RE-P OR T S ON TH-;MINERAL:RESOUR CES OF THE UNITED STATETS. R E P O R T OF J.ROSS BROWNE ON TIIE MINERAL'RESOURCES OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, WASHINGTON: GOVERNMRENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1868. LE l: -TT ER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, TRANSMITTING Tihe report of J. JBoss Browne on the mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky nountains. MARCH 5, 1868.-Referred to the Committee on Mines and Mining and ordered to be printed. TREASIJRY DEPARTMBNT, March 5, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to the House of Representatives the report f;, J. Ross Browne on the mineral resources qf the States and Territories west of, the Rocky mountains. Very respectfilly, your obedient servant, H. MIcCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. Sion. SC tUhYLER COLeFAX SPeaker of the House/of Rircsentatives. - OF: JR. R; OS S -, ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE-STATES AND TERRITORIES WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. W:SH z GTOir, D. C., March 5, 1868. SIR:: I the preliminary report which I had the honor to transmit to you from San Francisco in Novemer, 1866, a general summary was given of the mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the R'ocky mountains; It was not anticipated by the department that the information required under letter of instructions dated August 2, 1866, could be obtained in full within the brief perio'd intervening before the next meeting of Congress; but it Wa. hoped that sufficient data might be collected'to furnish a general idea of the rise and progressdof the mining interest on the Pacific slope. No official document ii any deartment of the government contained accurate information on this subject, anit was considered. desirable that special attention should be given to the following x:points:..:. The origin of gold and silver m'ining on the Pacific coast and present condion of that interest as. tendin tos h ite progress of settlement and civilization. 2. Geological formation of tie great mineral belts and general characteristics of the placer diggings and quartz lodes. - 3.- Different ystems of mning, machinery used, processes 6f reducing the ores, percentage of waste, and net profits. 4. Population engaged'n i mining, exclusively and in part, capital and labor employed, value of improvements, number of mills and steam engines in operation, yield of the mines, average of dividends, and losses.:5. Proportion of agricultural and mineral lands in each district, quantity of woodland,, facilities for obtaining fuel, number and extent of streams, and water privileges. 6. Salt beds, deposits of soda and borax, andall other valuable mineral deposits. 7. Altitiude, character of Olimate mode and cost of living, cost of all kinds of material, cost of labor, &c. 8.' Population of the mining towns, number of banks and banking institutions in them, facilities f6r assaying, melting, and refining bullion; charges upon the same for:transportation and insurance. 9. Communication with the mines and principal towns, postal and telegraphic lines; stage routes; cost of travel; probable benefits likely to result from constuction;of the Pacific railroad and its proposed branches.:10. Necessity for assay offices and public depositories; what' financial facilities may:tend to develop the country and enhance its products::1i1. Copies of local mining laws and customs regulating the holding. and working of claims. 2. — Number of ledges opened, number:lcamied, character of the soil in the mining districts, and its adaptation to the support of a large population. ag~~~~~~ 4 RESOURCES OF - STATES AND TERRITORIES The preliminary report, submitted in answertoQ these inquiries) embraced such information as could be obtaine.witin the brief period allowed forits preparation. Although imperfect in many reSpects, itwasreceived by the people ofthe Pacific coast as an indication of a growing interest on the part. of government in the development of our mineral resources. It wasa source of gratification to the miners to find that, after years of unprofitable toil, duringwhich they had contributed largely to the national wealth, the peculiar character of their occupation was beginnin'g to be understood, aSnd its- influence in promoting settlement anid civilization to be better appreciated.cl The report which I now have the honor to submit is the result of many years of labor and exploration. It contains the aggregated experience of the ablest staticticians and experts on the Pacific coast, If there be any meri.tin thevwork, it belongs chiefly to my co-laborers, who have devoted thsuselives with suc unselfish zeal to the xpr'omotion of the objects designed to be accomplished by this commission. The fund appropriated by Congress was insufficient to admit of compensation adequate to such labor; but assistance was cheerfully given, as a mater of public benefit, ithout regard to personal or pecuniary considerations. When it is taken into view that this inquiry extends over the Territories of Utah, Arizona,:Montana, l Idaho and a ashington, and the States of Oregon, California, and ~Nevada, embracing an area of country stretching from the Rocky mountains t the Pacifio and l-fromMexio0 to British Columbia; that in many parts of this v:ast-mineral range travel is-still difficult and expensive; that the business of mining is new to the Amelear i people, and the collection of statistics unsystematfizedin this department of industry, it will be conceded that as much has been accomlished as. could reasonably be expected. -n erroneous idea. prevails that the collection of mining statistics involves original explorationsand detailed persohal examinations of every mine throughout the vast range of our mineral regions, with scientific and practical deductions- relative:to the treatment of ores; and it is expected by some that the information obtained shall be entirely new, and furnish a complete index for the pur:chase, sale or working of every mine in:the country. -Apart from.:the fact that such an investigation would require the employment foi" many years of a large scientific force at great expense, it would be difficult even then to present statistics which had not already been made public. The same sources of infer-'mation are open to all. The mining press of, the country, closely connected with that interest, directly identified with its progress, in daily; and familiar contact withf its details,'makes it a special duty to keep up the cu rrent record of cost and production, success, and failure. There may be misstatement or exaggeration, but not more so on the part of the press, which l is held to; a certain accountabilityby public sentiment, than on that of individuals who maybe prejudiced or irresponsible., Statements publicly made and thoroughly criticised are as likely to be correct as casual:examinations made by persons visiting a special locality, unfamiliar:withits growth and progress, and compelled after all to depend upon infor0nation derived from others. Nevertheless, it must: be admitted that there are difficulties in the way of absolute accuracy. Every miner naturally desires that his mine should be carefully examined and reported upon in- detail,:especially if, as in the majority of cases, it be unpro-.du:tive. Without reflecting that a mere list of the.unproductive mines would fill-a volume, the miner is disposed-to'estimate the -value of a report by'its mention- or omission of, that in which he is most interested.: However disposed a government agent may: be to meet the wiheishes of the mining commnunity in- this respect, it is equally important to bear in mind that this inquiry is not designed for speeulative purposes or-:the promotion of special or indiidual interests. The public desire -reliable statements, and herein lies the difficulty'-a spirit of exaggeration onthie one-handa demand for facts on the other. To afford satisthe one ha man W- EST - TOF HTUE 1iC- MOUNTAINS 5 fation; allt- is: impossible. t have therefore relied upon my own sense of fairne ad:endeavoredito present the truth iXpartially:. terors m;ay have -been 66mmitted, afidfalse statements given by interested ptis, prdbable, but precaution has:een taken to guard:against them.'The:s::elcion o:f assistlants was made with reference.to their integrity and capacity.:ins'utions were given to- them in detail, enjoihing careful scrutiny and verifi-::ion of ever statement Th revision -of their worl, under these precautions, h:as.ocupied more than four months. There ii no subject upon which greater differience of opinion exists than that of mining statistics. It is an open field in Which thiere is room for discrepancy under any existing circumstances. - No two persons rate the product of the precious metals:alike. The superintendent of a -mineoftenfrnisnshes information which when submitted to the board of directors is pronounced incorrect. liepresentatives from the mining districts areapt to rat.; both" population and products higher than persons'who have made'them specal subjects of inquiry, but whose opportunities for judging may not be: so favorable. - - -: -' - f'-Tiruitful source of error is in supposing that the ordinary channels of transpotation cannot be relied upon as a clue to the gross product of the mines. It is alleged that large quantities of the precious metals are carried away in the popkets of the miners. Evehi if this were so, it is not reasonable to suppose that theminers continue to burden themselves with thiir treasure after arriving at their place of destination. it must find its way into the mint or branch mints fbo coinage or the custom-house manifests for exportation. It cannot be assayed ithout paying its initernal revenue tax. The gross yield of all the mines can be deterined ith approximate accuracy. - It is more difficult to amive at a subdivision, when it comes to the product of: each State and Territory. In infornia; for example, during the early days of placer mining, before the trans-:porta:on of bulion by organized companies had become a business entitled to',' -nc a-; icarge'proportioonof ethe gobld derived fromf the mines t was carried out,:f the county lby private hands. There was comparatively littlemdanger of loss. Ti routes to:San Friancsco were short.p.blic, and protected by general interest. From that pointtoNeYork the passengersusually combined for mutual pr6tection, and the risk was inconsiderable. It was not until the idle ad the profligate beganto obtain an ascedndency, the business of transportation by express more firmly established, and thie mines more difficult to work with profit, that the increase of risks and reduction of charges resulted in' the general abandoninent of this system. it doubtless prevails to a limited extent now, but the transportation of bullioni by private hands in California is exceptional. It probably does not exceed seven per cent. in the aggregate, and this applies only to the routes- by which it reaches San Francisco. In reference to silver it is impossible that any considerable amount can escape notice in this war. The yield of Nevada-can be determined-with more accuracy than that of other, States. Silver predominates in the mines; and where gold is obtained it is not in an uneotined form. When we come to Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon the greatest difficulty is experienced... S:- Sipments of treasure friom Montana and Idaho may become incorporated with others; before reacling their destination. From Montana most of the bullion goes east. Two main routes are open to examination-one by the Missouri river, the: othier by Salt Lake City. Indian disturbances and the insecurity of the troMs have lduring the, pat year almost entirely closed the latter; so tlat the chif exit is bv tlhe formuer route. Shipments froim' Idaho are made chiefly by w'ay of Psrtland and the inland stage route through Humboldt and across the Sier'aNevada.- On both:of'these routes it is palleged that they are liable to ie;omenmerged with - the pro uca o::fother'Staes and Territories. It has been imiponssiie to obtain an aocount of the shipments -rom each agency at the express office of' Wells, Fargo & Co., at San Francisco. For reasons of private expe RESOU1RC1ES" OF STA-TES AD TE'RITORIES dieiCey they refrain from giing the desired infonation. We halve, however, the aggregate receipts at tlir;o:ffice, and:nowig verynearly whAt amount can fairly:b reited to Califoriia, N dand British Columbia, can draw reasonble; conciiions as: to -theproportion derived from d:ho,,Washingon, and Orego' Fi om the best infornation:aVailable the llowing is a nar approximati6n:o the totalgld and silver productfor the-year ending January 1, 1867: Ctif/0rnia;,,-........, 000 a20, 000, 1000 Montana,.00.....0..........:. -- ]2,00, 000:Idaho.-6..5........-....-...... - -.. - -00, 000 Washington........................... 1,000,000 O Or gon. 2,000, 000'CSOlo -rego,, " *.. 2,.....,..:.,, -,,.O, O000 New Mexico:................... -500,000 Arizona...:,, - -- ---................................................500, 000 70,0,000 Add for bullion derived from unknown sources within our States and Territor- ~.ies,: unaccoU:nted for by a;ssessors and e press companies, &c.., 5000,000 Total: product of the United States-.........................75,000,000 The bullion prodct of Washington is estimat.ed by the surveyor general at $51,-000 That-of -Oregon i i s.-ratedashigh as $2,500,000.Intelligent residetis of Idaho and Montan represent thst the figures given in the above esti-mate, g0o far as these Ter:itories 1are 6conerned, are entirely-too low, and might bedoiubied' without exceeding the truth. The - product of Idaho alone for this year is sa:-to be' from-r $i,000,000 to - $18,000, 000..That- of Montana is estimted:by Ihe sur:eyor'geneil at$20,000,000. Similar exceptions are taken to the esfiates of Coorado Ne w Mexico, and Arizona. As I have no grounds for aceepting.these statementsbeyond the assertion thate most of the bullion is carred a way n'the:. pockets of the miners, I am inclined to rely upon the returns of:the assessors, express companies, -,and official tables of export. Admitting that a fraction over seven per cent. may have escaped notice, although reasonable-allowance is -made:for this in the estimate! of $70,000,000, and that: a considerable sum may be deiv ed from sources not, enumerated, I fee confident the additional allowance of $5;000,000 is sufficient to cover the:entire bullion produci of thel Un-ited States for the vear 1867, thus maling: the: aggregate fiom agll sourees, $75,0000,Q0, as stated in th' report of the Secretary of'the Treasurv. I: have endeavored, to' obtain returns of the annual-product -of each State and Terriitory since 1848; but, for -the,reasons already stated, and in the absence. of reliablje statist.ics, it has:been impossible to make the necessary divisions with more than approximate accuracy.- As nearly as I can judge from the imprerfect retiurns:availablehe thefollowing in round numbers, is not far from the total pro-duct;::-; t- -- -:: 0:California.. —.-.... $900,000,000 NeVada9...... ——., -. -----—; 90, 000, 000 Oreon & _': —— Oi —;- i -* —-— " —- —'` —. —L —--- ---- --- --— i- *, 20,_ 0000 IdCo...................... 5, 000, 000 Idaho..........-.............................-.-.. 20, 000, 000. hngon,'..'.,...-.... ~',.,,. * - * — 2 O, 0000'lMNew-Mexio-eoand Aritzona.:.....5 000,000 In jwery,. plate, spoons,&c., and retained for circulationon Pacific coast,- 4', 000 000 a,' / -'!- -.. - -:';. -..|1,0 a 000,000 Add for -amounts'b'uried or concealed and' amounts from unenumeiated sources, and of which no account may have been taken....-......50, 000,000 1,255 000 000 — ~~ ~ ~.. -!, 5, ooo ooo? IWEST OF TEE RON:KY MOUNTANS. 7. statement:requires:expl.n.atio. U:to 1855 a.consideble portion of te god taken fromCalifomi wasno manifes e. In E1849 the actUal.yield wa;:probbly-' $!0:0000,000; in;.in,,:a850,; $35185 $4600000n 851 $ 000; in.8 $5050;i000,O;:in. 1853, $00.0',000:.and iin 1854 $53,000000. The amou.nt unaccounted-for by -manife-wasnot soi geat after -the last date. In.1861Ngevada:and Idah commenced addig their treasure to.. the shipments, so that.after that date a deduetio n for the amo nts produced from these sources would be necessary, if the manifest alone were taken as a riterioh, in order to a.rive at the product of California., addition should be made for the amount retained for currency, estimated by some as high as $45,00000, but' probably not exceeding.$35,000,000 or. $ 40,000,00Q; -and for' plate, jewelry, &c., of California' gold,, say: $20'00 0, anUd evada silver, $ O3,000,:,00.: - Incorporated in these shipments a:re -the.'aounts received from: Neada, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona,. Washington, nd British Columbia; but these cannot e dedicted' fro:the manifestof eports, accordingto to the express returns, since:th'proportions.ae. not ac.ratey-kn own,of the anouits, retained and:shipped, derived from separate sources. h,'- e:eneral condition ofthe: mining interst on the Pacific, slope is encouraging',.-:.There have been-fewer individual losses than d, ing past years, and the iel of the ines hasbeen omaratively stead ad relible., -,:''',' Fluctuations in mining'stoc. have:not been gso great as. usual, and'those wild:and:i injrious. speculations: wMhich have impaired confidence in this great interest.re gradually becoming narrowed down to individual operators, whose iluence,ite"community is limited., -,' egitimate mining has been as prosperous as other pursuits:though it canno.t be,:&enied,that.thee - are uncertainties. attached to,thlis peculiar business -which roender ithazardous -and- require more than ordinary profits to make it remunera-'tiie uder.the most.avorae. cumstances.c s It may -seem strange in this view h:att;he gross'produ'ct of biionhas been gradually diminishing for some years pas, but abriefefrferencei to.the:history of mining operations on - the:aific wast'ill explain,his apparent nomaly.:''Theexistence of gold in. California.was known long befor. e the. aCquisition of t —that terr tory-by the United Stateas Placers had long been wored on a limited s:ale by the Indians; but the priests who had established the missionary settlements, knowing that a dissemination of the discoveries thus made would frus-.rte -their plans for the conversion 6f: the aborginal races, discouraged by all means inr their power t~he prosecution'of this pursuit, and in soue instances supressed -it- by force. As early: as December, 1843, however, Manuel Castanares, a...3 Mexican officer, made' strenuous efforts to arouse the attenition of the Mexican government to the mportance of this great interest.:It is not my purpose to enter itso' a detail of the events preceding the discoery by Marshall on the 19th of January, 1848, or te subsequent eitement whicresulteda in the opening ofthe great placer mines, and the rush of immigraion in 1849. Reference is made;to these inidents in the history of -Caiifrnia merely to show.the changes in.the - character of the business. At rst gold was:easi' found, and required but little, sill in separating it frnomthe loose gravel'or sand:in wich it was imbededde d. Frequentlyit lay so near the surfabce il such quantities and in grains of such form: and size,.that a simple pan or rockler comprised all the:means necessary witht ordina lbor,- to inssure extraordinary. rfits.:: Mere will' and muse were suffiient. -Our people' ereinexpe'ne I,.:: bigt enious in,devices for saving labor, energetic and industrioss..: skilled as they were, neay all,who went, into the business reaize.d tand-'iiome:iprofits;. and the reports of theirsucess induce a rapidimmigra-tion:from:. anti States, South America, Australia, and other partsof tlie world. iThus towns wvere built Up; a new and extensive commerce sprang intQ existenge;. $8 RESOU:CES; O STATES AND TERRITORIES lands were cultivated to-supply the: iners;:roads were ut t hrough the difficult paSses -of the- inountains f:steamboat -and stage:i'nes wer est li d; and the cony.ntrifro e western: s ope:ofthe Sierra Nevadas the'shores:'f the Pacific, for manyhundreld mil-. hiorth-an.d south, beee suddeny filled with an in dus-.tiouso,- intelligent and enterp:sing: ppuatioi. ven inthose ear ly daysfhowever, as,the surface -placersreeded toWards their sources,/time- and money were expended-in the. rediscovery of:inventions whi hadbeen knownto:the old world- for centuries., With all the genius and enteripise of the Ameican people,- no important dis-'covery in the way of-.machinery f'o;miningwas made which hid not been long im:use in South America, Mexico, oErur ope. The same necessities gaverise to identical'cont-fivances for-saving -labor;, and it is:suficieitly creditble" to our miners to say thatwithout any knowledge of what others haddone, they freqiently inproved upon: the -orginals: The fact demonstrates ver y clearly that'waut of knowledges, eyen in tthe preliminar stages of mining, is a -source. of loss.: WVhen the- precious metals are easily obtained, and the profitsof individual labor are large, iess\ injty Iresults:froml inoranee than in the subsequent stages of the busineSs, when capital is required and the process of rellction is more complicated. Mini:differsssentialyfrom evry other branch of industr. Unlike:agriculture,there is but one crop in a mine: As the work progresses the stock of mineral is decreased, and- cannever be replenishel- by any human art. There is no -pportunity of reeovering wthathasbeen lost. or wasted.: The farmner-changes iS crop or his system of cultivation-;: and liis land can be imrored Iand histprofits-increased by -experience. -So lso in manufactures and other pursuits. Hence it is impot-ant that the experienceiof mankind should bepreservedsothat eror maybe avoided. — Comparatively litte progress was made in vein -or quartz mining pror to 1860. Quartz veinscont'aining tlhe precious metals were discovered in California in 1850,. and sfosersai iearis;exieriments were made in working them, generally with loss. The Menxicanswith.their arastras were the only successful quartz miners. Experience in their own country enabled them to realize fair profits upon their labors. Their system of mining, however, was too slow-for an American population, to whom -large investments, of capital were of no consequence, provided there was a prospbct of immediate and abundant returns. The discovery and development of the Comstockl ode in Nevada gave the first impulse,to this kind of mining; The wonderful ric-hhess of that'vein attracted attention: at once, and drew:from- all parts of the world men of scientifio attainmelts, By the developments made in working it, the principle was established that quartz veins could be rendered a profitable source of supply on the -Paci4c coast.:-: The experience:thus gained impelled the adventurous miners of California to attempt new systems, and devote themselves with greater vigor to the opening and working of the.gold-bearing veinsin- thgt State. -:n 1860 the product from this source-in California did not exceed $2,;00,0000. As the surface diggings -gave out, a resort to vein mining became indispensable.-. The proportion of bullion now derived from various sources within the limits o- the- State is about as follows:- -from surface diggings, $,000,000; from cemnt: or deep-lying placers, $18,00,0000; from quartz mines, $9,000,000-total, $25,000,00.. Pofessor::Ashburner estimates that -about 80 per cent. of the gold is produced fromfi-mines lying north of the, M-okelumne. The production of the souther mines-is diminishing everyear and' the surface diggings will-soon be exhausted. Whlerever the, latter! predominated a sudden ut ephemeral prosperity was engendered. Gnel tagnation now prevails-; towns are depopulated; real estate is of little v-aue-; bsiness- is depressed.'The population conists of hundreds. ii many,-counties:where it -formerly consisted of th6usands. Reference to.the companyig reports will show the present- condition of'these WE$TGE? ~X~E OCKY MTOUUNTAINS.. 