Delta chief., 1884-05-14
THE CEUR D'ALENE.
Apparently u First.Class Country to
Keep Away From.


ard creek, since which time have been quite
busy taking in the sights At this writing
am comfortably seated in the banking house
in Belknap, where make my headquarters
when here As told you before, Eagle City
| is the Deadwood of the CTur d. Alene mines.
and is situated at the junction of Pritchard
and Eagle creeks. 1t has population of
| about 5000 inhabitants, nine-tenths of whom
are, to use the western vernacular, 'busted"
and are not in the enjoyment of square
meal a dav. The houses here are what might
be termed disreputable shacks, rs they are in
many instances built OF shacks alone, tackled
on to small poles. The most commodous
business houses and saloons are kept in tents,
us they are what you migh call potable, i.s.,
parties owning them can at Il moments notice
pull up and move to the next excitement.
1t is on Prtchard creek that all the princ-
pal placer claims are located. The course of
this creek is very nearly due west, and its
size is about four times that of Surface creek.
The valley will average probably half mile
in width for seven miles up from Eagle City,
where the famous "widow claim ia located.
Here n little town has grown up of late, that
bears the name of Murryville. 1t is thrv-
ing little burg of probably 800 inhabitants,
all of whom seem TO be pleased beyond de-
gree to know they are in the heart of the
Crur d. Alene, surrounded by mountains of
snow and forests not to be eNcelied by those
of the Pacific coast, and where meals are one
dollar apiece, straight without any exception
to the general rule. Were you Us well posted
as regards the local lore of this country
myself, | would not have to speak SO much at
length as do, but as you are not, | will ex
plain in detail. The widows claim is so
called from the fact that it was located by one
Prtchard early last fall, for widow lady
living on Palouse river, in Washington Ter
ritory. As winter was fast approaching she
failed to be on the ground in October to rep
resent" as it is termed here, and the claim
was jumped by some enterprising young men,
who are at present prosecuting its develop
mcnt with all possible speed. As the widow
has begun suit for its possession, its daily
output is, for pOlicy's sake, kept secret,
much TO the dctrment of the camp, as many
! prOspectOrs who are too poor to develop their
! claims, were expecting to make sales upon its
showing. | might remark the last days
cleanup in this claim WAS said to amount to
eleven hundred dollars, in dust and nuggets.
| This, however, has been disputed in many in
stances hereabOuts. visited this claim many
times while on the creek, and found the day
force to amount to eight men.
Fritchard creek has many tributaries, call
ed .ulches here by the miners, the most noted
OF which is Dream Gulch," in which is the
now famous 'Webtoot" placer claim. which
| was so the story goes, discovered By one Da.
| by means of dreams altogether while on his
| farm in Washington Territory, two hundred
! miles away. Hence its name, Dream gulch.
| This claim is wonderful property, having
| paid from grass roots, but as the only depend.
| cncc for water is from the snow on the noun
| tain sides above, work will necessarily be of
| short duration. However, they are working
it ut present for all it is worth, both night
and day. -....... .-.
The fact that placer claims have been dis.
covered in the gulches and on the mountain
sides on the head of Pritchard creek shows
plainly that gold leads exist which act as
feeders for these placers, and as rich float has
already been found on the foothills, predict
that some wonderful finds will be made when
the snow on the mountains goes oil, so men
can prospect | was at the Mother Lode"
which is visible only for few feet, and that
in the edge Of the water, on Pritchard creek,
about a mile and half above Murryville,
near little town called Butte City. This
claim is owned by five old Palouse ranch
men, who guard it day and night for fear of
ITS being chipped off for specimens, As it is
beyond doubt as pretty a sight as one ever
saw Small specimens sell readily for i've
dollars, and Nifty cents was for awhile paid to
see it. This is stopped n0w.' 1t is claimed
for this lead that there is over one thousand
dollars in sight. Some old miners claim that
il is not a true tissure vein, but n slide This,
however, remains to be substantated. lnas-
found in the placer claims just below this
lead, on Pritchard creek, it is claimed TO be
the main source of all the gold yet discover.
ed, and if so, the extent of the gold-helds il
rather limited. But there is thing most
noticeable. here as elsewhere, no two men
seem TO agree as to the extent or richness of
the mining district. So you will have to read
up and draw your own conclusions. There is
one thing am able to say with TRUTH and
that is, the laboring man coming here at
present is just one year too early, for this
reason: The snow is too deep here to admit
of any very extensive development Of the
placer claims for at least two months yet, and
then will come on the rainy season, which
will again fill the earth so full of water that
in order to make any hcadway in working the
claims, the use of the most modern improved
pumping machinery would have to be
brought into rcquisition, and thi, can't be
had at present for the following reasons
The owners Of these claims are, without u
single exception, poor men, hardly able to
keep soul and body together, and the facili-
tiles for transportation into the mines at
present very poor indeed; this. combined
with the fact that each placer claim consists
of twenty acres to the man, assures us that
but little can be done in the way of develop.
ment before fall, which is evidence within
itself sufficient to justify any reasonable per.
son in the belief that business in every par.
tcuar will be stagnant until these claims
change hands. When this will be am not
able TO say, as it is well established fact that
capitalists have long since quit buying holes
in the ground"
The Judge and have done but little in
the way of prospecting, as the snow is all the
way from bare ground to five feet deep, and
the country Is staked hcreabouts for radius
of twenty-five miles. However, we will be
of at as early date as practicable.