The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1881-11-23

PrNKHAM PASS, MEDICINE Bow I
RANGE, w. T., Nov. 8, 1881. !


time siuoe have written you, hence |
will again trouble you for a little
space in the columns of your invalua-
bic paper, in. which to give little of
the history of Colorado resources, seem
cry &C., being now little better ac-
quainted with the country than when
/ wrote you last.
AS is usual, most people who write
home flower every thing up and make
Colorado appear like a garden in
regard to its fertility and Golconda
in regard to mineral wealth specially
recommend its mineral waters, laud it
to the skies for its scenery and would
fain ascribe to it the locus ofthe fount-
ain Of perpetual Youth" So / have
read in Old Forest aud my eastern
home.
l consider 1 am undeceived. My
trip. taken as it has been, mostly on
foot and in the saddle, in closely ex.
amining the oountry,-mountains,
plains, towns, villages, mining camps,
&c, for a distance of almost eight
hundred miles-including railway
travel from State line to Denver and
from Denver to Leadville, leaving
about four hundred miles of travel as
above. Much Of this / have been
over three or four times, making in
all, probably, nearly sixteen hundred
miles of actual "Cororado travel" :"
Most of the country is unfit for agri.
culture. In Kent, Weld and Arrapa-
hoe counties J will assert that less
than 5 per cent. is unfit for growing
grain, 1t being high alkali plaiSs on
which can be seen, for miles and
miles, nothing but alkali in such
quantities as to appear as if the
country was covered with snow. II
seldom, if ever, rains, except in the
rainy season, when it rains all the
time and prevents farmers from har.
vesting what little they can induce tc
grow by a system or irrigration. ]
saw. fields Of hay and grain in El. Paso
county which bad been spoiled by the
continuous rains of the rainy season
All of the highlands are unfit for any
thing Except grazing purposes. al
of the mountainous counties are unf
for even that, ,sassit freezes every nigh
in the year and so stunts the grasses
and plants that theyi cannot afford
sufficient pasturage for stock. o
course the valleys along the stream
are exempt from the above, Wher,
they do attempt to herd cattle on th
alkali plains they count five head o
cattle per square mile, or one 70
about one hundred and seventy-fv
acres. How is that for "stock rails
ing2" know of no locality in Color
ado which l can compare with ou
farming land in Forest, Clarion, We
mango or Crawford counties and thes
are considered "less than average ag
ricultural counties" So much 70
agricultural Colorado"
OF the minerals they have many
gold, silver, copper Common red)
gray copper, lead, antimony, bismuth
zinc, arsenic, &c. These they have il
variable quantities of course. Th
gold "diggings" are PRINCIPALLY "Place
mines" and come quartz mines. Th
placer mines are not very good eS
cepting at Breckenridge, in Sunni
Co., where they find gold in payin
quantities. The quartz mines are no
as good as the "Placers ;" they rarel
if ever yield over three ounces per to
Of quartz, amounting to a little owe
$54 per ton; this, you will perceive
is not much of mine SO far as sudde
wealth is concerned. The silver mine
are somewhat better, though by n
means what we read of them east
Most Of them are galena (sulphide G
lead) mines that is, they are lea
ores carrying silver. This is in one o
two instances very rich. In the After
math mine at Kokomo the Assaye
told me that they had ore which o
several occasions run 2700 ounces
! IL tnn L. ~ L.. - IL L