, 1886-03-30


LANDER, March 26.-The secret paint
mine of the Grow Indians is on the point
Of discovery. The immediate vicinity is
known, and the actual place will not long
remain a secret. From the time the
whites first knew the Crows, the tribe has
been in possession Of most superior arti-
Gle of vermilion paint. II has long been
thought that this paint was obtained in
the immediate vicinity of the painted rock,
on Paint Rock creek, Big Horn basin.
Ever since the government has forbidden
the entrance of the Crows into the Big
Horn valley, small parties Of them have
made journeys to the neighboi hood of the
painted rock. This rock is a very large
cliff, on the wide face of which Grows to
remote generations have traced in bright
est vermilion the figures of themselves,
their horses aud a great variety Of beasts
and birds, some Of which are now ex-
tinct.
A short time ago a cowboy met one of
the stealthy parties of Crows spoken Of re-
turning down Paint Rock creek. After
the Indians had passed, the cowboy
picked up in the trail a small buckskin
sack containing about a pound Of the
purest vermilion paint. In fact, ii was
the pigment vermilion of commerce, and
proved that the Crow Indian paint mine
supplies either the pure pigment or so
near it that the smallest aid only is neces-
sary to make it such.
Cinnabar is what pigment vermilion is
manufactured from, and the stratiica-
tons Of the region around the painted
rock prove the existence Of that ore in
great mounts. Talcose, s~ilicious and ar
gillacious sates are all in great plenty.
The latter is especially abundant, and it is
in the softer layers Of this slate hat ex-
perts locate the decomposition necessary
for the natural manufacture OF the pig
ment vermilion.
Aside from the paint value of this de-
post is the quicksilver value. The quick
silver mines of California and Spain have
created a monopoly that makes the cost
Of the article very high. Any home out
put Of quicksilver would meet with rapid
sale at cheapened prices. The mines of
Wyoming, Utah, idaho, Montana and
Colorado afford a strong local market and
n that will quadruple itself, as the min
eral wealth of our vast mountain system is
brought 10 the light.
The Rawlins paint mines are radically
different from those of the painted rock.
The first is red hematite, while the second
is cinnabar.
Mountain lions are still decimating
the sheep herds Of this section. Re
Gently one old male was killed after
dcvouring twenty one head Of ine young
bucks for MIR. John Fosher, Baldwin
Greek. The lion had made his lair in an
inaccessible rocky ledge, from which all
efforts failed to dislodge him. He nightly
visited the ranch, and nightly took a
buck Finally, Que of the herders vol
unteered to go to the foot Of the ledge in
which the manuder lived in the early
morning, and intercept him on his return
irom his midnight raid. The plan was a
success In the gray dawn the lion came,
aud over his shoulders was flung the car
cas- of a freshly killed imported buck.
The fierce brute and his bloody burden
came on, when suddenly a shrill whistle
fromrhe herder cut the morning air. The
lion stopped, threw up bis head. and in
that instant a ball pierced his brain. He
was nine feet in length and weighed $50
pounds. Your correspondent measured
one Of the front paws, and found il seven
inches long aud sir wide.
A gentleman residing in the suburbs of
lander is the owner II 4 six nonths old
Kitten. Within a handled yards of the
gentleman's residence on the open prairie.
is the home Of a prairie dog. Between
Ills dog aud the kitten there subsists The
rilse-t intimacy, The cat spends a great
l%airiiou of It's time in the underground
hone OF It's friend When fed d ~inyaria
n, carried a portion oriu food to the dog
aud on these occasions the latter always
accompanies the cat twenty-five or thirty
steps on il retum 70 thu house. Very
fre4uently the doc vi. approach the
house and bark, on which the cat will i'm
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