29 localt:ies,.. o. Good — quartz ins,exMt i many oftihem,.but the want of capital -has ar.a their deveopm. -:iUns illedlbor — can make no further progress, a.d new'elds of, enerprseha eesgt yths hformerlyadepended uP.': t. hplacers. So ine.:he. p teir way.over the mountainsinto Idaho,.ata~nai,. and other' w. ri:oths have given p -ining: and devoted Othe lves to fa-min, ta:oxerce. -; - Simila:r changes have been Xiperience. Idi-h ontana -:aid other Territories -in- which surface mining attracted a population.:At firSt th ie ld was lar-eand easeily obt.ained;-as e s. Urface deposits wer-. worked upto their sotirces qu-atz veins.were disoverei,..d machineryana.skill- became: requisite;' the dificy of f-ac6ess to:thp:more- momineral.regions inread the sed he pense o.:troanspor, oand -'.the. une: f-i of tremuneraeiv e results impaire d confidence..iory hows that these changes occur in all. mining countries an. d are insoeaa omthis bran bf indust:ry-..... -- -.....-.: o —uneasiness- need b- fel: t.o a decrease.in the.:source of supply After -ma:yes'of travelover. thQ mining regionsj I:feelt. justified in asserting that our Tmineral-resour.cesare praetically witho:t limit..- Explorations made by.competent parties during the past year in many parts of the mineral region hitherto unikn0own demonstrate the fact.that.the area of the mineral- deposit is much larger than was ever before -suppose i,-. It is safe to.assume that of. the claims already recored. in.. the.settled parts of the count, and. known to be valuable, not more tha-none in a hundred is bei ngorked;- and of those worked perhaps noit more han one. in fifty pays anything over expenses, owing to mismanagement;.ineffi cent. systems of reducing the,.ores, want of -capital, cost of transportation, and other causes ssceptible -of remedy. In many districts of Nevada silver ores of less value than $100.'. ton cannot be worked-by mill process- so as, to:..pay e:xpenses.; -and there are districts in Idaho and Montana where gold-bearing ores wil' not' justifyy worki ng.uless they yield from $40 to $5.0 per ton. W.lith'suh- wealth' f treasure lying dormant, it cannot be doubted that, by the increaed' facilities rfortransportation and. access: to the mines soon to -be furnished by the-Pacific railroad and_ its proposed branches, and the experience in the treatment of ores, and the- scientific k-nowledge to:be -aculri ed in a national school of i.nes: adequate to the necessities of the miningpopulation, the yield must eventually increase. -.::The adventurous Americans-who take the lead in the development of these frontier regions are generally energetic and intelligent, but prone to extravagance andreckless speculations. - o. country in the world can show such wasteful systems of mining as prevail in ours.:At a moderate calculation, there has been an unneeessary loss of precious metals since the discovery-of our mines-of mor:.than.:$300,000,000 -scarcely a-fraction of which:-can.ever be recovered. This is-a serious consideration:- The.qestion arises-whether it is not the duty of government to. prevent, asfar as may be::consistent with individual rights this waste 0of a commoni'heritage, in which not only ourselves but our.posterity are' interested. -Th imniner has a right to the,:roduct of his labor, but has he a right to deprive others of -the benefits to be derived from the.-treasures of the earth, placed there forthe commnon good?.:The precious- mewtals are: of an imperishable nature, evi-: dently designed to pass beyond the reach-of the discoverer and to sibserve purposes of:. human. convenience. forgen6rations. Our children have an interest in them which we: cannot with pprietydisregard.: -The bill to establish a. nationalschool -of mines, introduced in the: Senate, at ~thqb'ginniing 0of'the present session:of- Congress, by r. Stewart of Nevada, is designed to remedy this evil.., Similar'schools have been established.in various p'rtsoEopE e, and. the: best evidence- of- their utility is the-. *fact th-atwe'are indebte..o them for nearly all th knowledge we.. possess'on: the subject of minng and metallurgy. Our mines and mills are practically managed by foreign 1T0 XRESOU:'S OF STAT S,AND T-ERRRITORIES experts; We farnish~;the l~abor:an meanica ingenuity they furnish the sceifi.c kl.Withoutthe idof feign isitions we culdhave madebut little, progress in'mini. ng;and-et welosemue hbyn having' simiiar insitntions in- our: own coury. The 10cal:;irem stances eisting in Erope differ c ~ssentia:Hy from:those which.pre-val; in the:Unite'States.-: It would be a great advantage, not onlyin the sa.Ofng o expense, ti: the modiect availbility oofthe experIiencegained, iff our you.gmencou aat ome at ey are now'c~~mpele to lArn abroad.The'plan propose by' M Stewarts billseems bothlfeasible and economical. SUch:an nstitutiolwotfl if:properyconducte, isut inalarge annual increase in our bullion: produt.;'::not:-.:asonabloe. to anticipate that,'insted of dclinngwithin a, few yearstfor or fifty.ilns nper annum, as:will undoubtedly be'the case If t he prosent state of thingscontines t here woul e an increase amounting, to:' at' least 100 per'cent.othe yield of. he. ~mines,:foirthe past:year. I. Ve:t:e- ehopetherefore, that Congress wl take this proposition into:favorable consideration. Thebill, as amended by the Committee on -Mines'and.:3ining of::.th: SenAte and: the considerations upon which it-is based wil; be:found ii theappendix, (A.) I:t -:(isiproperthat I shoud.gie due creditto my assistants for the part' which ~they?:,havetnaken infhis work,. T:he duty of collecting.statistics in California Was isntrsted to:'M. John S. Hittell hhe, able and experienced author oof several valuable wo ks o' te inustrial esoures of that. State. In the-performance of:the:pqdal serViceiassigned to himihe -isited theprincipalmining districts. His reports e-based upon actua:observ.ation and may be relied pon as accurate nd'impartial Wththe:excepion:of the report- on Nevada o unty, by r. E. F. Ban the county aSsesso r and:'Mr. H.Rei his assistntand the -brief reports on;.'someof'fthe~ nohern::.and southern counties by Dr. Henry Degroot, with a/slk'etch of theM:::3orri~s: R'avinemines: by' Dr. A. Blatchley, nearly all the goldbe:aing.egionsof al,Cifornia are described by Mr., Hittell. Important papers:ont:h'condition, f the mining interest in- Mexito, South Ameriea, Australia, &c.,'i asofurnished by the same authority.'Anelaborate and interesting report on:the miscellaneous minerals of the Pacific -States and Territories is' furnislheddby,Mr.::Heynry": C.Bennet, a mining engineer familiar with the-subject.' No such complete and extended notice of the miscellaneous mineral productions::fthe Pacific. coast hasyetf been published. This repiorl will be found.aluable to business-:men, and to all others seeking infonnation respecting the resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky mountains. T —':o'Mr. R. H..Stietchlate: St'ate. mineralogist of-Nevada,: the CQomStock lode.*a':dregions:adjbaentd were intrusted. His scientific and practical nmowlelge of thie various departments of: mining, his long experience;in this prticular region, and'`his'known integrity rendred the selection peculiarly fortunate, wasw1 wibe.i'co:~:cedeadupon, a' perusal. of hxis report. Dr. Henry Degroot, a statistician' and writer, whom I deoputed to travel through Nv'ad Ihas furnished''series of interesting papers on the miscellaneousresources Mr.::'II:':Myron.'~Angel, of Austin, a gentleman -well acquainted -with- eastern NeV.adl& contributes a:report on thatregon, from.which it.Will'be seen that the miner:al: wealth ofNevdaiS:by no means confined,'to: the' Comstock lode. The,servies o ofDr. A. Blatchle, a mn oist and miing engineer, were..secured m' for an e:'oration -fL Montana'and Idaho.'This gentleman travelled thrmough: thoseTeritoies duing the- months of June, July, and Augst and was eabled t ollet the'information which is embodied in his reports. Mr. Elwod'Evans of olympia, fomerly -'tenrritorial secretaryof Washington, has kindly furniished etailed reports on the resources. of that Territory. :: OF-.E OCY:,OUNTAINS. -.1 1 ~ To'M3r. Ainsworth, Mr. Hilil Mr. Ladd, and others, I am indebted for information relative t the tr3ae dix r of.regon-'T-'he:feport on,Arizona is frmie' pen of',overnor;.. McCormick. It -,:;r. W.M. -Gabb,.of the State:.geo0gieca survey of California, whose recent exped.i;::tioni:thi: h ghowver- a.hforia,, has attracted considerable attention, contributes:a detaled report.on the mineral l resources of that peninsula. It is the t of the first.sieifplorion ever mde of that regi and: possesses peiar i7nres t his time, owig to the inestment of.merican capital:-ed the.p:"ca-se-:om. ih"e- an. governmentt of: an extensive grant by " t — e'.::ps. fr coi6nizion.by. - Amerc,.a.. -: -nyoher promin ent::-nd:- xpericed gentlemen have assisted me: in the:pear in ofthis -repor. I cliittlemore for myself t tan the directn an'e.rvisiOn of:the work; it:has occupied my entiti ime ~for upwards of. a year, and atervermay be it;impefections, few:will be ldisposed to deny that it preSentsevidnce of an earnest; attempt; to carry into effect the wishes of the depa.rstmet: and-the objects designed to be. ccomplished by Congress. -It is a:common eror to suppose that mining-is inimiclto tthe welfare of the p:ople..N branch. of' industryr:equiring mechanical,::il an: d the acquisition of scientificknowledge can justly lbe said to conta n in itself elements injurious to-pubic morals or to the-prosperity of the state. rcl -e::adv t -r - hetndency of this pursuit is, at first, toattract a reklss nd aventuus population, whose disregard of conventional restraint leads:o- the. assumption'of' risks.andl to.bold —and- hazardous undertakings, by-which new::cuntries are most:ranpidly opened up to settlement and civilization.:Providence so ordains i. that the superficial treasures:of- theearth designed to, attract this enterprising class:soon-disappear, -and a.higgher order -of intelligenlce is:required and::a'more nent condition of things:is established. It is only necessary to look back:e e st i:.ghteen year tofindin the advancement of the vast region known asth-e P:ific slope; tthe stroinst possible reftation of the assertion that mining - is inimical to the welfare of the people. Looking.forwardl to the: future, w-hd ean pr.edict the'high condition-of prosperity likely to be,attained: by: theseCnew':tates nd. Territories eighteen years hence:?-vith trans-continental railroads andtelegrapll lines binding:the Atlantic to the Pacific; witl branch reoads and lines traversing the eountry north and south; with the commerce of Asia pouning:its:treasures into our'seapots; with:-an export trade commanding the'whole eastern world; with' a probable- coast: line stretching from Behring Straits to Cape —St. Lucas; with innmmerable flourishing cities and seaport towns;. with an'agricultural population numnbering thousands where they now number hundreds;:with busy imanufactoris scsttered over the land; with churcheS, schools, and colleges everywhere throuhout t.he mountains and valleys-All thlese many of usmay live to see, butl few ca-now realize the magnificen t future that lies before: —us.-:In this favored land.tlhe laborer,'the: -atisan, the mechanic, the mAn of sclence, can each find- profitable (employment and a congenial home. -.As we want population to develop the dormant-wealth of or' new States. and Territoties,- it isthe interest of our goemennt to disseminate a correct kinowledge of ~~'their matoerial: resources. re -,o. -' t.... h s -e - Entertaining these views,.I t oist the report herewith sbmitted'will not be ithoupractica utility wherever it rmay bee eirulated:Very drespe:ctfully, you obedien: servant -:OW'Hon,: C''. ctC LLOc, H- M...., S -,.:Secretary of the:Treasury,. i:. 12 RESOURCE:S TO- F STATE D TERITORIES -CA I F ORF,. —0,ROR-A NIA. -: -- -:: -;'' GENERAL.'CDONDITION''F THE' MINING INTEREST.' T n-Thefrinmation and statistics el'ative to the gold: nines of. alifolmia were "colleced between the 17th May and the 25th July, but some interesting changes,have occurred since the:tour of inquiry was made, and the facts,wen-ascertained, have been mentioned,.;Many'of the:. figures and data: could be:obtained 6nly from' — the mine: owners, lwho- m-ay sometimes have misresented-: the character an yield:of their claims in- a favorable light for the prpose of selling, or in an unfavorableliht for thepurpose of misleading the assessor and tax-collector. It. is, believed, however that- the statements as made:are generally:tre, and it is' hoped that, taken.'-to'ether, they will be;found:':to boe the fullest' and.most correct collection of. important facts"'ever made relative to goldl mining. The. general-condition of gold mining in California is that of decline, The amounrt of prodution: becomes smaller every year, but the decrease is confined chiefly to the placer yid. In quartz more work is beigg done; it is' being done better than ever before,,and there are more mines in successful operation.. The business, is flourishing and improving, with afairpros pect of continuous increase; an,.the success of ian — of-the mines is most brilliant:. n: 1864 Professo shb urner wrote a:report on the Mariposa estate, and in it he:made the following genral emarks: In. I1n858 t.-here. were uapw, ards of,'280- qu'artz mills in California, each -one of which was suppliedwith. quartz'fm -.oner more ve ins.- The number. of stamps in these mills was 2,61 0, and the total cos.t liofe'th whole mfil-property of this nature in the State exceeded $3,000;000. In the su-mmar of u1861;Whie i i.was attached to the. geological survey, I made a careful and thorogih: exanination of all the quartz mills and mines of. the State, and could only find betwe;: 40 ad50 in successful operation, several.of which were-at that time leading a -very precarious existence. Many of those'old enterprises have not -yet become, and never will.become, profitable; but of the quartz mills built within the last four or five years, the - successful proportion is much largerthaan-beforfe 18;60. No business offers greater facilities to ignorance and:folly for losing, money; and, unfortunately, most of those who engaged -in it:had no experience and were led by their presumption into gross blunders in' both mining and minlling. - Thee greatest common blund-er in quartz mining, and the most common error in e Larly.times as well as i our own- day, has been —that of'erecting-a mill -before the vein -was well opened and its capacity to yield -a large supply of good rock established. The commission of;this- blunuder is proof conclusive of the utter ineompetency-of its author to —have charge of any important mining enterprise. If lthere.were any possibility that it -should in some cases lead to. considerable profit, there might be an excuse for it, but,there is none.'It never pays. All the chances, including that'of utter failai, are against it., -The next blunder was that the difference between a pocket vein and a charge vein was not.understood, and the existence of rich specimens was considered proof of the high value of a mine, whereas among experienced quartz' minersit excites:their suspicions and distrust. Nine-tenths of the:lodeS which yield rich speliieends'do not pay for milling. -West Point, in Calaveras, and Bald Mountain-'i'olumn. the'ichest pocket districts of, the State, are not to -be compared''for yied':ivth Sutter creek or the Sierra Buttes, where there is scarcely a passable specimenin, thousand tons. --:The next: eior: was.that nothing was known of pay chimneys, and if good quartz was found. inon place, it was presumed that the whole mine was of the same quality. In some cases the pay chimney was near the end of.' claim, into -.hkh: i..dipped:o~t'far rom. th.'surface tai he o mill ithot oC. In ot:- e te m-iner ha hipay ch.imney in hisow, loaim, but he- di not klnow ~eiVt olloW it an jd he workedcstraight -downv into- ba1trren rock wh cile there aauabuudaznt supply of good qurz higher u p. -- e - Ater error was tha.t of sinking Then nothing was found, at the srtlface; a ipsVare baren alonga cosidrble distanc, deep, siii'ngs w.il rarely pay; nt fif:the vein cles no crop out the only ay examine it b by a saft. u6'mm _n the ua ~:-~. -now. Much rok has- been -crushed without examinatin kan without any proper themortars it is a common mistake touse too much qcltslver and too hias note been customary to make assays regularly of the tailings, so as to h'iow what was passing off.;,, IThe mine owners, in — large proportion of the cases, have not resided at the m.nes, an: have not maaestuy of the business a nooess r e oc re s perwni supervision and thorouh knowledge on thle part of the ownifer morieth8an se blunders are gradually'being o.rrected, an. d if they- ere not still equite comon:thehquartz mines ofalifornia would yildnealy twice as muh asthey do'The business will never: beestablished'upon: a proper basis until the superiterdents as a class are we-eaducatedachemistsan' mugand, mecha.nical' gi-'ghes''...... ieers,;nc the }ine o.ners frequnt.visitors, if not regular residents, at the'mines. T:hie southeri mines-that is, in the coulties of- Amador, alavetr Tolumne, ad irip'osaIhave nely ex'asted. their' placets.'"ey had l few-l deep gravel denpsiteand in all four there hias not been one largemuhyrulic cea, suc.- as b..b.und north oort ad. - Phaeerubsa Nevada, Sierra, e and' Pluas -are more'-of'auriferoush gravel:monre- than a huneld f- e etw deep. -- r-e THE anT OF JULa 26,1 h866.-lew app0liationS haleen made for the'.perdhase of quartz mines orf agicltural lands in the rineral -dstrits;erthe. act of'uly 26, 1866, "granting the right of X,:way to ditch and' can alowers over' the pubtic lands, and for other purposes.". - S he famers'of the mining distts haveong been anxious to get titles, but the value of their possessions has decreased considerably of late, and many of them dod not feel able'to pay fr,:th::e e'xpense of a: survey. They are reqi'ired- to pay not the survey of their respective farms alone, but for the survey of all the agicul.tural land in the whole township in which they are situated, and in some -'cases this expense may be $400. If several unitethe cost is less to each;~ but the h.ole expense comes'upon'the, fi3rst aplication, whether made byone or many. Ater the survey has once been -made,'applicants have no expense save the price of the land nd a fewsm incidentls. Previous to the first of June t t-five farers in Tuolumne and Stanslaus unties had expressed a esire o' patenta all would undoubtedlyg have taken them if the uvey'-had not.t.od in tt:he way.. Thepublicentiment of' the State isue nanimouslye in fvor ohesae of th- m ieseor of-a:griculturalt- lads. - - --'.he: surves:'.of',qrartz mines aret Ot. swo eensive as thos.e of negricultal cams,becau'se it is not necessary to vey thei whole township for a mine claim, btonly to connect it with the' pb surveys by-some-ne -line, so'thatit can b lai down acouratly upon the meap.':Theexpensee ends upon cirum-:stac. but itwill seldomp exced $10:a for-every step frmthebeginning tl t'l -issue of the pate'nt, exlusive of the timae ad trlvel of the surveyorpin getting ithe' pla h e hei mihe is situated., ye. ownerh s of ytz mnes generally desire to get ptet, butthe fact that In te 0 eth poese cer minino,~~ ~ ~ ~~~ tb.'.i o om0- mfvmn 14 RESO.URCIES: OQ STATES-: AND: - TERRITRIIES the claims on public lads:renot- d, anthat thbse we: have been granted by th:goveint me are taxedis:: strong- oeetion.: The a — in the mining counftie -varie-s from-thrtee; to four a(- a.half p eent. nnu-lly and- that is a serious.consideration with many. / - - he revenue- la of aif say Alt. property,, of every: add natum'e whatever wiithin thi Statef shall be subject to taxation,; excpt *: *.: r:minipnclaigs. -(HittelPss Gener'al L'aws, article 298.) A:suppilementar act says:'All provisions of iaw exempting' miningclaims from taxation are herebyrepealed so far as they apply: to"lands or:minesi;n; thecondition ofprivate property, and granted as such by.the Spacnish or Mexican governnent,-or the govermnent of the United States, or of: this State. ( Thie same, article -6265.. Instructions uuder the act of July 26, i66.) -. The instructions issued by the -Commissioner of the General Land Office to the surveyor general of Cafori, and by him to is ideputies, are worthy of being placed within thei reach:,nd:will be found in the-appendix. - - S$':i-0s,-.- p to the 10t of October 1867, eleven surveys, made under applications foi patents of lode mines, have been received at the United States surveyor generoaIs officein San F rancisco. These eleven are the Peilon Blanco, Virgini, Jones, Pots anS Otkes & Reese,:(thesetwo last adjoin, and may be onsidered as pats; of:the same, tihougi h on.:differenl veins,): in Mariposa cony, i.the Tio,: Cann; Abona,- Hitchcock, and Grey Eagle, in Tuolumne conntya; andthe:Keseoy; in:l.doradoounty. Applications for surveys for patents iave: been madein may" oher.cases,: probably fifty, at least, and notices of the applications have been advertised. in the newspapeLrs in the ming ountiess, butthe u-veys have not-et oreached the surveyort general. Te State has bea:ividedito-:nine districts,-with a deputy surveyor in each. The followin:.'~g'rem ~h; di,/4cti~:'.....r' act of J.:-sti ditriet: -Del Nrte, Klamath, an d Humboldt counties.. -Scoenddistrit.Siskiyou, Shasta, and Trinity counties. Third district.-Plumas; Butte, and Sierra.,ourth distriet, t.-Y-uba and Nevada Fifth district. —Placerr. El Dorado, and Sacramento. Sevent district.-Alpine, Mono, and Inyo. Eighth distt..-Tue umne, Mariposa, Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, and Cainaveras... - ~:.. te inth: district,'.-Los.Angdes, San:Bernar6dino, Kern, San Diego, and Tulare,'SEOTIO-N II. THE MOTHER LODE. The:motheir lode- is in many respects the most remarkable metalliferous vein in th world. -Others iEE prodUced and are producing more, but no other has been trvaed so fart has so many peculiar features, has exercised so much influence on thepgrphy of th eountry about it, o -has been wetred with a profit in- so 60 mi les.: COURSE AND Ds..-The general course, of the veiniveryneaeynorithwestand southeast, but to be -iore preciseit is north 400 west.:If a straight line be drawn WE IS, 0 T NO OUNTAkIN. 15 on..: map.:romMar. ipoa toAraooThe mother Iode, willbe in several places twoote esd n l within ha a mile of; it. S The Aip is always tothe ea-stwadand ausually- at. ana:nle of 450: or' 50~ to thhsadz son-;.: - --;^;;; -;n - n --- an CHtAxRACTER Or THEr GoLD.-The- gold is generally in fine particles, and is- is, tr'ibet;evenly'throh. lage: portion of Q.th:e lode:in: th pa'chimnevs,and t e:iis:velittlet.of teroek et eltwihout gold The sitphuretsare not very abudat nor:tery rch, d when fbund they consist -aliiost:: eclusively of pytes oiron and: coplper wiho those' mixturs of lead, arsenic, antimony, andi zc)w6h:ic interfere withamalgamation: seriously in some other lodes. The quazof the mother lode is usallyhrd' and white; and in most of-the:pay ine on-e:wall or thethi, i bbon roc6k, or rock with numer us black Seams lyig:parallel with -the wll Is found. In some mines, especiall at the Raw Hide, the quartz is colore'dgren with -arbonate of copper; and the same eolor, though not so strong, is observed in poAions —of'the Princeton mine.:WmIi-T.The width vmies firom a: foot to thirty feet; ithat is, the main vein as worked; but it is accompaaiied by branches or companion veins, so tlhat the totaI wldth of vein-matter is som-etimes nearly a hundred feet. In some places these de veins are known to be branches separated at thle siface from the main vein by "Thorses;" in others the.y aeT different in material and do not unite at the deepest _wOin gs. The most remarkable side veins are those of talcoso slate, Which in some places can be traced for miles. They are fiom-two to twenty feet wide, and a-e:rih in gold. We do not find, in our books, mention of any similar auriferous deposit in other countries; but in California a number of them have' been found remote from the mother lode as well as near it. - South of Maxwell's creek is a pa ralel talcose vein, on the west side'of the r-ninamothier lode, known as the Adelaide, which name w as given to it by Mr. 3 1. ohnson. The same name:has beene given by mistal -in- Tuolumne county to A7companion talcose-vein on:the east side of the main lode. There is no reasont lh at th two arhe same vein,. or for extending- the name of one to the P ( CrIMNEYS.