The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1888-12-20
THE BLACK HILLS.
DANGERS TO THE PIONEER PROS
PECTORS.
Indian observation-disclosures and Swim.
dies Of Some OF the Mining
Sharks stage Rcbberies-Stock
SpeculatiOns-Etc.

Less is known. probably, of the Black Hills
than of Sydney, Australia. 1t has a history
however which in some parti :ulars rivals the
best stories OF fiction. 1t would not b, we'll to
investigate thoro ,ghly all the incidents Of It's
settlement, nor Of Ua lie s ,sns treaties There
is sort OF poe.ical refrib, b,Jioa in the repor. ed
rejection by the 81 ux Indians OF ,e proposal to
ce1e more of their t,rritofy to tn IS, whom thay
charge with h a-iny scoo % l in the Black Hills
without rendering to them the qIid p.o quo.
That gold WAS sonewIe:e founl in the m oun-
tains borderin; the great Am ericaa desert (this
region being thus design atal on tn. N sps of the
long ago. WAS know to Inlial traders ani
others. 1n:i;ans woull som ,ti!n,s appear in
councils east OF the Missouri with sn all n ls,et;
AS nose and ear pendants. 1t was not, however,
until after the completion OF tia traasc ontinan-
| tai railway that Il alve1tnr,ls whites began to
penetrate farther and still farther into this un-
known region. In the southwest hills, several
miles from the Raby basin, son, ,rospectors OF
the early mining camps fonaI several hum.a
| skeletons rul, ca5;n-the remains OF
white men-anl some Nuggets OF gold, which
evidently other than Indian hsn;ls HI | gathered
Whether they died from nasur.; causes or were
| slain by the In lians no le COLD tell.
An exploration Of the hills in those early years
was rather an unhealthy undertaking, Number
less encounters with thu rel man are among the
traditions OF a IN st every hs Met aa,l some OF
the old settlers tell OF hairbrea lth escao pes
more or less apocryo ols'. 'Dowa thar said an
old ranchnan, the Injuns fred Oh me- and me
and half-lozen m re was llc1y to get away
We WAS out looa n for som, hossas, but "
didn't look fa thar that d:y. Right here,
| IL
If the Injuns ha lat been az. eI of the hills
! (t;ley are avfu, fae-c1 o. tn, mo1nt.ns) nary
white man wo Ii h " b zen left alive
A pioneer Metnoi st preacher was killed on
Whit wool creek AMI tn. early stag, coiche:
were fired times without number. Some
! times passengers were robbed. and once SOM
gold bricks were taken from the Homes:ak
treasury coach The robbers held up tine SAGE,
and, my information is, disarnod the guard,
carry ing off the gold. Most if not all OF tii-
treasure was recovered b. ole of the robbers
| turning informant.
There las been and still is d al of specula-
ton in mining stocks. Aay nlm,er of con-
pinias are formed, AMI millions OF stock have
been issued, tae real value OF which is fr IN nil
to nothing, Som os taesa mines ara va:uabia,
By bp t ths maze w9 is is sxa inaead M E9!ss mn
.
E or aad lon as ;es IN ,lts e m IL. ostensibty
| to develop tn, mine-.o sink a SHAFT Or to bl,
machinery-an thus from m ,nta to month thu
h,piess wight who hollis tiese lu:kl.-ss ceG.i.i-
CIT IS is mllcteI in asses SIN 'ats. SunIry neat
cottages in D,a.lw nl L,:l City, anl other
m1aing towns have thus been erected. Four OF
Ave years ago the Har ,ey hydraulic became q
famous specula ion Experts reported placer
i'll, Il Il.
rocks were worth from s. to S3)J per ton. l SAW
som nuggets th 1t wefa IN !sputaby ta1an from
the guich. Oae was of the size oe a $40 sol>
piece. Here wa, testimony strong as holy writ
Vino p1; them there will never b. known
Their: is gentleman who spe.ds the malar-
iol, Jason at the hot springs i'll th.. southern
hills vii, co Iii tell m1cl of general interest o,
| the sub ,ects if he were inclined. Sitting IL
the parloc of the H lrney hotel in Rapid, q stran
ger near ne suyg esta that numb,riess bricks II
the surrounding buildings were laid from the
proc :, of the sal:ed min..
Two or three years ago there was craze il
mining spe :uiation which rivaled. in small
W.: the doings in the old Nevada and Cliiforni;
u,in,s Iron hill, in the Ca Donate camp
c,:ul,ln't find buyers at the nomina. price of ter
cents per Stare. Iu some way some officers =.
Fort Meade possessai thems elves OF a few thou
sand shares and then the fry began. Up Wen
the stock. until thousands were made By Some
nclz: holders in single day. One lady, wi,t
b id l5.ooO shares, Offered S. PEI share an.
etused to sell. Shares to 81 per share
syhen the bubble burst. TIE directors let thing
drop, and you can now buy all you want of thest
Autographed souvenirs at Is cents per SHARE
Chicago Herald.