The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-04-13
The Black Hills Gold Fraud.

The New York Times does not think
that there is much truth in the reports
of the discoveries of enormous guam
titles Of gold In the Black Hills. The
great numbers who have gone west to
seek their fortunes in the Black Hills
will find to their sorrow that gold Is
not so easily obtained as they i'm
agined, nor in such immense quantI-
ties. The folloing is an extract from
the Times bearing upon this subject,
which may serve 10 enlighten some
of the venturesome fortune seekers :
Our correspondent at Cheyenne,
Wyoming Territory, says that the
whole Black Hills gold business is q
| fraud, and he adds that Cheyenne,
Omaha, Sioux City, Ysnkton, and
one or two other frontier towns have
profited by the delusion. That is to
say, parties bound for the mythical
gold mines stop few days in these
towns and spend some money for
hoard, lodging, and "o1tfits," in which
latter comprehensive term is included
all that emigrants and miners need,
from an ox-team and wagon to = pan
for gold-prospecting. For the sake Of
securing this trade, newspaper editors
print falsehoods about the mines and
dilste on the superior facilities which
their localities afford to emigrants and
travellers.
1t is said that the railroad and
steamboat companies Immediately
interested in augmenting this emil
grafton lend their aid in the dissent.
nation Of false reports. Whether this
Is true or not, 1t is certain that great
deal OF lying Is done in order to induce
immigration to the mines. The re-
suit Of all this is apparent. The most
trustworthy reports are that gold Is
found in the Black Hills in such small
quantities that its gathering pays
most Indifferent wages. For example,
Cheyenne dispatch dated March 2I,
and printed far and wide, stated that
one party had sent in Several hun
dred dollsrs," and that business at
the Hills was lively" The real facts
were that this party-that OF James
Allen-bad made five hundred dollars
in three months. As there were eight
men in the party, any school boy can
cipher out the rate Of wages which
the deluded victims had earned in
their rough apprenticeship at mining
in the Black Hills. The only lively
business in the region is that OF
whisky-aelling. THIS Is fair sample
of the entire scheme, aud the best
statement Is that men may make fifty
five dollars month at the business.
Men who are willing to live on star
walton diet Ia the wilderness, and In
daily terror OF death by violence, for
that income, are crazy.
This would be a comparatively un-
important matter IL the delusiOn were
confined to a small section OF the
country. But the truth is that the
people interested in circulating the
fraud have diligently eanvassed the
entire Republic. Even in cautious
New England there has been main-
tanned q sheet devoted to the propa-
CATION of these falsehOOds. In some
localities Of New York and New Eng.
land, men who have become discour-
aged with the slow aud slender in
come within reach at home have
struck out for the Black Hills and 8
fortune. They have sold out at q sac
rifice, and have rfsked everythi on
the hazard OF gold-hunting expedi-
ton in the Black Hills. The result
is poverty, defeat, and bitter disap-
pOintment. Somebody should be
punished for this shameful deception.
From the first the Times has de-
nounced the inhammatory dispatches |
as fraudulent and miscbievous. There
has been no reason TO believe that the
stories Of gold discoveries in the Black
Hills were worthy of belief. Every !
thing pointed to systematic attempt
to mislead. The result shows that
from first 10 last the whole business
has been q monstrous delusiOn.