-The' pay chimneys a'e usually large and regalar, and':are e ier vertical or have a slight dip to the-no r. -.:. In-the companion talcose veins the pay chimneys are not distinctly markd nor.tare te e character and limit of the lode well defined. HILLS AND HOLLOWS.-?The e streams seem to have made their bedsin places wheire the mother lode is split up into a number of branches, as at the Mercede, Maxwell's creek, Tuolumne, Stahislaus,- and Mokelumne rivers; while in those places where the lode is wide' and solid there.are high hills, as at.Peion Blanco, Pine Tree, Whiskey Hill, Quartz Mountain, and Carson Hill. The'richest part of th'y vein was on tihe top of Carson Hill, and next to that in richness was. Pine Treet Hill. The Hayward, the Oneida, and the! Keystone are in valleys. The Golden iRule and the mines at Angels aie neither on hill nor in -hollow, anda' a-re yet very rich. No other class of quartz mines in California is so poor in specimens as those on the mother lode, nor, with two or three exceptions, are there any others in ":wichthe gold is so regularly distributed through the pay chutes..OPUi4:L~'ARITIES OF1 THE:LnO.DE-The icf peculiarities of the mother lode are its great length, its great thickness, its uniform character, the- ne proximity of large coompaion veins, of- which at l:east'one is ually talcose, and the richness of he talcose veins.:-In reply to questi0ns about the ohief- distinguishing featuteodf the mother lode, the miners engaged in working various mines gave very different answers. One said it. was the presence of a belt of green stone' on:the ea: ide Another thought it was a black putty gouge. A third spokefirst o:cur:ene of place as th as as glass on the walls.' AnotherI considered the mother lode to consist of two branches, one the luminated, the other tho 16 RESOURCES OF STrATES AND TERRITORIES boulder branch.'- The:former is usually on theOwest side; the:latter has the imost curves. The lode is richest where the two meet. Another says the mother lode is: a series of branches, sometimes.a dozen i number covering a width. that varies from 500 to 3,000 feet, with a greenstone porphyry wall on the east, and dioritic porphyry wall on. thwest. - - Is IT- A FISSURrE VErIN The question whether the mother lode is a gash or a fissure vein has little pracical importance. -Such an inquirys serviceableinregard to deposits -the character of which is doubtful; but we already know that in regard to length, uniformity of veinstone, continuity in depth, and number of pay chutes, fewr fissure veins exceed this,: Professor Ashburner, in a report made on the. Pine Tree and Josephine mines, in May, 1864, expressed an opinion that the "-great majority" of the auriferous quartz lodes of Califorlia are gash veins; and he implies that the- Pine.Tree, which is a part of -the mother -lode, belongs to that class. W'hitney,. in his "' letallic Wealth of the United States," says: True fissure veins: are continuois:in depth, and their metalliferous contents have not been,.found to be exhausted or to.. have sensibly and permanently decreased at any depth which has yet been obtained by mining.:Segregated and gash.eins, and the irregular deposits of ore not included under the head of-veins, and not-bccu rring in masses as part of the formation, cannot be depended upon as persistent,. and they-geneally thin out and disappear at a-not inconsiderable depth; at the sametime they are often richer for a. certain distance, and contain larger accumulations of ore than true veins, so.that;they may be worked for a considerable time with greater profit than these, although'not to be considered as of'the same permanent value. In a report on the Princeton mine made by Professor Blake, in December 186~4,2 a... -head The identification of the Princeton as a fissure vein leads us to tie question whether all the. gold _veins of the Sierra Nevada: and-other gold districts of similar formation are not also of fissure -origin, rather than formed by metamorphism from materials preexisting in the strata. It certainly is not essential to a fissure vein that it should cut across the strata of a country. In a region of regularly stratified slates, the line of least resistance to a breaking * force is certainly the line or plane rather of the stratification. In that line or plane the rocky rust may- be most readily split, and hence it is, I believe, that - most- of our veins are found conforming to the stratification. Professor Tuomey, in his report on the geology of South' Carolina, describing the gold-bearing veins of that State, mentions several that for a part of their course follow the:bedding of the rocks, and in other places cut across the bedding. I-have observed similar conditions at-various places in California, and I am daily more and more inclined to the view that gold veins are the results.of emanations from great depths below, which, ascending through. rifts and fissures of the rocks, were condensed or'deposited upon.the walls. CLAIrMS IN MARIPoSA.-The following is a list of the claims on the mother 1odobeginnminng at the mother lode and going northward:.ThIe-Crowni Lead, 4,500 feet on the mother lode, besides claims on two parallel lodes. Not at work.:Noticed elsewhere: The: Virginia, 2,500 -feet, crops out largcely A tunnel 160 feet long strikes the vein at a depth of 100 feet.'Several shallow shafts have been sunk. Some good quartz has been -found, but no work is being done now. There is no mill. The Pyles, 1,200 feet; no work done. The Mary Harrison has a mill, and is at work. The (Clayton, 3,000 feet.' The Louisa, 3,000 feet, is being opened and explored. One shaft is down 130 feet, and another is being; sunk to the same depth, and a third, commenced on a ilo~Werr'lev el, is down 9 0 feet. A tunnel started near the level of Maxwell's creek, strikes the bottom ofithe 90 foot shaft. About 2,000 tons of ore-have been taken out, and have' been crushed at the mill of the. MIaxwell -Creek Mining Co.piany, yielding $8 or $9per ton. The' mother is split up here into a number of- branches.....: On the Mrgaiet, 3,000' tet, no work ias been done. In this claim the mother lode is split up-into a number of narrow branches,. at least.at and near Maxwell's reek, which separates it from. the e:ouisa. .WE~Ta OF -RR Y MOUNT-INS. 17:Pi:e:,,empkipn, 3,O feet; is:not.doingin-anything. Sera ahafts have been n some-ck takenfrom itsv or eigrht; yea- yieldecld. $40 per toli iT onsuch, 1,400 feet.is lyingidle..ixiiel. with and opposite, to the Nonsuch,' 300 feet distant\ to the eastward, onaotalc:tose lte s vein, is the Hidely and Cunnipghalm mine.: A four-stamp mill c.r_6mMenced running last spring.: i-O: theKing Solomon., 3,000-feet, n- work-is doing...The:Yosemite, 3,000 reet, hqs a tunnel of exploration, but'no mill, and is not T,!h1e Peenon Blanco, 6,000- feet, lonrg,is being explored.by,a tunnel! running 285 feet on the vein from thenorthwest-side oft the hill, anc by a crosstunnel fom. the east side of the hill.'-; Eight men are at work,and $6,000 orm $8,000 ve been- spent on the claim. -Thename is Spanishj means' rge white rock and was su-ggested bv the:immfehse croppings-of white quartz on the top of the' high hill, which is one of the most p'rominent land-marks in the wester'n part of XripNosa county... -: i:he MIurphy, - feet-, has done nothing. T-he McAlpin,' 1,200-: feet-, was' Worked 10 yeas, first with an airastraand -ftrwards with ann eight-stam.p:.The.lode is here 25 feet wide. - A tun'nel strikes the:vein 400. feet belbw the surface, and a shaft runs down 160 feet from:the, tunnl.i eiAlpin;sold out in41864, and left the State, taking with him, if rumor is jigh!, $75,000 obtae ine. Sinet e left the inhe left tle has not paid,and1 the mill n is now standing idle. Ten or 15 feet eastward from the main lode, and parallel with. it, is a companion vein, which has been worked to some.extent, and is supposed by some miners to be richer than the main lode. henill. is driven by k:water.slpplied by the Golden Rock Water Company. -..:I-'.. S I -'TuoL-i, -.he following claims are now lying idle or onlv ~p -;i'l'"; Wo.rl'ed.- Those' marked U are idle; those upon whllich. work is being @KingPhilip*; the'NeWhall, 3,000. fet; the Rhodes, 3,000 feet; Wood-.wor th?: 3,OO0 feet; Wheeler,* 7,500 feet;. iunnln; Wotcott and'Rocco*; the Culbetson, extending acro'ss the Tuolumne river; here comes-a tract* of 1,200 feet indispute; the-Kelly,* 4,000 feet; the Clioi 2,000 feet, has a 10-stamp mill, not at worktnowi the Scorpion*;. the'Northern Light,* 3,000 feet; the Johnson, the U, ma.* 3,150.feet, and the Hector, are on the Talcose companion vein in this neigliorhod. The Shawmut is on the, main lode and has a mill..The Eagle.' 9ase:has a mill.. - - The Chickenhawk has. two shaftsj and is at wvork with a hoistinlg engine, bnut ilthout a: mill. The Dickson & Co;.,-: 1500 feet'; the Durgan & Co.,* 500 or 600 feet; the Gqlden Rule*; the Simmons & CoI,, 800 feet; the Miller, Waller &.:&!Co.*. 450 feet; the Heslep:& C;o.,* 900,feet; the-'Simon Whitford & C o.,* 50 -feet; the Rowe &-' o.,* -350-' ft; -the Golden Rule, 1,600 feet, has a 15stamp mill in profitable operation.on:the eastern Vein; the Waller & App,? 780 feet, has a shaft 60- feet- deep; the Hitchcock,'500 feet. The Nyman, 550 feet, has a tunnel 150 feet long, and -a shaft 40 feet deep; anothler tunnel is now being run to 6pen the inine.' There is no mill. -,:Phe Jim Stuart,* 530 feeths'a shaft 78feet deep; the App, 1,000 feet, has -beeniworked regularly for Seven -years with a 10-stamp.mill. Qpposite to the App, on the eastern.talcose vein, is the Heslep, 1,650 feet, which has been at work for 15 years with a 10-stm mill.. This claimn extends beyond the:App:nd is. opposite the Jim Stualit as. -:' The-.-Silver,: 1,500 feet, hss -a 10-t;: amp mill, but in. M3ay all the work was given to. opening the mine. The Sweeny, 1,500 feet, has a five-stamp mill, but:h'm-ifne:has caved in, the flume' was:bilown down, ad no work is being' done. 4-O'pcknet near thse surfaace: pau $f0o000. - 18 RESOURCES'OF.. STATES, AND TERRITORIES The Tazewcll;:S00 feet; tlle Donov an & Co.;* the McCann,* 600 feet.; theMooney & Co;, 600 feet,' has a four-stamp mill in profitable operation working the talcose veini; the Trio,* 2,316 feet, has a 10-stamp mill; tile Harris, 1,000 feet, has no mill, but is being opened; the Williams & Brother, 1,000 feet, has no:.mill, but is being opened; the. Reist, 1,000 feet, has a four-stamp mill, and is paying.; the, General Hoolker,* 1,200 feet; the lawhide Extension is doing' nothings now, though there is a shaft 200 feet deep, which always cqntains water,' sometimes to within 20 feet of the surface; in the:Rawhide claim adjoining there is a working'sharft 2S0 feet deep, and only 40 feet distant. The Rawhide, 1,650.feet, is owned by a New Yorkl company, and has a 20-stamp mill. The Hensley & Co.,* 1,300 feet; the Faxon,* 1,000 feet; the Quinby, 1,000 feet, on the eastern talcose companion vein, has a four-stamp mill which has been idle-for years; the Chaparral, 1,500 feet, has a:five-stamp mill, but is not running,; the Buckeye, 1,200 feet, is on a branch vein 200 feet west of:the main mother lode, opposite to the Chaparral. The Hoksely,*'1,500 feet, has sunk a sha.ft 20 feet deep; the Meader &.Carrington,. 1,500 fleet, has a four-stamp mill; the IIavwkeye,* 1,000 feet; the Silver Hill,*!1,50Q feet; the Gillis,* 1,200 feiet; the Gillis No. 2,* 1,200 feet; the Scavers,* 1,000 -fet:;the Watt",;7 the Alsop & Co.,* reaches to the Stanislaus river.... The following claims are.on an eastern: branch or companion vein. of the' moth&r lode: commencing at thle Rawhide. and running northward to the Stanislaius river.... -First is a piece of unclaimed ground where no lode has been found. The. Wlhite Senior* claim; the Tom YWhite,*. 1,200 feet; the Patterson, has a 10stamp mill, but only five are running; the Gillis, *1,200 feet; the Jackson;* the -Waters;:* the-Rector,* 1,200 feet, has sunk a shaft 52 feet deep; the Watts, 1,0004feet, is noxy at work prospecting, about $15,000 have been taken from sniall veins at the surface; the Mt. Stanislaus,;- 3,000 feet. This brings us to the Stanislaus river, in the bed of which no large vein is discoverable. Here, as at' Maxwell's creek, the lode is split up into a multitude of little branches. CLAI-s IN. CALAVERAIS.-Immediately north of: the Stanislaus river, on the line of the mother lode, Carson hill rises. to an elevation of 1,600 feet above the river; and the lode in passing through the hill appears to split into.three branches. -On the easternw branch are the'folloving, viz: the Virginia,* 1,000 feet; the'Adjunctioll, 800 feet;.the Carson Hill, has done some work, but is not doing anything now,; thelSouth Carolina, 2,550.feet, has yielded $400,000, and is now 61osed; the Enterprise," 800 feet; the Reserve, 980 feet, is being reopened, but has no mill, the yield has been $13'0,000. These are all the claims on the eastern branch. On the middle branch are the following, -commencing at' the river, and running northward: the Stanislaus,*. 1,200 feet;;the Mineral Mountain,* 3,000 -feet; the Melones,* 1,200 feet. On the western or Santa Cruz branch is the Santa Cruz* mine, 3000 feet; the ]Morgan, 500 feet, has no mill, but is at work, yielded'$2;800,000 in 1850 and 1851; the Kentucky,* 220 feet; the Iron Rock, 1,300 feet, is doing nothing, tboughvsome very good rock was found in short tunnels and shafts; the Chaparral,* 3,031 feet; the Chaparral Hill, 3,2P0. feet, is now at work taking out rock, but has no mill. Here comes a space where the vein has, not been found.'The Hanford, 900 feet;* the Hanford and Shears.*:Here- comes an interval of a mile and three-quarters, before we reach the town,of Angels. -The Stickles, 400 feet, has. a 10-stamp mill at work; the Calaveras,* 11o00 fOet,had a nine-stanrip mill'which was moved away; the Lightner, 400'feet,* had a 10-stamp mill,,but it has been moved away; the Angel, 900 feet, has a 30-stamp :WEST,: OF THE:-OCKY MOUNTAINS. 19 mtll,- n6w at work; the Hill, 412 feet, has produced $250,000, and has a 12stmip idHuat w0rk; the Bovee, 450 feet,-has produced $600,600, and has a 10stipmi',ll:akt work; the Fritz,* 600 feet, had a 10-stamp mill, which was moved Hr cosnes another'space where te m other lode is not traceable on the surface, ail:hasi not beefn traced. The general opinion is that it croses the Mokelumne rivboiUt three miles west of Mokelumne Hill. AIMS INT AMADOR. —North of that river, in Amador county, we have thOfoillowing: the Tibbetts & Corliss;* the Hayward, 1,800 fedt, has 56 stamps at work, crushing 80 tons per day, and.has been at work since 1852, tlh' ieputed yield is $27 per ton gross, and $22 net, or more than $600,000 n6t-p'r year; the Loring Hill, 700 feet, has been worked for 10 years. Opposit6!;ito0 the Loring Hill, on a parallel vein, is the Railroad, 800 feet. This mii:e has yielded $70,000, and is now at workl but has no mill. The Wildmanl.,130 feet, is down 530 feet, and has drifted 200 feet, btut the 12-stamp mfill; isr emploved in doing custom-work; the Mahoney has been working five yeaswith a 15-stamp mill; the Lincoln, 2,378 feet, has worked 10 or 12 y6rbs, but the 20-stamp mill is now engaged in custom-work; the Barnhat,* 1,00: feet; the Comet, 750 feet, has commenced prospecting; the Herbertville, 1,200. feet, had a 30-stamp mill, which never paid, and was burned down. N':work is being done at the mine. The: Keystone, has a 20-stamp mill, has;'worked steadily since 1851, and has produced about $700,000. Opposite to the Keystone, on a companion vein, is the Spring Hill, 1,200 feet, which has crushed 50,000 tons of quartz, but obtained little profit. It has a 30-stamp mill, which is idle, with the eceeptiqn of five stamps' engaged in custom-work. The Amador, 1,300 feet, was worked to a- depth of 240 feet some years ago, but afwards caved in, and has stood idle now, for some time; the Bunker Hill, 1,200: feit, is at work with an eight-stamp mill; the Mayflower,* 1,200 feet; the Iaza-d,* 800 feet, has an eight-stamp mill; the Pennsylvania,* 1,000 feet; thei:L6yal,*600 feet, has a' 20-stamnp steam mill; the Italian, 340 feet, has a sisamp mill, Which has crushed about 2,000 tons; the Seaton, 1,200 feet, has a 40-stamp mill, and has worked about 10,000 tons of quarts, which averaged eight.or nine dollars. The mill is not running, but the mine is being opened. ThieficDonald,* 800 feet; the Potosi, 800 feet is at work with a sixteen-stamp mil;:-the Webster,* 600 feet, had a mill, which was moved away; the Plymouth, 1,200 feet, is being worked with a 15-stamp mill; the Enterprise, is at work witH aI10-stamp mill; the Challen," 1,000 feet; the Green Aden,* 1,200 feet, has shliaft 100 feet deep; the IHoper,* 1,200 feet; the Noe,* 800 feet; the Richmond, 800 feet, has a 10-stamp mill, but the only workl now being done is prbspecting. -:Here.Vwe reach the Co umnes river, and north of' this the lodce has not been traced distinctly, although the Pacific lode at Plgeerville appears to have its ~characteristics.. SECTION1 III. MARIPOSA COUNTY. Maxiposa* county, the southernmost of the rich placer mining counties of the Sacramento: basin, lies between parallels 370 and 38~ of north latitude, and reaches from the summit of the Sierra Nevada to the low land of the San Joaquin*valley. The northern boundary is the divide between the Tuolumne atnd Memede rivers, and the southern is a line drown northeastward fiom the point * Th:e name of this county is derived from the Spanish "' Las Mariposas," The Butterfiies. '20 RESOURCES OF' STATES AND TERRITORIES where the Chowehilla river strikes the plain. The only permanent stream in the county, is the Merced; the so-called Mfariposa river is a little brook hich can readilyv'be stepped across in the slummer season. The distance of the town. of Mariposa from Stockton is 90 miles, and the ordinary charge for freight in the summer is $25 per ton of 2,000 pounds. A stage runs to Bear ~Valley in a day from Stockton, and the fare is $10. Another stage line runs to Coulterville, and the fare there is $10, and the dist'ance is made in one day. The county tax.for the current fiscal year is: $3 19 per $100 of taxable property. Coulterwille lies north and Bear Valley south of tlhe Mercede river, the ban0ks of which, in that vicinity, afe so steep and high that no wagon road'. has been made across it; and although the distance from. one' town to the. other by the horse trail is only 10 miles, it is 45 by the wagon road. Sectional area of Mariposa county, 1,884 square miles. Population in 1860, 6,243; estimated in 1866, 4,170. Assessed valuation of property in 1865, $1,237,30. Mir. Wm. S. Watson, constructing engineer of the projected Copperopolis and Stockton railroad says:'From the nature of the country and' te plursuit~s of -thle inhabitants, Mariposa imports of merchandise 4,240 tons.per annum, which, with an'increase of population to the standard of Nevada county, and the consequent development of her vast resources, would be quadrupiled in a very short time. The dbwn freights from this county,, consisting of copper ores, wool, hides, &c., amount to 920 tons annually. The principal points 6f shipping. are Hornitas, Princetown, Agua Frie, Mariposa, Coulterville and Bear Valley. Total up and down freights, 5,160 tons."The shipment of gQld dust from Coulterville was $13,285 in July, 1866; -$13 500 in August; $17,000 in September; $24,900 in October;, $14,790 in November; $7,280 in December, $4,950, quartz and $9,484 placer in January, 1867; $1050 placer and $14,800 in March; and $8S080 quartz and $3,660 pilacer in April. iThe average monthly shipmnent of treasure from the town of Mariposa is $17,000 or $18,000. There are two small ditches south of the Mercede river,.ant a brancih of- the Golden Rock ditch extending to Perlon Mlanco, and these are the only'ditches in the county. In proportion to o the yield of gold, Mariposa has fewer ditches than any other county in the State.. PLACER MINING.-Many of the placer districts in the county have been very rictl, but the diggings have in no place.been deep, and they would long ago have been exhausted. if there had been.large ditches to supply.water; but these were lacking so -washin-g has been conducted on a" small scalc, and for only a brief period each year. The richness of the ground and the coarseness of the gold has enabled the miners to make a profit sometimes by dry digging or scratching the gravel over with a bltcher-lknife. Maxwell's Creek, Blue Gulch, Bear Creek, White's Gulchl, Penlon. Blanco, the north fork of the Mercede, the banks of the main Merced.re,de and the vicinities. of the towns of 3Mariposa and Hornitas were especiallx rich.- In Mcaxwell's Creek, about 1852, the conlmmon yield was $1'5 or $20 pe)C day to thie mal, ancid in 1863 two miners in two months washed out $16,000 at Pelion Blanco. In 1850 Horse Shoe Bend, on the Mercede, had a population of 400 miners. There are now a dozen small and shallow hydraulic claims tllere. wvhich pay about $4 per day to the man. The populatiol: of the bend numbers 100, of whom half are Chinamen. On the top of Bmclkhorn -mountain, cast of- Coulterville, at an elevation 1,500 feet above the Mercede river, there is a: placer which.pays well vwhile it rains, but cannot be worlked at m.y other time for want of water.' lilyaway, in a gully by the side of Buckhorn mount.in, is also rich, but there; too, no water can be got save during rains.. AGICULTuE.-There -isno agriculture in Mariposa county Worthy of note. There is not one large- orchard, vineyard, or grain farm., Only a small quantity of- rain lls,; and the soil'appears to be of a very dry nature. A large portion WEST- OPF T;IE.OIv MOUNTAINS8., 21 ofi — theiface is occupied by steep hills which prove their thirsty character by miq' g no vegetation save the'c emisal. There are no ditches to sustain ir'ri'i,o and' Ass the most populouspart of the county was the Mariposa grant, th residents there having no title had no sufficient inducement to invest money in- pl'tilig trees and vines. The western part of the county is made up chiefly of'isal~htills, with occasionally small'dales with seattered oak trees.. In the teare part of the county there are sorhe plains about 3,000 feet haigh, and these Jlvi; a rich and moist soil and may some day become far more valuable than ti3y, are now. Still farther east, at an elevation of 5,000 feet or' more, we come targe forests of good pine timber, with occasional groves of theo big tree. IY, os0MiTrE. -One of the resources of the county is the possession:of the osiernie valley, -which is destined to be a favorite place of resort when access is pheaper and more comfortable than at present. The trip can now be made'f1om San Francisco to the valley and back in eight days for $75, staying only.Ay; in the Valley, but the'average amount spent on the trip by visitors is not tihs;.:6 an $150. On the Coulterville trail there is a stretch of 39 miles to be idge on horseback, with no house on the way; and on the Mariposa trail the neeset house to the valley is 25 miles off.,Thus there is no mode of. reaching 0t:ie place except a hardride over a very rtgged road, and it is a severe trial to PTrsoanso unaccustomed to riding horseback. A wagon road might be made, but i-Sme of the people on the route think it their policy to prevent the construction osf; road. Near the Iariposa trail is a fine grove of the big trees. The numberd:of visitors to Yosemite in 1864 was 240; in 1865, 360; and in 1866, 620..THE MARIPOSA ESTATE.