Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-05-10
THE A IT.

What is termed the Black Hills coun
try is all that part Of Dakota lying soutI
of the 45th parallel of north latitude an,
west of the l02nd meridian, and all tina
portion of Wyoming lying north Of tn
I'D parallel and east Of the lO5th meri
dian, and embracing about 22,500 squar
miles, or l4,5O0,000 acres. ofwhich abou
one fourth is agricultural, the othe
three-fourths being mineral and pastoral
lands. About 100000 acres, all Of whicl
are IN Dakota, have been taken unde
the homestead, presumption and timbe.
culture acts. The balance is now opeI
to settlement, with the exception Of
small portion lying east Of the banks o
the Cheyenne river and the l03d meri
liam. The farming lands of the Hilli
IRE as productive as can be found an,
place in the world. Fifty bushels o
wheat, so of barley, 10 of oats, 400 o
potatoes and 600 of onions have beer
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
e raised that went as high as -four
'Onnds. The soil is a rich vegetable
mold, strongly impregnated with gyp.
nm, of whiuu there is an inexllaustible
supply, aud consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
The timber lands Of the Hills are es.
tinated 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 i'm North America
cal offer equal inducements to the stock
grower. The finest and most nutritious
Irasses with plenty of good water ami
heller from the winter winds and
scarcely any 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 t. mar
ket. Sheep do equally as well as cattle,
md horses d. better.
Large herds ofbuTtlo al swarm.
ing over the ranges north and west of
the Wills, with many thousands Of cattle
in with them. Two years ago.
he hardest winter ever known in the
west, the loss Of cattle WAS only about 8
per cent, while in the states and terri
tories south and west of here the loss
was from 20 to - per cent. There are
the present time about 5000 head
Of cattle on the ranges i'm this vicinity
and room for l,000,0O0 more without
o~vcrstorking the country.
Gold mining il carried on from Bear
mlclI "a, '|ic north to Custer Cily la tue
: ruthcrn Dart Of the Hills. A distance of
inety mj cs, AMI rom Rockford on the
- est (, Ro .E"r.i,lr ~ Inc east. In no
her rullHtrt in Tie RID are there So
AMY lud extensive niacS Of gold ~ in
ne Black Hills From the nor hcrl ia
iie southern and from the eastern f.
lac western extremely gold is found i,
early every gnIch ana ON every hii
vii!lin the mineral belt. In other min
~ countries l. is only fou"d over Il
mall area az country, coveri"g but Il
cv miles OF territory 1T the most l.erc
lcre are about 100 square miles in
hat Is called the mineral, and gold is
,und III almost every square mile of the
,2G0. The lodeS vary in size from 10 to
MG feet IN width. and some as much
: 30 mics in length. The great majori-
of the mines are low grade ore. ..t
ih 'hc inr'Pnse bodies of pav ore AID
God management these mines have
Jren made to pay better than any 9th
" in The United States. Ore that will
80 ncr ton viii pay to work, while
which goes from 81 to $40 per ton
~ paw "large.v. The ore which is
orkcd nv the great i~Iomestake mills
Lead City. does not average 81 per
N, vet that companv has paid ffty-oue
Ircesive monthly dividends, part Of
'ich have been $4,000 per month and
ie balance $4,000, besides having a
rcc erv "a on hand after paving al
,pen>es. These mines are better
~.Ve!o,cl than any others in tiie Black
',,,e, bit equally ~ good and extensive
mes lave been discovered
Tie quartz mills are the largest and
ost complete in the world, nearly all
ave from 40 to 40 stamps.
The silver milcS of the Hills are all
IA high grade. Those Of Galena have
'cen worked continuously ever since
76, aud tie ore shipped by wagon "a
sidney $50 miles, thence by rail "a
maha. Nebraska, for treatment. Al
he carbonate camp, miles west
# 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