The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-30
I'm the Wonderland.
North America.
Sixteenth Paper of Northwestern Travel.
a Side Trip to Occur d'Alere Reservation.

trains for Missoula a distance of 159
miles. through the mining towns of
Wardner. Wallace, Burke and Ryan, in
the South Fork mining district. The
Union Pacific also has q branch lead
ing from Pendleton to Mullen, through
this mining region and Indian reserva-
ton.
The Occur d. Alone Reservation.
The Occur d'Alene Indian reservation
Is thirty by seventy miles in extent, and
has just lately been opened to settlers.
There are located on 1t about 500 In
dian families, or lodges" which COM
prise, al told. about n thousand
souls. They are mainly Catholics. and
under the religious control of the Cath
ole church. have beer we'll taught and
have become civilized, so that they are
self-supporting. They market consid-
cradle wheat, and have extensive, rich.
timothy meadows on the bottom lands
Of the St. Joseph and Occur d'Alene
rivers. They l::e in houses and use
all kinds of farm improved machinery.
They enjoy the proud distinction of
having always been at peace with their
neighhors. the white population, and
are the ONLY tribe who refuse govern
merit aid.
The old town. Of Mission is located on
the line of the United States wagon
road built in 1862 and 1865 by the gov
eminent under the control of Captain
Mullen, U. 8. a. The Catholic Mission
was established in 1874. The ranch
covers six hundred and forty acres. A
striking ard Interesting feature of the
place is the old Jesuit church, of the
Italian style of architecture, which was
built under the direction of the vener-
able Father Ravalli in lSi7. The Indian
workmen had nothing but axes and
whip-saws with which to construct it,
and no nails were used in its construc-
ton.
An Ine%haus;ihic Mineral Belt.
The Mineral Belt" in this section, Is
practically inexhaustible. 1t Is about
forty miles long, covering a basin about
ten miles wide. The mining camps of
the Occur d'Alene district have reached
"a high n profitable state of develop
ment; they extend over q comparatively
limited area. They are close together
and they contain obo.t co. 900 people. A
strange place and a strange people; l
wonld say they were all intoxicated
with success. There is gold in the very
air. One feels rich, whether he has O
cent In his pocket Or not. 1t Is almost
impossible to be slow or dull in a place
Ike this. These mines produce not only
SUN, WI SiI'tI dllu ISdu. SDlu aSSO-
ciated with iron mt treated by the free
milling process is found in the northern
part OF this district. but h greatest
amount of tonnage in silver ore is in
the southern part, where the Galena
silver mines, a Gozen or more, are being
worked. Over one million dollars has
been spent in development of these
mines in the last three or four years,
and the output has been so remarkable
as to place the Occur d'Alene district
among the foremost in gold, silver and
lead production in the country.
some mines carry silver and lead e.
clusively and Others have silver and
copper. The Bunker Hill and Sullivan
mines, at Wardner, are the largest and
have employed two and even three
thousand men. Their output in 1893
was $4,000 daily, the ore assaying
twenty per cent. gold, twenty per cent.
SILVER n forty per cent. lead.
The "Golu Belt" Is in the North Fork
mining district. which covers about
twenty square miles. 1t was accident
ally discovered by one A. ]. Prichard in
1889. The central town is Murray, and
the mining is mainly gold. 1t Is sur
rounded by huge gravel piles from the
placer diggings. 1t is built on gold,
literally, as well as figuratively. for not
only does it depend solely on the gold
mining for existence, but the whole
gulch where its buildings stand, Is valu-
able placer ground. Besides the placer
diggingS. where the earth and gravel
are washed in sluices to separate tho
nuggets and gold dust, there are three
quartz mills for crushing and pulverlz-
ing the gold-bearing quartz. These
mines are rich and yield a very high
grs 4 of ore. ]. +. Richmond.