The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1884-08-14
Our Black Hills T1ip

who hns not been an the Hills our ac-
count may furnish some matters Of In
terest To tile. .ona aequ uainted with the
Hills onr account will be manifestly
weak 10 the former we would say, go|
and pee for yoursel lives. 70 tie latter,
skfp ouT desETip iption.
Lead City, Where the Homestake sys-
tenn Of minessis located, is three miles
south Of DeadWood. The road winds
through The, hills and Is 4 CONSTANT All
cent Of 500 feet To the mil q. EysrsNhare.
rom NE bestom d gale Isss fostiia1
Q ars i Ei ssa sl fkBs sineyi itabisI
prospect holes, e ling 81 labor lost tor.
fortunes won. One cannot help q feel
ing of sadness when thinking Of the poor
devil who has spent his last cent or run
into debt for .tgrub stake'' and then
seen it fade a#aysWith no chance Of get
ting another. These ferry holes, how
ever, are the found dations; Of the most
colossal fortunes ever made. in mining.
The first man who located on the Home
stake vein tried repeatedly to sell ont q
half interest for a "grnb stake : and;
finally succeeded in selling out for a
mere trifie.
& The Homestake system now comprises
thef GLOWING locations: The Homestake,
Golden Star, Highland, Deadwood- Terra
and Father De smet. Besides these all
have mines attached which now belong
to the Homestake system. The first tmine
on the Deadwood- Lead road.i the Home
stake mine proper, and it. with the ,tun=
nels5 and works attached, will serve as
specimens Of al ;s i; 81
First, let US get into the car and run
along the level track, right into the
heart Of the mountain, and thank for
tune if Syou can find as good a guide as
.Dolph Edwards proved. to US. The air
outside is exceedingly warm, but that Of
the tunnel is delightfully."- COO. The car
tashes along at a high rate Of speed
amid q deafening noise and Stygian
darkness. Sud- denly we come to a halt,
couple on to some ore cars and immedi-
ately shoot back into the light Of day. A
careful investigation Of the ore at the
entrance Of the tunnel reveals to our
tenderfcoted senses the fact that our
knowledge Of geology is swonde derfnlly de.
fcient. But, as Dolph never lies, we are
compelled to- believe that this brown
worthless looking rock the valuable
tore=outef which sshs.ii rgsst oldsuxirins
company in TIE world is stamping oul
gigantic fortune Next we visit! ths
shaft house, step into q cage, and before
we think we have gone twenty feet We
are 400 feet down. Aud now begins an
interminable wandering thro a dense
tangle Of props, slopes, drifts and: cham:
bers, in which we would have been Ger.
tainly lost had it not been for Joseph
Trewerk, who is as much at home in:thia
underground city as lie is on the streets
of Lead. This system Of propping was
to us the most wonderful thing abodt the
whole mine: Imagine logs about eight
feet long, built into stories forming a
cube of over 300 feet and a faint idea can
be gained Of a small part Of the propping
needed in only one mine of the Home
stake system. Mile after mile Of this
wooden tunnelling did we traverse, and
then we only saw small fraction of the
whole amount. Coming suddenly to the
shaft we again stepped into the cage,
and in trice were again on the ground
level. ID. ss55 ::.s5s 5.i s; IS. IA. 81, *
From the shaft house we went to the
stamp; mills, guided BY the sullen roar
that grew louder and louder until when
we were fairly inside the mill the crash
was so deafening that we could by nc
possibility make each other hear, except
by yelling at the top Of our voices di-
rectly into the listeners ear. ssgssy E I. {.
To Tetrace our steps a little we will
state that under the perfect superintend-
ence Of Samuel McMasters every thing is
reduced to an exactness unparalleled
anywhere. The principle Of the: work is
to- have as little lifting as possible.
Every step in the work takes one to a
lower level, and the handling Of the ore
Is done on: the dumping plan. After it is
blasted out; it is loaded on the cars and
carried to huge crushers, into which it
is dumped, and comes ogt in chunks
about as large as ones fist. Chutes con:
duct these Jumps under the stamps
where it is pounded as fine as powder.
A constant stream Of water carries this
powder through selves and over quick:
silver tables that seize greedily upon the
gold and let the rest slide over. The
water comes thence thick and red, and
for the rest Of its existence performs nc
service except to discolor the beautiful
running waters Of Whitewood creek.
The Homestake railroad is by no means
the smallest item IN the System. The
road IS q narrow gauge, twenty miles
long, and was built solely for the pnr:
pose Of bringing wood to the mines.
That itWell fulalls its purpose was
shown by amodest pile OF cord wood al
least q $50 high and 300 feet in diameter
Fat Its base. I'M. s5;
Leaving Lead and walking across tht
mountain to TerTayille, Central and Gay
| vile, we wandered down Deadwood gulci
over siuieG mines that had yielded ii
many fortunes Of glittering dust and re
galed BY the st0Ties Of Mr. Edwards, VII,
thoroughly knew and had many reminis
cences Of every claim clear to Deadwood
4 eTo IA cpntinued.l 81,
f. Titled Cowboy. 81