The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-08-29

could climb. The road from Getchell has
been through about a month. But now
that the roads are through the work Of
development will go on rapidly. Almost
the first team through brought the saw
mill. A river Graf. had carried it up the
Ekegit to Sank city. and there it lay.
Transfers hauled up the engine, but to
get the big boiler over fifty miles of ugly
roads was task of another color. The
oxen went down to Sank guided by Tom
Frost, and the boiler came back with
them. Now from down in the gulch the
mill is heard at work. In another fort
night up the hillside will run pianked
and graded main street.
Like all the valleys in the western slope
of the Cascades, that of the south fork of
the Sank, in which the camp lies, is
densely wooded even TO the tops of the
high mountain ridges 1t is difficult for
any one who las not attempted to
traverse some little distance of unbroken
forest to gain an adequate conception of
what an almost impossible jungle the
thick of the woods is. A trail may be
built; the windfais of winter will bury
it twenty feet deep. Fallen and decayed
logs make, with the heavy moss, false
uOpItik W LILO tOFSSt WhACh diihVoS
travel, and where this is lacking n close
underbrush puts up like formidable bar
ricade.
Thus the item for wagon roads to Monte
Cristo, first up the Sank. from the junction
ut Sank City, and again up the Stilia-
guamish from Getchell, was astonishingly
large. Yet without them the mines were
as an inaccessible mountain fastness.
Every mile of the railroad is gained only
at the expense of huge quantities of dyna-
mite and giant powder. 1t is for reasons
of this kind that it has taken, or rather
will take, something between three and
four years to develop a mining prospect of
such wonderful promise as Monte Cristo.
In what is included in the Monte Cristo
district are two great canyons, parted by q
towering ridge which terminates in Will
mans mountain. 1t Is along the back of
this big mountain porcupine that the
great glacier lies, shedding its icy streams
into either basin-'76 on the right as you
stand looking at it from Monte Cristo, and
Glacier basin on the left. Flowing thus
on either side of the ridge and at the
bottoms of the basins, half mile past
Wiimans peak-the ridge end and good
5000 feet or more be1ow-these two
streams, Glacier and '76 creeks, unite to
form the south fork of the Sank. The two
forks come together ten miles further
down, at Warehouses;.
II IL in the angle made by the two
creeks and along the back of a long, low,
Yakish looking ridge that the Monte
Cristo TOWNSHIP runs-about east and west.
Fancy q rough skid road crawling up this
ridge back from the creeks forks, up q
quarter of a mile through blackened
powders and charred stumps and huge,
half burned saw logs, up to three or four
log cabins and a tent; one a store, another
the boarding house. another the company
Office. another a shelter for the men; a
little way back the forest, cut across with
a clean face. and hack of this and upward
the dark green sides and higher up the
brown and reddish tops of Wilmans peak,
looming $500 feet in the air. On either
side of the gorge are steep. wooded mount
aims. in the depths the saw mill; at the
lower edge of the clearing two other tents,
. store and a saloon.
The district of Monte Cristo lies at
about the middle of the eastern edge of
Snohomish county, and is included in
that county for voting purposes. The
Stillaguamish are not more than five
miles distant and separated from those Of
the south fork of the Sank by pass so
low that the railroad mounts it without
effort. This is TO the west. To the south
only clean range divides this district
from Silver creek. The distance from
Monte Cristo to Mineral City. the center
OF the Silver creek district. is not more
than five or six miles. over the range. and
to Galena about ten. About fifty-six
miles. as the railroad line runs, separates
it from tide water at Everett, and about
forty-two miles from Hartford, where the
railroad crosses the Seattle. Lake Shore &
Eastern. The direct line, As the crow flies.
to Seattle IS, | judge, about sixty-fve
miles. On clear day Seattle may be
plainly seen .som Wilmans peak. By
rail the distance will be about ninety
miles via the Great Northern and Everett,
and little less via the Lake Shore aud
Hartford. Immediate connections will be
made ani the ran will no. require more
than three and one-hslf or four hours.
There is a feature in the development of
the Monte Cristo mines that has not i,s
parallel in the history OF mining enter
prises. On the strength OF the showing
insde hy less than $40 feet of tunnels. COW
ering some twenty or more mines, none Of
the tunnels at the time being over fFtv
feet in length. = sam approaching 5000
co is being expended. and all of which
must be expended before 4 dollar OF re-
turn can be had. ON its face this IS. per-
hans, as Wild and hazardous venture Of
enormous capital Us any Of the many
wild aud hazardous schemes born OF the
mining fever. Eat in reality il is far
FROM that. TIE Monte Crlsto enterprise
was Of sGch nature tia; il could be car
ried out only with large capital. A rail-
road had 70 be built and heavy expendit-
0res made before tie mines could Ia
probably operated. On the other hand.
il IS enough 10 say 81 ths richness Of the
showing made that the present enteruriSe
has been undertaken by practice! mining
men ca tie one side and experienced bush
ness men On the other, and this after the
most searching examination by mining
experts.
SIX rvincipA. companies are row one
rating IN this dlStriet-ihe WiimanS Mil.
ing Company. the Pesrssll Mining Com
PAW, and the pearsall- Blake Mi4.nr Com
pany. ~ which +. W Wi.mans Is presi.
dent ami Nllmaas Bros, OK Seattle,
largely the owners, and the Monte C-isto
Mining Company. she Pride of the Noun.
ss'ns Mining Company and the RalGv
Mining ComUsa~. Of which Joseph L.
Colby. OF Cleveland. q. Is president and
treasurer; r. W. Wilmans, vice president,
anu the Colby Hoyt syndicate, OF New
forSs and WlmAns Bros the priacira!
owners. What - AaoNa a. .as Colby.