The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-06-21

interest in a claim on one of the best
| gulches off Deadwood, paying from 50
to $40 per hand per day up to the end
of the season, and this is not an ex-
ceptional case. There are scores of
impecunious individuals at the present
moment, from whom $50 or 500, a
grub stake" would buy interests in
some Of the richest strikes in the Hills.
The prospector should locate himself
for a week or SO in Deadwood, read
the Cheyenne and local papers,
make himself acquainted with all
the mining gossip, take occasional
excursions to the various localities,
| getting them fixed in his mind, and by
that time he will be practically ac-
quainted with almost every gulch and
lead claim in the Hills, and probably
have fixed upon some spot for begin
ming operations. That the great ma
jority OF such earnest seekers will sue
coed is the experience of every day.
In a country where such great ''inds'
have already been made, and as great
yet, certainly, remain to be discovered,
there must be thousands who are eager
to rush in and take advantage ere it be
too late.
This brings me to the conclusion of
this opening letter-the best route by
which to come here. And although an
impartial and unprecedented reporter on
this most vital matter, in order to con-
vince the public, / must enter a little
into detail. 1 may add that L am thor
oughly acquainted with all the routes
hither, and will first take the most for
midable opponent of the Cheyenne
route, that by Fort Pierre. In the
| spring the Pierre route was heralded as
the harbinger of all that was great and
good. Travellers hither would make by
it a holiday tour and goods would be
| shipped and delivered i'll Deadwood at
3 cents in advance of st. Louis prices.
| What is the result? She has been tried
in the balance, and found wanting.
Since the opening of that route, the
dispatch of goods by other routes has
somewhat s~lackened, and the price of
every article here has taken an upward
rise. The cause of this is the condi-
ton of the road. There are merchants
here who have had goods OF order since
the first of April, and they have not
yet come to hand by this route. In the
first place, the steamers from Yankton
occupy from 8 to 6days of most dan
gerous navigation up the Missouri river
to Fort Pierre. Passengers are hud-
died together like so many cattle, and
then there are the hourly groundings
on shallows-the boat sometimes occu-
plying two and three hours before clear
ing herself.
From Pierre the miseries of the jour
ney continue. The passenger and team
ster will find almost no wood the whole
way, and the water is alkali of the most
eXecrable kind-most dangerous to use.
| Than tho rood 1olSnS nlnnGt antira1y
through the Bad Lands, II series of
boys and morasses. After a few show
ers of rain they are absolutely bottom
less. When the roads are in such a
condition teams are utterly helpless to
move either backward or forward for
two and three days.
l will call the attention of those who
have come this way to the horrors of
Dead Mans creek and Cheyenne river,
and ask if words can overpaint them.
This condition of affairs continues to
within n few miles of Deadwood; and
so well is it known here that merchants
will, on the strength of 4 shower of
rain, advance flour two or three cents
per pound, being perfectly aware that
at such a time nothing by the Pierre
route can reach the city within two or
three days. The distance from Pierre
is said to be 100 or 10 miles, and the
time taken by teams averages from IA
to IS days. Our journey hither occu-
pied 16 days, and the teamster informs
me his second has just taken IS to per-
form it in.
1 leave the public to draw their own
differences. L may treat of the minor
| Sidney and Bismarck routes in 4 future
letter; but will here state as n simple,
indisputable matter of fact, that the
Cheyenne route is emphatically the best
in every s~ense-and the shortest. Dur
ing the worst weather the roads are
dry, and always have Il good, hard bot
tom. They pass over a gently undu-
lating country, where they are always
drained by the streams that cross them
running eastward. All the water of
these, too, is excellent, and wood abun-
dant the whole way. The average time
taken by teams is from 10 to 10 days;
my own was IA. There are large whole
sale houses Of every kind in Cheyenne,
and their prices are regulated by those
ruling throughout the United States,
and not, as here, by any local excite
ment or condition of affairs. And here
1 would strongly advise the would be
Black Hitler to make his first and GER
tain speculation. lie should simply
load with n stock OF provisions, picks,
shovels, etc, when in Cheyenne, and
bringing them here he would rapidly
clear them ont at 4 profit of % to 80
per cent. Take flour, for example. Go
to one of the great houses, Messrs.
Whipple s. Hay or Pease & Taylor,
purchase 80 or 100 sacks Of Snowflake
at $500 per 100 lbs. Freight is now
about sc per pound, and he can Judge
whether or not he would be satisfied
with the result when L state that flour
has not been less than SIG per 100 TBS
during the last two months, and the
average price has been from S16 to 500,
where it now stands.
1 strongly think that if Cheyenne
would only be true to herself she could
take the lead in regulating the Dead
wood markets and find it a source of
profit to her citizens at large and every
miner in the Hills. f. w.
District Court OoiDus.