Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1898-09-07
A KLoNDIKE AT HOME,

l
 KLONDIKE AT HOME,
 What New Conner to the Territory
 Thinks of the Opportunities for
 aMan Without Means,
 The following article which was published in an Iowa paper was written by man who has lived in Arizona for a few years and who writes from his personal observa- tion. It gives a very fair and i'm partial description of conditions which exist here:
 Arizona has so many advantages which appeal to the poor man, be he mechanic, farmer or miner, which cannot be found anywhere in the east, that it is impossible to enum- crate them all in 8 short letter, but will try to picture this section in as few words as possible. In gen eral the entire territory is devoted to three pursuits, viz: stock raising, agriculture, and mining. Cattle, sheep and horses range almost all over the territory, finding feed the year round anywhere near water. The mountain districts, of course, are better supplied than the deserts, so called, which, during the rainy season blossom forth with a luxur- iant vegetation, showing conclusive> ly that in few years the judicious investment of capital in irrigation projects, storage systems, and artes- ian wells will entirely change the face of mother earth and the "des- erts" of Arizona will be spoken of as the garden spots of the west.
 h the immediate vicinity of Pres colt, beautifully situated among the mountains, Is a vast mineral country hardly opened as yet, but having sufficient working mines and par tially developed prospects to give us an idea of the future possibili- ties of the mining districts about us. Twenty-Five miles north is the third largest copper producing mine in the world, the United Verde" owned by W. 4. Clark. To the south is the famous Congress Gold Company's mine, one of the great est producers in the west. The Hasssyampa and Weaver districts to the southeast have some good work ing mines. and thousands of unde- veloPed prospects are located in every direction.
 The mountain canyons are es- pecially rich in placer deposits, the poor mans mine" Hundreds of placer claims are being worked in the surrounding hills and even with crude methods are giving good re- suits. Two men are working an old creek bed within four miles of Pres colt and average A to S per day with a rocker. Others are making wages washing with a pan. The placer grounds where there is water in the spring, have undoubtedly been worked before, but not thor oughly, and it is by working over the old dumps that much gold is taken out.
 A man of my acquaintance, a nov ice in placer mining, hauled six loads of dirt from dry creek to his ranch and when he found no work to do he washed a few pans full. He soon saw that it would pay him to hire his work done and stick to min ing. He rigged sluice boxes and out of the six loads of dirt got $28.40, and be was out just one days labor with team and wagon and two days labor for himself. He now keeps two teams busy hauling dirt, is piping larger supply and in creasing the capacity of his sluice boxes, and he has also rigged con- trivance of his own invention for mechanical gold pan to be run by wind mill. If the dirt he is now handling has half the gold in it that the first six loads he will clean up $40 to $50 per day. This is by no means an isolated instance for the same thing can be done in hundreds of places in this district by any man who will risk little money, enough to get started, aud will keep steadI- ly at it. The best placer ground known is, of course. all taken up, and some incorporated companles have spent thousands of dollars in trying to get enough water supply to work B or 50 claims, only1to fail and inevitably wind up under the sherif's hammer. But what has been flat failure on a large scale can most always be made to pay on Q small scale. provided the miner is content to make double the ordi- nary wages and does not desert fair paying ground to search for a Klon- dike. l said above that all the Sknown" placer ground was taken up, but there are probably better mines to be found in the dry dis. tricts that have not been thorough ly prospected, and possibly never even visited by the fortune hunter. Nine times out of ten the ordinary western prospector will leave a fair paying placer the moment he hears of rich strike anywhere within 400 or 800 miles, and the mine will lie idle and deserted until some east ern ''tenderfoot" takes possession, or possibly "heathen celestial" and the ground is worked for all it is worth, the Chinsman being a sue cessful placer miner, due entirely to his stick-to-it-iveness-he never leaving a claim so long as he can make wages.
 The new Big Bug district, tribu- tary to Prescott, which has some rich quartz mines opened up, simply waiting for the opening of the Pres colt & Eastern By, this fall to be- come steady shipping properties, has great deal of placer ground, as yet unprospected, which awaits the knight of the pick and pan. The scarcity of water will deter many from going to this district, but many . good man will get 8 start there as the indications are very