Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-01-24
OUR MINERAL RESOURCES.

The first annual report of commission
er ofImmigration Hagerty to the govern
or, sixty six page pamphlet, EN-
bracing the work and general operations
OF that Office for the year 1890, has
reached our table. Referring TO the
mineral resources of the state, the com
missioner submits the following:
1t is well known to Your Excellency,
| and to all who are conversant with ,l,e
! general character Of our State, that the
mineral deposits in certain portions Of
South Dakota are among the most valu-
able resources.
Gold, silver, tin copper, lead and
other minerals, abound in the Black
Hills |; granite and jasper exist in exten-
sive formations in the southeastern part
of the State, and the gypsum and
cement deposits Of Yankton, Chamber
lain and elsewhere, are large and valu-
able. That these and other resources of
our State are not already in an advanced
state of development, must be from a
lack of general knowledge on the sub
ject.
From the humble efforts of the I'm
migration Office something has already
been done towards opening up and
utilizing the metallic stores which Ma
ture has hidden in certain districts. BY
steadily spreading the information in
our official publications the fact Of the
existence Of tin in the Black Hills, this
Office claims to have been instrumental,
to some extent at least, in exciting the
interest in the subject which was awaken
oil -, tho ntr,, thu Wa
trust that we shall be enabled to accom-
plish more in this direction the coming
year, and the one succeeding. 1t would
seem that il there were no other reasons
for the continuance, and liberal
maintenance ofthis office, the fact it is
needed for the dissemination of infor-
nation and knowledge regarding the
valuable mineral deposits in the Black
Hills, in order TO induce the investments
of capital and to attract the presence
of labor, ought to warrant its generous
support.
THE BLACK HILLS AND THEIR TIN MINES.
The Black Hills district is one of the
most valuable regions on the face Of the
globe. The great diversity and incalcul-
able value of its mineral and other re-
sources, the purity of its climate. the
richness of certain large portions of its
soil, and the extraordinary development
IL has already undergone are only
known and understood by comparative
ly few.
The tin deposits here, we may almost
say, are uninvestigated. Little more is
known than that this valuable me tai
exists here In extensive quantities. Mines
have been opened, the ore smelted. and
the blocks Of the pure metal produced
and exhibited throughout ttheconn;~y,.o
confound the caviling and convince the
disbelieving, The few corporations en-
gagged in the industry Of tin mining are
"close- mouthed," and not disposed to
reveal their knowledge and their plans.
All the same, they are going steadily
ahead with their preparations, inereas-
ing their capital and magnifying their
facilities. Opportunities for other in
vestors are plenty, and we want to at
tract them here. A pamphlet, fully de-
scriptiye of the Black Hills, ought to be
prepared and judiciously distributed the
coming year. 1t should contain all that
is certainly known of this region, and it
NAV be necessary to supplement this in
formation by circulars and bulletins,
from time to time. The Importance OF
developing the tin mines of the Hills is
of surprising greatness TO the State, es-
pecially at this juncture, when a great
part of the American people are skeptic
al on the subject, and the greater part
know nothing about.