Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-04-05
Occur D'Alene


ED,roK BULLETIN Arriving at Tron
Creek station, on t. e line Of the North
crn Pacific railroad, on the morning o
the Goth ultimo, and finding 4 party o
| fifteen setting out on foot for Eagle City
| hastily stored my luggage and joinet
them. Anticipating the roughness o
the trip, packed nothing along but +;
six-foot walking stick, which saved me
from many an ugly fall. The others
however, trailed toboggans after them
each loaded with about l25 pounds o
freight. While the distance from Trou
Greek station to Eagle City is not more
than thirty-;hree miles, we were, never
theless, four days making the journey
The snow lay from two to eight feet deel
along the entire trail We can never
forget the incidents, sensations, etc, as
sociated with this mid-winter go-as-you
please o, er mountains and across ravines
to "the pointed heart" of the golden
phantom. There was one woman with
the party, dressed in male attire. SEe
| had never met any Of us before that
morning. Poor girl, the only daughter
and sister of worthy family, led astray,
| then abandoned, not more than twenty
years of age, with female paraphernalia
strapped oil tobbogan. tramping oyer
snow clad mountains to find an asylum
in the wilderness. What a subject for
contemplation.
About ii a. M, on the 25th, we trailed
into Eagle City. This town, which is
the centre of this wild, mad, wantan ex-
citement. is situatcn in the vortex Of
Pritchard and Eagle creeks. There are
twenty log houses, rooted over, but
without doors or windows, in the town.
There are a few more in course Of con-
strnction. And there are now at least
fifteen hundred people scattered over
the camp, and "still they come" A,
this moment the snow ranges from four
to eleven feet deep. On the eth ult. it
WAS fifteen degrees below zero. Fancy
the intense suffering Of many of these
adventurers, who for the first time left
elegant surroundings TO participate In
this senseless stampede.
Having diligently devoted time and
money in the pursuit Of useful informa-
ton in connection with the question, is
there any considerable amount Of gold
in the Ceur d'Alcne mountains? / can
HOW assert bevond the possibility of re.
tinrty miles, anu nom AtV,iiiUru On the
vest to Rockerville on the east In no
)ther country in the world are there SO
many and extensive mines Of gold as in
he Black Hills. From the northern to
he southern and from the eastern to
he western extremely gold is found in
nearly every gulch and on every hin
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 l 200 square miles in
what is called the mineral, and gold is
found IN almost every square mile ofth
] 900 feet in width, and some as much
as 80 miles in length. The great maiori-
ty of the mines are low grade ore. but
with the immense bodies of paw ore and
good management these mines have
been made TO pay better than any 9TH
ers in the United States. Ore that will
go 50 per ton will pay to work, while
that which goes from S4 to $40 per ton
will pay largely. The ore which is
worked by the great Homestake mills
The party devoted several days more to
the prospecting of the creeks, when they
returned with a lesson that did them
good l must here admit Of being also
a participant in this excitement, and
therefore ! personally know that the
Bozeman party "busted" the second
Coeur d'Alene craze.
This retrospective examination Of our
phantom necessarily compels us to ram
BILE for moment from the log huts of
Eagle City. These huts may even now
be regarded as the asylum of vermin,
disease. proAigacy and, may I not add,
many pitiable wrecks Of the jobbery of
the Northern Pacific railway manage
ment. Coughs and colds contracted on
the trail and during the wintering in
this cherries camp, have rushed many
, strong man into Gnick consumption,
1t now only requires the spring break
up, with its cold rains and overhowing
streams, to send them into premature
graves-into which many will go cursing
the railroad jobbers.
For nine days / prospected this camp
as few mining centres were ever before
worked. believe that l trudged over
the snow to every recorded claim on
and along both on Pritchard and Eagle
creeks. Many of these have been locat
ed since the heavy fall Of snow (O, and
their owners claim that there are mil
lions in them-in their minds, they
mean. OF course, there is no mining ir
operation. How could there be, with
an average depth Of FIVE feet Of snow
over the entire district? In my earnes
endeavor TO reach bedrock facts, of