Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-10-20
THE SLACK L

Va Nv f'lH IiidiSi VI iioItii ktItuuS utl
west Of the l02nd meridian, and all that
portion of Wyoming lying north Of the
l3d parallel and east Of the lO5ti meri-
dian, and embracing about 1850 square
miles, or 1860, 900 acres. O (which about
one fourth is agricultural, the other
three-fourths being mineral and pastoral
sre in Dakota, have been taken under
the homestead, pre-emption and timber
culture acts. The balance il now open
10 settlement, with the exception of n
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 tbs world. Fifty bushels of
wheat, 60 of barley, 10 Of oats, 400 of
potatoes and go of Onions have been
raised per acre of ground. All other
kinds of vegetables do equally rs well ;
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 ~impregnated with gyp-
sum, of which there j. an inexhausiible
supply, and consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
The timber lands of the Hills are es-
timatel 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 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
-rasscs with plenty Of good water ana
shelter from the winter winds and
scarcely any snow, cattle keep fat on ;he
range the wear round, never knowing
what il is 10 he 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
kct. Sheep do equally as well as cattle,
and horses do 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, the loss OF cattle WAS only about s
tories south and Yves! Of here the loss
WIS from 20 10 - per cent. There are
al the present time about 3G0,0n0 head
of cattle on The Ranges in this vicinity
and room for 1.0h0,0 600 more without
overlooking the country.
Gold mining is carried on from Bear
gulch on tie north {" Custer City in the
southern part ofthc Hills, a distance of
nincty miles. and from Rockford on the
other country ia the world are there so
many and extensive mines Of gold as in
he Black ~!iiilS. From the northern 10
:hc southern ard rom the eastern to
the western extremely gold is found IN
ncarIy every "ulch and on every Lii
within tie mineral belt. In other min
ing countries it is only found over .
small area OF country, covering but Il
few miles of territory at the most here
there arc shout l,200 square miles III
what is called the mineral. and gold is
found IN almost every square mile Of the
200. The lndes vary IN size from III to
1,OC0 feet in width, and some as much
as 90 miles in length. The great MAORI
tv 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
ers in the United States. Ore that will
60 81 per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from 81 to SO per ton
will pay largely. The ore which is
worked 10y the great lIomcStakc mills
at Lead City, does not average s. per
ton, yet that company has paid tifty.one
successive monthly dividends, part Of
which have been $4,000 per month and
the balance $4,000, besides having n
large surplus on hand after paying all
expenses. These mines are better
developed than any others in the Black
Hills, but equally as good ard extensive
mines have been discovered
The quartz mills are the largest and
most complete in the world, nearly all
lave from 40 to 100 stamps.
The silver mines of the Hills are all
of Il high grade. Those of Galcna have
been worked continuously ever since
1876, and tie ore shipped by wagon TO
Sidney $50 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 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 City. They are easily worked, re-
quiring very little capital. All that il
necessary to work a mica mine and get
the mica ready for market are Il pick
obnval drill pnwIer and fuse and Il