-The Mariposa Estate, or Fremont Grant, as it is spmetimes called, contains 441,380 acres, or about 70 square miles. It reaches 12 miles from east to west, and 12 -miles from north to south. Its greatest leAthi, from northwest to southeast, is about 17 miles, and its average width nmierly 5 miles. Its northern line touches the Mercer river, the southern the town of Bridgeport. It includes the towns of Mariposa, Bridgeport, Guadalupe. Akansas' Flat, Lower Agua Fria, Upper Agua Fria, Princeton, Mount Ophir, and. Bear Valley, The grant was made while California was under the dominion oiM'eXicM, to Juan B. Alvarado, and it,was purchased in 1847 by J. C. FrC mont,. ho,; presented his claim for the land to the United States land commission, and it was finally confirmed to him, and the patent was issued February, 1856.' The original grant was of land suitable for grazing purposes in the basin of the rIjj:~eosa river, but the boundaries were not fixed, and the grantee had the right of locating the claim, on any land within a large area. When the grant was to be surveyed Fremont said he wanted a long strip of land in the low-land on, b6thi banks of the Mariposa river; but the United States surveyor Wtld him the survey must be in a compact form. Then, instead of taking a compact area of grazing land and worthless mountain, he swung his grant round and covered the valuable Pine Tree and Josephine mines, near the Mercede river, besides a number of others which had been in the undisputed possession of miners, who had long been familiar with Fremont, and had never heard the least intimation from him that he would in any event lay claim to their works. Personal indignation thus came in to embitter a quarrel involving large pecuniary interests; biut the patent did not necessarily give the gold of the grant to Frenmont. Under the Mexican law the grantee had no right to the minerals, and the American law Spoke of a confirmation, not an enlargement, of the Mexican title. Here then was another stbject for litigation, andat last, in i859; that matter was settled by a decision that an American patent for land carries the minerals with it. The adverse claimants defied the officers of the law; the mines were converted into fortifica-. tions; tlhe mouths of the tunnels were barricaded; there were besiegers and besieged; several men were, killed; but at last, in 1859, Fremont triumphed, and under his Mexican grant obtained land which the Mexican government did not iend lto grant, and -minerals which it systematically reserved. 22 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES:In a short time after the titlewas satisfaptorilV settled the yield of gold from the quartz mines of the estate became very large. The monthly production in -1860 averaged $39,500; in 1861, $53,500; in 1862, the year of the great flood, which injured the mills, flooded mines, and broke up roads, $43,500; aMd in the first five'months of 1863, $77,000. In March, 1863, the yield was $94,000; in April, $92,000; and in Mlay, $101,000. The production seemed to have reached the figure of $100,000 per montlh, with a fair prospect of still further increase. It was at this time that the estate was sold to an incorporated company in New York city, and the stock put up6n the market in the midst of the San Francisco mining: stock fever, which extended'its influence across the continent. The prospectus of the comhpany presented a very attractive picture to speculators. The average monthly yield for three years and a half had been' 50,000, and for half a year the net profits had equalled that sunm. The reports of various mining engineers indicated that the results of future workings would ibe still better. Messrs. Wakelee and Garnett, who spoke with great caution, and expressed doubts about the value of the Mariposa, the Pine Tree, and Josephine mines-still thought that the monthly productions of the estate could soon be raised to $220,000, at an expense of not more than $50000, leaving $170,000 net mdnthly income., Dr. J. Adelberg, speaking of the Pine Tree and Josephine mines, said: In regard to the value of the Veins, I can say no more than that their,yield in precious metal is limited only by the amount of work done in tllem; but I recollect Mr. Fremont once commissioning me to make an estimate as to their enidurance in the limits of the longitudinal extent now opened. I found by calculation that they would yield for 388. years 100 tons daily, without the requisition of pumps. I mean down to the water level. Mr. Timothy C. Allyn made a report on the property in December, 1862, and expressed the opinion.that the yield could be increased $100,000 per month, gross, and $50,000 net. LA repot equally favorable by Mr. Claudet was also published. Professor Whitney, a most careful, conscientious, and competent authority, had said: The quantity of material which can be mined may, without exaggeration, be termed inexhaustible. I can hardly see a limit to the amount of gold which the property is capable of producing, except in the time, space, and capital required to erect' the necessary mills, build roads to them, and open mines, so as to keep them supplied with ore. With these opinions and facts, large quantities of the stock were purchased, and there were large quantities of it to be.purchased, for the paper capital of the'company was $10,00,000. The company was organized by Fremont's creditors, who had become owners of the propqety; but instead of cancelling the debt and taking stock for it,'thfey took a mortgage for $15,000,000, payable in gold, and issued the stock subject to that debt, which was supposed to be the only incumbrance on the property; alt least that was the supposition bf many who bought the stock. It soon appeared, however, that there were $480,000 in gold due, besides $300,000 on the garrison lien, -$50,000 on the Clark mortgage, and $130,000 to worlmcen and'.others inll California. The new company selected Mr. F. L. Olmsted for their rmanager, and he took charge of the estate on the 14th November, 1864. He found eversything in confusion. The production had fallen off very suddenly after the sale. It seemed as if every nerve had been strained to make the yield of May as large as.possible, and that as soon as the sale was made the produCtion decreased more than 50 per cent. The yield for the first' five months of 1863 before;the sale wvas $385,000, and during the last six after the sale was $186,993.; In the former period there was a net profit of $50,000 per month; in the latter a net- loss of $80,000. In May, 1864, Professor Silliman made a report on the estate, in,which he said: A person accustomed to view mines must be deeply impressed on the first view of this estate, not more with' the great extent and vigor of the former workings-eividence of which -WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 23 is seen equally in the underground extraction and in the surface works, railroads, mills, trails, wagon roads, warehouses, and workshops —than with the equally conspicuous fact that the former owners had no regard for their successors, inasmuch as they have in every instance violated in the most remarkable manner that fundamental maxim of all successful mining, namely, to keep works of exploration well in- advance of works of extraction. The neglect of this maxim, in ordinary cases; is never of doubtful issue. In your case the result has been.peculiarly unfortunate, since your estate is, not a mine, but a vast collection of mineral veins, on many of which valuable mines may be developed, and on some of which such develop-:ments were made of an encouraging character, but the neglect to apply the principle in question has resulted in the complete suspension of three of the mills, the partial suspension of a fourth, and the supply of the fifth for a time with an inferior quality of ore, all because the veins on which these mills depended for ore were. worked on the improvident plan of taking all the ore in sight as far and. as fast as it could be found, but never anticipating the evil day, sinking shafts and driving levels long enough in advance of the calls of'the present hour to foresee disaster, much less to prevent it. A mine is a storehouse in which are garnered certain treasures of large, it may be, but not inexhaustible supply. Certain it is, the ore which has been mined will never recur. Hence, it is the fate of all mines at some period to become exhausted. The only compensation to this circumstance is in the possession by one company of a considerable number of mines which may be brought, in succession, into activity, so as, to supplement each other. Your position in this respect is one of immense strength; not only do you hold on the Mariposa estate a vast plexus of veins, of most of which very little is known at present, but you also own a great length of country on several veins, the character of which is already proved. It-follows from this state of facts that, with the frugal and timely application of capital, you ought never to be in a position where the partial or complete exhaustion of a particular mine, or of several mines, should be severely felt on your general production, nor would it be so to-day had it been the interest of those who preceded you to apply the simple maxim already quoted. But the reckless disregard of this sound principle has resulted, not only in a partial suspension of your production of gold-amounting to a serious disappointment of well-founded hopes-but, still worse, in the almost destruction of certain parts of the mines, where the usual piers of vein have been removed for milling, leaving the mines to crush in, endangering not human life only, but the very existence of the mines themselves. The simple result of all this has been, that your manager found himself, at the outset of your occupancy, face to face with a most embarrassing and painful state of facts, with the alternative before him of throwing off the duty he had undertaken or of grappling with the difficulties and, by a series of judicious measures, extricating this noble estate from its disastrous position. Fortunately for all concerned, he elected the latter alternative; and it will give me pleasure to point out in what manner he has, with great good judgment, proposed to meet the difficulties he has found. It is quite ob-vious, from the facts and statements already detailed in this report, that you hold an estate of very great value, but also in a great degree undeveloped, and demanding a large amount of active capital for its proper management. That the judicious use. of money will be rewarded, and that speedily, by exploring the undeveloped quartz veins if the estate, is too obvious, I trust, after the arguments and facts already set forth, to require further illustration. All explorations will not be fruiitful certainly, but those which are so will beck)me so largely remunerative that they will cancel the others. By no other plan can you hope to manage the estate with honor or profit. By this method you will be sure to develop a vast value, which will render your stock desirable as a permanent and safe investment. By any other system you may attain a spasmodic vitality —to be followed soon by a total collapse. ~ Your manager fully appreciates these views, and his plans now in progress of development will not fail to secure the early and permanent prosperity of the Mariposa estate. In 1864 the yield was $465,000, and the expenditure of the mines and mills -$760,000. With a debt-of $3,000,000, (that was about the figure on the 1st January, 1865,) and a monthly loss of $20,000, the company was evidently not in a prosperous condition. On the 23d January, 1SG65, a committee of stock-:holders, appointed to investigate the condition of the company, made a report, and recommended that money be raised by assessment or loan to pay the most,pressing debts, so that the work might be continued. They gave it as their opinion that the property was, "worth preserving to the stockholders," and that the embarrassments were' owing to defective organization and want of working capital." The company did not succeed in raising the money to pay their most pressing debts, and the estate was placed in the hands of Dodge Brothers, creditors, for the purpose of enabling them to'work it and pay their own and others' debts. ~ / The trustees found, according to their own statement, that they had spent 24 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES more at the end of a year than they had received; and the company being dissatisfied, brought suit and obtained the appointment of a receiver, who is now (May, 1867,) in possession.* X Mr. Mark Brumagin, president of the company, under date of September 6, 1867, gives the following statement of the present condition of the Mariposa estate: Aftera period of legal and financial difficulties'which have weighed heavily upon the Mariposa estate, the company have succeeded in successfully terminating the long pending law suit with the lessees.' A final settlement has been made with the Messrs. Dodge Brothers, (the lessees,) by which they relinquish to the company all their rights under the'Olmstead lease for the possession of the whole property. The floating debt has been reduced from -about $200,000 to less than $60,000, which has been concentrated into holders who are interested in the success of the company, and the greater portion of which is made payable in instalments running through the next twelve months. The Mariposa estate consists of upwards of 44,000 acres of gold-bearing land, in the heart of the mineral region of California. It contains more than 1,000 auriferous quartz veins, of which some 30 have been partially opened, and proved to be paying veins when provided with proper-reduction works. Of these mines only five have been supplied with machinery, and that of a primitive kind, and very inefficient for saving gold. Where thousands have been taken from the estate, millions of dollars have been lost by bad management and worthless machinery. The working of the Josephine and Pine Tree mines for the year 1860, and to the date of the incorporation of the company, shows an average gross yield of $8 53- to the ton. From that time the yield for the above two mines has been respectively, as follows: The Pine Tree mine, under the succeeding management,'yielded, in. gross, an average of $6 per ton; the lower run having-been $4 21, and the highest, $9 97 per ton. The books kept by the Olmsted management also exhibit the following in regard to the Josephine mine: The lowest run for any one clean-up was 2 42.per-ton; the highest, $7 05 per ton, making an average gross yield for this period of $4 52 per ton. In brief, the average yield of this mine was at that time so low that it was partially abandoned as worthless by their method of saving gold. Under the next management, (that of the lessees of the company who succeeded Olmsted,) the books show that the quartz from these two mines was worked together with an average gross yield of $9 01 per ton, the ore having been more or less selected. The Pine Tree vein is in some places over 30 feet wide, and runs parallel with the Josephine, which has a width of some 12 feet, both mines cropping out on the summit of Mount Bullion, 1,500 feet above the Mercer river, at which the Benton mills are located. The Josephine contains considerable sulphurets, while the Pine Tree has rather the character of a "free gold" vein. Both have more or less of oily substances in the seams of the veins. The ore contains largely of " float gold," so fine that it floats for hours on the surface of the water. Quartz from these Mnines is now supplied to the mills from the tunnels penetrating the veins near the top of the hill, but it is designed to open them by a tunnel at the base, some thousand feet below the present workings, which will insure an unfailing supply of ore. Under thb company's, or present management, since we obtained full possession, we have changed the Bear Valley mill into the "eureka process" for saving gold. This mode of disintegration produces a fine, almost impalpable'powder, like superfine flour. Half a ton of this is enclosed dry in an iron receiver. Superheated steam or gas is admitted, which, in the course of a few minutes desulphurizes and drives off all base metals and oily substances. Quicksilver is then introduced, and a portion evaporized, and is afterwards condensed by common steam and cold water. An ingeniously constructed shaking table, of copper, about 20 feet long, on a wooden frame, with riffles of a peculiar formation, gives to the water and pulverized substance, with the amalgam, the same action as that of the ocean surf, an undertow. As the mass descends on the table, the amalgam, from its metallic weight, gradually clears itself from the quartz substances, and the gold is easily and quickly collected in the troughs of the riffles; and so effectually that the residue contains scarcely a trace ofgold. With this mill the company have recently worked some 800 tons of quartz from the Josephine mine. The lowest yield at any clean up was $31 per ton;' the highest was $173 per ton; giving an average of $40 53 per ton. In the greater portion of this quartz not a particle of gold could be discerned before crushing. From these facts it will readily appear why the property has hitherto paid no dividends. Captain Henry J. Hall, a, practicalband experienced quartz miner, has now charge of the mines and mills of the company, and is adapting the eureka gold-saving process to all the mills of the estate. The aggregate capacity of these mills under former management was 292 tons daily, or about 7,500 tons per month, a capacity which still exists. The mills are located near the Josephine, Pine Tree, Mariposa, Mount Ophir, and Princeton mines, all proved to be large, well defined, and inexhaustible veins. There may be easily taken out from these five mines, at the present time, 2100 tons of gold ore per day, and increased on the present WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 25 Experienced quartz miners, familiar with the estate, are almost unanimous in the opinion that the Princeton,-the Pine Tree, and the Josephine mines are far from exhaasted, but, on the contrary, that they are all very valuable, and ought to be made to pay well, and that the failures of the last four years are to be ascribed mainly to bad management. It is true that when the Mariposa company took possession the mines were not opened in advance as they should have been'; but they'were opened, the position of the pay chimneys was determined, the hoisting works and pumps and mills were in working order, with capacity to crush and amalgamate 150 tons of rock per day; there were experienced miners present, familiar ywith the character of each vein; there was a railroad for transporting the rock of two of the principal mines to the mill; and there were improvements that were indispensable, and that could not have been placed there for less than a quarter of a million dollars. The property; however, was not managed properly, and the result was a failure, which is the more remarkable because it followed immediately upon' the heels of fhe most brilliant success. PRINCETON.-The Princeton mine has been one of the most productive in California, and has been noted for both the abundance and the richness of its quartz. For a time it yielded $90,000 per month from milling rock, and this is more than any other mine'of the State ever did. The mine is situated about half way between the Mariposa and the Pine Tree mines, and is on a hill easily accessible. The course of the vein is northwest and southeast; the dip, 55~ northeast; the thickness varies from a few inches to 10 feet. The vein has been opened to a depth of 560 feet on an inclines and 200 feet below the surface; drifts have been run 1,200 feet along the veins and at the deepest workings the drifts extend 500 feet. The richest rock was found within 100 feet of the surface, where the pay was $70 per ton from milling well, besides large numbers of specimens, of which it is said that not less than $100,000 ill value were stolen by the miners. Below this rich mass of rock the quartz gradually became poorer, and there were spots which did not pay for working; but it is said that there is still an abundant supply of good milling rock in sight. Professor WV. P. Blake made a' report on the mine in November, 1861, and said. The vein is compoSed of white friable quartz, and is divided into parallel layers or plates by thin slatey films, which are generally charged With fine-grained pyrites and free gold. The body of the quartz bears white vein pyrites crystallized and spread in irregular patches and a small portion of galena, together with free gold in irregular ragged masses, in plates and scales, and sometimes crystals. The gold appears to be most abundant in the neighborhood of the galena, and is found not only with the iron pyrites striking its sheets through its substance, but entirely isolated from it and enveloped in the pure white quartz. Some of the specimens preserved are exceedingly rich and beautiful, and just before my examination of the vein some superb crystallizations had been broken out. These crystals are bunches of octahedrons, with perfectly fiat and highly polished faces from one.eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch across, and are attached to masses of white quartz. openings by enlarging the working facilities, to 4,000 tons per dlay. The cost of mining and reducing the ore will be less than $10 per ton, and may yield an average of $40 per ton. The old mills have produced upwards of $3,500,000. Under an intelligent system of working they ought to have yielded over'$10,000,000. The amount of profits from the estate can only be estimated in proportion to the -number of mills provided for the reduction of the ores. The reader may draw his own conclusions from the facts' and figures herewith presented. It will be remembered that the representations heretofore made by the undersigned were based on the low estimate of a sure gross average yield of $20 per ton,'by the new reducing machinery. The present working shows that such estimates may no longer be regardedas theoretical, as the actual results fully illustrate. Theywill be amply confirmed by the future of this great property. 