Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-11-08
PROSPEROUS FL DORADO.

A prominent citizen of Ell Dorado county
dropped into the RECORD UNION Office yes.
terday, and in the absence of the editor took
pencil and indited the following:
At one time Ell Dorado county was more
populous than any other in the State. Hang
town and Coloma were the two most impor-
tant towns on the coast, and her gold yield
was in excess of all others. Long since her
placers were exhausted, and when that indus.
try ceased her mining population. and much
of her glory also, departed. Still to-day the
quartz, gravel and seam mines of Ell Dorado
are rich, paying well, and promise to yield
golden treasures for years to come. The hills
and valleys are covered with vineyards and
orchards, and where once stood the log cabin
and the sturdy gold.seeking pioneers can now
be seen beautiful felds, lowing herds, elegant
farm-houses, and the merry shout of children
SIS they assemble at the numerous educa-
tional institutions, and the peals of the
church bell can be heard from one end of
this historic county to the other. The fine
belt of timber that runs through the northern
and eastern portions of this county is &C.
knowledged by all to be, perhaps, the finest in
the world. For miles, through densely
grown forests of sugar-pine trees ten and
twelve feet in diameter, which rear aloft
feet. the ak has never been used. There ma
ture. in all its loneliness and purity, can be
seen. The crystal streams trickle plsyfully
down the mountain sides. over pebbled.bot.
toms and messy banks undisturbed except
when some majestic buck stoops to lave his
thirst. These timbered lands have RENAME
in this primeval condition because the mar
ket for lumber could not be reached except
by teams, over high mountains and rough
roads, and the cost of freight in this way
would be in excess of the market value of
the product. All this will be changed,
however, in a short time, as the railroad
from Shingle Springs to Placerville will soon
be completed, and also the proposed narrow
gauge road from Rocklin to Georgetown. Ell
Dorado is not only rich in gold, fruits and
timber, but discovery few days since of an
iron mine in the southern portion of the
county, few miles from Folsom, adds an
other TO her long list of industries. and one
which will no doubt materially add to her
wealth. The body of ore is very extensive,
and assays from so to So per cent and in ap-
pearance resembles cast iron. So pure is it,
that by heating in common blacksmith's
forge it can be hammered out and shaped the
same as common iron without crumbliug.
About one hundred tons of this ore has
been shipped to San Francisco, and the result
of the smelling and working of the same YVES
most satisfactory. Aparty of Eastern CAPT.
talists are negotiating for an interest in this
new and rich discovery, and ere long the
largest smelling works west of the Missis-
sippi will be erected. This county also has
limestone, the finest in the State, while the
slate quarriss near Placerville, and the mar
BILE of Indian Diggings, are unsurpassed in
any country. The raising of live stock and
dairy products are not among the least i'm
portant Industries in the county. Within her
borders can be found Aourishiug tropical
plants. oranges growing to unusual size and
OF exquisite favor. while but few miles dis
tsnt you see the SUBMITS OF the mountains
covered with eternal SHOWS. The landscape
along the banks of her crystal streams lie I'm.
rivsled in beauty by that on the Hudson.
The fertility of her soil is unequaled. and the
scenery in her hills and mountain glens sur
passes most of that of the far-tamed Switzsr-
land.