The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-05-20
OUR BLACK HILLS LETTER.
Castle creek-A Stream The Fame 81 Which
Will Soon be Sounded.
For Its Bed is of Golden Gravel, and Must
Shortly Yield Up Its Treasure
Trove-Talk About Steam
Pumps and Quartz
Leads, Etc.
Especial Correspondence Of 7Ae Ledder.l
SITTING BULL, BLACK HILLS,
Nav 10. 1871

To The Cheyenne Leader: .s7rIia Il
last Wednesday morning Frank 3.
Smith, of the firm of Smith Bros,
whose extensive establishments. at Gus
ter and Cheyenne have become very
popular as Quitting houses, drove up
in front of the Occidental hotel, at
Custer, and invited the subscriber to
honor him with his company on a trip
to Castle creek. The invitation was
quickly accepted and ina very few mo-
ments we were on the road. A drive
of fifteen miles brought us to Hill City,
or Hillyo, which, n short year ago,
aspired to be the Deadwood of the Hills.
but was forced by a combination of cir
cumstances to withdraw the claim, the
only Deadwood being discovered, with
the result of drawing from Hillyo her
entire population, while Custer, her
more pretentious rival, was nearly emp
tied of people at the same time. Time
has rolled by and after a weary twelve
month of silence the streets of Hillyo
again echo the tread of human feet here
quiet cabins are filling up with men,
women and children, and Hillyo bids
fair to again attain prominence and be-
come thriving mining camp. On
Spring creek, above and below the town,
hundreds of miners are working, ac-
lively digging drain bitches, putting in
s%luices, and preparing to wash out the
gold from the undoubtedly valuable
pIacers which are found here. "
Leaving Hillyo our road led up the
creek a short distance, when it turned
abruptly up a tributary called Newton's
Fork, the valley of which, though mar
row, has a rich soil, and abounds in
magnificent scenery. Gold was discov-
cred on this stream last year, h. big
stampede followed. and the entire creek
staked out in placer claims, but no work
was done and all have been abandon
doned for the present. Whether devel-
opment will pay time alone will tell.
Opening out from the valley of New
TOMS Fork are some of the prettiest
little parks and glades on the face of
the continent, nov clothed in robes of
richest green, spangled with beautiful
flowers. H'+ y
Reaching the head of the stream, the
road passes over q low divide, next
striking the valley of Slate creek, which
it follows for a short distance. Rich
prospects have been found on this
stream, miners are at work, and will
soon be washing out the shot gold and
nuggets which the gravel of Slate creek
yields. A fine herdVof, mich cows
owned by Mr. Slaughter, of cheyenne,
was grazing in the large park at the
head of the stream when we passed,
giving the scene quite a civilized as
pect. q H.'' sol.
Crossing another low divide we soon
entered a dry gulch putting in
to Castle creek at Castleton, the largest
town on the creek, and located about a
mile and a-half above this place. Gas!
Teton contains about fifty log and frame
buildings, most of which are well built
and as handsome as log edifices can be
made. There are two stores, carrying
assorted stocks, at which you can pur-
chase almost anything, from a paper of
pins to a barrel of sugar or a suit Of
clothes, but will find more -four and
bacon than anything else. Whisky
seems to be a staple, and although a
drunken man is rarely seen, it is a fact
thatat every store and ranch in the
Hills, outside of Deadwood, some sort
of a bar will be found, and whisky, or a
fluid sailing under that title, a be
obtained at the regulation western
price of 25 cents per glass.
Last fall Sid Cornell, of the Prospect
Mining Co., "Crazy Dick, of Castle
CREEK as Frank Smith calls him, Sc
lected this site and began the erection
of log buildings to which was given the
charming title of the ''town of Sitting
Bull" Why they did not name it Sit
ting Bull City is something no fellah
can find out" The place has not grown
very rapidly, and several of its two
dozen houses are empty, but the found
ers and inhabitants are waiting the
good time coming. At present Castle
TOMS prospects for becoming "a good
camp are bright, and the fact that her
location is more favorable than Sitting
| BULBS, will probably make her the me-
tropolis of Castle creek, although Dame
Rumor tells me that Mr.. G. H. Smith,
who had put in n pair of steam pumps
on the creek three miles above Castle
ton, is about to begin the erection of a
town which he, fondlyg hopes will thrive
far better than the two already estab-
lished.
Castle creek is much the largest
stream in the Hills, having a deep
channel, through which flows an i'm
mense body of wateraxtThe depth to
bedrock is so great and the water SO
plentiful that mining cannot be carried
on until a complete drainage has been
accomplished. Nearly all the claim
holders on the creek braved the soldiers
and the Indians in 1875, and are to-day
holding on to their original ground
with a tenacity which ought to guaran-
tee THEN. boundless, wealth in the near
future. They are and have been living
on flour, bacon and faith, with the lat
ter as the principal article of diet, if
such 1 may term it, andif the signs of
times be not readswrongg the dawn of
a better day is here and the nervy pio-
neers of this creek will soon be rewarded
richly for their long and weary waiting.
The most extensive work yet per-
formed on the creek is on some claims
1-,ooJ ~, 7 & Horna1l Of Nou,t Ral-H.