26 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Professor Blake made a second report on this mine in December, 1864, and said: It is evident on a careful examination of the surface that there is a want of conformity in direction between the vein and the slates. - The slates on the west side are curved towards the vein in the form of a bow, the ends of the curve appearing to abut against the vein at both ends, the vein forming in its line of outcrop, with' respect to the slates, the chord of an arc. There is also a want of conformity in direction between this body of curved slates on the west side. of the vein and those on the east side of it, showing with most distinctness at the north end, near the mouth of the upper drift. On the east side the trend of the slates is seen to vary at different places from north 450 west to north 950 west. They are nearly east and west at the north end of the vein. * * * There is also a want of conformity between the body of curved slates on the west side of the vein and the slates still further to the west, as if the curved body of slate had been broken from some other place and forced into its present position. The line of contact is not very distinct, but just in the position we would expect to find it we see a quartz vein which seems to mark the place. It is approximately parallel with the Princeton vein, and is also gold-bearing. This want of conformity in the direction of the slates on the opposite sides of the vein and with the course of the vein itself, and the fact that the ends of the layers of slate abut against the vein, or in other words, that the vein does not coincide with the plane of the bedding or stratification of the slates, justifies the conclusion that it is a fissure vein rather than g bedded mass, as has heretofore been generally supposed. It evidently occupies the line of break between the two distinct bodies of slate. The mineralogical character of the slates on the opposite sides of the vein is also different. The slates on the west side are much more sandy than those on the east, which are argillaceous and in very thin layers of uniform composition, presenting the well-known appearance and character of roofing slates. There are several layers in the series on the west side which might be called sandstones rather than slates. There are also in connection with these sandy bars of a hard argillaceous rock, with an obscure slaty structure which resists weathering more than the surrounding portions and stands out in well-defined outcrops. These two bars of rock are each from six to eighteen inches in thickness, and are about 170 feet apart. It is a curious fact that the gold-bearing part of the vein appears to have a certain relation to these peculiar argillaceous rocks or strata, for it does not extend beyond the line of contact of these strata with the plane of the vein. So also in the northern extension of the Princeton vein, half a mile to the northwest, at the Green Gulch mine, where the vein was productive, the same peculiar rock is found in connection with the vein on the west side. Near the mill the vein splits' and the two branches run off southeastward nearly parallel with one another. At a distance of a mile they are about 300 yards apart. These branches have not been well explored or prospected, so not nimch is known of their character. On the main vein there are seven shafts and a great number of workings of different classes, sluch as mighit be expected of a mine that has yielded $4,000,000 and sustained a considerable town. From January, 1859, till June, 1860, Steptoe and Rtidgway had charge of the mine, and extracted 2,000 tons, which averaged $18 per ton. From June 1, 1860, till November of the same year, under the management of Park, 23,916 tons of quartz were crushed, yielding $527,633, an average of $22 25 per ton. In 1862 and i863 the production was 121,000 tons of quartz and $2,000,000 of bullion, averaging $16 50. In 1864 the yield of bullion was $243,707. In 1863, w-hen the mill was working rock which yielded $53, the tailir/gss according to assay, contained $13 56 per ton. The pay was distributed rather in an irregular mass than ini a chimney; but Professor Blake expressed the opinion in his report of 1864 that there was a chimney, and that its dip was 180 to the horizon. The Princeton mill has 24 stamps, and is the smallest on the Mariposa estate, at least of those owned, erected, and worked by the Mariposa company. The capacity of the mine far exceeds that of the mills, and while the former was in a productive condition much of the ore was. sent to other mills. The gold in the quartz is coarse and is easily caught in the battery, or at least most of it; but the assays of the tailings show that great quantities of it were lost. The heap of tailings at the mill is immense, and it will no doubt be worked over at some day with a profit, if not all blown away. The sand being fine many pounds of it are carried off every hour when the wind blows in summer. The - *. i WEST OF- THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 27 mill was driven by steam. The stamps weigh 550 pounds and made 70 drops per minute. Both mine and mill are now' idle. p THE PINE TREE. — The Pine Tree mine, contiguous to the Josephine, and thirteen miles from the town of Mariposa, is considered fo be on the main mother lode, which runs northwest and southeast, dips to the northeast, and is here in places 40 feet thick. The ore is extracted through tunnels and carried down to the mills on at railroad. The workings are 500 feet deep and 1,000 feet long in the vein. There are seven pay chimneys, which vary in length, horizontally,. from 40 to 200 feet. The rockl in each chimney has a peculiar color or appearance, so that persons familiar with the mine could tell at a glance from which a piece of quartz came. The coarsest gold was found in the narrowest chimney. In three years previous to May, 1863, the Pine Tree and Josephine mines produced 45,000 tons of ore and $350,000 in bullion, an average of $7 77 per ton. In 1860 these mines produced 12,154 tons and $113,530, or $9 34 per ton; in 1'861, 21,576 tons and $173,810, or $8 05 per ton;, in 1862, when the dam was carried away by the flood, nothing; and in' 1863, previous to June, 6,000 tons and $35,000, or $5 83 per ton. The total expense was $5 per ton foi a portion of the time at least, the cost of transportation by car being 72 cents. In 1864 the Pine Tree yielded $67,940. In December, 1863, when the ore paid $29 to the ton, the refuse tailings assayed $16 to the ton, showing a great waste.,There is a large quantity of good ore now in sight in the mine..The particles of gold in the Pine Tree quartz are extremely fine, usually so small as to be invisible to the naked eve. As a consequence it is very difficult to catch the metal in the process of anmalgamation, and Professor Ashburner, in a report made in May, 1864, said that 70 per cent. of the gold in the quartz worked in the Benton mills was lost, or, in other words, only 30 per cent. of it was saved. This fact was ascertained by " a series of assays upon the tailings which have been allowed to run to waste.." In' the same report he said, "I think the Josephine vein, as it is called, is nothing more than abranch from the Pine Tree, and the two systems of workings, as they have never been carried on in connection, have given rise to two mines." Dr. J. Adielberg made a report on the mining property of the Maiiposa grant in August, 1860, and in it he said: These two veins run parallel on the whole, but sometimes a little diverging, sometimes a little converging; sometimes running together and forming two distinct divisions of one vein. They belong to distinct geological periods, the Pine Tree being earlier and the Josephine of more recent formation. The ores of both veins are very distinct, the older vein bearing, in those depths now laid open, mostly oxyds and carbonates, (among which the, blue and green carbonate of copper is very characteristic,) and the Josephine, or more recently formed vein, bearing the iron and copper as snlphurets only. The eruption of goldbearing qnartz has formed here veins which are equalled in extent'by no other known goldbearing quartz vein. Messrs. Garnett and Wakelee, who examined the Pine Tree and Josephine mines in May, 1863, expressed the opinion that they did not contain any considerable body.of ore then in sight to pay by the modes of amalgamation in use at that time,, and the only hope for making these mines " an active element of production instead of a consuming expense" lay in improvements in the system of working the ores. JOSEPHINE.-The Josephine mine is on a mountain side, 1,600 feet above the level of the Merced river. The vein runs northwest and southeast, and dips to the northeast. Professor Silliinan says it is a contact deposit between serpentine and shale; but Mr. Kelten, who has been a superintending miner'in the Josephine for more than ten years, says that in some places there is green stone, and in others. slate on both sides, and it is richer in the slate than the green stone. There is no gouge in the green stone. The lode varies in width'from 5 to 30 feet, averaging more than 10. In those places where the vein is small the quartz is mixed with slate. The'mine has been worked through three tunnels, 28 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the upper one being 100 feet above, and the lower 180 feet below the middle tunnel or Black drift, as it is called. The drifts have been run 500 feet in the lode, and the depth of the workings perpe.ndicularly is 520 feet. The pay-rock has been found in seven chimneys, which are from 40 to 100 feet in length horizontally, and are separated by barren streaks from 4 to 6 feet long in the drifts. The pay chutes dip 45~ to the southeast; but the dip is less regular on the under than on the upper side of the chute. The richest deposit is found along the foot wall, and a small streak of pay is found< along the foot wall in the barren chutes. The Josephine ore has usually been worked with that from the Pine Tree in the Benton mill, so that separate, accounts have not been kept of most of the workings. The Josephine vein is considered a branch of the mother quartz lode, from which it separates at the Josephine mine, running northwestward nearly parallel with the main vein. At a distance of half a mile from the fork they are about 300 feet apart. Although the mine is now lying idle, miners say that there is a. large quantity of 820 rock in sight. The indigo vein, so called because of the peculiar blue color of the rock, is 4 feet wide, and 450 feet west of the Josephine mine. The vein stone is talcose, and in places is rich in gold. It'is called India-rubber rock by the miners, and is difficult to break with the hammer), but tears out well when blasted. The vein has not been opened, but a tunnel hals been run through it, and it has been prospected a little in spots on the surface. M3ARIPOSA.-The Mariposa mine is situated on the eastern border-of the town of AMariposa, on the Mariposa lode, the direction of iwhich is nearly east and west, the dip 51~ south, and the width of the main vein from four to eight feet. Near the mill the vein forks, one prong runningwestward in tile line of the maine lode, and the other running north of west. At a distance of 300 yards from the forks, the two prongs are not more than 60 yards apart. Each fork is about 3 feet thick. The rock is a white ribbon quartz; the walls are a black talcose slate. There is but little gouge, and the quartz is so hard that no progress can be made without blasting. East of the fork the gold is in fine particles, and is evenly distributed through the pay chute, while west of the fork the gold is collected in rich pockets, which are separated from one another by large masses of very poor quartz. These pockets contain almost invariably arseniurets of iron, accompanied by pyrites. The presence of these minerals is considered a certain sign that a good deposit of gold is not far distant. One pocket paid $30,000, another $15,000, and numerous other sums, varying from $100 to $1,000. The great richness of the vein is proved by the facts that the decomposed quartz at the Burface was worked or washed for a distance of half a mile, the ravines immecliately below the lode were famous for their richness, and drifts have been run a quarter of a mile under ground. It is said before Fremont obtained possession, squatters took $200,000 from the mine. The quartz taken out in 1864 averaged $25 per ton; but afterwards the average yield was only 811. Persons familiar with the mine say an abundance of rock might be obtained to yield $12 or $15. Before the sale of the, grant to the Mariposa company the mine was leased to Mr. Barnett, wrho paid 10 per cent. of the gross yield, a very good share, and afterwards when lhe was told that he could not have the property-on those terms he offered to pay 30 per cent. of the gross yield, and to give good bonds. His offer was rejected, and the mine is now idle. M3r. Barnett worked the mine on a very economical plan. His stamps had wooden stems; he amalgamnated in arrastras, and his mortar was fed fiom a hopper or self-feeder. Little hand labor was done in the mill in the daytime, and none at all at nigllt. Indeed, everybody left the mill at supper time, and it was allowed to run without supervision till morning. - The quartz was taken out under Barnbtt's directions, who havilig spent many years at the place was tlhoroughly familiar with it; and before going to the mill, all the barren pieces were rejected. It was supposed that the mine would pay better if it were worked on a larger scale, so the mill that had WEST -OF THE ROCKY MOUNT;AINS. 29 stood at the Green Gulch mill -of 40 stamps was moved to the Mariposa mine in 1864, in accordance with'the recommendations of Professor Aslhburner. Professor Silliman, in a report made in May, 1864, said: I feel convinced that the Mariposa vein is, on the whole, the most'remarkable auriferous vein yet developed on the Mariposa estate, and if the half which is believed of it by those who know it best should prove true, it will alone almost sustain the estate. The mill now erecting in Mariposa creek is the same which has been removed from Green Gulch, where, as it proved, there was no further use for it. Mr. Ashburner having examined and reported approvingly on this removal, I have not felt it needful to re-examine the evidence, the decision undoubtedly being a wise one. The fault of the other mills (except the Princeton) of being set too low has been remedied here, and with a well-considered system of amalgamation, there can be no doubt that excellent results will be arrived at in working the mill in its new and well-chosen position, nor can there be any doubt that the mill will receive an ample supply of quartz to engage it fully in crushing. The gross yield of the mine in 1864 was $S4,948; but there was no profit, and among the intelligent minelt in the neighborhood there is much doubt whether enough pay quartz could be obtained to keep a 40-stamp mill going. Messrs. Wakelee and Garnett in their report on the grant say: The Mariposa vein we examined more particularly, as it has been quite celebrated for the extraordinary richness of its pockets of massive gold. The vein consists of a main trunk and two branches. It is in the latter that these deposits have been found. They have not been worked upon any regular system, but have been much burrowed into by different parties in quest of these rich pockets. The quartz itself is almost entirely destitute of any trace of metal, and its value seems to consist entirely of these massive deposits. It is needless to add, perhaps, that from this peculiarity it furnishes a very uncertain basis for any extensive system of mining. The main trunk of this vein differs from its branches, and the quartz found in it is uniformly charged with the metal. The ores yield, according to the best information we could obtain, about $16 per ton. GPE EN GuLna. —The Green Gulch mine, in the vicinity of the Princeton, has been explored by a shaft 200 feet deep, and by drifts inuning 400 feet horizontal, and the conclusion is that the deposits of auriferous quartz are not! sufficintlyv near together to pay for,working. The vein is about three feet thick, r but the quartz is nmixed in places with slate, which reduces the y ield to a point so low that there is no margin for profit. Some rich bunches o e rock have been found, and under the encouragement given by themn a 40-stalmp mill was erected, and new explorations were undertaken; but tihe rich bunches were too far apart, and the mill was afterwards removed to the Mariposa mine. The yield of the Green Gulch mine in 1864 was $19,509. In Diccmber 1863, while the rocGk was yieldling $38 per ton, an assay of the tailings showed that they contained $6 50 per ton. OTHER:ir MIES ON THE MluARIPOSA ESTATE. —The Oso mine, half a mile from Bear valley, is in a very narrow vein of decomposed talcose matter, running across the slates. It was very rich near the mtu-face and according to rumor the sum of $400,000 was taken' from a shaft 50 feet deep and 7 feet long on the vein. No work has been done at the place for years. The Now Britain or Missouri mine is tmwo miles northwest of the -town of Mariposa. The vein averages about two feet and a half thick, runs east and west, dips to the south, and can be traced on the surface by croppings for four or five miles. The vein stone is a soft white and yellow'quartz, which breaks up like slaked lime when exposed to the air. The walls are of hard black slate. The only pay chimney which has been worked dips to the east -with an angle of 50~. The quartz in this chute has been taken out to a depth of 80 feet, and it contained a nunlber of,very rich pockets, one of which was taken out by Mr. Barnett, and yielded $52,000, at an expense of $5,000. In one day and a half he took out $9,000. Professor Sillimnan says it is a "very promising vein." The Mt. Ophir mine is on the mother or Pine Tree lode; has been worked extensively, and never rivalled the Princeton; Pine Tree, Josephine or 3Mariposa mine in the amount of production. The yield in 1864 was $12,540. The Mt. Ophir mill has 28 stamps, now idle. 30 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES MAntIPOSA MIILLS.-The Benton mills, built to work the quartz from the Pine Tree and Josephine mines, stands in a deep cai'on on the Mercer river, by the water of which they were driven; but the dam which supplied the water was carried off by a flood, and the mills have been standing idle. The number of stamps is 64. The Bear Valley mill has 12 stamps. At this mill the Lundgren pulverizer and the Ryerson amalgamator are now being used. The Lundgren pulverizer is a barrel live feet in diameter and three feet in length, made of -boiler iron three-eighths of an inch'thick, heavily riveted. Inside, the barrel is shod with iron shoes an inch thick. A door a foot wide and two feet long is placed lengthwvise on the side of the barrel. There are two of these barrels at the Bear Valley mill, and the cost of the two with their gear. ing was $2,300; but if many were demanded they could no doubt be made for $1,000 each. The barrels revolve horizontally, making 24 revolutions per minute, and requiring a six-horse power engine for two of them. A charge is 800 pounds of quartz and 2,400 pounds of ounce musket balls made of chilled iron. The quartz, previous to going into the barrel, is crushed to about the size of grains of wheat, and after being in the barrel one hour comes out al impalpable powder, as fine as the finest flour. The powder is so fine that if it were pounded dry in the open air much of it would float away. The thoroughness of the pulverization is claimed to be the great advantage of this machine. The quartz powder is transferred fiom the barrel into the Ryerson amalgamator, an upright barrel, made of strong boiler iron, with a bottom shaped like.an inverted cone, round which winds a pipe pierced with a number of little holes.'The barrel being charged and closed, superheated steam is thrown in and then quicksilver, which is converted into vapor and made to pervade the whole mass, A cold bath condenses the quicksilver, and the charge is discharged int6'a shaking table or settler. The amount worked daily by these processes is nine tons of Josephine ore, and the yield varies from $39 to $173 per ton, with an averalge of $45, at an expense of $6 50 per ton. The rock thus worked is taken without selection from the pay'chimney, and the body of ore nowin sight, and presumned.to be of the same quality, is 280 feet high, 45 feet wide longitudinally on the same vein, and 3 feet thickan.amount equivalent to 940 tons. It is piesumed that the body of the quartz of that quality is much more extensive, both horizontally and vertically,/than the present shafts have gone.' The mills of the Mariposa estate are the Benton, 64 stamps; the Mariposa, 28 stamps; the Mount Ophir, 28 stamps; the Princcton, 24 stamps, and the Bear valley, 12 stamps-ma-king 156 stamps in all. The yield of; the estate was $474,000 in 1860; $642,000 in 1861; $522,000 in 1862; $385,000 (with $50,000 net per'month) in the first five months of 1863; $481,832 in 1864; and $230,000 in 1865. During the first half of 1867 the mines and mills all stood idle; but of late a little work has been done with the Ryerson and Lundgren processes. The Stockton creek mill, used by 3Mr. Barnett for working the quartz of the Mariposa mine while lhe was lessee, contains ten stamps, with square wooden stems and wooden collars, driven by water and a wooden wheel. There was a self-feeder or hopper to supply the batteries with quartz, and the pulp, after leaving the mortar, was ground in an arrastra. The mill is a mile east of Maripos and has been idle for two years. - HUNTER'S VALLrEY, Oaks and leese.- The Oaks and Reese mine, called also the Potts, is 3,000 feet long, in Hunter's valley, 16 miles northwest of the county seat. The claim includes two veins, 1,200 feet on one Which runs northeast and southwest and dips to the southeast at an angle of 65~,. and 1,600 feet on another which runs northeast and southwest. The former is one of a series of parallel veins; the latter is known as the Blue Lead, and it. is remarkable, - WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 31 because the numerous cross leads lrunning at right angles are found only south of it, and.'appear to be cut off by it. The Blue Lead is nearly vertical, from 12 to 30 inches wide, yields $45 to the ton, and has been opened to a depth of 165 feet and a length of 150 feet. The other vein is six feet wide, yields $20 to the ton, has been opened to a depth of 165 feet, and to a length of 50 feet. The mine has been worked with a four-stamp mill, but a new twelve-stamp mill has been erected, and it began to run on the 7th of October. The copper aprons below the battery are plated with silver, with which mercury forms an amalgam more readily than with copper, and,the apron will be in the highest state of efficiency immediately, whereas several weeks' time would be required if the surface were of copper. The plating is done by galvanism and cost $5 per square foot. Baux and Guiod's pans are used for grinding. The mill is driven by steam, and also the hoisting apparatus. The quartz is let down from the month of the mine to the mill in a tramway, and the loaded cars as they go down pull up the empty ones. The transportation does not cost more than $1 50 per day. The yield of the mine has been $30,000. A patent has been applied for. The Floyd mine on one of the southern spurs of the Blue Lead has paid well, but now produces nothing. The same remark applies to the Carson mine,'which has a five-stamp mill standing idle. EPPEnsoN.-The Epperson mine on Bear creek, six miles east of Coulterville, is on a vein which runs east and west and dips to the north. There is a shaft 60 feet deep, and a drift 20 feet long has been run on the lode. About 200 tolls have been worked, and the yield was from $9 to $13 per ton. There is a ninestamp mill which, with the mine, is standing idle. BL~AcK.-The Black mine is sixteen niiles eastward fiom Coulterville, on the Blue Lead, which runs east and west and dips to the south. The hanging wall is mountain limestone and the foot wall yellow slate, and the vein stone contains marble.' The average yield is about $40 per ton, or was for all the work done. The'mine has been standing idle now for several years on account of the water, which at times has risen nearly to the surface. A shaft was sunk to a depth of 170 feet. There is no mill;. all the crushing was done with an arrastra. FERGUSON.-The Ferguson mine, 25 miles eastward from Coulterville, has been worked five or six years. The ore yields from $25 to $100 per ton, and is worked in a ten-stamp mill driven by water. LOuIsIANA.-The Louisiana mine, ten miles eastward fiom Coulterville, is 3,600 feet long, on a vein that runs northwest and southeast, dips to the northeast, and has a width varying from 2 to 16 feet..The quartz contains sulphurets of iron, zinc and lead. The free gold amolunts to $6 or $8 per ton. The vein has been opened to a depth of 140 feet and a length of 130 feet, by drifts from the bottom of the main shaft; but there are a number of shafts 15 or 20 feet. deep, and gold has been found in all of them. The ore is easily extracted, but the slate walls require much timber to support them. Along the foot wall there is a streak of soft yellow sandstone six or eight inches thick. The mine makes much water, and at the first of June the pump hoisted 37,000 gallons daily. There is a 10-stamp mill which has lain idle for several years, but has lately commenced to run again. FLANNIGAN.-The Flannigan mine, 10 miles eastward from Coulterville, was discovered in July, 1861, near the summit of a ridge, at an elevation of about 3,000 feet above the sea. A miner working a placer claim in a gulley found a rich spot, where he picked up, among other pieces, a nugget that weighed an ounce and a boulder as large as a man's head containing $87. He searched for a quartz vein and found this one. It runs north and south, cuts across the slates, dips to the west, and is five feet wide.'There are smooth slate walkl on both sides, and there is a putty gouge three inches thick. All the rock so far found is rich enough to pay, and the average yield is $35. The mine has been worked 32 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES with an arrastra for six years, but there are now 500 tons of ore stacked up at the mouth of the tunnel, and preparations are being made for the erection of a ten-stamp mill. The quartz is taken out through a cross tunnel 175 feet long, and from that drifts have been rin 225 feet on the vein, and a shaft has been sunk 50 feet. A horse is found in one part of the lode. The quartz is white, and much ofe it slakes when exposed to the air. The crushing has been clone heretofore Kby two arrastras, and the total expense per ton has been less than $5. The cost of crushing and amalgamating in the arrastra is estimated at $3 50 per ton, and of extraction at $1. CowAnRD.