The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-01-05
From the daily Of Frifay.
ANOTHER STAMPEDE.
Rich Placers and FabulOusly Rich
Quartz Lodges on the Back
Foot Reservation.
Determined Men Propose to Seize
the Coveted Ground, With
out Congressional
Action.
Great Excitement and OrganiZa-
ton of Raidin9 Parties at
Benton,

Special Correspondence Of the MINER.
Fort BENTON. Dec. q, '83.
While Western Montana is agi
tated from center to circumference
about the Occur d'Alenes, Northern
Montana Is not without its excite
ment. Just now the absorbing topic
here is the contemplated invasion o.
the Blackfoot reservation by organ
lied parties who know the value o.
the magnificent country occupied al
present by the redskins. So intense
is the excitement that scarcely any
other subject is talked about. The
papers are full of it, and the Rive,
Press announces its intention of pub
fishing q "boom edition" devoted en-.
tirely to the Reservation subject.
The richness of the Bear Paw coun.
try in placers and gold and silver
ledgts has been known for many
years, but pr0spectors and miners
have been kept out by the proscrip-
tons which environ the Nation
al Indian reservation. As early
as 1854 Chris. Reyes pros
pected the country and wrote
from Fort Benton to John Lepley,
his partner, who Vas then working
on Silver creek in Lewis and Clark
county as follows: "Drop every
thing and come on. You don't want
any horses or money; we can get all
Of the latter that we can carry. Come
quick" Reyes was well known as
q reliable miner and his message
created an intense excitement among
the pioneer miners who were work.
ing the placers of Lewis and Clark
and Madison counties. Alder gulch
miners were seized with the fever
and companies e organized to 60
to the new colorado, but before any
Of them got started, information was
was received that Keyes had organ
lied an expedition ut Fort Benton
and that they had scarcely entered
the reservation when they were at
tackled by the blo0dth!rsty Blackfeet,
aud the entire party massacred. This
sequel proved q dampener on the ar
dor of adventurous p~rospectors, and
of all the companies organized to ell
ter the new gold fields not a single
party made q start. The secret OF
Keyes' rich diggings died with him,
and excepting the occasional report
from some wandering prospector the,
subject has since remained dormant.
In 1868 a small ,rty went into the
Bear Paw country and located some
valuable placer diggings and quartz
locations, but they were driven of
the reservation before they
could do sufficient exploration
and development to determine the
value and extent of the lodges or
The lOcatOrs of claims at
that tine are only waiting for the
reservation to be thrown open to set
to relocate their claims and
active operations upon
hem. The matter of opening the
to settlement will come
the present session Of Congress
md it is believed that such action
will be taken upon the subject as to
ldmit of the immediate settlement of
he rich country by white men. In
anticipation of such action several
have formed here to enter
he promised land, bat SO far all who
AVE gone in have been promptly es-
'Orted off from the reservation by the
military and advised that upon a
econd offense they would be impris-
med and their effects confiscated.
The River ~ress says of one of these
"They were captured in the
.icinity of Bears Paw, and though
hey protested they were on their
Vay to the Canadian Pacific, it
vailed them nothing, as the militia
thought they were too far from
he right road for that to be the case.
here were six men in one party and
even in the other, fully equipped
With pack horses, grub and every
hing necessary to make a good, long
tay, wherever their destination may
ave been.'
The Bears Paw mountains are q
of the Judith and
nowy ranges, although separated
ON them by the Missouri river, and I
is reasonable to suppose, that I
ley abound in as rich
deposits as have
READY been developed in Meagher
ounty in those ranges. The reserva-
on covers an immense territory, ln- ]
several hundred square
lilies, and embracing within its I
mits. valleys and low lands rich in
|luvial deposits and unequa'led in
among the most arabic lands
the world. Great and inexhausti- o
[e ranges for cattle may be found on !
le mountain sides, and should the /;
be curtailed, as is pro- :
'sed by the present Congress, there +
no question but this land of infin- = =
e promise will be speedily taken up :
2 sturdy white settlers who will
axe its valleys blossom as a rose, its :
ountain sides TEEN with herds > >
BON a thousand hills, and the rich ! II
acer and quartz diggings give up Z
|eir wealth Of hidden treasure. u
VIDETTE. II
Bonding Mining Properties. =