Gilpin observer., 1905-09-21
Stampede to Death Valley.

stampede to Death Valley.
According to the predictions of those
best qualified to speak, there will be a
stampede to Death Valley during the
present autumn. The sudden revival
of interest in that mysterious and for
bidding region has been stimulated by
the recent official reports confirming
the existence of mineral deposits Of
unfathomable value as well as by the
periodical emergence of some venture
some prospector with specimens of the
treasure that lies within the uninvit-
ing waste. Perhaps the individual
who has contributed most literally to
the present increase of interest in the
vaney is the erratic Walter Scott,
whose series of sensational disappear
ances and returns, regaining the habit
able world on each occasion with lib
eral supply of the gold that is hidden
from those who have tried to follow in
his footsteps.
Until few years ago the borax
mines at Borate, on the edge of the
Mohave desert, were believed to be the
richest deposits of that useful salt in
the world. About that time it was dis
covered that the borax fields within
Death Valley were so extensive and
the salt itself is so pure quality that
AL other known sources of supply were
of little value in comparison. Francis
Marion Smith, known as the "boraX
king" who owned the mines in the
Mojave desert, made haste to secure
the borax deposits in Death Valley.
His company built a road into the hith
erto inaccessible region and erected
monster works at Daggett for the re-
duction of the salts. Soon after this
an immense wagon came out of the
valley and unloaded at Daggett, the
nearest railroad station on the Santa
Fe line. two tons of ore which was
worth frcm $4,000 to $4,000 a ton.
This was the first important shipment
of auriferous ore from that locality
The ledge from which this rich ore
was taken had been discovered a short
time before by a poor prospector, Wal
ter Scott, who has never revealed the
place of its concealment. How Scott
managed to obtain the golden nuggets
with which he seems to be so plenti
fully provided is the unsolved mystery
which has faced all those who have at
tempted to follow in his adventurous
footsteps. There is no water within
many miles of all the gold-bearing
ledges located by the government ex-
perts. and it seems little short of SUI
perhuman that this one fortunate pros
pector should have found a way to sur
mount the first difficulty when all 9TH
ers have failed.
Fabulous quantities of galena are
piled up in the recesses of the valley,
| one vein recently discovered being
thirty feet in width anu containing ore
that runs from forty to seventy-five
per cent. in lead. Many rich ledges of
silver have been found, and numerous
tests have SHOWN the ore to be worth
from $4,000 to $4,000 ton. The nitre
wealth of Death Valley is also enor-
nous, and 1t has been estimated that II
thes deposits could be marketed at
current prices they would yield ST.
000,O00,000 One reliable expert who
examined the beds for an American
company made the statement that if
the nitre field could be operated, Chill
would lose it's supremacy as pro.
ducer of this staple.
1t is affirmed by those who have in
vestigated the matter that borax is
never found in nature except in the
craters of extinct volcanoes. 1t is a
! fact that in California all of the de-
posits yet discovered lie in the bottom
of those bowl-shaped valleys which are
known by biologists to have been out
| lets for prehistoric fire mountains. The
| presence of borax in Death Valley is
everywhere indicated by the snowy ap-
| pearance of the bottoms, which to the
| newcomer seems precisely like snow
| fields. 1t is extremely hazardous to
attempt to cross these stretches, for
~, do. ha hi ,1n11 80 fath
| less depths of poisonous waters.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.b<'
New Saratoga Company.
One Of the most important mining
transactions of recent date in this Sec
ton was the transfer of the undivided
one-half interest of Charles Morgan Of
this city in the Saratoga group of
mines, situated in the Russell Gulch
district, to H. 7. Rogers and associates
of New York city. says the Denver Re-
publican correspondent at Idaho
Springs on the 14th inst.
A new company has been organized
to be known as the Saratoga Develop
ment Company of which John Owens,
the owner of the other undivided half,
is president and general manager; f.
A. Whitefield, New York. vice presi-
dent, and H. T. Rogers of New York
treasurer and secretary. The capitali.
zation of the company Is 100000.
The company will begin unwatering
the shafts and levels and will push de-
velopment. There are over 10 miles
of submerged mine workings which
will require some time to properly
drain. The Saratoga was cut several
months ago by the Newhouse tunnel
and 1t was the general expectation that
the mine would be rapidly drained, but
up to the present time there has been
no perceptible lowering of the water.
In order to facilitate this drainage the
250-foot lateral will be driven 275 feet