-The Coward mine, 12 miles eastward from Coulterville, was located in 185S, and has been worked constantly since. The first owner, a MIr. Funk, fell from the wheel the clay the mill started, and was killed by the fall. HI. G. Coward is the present owner. The vein runs east and west, dips to the north at an angle of 450, and is four feet wide in the middle of the pay chimneys, which become narrower gradually in each direction horizontally as they pinch out. These chimneys are two in number, each about 100 feet longhand they dip to the east at an angle of 40~. The width is very regular'in going down with the dip. They had been worked to a depth of 170 feet. The walls are of smooth black slate andll there is a black putty gouge. Most of the gold is found near one wall or the other, and sometimes on both, but in places where a horse is found in the vein the gold is all confined to one side. The average yield is, and, has been constantly,-about $40 per ton. The quartz contains little pyrites, and the tailings have never been assayed. There is, or was in May, a five-stamp mill, which was to be abandoned, and a new ten-stamp mill was to be erected on the north fork of the Mercede, one mile from the mine. The dam and flume were to Cost $600, and the wagon road' 81,000. Ten or 12 men were employed. CALICO. —The Calico mine, on the same lode as the Cherokee, has been opened by a tunnel 160 feet long, and a drift of 36 feet in pay rock estimated to yield $20 per ton. No mill has been erected, nor has any of the rock been crushed. COMPROMISE.-The Compromise mine, on a small vein near the Goodwin, was worked for two years with a loss. MARIBLE SPPING.-The Marble Spring mine, 16 miles eastward from Coulterville, was discovered in 1851, and a five-stamp mill was erected there. The first owner found it unprofitable, and he sold to a gentleman who kept it going for seven or eight years, part of the time at a profit, and he sold to others wvho spent $15,000 in experiments and lost money, though the rock yielded $25 per ton. The mine is now the property of H. G. Coward and others who have lately reopened it. The vein is three feet thick, runs northwest and southeast, and dips to the east. The pw chimney dips to the southeast. The lode contains pockets in which the gold is very coarse, and is distributed in beautiful threads through a compact bluish quartz, making'together the finest material for a"quartz jewelry" in the State. The main tunnel is 600 feet long. The old mill has been moved away. The mine is at a high elevation, near the sunmmit of a mountain. CHEROKEE.-The Cherokee mine, near the Goodwin, was discovered by a Cherokee named Rogers, in 1857, and was very rich at the surface. Some of the gold was coarse enough to be pounded out in a hand lmortar. The rock worked in arrastras averaged $100 per ton. In 1859 a steam' mill with eight stamps and two arrastras was erected, and the rock yielded $35 per ton for about a year, and then work stopped. TThe mill was sold at sheriff's sale and moved away, and nothing has been done at the place since. The deepest workings were through a tunnel 400 feet long, and another lower tunnel was commenced, but the mine was abandoned before it reached the lode. As the workmen who were, employed have all left it is difficult to get any accurate information; but some miners in the neighborhood say that the mine was worked in a careless manner; WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 33 that the proprietors squandered their money, and that although there was a horse in the lowest workings, the completion of the lower tunnel would in all probability have struck the lode below the horse. The vein averages two feet wide, runs east and west and dips to the north. The pay chimneys dip to the east. SHIMER. —The Shimer mine, 10 miles east of Coulterville, was discovered in 1858 by a miner who, while digging a ditch for'placer mining, found some rich boulders of quartz, and on searching he found the lode. In a few days he took out enough gold to pay for several arrastras, with which the mine was worked for a year and a half, the rock yielding from $150 to $500 per ton. Rumor says that the total yield in this time was $200,000, three-fourths of it net profit. He then erected a steam mill, with two stamps and two arrastras; but the water became troublesome, and for five years the mine'has been idle, and for two years before the work was irregular. The' mine was opened by a cross tunnel, which, after running 400 feet, struck the lode 140 feet from the surface, and a shaft was sunk 40 feet below the tunnel. The failure of the mine is attributed by some persons in the neighborhood exclusively to bad management. It is said that the last rock crushed yielded $60 per ton, and there was more of it in sight. There were five partners, most of whom were spendthrifts, aind shortly before their failure they took a trip to Sonora and spent $4,000 in one debauch. Those who had not squandered their money had sent it away, and when the water came in they could not afford to buy a pump nor to cut a deeper tunnel. It is said that there is a large deposit of good pay quartz, 40 feet deep and 80 feet long, under the drift, on a level with the tunnel. The vein is from 8 inches to 21 feet in width, with slate walls. There are'two pay chutes, which were worked to a depth of 160 feet and for a horizontal distance of. 150 feet. One account says that the last workings were in a place where the vein split, an'd the miners were in the poorer branch. It is reported that a rich cross vein was found, but that the hired miner who found it concealed the fact in the hope that he would some day get possession. About $2,000 have been spent on roads to reach the mine and mill. GooDWIN. —The Goodwin mine, 11 miles eastward from Coulterville, was discovered in 1856. It was worked with arrastras for three years, and then for three years more with an eight-stamp mill, which last paid $50,000 profit, some of the rock yielding $100 per toll. The mine and mill lay idle for four years, and under foreclosure of a mortgage passed into the hands of a creditor, who attempted in vain for several years to sell for $1,500, undertook to work the mine in despair, and almost immediately found a good supply of rock, averaging $50 per ton.. The vein runs east and west, and dips to the south. The average thickness is three feet, but in places the lode pinches out. The quartz is a ribbon rock, and all of it pays for working.. It is found in chimneys, which dip to the eastward, with an inclination of 70~ to the horizon on the upper side, but on the lower side the dip is irregular, the chutes growing longer, horizontally, as they go down. Three pay chimneys have been worked so far, and one of them has pinched out in going down. Both walls are of slate, and there is a black putty gouge a foot thick. A cross tunnel 550 feet long strikes the vein 400 feet below the surface, and the lode might be struck 200 feet lower by-a tunnel 600 feet long. Tie. present proprietor is about to put in a pump and hoisting works. The mill has eight wooden-stem stamps, and is driven by water from the north fork of the Mpede. The flume is lhalf a mile long, and, with the dam, cost $1,000. The mo.th of the mine is two miles'from the nA1l, to which the ore is hauled on sleds. BELL& cGREw.- The Bell* & MeGrew mine is a mile west of Coulterville, on the Malvina lode. Several pockets, yielding from $100 to $1,000, have been found, and a mill with five stamps was built on it, but it failed to.pays aind is now idle. 3 34 RESOURCES OF; STATES AND TERRITORIES McKENzIE.-The McKenzie mine, adjoining, has produced some rock that,yielded $20 per ton, but the miners were driven out by water, and the owners, finding they could do nothing without a steam pump, sold their five-stamp mill to Bell & McGiew and stopped work. Portion of the mine has caved in. HIDELY & CurNNTGHAM. —The mine of Hidely & Cunningham, on the 1Malvina vein, two miles west of Coulterville, contains a deposit of auriferous talcose slate 15 feet wide, without walls, and some of it prospects very well. There is a four-stamp mill, which was running in May. MARY HARRtISON.-The Mary Harrison mine, about two miles southeastward from Coultervill, is situated on a spur from the mother lode. This spur vein is from 3 to 20 feet thick, and the quartz contains talcose slate seams which usually are parallel with the walls, and the seams, or sides of them, contain the most pay. The mine has been worked by an incline 240 feet deep, and a pay chimney 200 feet long, horizontally, has been worked out to a depth of 150 feet. There is no gouge, and the galleries are driven in the slate on the hanging wall side. The Mary larrison Company have a claim on the Malvina vein, a mile and a half distant, and they have worked it to a depth of 440 feet from the croppings, and have run 330 feet on the lode. Access is obtained through a cross tunnel. There is black talcose slate on both sides of the vein, which is parallel with the mother lode, and has been traced 4 miles. The gold-bearing portion of the rock is a hard ribbon quartz, near the walls'; while in the middle there is soft, shelly, white, barren quartz. The pay chute is 150 feet long, horizontally, and it dips 600 to the southeast on the upper side; the lower side being less regular. There are two mills; one of 35 stamps, the other 15, and the former Was about to start at the end of May. CROWN LirEAD.-Immediately north of the Mercede river, in the line of the Mother lode, is the claim of the Crown Lead Company, which, 10,500 feet in all, is on the Mother, Adelaide, and Medas veins. The Adelaide vein has supplied 1,8'00 tons, yielding $7 per ton,'and this ought to have yielded a profit; but it did not, and the work stopped.'The general opinion in the neighborhood is that the mine has an immense quantity of good pay rock, but that it has not been: properly managed. The claim extends from the river over a steep hill 2,000 feet high, so that by means of tunnels all the rock could be run out to that depth without hoisting. The mill on the bank of the Mercede has 20 stamps, and was built in 1864, at an expense of $35,000. The dam cost $30,000, but was, bought by the Crown Lead Company for $12,000. It is riow in excellent condition. The roads on the claim cost $9,000. Both mine and mill are idle. The mill is provided with Hepburn & Peterson's pans. Adjoining the claim of the Crown Lead, or on the same. ground, is a claim taken up for a copper mine by the Tone Company, which spent $22,000 there and got no return. -HITES COVE. -Hites Cove mine is 30 miles northeast from Mariposa, on a vein which runs northwest and southeast, and is very irregular in thickness, the thickest part being eight feet. The quartz is a ribbon rock, with seams of black matter, which sticks in the skin, so that the workmen in the mine get a very sooty look. All the quartz pays very evenly, and no specimens are found. The average yield is about $150 per ton. The mine has been worked five years steadily, and the present supply of quartz'is obtained from a depth of 300 feet. Connected with the mine is a 10-stamp water mill, and all the sands, after passing over copper-plate, are run through ariastras. BRIDGEPORT.-The Bridgeport mine, just outside of the line of the Mariposa grant, has produced some good ore; but the thickness of the vein (from six inches to four feet) is very irregular, and so is the quality of the rock. The walls are granite; the mill has eight stamps. Both mine and mill are idle. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 35 PENON BLANCO.- The Peion Blanco mine, 6,000 feet long, two miles northward from Coultervilie, takes in nearly the whole of the prominent Peiion Blanco. hill. It is being explored by a tunnel which, entering the hill on the south side, strikes the lode 175 feet from the mouth and 100 feet below the croppings. Another tunnel entering the hill on the northwest side is in 285 feet, but has not reached the vein. Two shafts are also being sunk 2,000 feet apart. The south' shaft is 25 feet deep in a pay chimney, which yields rock four feet in thickness, averaging $10 per ton. The horizontal length of this chimney is not ascertained, but open cuts on the croppings 200'feet distant are in the same kind of rock, and probably in the same chimney.. The north shaft has not struck the vein, but the croppings near this shaft contain about two feet of rock that yields $12 per ton. The first'ipplication for a patent under the act of 1866 was made for this mine. SECTION IV. TUOLUMNE COUNTY. - Taolumne county extends from the Stanislaus river on the north to the divide between the Tuolumne and Mercede on the south, and from the summit of the Sierra to the low foot hills near the plains. Nearly all the mines and population are' in the western half of the county,-below the level of 2,000 feet above the sea. The placer mines have nearly all been quite shallow,, and they are now exhausted in many places. There never have been any large and profitable hydraulic claims in the county, although there are some gravel. ridges above Big Oak Flat, and others near Cherokee that may prove valuable for hydraulic mining. One of the chief mining features is table mountain, which follows the Stanislauq river from Columbia to Knight's Ferry, and covers. a rich auriferous channel thai is worked through tunnels. This mountain has yielded about $2,000,000, but at a cost of $3,000,000 Another remarkable feature of the county is the limestone belt; which crosses the country, through Garrote No. 2, Kincaid Flat, Shaw's Flat, Springfield, and1 Columbia. This limestone, instead of having a smooth solid surface, appears to be broken into water-worn boulders, and rich auriferous gravel is found down to a great depth -in the narrow crevices between them. In this county, too, the mother lode is more strongly marked; more distinctly traceable for a considerable distance, and worked in more mines than in any other county. Columbia is notable. for having produced more large nuggets than any other district in the State, and' also for the high fineness of its'dust. Bald mountain, near Sonora, has had an, unsurpassed cluster of rich pocket lodes, and the Soulsby' district has'some of. the richest granite mines of the State. The county has further extensive., and' valuable beds of plumbago and some fine white marble' suitable for statuary, but: its extent is not yet proved. Much work is being done in prospecting quartz veins, but the advance in lode mining is not equivalent to the decline in placers,'and the countyhas lost about 200 voters annually for six or eight years. Th'e State and -county taxes together are $4 88 on every hundred dollars, or nearly five per cent., and in addition to that there is in Sonora a city tax of one per. cent. The placer mining portion of the county is in a district of hills,'neither very high nor very steep, and consequently it is pretty well suited, so far as grade is concerned, for roads and for tillage; but the soil is not strong'and water is dear;. Grain does not. yield large crops, and the. supply of fruit fiar exceeds the home demand, but transportation is so dear that it cannot.be taken away fresh with a profit. Large quantities are dried, and in 1866 300 tons of dried peaches 36 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES were shipped from Tuolumne. Casks and freight are so dear that wine making yields no profit, and the brandy tax prevents the conversion of the grapes into brandy, and many of the vineyards and orchards are not cultivated, and no new vineyards are being planted. The general appearance of the ranches does not indicate prosperity.* During the first half of 1867 not less than a thousand Chinamen left the county, more than 300 having gone from Columbia and vicinity, and as many more from Chinese Camp. According to observations made by Doctor Snell in the rainy season of 1861-'62, 121 inches of rain fell at Sonora; in that of 1864-'65, 20 inches; in that of 1865-'66, 35 inches; and in that of 1866-'67, 50 inches. The following mean thermometrical observations are also taken from his books, the degrees being Fahrenheit's: 6 A.M. 12 M. 6 P.M. 1858.-October.....530 630 560 November-. 54 61 52 December —..43 50 44 1859.-January. 46 55 48 February...-.-..-................. 38 50 44 March.....-............ 61 81 68 CoLUMBIA. —Columbia, situated where the Table Mountain channel crossed the limestone belt, and where the volcanic material had been deroded, having the rich auriferous deposit near the surface, was for a.long time the largest and the busiest town in the southern mines. The site was in a beautiful vale, and the town was built up in very neat style, but the placers of the vicinity are approaching exhaustion, business has declined, and many of the lots have been mined out, leaving the large limestone boulders lying naked, barren and cheerless. As the population has declined, houses have lqst their value, and dwellings can be purchased for one-tenth their cost. In many cases miners have purchased houses, even brick stores, for the purpose of tearing them down and washing away the dirt kof the lots; and this system is still in progress; continually reducing the number of houses, and the area of soil and level ground suitable for occupation. MAost of the rich placer claims are in a basin, which has never been drained, and consequently there is a large mass of auriferous dirt that mnay be worked in the future if drainage is supplied. The Stanislaus river is two miles off, and by starting from a ravine that puts into the river a tunnel could be run 400 -feet under the town with the length of a mile and a half. The expense, however, would be very great, and theaprofit uncertain, so nobody speaks seriously of the project. At the deeper claims in Columbia, the dirt is hoisted from the bottom to a dump box placed so high that there is fall enough from it to carry away the refuse dirt * NOTE.-Referring to the advantages to be derived from the construction of the proposed Stockton and Copperopolis railroad, and the impetus that would be given to the industry of the interior counties by this enterprise, Mr. William S. Watson, the intelligent engineer, says: "'The proposed road will not touch Tuolumne county, but for all practical purposes will command its trade and travel, Copperopolis being 15 miles from Sonora, and from Knight's Ferry it is about two miles to the west line-of the county. The sectional area of Tuolumne is 1,430 square miles. The character of the country is of course mountainous, forming spurs of the main ridges of the Sierra Nevada, descending into the valley to the west. The population in 1860 was 16,229; assessed valuation in 1865, $1,536,258. The present freights are principally up, amounting to 6,000 tons per year, chiefly supplies; estimated freights to Big Oak Flat, Chinese Camp, Don Pedro's Bar,'and the Garrotes, 950; total up freights through Tuolumne county, 6,950 tons;) and of down freights, consisting of building materials, lumber, and ores, not less than 1,320; total, 8,270 tons." WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 37 through sluices. The water is thrown upon the dirt in these dump boxes through hydraulic pipes, a style of washing used in very few places in the State. From 1853 to 1857:Columbia shipped $100,000 weekly; now the shipment is from $40,000 to $50,000 per month, and there is a steady decrease. The following are the principal claims in the Columbia basin: The Columbia Boys' claim, 500 by 100 feet,'has been worked regularly since 1850. Previous to 1853 it paid $20 per day; from 1853 to 1857 $7 50 per day, and since 1857 $3 per day. The dirt is hoisted by a wooden wheel. Five men are employed in the claim now. The Tiger claim, 400 by 110 feet, was opened in 1849, but did not pay much for the first six years. Between 1855 and 1858, however, it was very profitable, and from 1863 to 1865 it paid still better than before. In 1863 the yield was from $100 to $600 per week to the mair. It has not been paying expenses for the last two years. An iron wheel is used for hoisting. In the bottom of this claim is a hole leading into a subterranean channel which has its outlet below Jamestown, eight miles distant. On one occasion 2,500 inches of water ran down the hole for weeks; and the same water escaped at the outlet, where the stream was governed as to its size and color by the supply at Columbia. A similar hole is found in a claim at Knapp's ranch. AMen have climbed down 150 feet, and gone 100 feet further with ropes to the bottom, where there is a stream 4 feet wide and 12 feet deep, with a slow current and clear water, no matter how muddy the streams may be on the surface. It is supposed that the outlet is at Springfield or Gold Springs. The Cascade claim, 300 by 150 feet, has paid well for short periods, but has not yielded more on an average than $2 50 per day to the man. Five men are employed, and a hydraulic wheel is used for hoisting. The McInroe claim, 300 by 100 feet, paid well in early days, but does not yield more than $2 50 per day now to the man. Three men are employed in the claim. The hoisting is done by a whim, The Burns claim, 400 by 200 feet, paid $10 per day to the hand from 1853 to 1857, and averaged $100 per month to the hand since 1857. Five men are employed, and an overshot wheel is used for hoisting. The Mlain claim, 300 by 200 feet, has paid high at times, but does not yield more than $2 per day to the six men employed. The hoisting is done by an iron hydraulic wheel. - The Millington claim, 300 by 100 feet, washes in a ground sluice, and has paid $20 per week over expenses. Four men are employed. KNAPP's RANcH. -Adjoining Columbia on the east is Knapp's ranch, of which about five acres have been washed, yielding $40,000 per acre or $200,000 in all. The bed rock here is limestone, but the boulders are large, and the miners can wash between them much more conveniently than'among the smaller boulders of Columbia.. The following claims are on Knapp's ranch: The Sullivan claim, 200 by 100 feet, is fifty feet deep, and is worked by a.hydraulic stream thrown against the bank. Two men work the claim, and they make together about $5 per day. The Peabody and Arnold claim, 200 by 100 feet, is also worked by a hydraulic stream against the bank, which is 50 feet high. No men are engaged in it, and they have at times got very good pay. The German claim, 200 by 100 feet, has paid tolerably well. The Grant claim, 200 by 100 feet, commenced working only a short time since. The Hunt claim, 500 by:500 feet, is remarkably rich. It paid $25,000 in one summer. It employs six men, hoists by hydraulic wheel, and wa.shes in a dump box. The Dutch Bill claim, 200 by 100 feet, was opened in 1860, and has at times 38 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES paid $1,000 per month. It yields $3 per day each now to two men. The dirt is washed on the ground.'SAWMWILL FLAT.-The following claims are at Sawmill Flat: The Foley claim, 200 feet square, was opened in 1850, and has never paid more than moderate wages. Four men are employed, and there is a hydraulic wheel for hoisting. The Dryden claim, 400 by 100 feet, washes in a ground sluice and pays well. It has lately yielded $2,500 to the man in a season. Five men are employed. StAw's FLAT. —Shaw's Flat and Springfield are on the limestone belt, but the deposit of gravel was shallow, and it has nearly all been washed away. At Springfield there are two large springs from which the town took its name; and to these miners brought the dirt in carts in 1850 and 1851, and washed out from $10 to $20 per day. As many as 150 carts were running at one time. There were single cart-loads that paid as much as $1,000. The ground was covered q-ith a heavy growth of large pine timber, which has now all disappeared, and little remains save the rugged limestone. Springfield at one time had 600 voters, and now it has not one-tenth of that number. At Sawmill Flat, near Columbia, the dirt is hoisted by wheel into a dump box and there washed. The diggings here will last for a long time. At Brown's Flat they wash in the same manner. At Yankee Hill there are some rich hydraulic claims. SoNoRA.