The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-04-01

GUNNIsoN, March 20.-Many have
| written to me for information concern
| ing our country and have thought it
| we'll to write them all one long letter
| through the columns of The 1EgiS.
| The first thing to be said to those who
| wish to come to this country is this ::
| If any are too fond of drink and gamb-
| ling and think of coming here to re-
| form their habits, let them stay where
they are. The altitude is great and
| the air very light, and for one to come
here and indulge in drinking to excess
will be certain ruin. Many die here of
drink and they die without warning.
| There are no end of drinking and
gambling saloons here, and snares and
| traps set everywhere to entice the I'M
wary and unstable.
We have the best country in the
| world for good water, good health and
good appetite. When stranger from
the east comes here he is apt to be sick
| for time from what is called 'moun
tain fever" but it soon goes off. One
cannot walk fast, for the air is SO light
| that he gets out of breath. If any one
wishes to come here prospecting now is
| the time. Several new and rich mines
have Just been unearthed. The busy
| having season begins about July and
continues until October, and many
men come here and make from $25 to
| $40 per month. When cold weather
comes they go to Gunnison or some
other place and gamble it all away,
after which they tramp it out of the
| country.
After the hay is made it is then bal
ed for shipping. A ranch of 100 acres
will ship from 100 to $50 tons ON an
average, at $12 per ton, and feed from
| 100 to $50 head of cattle besides. We
have shipped more cattle and hay
chiefly to Omaha-this year than ever
before. In the fall of the year, about
October or November, according to
the weather, we have our general
roundup. All the ranchmen ride the
hills for cattle, and corral by line
fence. Each owner knows his own
brand and selects his cattle to run
them off to their respective ranches
| for the winter.
No one commences to feed until the
snow gets very deep-generally about
the list of January. The cattle are
usually fat in the fall and steers are
always fat ON the range. Last winter
cattle stayed out nearly all winter and
herders thought they would go
through all right, but the 1st of Feb
| ruary brought six feet of snow on the
ranges and the consequence was lots of
| cattle persisted. There is no end to
| the feed on the range and but for the
| heavy SHOWS it would be a paradise
| for cattle. The SHOWS, however,
| are a great blessing as we have no
rains in summer and depend entirely
| on irrigation.
Within the last few years we discov-
cred that we could raise potatoes, and
now have an abundance of the largest
| and finest | ever saw also all kinds
of roots and peas, but beans are raised
with difficulty, and everything has to
| be watered.
| We have a new excitement on the
| range at O place called Crude. A
prospector named w. G.. Crude found
a new silver mine which has created
| quite BOOM This man came here
first from Illinois in 1870. Last fall he
went through Gunnison with his
pack train of burros, and got six dol
lars worth of grub on credit, and told
the party that he was about to strike
it rich and was going to make stake,
"Look here, Crude" said he, you
have been going to strike it rich ever
since | knew you and you have not
| over few thousands yet"
Last September he made his strike,
which throws Leadville in the shade.
He called the place Crude. 1t is on
the line of the Rio Grande Railroad
and now there are several mines open
ed and in full operation. There are
five thousand people there already,
though the ground is deep in snow
| and the cold intense. Each mine as it
is found, is named by the party find
ing it, and they are putting out from
ten to twenty carloads of ore day,
bringing in 81 900 per carload. Some
of the mines are further up in the can
Won, on Million Creek Gulch, and they
have to pack the ore on burros, which
takes more time and is very dangerous
to the poor beasts, for if the pack
strikes the side of the trail, which is
very narrow, the burro loses his bal
ance, falls to the bottom of the can
Won and it is all up with him and his
load. They are getting up tramways
to convey the ore from the mines.
Curde is almost city and houses
are going up as fast as lumber can be
gotten there These mines have pro-
duced over 81, 500, 600 since Crude be-
gan operations, and the ore goes to
the smelter without asserting.
| Lodgings are scarce anu tne rdIroau
company has side-tracked train of
sleepers for the accommodation of the
public or many would freeze. All the
available land is taken. Men stake
their claims and the stake is absolute,
the law supporting the claim. Five
or six thousand people are stumbling
over each other to get the first stake
and house built. Most or all of them
| live in tents.
Crude is in good humor and every
one is happy. Planning mills and saw
mills are working full force. Saloons
and gambling houses are in full blast,
those who have no house carrying on
their business in a tent. They have
an opera house already; in fact, the
smallest towns in the West have opera