Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-08-09
WESTERN WANDERINGS.
No. 6.

On tne morning alCer we arrived at
Lake City we did not get up very early.
In fact, we found this country very con-
ducive to sleep. The nights are cool,
and you need as much covering on your
bed as we do in Iowa in October and
November. Our sleep, however was
very refreshing, and when we did get up
we felt as though the ride down Stun
gullion had been but pleasant dream
At 8 o'clock the landlord of the Flynn
House called us to breakfast, and we
went in with good appetites. They
brought us fresh trout, beef-steak, calls
liver and bison for meats; vegetables in
plenty; good bread and good coffee with
fine cream to season it. In fact, we
found that the comforts of first class
hotel had preceded us even in this city
OF the mountains.
After breakfast we began to inquire
as to the surroundings. We learned,
first, that the mines in this country
were mostly situated very high up on
the mountains, and that very little ore
had been brought down this spring.
Second, that the pass to Silverton was
about 1850 feet high; that no team
had been over it this spring; that snow
in some places was fifty feet deep; that
it was soft enough so that there was
danger Of breaking through; that you
could get over on pack animals, but it
was safer to go on foot Third, that the
pass to Auray was more difficult and
higher than to Silverton; that no wagon
had been into either town since last Oc-
tober, and probably would not go in I'M
til the first to the fifteenth of August;
that the mines 10 those districts were
nearly all above the timber limo, and were
not yet opened to any extent, and that
it was quite probable that the reduction
works were not yet in operation. After
great many inquiries as to the trails
over the mountains, and the probable
safety of going over. the Mayor and his
father concluded that the knowledge we
could gain would not pay the expense
and risk, so we abandoned that part of
our intended visit.
We concluded to look over Lake City
and vicinity as much as we wished, and
then 60 back to Pueblo. With this in
view, we set out to visit Crooke 4 Co.'S
reduction works. We went first into
the roasting works and saw them, They
We're running two Of their four furnaces,
Then we went across to the refining
building. Here Mr.. Crooke was in
charge, and after assuring him that we
were not interested in any other works
of the kind, he. took us through and
showed us their methods Of refining and
separating the silver from the lead and
other substances, We went through the
crushing, rolling and stamping mills at
ter this. I will not attempt q descrip-
ton of these mills, for might fall into
some great errors. The process requires
the ore to be handled over a number of
times, and go through great many re-
filming processes before they have the
pure silver. Pure silver is now worth
about $12O per ounce, and sells for that
in specimens at the works.
CrOoke & Co.'S works are situated on
Lake Fork Of the Gupisoa river, and
where there is q Fall of about sixty feet:
They have built dam just above the
fall and have their water wheels set
down in the rocks some distance, and
discharge the water from the wheels in
to the river below. We crossed the
bridge between the refining works and
the crushing works, at the head Of the
falls. The sun was shining brightly and
the spray of the water reflected and re-
fracted the light so that all the colors of
the rainbow were shown on the rocks.
In fact, q double bow could be seen, but
so close were the two that it looked
more like a conglomeratioH of bright
and pale cOlOrs than separate and dis
tinct spectrum. Crookes works are sit
uated at the southeast end Of town.
The Ocean Wave works are about
mile distant, at the northwest end, are
situated on the same creek, and have
fall of about twenty feet. Both these
works are driven by water power The
Ocean Wave Co. do not separate the
lead from the silver. They Informed US
that the lead sold for enough in St.
Louis to pay the freight on the whole
from Lake City to st. Louis; then by
shipping all together, the metal was of
so little value in comparison to its bulk
that no one would ever think of steal
ing it.
The mines that are most accessible
were not being worked, so we did not
visit the Belle of the East or Belle of
the West, or the Hotchkiss, as all of
these were idle. On the second morn
ing Of our stay we went up Hinson
Greek about fifteen miles, to Capital
City. This creek runs through canon
the whole distance, the rocks in many
places coming down so close to the
creek that the roadway had to be blast
ed out af solid rock. Above the road
were overhanging rock Of several thous-
and tons weight. At times we skirted
along close to perpendicular cliffs thou
sands of feet high, and in other places
our road went up on the side of the
mountain some hundreds of feet above
the creek. At one place we passed
over snow about eight or ten feet deep.
The keeper of the toll-gate at the begin
ming Of the road had told us that there
was drift where there had been slide
in March last. We stopped and exam
ined this slide and the ground over
which it came. Way up on the noun
tain to the southeast, at the timber line,
we could see where the slide first struck
the timber. 1t had cut clean track
through the timber, not tree was to be
seen in the track Its course through
the timber was as straight as an arrow,
and it came down about two thousand
feet. The side of the mountain was
very steep. When it reached the per-
pendicular part Of the canon, it made a
clean leap across the same, and struck
with full force upon the opposite rock
and the road. Here lay tons of rock,
hundreds of trees, and yet unmelted
body of snow at, least ten feet deep in
the road and deeper on the sides. The
owners of this road had at several diff
ferent times cut away the trees az they
were brought to the surface by the melt
ing of the snow. The gate-keeper told
us that when the slide first occurred,
the snow in the road was more than
thirty feet deep, and it extended along
the road about two hundred feet.
After awhile we emerged from the
canon into valley about four hundred
feet wide and mile in length, surround
ed on all sides by mountains from four
to. five thousand feet above the jvalley.
All over this level ground we saw logs
laid up dollhouse fashion; in some pla-
ces eight logs, others sixteen to twenty
logs. In some there were eight logs
laid up forming pen, and to the cor
ners of this pen had been spiked on
eight slabs, and at the top Of these slabs
four poles spiked on, making the stills,