-Sonora is situated on the slate, just below the limestone, and was wonderfully rich in early days, but is now nearly exhausted. The gold shipped nearly all came from placers previous to 1858; now it is about equally divided between quartz and placers. The amount shipped in May, 1865, was $80,000; in June, $84,000; in July, $95,000; in August, $102,000; in Septernber, $91,000. BIG OAK FLAT.-Big Oak Flat is on a granite bed rock, and the gravel on it was from 2 to 20 feet deep. Ditch water was not brought in until 1859, and in the next year it.saw its best days. It is now pretty well worked out. KINCAID F.LAT.-Kilcaid Flat; four miles east-southeast of Sonora, 150 feet above the level of Sullivan's creek, on the limestone belt, was formerly a basin of 200 acres; but it has been worked continuously since 1850. The deepest workings are 75 feet below the original surface, but the bottom has 1lot yet been reached on account of the abun'dance of water and lack of drainage. The richest' pay has been found near the water-level. One claim 50 feet square paid $100,000, and it is estimated that the total yield of the flat has not been less than $2,000,000. There is a considerable area of rich ground that cannot be washed until some artificial drainage is supplied, and it has been estimated that by making an open cut 500 feet long and a tunnel 1,000 feet, at a total cost of $1.2,000, 75 acres might be worked. In addition to the cutting of the tunnel, the flume would be expensive, and a company has been foried with a capital stock of $30,000 to undertake'the work. JAMESTOWN.-Jamestown, on the bank of Wood's creek, was built up by rich and shallow placers in its neighborhood; but these are now nearly exhausted, and the town has become a little village. It is, however, situated near the northern lode, and it will, probably, with the development of quartz mining, recover its prosperity. OTHEP Tow.'Ns.-Algerine, a mile'and a half north of the Tuolumne river, andl west of the main limestone belt, once had 800 voters, but is now reduced to a few score, the placers on which it depended being nearly exhausted. Cherokee and Somerville, about eight miles east of Sonora, are on the granite, and they depend mainly on quartz mines for their support. Chinese Camp and Montezuma are placer mining towns near the western border of'the county. TABLE IMOUNTAIN.-One of the most remarkable features of Tuolumne county is Table mountain, which attracts attention from. remote distances by its WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 39 black, bare, level surface, extending across the landscape like a gigantic wall. Examined closely, it appears to be a mountain capped with basalt, a,quarter of a mile wide and 40 miles long. It poured out of a volcano near Silver mountain, in Alpine county, and took the same general course as the present Stanislaus river, which has cut across it in various places. There is a fork in the basaltic stream, 14 miles above Columbia. The average height above the adjacent ground in Tuolumne county is from 500 to 800 feet on the northern side, and from 200 to 500 on the southern. The adjacent earth has been washed away to a greater depth near the line of the mountain along its northern base, and for that reason nearly all the tunnels run in on the northern side. The main strata of the mountain, commencing at the top, are: basalt, which is in most places 140 feet deep; under that is a stratum of volcanic sand 100 feet; then pipe clay and sand, 50 feet; then coarse gravel, 20 feet; then pay gravel, 5 feet; then bed rock.,These strata vary greatly in thickness, however, in different places; there are spots -where the pipe clay is 100 feet deep; but the above figures are given as an average. The pay gravel is found in two places; there are really two channels, and whether they were the beds of two different streams or two beds of the same stream, occupied at' different times, is not clearly determined, although the latter supposition is the more probable. The channels are not found under the middle of the mountain at every point; there are places where one of the channels is not covered by the basalt at all, and the other is only under the edge of it.* In a claim near Whimtown a tree standing erect 100 feet high was found in the pipe clay, and it looked as if it had never been moved from the position in which it grew; but it was all charred, though the basalt was a hundred yards distant. Table mountain has been an unfortunate locality for miners. It is estimated that at least $1,000,000 more have been put into the mountain, counting the regular wages, than were ever taken out. Nine-tenths of the miners who undertook to work claims there were the losers. There was enough gold to pay well, but the miners did not know how to get it. They worked in compainies, and many of the members were shirks and idlers. They had no experience in this kind of mining, and did not know how to manage so as to do the most execution with the least labor. They guessed at the level of the channel, and started their tunnels too high? so that they could not drain their ground, and either had great expenses for pumping or had to cut new tunnels. The old channel, when first discovered, was extremiely rich, and it was presumed that the possession of a claim anywhere on the mountain was equivalent to a fortune; so no economy was used. Two companies side by side might have united to cut one tunnel, but, instead of that, each made its run. But the outsiders who did not get claims when the mountain was first'taken up, in claims 300 feet in length, running across the channel, held a meeting and resolved that those claims were too X Mr. J. Arthur Phillips says, in his recent work on the mining and metallurgy of gold and silver: "-The summit of this elevation is occupied by a thick bed of basalt, of a very dark color and great density of texture, which is occasionally distinctly columnar, and appears to have been poured out in one continuous flow. This, in the neighborhood of Sonora, is from 140 to 150 feet in thickness, and its width near the qntrance of the Buckeye tunnel is about 1,700 feet. Beneath this capping of basaltic lava is'a heavy deposit of detrital matter distinctly stratified in almost horizontal beds, but with a slight inclination from either side side towards the centre of the mass. These sedimentary beds chiefly consist of a rather finegrained sandstone, which rapidly disintegrates on exposure to the atmosphere. Interstratified with this sandstone, and more particularly in the proximate vicinity of the bed-rock, are clays and fine argillaceous shales, frequently nearly white and often beautifully laminated. With. these are associated beds made up of coarse grain, strongly cohering together, forming the cement of the mines; and at the bottom is found the pay gravel, exactly like that seen in the bed of an ordinary river. The entire thickness of this detrital mass at its greatest depth is at'least two hundred feet. This thickness, howevei, diminishes towards the extremities of the deposit, where the edges of thb basin formed by the rim-rock gradually rise." (Pp. 43, 44.) 40 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES large, and no man should hold more than 100 feet square. These jumpers, as they were called, far outnumbered the original locators, and they took up a large part of the mountain, held their own for a long time, and -spent large sums in prospecting,'but were at last defeated in court and ejected. Not one of them made anything by the jumping operation, and it is now conceded that the 300 feet, instead of being too much, was too little, since most who held even those large claims lost money by them. The old channel was discovered at Springfield in 1852, in tle Fox claim, in a shaft eight feet deep, on a flat frqim which the basalt had been washed away. The next year the Berry shaft, 55 feet deep, struck the channel; but it was not till the first of May, 1854, that the first tunnel was started, and the theory of lead running under the basalt wc generally considered absurd' until October, 1855, when the first tunnel reached the channel under the basalt. The tunnels, to reach the channel, average about 1,000 feet in length, and the present cost of cuitting tunnels at Table mountailn is $16 per lineal foot. The common size of the tunnel is six feet high and four feet wide. The grade is one foot in a hundred. At the bottom of -the tunnel is laid a tramway, 28 inches wide. Sleepers, three by four inches, rest on ties of the same size four feet apart, and are covered with iron straps an inch and a half wide and'a quarter of an inch thick. The following is a list of the claims in Table mountain, with a brief statement of their success and present'condition, commencing near Columbia and running down stream: The Buchanan claim, 300 feet long, has a tunnel which never paid expenses imor reached the gravel; it is not working now. The Springfield claim, 2,000 feet long, has a tunnel 1,5Q0 feet long, and paid well. The claim is Working now. Three channels were found in this claim, and all were rich.'The Joint Stock claim, 2,400 feet long, has one tunnel of 1,000 feet and another of 1,200, that was commenced in 1855; and the claim is not abandoned, although $150,000 have been spent on it and only $50,000 taken out. Good gravel has lately been found, and the claim is considered valuable. The Saratoga claim, 1,200 feet long, has a tuhnel 1,200 feet long.. The yield was $300,000, but rumor says the expenditures were still greater. The first owners sold out at a high price, making a profit by speculation, but causing so muuch more loss to the purchasers. The'claim is not working now. Here comes a gap in the mountain, and below-are the following claims: The Crystal Spring claim, 800 feet long, reached the'channel and produced much gold, but the sum was not ascertainable; it is standing idle now. The Know-Nothing, a jumper claim, never reached the channel. The Gold HIunter, a jumper:claim, never reached the channel. The Virginia claim, 1,700 feet long, reached the channel with a tunnel 800 feet long, but took out only $5,000 and spent $100,000. The company had very long and costly litigation with jumpers on both sides. The Blank jumper company started a tunnel on the Virginia ground, but never reached the channel. The Independence jumper company reached the channel by a tunnel 500 feet long, but'found no gravel, and lost $76,000 by their enterprise. The Mary Ann, another jumper company, ran a tunnel in a considerable distance, but found nothing. The Cape' Cod, also a jumper, had siimilar bad luck. The American claim, 1,600 feet long, has a tunnel 900 feet long, and cut across the channel with a drift five feet wide. No pay gravel was found here, and the company were so poor and so much discouragred that, instead of examining the channel further, at a slight expense, as they could have done, they WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 41 stopped work, and nothing has been done now for three years. Their loss was $30,000. The Buckeye claini, 1,000 feet long, now includes several old claims, and has three tunnels, only one of which, 2,000 feet long, is now udcl. One of the abandoned tunnels was 1,650 feet long. Work was commenced in 1854, and has been kept up, with the exception of one year, ever since, at an expense of $100,000, while the total yield has been only $10,000. An artesian auger was used in prospecting this claim, and Mr. Gould, who tried the experiment, thinks it should be used frequently. His drill was four and a half inches wvide, and he bored four or five feet in basalt and eight or ten feet in slate in 12 hours. The cost in slate is $6 or $8 per foot. -A water blast is used for ventilation. The. Boston claim, 3,000 feet long, commenced work in 1855, and has workee steadily ever since. -The total yield has been not less than $500,000, and the total net profit nothing. Much of the work was done at first by a joint stock company, the shareholders in which claimed the right of being employed, though some of them were of little value as laborers. The manager did not know how to work to advantage, and did not pursue any steady plan. They worked filst in one place and then in another, without exhausting either, and then the timber rolled and the roof fell in.'There are now two owners in the claim, and they are doing better than any of their predecessors, though the gravel is not so rich as it was-some years ago. There is still a large amount of ground untouched. Ten men are employed, and there is pay dirt enough in sight to keep them busy for half a year. The average yield per day is $8 to the man, or $1 per ton. The dirt is soaked over night in a dunmp-box before. The Maine Boys' claim is 1,200 feet long on the north side of the mountain, but the lines converge so that they are only 550 feet apart on. the south side. The expenses have been $120,000, and the yield very little. The original shareholders, having starved themselves out, sold conditionally to a San Francisco company. The Seraperville claim, 1,200 feet, has paid. It is said that the owners of one-fourth of the stock saved $5,000 in a few years. The Oliver claim, 4,000 feet long, has yielded $200,600, and report says $8,000 have been taken from a single dutmp-box, which holds 1.50 tons. The profits were moderate till the end of 1866, and are now large. This company has been engaged in litigation for six years, has spent $30,000 on the suit, and has been before the Supreme'Court, in one form or another, with it four times. The company is working the side channel. The New York Company claims 2,400 feet, and their ground is considered the richest in the county. They are working on the side channel, which is there about 60 feet wide, and each longitndinal foot on it pays $1,000. They say they have taken out $250,000; -others say $300,000. The Chinese claim, so called because the shareholders came from a Chinese camp near by, is 2,000 feet long, and never paid anything. The tunnel was run in 300 feet. The App claim, 2,000 feet long, has a tunnel 1,500 feet long, cut at a cost of $50,000. It never paid anything. The C-now Nothing claim, 1,500 feet, has yielded nothing and swallowed up $7,000. The Chicken Company claimed 2,500 feet, spent $20,000, cut two tunnels, and got nothing. The Montezuma Company claimed 3,000 feet and sunk $20,000 in a tunnel 2,000 feet long. The Rough and Ready Company claims 5,400 feet, and have taken out not less than $200,000. One of the shareholders observing some gravel on the mountain side, filled his pan with it, and on washing it found a good prospect. They set to work here and found it rich. It was a bar of the old river, 75 feet ~.~42 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES above the level of the channel. The claim has been worked regularly since 1854, and still pays a little. The Union claim, feet, unopened. The Palisade claim, 5,400 feet, is unopened. Here we come to a place where the channel is lower than the country on each side of the mountain, so it is imnpossible to get any drainage or to do any work. The old Stanislaus Company has a claim 12,000 feet long on Table mountain, just above the, point where the Stanislaus river cuts offt The channel where it opens on the bllff is 350 feet above the level of the present river, so there is abundant drainage down the channel, though the country on both sides of the mountain is higher than the old channel. The old Stanislaus Company spent a good deal of money trying to get in from the side before they discovered the outlet on the bluff. Some of the gravel paid $18 per ton. A mill was erected in 1859 to crush the cement, but it did not pay. At Two Mile Bar (two miles east of Knight's ferry) the channel is 80 feet below the level of the present Stanislaus river. QUARTZ MrTNING IN TUOLUMNE. — Tuolumne county is very favorably situated for quartz mining, and so far as external indications and facilities may serve as guides, the presumptions are that it will be secoil tfo no other county in California in production of quartz gold. Wood and water are abundant; the roads generally are good, and the quartz veins large, numerous and easily traced. The mother lode and' the companion talcose vein. here have their largest and most regular development. The Golden Rule, the Reist, the Mooney, and the Heslep are all in the companion talcose vein, and have paid for a longer time than any other of their class in the State. The quartz veins in the granite about Soulsbyville are the most productive of their class in the State, and the cluster of pocket mines on Bald mountain is unsurpassed in the multitude and richness of pockets within a small area. GOLDEN RULE. —The Golden Rule, 1,600 feet long, is on the mother lode, about three miles eastward from Jamestown. The claim includes both veins, the main mother lode, and the talcose slate branch or companion vein. At the surface they are 75 feet apart, and 87 feet below they are 40 feet apart. The main lode is 12 feet thick, exclusive of a horse, and the slate vein is eight feet. The latter is the one which is being worked. The vein is a black slate, bearing much resemblance to ordinary roofing slate, and is penetrated in every direction by seams of quartz, seldom more than two inches in thickness. The gold is found in the slate, seldom in the quartz. All the vein-stone is worked, though that near the foot wall is the richest.. The rook is soft, and is easily extracted and crushed. The pulp from the battery is black like the slate. The walls are a hard maginesian rock. There is a slight dip to the east. The mill has 15 stamps, and is driven by water. The weight of the stamps is 750 pounds, their speed 50 blows per minute, and their drop from five to eight inches. There is sufficient power to drive 15 stamps more. The water is obtained from the Columbia Ditch Company. About 85 per cent. of the gold is caught in the mortar, and nearly five per cent. on the copper plates immediately below. The pulp. runs over a shaking table, which has 120 jerks per minute, and is cleaned out twice in'24 hours, yielding about 400 pounds of sulphurets each time. The pulp also passes over blankets, which are washed once in an hour. There are 10 pounds of pure sulphurets to a ton, but the concentrated tailings as saved are about 40 pounds to a ton of ore, and there are $40 per ton in these tailings, which are worked in an arrastra, which pays six ounces a month. A Stetson amalgamator below the blankets pays only $1 per month. The slate vein was brown and decomposed at the surface, and was washed in sluices by placer miners to a depth of 30 feet. In 1866 the present mill was finished, and in the year preceding the 1st of July, 1867, the number of tons crushed w;as 4,099; the average yield per ton, $8 94; the total yield, $36,653; WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 43 cost of labor, $16,500; cost of repairs, timber, lumber, charcoal, hauling, taxes, &c., $5,800; cost of supplies sent from San Francisco, $2,400; office expenses in San Francisco, including salaries of president and secretary, freight in- bullion, travelling expenses, &c., $1,500; dividends, $7,500, and cash on hand, $2,953. The total expenses~were $6 39, and the net profit $2 55 per pon. The average nu1mber of days- that the mill ran in a month was 23; the highest being 27, and the lowest 17. The average yield per ton was $5 71 in Marchll, $6 79 in January, $6 97 in June, $7 72 in November, $15 54 in October, and $10 or $11 and odd cents in the other months. The number of men employed was 16, of whom 8 were miners, 2 carmen, 4 millmen, a blacksmith and a superintendent. The rock is extracted through a tunnel 400 feet long, 80 feet below the summit of the hill, and 500 feet above the level of Sullivan's creek, below which the mine cannot be drained by a tunnel. APP.-The App mine is 1,000 feet long on the mother lode, near Jamestown. The vein there is nine feet wide on an average. The vein-stone is quartz, in places white, in others greenish, and others dark. The richest spots are near the walls. The vein dips about two feet and a half in ten. The hanging wall is magnesian rock, and the foot wall slate. At the surface there were three pay chimneys, 75, 100 and 125 feet in horizontal length respectively, separated by intervals of 60 and 35 feet, with a dip to the northwestward of 700 on the upper side, but widening out on the under side, and at 180 feet the three had united in one chimney 235 feet long horizontally. Horizontal sections of the chimneys would represent not rectangles but quadrangular parallellogrartis, with two very acute angles. The chimneys have not run out in any place, but in several places the walls have pinched close together, so that there were only seven ihches of quartz. In these spots the chimneys were of the same richness to the ton as elsewhere. The distribution of gold in each chimney is very even in relation to the depth;. but on any given level the most gold is found at the sharp ends, and the least in the middle of the chimney. Each chimney, however, has its peculiar quartz. One chimney has white quartz, another greenish, another bluish, and the last is the'richest. The gold is fine, and seldom visible in the quartz. The present supply of rock is obtained at a depth of 300 feet, and the shaft is now being sunk deeper. The working level is 300 feet long, and the supply of pay quartz in sight will last two, years for the present mill, which has ten stamps, and is driven by water. In 1866, 1,800 tons were worked, and the average yield was $14 55 per ton; from 1863 to 1866, inclusive, four years, 7,200'tons were worked, and the average yield was $15. The pulp as it comes from the battery is ground in charges of 400 or 500 pounds for three or four hours in various pans, without quicksilver, and two pan charges are amalgamated in a separator for the same length of time. The yield in the pan is about $6 per ton. rThe total expense per ton in this mine is about $8 per ton, and in. the mine alone $4 50. The wall is in places as smooth as glass, and the gouge is thickest at the pay chimneys. SILVER.-The Silver or Anthrax mine, 1,500 feet on themother lode, is being opened in good style. There is a 10-stamp mill, which was idle in May and waiting for the complete opening of the mine. The companion talcose vein strikes the main lode 400 feet fiom the south end of the claif, runs with it, but as a distinct vein for some distance towards the north, then diverges again, and at the northern end of the claim the two are six feet apart. The companion vein, so far as examined, is barren here. HEESLEP.-The Heslep rnine, 1,650 feet on the companion talcose vein, has been worked 1,200 feet on the surface, and has paid all the way. The pay matter is decomposed quartz and slate, of, a tan color, and soft enough to be picked out, and in some places to be shovelled without picking.i The cost of working is estimated at $2 50 per ton. The vein varies in width from 8 to 20 feet. The deepest workings are 90 feet down. The mill has ten stamps, which 44 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES are driven by an overshot wheel 30 feet in diameter and four feet wide. The power is furnished by 80 inches of water, which costs $50 per week, and is used over again by the Golden Rule mill, which pays half the water bill. The yield of the tHeslep rock is $8 per ton. TRIo.-The Trio mine, 2,316 feet long on the mother lode, on Whisky Hill, is doing nothing now. A ten-stamp mill was erected, and four shafts andtwo tunnels were begun, but the rock taken out paid only $4 -75 per ton, and the mine and mill are now standing idle. REIST.-The Reist mine, 1,000 feet in the talcose companion vein, is considered generally to be one of the best' mines in Tuolumne county, though it has been worked on a very small scale and has never paid much profit.. Tle pay rock is decomposed matter like that in the Mooney mine, but it pays better. MOONEY.