Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-04-07
THE Blaze HILLS

Oh the ]otn parallel OF north LATITUDE n
west Of the l02nd meridian, and all that
portion of Wyoming lying north of the
AID parallel and east Of the l05th meri-
dian, and embracing about 1880 square
miles, or 100000 acres, (which about
one-fourth 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 is now open
to settlement, with the exception of a
small portion lying east Of the banks OF
the Cheyenne river and the l03d meri
dian. The farming lands of the Hills
are as productive AS can be found any
place in the world. Fifty bushels Of
wheat, 60 of barley, 10 Of oats, 400 OF
potatoes and 600 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 a rich vegetable
mold, strongly imrTegnsted with gyp-
sum, of which there is an i~nexhaustible
supply, and consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
The timber lands Of the Hills are es-
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 flow on to the Cheyenne river OH
the north and south side.
No other country in North America
can offer equal inducements to the stock
The finest and most nutritious
grasses with plenty Of good water ana
shelter from the winter winds and
scarcely any snow, cattle keep fat on the
range the year round, lever knowing
what it is to 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
kst. Sheep DO equally as well AS cattle,
and horses d. better.
Large herds ofbufalo are now warm
ing over the ranges north and west of
the Hills, with many thousands of cattle
mixed in with them. Two years ago,
the hardest winter ever known in the
west, ihe loss of cattle was only about s
per cent, while in the states and terri.
tories south and west Of here the loss
was from 20 TO - per cent. There are
AT the present time about 100000 head
Of cattle on the ranges in this vicinity
and room for l.00O,O0O more without
ovcrstocking the country.
Gold mining is carried on from Bear
gulch on the north to Custer City in tue
southern part of the Hills, q distance OF
ninety miles, and from Rockford on the
west to Rockerviiie N the east. In no
other country IL tn2 world are there so
many and extensive mines of gold as in
the Black Hills. From the northern 10
the southern and from the eastern to
the western extremely gold is found in
nearly every gulch and on every hill
within the mineral belt. In other min.
ing countries it is only found over a
small area Of country, covering but a
few miles Of territory at the most here
there are about 100 square miles in
what is called the mineral, and gold is
found IN almost every square mile of the
! 200. The lodes vary i'm size from 10 to
! 900 feet in width, and some as much
as 80 miles in length. The great MAORI
~ Of the mines are low grade ore. but
with the immense bodies of pay ore and
good management these mines have
been made to pay better than any 9th
crs in the United States. Ore that will
90 81 per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from - to $40 per ton
will pay largely. The ore which is
Wy VIC EISot iiViiiSStdhC Hills
at Lead City, does not average 81 per
ton, yet that company has paid fifty-one
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 al
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 al
have from 40 to l20 stamps.
The silver mines Of the Hills are al
of a high grade. Those of Galena have
been worked continuously ever since
1876, and the ore shipped by wagon tC
Sidney $50 miles, thence by rail tt
Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment. Al
the carbonate camp, seven miles wes'
Of Deadwood, rich carbonate mines have
been opened, the ore from which is now
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 Civ. They are easily worked re.