Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-20

- SnoW-Shoe1nS, It's Pleasures and
 Dangers-nIines and NIfnIng-SubIime 1 Scenery-Ouray.-
 | MINERAL POINT, SAN JUAN COUNTY,
 Colorado, Nov. 1.
 1 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 I am about to leave this camp for the sea-
 son, and make this my farewell letter. snow
 storm visited us on the 10th of last month,
 and was unprecedented in the early and
 heavy fall, lasting five days, making depth
 of three feet, and causing the timid to leave
 the country precipitately, for to be showed
 in, with mountain range 7, 500 feet high to
 cross, in snow impossible except on snow
 shoes, is not prospect altogether pleasing or to be desired. The most
 of those who fled were mine own
 CTS who had laid in their stock of supplies to keep their mines running 1 through the winter, and prospectors who
 had finished their work. Since the storm the | weather has been perfect, quite warm during
 the day, dissipating the snow so that surface
 mining has no difficulties to contend with
 and may be prosecuted, to all appearances, l through this month, though perhaps preca- l riously, for Colorado weather at this altitude and season Is very uncertain. Last winter l was an unusually severe one, the snow lying ! very deep, covering cabins ten and twenty
 feet, but occasionally it is open and but little I snow falls, and as this country becomes more populous, Gas by corollary observed in an | experience of upwards of forty years when 1 snow fell in my youth to depths unknown
 now, this obstacle may greatly diminish, 1 though this reasoning may not 'Ehold water' or, in this case, snow.
 The snow shoe is the indispensable adjunct to man in this region. By it he glides over the surface of snow otherwise impossible. It is also the means of exciting sport on the I mountains. Gentlemen and ladies put | them and come down the I slopes at tremendous pace. This l requires courage and confidence The boise must be accommodated to the gravity ! of the descent and the shoes well controlled, ] or chaos will result. It takes considerable l experience to become good snow-shoer. The ! reckless daring that characterizes these peo- pie soon accustoms them to their use, and l they will make appalling descents, sliding | with fearful rapidity. The shoes are made | of ash, fiat on either side four to four and a t half inches wide, half an inch thick and l about ten feet long, turned up at the front 1 end otherwise straight. At the center is a l socket of leather and a cleat to hold the foot. 1 The snow-shoer carries @ stout pole to main- ! tain his balance and regulates his progress in l descent by riding it, though the experienced l rarely make use of it. To see one such de- l scending long, steep slope is a graceful and often thrilling sight.
 The mining experience in this and other camps in the San Juan has proven this one fact, that argentiferous galena ores are the most reliable and continuous, while those carrying principally gray copper will run out. My knowledge on this point is verified by an eminent engineer who knows this mineral belt through Colorado thoroughly, and has had this experience with gray copper ore. Two notable instances of this character in prominent mines in this section have oc- | cured this summer. The mineral may come ! in again, as it often does, and then again it may not. But when it does, after a barren ness that IS often extensive 1t Is almost invariably with galena Brittle and ruby are likewise open to apprehension in continuity, but the galena ore body is reliable. and though low grade, is a better and surer in vestment than the others, and will make up in body and value what the other bodies have in small streaks.
 This is galena district. A most phenom- enal discovery was recently made in this camp, in uncovering solid body of galena immediately under the turf and when I say solid I mean 1t and not as the term is gen erally applied to ore bodies. This body is two feet wide and grows finer in depth It is no rare occurrence here to find masses of galena just beneath the surface, which inevit-
 ably grow finer as depth is gained and com bine gray copper and frequently brittle and ruby silver, making very valuable combina- tion. This camp has developed into great
 promise this season, has made an extensive
 reputation, and will be very active and pro-
 ductive next year. The railroad will then be
 within twenty miles via Lake City, and at
 Silverton, the same distance. It is already
 surveyed and staked to this point
 We are about to leave ye Mineral Point
 and San Juan, and such treasures as we have
 acquired in your veins. The life within your
 borders has been rough, the hardships and
 privations endured severe, but compensa-
 tion is afforded ill experience and knowledge
 that well repay And further and most to
 INoa respond to the Macedonian cry, come over and help us Help us to develop this coun- try, and afford us that reward and enrich
 yourselves. It is here.
 I have recently returned from Bear Creek separated by range of mountains from this camp, where I drove my stake on a vein bearing galena, ruby, silver and pyrites of iron and copper, in the vicinity of the noted Belle of Ouray mine, owned by the MinSnq Record of New York. Colorado offers no more wild and rugged scenery than may be met in Bear Creek canon. Nature has been but little disturbed and offers great induce ments to the suicide to mingle with her down-yawning precipices from the mar row trail along the face of the cliff. Five miles down the creek lie the Grizzly Bear and Seventy-Six mines. sold by Mir Henry Buckingham, a former resident of New Haven now 1n New York city dealing in mines and real estate. These mines are well known in this section and have a tre- mendous ore body. visit to them disclosed in the tunnel of the Grizzly Bear ten feet of mineral and neither wall reached. The property was sold for the small sum of $1O,-. 900. The miners at work there declare that it is well worth $50,000 now. The New York parties who own it are in luck. A par allel lode 0 thousand feet farther down the creek, with an ore body running 116 ounces, is offered for $6,OOO, and combina- tion of three mines with considerable devel- as 1IiO md Junction, is offered this fall for $50, 900. Assays from this property have shown the ore to run $12, 20 to the ton, and mill runs 135 and 40 ounces. These Bear Creek properties are in MT. Buckingham's hands to negotiate and so Eastern capital and interest are seeking us out here, as this record, which is a faithful one, attests. The canon two miles farther down turns and ends at the Uncompaghre Valley, and the creek takes an abrupt and unbroken leap of six hundred feet At this point the beholder experiences a sensation in gazing down that fearful leap and abyss below, narrow and steep Crawl ing to the ledge, as the sight extends beyond and in mortified stare to the bottom, one glance sufices. Yet in that glance the sub- lime mingles with the awful and the hues of the rainbow illumine the fall near the bot tom. Fascinated by the terrorinspiring scene, we become sensible of strange inn pulses, and shuddering, withdraw and hurry away. I have once since passed that spot, but with averted look
 The range of mountains along Bear Creek canon is very high and rugged, and the canon narrow, particularly at the mines mentioned. The cabin at the Union mine group occupies a charming site 800 feet above the creek. It is Swiss situation in scenic effect The slopes back fromit 2, ,000 feet About is dense ashen timber. The view is sublime. The altitude here is about 5000 feet, and while we at Mineral Point, Il, 300 feet high in a wide, open valley are in the grip of a chilling temperature, here is the Indian sum- mer. There is no snow, and the rigors of winter bear lightly on this spot. Ouray the prettiest town in the San Juan, lies two miles below. It is thriving business place, and boasts of modern built structures and good society. The character of it's inhabitants as a whole is superior to either Lake City or Silverton, the other important towns and county seats.
 Trusting that have not failed tc interest your readers in this great mineral field, re- main until next season, when purpose pros