St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-17
THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE.

MtneS-StOck RAISING ana pdHSes-Ahi
portant Prospective Trade.
Special Correspondence of the Daily Globe:
BOHEMIAN, March 12.-The latter part OF
February and the opening days of this month
we had delightful weather, No snow in the
lower valleys, all the streams open, and the
frost rapidly disappearing from the ploughed
ground. But the weather during the week
has been rather blizzardy, with the tempera-
ture disagreeably low, though barely reaching
zero at the coolest. The indications at this
writing are favorable to another s'open
SPELL and it is believed that ''the back bone
of winter is broken, that we will have no
more severely cold weather. There is now
no snow in the main valley of the Yellow
stone, nor has there been any heavy falls
during the winter The herds, cattle, sheep
and horses, are all thriving on the wild
grasses, work-animals and dairy stock only
being fed from the stack. Coming west in
the winter months over the unprotected
plains of Northern Dakota, world-famed not
outstanding for wheat production, the tray
eler feels as soon as he begins to ascend the
Yellowstone Valley as if he had been sudden
ly dropped down many degrees southwark
into warmer and more genial cline.
Bozeman, being situated on the western
foothills of the range dividing the Baletin
and Yellowstone valleys, receiving great
deal more snow than falls in the adjacent
farming districts; but a view oft thriving
young city in the latter part of May, Il have
witnessed the glories of over dozen spring
openings here) when the buds are bursting
on the multitudinous shade trees, and the
gardens are greening with early vegetation,
would dispel the notion that the climate must
be forbidding because 1t is on the 10th paral-
lei and 1000 feet above sea level. And
winter has charms here as well as spring and
summer The moon is nearing the full, and
few scenes in nature are more impressiyely
beautiful than the snow-covered mountains
that encircle Bozeman when lighted up its
silvery floods of light. The people here know
how to enjoy themselves; the winter months
are passed in continuous round OF social
pleasures-balls, skating carnivals, fairs,
etc, and then there is well-stocked public
library, and interesting lectures are frequent
ly given.
There is no local excitement at all over and
no interest is felt here in reported gold dis
coveries in the Occur D'Alene country. Our
people assert as of positive knowledge that
there are richer undeveloped gold and silver
mines in the Upper Yellowstone-in the
Clark's Fork and in Emigrants gulch-and
all around us, than have been discovered in
northern Idaho. The whole Occur D'Alene
excitement is viewed as wicked scheme
concerted by town-lot spectators and others
who expect to become enriched through
rush of emigrants into this country.
will not say that we have discovered and
tested here mineral wealth warranting such
rush as is being made for the northern
Idaho ignis fattus; but will say, without
fear of responsible contradiction, that there
is ten times as much gold and silver known
to be in the Upper Yellowstone mining dis
trict as is known to be in the Occur D'Alene
country. 1t is the duty of the public press
to publish the facts. so far as known.
Those large gold nuggets recently exhibit
ed in st. Paul as having come from the
Ceur D'Alene mines-from ''the size of
pigeon egg'' up to over 500 in value never
came from that country; and the rich quartz
specimens that are being exhibited at Ceur
D'Alene productions are from Montana and
California mines. This is the truth. A party
of old miners went from Bozeman into the
"new mining districts early enough last fall
to do some prospecting, when there was no
frost in the ground and no snow to be en-
countered, and Though their prospecting was
not Thoroughly, they returned, saying ''there
might be two-dollars -a-day diggings there"
but they doubted it, that Emigrant, and 9TH
er Upper Yellowstone gold gulches, are in
comparable richer than anything discovered
in Northern Idaho. The impression has got
abroad that the Cnur D'Alene country has
only recently been explored for minerals,
that the discovery of gold there is one of the
resulting developments of railroad communi-
cation.
But no section of the Northern mountain
district has been over-run by gold hunters
longer or more generally. This 1 will ven
ture to say, will be attested, by old gold m in
ers in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The new
camp is located, as glance at the map will
show, right between the Kovterai diggings,
just behind the International building and
the old camps of Florence, Warren, Elk and
Pierre, famous twenty years ago and long
since worked out. Nineteen years ago, Tin
the summer of 1863 the Occur D'Alene
country was the objective point of one of
the greatest stampedes known to mining his
tory, and it turned out huge ''steambust,"
as the old timers were wont to call mining
humbugs. For several weeks every steamer
reaching Portland from San Francisco was
loaded down to the guards with Californians
rushingt to s'the Occur D'Lene country and
the excited crowd pourd in from all direc-
TONS The great bubble collapsed within
ninety days from the time it was inflated.
One of the authors of the excitement was
man named Wilson, who expected to make
a fortune out Of ferries and toll-roads, came
near losing his life by hanging, the Infatuated
victims having the rope ready, with moose
fixed; and he was only saved by the earnest
and eloquent appeal in his behalf OF one OF
the priests at the Occur D'Alene mission.
He was set adrift in the wilderness with
the solemn injunction to not show his face
in stampeders' camp again at the risk of
his life; and of his subsequent fate know
nothing These are well authenticated facts
of history in the northern mining camps.
Yet fair mining camp may be developed in
the Occur D'Alene mountains; some very
rich districts have thus been found through
groundless excitements; only say no dis
coveries have yet been made to warrant the
existing Juror.
The reported discovery of quick silver
mine in Emigrant gulch, 30 miles southeast
from BoZeman, is not confirmed Quick
silver was undoubtedly found; but it NAV
have come down from placer washings
above; where it had been used to concentrate
gold But should not be surprised to hear
of genuine quicksilver mine being struck
in that gulch of wonderfully varied richness.
We know it contains rich deposits of gold,
silver and copper. One placer claim there
(the Cone ground) has already yielded over
$4,000 In gold, and is not yet fairly opened.
The loss of stock on the Montana ranges
this winter has been inconsiderable, proba-
bly, will not be, over one per cent. Of course
the stock men are jubilant. Free ranges
and no winter feeding, with good markets at
home and abroad, are sure guarantees of
fortune to our stock men.
Sheep breeding and wool production are in