Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-03-22
THE BLACK HILLS

what rs termed the Black Hills cOun
try is all that part Of Dakota lying south
Of the 45,h parallel of north latitude anc
west Of the lO2nd meridian, and all thai
portion Of Wyoming lying north of the
+3d parallel and east Of the l05th meri,
dian, and embracing about 22,5 square
miles, or l4,5OO,O00 acres, Of whlch abou,
one-fourth is agricultural, the other
three-fourths being mineral and pastoral
lands. About 100000 acres, all Of which
are in Dakota, have been taken under
I'll. homestead, presumption and timber
| culture acts. The balance is now open
to settlement, with the exception Of a
small portion lying east Of the banks of
the Cheyenne river and the l03d meri-
dian. The farming lands Of the Hills
are as productive as can be found any
place in the world. Fifty bushels of
wheat, 60 Of barley, 10 Of oats, 400 of
potatoes and 600 of onions have been
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
been raised that went as high as four
pounds. The soil is a rich vegetable
mold, strongly im%pregnated with gyp-
sum, Of which there is an inexhaustible
supply, and consequently the land need
never become impoverished.
The timber lands Of the Hills are es-
,imaied at 6,CO0 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 in North America
IAN offer equal inducements to the stock
grower. The finest and most nutritious
grasses with plenty Of good water ana
scarcely any snow, cattle keep fat on the
range the year round, never knowing
what it is to be fell; the stock raiser can
have choice Of 1--WE different railroads to
ship his stock, thereby getting the low
est possible rates to take them to mar
ket. Sheep do equally ms we'll rs cattle,
and horses do better.
Large herds ofbuffalo are now swarm
ing over the ranges north and west Of
the Hills, with many thousands Of cattle
mixed in with them. Two years 60,
the hardest winter ever known in the
west, the loss OF cattle was only about s
per cent, while in the states and terri
tories south and west OF here the loss
was from % TO - per cent. There are
al the present time about 100000 head
Of cattle on the ranges in this vicinity
and room for I,000,0 600 more without
ov~ers.ocking the country.
Gold mining il carried on from Rear
gulch on the north to Custer City in tue
southern part of the Hills, a distance of
ninety miles, and from Rockford on the
west to Rockerville on the east. In no
other country in the world are there so
many and extensive mines Of gold as in
the Black Hills. From the northern to
the southern and from the eastern to
the western extremely gold is found in
nearly every gulch and on every hill
within the mineral belt. In other min
ing countries it is only found over a
small area of country, covering but a
few miles Of territory at the most here
there are about 1900 square miles in
what is called the mineral, and gold is
found IN almost every square mile OF the
goo. The lodcs vary in size from 10 to
900 feet in width, and some as mnch
as 80 miles in length. The great MAORI
" of the mines are low grade ore. bat
with the immense bodies of pay ore and
good management these mines have
been made to pay better than any 9th
crs in the United States. Ore that will
20 81 per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from 81 To SO per tor
will pay largely. The ore which is
worked by the great lIomcstake mills
ut Lead City. does not average 81 pei
ton, yet that company has paid ffty-one
successive monthly dividends, part o.
which have been $4,000 per month and
the balance $4,000, besides having q
large surplus on hand after paying al
expenses. These mines are better
developed than any others in the Black
Hills, but equally as good and extensive
mines have been discovered.
The quartz mills are the largest and
most complete in the world, nearly all
have from 40 to 100 stamps.
The silver mines of the Hills are all
| OF q high grade. Those of Galena have
been worked continuously ever since
1876, and the ore shipped by wagon to
| Sidney . miles, thence by rail ic
Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment. Al
the carbonate camp, seven miles west
of 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
been discovered i'm several localities.