Willmar tribune., 1899-02-15
Among, the Rockies.
Eighth Of a series of letters. written
by the editor while on his trip in the
Vast

Eighth of a series of letters written
by the editor while on his trip. in the
West.
ASPEN, COI4.,, Jan. 81, 800.
We have received letters from home
from friends who have expressed envy
because we are in a place where there
is summer weather and green grass.
They are badly mistaken. There is
more snow on the ground here than we
generally see in Minnesota. Indeed
it has been showing here every day
since we arrived with but few excep-
tions. AS there is but very little
windy weather here in town down be-
tween the mountains the snow does
not drift. About a week ago we had
(. snow fall Of about 10 inches during Q
night and SO quietly did it fall that
the floor Of the porch outside our door
was not covered. Last night however
was an exception, as we were visited
rushed the snow in manner to make
me feel home sick. It rarely gets very
cold here, however, the mean tempera-
ture Of January not being much below
- degrees above zero. The late heavy
snowfall upon the crust of the Old
snow has made travel among the
III >untains extremely hazardous on ac-
count Of the frequency OF snow slides.
,;tjlroad traffic is much hampered by
these avalanches, which cover the
track when in their paths with cnorln-
Gus masses of close packed snow.
-\hout 800 feet Of snow sheds. erected
Tor the purpose Of protecting the
tracks in such cases, were crushed in
by the force Of a slide on the Midland
road between here and Denver the
other day.
The work of a mining prospector is
simply q form Of legitimate gambling.
!Ie may strike it rich and he may not
he rewarded for years of patient and
:;ljyent toll by finding any thing worth
,.:yging. While a thorough knowledge
OF fyeoloyy and the various rock form
:t;:ous may be useful to a prospector,
The deposits Of ore are SO freaky that
tn, best informed engineer and old
miner il at q loss to account for it at
times. One Of the best posted mining
experts OF this camp was sent to iu-
Yestigate the Cripple Creek district
when the discovery Of gold was made
there, as one Of the mining corpora
tiOns here had an option on the pro-
;,arty what is now the Independence
mite for $50, 900, but he reported it as
worthless. He declared that the gol'
discovered was only a surface depOs it
and the forma alton Of rock was such as
would preclude all possibility Of any
paying operations. The mine is now
paying millions.
In the Aspen mine not long ago a
foreman took a notion to DRIFT into the
oho lie rock, which is always supposed
- be hnpelessly barren but when in
STOUT 100 feet struck a fine body Of
rich ore.
An old prospector had found some
rich drift (pieces Of ore which had
bTokch of from some outcropping Of
ore on the side of the mountain and
been washed DOWN and had been
looking for the place it came from for
Il long tine. A tenderfOot came along
one day aud innocently ASKED Say,
Mister, where is a good place to pros
spect.' and the miner pointed to a tree
some distance away and said ''there. -
Tie tendcrfoot went to the place in
dicatcd and and began to dig, and the
miner chuckled at his childish faith
The tenderfOOt chuckled little later.
however, when he found the ore the
miner had been looking for. He sold
his claim for $50, 900 and returned east
three weeks after his arrival.
The miner who told the above yarns
stated that the hills around this camp
have hardly been scratched. He said
that if the people who rush off to
klondike and other new excitemcnts
would stay right in Colorado and ex-
pend the same energy and money their
chances for success would be i've to
one of what they are in % big rush.
V. Z. l..
Kennare, N. D.