Year: 1876

:


and an Interesting Account of the Ag-


riculturaI and Mineral Resources OF


the Black HIS.


(FrOm the Council Bluffs Nonpareil


Under date of Deadwood Mining
Camp, August 20, Frank Mcdonald,
well known to many of our readers, par
ticularly in this city, writes to afriend
here as follows: m ##tH


| presume you think that am long
time in fulfilling my promise, but cir
cumstances would not admit of my
writing at length before now. And as
l intended to give you somewhat of an
idea regarding the extent of this coun-
try and its resources when | did write,
l have delayed writing in order that |
might gain a fuller knowledge of my
surroundings and be better prepared
to do the matter reasonable justice. l
have just returned from a weeks ram
bic through these parts, or | might
more properly term it an Injun hunt,
/ for we have been after them most of
the time, and that has given me a
chance to see a good portion OF the
country in and adjacent to the
Hills. The Black Hills proper
are not very extensive in
themselves. They are about 100 miles
in length and about so miles in width,
and, being somewhat of an oval shape,
probably about 800 would be their cir
cumference. One to look at them from
a distance would be any thing but
| pleased with their appearance. This is
particularly the case coming in by way
OF Buffalo Gap, which is visible for
some 90 or rs miles, and at that dis
tance it appears to be a mere
crevice in the rock but
as you approach nearer ii widens out;
when finally you reach the foot of the
Hills, beautiful little valley opens out
to your view, with high mountains on
each side, adorned here and there by
lunches of pine trees, through which
can be seen huge masses Of granite
rock projecting out from the sides of
the mountains, as if ready TO fall upon
the first passer-by, and in the valley be-
meath runs one of the most beautiful
streams of water one could wish to see.
In fact, every portion OF the Hills
abounds in rich scenery, unsurpassed in
beauty and grandeur by but few other
places. As for this being an agricul-
tural country, it certainly is not. The
valleys are not extensive enough, in the
first place, to carry on farming, and
even were they, don't think one could
raise a crop here on account of the
heavy frosts which occur almost night
". The vegetation here seems to stand
the frost though amazingly. As far as
| have noticed there is nothing affected
by it but the strawberries. And, by the
way, letme add here that we have plen-
ty of fruit here, such rs it is. The most
prolific among others is the red rasp-
berry, which grows in Creat abundance
in the valleys and on the sides of the
mountains Besides these are red, yel-
low and black currants, goOseberries,
choke cherries, and various other small
fruits which we feast upon daily. Ne
visited the great Speariish Valley the
other day, which is considered the best
farming land in this portion of the
country. About all that can be said of
it is that it is a very pretty valley, and
is watered by ose of the handsOmest
streams in the Territory. The land is
poor, though, and the only way in which
you can produce q good crop is by irri-
eating. There is a town laid off there
of the same name, but at present only
few cabins are completed, and the
population numbers less than twenty
| five. Business has not been up to the
standard of late; several of the best
! gulches have been laid over on account
of The scarcity of water, and few of
those near the foot hills have not been
worked much for week or so, the In
dians being too troublesome. This
has created a general depression in bus
mess, and with the large amount of
competition we have, a person can buy
goods very reasonable. The best Col
Orado flour can be bought now for so
to $l2, good bacon for 20 cents, with
other goods in proportion. We have
done but little on this gulch lately. We
are only seven miles from the foot hills,
and the Indians make it convenient to
visit US quite frequently, and in cOnse-
qnence of that ali the claims were laid
over until the 7th day of September,
by which time we hope that some set
tlement of this Indian trouble will be
made. But, if not, we will lay them
over until spring. Since the defeat
and slaughter of Gen. Custer and his
troops the Indians have become very
bold. They have stolen quite a num-
Der of horses in this vicinity. The last
1aul they made they rode into Crook
/ City and drove off large herd of horses
/ belonging to party of Montana
men. This rather reused up the miners
TO a sense of their danger, and a large
party was organized to follow them.
OF course we went, but by the time we
got on their trail they were too far
ahead to think of capturing them. Be
sides, they struck directly north, into
the Gen. Sitting-Bull country, and we
thought best not to 60 too far. One In
dian was killed at the outset, and they
cut his head off, tied it to a long pole,
and paraded the streets of Crook City
and Deadwood, creating quite an eX-
citement. "a


1t is thought by some that we will
have considerable trouble with them
this fall, but [ hardly think they will
attempt TO enter the Hills, for if they
once get the miners well stirred up they
/ won ledNe SISdI udlI1 VI hlSH Ol
top of the ground. The interest in
quartz is still on the increase. We hear
of new discoveries every day, always
the richest yet found" There are
some splendid leads, though, in this
district. All we lack now is capital and
machinery, and L imagine we will be
supplied with both next season. From
what l have seen and heard from men
who are posted in quartz, am of the
opinion that this will be the richest
quartz region yet discovered. We have
one ledge which, if it yields as largely
as the estimates put upon it by old ex-
perienced miners, will make US our pile
in very short time.


49, l.,-t It1.,n +krn I'm