Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-03-20
THE NEWGOLD MINES.
Some Reliable Information
About Them.
Not so Much of an EldOradO as
Claimed e
Cole Facts That Eliminate the
Boom Element.

Much excitement mas existed all
over the country for the last three
months about alleged fabulously rich
cold mines discovered IN the Occur d.
Alene mountains. The place is in
the Rocky mountains, in northern
Idaho. not far from the line of the
Northern Pacific Railway. The ST.
Paul Pioneer Press has this about it:
Prof. J. NJ Herman, -mineralogist
of the Northern Pacific railroad, an
old and practical miner, who has
lust returned from a years expl0ra-
ton Of Idaho, Montana and Washing
ton mineral regions is stopping at the
Windsor 2 Pioneer Press reporter
called upon HIM last night, more es-
pecially with the view of obtaining
information concerning the Occur d.
Alene district He says the discov-
cry has its glittering gold lining, but
likewise its stern realities of suffering
and privation. The mines are on
Pritchard or Eagle creek, in north
western Idaho. The creek rises in a
little spar of the Rocky mountains,
known as the Occur d Alene range
The mineral tract of this range is
about sfty miles long by fifteen wide.
1t contains prospects of gold in all
the gulches, but reports vary as to its
richness. James S. Brisban says gold
is found from the grass roots down to
bed rock. Prof. Tiernan has directed
his attention to quartz instead of pa
Ger mines. He says, however, that
the placer mines will be profitable in
that region; said he, mo one posi-
lively knows anything about the pla-
Ger mining except that prospects have
indicated very rich diggings. But
you can never tell until they are
worked what they will amount to.
You may take a thousand dollars
out of pot hole to-day, IN placer
mining, and then work for month
or a year and never get anything. AS
general thing, though, where pros
poets are as good as in this region,
the results are more even than ia the
illustration | have used"
Mr. Herman said further that there
has not been work enough in any
gulch to ascertain the amount of
ground it will pay to work over In
his quartz explorations he has found
argentiferous galena sulphurets of
iron, cor tanning gold and silver, and
argentiferous copper as good or better
than shown on the surface in Colo
RADIO Nevad or Arizona. The pre-
vailing metal is silver, but good pay
ing quantities of copper, anthony
and other metals have been discover
ed. The country adjacent to Eagle
City is but very small proportion of
the mineral belt. Better mining
districts are in a belt at least four
hundred miles in length extending
north into the Kootenia country;
southeast, throue hout the Bitter
Root range, southwest, throughout
the whole of the Coeur' 'Alene mines,
as far west as the Blue mountains
all of which country is as important,
in a mineral point of view, as the
place now known as the Occur dAlene
mines. The mines now causing the
excitement are not the most inn
portant in the mountains by any
means.
LIVING AT THE MINES.
Up the gulch, three miles from
Pritchard's, Eagle City has been
started, and it is here that the bulk of
the new population has settled.
Provisions are high and meat scarce.
Board of any kind is 81 to S. per day,
but as laboring men get S. per day for
work on cabins there is something of
proportion between wages and sub
sisteAce. Flour brings $50 to SIS
per barrel A meal of bacon and
bread and coffee cost 81, which is also
the price of a nights lodging in a
slab bunk with army blankets and no
pillows. Lumber is being cut by hand
with whips TVS. 9. w. Barnard is
putting up a portable saw null at
Pritchard's, which he expects to have
running by April 1, with capacity of
10000 feet per day. Mr. Barnard has
Just come out from the mines to Fort
keogh over a new road from Trout
Creek Station He walked the dis
lance in thirteen and half hours.
the first of which was very rough and
disagreeable. The trail is thirty five
miles long-at present only track IN
the snow. There has been gres' tx
element at Eagle City over the jump
ing or "hogging" of claims. Many
men staked out very large elaims-it
is said twice as large as they should
have The miners met, and a PROPOSE
ton to limit claims to 800 feet, was
debated with refreshing frontier
roughness. By majority of sixteen
the proposition was lost 1t was also
proposed that claims of non residents
be forfeited Many men went into
the regions last fall, staked and mark
ed claims, and than went back to
civilization to wait for spring before
beginning active operations. The
meeting decided that after June 1,
claims unrepresented may be jumped.
The government surveyors wall not
be able TO survey claims and deter
NINE what lands are non-Inineral un-
III spring.
HOW TO GET THERE.
There are Ii rec routes to the mines.
The original discovery route was made
by way of Rathdrum, through deep
gorge and IS miles of stony noun
t4lus Of The most difTicult character