Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-07-24
Custer City.

geological formation of this section
The city derives its name from this
dashing lion-hearted soldier. Custer if
in the most beautiful valley in the Black
Hills at an elevation Of 5,400 feet
French creek, quite a large and ever
flowing stream Of water, rises in the
mountains fifteen miles west Of Custer
and flows through the town. The city
is fortified with a natural bulwark o
majestic mountains. To the northwest
is Buckhorn mountain, standing out
boldly with an imposing attitude. Ter
miles TO the north overlooking Buck
horn mountain is Harvey P,. in soil
tary, incompatible royal grandeur, its
uttermost peaks piercing the clouds
Standing in the midst ola chain of hills
it looms up with sublime aweinspir.
ing posture that is in itself the EN-.
bodiment Of kingly dignity and great
ness. Calamity peak is two miles east
Of Custer and Lookout mountain. five
miles to the southeast. Grand View
mountain is three miles to the west,
embracing altogether the most stipend
Gus and remarkable range Of hills in
this section of the country.
The range Of hills around and about
Custer ls Immensely rich in mineral
wealth. Gold. silver, mica, copper.
iron, nickel, and other valuable min
erals are found here thickly studded in
the bosom Of the mountains Tin, that
sought far and wide on the American
continent and remained hidden mys-
terry until within few years ago, is ex-
traordinarily rich here. The open
sesame of the prospector's pick has re-
vealed to the mystic and oblique vision
Of the past a marvellous wealth Of cassit-
erite. There it lies on the mountain
tops and at the foot of ravines encased
in crystalline splendor in mammoth
boulders, the outcropping of prehistoric
ages, when the upheaval of molten mat
ter forced It's way to and through the
dizzy heights Of rugged magnificence.
The city has all the paraphernalia Of
churches, schools, and civic societies.
1t has first-class hotel. 1t is the seat
of justice, though harboring injustice
sometimes, as was manifested during
the writer's stay in the city. One of the
most pleasing recolections Of the town
is Laughing Water, that poetic, trans
lucent, and pebbly stream which
traverses the heart of the city, sparkling
and rippling in the sunlight, full of
melody as it gushes, and whirls, and
gurgles, and bubbles, even when pale
Luna casts it's sombre and sorrowfui
shadows on laughing Water. Custer
has the reputation of being the most
heathful city in Dakota, claim evil
IDENTITY we'll sustained by the dearth of
graves in it's silent cemetery. Its at
mosphere is unexcelled, pure and un-
tainted, clear and cool. The nights in
Custer are unalloyed in their exquisite
condition of rapturous enjoyment. The
stars.in the armament dazzle the eve
with their brilliancy, and the milky
way lights the pathway of the sky with
an almost celestial radiance. Morpheus
does not need wooing here, for she is
wooed and won before the wand of
lethargy flashes athwart the somnolent
shades of the nebulous moon. Chief
among the bright conditions which are
now awaking the people from their
lethargic Indifference is the cry of "Tin |!
Tin! Tin" 1t is heard IN the hotels !;
it is discussed in the stores; it is quiet
ly broached in Gods chosen sanctuary
1t forms in short the subject of conversa-
ton everywhere in the town and it's
outlying territory. The remarkable
specimens brought daily into the city
by old miners and jubilant prospectors
are in themselves an unfailing index Of
the wonderful quantity of cassiterite in
the Custer district. Tin Reef group
certainly attests in its gigantean lodges
Of tin ore and its huge boulders i'm
pregnated with the black CRYSTALS of
happy portent, the undeniable cc~tainty
Of remarkable find. Tin Rect Is about
two and half miles from Custer. The
principal lodges Of tin ore are denorni-
mated as follows: Tin Reef, Great East
erp. Old JEFF, Kit Carson, and Hidden
Treasure, all protected by combinations
and parallel lodges Of five side claims.
The outcroppings on Tin Reef are very
large, in fact they are immense. The
ore is very rich on these claims, run
ming from to 6 per cent. This re-
markable number Of ledges is one and a
half miles in length and from 800 to 600
feet in width. The boulders and granite
rock dikes are astounding in their inn
mensity, arising perpendicularly like
immovable giants, as they are, to testify
to the reverberating echo Of tin which
comes clashing upon the ears even in
the solitude of this wild forest. Many
cuts have been opened in this granite
formation, displaying palpable evidence
OF great quantities of tin. Laughing
Water flows in an unbroken current at
the base of Tin Reef, and the source of