Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1879-06-28

Mineral Belt % 4lles L0ag-
"Hygiess" Bowlsr-Exsincs Vol.
eauoes-Dry Lakes The DEVILS
Punch BowI-The Casa DiabIe
spriugs-To Yosemite snd the
Hesawaters OF she Sen Jesquia.
Yesterday . representative Of the
News found Hank Blanchard on @
street, Virginia, surrounded by . knot
Of his friends who were making inquiries
of him about the section Of country from
Bodie to Mammoth.
The Arst and most important question
was a. TO whether It was advisable for
men To 60 there, Blanchard replied;
"It . man has anything to do here he
had better stay; but II he il idle he had
better 20 away. II Is q good country
out there. Bodis and Mammoth are
both lively camps. There Is . mineral
belt there 90 miles long and p~rospsctors
arc likely TO strike Il almost any place
along the line. All my Gold Hill 90
quaintanoss arc at work at something.
II q man has energy and nothing to do.
the people OF that section are liberal to
him. I know Of instances when they
have said: Here. take this mule and
90 out into the mountains and prospeot,
and don't ooms back ill you and some
thing or till you -hrs compelled to-
Men Who act on such advice seldom fail.
The country Il full Of prospectors, to be
sure; but there are plenty Of chances for
all. When you see q fellow with Q mule
packed and q pair OF bellows ON deck
you know at onos that he means bust
ness.
"when you leave Bodie the first OBJ
ject Of especial interest IL Mono Lake,
which Is 90 miles long and IL miles
wide. It 10 Of volcanic origin-looks
like q mighty crater. and contains
enough borsx, lime. soda. etc., to I'm.
preRnate its waters for all time. notwith-
standing the pure. fresh mountain brooks
emptying into 1t.
1.-THE belt Of mineral ground between
| Bodie and Mammoth contains the Keith,
Prescott and Tioga Districts. These
are all within 40 miles Of Bodie. After
passing the lake, you come to Hygiene ;
Bowler's ranch. This man Is Q noted
character OF that section. He Is an
educated Austrian. and obtained his cog.
nomen on account Of his diet, which
consists OF fruits and grain-no salt, NO
pepper. He cracks his WI wheat. and,
II he cannot got green fruits, eats those
dried. II he a get nothing better he
| will live on Graham crackers.
Passing Bowler's. you come to the
region OF extinct volcanoes, three or four
Of which are near by. There is NO soil
In this part Of the country, nothing but
volcanic ashes and pumice stone and OBJ
sidian-a kind Of volcanic glass, which
FIRE turns to pumioe stone. You cannot
make mud Of this stuff any more than
You can Of sand. It Is very light. A
little further on Laurel District IL seen
at the left and Mammoth ct the right.
"Then comes o series Of dry lakes
from half q mile to q mile long. In this
section, too, are O large number Of hot
springs. The water 10 hard. Within 20
feet Of one large spring 10 Q spring OF
boiling, bubbling clay, which simmers
for all the world like O big kettle Of
mush. There II n soft spring here.
and the rocks arc worn smooth around
It by Indians who have resorted to 1t 10
wash. The water has q milkish hue,
but is free from the lime which impreg.
mates others not 20 feet away.
"In this section. too, 10 the Devils
Puuoh.bowl, an extinct volcanic crater.
Q hundred feet deep. You look across
the top and all appears level, except you
sec the tops Of high trees rising from
the bottom Of the bowl. Passengers
here frequently get ont to take Q look
and walk around to the opposite side
while the stage 10 making . dstour OF
some two miles. A common experience
IL to walk unconsciously right up 10 the
edge before seeing what 10 before you.
This IL inevitably followed by . start
back from the edge OF the abyss.
Further along comes timberjbull
pine and nice tamarack. At Casa Di.
ablo there IL o log house and hot springs
which are valuable In cases OF rheu-
matism. On o small space OF ground
probably not much more than an acre.
certainly not fve-there are not less
than 80 springs. Three Of these night
along In o line and very close together-
In fact within q rod Of each other-are
ouriositiss. One contains copper. one
iron and one lime. The first deposits o
bright green formation, the second .
| red, the third o white. In the winter
time these deposits disappear and are
formed again next season.
"At these springs the bath.house CON:
sists OF two blankets hung up. Still
they are f~requsnted, even though ladies
are somstimss compelled to hold hand.
kerchiefs before their faces. This place
Ii bound In time to become Q favorits
resort. All that 10 needed now 10 to put
up better accommodations.
From Bowler's ranch . trail leads
through Bloody Canyon to Yosemite
which IL 45 miles distant and can be
reached in Q single day, ten and q bali
hours only being required to make the
journey. The nearest point 10 Camp.
bells ranch, where an abundance Of
horses are to be had. The trail Is, Of
course, impossible In Winter. but safe
In Summer. Bloody Canyon 70 70 called
because 30 many cattle fall and die there.
"Another thing Ia worth remember
ing. The Mammoth mine 10 within
four miles OF the h~eadwaters OF the Ban
Joaquin river.
two different routes. Ono Is by the way
Of Mohsye. II takes "a days TO get
freight from Ban Francisco over this
route, Ave days to Mohavs, and I know
Il takes II days from that point TO get IL
In. The other route 10 via Carson. This
takes IS days only. The difference In
cost Is about . cont; the charge being s
cents BY the former route and Q cents by
the latter. The difference In time. how.
ever, generally moro than makes up for
the odd cent OF freight. The whole SEQ
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