The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-06-18
from the scattering ranches many
miles during the term.

1870 >~~9 {
Returning to our horses, we were
soon in the saddle again and after few
niles crossed the wagon road which
was the last sign Of the white man we
were to see for many days. It was de-
,ided we would camp that night on the
ranch of an Indian who was looking
after some of Charley's stock At SUM
down we arrived at the ranch and
camping near the, corrals, empty at
this season, were soon honored by a
visit from the owner who was called
Indian John," in common with most
Of the civilized Indians of that section.
After short discussion of business
matters connected with the cattle and
horses on the range, Charley and Indian
John settled down to talk about old
times. John was now well advanced
in the way of the white man and
heartilytat those of his people
who clung to old customs aud wan
dering life. He compared his comfort
able clothes and good food with the
hardships of the old life and said most
that the Indian who
would not accept civilized ways was
fool. The talk was disappointing, as /
had hoped he would mourn the past
and paint in pretty colors the pleasures
of his old life. John had accepted the
Christian religion as had many other
rancher Indians in that section. We
did not meet priest or missionary and
l wondered where he got hold of his
ideas. Charley said we were on the
edge of the ColviiIe Indian Reservation
and that there mpst be school and
church at Fort Colviile. Charley
would not ask any questions on this
point as Indian John was not q Presby-
terian, which was sore point with
Charley. He had known the Indian
when he knew no other God than old
Chief Moses Of his tribe; the next thing
he knew, he was converted, and Charley
always felt that he had lost an oppor-
tunity of making Presbyterian. But
the chance was gone forever, and altho
he argued much the argument was
thrown away, as John remained true to
the faith he first adopted.
After several days travel through a
rough country we were in the heart of
the kootenai, which is destined to be
one of the greatest mining countries in
the world. Evidence of this could be
seen on every hand; mountain after
mountain of low grade ore, all in a
most inaccessible region. The advent
of the Great Northern and the mining
activity in British Columbia has par
TALLY developed the Kootenai, but it
will be many years yet before the
country is fully developed. In the
weeks we spent in that country we
must have many times stood on what
is now the site of mining camp. The
ore is there in abundance, but only por-
tions can be worked at q profit. When
we were there this was true to greater
extent, as many Inventions have been
made since then for treating refractory
ores. We made but one find which
looked good enough to Charley te
prompt us to several weeks labor. ]
held hand drill while Charley pound
ed it with heavy rock. When the drill
hole was deep enough, charge Of
powder was inserted, and after the
blast<we would drill again. In thii
primitive and Iaborious manner we un
covered a ledge of gold-bearing quart;
and followed it many feet into the
mountain, Charley carefully preserving
specimens, marking them numerical,
to denote the dtpth from the sur
face each specimen was secured
Charley pronounced it the richest
looking quartz he had ever seen, bu
an assay from San Francisco secured
later stated that owing to the peculia
/ formation of the quartz the gold coult
not be extracted proftably. It was tn
most peculiar formation we eve
noticed, being hard, yet honeycombe'
with rusty holes which contained tn
trace Of gold. It was dull red, abou
the color Of common brick.
| Life in the mountains was grand
i Game was plentiful and the stream
were filed with trout The scener
was magnificent, and while not on tn
grand scale Of the Selkirks or the Cas