Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-01-02
DAKOTA GOLD DISCOVERIES
A Wild Stampede From Every Sec
ton of the Hills.
The Severe Weather OF the Past
Month Did Not Chill the
Ardor OF the For
tune Seekers.

Deadwood, Dec. 2G.-The Ragged
Top country, twelve miles southwest
from Deadwood, continues to be an in
spired theme with miners and prospec-
tors. recent developments surely war
ranting the words Of praise, and some
times the exaggerated talk they indulge
in when referring to it. 1t certainly is
a wonderful bit of country, and the
work SO far performed on some of the
claims there has dispelled many old and
accepted theories of biologists, and
lends an added force To the axiome of
old miners, that gold is where you find
it," Veins and shoots of ore being en-
countered i'm formations which hitherto
have been looked upon as barren of the
precious metals.
4 wild stampede from every section
of the Hills has taken place towards the
new district, not eve the very cold
weather which has prevailed for the
past month or more acting as a check
upon the ardor of the fortune seekers,
SO already, although the youngest camp
in the Hills, il Is one of the most popu-
lous. Two cities" have been laid out
there within the past two weeks, and
both are even now striving for metro
politan honors. Balmoral with the ac-
cent on the first sylable) City and
Nerve City are the ~euphonious titles by
which they are known. Both cities
have sprung up as If by magic, and
( whore but a few weeks ago a cabin or
two of some prospectors relieved the
monotony of the scenery, row after row
of business houses and dwellings APP
pear, streets cut through the under
brush and forest, and a busy busting
throng of humanity wake the echoes.
Poor Mans Camp.
yellow creek has always been looked
upon as an ideal poor mans camp"
II il certainly has raised many a po1r
man from poverty to afluence during
the few years hat its ores have been
mined, ont Ragged Top far eXcels it IN
this respect. SO far tIa average Of the
ore found and treated has been
richer than that of that famous camp,
easier worked and easier found, in
many instances being quarried, not
mined. Within a week or so numerous
rich hnds have been made, and some OF
the assay returns have been so high
that even the local papers have hesi-
tated 10 publish them, and when they
have their statements concerning them
have always been qualified. Among
some of the more recent strikes have
been those on the Davy group, owned
by Fitzpatrick Brothers and Collins and
". II. Dairy. which adjoins the ground
upon which the first discovery OF ore
was made. Oh this ground a ledge
cropped out. marked by huge boldefs OF
ore. many Of them lying loosely upon
The surface. The boulderS We're
broken and shipped, n the
returns received were so favorable that
they stirred the owners to greater eX-
ertions, Work was Immediately started
| sinking, and but a few feet had been
sunk when a solid ledge was encoun-
tered. Work was begun taking out ore.
and an open cut 200 feet long completed,
in the face OF which ore is now being
'ouarried" ard daily shipments made.
4 shaft was started in an endeaVor TO
sink through the lime 10 the second con-
tact. and 20 see what lay beneath. The
shaft now has a depth of 107 feet and is
still i'm lime. Work on this shaft has
been temporarily suspended, but will be
resumed shortly. The surface work on
this property has proved il to be a Ver-
liable bonanza, and even should the
owner faii TO find q second contact at
a lower level. what they now have III
sight is sufficient to make them all
wealthy many times over.
A Ricn Find.
The Anchor and Balmoral properties
were the original locations in the Ragged
ron district. and in the Balmoral the dis
| covery was made which has resulted in
the stampede thither and been the means
of causing to be worked and made profit
able hitherto uneNpiored ground, when,
from its peculiar formation, prospectofs
had never thought of investigating. The
ground is covered with huge boulders, and
| Mr.. Wall, one Of the locators, while pass
ing over the ground one day in a spirit or
Investigation broke one of them into frag-
ments. The broken rock attracted his at
tcntlon at once. lie had seen something
similar to it before: it looked something
| like the ore he had seen in Ruby Basin and
Nevada Gulch, so he brought a few pieces
! 10 the city and had them assayed. lie was
surprised to receive an average assay from
a number OF tests made of over $50 a ton.
The ground was Immediately entered upon
by Wall, Murray, Medill and May. and a
number of locations, sixteen in all, taken
up. Work on these locations demonstrate
! ed that but a few feet be.Cw the surface
were numerous shoots and veins OF high
grade siliceous ores. A few shipments
J were ldut " lONai N'H 49,
gave to the shippers a large profit. The
fact of the new discovery soon leaked out,
and then began the wild scramble for
claims. Today, for miles in every direc-
ton, not a foot of ground remains un-
claimed In the district, and many conflict
ing locations nave been made, which in
time will prove TO be a source of revenue
to lawyers, for untold litigation Is sure 10
be the result.
These recent discoveries, while OF great
value to the particular section in which
they have been made, are OF even far
greater value to the Black Hills at large,
for they prove beyond a doubt that the de-
posts of siticeous ore are not confined to
any one particular locality, but are co-ex-
istent with the Hills themselves, and will
be the means of inducing miners in other
districts TO look more closely to the rock
IN which they are working and to exam
Inc more carefully the ores which they
take out.
Will Get the Boys" Together.
Huron, Dec. 26.-Some interest Is
manifested In the meeting of the popu-
/ IA. 49, -. 80 $50 49, - tAA N nj axxx