this continent l am OF
| the opinion that this country is gold bearing,
but of it's abundance there can only be con-
| lecture at present.
vent the intended trespass on the rights OF
the Indians, and cavalry and infantry in the
Department of Dakota are being moved at the
| present time to the most available points to
/ carry out my directions of Sept. of last year.
1 Were it not for these precautions on the part
i of the Government there might be repeti-
ton of the California Gold Beach and Gold
Lake humbugs, with still greater suffering,
as many of the persons now crazy to go to
the Black Hills never think of how they are
to exist after they get there, or how they could
return in case of failure.
| If they will only waii for further informa-
tion from the Government, which now seems
to be desirous of making concessions to meet
these new interests there will be no one more
| willing to aid in asceraining their value So
| far as the troops are concerned, / will promise
activity in the presentemergency, and con,
scientious performance OF duty
Should the points flom which the miners
start be so remote as to make it impossible fol
our scanty force to watch them, we can oc
cupy the two or three gaps In the BLACK Hills
| ana effrctually exclude trespassers.s very re
spectfully, (Signedl P. I'll. SHERIDAN,
/ Lieutenant General Commanding.