Year: 1877

Mr.. Jos. Deelner has returned home


from the Black Hills, fully satisfied


with his experience. Mr.. Deemer il
reliable gentleman, trusty i'm speech
and gifted with energy enough to
make money at gold digging if the
gold is to be dug. He spent two hun
dred dollars i'm thoroughly prospect
ing the Black Hills country and he
says ii is humbug.


The humbug, he says, commences
at Cheyenne. Tickets are sold from
Omaha to Deadwood-from Omaha to
Cheyenne by rail, from Cheyenne to


Deadwood by stage. Each passenger


is allowed fifty pounds of baggage on


the stage line. Arriving at Cheyenne


the baggage is piled on the stage, and,


if there is any room, the passengers
ride; if not they walk. Nine out of
every dozen walk most of the way,
their stage tickets securing only the
transportation Of their baggage.


Deadwood is a thriving place, but
most of the houses are interspersed
over gulch diggings and the miners
are digging right under them. The
streets and alleys are blocked up by
mining operations. Mr.. Deemer in
quired of numerous business men in
Deadwood into the source of their
income. Invariably they said they
made their money from men coming
in from the States, not from the mi
ners in the Hills.


He visited every gulch and claim in
the vicinity Of Deadwood, and ex-
ainined the ores wherever an OPEN
ing had been made. He says there is
great deal of quartz there, out what
its value yet remains to be tested. He
says such a thing as wall-rock has not
yet been discovered in any Of the
openings, and he has serious doubts if
there is true fssure vein i'm the hills.
The whole thing appears to be slide,
but where ii came from il one of the
secrets not yet discovered. The sharps
who control the ground are afraid to
dig through and furnish ore for mi
ming. They all want to sell, but no
one seems willing to develope his
mine. He says great desl of the ore
shows free gold, but they all seem
afraid of mild return. They asked
all the way from $4,000 to 1900 for
claims where there is 10 evidence
that they have any practical value.
Every foot of ground that can possibly
contain quartz or be used in gulch
diggings j. claimed for miles in every
direction, and the crowds are still
rushing into the Hills. He came
through on the stage and took the
trouble to count the pilgrims between
Cheyenne and Deadwood and his list
tallies up l,649, about fifty whom
were women and children, and the
balance men. Custer City is almost
entirely deserted, the diggings all be-
mpracticabillity. The country there
is very fiat, and it is about twenty
feet to bedrock. No doubt gold in
paying quantities exists on bedrock,
but is impossible to mine without
powerful pumps on account Of the
water, which floods the diggings long
before bedrock is reached. The flat
ness of the country also prevents
sluicing, as it requires swift running
head of water for this purpose. The
ores around Deadwood and Gayville
resemble in many respects the Sum-
nit or South Mountain district in the
Rio Grande country. There is one
ten-stamp mill there that run all win
ter, another was started few days
ago, and lie met several going in. He
is satisfied that all the best gulch dig
gings are worked out, and says there
are not to-day two hundred men at
work at this kind of mining. Dead
wood and Gayviile, and the other
camps in this vicinity are full Of ten
der feet, and times are good with all
those who are prepared to cater to the
necessities Of the new comers. The
hash houses and gin mills are gather
ing rich harvest which Is likely to
last till the rush is over. The money
that is made is taken to the Hills, not
dug out.


Mr.. Deemer says interested parties
are trying to work up stampede to
the Big Horn country which he con-
siders much bigger swindle than the
Black Hills. He talked with num-
ali through the Big Horn country laas
season, and they are not going back.
lie says we may hear any day Of big
discoveries up there, for the purpose
of deluding the thousands Of tender
feet into the country. State Re0tseer.