The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-10-14
LETTER FROM COLORADO.
Special Correspondence.

OOACASeN'' Dih'NNNa oP' bJlliAN lIlOll Vail
fornia Gulch, the big ravine which
runs to the south and southwest of |
the city, has acquired national fame. |
Thousands of men poured in here at
that date, and the city of ORC arose
and had for Il while as many as ten
thousand inhabitants. In 1868 it had
hardly two hundred, and to-day all
that is left of old Orc is half dozen
uninhabited log cabins.
Gold washing is still in progress, eX-
cept in the winter months, and New
ORC, town further up the gulch, is
maintained by the gold industry.
This was the famous Pixies Peak gold
excitement. The very deposits of
silver now SO largely sought were
then trOd under foot undiscovered.
Among those who sought the preci-
Gus metal were Mes5rs. Stevens and
Wood, partners. Their success Was
good, but their best success was to
come from an unexpected discovery.
1t was about 1873 that Wood, who
was an excellent geoIogist, first made
the discovery that the carbOniierUus
deposit in that region carried silver.
One day he picked up a bit Of mineral
and handed it Slyly and significantly
to his comrade, saying nothing. The
comrade, experienced in the ways of
mines, took it, saying nothing, and
pocketed it. There We're those work.
ing by their side to whom one word
midght be hint. Later, alone, the
two comrades COnYersed with each
other on the subject of this bit of
stone. They took cautious and secret
rambles over the mountain side.
They said not one word to anybody
for two years, but quietly possessed
themselves largely of lands. To-day
both are rich beyond their earliest
hopes.
But it is needless to revive the story
of the early discoveries here or 10
give the history of the various mines
which have been made famous. The
Little Pittsburgh, which has enriched
all of its owners, was struck at thirty
eight feet below the surface, and
other discoveries speedily followed.
Romantic stories are told of the YiciS-
STUDIES of fortune which befell the
early discoveries how the Gallagher
brothers wandered from store to store
Vainly begging for a sack of -four to
enable them to go on with their work,
and next week struck mineral, and
sold out for | know not how many
hundred thousands, on which they
are now living in spIemdor in the
Champs Elysees how Long and
Derry were just about to give up in
despair, when old Long struck his
pick in the ground in his rage. and
discovered the wall Of assure yrin,
one of the very best in camp at this
present time how a small grocer
"gru5-stalyed" a hungry miner who
struck mineral within a couple of
weeks how the small grocer bought
out the miner, sold Il small interest in
his mine for fortune, bought other
mines, made money out Of them, an
atterWard became Lieut.. -Goyeruor
w. a. Tabor, President Of the Bank
of Leadville, and a man whose in
come is reckoned in millions. What
ever of truth there may. be in these
attractive tales, there is no doubt uf
the fact that by August, 1878, layers
of carbonate, carrying silver varying
in quantity from 500 to 10 ounces per
ton, began to be discovered through
out the range of hills which encrc!e
the town of Leadville on the east, and
that great fOrtuneS-SOlid fortunes -
began to be realized Ivy the lucky dis.
cOvererS. The carbOnateS were i'm
every case, save one, nearly horizon
tai deposits, lying at depths varying
from thirty-fYe to one hundred and
thirty-fivc feet below the surface. In
scarcely any case was blasting requir-
ed in the shafts. Two dollars a ton
was a common estimate for the cost
Of extracting the ore.
Such astonishing honanzas created
an excitement far and Wide-a furOre
far exceeding the Black Hills foyer,
and which can only he compared to
the California rage of 1913. Ten
thousand people poured into Lead
vile during the last three months of
1878, and huge machinery for smelt-
9ring works and sawmils were haul
I'd over the mountains at an enOr-
nous expense. You must remen-
Der that these fortune hunters were
going not to pleasant region like |
California or Nevada, but to barren
ten thousand feet above |
The sea, where the soil will not even |
grow potatoes, where snow fails |
very month in the year, and a man |
lad his hands and feet frozen one
hight last AupuSt. Still M bo.J