Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-01-03
EDITORS NOTE BOOK.
Mem Orandums JOtfed Dorm on
a Recent Trip to Etk city.

After brief interval of hand
shaking with friends in Elk City
we strike out on foot for an eight
smile walk to Relief creek. The
road leads across the beautiful
Dwyer meadow to American river,
now shrunken to an insignificant
volume of water so charged with
mud that it is hardly able to flow.
The stream is easily spanned by a
good jump at this season. Then
onto and over Gold hill, another
famous mountain of gravel which
paid big money in the early days,
and will pay bigger yet when the
old river channel is bottomed
underneath. The Chinese, who
once worked the ground, have told
some yarns Of fabulous prospects
obtained at a depth which they
could not work on Gold hill, and
ahey abandoned the claim with
great reluctance some ten years
since when the anti-Chinese move
1nent caused the Celestials to
evacuate the camp. On Gold hill
is also the California quartz mine,
strong vein of anti monial silver
ore, which was originally dis
covered and prospected by 5. w.
Smith, of the Buster mine. About
eight years ago he sold the mine,
and it has since changed hands re-
peatedly. During the present
summer great deal of work was
done on the claim by F. l.. Leslie
on behalf of Seattle parties, and
there is promise that they will
exploit the property more fully
the coming spring. After short
climb up hill from American river
ito the summit we descend a steep
grade to Red river. The two
streams are only two miles apart.
Red river runs through a steep
canyon with PERCEPTIONS walls for
very nearly its entire course. The
only exception is few miles
above, at the lower and upper
lmeadows. On the Relief creek
trail the river runs swiftly and
carries head of water belly deep
for $50 yards across at the ford.
a tree has been felled across the
river for the convenience of pedes-
irians, so that we cross dry
shod. After a brisk walk we
speedily reach the Campbell and
Wheeler gulches, which were also
famous diggings in early days.
They are now abandoned, and the
road takes you over the tailings
for. a mile or more, with the hills
surrounding you all pockmarked
las it were with the works of the
'old-time gold bugs who burrowed
i'll these virgin hills and left great
banks of red gravel to scar the fair
face of mother earth. A feature of
these tailings is the immense
quantity of white quartz boulders
piled up like stacks of cordwood
along the road, as they were
thrown out of the fumes in early
days. They are supposed to be
bastard quartz and worthless; but
we will gamble that somebody will
drop into those gulehes some fine
day and locate them and proceed
to make fortune out of those
now worthless quartz boulders
which are already mined and only
need a quartz mill and Il tram cal
and track to make somebody rich
even if they are only worth So Oh
"a per ton, the quantity in sight is
sufficient to justify the erection o.
large plant to extract theil
precious contents. Some of the
boys will doubtless laugh wher
they read these notes and attribute
them to o highly excited magma
ton. Time will tell. 1t is Ger
tain, however, that capital is seek
ing investment in mining proper
ties where there are large bodies
of low grade ore. 1t is quantit.
they want, and not quality. Well
here on Campbell and Wheele
:gulches, in Elk City mining dis
,trict, Idaho county, Idaho, ar
vast deposits Of gold bearin!
quartz already mined and thrown
away by the placer miners, so tina
mo expense Of mining is requires
further than to lead them on
tram car and run them by gravit
to mill at the mouth of the gnlo
where it empties into Red river
Soon after we strike the big Dead
wood fume, and as we were onl
.on the Deadwood claim for a fe,
minutes, we will let Mr.. Waite
III. Hill describe this valuabl
property. In communication t
the Engineering and Mining jour
nal, of New York, he says:
1.-The Deadwood placer mine i
situated five miles south of tn
old camp of Elk City, Idaho, tn
center Of Idaho county, 1870 mile
nearly east of Lewiston, where tn
o. r. & N. Company have steam
.ers running from the railroad {
Riparia, Wash. Good wage
road connection over that distant
from Lewiston render the trip NJ
at all unnleaSant aS tho rOa