The New York herald., 1878-03-03
Ell DORADO.
Facts and Figures Showing the Golden Pros.
pecis Of the Black Hills.
A SIXTY MILE BELT.
The Richest Mineral District Yet Found
on This Continent
SIDNEY, Neb., Feb. 20, 1878.

The Black Hills In cvery0ody's mouth aud IN
every bodys mind all through the West, aud informa
ton concerning The locality eagerly sought after
TINS is no, 10 be wondered at when consider ths
many connictn. stories anoat, reaching either tho
extreme OF cxaliatou the depth Of deception and
trckery. All through the past season daily egresa
from HILLS made by parties who went In poor
and unknown and emerged hcralded and loaded with
wealth. They pronounced tho country vcrttabis
bonanza; but by tner side trudsed many and many
a footsore. neartscx, pcnpicss man equally
loud IN their denuncations OF the Hills.
propose 10 furnish HERALD few scts, not based
upou hearsay or speculative evidence, but positive
knowledge and TO assuro your readers that am
ouadanlly able 10 supply them. Pardon tho esosisu
and allow mo to state that no man bcsn longer in
tho Hills thoroughly visited aud prospectsd
them than hes your correspondcnI II 10 NO agu.
ment againsi what shall say to recits that cams
poor as went In, Tor won't there AZ journal
and not as miner.
l predicate what shall follow upon tho assertion
thai the Black Hills Is tho richest mineral coun.
try every discovered upon the American continent
And possibly 1t is tho smallest In aroa
SIXTY
The Hills proper are about one hundred miles 10
length Dy nty in width. The gold belt running
from French Crock tho south, north thirty-fvs
degrees west magnetic variation, about sixty mies
in length and two milcs wide. There are three dis
tinct kinds o mines-viz placer. hill or ccmcnt and
quartz. The former Is tho 'poor man 3 diggngs," AZ
they arc readily worked where water 10 had nt
a trning expense ana with an instantaneous
Yields the second requires The outlay OF
capital In the construction OF bitches or the
introduction Of stamp mills aud other machinery,
while the latter can be successfully operated only by
capitalists and through the agency OF improved mech
anism and perfect science The HIS where invaded
arc still largely populated by poor men consequently
attention was first directed 10 placer mining.
from which tho principal yield has thus far been
secured. What that has been up TO the present time
wo havo no means OF asecrtaining. but a
tul computation from such sources as wo
have places It at about $4.OO0,o0o This, az
tho world knows, was takcn chiefly from
Deadwood and It's tributary gulchcs, albeit French,
Battle spring, Rapid, Castle Sand, Iros ana Potato
creeks have contributed f~,r proportionL Dead
WOOD is pretty nearly worked H. the ground
mas been pretty generally ali handled over onceout
company AZ work constructing q bedrock
aamc tor tho purpose Of reslulclng the gravel and
and with TAR less WORK thanxt The original process
Inc quality Of gold varies with che location
from which u IL taken. Deadwood gold "
nne and very rusty: Spring and Rapid creek
goIa Is faky aud very bright. wns that sagsn IRON
f~ sroana very sposs@ spfns Creek sois ~ Tar .Ss
inosl valuable. bringing from 81 10 81 SO per ounce
largest nugget ound IN tho Hills thus lar was dsccv.
cred IN Niger guich and weighed l47 pennyweighss,
Deadwood was valued At s36 Placer mining viii
tinue for several years yet, and will continue 10 yield
handsomely
Until recent date 10 genuine quartz leads had bosn
discovered in Tho Aiis but there was great abund
OF the MT, such sound at the kccts Hid
den Treasure Amsra, &c., aud which WAS designated
and generally Acoeptsd ~ quartz, SIMPLY because u
made no difference what tho geological formation was
SO oug produced gold, which 1t did most gopcr.
ousy. This cement s \ water iornsuon, censsst,ng
OF clay gravel disintcgrated quartz AID god, resting
upon bedrock, mot extending into or below It The
pay streak--as IN placer dggngs-variss Ia depth
direction and Is oftcn broken thu rendering the
mine spotted, and largely worthless, but the 'pock-
cts" wherein tho metal 10 found In nvariably very
rich, than compensate for worrying the
rem paichos Tho ore, quartz, or Whatever may be
called. Is worked tue samo as genuine xranttc ore
mated and duly reorted and produces AN average OF
$l3 per too. ihe cost OF mining ana milling t~ith
a convenient mill sile) Is 81 per ton, ieavipx .
