Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-07-14

mat Is teTUlcU tnc BLACK fttilS COun-
try is all that part Of Dakota lying south
Of the 45th parallel ofnorth latitude and
west Of the l02nd meridian, and all that
portion of Wyoming lying north of the
Add parallel and east Of the l05th meri-
dian. and embracing about % 500 square
miles, or li,jOU, 900 acres. of (which about
one.fonrth is agricultural, the other
three-fourths being mineral and pastoral
lands. About 100000 acres, all of which
are in Dakota. have been taken under
the homestead. presumption and timber
culture acts. The balance il now open
10 settlement, with the exception of a
small portion lying east of the banks Of
the Cheyenne river and the 1854 meri-
dian. The farming lands Of the Hills
are az productive as can be found any
place in the world. Fifty bushels Of
wheat. to Of barley, 40 Of oats, 400 Of
potatoes and 900 of onions have been
raised per acre of ground. All other
kinds Of vegetables do equally as we'll /;
potatoes that will weigh two or three
pounds are common, and some have
been raised that went as high as four
pounds. The soil is IA rich vegetable
mold, strongly ~impregnated with gyp-
sum, Of which there is an inexhaustible
supply, and consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
'rba t;,, Ia, l,,Io ,r tIn HIN, oro .e-
timated at 5000 square miles, the timber
is principally Norway pine, with some
spruce, cottonwood, willow, aspen, oak,
ash, elm, etc, along the margin of the
streams which rise in the mountains
and how on to the Cheyenne river on
the north and south side.
No other country in North America
can offer equal inducements to the stock
grower. The finest and most nutritious
shelter from the winter winds and
scarcely any snow, cattle keep fat on the
range the year round, never knowing
what it is 10 be fed; the stock raiser can
have choice of five different railroads to
ship his stock, thereby getting the low
est possible rates to take them to mar
ket. Sheep do equally as well as cattle,
and horses do better.
Large herds ofbutfalo are now swarm
ing over the ranges north and west Of
the Mills, with many thousands Of cattle
mixed in with them. Two years ago.
the hardest winter ever known in the
west, the loss of cattle was only about )
per cent, while in the states and terri
tories south and west Of here the loss
was from 20 to - per cent. There are
al The present time about 100000 head
Of cattle on the range, in this vicinity
and room for 1000 900 more without
ovcrstocking the country.
Gold mining is carried on from Bear
culch on the north 10 Craer City in tue
southern part Of ihe EMii!i-, Il distance Of
uircty miles, ard from Rockford Oh the
west - Baskerville on tie east. In no
other country IN the wor 1 axe there 50
MANY and extensive mines of gol) a. in
the Black Eii',S. from the northern to
the southern and from the eastern to
he western extremely god is found in
nearly every gGlch and on every l!ill
within the mineral belt. IN other min
ing countries il is only found over a
small area Of country. covering but a
few miles of territory at the most here
there are about 1900 square miles in
what i called the mineral, and gold is
found IN almost every square mile of the
! ,2a0. The lodes vary in size from 10 to
] 900 feet in width, and some as much
as 30 miles in length. The great MAORI
" of the mines are low grade ore. bur
with the immense bodies Of pay ore and
good management these mines have
been made to pay better than n 9TH
ers in the United States. Ore that will
90 - per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from 81 to SO per ton
will pay largely. The ore which is
worked by the great Homestake mills
ut Lead City, Ices not. average 81 per
ton, yet that company has paid tiftv-onc
successive monthly dividends, part of
which have been $4,000 per month and
the balance $4,000. besides having a
large surplus on hand after paying all
expenses. These mines are better
developed than any others in the Black
Hills, but equally as good and extensive
mines have been discovered
The quartz mills are the largest and
most complete in the world, nearly all
have from 40 TO 100 stamps.
The silver mines of the Hills are all
of a high grade. Those of Galena have
been worked continuously ever since
1876, and the ore shipped by wagon to
Sidney 250 miles, thence by rail TO
Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment. At
the carbonate camp, seven miles west
Of Deadwood, rich carbonate mines have
been opened, the ore from which is o
being shipped to Omaha and Denver.
Rich and extensive copper mines have
been discovered in several localities.
The mica mines of the Black Hills are
! all in the vicinity of Harney's peak and
Custer City. They are easily worked, re-