Huntsville gazette., 1889-03-23
NEW GOLD FIELD.

the sweet Grass Hills of Montans rho
New Mecca of the Gold Seeker Big
sahoy Tel with Pre- Spector Ou fit ng,
ana More Arriving Every Day-Res,lts
80 Far satisfactory In the Placer Dig.
gingS.
BIG SANDY, Mont, March 19-This lit
tie town is rull of excitement over the de-
velopment Of gold mines in the Sweet
Grass hills, ffty-fve miles northwest Of
here. People have just arrived from the
hills reporting that miners in the Eclipse
gulch are making from fifty to eighty dol
lars day. The most of the gold is taken
out in the placer diggiugs, but blue ore
has been struck by several parties in the
hills and the country is full of prospect
ors from Helena and other mining dis.
trlcts. Ii the present rush continues,
straltened times must inevitably re-
suit, as men from all parts of Montana
and Dakota are focking here in great
numbers without making adequate pro-
vision for subsistence. Frank Stiles, of
Chamberlain. S. D., heads a party Of
gold-seekers who arrived from ST. Paul
yesterday. They will open a mine owned
by Stiles in East Butte, and all are pre-
pared to locate claims. Bssiie the gold
deposits which are the center Of interest,
the amount Of silver in the rock at the
hill has led to the organization Of compa-
MES, the Brown, Ried & Bell, tie Detroit
and the Hazel, which are now opening
mines at East Butte in the hills. Other
parties are prospecting for this ore which
exists in we'll defined leads all through
this region.
Actual work at the mines has as vet
only fairly begun, but the results are very
satisfactory to the parties working
claims. To Alfred Hilles, Butte miner,
is probably due the credit of the dis
eoyery of gold in paying quantities in the
hills. Hs has been working quietly at
Middle Butte for nearly year, and shows
about four thousand dollars for his la
Dor. About q week ago, however, gen.
eral rush commenced. an l now the coul-
try Is overrun with prospectors. and sup-
plies can not be brought in fast enough to
feed every body. 1t looks as if o Tempo
rary famine was imminent. The Sw ct
Grass hills. in which the gold has
been discovered, are fifty-fve miles
by wagon road northwest of
Big Sandy, and just south Of
the international boun larry. The hills
comprise hree buttes. varying in elevation
from 1900 to 8, ,400feet. Water and timber
are abundant in East Butte; no timber,
and water scarce il Middle Butte. Be
tween and around the buttes are broad
bottom lands with small creeks. TIL
richest placer diggings are at Eclips
Gulch, in Middle Butte. Silver, copper,
iron and fine quality of marble have
been found, VIII lie coal is abundant on
Milk river ana Sage r ,ck, to the east. If
the present immigration continues, these
mines will be developed in short
time, and prices Of food, now at
the top notch, will go up out Of
sight. Scarcely a man at the mines
is getting less than four dol lars q day,
that being the wages paid, but nearly
every one is prospecting for himself.
The one great obstacle here is the dis
tance from market There are but two
lines Of railroad here. DR.. Barker, OF
Helena, and a party Of Ohio capitalists
control valuable property here. and have
decided to develop these mines next
month, taking the products to Benton or
Great Falls. Like everyone else they are
enthusiastic on gold-fnding, aud nothing
else can be heard around here but the
great strike in the Sweet Grass hills and
the development of the mines there.