Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-05-01
Continued J
THE MINERAL REGION.

ceued 10 congress by the State oil
Virginia. Upon the extinguishment
of the Indian title, the fee simple OF
course vested in Congress. The up
per lead district as it is generally
called, extends about seventy miles
north and south on both sides of the
Mississippi river, and about sixty
miles east and west, embracing por.
tons of Iowa, Wisconsin and Hi.
uois. Perhaps the most prominent
feature in the face of the country, is
the "Mounds." They are quite nu-
merous amongst the most prominent
Of which, are, the Blue Mounds, the
Sinsinnawa, and Platte Mounds.
Some of these mounds are one or two
hundred feet high, and appear to be
nothing more or less than hills dis
solved by time, and by the gradual
of the rocks of which
they were composed I; rugged noun
tains RACED into smooth green mounds.
Standing upon one of these the trav-
eler sees the mining region spread
out before him like map. The
greater part OF the land is prairie ;
though there is abundance of forest
and barrens. The prairie is mostly
undulating; but the forests and bar
rens are strongly marked with ridges
and ravines No country in the world
is more abundantly watered. Every
ravine has its rivulet. The most sue
cesstul mining operations have been
in the barrens, where the land is bro.
ken into irregular lobes or swels,
ranging in altitude from ten feet to
one hundred. In :prospeoting," the
miner generally commences by dig
ging hole as large as a well, on the
north and south side of these hills, in
some small ravine leading up the
side. II, in sinking the shaft he finds
scattering mineral, -"foat" as it is
termed, he iniers that it descended
from an east and west cyevice above
II is then termed a prospect, and the
miner is encouraged to sink another
hole few feet further up the ravine.
If in the next shaft he finds the min
eral still STRONGER" that is larger,
more abundant, and of character
indicating the near approach to the
creyice from which it "floated," he
throws into a pile all the pieces of
he has found and calls il a
"show"--a good show or bad show
as the fact may be. The speculatcr,
upon examination of a show, often
buys the discoveries show or pros
pect Of slead." The mere prospect
of finding large body of mineral is
frequently sold for hundreds of dol.
lars. The miner now proceeds to
prove his ''prospect;" that is, to ex-
tend range of prospect holes up the
hill TO the crevice. If he should pass
over the crevice, in prospecting, he
will find no mineral in the holes he
may sink because mineral never
floats up hill He then commences
drifting" that is, digging horizon
tally from the bottom of the last hole
in which he "struck" mineral, towards
the bottom of the next hole above,
and in his progress he strikes the
crevice, which may, after all the la
Dor in finding it, be barren crevice,
containing but little mineral on the
other hand the lead may be worth
many thousands OF dollars; since the
labor ofraising the mineral when dis
covered is comparatively little, and
the ore is worth when raised from ten
to twenty five dollars per thousand
pounds. "Crevices," of course vary
in depth and width. Some of these
are openings thirty or forty feet wide,
between perpendicular wall rocks
The ore is generally found mixed
with ochre and fiint-but is some
times found in solid masses.
When all the mineral is raised that
can be found in sinking a shaft the
miner commences drifting east and
west in the crevice for more mineral.
For this purpose it is sometimes nee
essary 20 brace the aperture with tim.
bers to prevent caying. Sometimes
lead is worked out by means OF q
level that is, tunnel being dug ia
the bottom of the creviee through the
hill, and in this tunnel is constructed
cheap railroad for carrying out the
contents of the crevice. The princi.
pal creviees run east and west; those
running north and south contain
smaller quantities, generally in thin
horizontal sheets, and are cut out by
east and west leads, Tor as geologists
term them "lodes.") Sometimes af
ter drifting few rods the crevice
"closes up but frequently by sink.
ing another hole still further east OF
west on the same crevice, another
"opening" is found, and the mineral
comes in good again. Leads vary
greatly in extent. Some are wide
and deep, while others are narrow
and shallow. Some "run" well, while
others "give out" in few rods. DC
casionally a creyiee is found widen.
ing into "chamber" containing az
immense body of mineral. 1t is not
however, every crevice that contains
mineral-the sanguine miner some
times comes to the bottom of bar
rem crevice, confident all the time
that he is about to strike mineral
and when after all his labor, he finds
the crevice closed up at the bottom
with solid rock, he leans perhaps or
the handle of his pick, the very image
of despair, and then ascends into the
light of day by means of a windlass
In some places the diggers have rur
the mineral into the water. Of course
these water leads cannot be worked
unless by draining and pumping -
Mining here is yet in its infancy, re
curing but little capital The dig
gings are generally superficial. Some
miners and geologlsts believe, how
ever, that much larger bodies of lead
and also of copper ore, lie buried
deep in these mines, than have YET
been discovered. For mining deep
much capital aud large and expensive
machinery is requisite. The popula
ton OF tie minesis rather fiuctuaring