is capable OF crushing ono and half tons
por day a twenty stamp mill will turn in to its
owners the daily Of $40. Ttese cement beds
abound principally around Dcadwood and lead .iyi
but recent discoveries at Rockervc. ioryhve miloi
southeast, prove concusiveiy that stratum may be
found any where along The belt
HILL DiGGfNGS
Hill diggiugs arc also found NIL along tho mineral
line, and ali very rich; but heretofore grcas
dra back has been experienced from lack OF wnter.
year by packing tho gravel into sacks and car.
rying u, IN nnny instances u mile, TO water,
wnere ;. was sluieed or rocked out, Grca. improve.
monts are being made 10 tho Introduction oil dtchcs
which. starting al distance often OF many miles,
cure tall sufficient 70 roach the highest mountaina
BY TINS process large amount Of ground wili bs
worked tie coming season
| QUARTZ ESrERPRIsgs.
Until lately II us an open question whether the hs
contained any true assure VEINS OF value or whether
IL could DC called quartz country That question Is
st last decided, aud most emphatically, In the
ainr NATIVE. i was recently a witness 70 The
sale oil tho De Smett Justice anu Bcchsr lodes Tor
one OF tue mines wassod Tor $.vo bat hen the prop.
crty was undevcioped, and dear ut the price paid.
during The summer Coll Deaue. representing Calf
fnrn ntu tulig I'M In In md Inok-
Ing about him, cast upon tho property named Since
that time $4,000 have bsen spent prospecting,
aud WITH such favorable results that the immense
sum ~as paid US stated for the ground rho Home
stake Company, consisting OF Loyd TENS president VI
! Wells, Fargo Co. Mark l. McDonuld Henry Janin,
G. l.. Dodge George Hearst, j.. Is. Hsgsin ana ID. +.
Dcrdeneilc, and the Do smet Company, composed OF
Uoane, all California capitalists, have invested 10 the
last Six months over t150,VO0 In properly In tho
ofa ditch, TO oxtcnd from spearnsb, nitesn miles
dislani To Dead~ ood which II VIII supply win water,
ms wcli as furnish AN abundance for mia purposes,
and also be utilized ~ noa'ing wood anu simbers 70
tho several mines ana mills. This work will be com.
pls'ed BY September at an expense OF $lSo,ooo
| The stability OF "a mining country is established
solely by us quartz iptecss, and as have predicted
that the Hills will provo the richest mineral In
America u comparative review may be smnentiy
| praciical Tho best California gold mines were, or
are. The Eureka. sierra Buttes Idaho Keystone Am.
ador Hue Biac. Bs.r aud STANDARD inc latter pays
THY dividend o $50 900 ANA the others respective
~ $4,000 $l2, ooo 81 5oo 2oooo ti5o ooo. $4,000,
$l3, ,0v0 upon that IRON 50 10 $l3 por ton,
taken from mot to exceed twelve cet IN &idtn.
This Is a very brilliant showing indeed, and bids the
Black His minors nope that their immense veins.
which, IN the D~ snett already show q width OF l20
feet, and still tho side has not been reached, VIII
more than iulnl my prophecy. rho three last clean.
ups OF the DE smett mill showed average OF SIS %
per ton, anu no rock has yet been secn that iaied
TO produce over sl2 per ton. l have cited these
MINES only as Illustrations There arc the RodcricK
Dhu. Goticn Gate, North Star, Terra, and hundreds
OF others equally a. gooi, although not so uiiy de-
vsopcd WITH such iacts established can you, reader,
DOUBT that We have Ia the hills very rich country
Tue social atmosphere OF DoudwVod and suburban
camps has experienced groat caangc during the last
SIX months Dcadwood is not the town o u year ago.
s gambling hes, dauco halls bouscs oil Ill lame and
disordcrly characters havo dwinded IN numbers and
their business has decreased 80 greatly that COM
parison with town IN the interior of tue Empire
State ould not be maiapropos. II there been n
period IN tho history OF the people whcn revolver
was considered necessary article Of per-
| soDaI appsndagc, or that tho necessity for
| its Likely 10 arise at any moment, that time