The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1876-02-25

Nessfs. Dodge and Ash say the coun
~ about the foot hills, and from there
early 10 Bismarck, j. the best portion
I Dtkota. The soil is rich, the fire.
quent streams running from the hills
furnish abundance Of pure water, oak
and ash timber is plenty enough for a
large farming population, and Immense
quantities Of hay could be taken from
the natural meadows. Within the Hills.
they say, there are also thousands Of
acres OF rich valley lands, and the eli
mate seemed milder than outside.
Dec. 81 they sought for a shade in which
- cook and eat their dinner; the ground
vas not frozen, and there was no ice in
the creeks, which were full Of ducks:
and green grass, from two to six inches
high, was seen in favorable localities.
The valleys are generally narrow, few
being over half a mile wide, but the
parks at the junction of these valleys
each furnishfrom hundreds TO thousands
Of acres Of beautiful farming lands.
Mr.. Dodge proposes 10 return al the
first opportunity, driving out forty cows.
and 10 establish himself as a dairyman
and stock farmer in one Of these parks.
Mr.. Marsh will 20 with him, taking out
a saw mill.
The party purchased and brought
back numerous specimens Of the gold,
including samples Of what they had seen
cleaned up. They also brought abouta
hundred letters TO be mailed or deliv-
cred, and several gold specimens sent
by the miners to their friends. Among
the letters were some from Spencer &
~ ranaatt.x .~l... = .,.-e.~-.l -.
as TO their work, and others from Allen,
Florida Il CO., a company of five, hav-
ing a claim on Rapid Greek, from which
it is said they have taken out $500 this
winter in less than three weeks of short
days work.
REACHING II L ROCK.
James Sutherland writes to +. II.
Collins, of Bismarck, formerly his part
ner in Montana. He SAYS Spencer Il
Co. and Allen, Florida x Co. are the
only ones who have reached bed rock,
but from their success and the general
result Of prospecting he is certain the
Black Hills will prose a second Monta-
ma. He names eleven creeks on which
gold has been found in paying q%uanti-
ties. The winter nights in the Hills, he
says, are cold, but the days are beauti-
full, and their horses are fattening in
something like the Montana bunch grass,
which abounds in great quantities,
and was still green when he wrote,
10. The Hills, he SAYS, are
covered with a dense growth of pine,
enough of ii merchantable timber to
employ many saw mills, for which there
is abundant water power. He writes
also of the finest farming lands being
found at the foot hills. and thinks the
country will be settled rapidly. Near
the foot nils are groves Of plum trees
and forests Of oak, ash. elm, white
birch, cottonwood, etc. OF game he
mentions deer, elk, mountain sheep,
bears, mountain lions, timber wolves,
squirrels, and birds Of many kinds.
partridges and prairie chick
ems were at that time found in the Hills,
with ducks on the creeks, and otter,
beaver and mink in the creeks.
In another letter dated Jan. ? Mr..
Sutherland describes the journey Of
himself and companions Ga party of
twenty-six, which left Bismarck early in
driving eleven heavily load
ed wagons) and confirms all that is
above said concerning the country be-
tween Bismarck and the Hills. AT that
time there were four to ten inches of
snow from the Missouri to the Grand
River. Beyond that there was none,
and they had not since seen my. Al
their wagons were loaded heav-
liz, they did not at any time have to
double teams until they reached the
Hills.
THE RICHEST OF III
Other letters tell of a discovery made
by a party coming in from Montana,
which appears to have been somewhere
what is called the Yellowstone region
but which they only say is within thirty
miles of the located line of the Northern
Pacific Railroad. The presence of
hunting parties Of hostile In
iins in that vicinity caused the gold
seekers to move rapidly and cautiously,
but they managed to do a little pros
and secure samples of gold,
which they say came from a region that
they believe contains more gold than
the Black Hills and all Montana.
| have only to add that one party
Bismarck to settle in the Hills
this week, that another is being made
40 to leave about the first Of next
month, and that the Black Hills fever
has broken out in malignant form
among the unemployed of this city.