Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1904-07-07

IL NOulu udNd ptcH III lilVSuiaA
slabs, from half an inch to an inch in
thickness, gnarled and twisted and
crooked. OF course. it would be a
physical impossibility to handle a
piece of porous gold of that shape
without breaking it.
This seam, where the discovery was
made, was running along the hanging
wall Of the ledge. AS the vein was
followed. it left the hanging wall,
cut through the ledge to the foot
wall, followed that for a short dis
tance, then cut through the ledge
again, back to the hanging wall. AT
the end of the cut, at the time this
visit was made. the seam had been
mined" out to depth OF perhaps l6
inches, the first foot of the depth
being made large enough for the
operation of shovel and the last few
inches being merely gouged out of the
seam. In the deep shadow, the gold,
much of it dull and rusty, could not
be seen, but pocket knife jabbed
into the seam st ruCk with a dull,
dead sound, exactly as if dropped ON
piece of lead. A few blows were
sufficient to detach piece, weighing
two or three dollars. 1t seemed a
new idea to mine with pocket knife
and the visitors quickly grew in
terested. After poking and jabbing
with the knife for 10 or 10 minutes,
the returns were weighed up and ag-
gregated some $50 One vigorous
blow with n pick would have dis
lodged three times as much. Some
times piece CT gold two or more
inches in length could be pried and
split OF from the quartz to which it
was adhering. As the knife point
would be driven behind it the metal
would bend over like piece of sol
der. Much of this gold is red and
rusty and would doubtless be over
looked by an unpracticed eye. Other
pieces a'e yellow and bright.
The seam, as it is followed. is
found to widen IN places to an inch
or more in width and in such places
as this pieces of gold nearly as large
as mans hand have been found.
The largest piece taken out containing
some $500, was broken i'll washing it.
Mr. Briggs has a piece of gold and
quartz which contains between 5000
and 500. He has one piece of quartz
as big as his two fists, which has
half inch thick slab of gold bisecting
it and holding the two halves togeth-
er, and there are number of similar
specimens of smaller size. These
were secured in following the gold
seam where it cut through the ledge
from one wall to the other.
From the main seam. smaller veins
of gold radiate like spider legs into
the creyices of the rock. The red,
rusty dirt in and about the seam is
seen to be fully half gold when looked
at with glass. As the miners fol-
lowed the seam OF gold, they ihre "
the loosened rock and dirt INTO the
cut behind them, covering up and
concealing the bottom, so that the
hole is filed up except for small
place at the extreme end. Pans Of
this loose dirt and rock, taken at
random, yield from 81 to $50 each.
The gold is porous and is light in
comparison with similar bulk of
placer gold, but Is very pure, being
worth in this crude state, about $ls
per ounce.
The find is located on one OF the
spurs Of Tonnant peak Of the Siski-
yous. Tennant peak is the culmina.
tion of triple watershed which en-
braces tributaries of Sucker creek,
Althouse creek and of the klamath
river, The ledge is on the slope
which leads to Thompson creek,
tributary of the Klamath, and is only
about 100 yards from the top of the
divide which slopes on the north side
to Fehely gulch, small tributary of
Sucker creek. 1t may be considered
the same divide or "hack bone" which
separates Sucker creek and Althouse.
This ridge is one of the biggest gold
carriers on the Pacific coast.
Grants Pass is the only rational
point Of departure for these mines.