The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-11-21
A DENyER MAYS OPINION.
Large Ore Bodies I'm the Casrades-
HIS Trip Over slate paaa.

W. 8. Ward. Denver mining MAJ. Sas
given the Denver Republican a grapnic
description Of trip ne made recently. IN
company with a Bernarainp. repre-
sentative Of the Gold Ridge Mining COM
pany, into the Cascade mountains, IL this
state. Mr.. Ward SAYS his purpose was TO
examine twenty~four claims, which nave
been purchased By the Gold Ridge Mining
Company but does not describe their 20
cation any more definitely thar 10 say
they are az the forks OF the sinilxaTr lsen
river. In an interview. Ar. Ward said:
"Et was a delightful trip. ana l WAS
greatly pleased with the appearance OF
the mines there. though As | have not re-
ceived the returns from the assays OF my
samples I am not prepared 20 say what
viii BE- the value of the district. While
the trip was In every way pleasant, II was
very hard one. as the Cascade mount
aims, in which these mines are located.
though not high. are extremely rugged
and difficult OF access. We went from
here 10 Spokane. and then went down 20
the point where the Great Northern rail-
read crosses the Columbia river. where
we expected TO take q steamer TO so up
the river. but being disappointed were
compelled 10 go in q wagon to the mouth
Of the Hethow river and thence up thar
stream TO the little town Of Winthrop, and
then on up 70 where Rattiesnake creek
empties into the Methow, where the ascent
Of the mountains commenced and we took
horses for the rest of the Journey.
THE trail up Rattlesnake Is the most
difficult that | ever saw. IT wanders
around on the verge OF torrents and on
the edge OF precipices in the most reek-
less manner imagina BILE. and in some
places is hung from the walls OF the cliffs
on brackets 100 feet above the bottoms
OF the canyons making an experience that
was rs thrilling as /; WAS interesting. We
crossed the Cascade range at Slate pass
and on the western slope of the range
followed down a branch of the Skagit
river for short distance. and then. turn
ing back, recrossed 70 the eastern side
OF the range and down to the forks of the
Simiikameen river where the claims are
located The roundabout trail that we
were compelled to follow will give a faint
idea of the character OF the country trav-
ersed. ard IL is the only route by which
the mines can be reached.
The country is very extensively miner
allied, the ore being suiphurets, carrying
gold, silver, lead. copper and iron, with
a country rock the character of which
have not yet fully determined though it
Is somewhat OF the nature of limestone.
The gangue is quartz and the veins are
strong and well defined.
THE miners are working away there
with no very clear idea of what they have
They are l5e miles from railroad and "a.
shipping their ore 10 the smeiters at Ev
erctt and Tacoma. There are not many
People going In there now. though last year
There was good deal of excitement over
The discoveries in the Eureka mine of a
great body of ore thirty-two feet wide,
which yielded astonishirgly at the surface.
The vein was stripped for a distance of
eighty feet and to a depth of eight feet.
and the remarkably rich ore brought IN
great many people and was the occasion
OF quite a boom for a time. The ore
changed into sulphdes as depth was
gained and Ii at once became apparent
that the deposits would have TO be devel-
oped regularly before the value OF the dis
trict could be definitely ascertained. l
have. of cour 4, not fully formed my opin-
ion regarding the district. but from what
| have seen / am satisfied that IL will be-
come good mining point in tins. The
rugged character of the mountains and Inc
inaccessibiHty of the mines are the prin-
cipal objections to the district, but these
will be overcome If the mines prove to be
valuable.
the Eastern slope of the Cascades. and /
learned that there are number OF placer
claims being successfully worked at differ
ent places along the foothills. When COM
ing out We narrowly escaped being caught
In "a severe storm, which would have Kept
us In the mountains all winter"
The Eureka mine, TO which Mr.. Ward
refers, is evidently the Eureka on Slate
creek. The rich discovery he mentions was
rot ma he last year. but in 1898 or 1884.