The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-06-05
OSCEOLA'S RICH PLACERS.
NeVada's State Engineer Declares
Deposits Richest in World.

State Engineer Nicholas. who arrived a
few days ago from the mining camp of
OsceOla, near the base of Mt. Wheeler, in
White Pine county, where he settled a
dispute between farmers and the OsceOla
Gravel company over water rights, states
that without doubt the gravel beds OF
Osceola are the richest in the United
States. and that some day, WhenFtneN are
properly developed. they viii astOnish the
mining world with their richness, says
the Reno Gazette. He states that most
of the rich gravel is owned by the Os-
CeOla Gravel company. but that there are
several hundred acres Of virgin ground
still unclaimed. and that some time in
the future the people of the United States
will be reading of wonderful gold discOV-
cries in the mining camp of Osceola.
A portion of this ground was at one
time worked in crude manner, and
more than a million dollars worth Of
placer gold was extracted and one mug
get worth 5000 was taken out and eX-
hibited at the Worlds fair in Chicago.
Since that time the placer beds have
been worked but very little, but will
soon be worked on an extensive scale.
Engineer Nicholas states that the Os
ceOla Gravel company is now arranging
10 work the rich placer beds with by
away with giant streams. forced through
the pipes with fearful velocity by
large reservoir on Mt. Whitney.
Engineer Nicholas. in speaking of Mt
tain peak is known by the natives Of
White Pine county, says:
Although comparatively few people
know it, Mount Wheeler is one Of the
highest and most picturesque mountain
peaks in the entire west, and will some
day attract tourists as famous Pixies
peak now does. as, in my opinion. Mount
Wheeler is more beautiful and more Won
derful than Pixies peak Mount Hood or
many other high mountain peaks of the
west
Mount Wheeler rises like a giant SEN
tineI from the low Snake mountains,
which stand as a dividing line between
two large deserts, stretching out like
until they meet the deep blue of the
skies.
The peak rises abruptly on all sides.
and down these PERCEPTIONS sides many
little streams rush, gurgle and splash,
having the appearance of silver ribbons
and ending in two streams at the base
of the mountain, forming the Snake and
Spring Valley creeks. 1t is over these
creeks that the Osceola Gravel company
and the farmers of Snake and Spring val
leys have been fighting for several
years.
These tiny streams, dashing down the
mountain sides with much force, are fed
at the summit of Mount Wheeler which
is buried in the clouds, 1850 feet above
the level of the sea, by melting snow and
by a silver lake in a basin formed by
an extinct crater. This lake is nearly
half a mile across, and the water it
contains is nearly as cold as ice. 1t is
only in the summer time that persons can
climb 10 the summit OF Mount Wheeler
as in the winter time the summit is
covered with ice and snow. and its sides
are glazed with a sheet of ice that makes
1t nearly impossible to climb them.
ION one side Of this beautiful peak there
is a cliff more than LOO feet high. so
steep that person can stand on the
brink of the crater and drop a rock for
400 feet without having il obstructed
'As ! have said before. the placer beds
Of OsceOla and wonderful Mount Wheeler
will some day attract thousands Of peo-
pie to Osceola and make the district fam
Dus the world over.
'OsceOla is located fifty miles south
east of Ely, and at the present time is
only reached by staging, eighty-five miles
from Frisco Utah"
Engineer Nicholas will leave in a few
lays for Ely. and from that point will
90 into the OsceOla district once more.