Year: 1872

in one place it would average three cents
through four feet deep of gravel and a
bit on the bedrock. Across the river
from Red Flat are the old Point Bar
claims, once celebrated for good pay.
They are being worked this Winter by
Greenleaf & Marsh, who were lucky
enough to find an eight dollar chiSpd in
cutting up their bedrock ditch. That's
coarse piece for the Trinity river mines,
and l am in hopes that the boys may find
few "more of the same sort " in their
sluicing. | stayed over night with 10
Ham, who now owns the ranch so long
held by our mutual friend Stephen. There
is some good pay in this ranch on the
bedrock, and should not be surprised
some day to hear that 10 had turned the
water down through the apple-trees and
'went for" it. once tried to drift it out
but the ground was so loose that l soon
had miniature mammoth cave, and was
glad to get out of it with the loss of
good sledge only. The water prospect
for your Uncle Snort is not quite so good
as he could wish ; the rain, which the
good book tells us "falls upon the just
as upon the unjust" seems to have left
one Of my gulches out in the cold.


The old cabin at Dog Fennel Bend is
in tolerable repair and will soon again
have one of its former occupants. The
other will continue to take toll and burn
his regular charcoal. | wish you could
have seen that famous pitt went in
search of it and stubbed my toe against
it before [ was aware that it was right
under my nose. You see ! don't care a
fig for Old Grimes, nor his hopeful son,
neither; ; he can tell that hawk story"
of his any day he feels like it. The story,
by the way, is pretty good one, and |
have half a mind to tell it myself. Well,
we had some pretty good times in this
same old cabin, mauger the low diet to
which we were reduced when the bed
rock was high and hard, which indeed
was most of the time. had the say on
my old partner, though, in being the
" best string band" Whenever the band
was sent for, it could astonish its stomach
with a square meal, and more than once
when topping a lip over some of the
good things Of this life, not to be found
at the head Of navigation, did the thought
occur to me "OH-H-H, Doc if you
only could fiddle" l had some thoughts
of buying an old shell somewhere, and
learning him to play seconds on this very
account.


Around Douglas, everybody is busy.
The water has not been turned into Da-
Wilson'S ditchsyet, there being a flume
washed out opposite Democrat Gulch, but
the boys are still at work with the
" steepage" water. JEFF " Smiley is
going to work the rich diggings struck by
Jones & Hughes two years ago, which
was duly chronicled in the JOURNAL at
the time. There is a streak in the claim
which prospects we'll and l hope jeff will
make it pay for, barring his Democracy,
he is good fellow; and then, 'oould
like to see one man quit ahead of Trinity
Bench. The tunnel for the Union Hill
claims is now in over six hundred feet,
and they are making some twelve or four
teen feet a weell-two sets of hands run
ming. Its a pretty big enterprise for this
section and deserving of success.


l believe | have given you all the min
ing notes, unless | cross Weaver creek
and trespass on the territory of my coal
burning coadiutor. AS have no desire
to interfere with his vested rights, L will
close by subscribing myself, most re-
spectfully, your UNCLE SNORT.