Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-11-03

of the 10th parallel of north latitude and
west OF the lO2nd meridian, and al that
portion of Wyoming lying north ofthe
I'D parallel and east Of the lO5th meri-
dian, and embracing about 22,5OO square
miles, or $4,000 @ acres. ofwhlch about
one-four;h 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. pre-emption and timber
culture acts. The balance is now open
10 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 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 imprcgnated with gvp-
sum, of which there is an in~exhausiible
supply, and consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
The timber lands of the Hills are es-
timatei at 5000 square miles, the timber
is principally Norway pine, with some
spruce, cottonwood. willow, asper, 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
grasses with plenty of good wafer ana
from the winter winds and
scarcely amy snow, cattle keep fat on the
range the year round, never knowing
what il is to be fed the stock raiser can |
have choice of five different railroads To
ship his stock, thereby getting the low
possible rates to take them 10 mar
ket. Sheep do equally as well Us cattle,
and horses do better.
Large herds ofbunalo ar. o swarm
Ing over the ranges north and west of
the Hills, with many thousands Of cattle
mixed in with them. Two years ago.
hardest winter ever known i'm the
west, the 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 70 TO - per cent. There are
n the present time about 100000 head
Of cattle on the range in this vicinity
and room for I,000,0 900 more without
o~verstocking the country.
Gold mining is carried on from Bear
gulrh on the north TO Custer City in the
southern part of the Hills, n distance Of
miles, and from Rockford on the
west (" Rockervilr on the east. In no
country in the world are there SO
and extensive mines Of gold ~ in
the Black Hills. From the northern to
the southern and from the eastern TO
the western extremely g"ld is found in
nearly every gulch and on every Hill
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 200 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
] ,OGO feet in width and some as much
as 80 miles in length. Tie great majori.
ty of the mines are low Grade ore. buf
with the immense bodies of pay ore and
good management these mines haze
been made TO pay better than any 9TH
in the United States. Ore that will
90 81 per tor 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 E1Omestake mills
at Lead City, does not average 81 per
ton, yet that company has paid fny.one
successive monthly dividends, part of
which have been $4,000 per month and
the balance $4,000, besides having a
surplus on hand after paying all
expenses. These mines are better
developed than any others in the Black
Hills, but equally rs 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 $50 miles, thence by rail to
Nebraska, for treatment. At
the carbonate camp, even 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-
quirlng very little capital. All that is
necessary to work a mica mine and get