Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-05-03
THE BLACK L

WHAT - teTmeu the black HIS COun
try is all that part Of Dakota lying south
Of the 45th parallel of north latitude and
west of the l02nd meridian, and all thai
portion of Wyoming lying north Of the
I'D parallel and east of the l05th meri
dian, and embracing about 22,500 square
miles, or l4,50O,0O0 acres, ofwhlch about
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
the homestead, pre-emption 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, 30 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 impregnated 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-
'imatel 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 in North America
can offer equal inducements to the stock
grower. The finest and most nutritious
grasses with plenty of good water and
shelter from the winter winds and
scarcely any snow, cattle keep flt on the
range the year round, never knowing
what i; is to be fed; the stock raiser can
have choice of five different railroads TO
ship his stock, thereby getting the low
est possible rates to take them to mar
ket. Sheep do equally as well as cattle,
and horses do better.
Large herds ofbuf!lo ar" now swarm
me over the ranges north and west of
he Hills, with many thousands of cattle
mixed in with them. Two years g
he hardest winter ever known in the
vest, the loss Of cattle was only abont 6
per cent, while in the states and terri
cries south and west OF here the loss
vas from 20 to - per cent. There are
It the present time about 100000 head
cattle on the ranges in this vicinity
nd room for 100000 more without
,~verstocking ne country.
Gold mi,in- is carried on from Dear
on the north to Custer City in the
southern par. Of the Hills, a distance Of
,inety miles, and from Rockford on the
vest to Ro kcryiiic on The east. In no
,thcr country in the word are there so
and extensive mines o! god as in
he Back iii'ls. From the northern to
he southern and from the eastern 10
he western extremely gold is found in
nearly every gulch and on every hill
the mineral belt. Tn other min
ng Countries it is only found over G
small! area o: country, covering but q
miles of territory at the most here
there are about l,2C0 square miles III
" hat is called the mineral, and gold is
III almost every square mile of the
200. The lodes vary in size from 10 10
] 900 feet in width, and some us much
as 80 miles in length. The great MAORI
IL of the mines are low grade ore. but
with the immense bodies Of pay ore and
good management these mines have
been made to pay better than any 9TH
er5 in the United States. Ore that will
60 50 per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from 81 to $40 per ton
VIII pay EiISf'y' Inv ~ "liIii -
worked by the great Homestake mills
ut Lead City, does not average 81 per
ton, yet that company has paid fifty-one
successive monthly dividends, part Of
uhich have been $4,000 per month and
the balance $4,000, besides having a
large surplus On hand after paying all
expenses. These mines are better
developed than any others in the Black
Hills, but equally MS good and extensive
have been discovered.
The quartz mills are the largest and
most complete in the world, nearly all
have from 40 to l2O stamps.
The silver mines Of the Hills are all
OF a high grade. Those Of Galena have
been worked continuously ever since
1876, and the ore shipped by wagon to
ESQ miles, thence by rail to
Omaha, Nebraska, for treatment. At
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 in several localities.
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