The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-05-27
How the Gold is Found.

NOW Tue u0lQ IL E0uhu.
The n. Y. Suns Deadwood cores
pondent has the following on this sub
ject: a..
Considering the vast amount of gold al
ready secured, and the quantity known
to be still upon bed rock, the question
naturally arises, where did 1t all come
from?
The rule is uniform, the world over,
| that gold exists in three conditions-in
nuggets and small grains, visible in
| original quartz to the naked eye; -four
| gold, which is diffused in such minute
particles that it cannot be seen except
when placed beneath a powerful glass;
auriferous ores, which must be submit
ted to O smelling process before the
precious metal al be secured. I'm the
wearing away of the rocks by the ele-
ments, and auriferous ores are wholly
lost, or, If any is found, it Is only by
accident, as curious boulders or strange
pebbles, in quantities 30 small as not to
| be worth the trouble of search" Such
is the language of Prof. Jenny. As II
to give a rebuttal to Silence, the entire
southern portion of the Hills is filled
with auriferous ores, not in irregular
deposits, but in we'll defined leads, hay
ing their perfect w~all-rocks, and extend
ing for miles and miles In a uniform
direction. Their value, in a mineral
sense. has yet to be determined; for,
| with two or three exceptions, no accu-
rate assays,have been secured, no mills
have been introduced, and no effort
made to secure one This formation
so wonderful in its righteousness, ex-
tends northward to about the centre OF
the great gold belt, and there either en-
tirely disappears or changes character
to such an extent that 1t cannot be rec
ognized beyond.
The first discovery of gold in this vi
cinity was made in the gulches, or plac-
or mines, and in such great abundance
as to entirely engross the attention OF
every one. Hence, it was not until
every placer claim had been located, and
the tardy miners were actually forced,
through their inability to secure ground
in the gulches, to prospect elsewhere,
that any attention whatever was given
to the adjacent hills. Quartz was visi-
BILE nowhere; not even the blossom that
almost invariable indication upon the
surface of the presence of metal beneath
could be seen. The mountains were
barren of timber, and prospecting be-
came an easy matter, but secured little
encouragement until. after many days
pick into what appeared to be decom-
posed bed rock, and examining u piece
discovered that it was literally filled with
gold. Good news travels fast; although
Mr.. Woolsey endeavored to keep his
discovery q secret, he utterly failed. III
less than t~wenty-four hours every hill
for miles around wa dotted with men,
or stakes, defining the boundaries Of
new discoveries. That was less than Q
year ago. yet so enormously rich and
extensive is the deposit, that already
1900 claims have been recorded, OF
which number 400 have developed great
wealth. The character of the lore"
(if such be a proper term puzzled MI.
Woolsey, and puzzles every one. Ex-
perts have been called upon for opin-
ions. and biologists for theories, but
their conclusions were vague and un-
satisfactory. Leads there are none, for
the first fsure, crevice, foot wall,
hanging rock-in fact, the first recog-
nized feature of q mineral-bearing lode
has yet to be established. All that
is known is the fact that o mass of red
dish-brown sandstone (apparently) often
conglomerate. in some places formed OF
large boulders, lover an area of about
five miles by two, and varies in thick
ness from ten feet to two hundred, the
latter being the depth of the longest
shaft or tunnel as yet cut. The ore is
soft, often of the nature of cement, and
frequently shows humps Of pure free
gold. Its richness is equally distributed
over the entire area, giving no greater
distinction to one mine than to another
all things else being equal. By the
qualification here, 1 mean depth of cut,
proximity to water, and dumping facil-
tiles. The quartz value Of the Hills has
probably been exaggerated to q greater
extent, and often more innocently, than
that of placer mines. Ihave seen speci-
mems land forward a couple to the SUM
that will assay at the rate Of 100000
per ton. The like are often shown to
correspondents and Others, who without
investigating further, accept the sam
Piles as fair average exhibits, and upon
them build the most glowing reports,
which are eagerly swallowed by the dis
tant public. / have visited each one
of the many mines named below, and
also the various assaying Offices in this
and neighboring camps. ! haye seen
the ore crushed, the gold cleaned and
weighed. / have interviewed many Of
the most trustworthy men interestedfn
mining. believe that I am competent
to speak, and that I am doing equal
justice to all when 1 say that the quail
ity of the ore taken from what Is con-
sidered the best mines is 335@40 per
ton.