Year: 1876

20. 1910.


ing specimens of mica rock. One of
the boys conceived the idea of plant,
and one of the fresh arrivals was Sc
lected Us the subject. SeveralstrangerS
took supper at the same table with the
victim on the evening after the job had
been fully prepared, and during the
meal they talked in hOarse, mysterious
though audible whispers of the strike
they had made. The richness of the
find was dilated upon extravagantly,
and occasionally one of the party ex-
hibited small specimens of the rock,
and as they passed from hand to hand
the great value of the ore was ecstati-
cally gloated over. Before supper
was over the jokerS had worked the
ore up to $4,000 per ton, and the ten
der-foot was nearly crazy with
curiosity. When they left the table he
sidled up to them and put a cautious
question or two, but the fellow who had
struck it shut up like jack-knife, and
he could not get word out of them.
Eventually, however, he procured an
introduction to the discoverer of the bo-
nanza, and after setting the drinks up
quite freely for the crowd, the lucky
man agreed to let the fresh fellow have
a look at his specimens. He took him
around to the house where he had left
his bag of specimens, and by the light
of tallOw dip, showed him huge pieces
of rock, with the deceptive yellow mica
sticking out of it in large pieces and be-
wildering quantity. The miner casual
ly cursed the luck that made him so
poor that he would have to let some
capitalist in with him, so that the mine
could be developed, and the greenhorn
swallowed the bait greedily. He had
but 81 900, but he would give all that
just to get his nose into the first shaft,
and with great cendescensionth the miner
agreed to have


THE PAPERS DRAWN


on the morrow that would assure the
small capitalist the position of watch
man in the mine, with q very small
share of the profits for the first year, and
rather reluctantly allowed him to carry
off one or two particularly rich speci-
mems, with the understanding that no
one was to be let into the secret. The
countryman was watched, and, as was
expected, his good fortune was too much
for him to keep to himself, and on the
day after he obtained his interest in the
bonanza a bulky letter was sent to his
home, and the mica rocks were sent by
express as valuable packages, at high
rates, to Omaha, to be assayed. The
joke leaked out before the assay arrived
from Omaha, and the life of the capi-
talist was made so miserable that to es-
cape he fled to the Hills, with the title of
"Mica Jim" following him, and this
cognomen will stick to him as long as
he lives in this country.


WORD ABOUT THE ROUTES.


Although there is a very strong effort
being made to give the route to the
Hills via Bismarck the reputation of be-
ing the best road, this place still holds
the palm, and it promises to be the fa-
vorite route to the gold fields. Business
here is full of life; money is plenty, and
every one is hopeful of the future. The
adventurers of this year are generally
well fixed, and they spend their money
quite freely. The business men have
not developed a wUlfish disposition,
and the prices of supplies here are very
reasonable. This tends to increase the
popularity of our city as a supply sta
ton, and many of the men who went
into the Hills by way of Bismarck, last
year, are loud in their praises of the
paramount excellence of Cheyenne as
supply point, and of the superior route
leading to the gold fields from this
point.


The town is full of gamblers, and the
faro banks are doing brisk business.
The prepOnderanee Ofrespectable, hard
working men in the multitude that is
surging toward the gold field leads
many to believe that society in the Hills
will not be of that desperate character
that made the early history of CalifOr-
MIA, Nevada and Montana so bloody and
lawless. True, there is a large sprink-
ling of the desperate classes in the le-
gion, and they make their presence
known here by an occasional desperate
street fight. The snap of the persua-
sive pistol is heard more often than Of
yore, but, as yet, there has been no case
of fatal shooting. The crowd is so cen
tralized here, and the prepOnder-
ance of the better class is so mark
ed, that the boys who are on
the shoot are very careful not to take
drop on the wrong man, and conse-
quently, in all the shooting affrays that
have occurred, the victim and the victor
have been desperadoes. So long as the
roughs confine their pistol practice to
men of their own ilk, they will not be
disturbed, but the moment that marks
the fall of respectable man will also
note the Inauguration of Judge Lynch.
How it will be in the Hills, when the
mass of men break up into little groups,
in the separate camps, can only be con-
jectured, but it is quite probable that
the desperadoes will assert themselves,
and that severe and speedy justice will
have to be meted out to some of them
to bring their fellows to their senses.


THE INDIAN DIFFICULTY.


l have no doubt, taking the tone of
the Eastern press as criterion, that the
pCOPlO OAlOAO eeAO lAANaSAA AiOA
ed about the Indians than are the men
here who are on their way to the Hills.
Around their camp-fres at night, which
fires, by the way, lightup the surround
ing prairies for miles away from here,
the Indian is frequent topic of cOnver-
sation, but he inspires no fear. The i'm
preston is daily gaining ground that the
troublesome Indians will have their
hands full in attending to the business
that Gen. Crook will map out for them,
and the miners believe that they will be
safer in the Hills than they would be in
the frontier settlements, and, it is quite
probable, they are right. In any event
the adventurers will be satisfied if the
Government does not disturb them, as
they are very confident that they can
bring the Reds to terms of lasting peace.


New routes to the Hills will spring
up in great quantity during the coming
spring, and before next fall the way
| farer can take his choice of any of half
/ ,o,,+o- bot mill bo latoH arn