Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-02-18
EARLY DAYS COMPARED
WITH THE PRESENT


The early history OF mining In San
Juan county would Ill a good sized
book. and II Is interesting to meet
with the pioneors- those who came
to Sllvcrton In '731-5. The writer the
other night happened TO be one OF a
party talking over the various phases
OF early life and the ups and downs
OF the men who brayed the terrors
that necessarily confronted one and
all In those days
HownrdsvilIe was really the first
location In the county. which Mt that
time embraced all this southwest ter
ritory. Howardsyille Is located AT
the mouth OF Cunningham gulch and
| is n pretty plnce for town The
| early prospectors generally hailed
| from Del Norte. the gateway to the
| San Juan. They arrived with thoir
trusty burro by way OF the Rio GraDdo
and over Grassy hill, in reality q
atony waste. At that time n burro
was worth almost his weight. not In
gold. but In silver. Burros afforded
tho only means OF locomotion and II
Is really surprising to look back nt
the work accomplished by these trus
ty animals. and when the discussion
OF what distinguished pcrsonages
should he represented In the capitol
| dome at Denver was on n short time
ago. u gentleman who appreciated the
true worth OF the beast suggested
that burro should represent one o.
the figures, ns the race figured almost
I H.. -. lU.ss
Juan and other mountain sections to
| civilization. But we nre drifting from
the subject.
| Every prospector In those days
dreamed nightly of hidden wealth
and firmly believed. like the count OF
| Nome Cristo, that the the world was
his Between t775 and 1880 1t was an
easy matter to dispose of minine
claim. Eastern capital was anxious
to invest, and during those years
tL,n-s~d- ~ is SINE" nj say rnat morr
money was paid for properties dur
Ing period OF Ave years than In the
succeeding twenty. Almost anything
went at that time. and In addition Ia
h temoncy paid for mines IL was nu
trick to raise from flfty to several
hundred thousand dollars for dcvol
opmont purposes, In ISi6-7-S eve"y
| pt0spcctor with n claim wended his
way to Chicago or New York and very
few came back without money. And
how the money did fly In those days,
Companies sent mon out as managere
who know nothing about mining. and
II is safe 10 say that not one MINING
proposition out OF a hundred ever re
suited bcneicially TO the enrly day
| operators. One.half the amount oi
money expended at the present time
would opepJIp mines sufficient 10 FUR
nish employment to ten tines the
number working now.
Then mining was an experiment
| Now II is reduced to as close aud ac
| curatr calculation as any other bus
iness. The experiments resulted In
failures. Now under practical and
| modern methods mining Is success
In every sense Of the word and affords
| a field for investment second to none
| and today the activity of early days
is once more upon us. The hurro has
given way to the locomotive and the
tram. Monuments of foily''--enrly
day mills erected without regard a.
the character of the ore TO he treat
cd have given way to improved meth
ods that enable the owners OF low
grnde mines 10 work their proper
ties nj a profit In the early days sill
yer ore running less than $50 per
ton was thrown over the dump. and
no account was taken of gold values
under Sl5, and In many cases much
higher 1t was silver the prospector
was after, ana what cared he for gold
ores running ms high ms s2O2 And
even the smolter In the early days
paid nothing for gold unless the aver
age was above <l5 or $50. All early
operators win bear out these state
ments Now, gold ores worth SIS and
$40 per ton are made to pay a hand
some profit. Not only In mining but
In milling and smelling do We find
everything conducted on business
bases. the same M merchant con.
duets his store. AS result San Juan
county is coming to the front in no
uncertain manner. The developments
of the past few years have demon
strated the fact that the veins are
true assures and inexbaustible. Each
year notes the erection OF new mills
and II is confidently expected that
San Juan county will be Furnishing
employment to at least Ave thousand
miners and workmen inside OF the
next three years.
-.-------
Mrs. 4. G. Stoibcr returned last
evening from a business and pleasure