The Portland daily press., 1895-05-08
NEW GOLD DISTRICT.
Hundreds of Miners Flocking to the
Rainy Lake Region.

Rainy Lake heSlOHs
Not a White Man Was to be Found There
Year Ago-The District is in Canada,
Little North of Our Border-Ore Assays
are Said to Yield Rich Returns.
Quebec. May 2. A gold fever unprece-
den ted in Canadian history IS reported
TODAY in what is known as the Rainy
Lake region of Ontario, the wild and
almost inaccessible territory that Is best
reached either from Port Arthur or from
tine mining lands upon the minnesota
side of the lake. Today there are proba-
bly 2. 500 men in a small district, where,
with the exception of Indians, not a
man was to be found year ago. Ihe
miners who are rushing IN SO rapidly
come flom all parts OF the contlnent.
and even far off Australia has yielded
several contributions TO the mining
camps. The richest portions OF the held
yet discoverd lie from fifteen to twenty
miles north of the American boundary,
between Bad Vermillion and Shoal
Lakes, an irregular neck OF Land from
five to seven miles in width and posslb bly,
| fifteen miles in length.
| For some time past the Indians from
this district have told stories OF the
richness of the gold deposits there, and
in 1898 brought our rich nuggets. which
they exchanged for goods.
| In Septeln ber, 1898, Canadian explor-
er named Thomas Weigand, set out on
| the district, determined to establish the
truth of the Indian tales. Going up TO
Seine, with Alexander Lockhart, Cana
| dian surveyor, Weigand was driven
ashore on Seine Lake. After prospecting
for time in the woods he ascended the
slope. back of the lake and climbed tree
to obtain a view of the surrounding
| country. AS he came down his eye
caught curious gleam OF rock where
the glancing blow of his axe had swept
away the moss. He dropped upon his
| hands and knees and examined the rock.
1t was gold, and gold in quantities be-
yond his widest dI cams. A little more
| investi igation developed three large veins,
or lodges, of collaborating quartz. The
| lateness of the season prevented nything
being done that year, but early last
spring prospeetors came pouring into the
region. The forest fires that ragged last
year in northern Minnesota crossed the
| Canadian boundary and assisted in clear
| ing away the underground of brush and
| vegetable deposit, barring the hillsides
and materially aiding the work of the
| prospectors.
AS an indication of the wealth Of the
new mining country it may be said that
| the Black Hills veins, which have yield
ed millions during the past eight years,
average, according to Prof. Fl Holman of
| the Dakota School of Mine some 81 to
| the ton of ore, while in the Canadian
quartz of the Rainy Lake region the re-
| suit obtained runs from Sl7 to $50 per
ton for every ton of quartz reduced,
while assays made Oh that taken from
| veins on different properties and at vary
| ing depths in the shafts that are being
sunk show immensely rich, running from
| S15G to 81, 800 per ton.
The means of reaching the Seine River
district are at present. very poor. The
| hest route is from Duluth by rail to
Tower, Mimi, and from there by team
over the ice on the lakes in the winter
| months or by small steamers in the sum-
mer time. The trip from Tower can be
made by team in two to three days, the
distance in straight line being about
| 110 miles to the centre of the district.
ne Canadian FdCluC EAl1FOdQ, is true,
runs within seventy miles, but is north
of the gold fields and the intervening
mountains are very rough and broken.
Provisions and II achinery and all sup
plies are so far obtained via Tower and
| Duluth.
| Both large and small game are abun-
dant and the waters are densely populat-
ed with every variety of the finest fish.
The lakes and rivers are set in banks of
granite and slate, torn and tumbled ny
| the gigantic storms and eruptions of the
| Archean age, and, although in places a
slight deposit of soil covers the underly-
| ing roca, the most Of the country is bare,
| broken, molten stone and every step
gives evidence of the awful distur hunce
which occurred thousands of years ago
| The unusual features of the new field
are the magnitude of the veins and the
great mum ber of them. Veins three and
a half to seen feet in width are ciassed
as small ones while in many places solid
quartz veins are seen carrying gold from
wall to wall, from fifteen to twenty-five
feet in width. Experienced miners who
have worked all over the Western coun-
try say that they never have seen any
thing that compares in magnitude or
richness with the new field.
Already several shafts have been sunk,
some to depth of seventy to eighty feet
| The veins ON which they have been
sunk hold their richness to the full
depth, with slightly increasing width as
depth is gained. Five stamp mills have
been already erected, three Of five stamp
capacity and two of ten. Two of these
are now in operation, and the others will