-The Mooney mine, 600 feet on the mother lode, near Jamestown, is on the talcose vein, 40 feet east of the main lode. The material is a tan-colored ochrous earth, mixed with slate and quartz. It pays $4 75 per ton, and a stamp will crush about three tons per day. Much of it has been sluiced away.'There are occasional rich pockets in it. A four-stamp'mill is now at work, and the rock for it is obtained from an open cut 200 feet long, 40 feet'Wide, and 60 feet deep. There are no walls, apparently. At the bottom of this cut some'hard quartz has been found. RAW HIDE. — Raw Hide mine, 1,650 feet long on the mother lode, where it is 12 feet wide. A depth of 280 feet from the surface has been reached, and a level has been run 80 feedt on the vein. The quartz is colored green with carbonate of copper, and it yields from $7 to $44 per ton. The mill, containing 20 stamps, a 40-horse power engine, and fine hoisting works, is considered one of the best in the southern mines. The rock is crushed to the size of a pigeon's egg or smaller in a Brodie's crusher before going to the stamps. There are 10 Wheeler's pans, and five 8-foot settlers. Thirty tons of quartz are crushed in 24 hours. The shaft is kept clear of water by hoisting it in tubs holding 160,gallons each. The hanging wall is slate, and the foot wall serpentine, with asbestos in it. EAGLE.-The Eagle mine, on the mother lode, 1,000 feet long, has a 10stamp mill, and. the yield is $18 per ton. The present supply, of quartz is obtained 120 feet below the surface, through a tunnel. The mine was purchased several years ago by eastern capitalists for $300,000. SIIARoMuT. — The Sharomut, on the mother lode, has a 10-stamp mill, which is idle. CLIO.-The Clio, 2,000 feet, on the mother lode, has a 10-stamp mill and has been at work five or six years, but is now idle because the daml which supplied water to drive the mill was carried away by the flood of last winter. MEADER AND CARRINGTON.-The Meader and Carrington mine, 1,500 feet, on the mother lode, has been opened to a depth of 140 feet, where the water became troublesome and work was stopped. Some good pay quartz was found. There is a four-stamp mill which was used for a time for custom work, but is now idle. PATTERSON.-The Patterson mine, 1,950 feet, on a branch of the mother lode, near Tuttletown, has been worked for ten years. The vein is from 3 to 15 feet wide. The pay was very good for 75 feet from, the surface, but not so good below the water level. The deepest workings are 100 feet down.. The quartz is extracted through a tunnel. The rock contains large cubes of sulphuret of iron, some of them an inch and a half square, with free gold in the heart of the cubes. There is an old 10-stamp mill, driven by 40 inches of water on an overshot wheel. Only five of the stamps are now running. About half a mile westward fiom the mother lode, near the Patterson mine, a pocket containing $10,000 was found in 1866 by an old man who had a conviction that there was a pocket in the neighborhood, and had spent seven years WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 45 hunting for it. When he found it he paid the friends upon whom he liad, been living, and went to the eastern States. TOLEDO. —The Toledo mine, one mile west of Tuttletown, and half a mile west of the mother lode, has been opened by a shaft 160 feet deep, and drifts running 300 feet on the vein. There are two veins, one 2 feet thick, and the other 15 feet, and the two 150 feet apart. Some of the quartz has assayed $300 per ton, but there is much arsenic in it. A 15-stamp mill erected on the mine did not pay, and it was sold and moved to the Golden Rule mine. The Morse quartz, near Tuttletown, is running and has six stamps. SoULsBY.-The Soulsby mine, 2,400 feet long, eight miles east of Sonora, is on a lode- which runs with the meridian, and dips to the east at an angle of 60~ at the north end, and 90~ at the south. The thickness is from 4 to 9 inches at the surface; 8 inches at 100 feet, and 18 inches in the deepest workings, 400 feet below the surface. The walls are syenite, and, there is a white gouge of blav or slate, seldom more than three-quarters of an inch in thickness. The quartz is bluish, and- is heavily charged with blue sulphurets, lead, antimony, arsenic, and zinc; so that the ore bears little resemblance to the auriferous quartz found on the mother lode, and in other gold veins generally. The lode has been woriked along a horizontal length of 1,800 feet, and in that distance five pay chimneys have been found, the longest horizontally being 200, and the shortest 15 feet. 3Most of them dip north at an angle of 60~; and they run to a featheredge in every direction. In some cases there is a connection of pay between the chutes, and in others there is none. There is very little barren quartz; between the pay chimneys the wxialls come together, except in a few spots where white quartz or a horse porphyritic rock appears.' The vein is marked by slides and cross-courses, which run east, northeast, and southwest, and all, save one, dip to the northwest. These throw the vein to the left, and the one which dips to the southeast throws it to the right. The cross-courses, and the breaks which they have occasioned in the lode, have been, among the chief difficulties in working the mine, and its present success is probably owing chiefly to the careful study given by Mfr. Inch to the nature of the formation. In a mine of this kind the most important quality in a superintendent is the capacity to find the pay chutes, and as the cross-courses throw them from five to ten feet out of the line, in a very hard granitic rock, the search is slow and expensive. There are dikes of trap cutting through the country, and the miners regard them as good indications, and expect to find pay near where they cross the qlartz. Mlr. Inch remarked that perhaps they were supporters or feeders of the electro-magnetic or other influences under which the gold was deposited. The mill has 20 stamps, and is driven by water while water can be obtained, and has a steam engine to furnish power in the dry season. The'stamps weigh 500 pounds, make 60 blows per minute, and drop from 8 to 12 inches. About 90 per cent. of the gold is caught in the mortar, and 95 per cent. of the remainder on the first copper plate below the screen. The blanket tailings are worked in a chill mill and a Ball's amalgamator; and below these there are other blankets, the tailings of which must go through the same process. About 50 men are employed at the mine and mill, but nearly all the wolrk is done by contract. Sealed proposals are invited at the beginning of each month to sink'a certain shaft a' certain:'number of feet, or to run a drift, or to break down the quartz in a certain slope. With strangers, written contracts are made; with old hands, oral contracts are. considered' sufficient. There is never' any trouble about the contracts. The miners sometimes make bad bargains, but they must keep them or leave the place. The best hands like- this system, because it enables them to make more than they could make otherwise. Sometimes they make $-150 a month; sometimes not, more than $30. Under this system there is no shirking on the part of the men, and no favoritism on the part of the superintendent. Mr. Inch says that, if he had undertaken to pay his men by the day; 46 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the mine would have been a failure; that is, when he commenced his work; but now it is probably in a condition to leave a profit, even if the expenses were 50 per cent. greater than they ate.* The Soulsby mine w~vs discovered in 1858, and between May of that year and Maroch of the next, yielded $80,383 gross, and after the erection of a twentystamp mill, $54,416 remained net. It is said that the total yield was $500,000 in the first three years, and that the -present monthly yield is from $10,000 to $12,000. PLATT.-The Platt mine, 1,200 feet, lies -1,500 feet south of the Soulsby, and is supposed to be on the same lode; but the ground is intersected by more slides and cross-courses, and the mine, after producing $50,000, was abandoned in consequence of the inability of the superintendent to find the vein at the breaks. Lately, Mr. Inch, superintendent of the Soulsby,has gone to work, hoping, with his experience in the latter, to find; the pay in the Platt. Five pay Chimneys have been worked. There was a mill on the claim, but it was moved to the State of Nevada during the silver excitement. STARR IING.-The Starr King, 15 miles east-southeast of Sonora, is on a north-and-south vein, which dips 40~ east, and has a thickness of six inches at the surface, and 18 inches 120 feet down. It cuts across the dip and the cleavage of the slate, and the walls are a very hard slate. The walls and the quartz resemble those of the Rocky Bar mine, in Nevada county. There are two chutes, which run down almost vertically. The rock yields from $15 to $150 per ton. The mill has five stamps, and the mode of amalgamation is the same as at the Soulsby mill. OLD GILSON.-The Old Gilsonr mine, 1,200 feet long, adjoining the Platt on the south, was opened to a depth of 126 feet, and to a length on the vein of 250 feet. The rock yields $50, and there was a pay chimney 80 feet long horizontally, but it dipped northwards into the Platt. The mine is now standing idle, and the 10-stamp steam mill is running on custom-work. GRIZZLY. —The Grizzly mine, 1,800 feet long, 10 miles eastward from Sonora, near the north fork of the Tuolumne river. is on a vein from 6 to 12 feet -wide. The hanging wall is granite; the foot wall slate. There are numerous horses in the lode. The pay is disseminated pretty evenly through the rock,? which yields about $20 per ton. There is a twenty-stamp mill, which commenced work in 1859, and in'two years took out $125,000, if rumor be true. The flood of 1862 carried off part of the mill, and stopped work a while, but the mill is now running. In this mill the crushing is dry, and a blower is used to keep the dust from troubling the laborers. The amalgamation is done in 10 Hungarian cast-iron barrels, each 3. feet long by 21 wide. The charge for each is 500 or 600 pounds, and enough water is added to make a pulp so thick that in ten minutes after the barrel has started to revolve, small particles of quicksilver will be found in the pulp, which adheres to the finger thrust into the mass. About 50 pounds of quicksilver.are put in at a charge. The barrel revolves horizontally with a speed of eight or ten revolutions per minute. After running for seven hours, water is added to thin the pulp, so much that the quicksilver will all settle, and after another hour of revolution the thin pulp is drawn off, and andther charge is put in. All the amalgamation at the Grizzly mill is done in these barrels. There are two iron * The London Mining Journal refers to the contract system as an essential element of success in the mines of Cornwall. It has also worked admirably in the St. John del Rey mine, in Brazil. The average cost of raising the ore from this mine in 1865, under per diem wages, was $7 87. In 1866, under the contract system, it was only $6 29-an immense saving, considering the vast amount of ore raised. The contract system'has been adopted to a considerable extent in the New Almaden quicksilver mine. It cannot of course be made of universal application, so much depends upon local circumstances; but experience has demonstrated that whenever it can be applied, the result has beenl a great saving in the expense of mining. WEST OF THE -ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 47 cylindrical rollers, each three inches in diameter and as long as tile barrel iside, and these turn and assist in the amalgamation during the revolutions of the barrels. the barrels are cleaned up once ini two weeks. Amalgamation proceeds more readily if hot water is used. Mr. Philip S. McDonald, who was superintendent of the Grizzly mill for a time, and has the repute of being a very competent man, prefers the system of dry crushing and amalgamating in close barrels. By the ordinary modes of crushing and amalgamation much of the fine gold is carried off by the water. In dryv crushing, however, it is necessary to protect the laborers from the dust, which has been known to cause death in three months, where no precaution was used. The Bonita mine, adjoining the Grizzly on the south, is idle, and so is its 10-stamp mill, which was built before the mine was opened. The Consuela and its ten-stamp mill are doing nothing. The Martin mine, two miles south of the Grizzly, is being worked with arrastras. The Invincible mine, 2,000 feet on Sugar Pine creek, 22 miles eastwarl from Sonora, has produced some good quartz, but the mine and its mill are standing idle now. The Excelsior mine, at Sugar Pine, has yielded $300,000, of which two-thirds was profit. MOUNT VgERNON.-The Mount Vernon mine, 2,100 feet long, 18S miles northeast of Sonora, is on a vein which runs northeast and southwest, dips 45~ to the southeast, and is about two feet wide on an average between granite walls. Only one pay chimney has been found, and that dips about 45~ to the southwest. It was 60 feet long horizontally, near the surface, and 300 feet down it is more than 100 feet long, the end not having been found in the drift now being run. The'rock is worked in the Monitor mill, which is very near on the north fork of the Tuolumne river. The rock pays $96 per ton, and in 1866 500 tons were worked. SNELL.-The Snell mine, 1,800 feet long, 15 miles northeast of Columbia, is on a vein which runs northeast and southwest; is nearly vertical, and has an average width of one foot. A pay chimney was found, and it paid $50 per ton, but it pinched out. A mill is going up now. MONITOR. —-rhe Monitor, 2,100 feet long, 18 miles east of Columbia, in Sugar Pine district, is 15 inches wide, and dips at an angle of 450 to the east' between granite walls. There is an incline down 60 feet, and drifts have been run 90 feet on the vein. Some of the rock has paid as much as $300 to the ton, but the mine and mill are both idle now. The mill has five stamps. HAZEL DELL.-The Hazel Dell mine, 1,550 feet long, at Five-mile creek, on a vein that averages about two feet in thickness. The walls are rotten graniteo The rock averages $25 to $30, but at present the extraction of quartz is interrupted by water. The lowest workings are seventy feet below the surface. A tunnel is now being cut for the purpose of drainage. There is a five-stamp mill which has been leased. 8UMMIT PAss.-The Summit Pass mine No. 1, one mile from Columbia, 3,600 feet long, runs north and south, dips to the east at an angle of 70~, and is four feet wide. The walls are of slate, with an overlying stratum of limestone near the surface. The claim has been worked 500 feet along the surface, and paid well. The quartz is heavily charged with arsenical sulphurets. No work is being done now. Summit Pass No. 2, 2,000 fQet' long, is on a spur from the preceding lode. The mine has been opened at several points. QUARTZ NEAR CoLUM BIA.-The Columbia mine, on the experimental lode ati Summit Pass two miles northeast of Columbia, has limestone walls, runs northwest and southeast, dips to the northeast, and is from one foot to four feet in width. The average pay is $11 per ton. It is worked with a 15-stainp mill. ~S4 ~ BRESOUJRQCES."OF STATES A:iAND T2ERRITORIES The Kimball mine, three miles northeast of Columbia, lies between limestone and green-stone, isla foot wide, and is accompanied by a trap dike 8 or 10 feet Nvide. When first opened $6,000 were obtained from,600 pounds of rock.. It As not worked now. The Kimball extension, adjoining the Kimball, is similar in character, and is being worked now the quartz being crushed in a custom mill. The yield is 10.per ton.. -. The Shanghae mine at Yankee Hill, two miles east. of Columbia, in a vein'.which runs north and south, dips: to the east at an angle of 650; and is three feet wide. It is east of the limestone belt in slates highly metamorphosed.- It was.worked with arrastras in 1856, and yielded then $100 per-ton; and it is. nowvorked with a 10-stamp mill.,.. -- HUNTR. —The Hunter mine; in Big, Cation, 14 miles southeast of Sonora, is. on the side of a mountain that is at an- angle of 45~ from the north fork of the Tuolumne. The rock was very rich at the surface, and -a-tunnel run" in 20 feet ran through quartz: that yielded $300 to the ton.'The owner was-so delighted that he built a mill without delay and at great cost.' The only way. to get the timbers and castings to the site was to let them, down with ropes from the top of the mountain. After $40,000 had been expended in the mill and in exploration, it was found that the pay chute was only 20 feet long, and more money would be required to work it than the owner could raise; so after $10,000 had been taken out no more work was done.. - - - LEwIs.-The.Lewis mine, 2,400, feet, long, is. 20 miles east-northeast of Sonora, on a.vein of talcose slate 150 feet wide. The course is north and south, with a slight dip to the east. The slate, is barren, but -it encloses a number of veins of quartz which run in every direction,-and all are -rich. There are several-" chutes about 30 feet long homizontally, in which -the' quartz averages $25 to $30 per ton, while elsewhere the quartz yields $10 or $12. Most of. the quartz, is founld near the hanging' wall'. The vein has been examined for a distance of 2,000 feet, and pay rock, has b een found at intervals along the whole, distance. The quartz in places contains sulphurets of iron and lead, and crude sulphur is. found in the slate. Heretofore the quartz has been extracted by tunnels, but hereafter shafts are to be sunk. The eastern wall is granite and the western ahard black slate. The mine lies in,the Big basin, which is: surrounded by high ridges on the north side of which the snow lies: till May.TThe rock is crushed in a five-stamp mill, and is amalgamated in- two, large arrastras. The gold' varies' in fineness from 600 to 785, the highest-fineness being obtained from those quartz veins which contain the coarsest -particles of metal.'... SELL AND MARTIEN.-The- Sell and'Martina. mine,.1200 feet long, is situated oue mile north of' Sonora.. It is two or three feet wide' and runs northwest and' Southeast, and dips 60~ to the northeast.. It is a remarkable pocket vein, and has produced not less than $150,000, of which one-fourth as been, profit.. -It lWas first opened in.1850,.and has been leased three or four- times. For one year the lessee paid one-third, and for another one-fourth of the gross yield., About' 2]000 tons of rock have been taken out in all,, but. most ofthe. gold.has been pounded out in a hand mortar. The walls are of slate,- and. the' country is- iitersected by porphyritic dikes three or four feet thick, which occur at. interval~ of, 100 or 150 feet along the 700 feet in which tie pockets heave been found. The vein is later ini formationa than the dikes and cuts across them, and on.the li'nes f. intersection most, if not all, of the pockets have'been found,.'The quartz) except in the immediate neighborhood of the pockets, is barren.- A 15-stamp /iill was erected at the mine in 1863, but as:no large quantity. of ore could. be obtained to yield more than 50 cents a ton,. the.mill has, been standing. idle. There' are. several men now at work in the mine hunting. for pockets and taking out the gold in a hand mortar when they find them. The, largest pocket found yielded 15,000.0 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 49 SOPHIA.-The Sophia' mine, two miles east of Sonora, is 2,150 feet long, on a vein which runs northeast and southwest and dips 80~ southwest. The vein is crossed by dikes which the miners call granite. Their width is usually three feet, though one is forty. The gold is found in pockets near the dikes. Every pay chimney is near a dike, but some of the dikes have no pay chutes near them. The walls are of slate, and there is on one side or the other a talcoso gouge, usually on the hanging wall; and when in the foot wall it indicates the proximity of a pocket. There are within a distance of 300 feet, horizontally, three pay chutes, each of them from ten to twenty feet long. The mine has been worked by a tunnel 400 feet long, and a shaft 80 feet deep; and another tunnel 130 feet below the level of the first one is now in 170 feet. The total yield from the mine'has been $45,000, and in the, year ending MIay, 1867, the produce was about $5,000. There is a five-stamp mill on the claim, but it has not rock enough to run regularly. BALD MOUNTAIN.-On the same Bald mountain, and it is supposed on the same vein, is the Patterson and Turner claim, which yielded $30,000 in one pocket, and $60,000 in all. On the same mountain is the Ford claim, which was discovered in 1851, and was wonderfully rich at the surface. One pocket yielded $40,000, and the owners rejected offers to purchase shares at the rate of $500,000 for the entire mine. The Austrian claim, on the same mountain, had one pocket that paid $70,000, besides several others smaller. The three claims last mentioned are all idle now, and were worked only near the surface. There is no regular (as distinguished from a "pocket") pay chute in Bald mountain, the gold being nearly all in pockets. The gold is of very fine quality, some of it 960 fine. Some pockets are surrounded by shattered and decomposed rock, and about these some mill rock is obtained, but the pockets in hard rock have all their gold in a little compact cluster. Bald mountain is only a mile east of the limestone belt which runs through Tuolumne countyr, and many miners say that all the gold near the limestone is in pockets. I)RAPEnR.-The Draper mine, 4,000 feet long, six miles eastward from Sonora, is on a vein which runs north and south, is nearly perpendicular, and is 15 inches wide in granite walls. T'he lowest workings are 325 feet deep, and they extend 410 feet on the vein. There are three pay chimneys, one of 70, one of 90, and one of 60 feet in horizontal length. Between the pay chimneys the walls pinch together. The mine has been worked regularly since 1858. The quartz yields about $40 per ton, and 150 or 180 tons are extracted monthly and worked in steam custom mills, to which $6 per ton is paid for crushing and amalgamnation. The price in water mills is $5 per ton. The ore is heavily charged with sulphurets of ir0on, copper, lead and zinc. NONPAREIL.-The Nonpareil mine, one mile from Big Oak Flat, is on the Nonpareil vein, whichl runs east and west and dips to the north at an angle of 700, and has an average width of five feet. The walls are slate, and the quartz of the veinstone is mixed with slate, and in places the hard slate is seen full of particles of gold. Several shafts have been sunk, and the deepest workings are 140 feet on an incline. Drifts have been run 160 feet on the vein in pay all the way. At 70 feet from the surface the rock yielded $30 and $40 to the ton, but in the lowest levels the pay has been $13. r'The rock contains five per cent. of sulphurets which assay $300 or more to the ton, some samples yielding double and treble as much. The mine is now troubled with water, and work has been stopped, but a tunnel 650 feet long would drain the mine to a depth of 340 feet. Thiere is a five-stamp mill which is also idle. The power is supplied by a Faucherie turbine wheel seven inches in diameter and four feet long, including the driving wheels. There is 345 feet of perpendicular fall for the water, and 60 - 4 i 50 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES inches are used at a cost of 15 cents per inch, or $9 for 24 hours. The turbine was bought with the assurance that it would drive 24 stamps, but the opinion among those who have seen it work is that it woild not drive more than 10 Farrand's oscillating pan anid Iinkle's pan are used in the amalgamation. BUmNs.-The Burns maine, on the Nonpareil vein and adjoining the Nonpareil mine; has a mass of decomposecld talcose slate which is in places 25 feet wide. It all pays to work, and 12 tons are rushed daily through the five-stamp mill. Five additional stamps are being put in. The pulp, after being amalgamated in the mortar and on copper plates just below the battery, runs into tanks and settlers, and from thle tanks the sand is put into Varney's pans to be ground, and it is afterwards amalgamated in settlers. OTHER QUARTZ NEAi B rG OAKc. —The Rattlesnake mill containing 10 stamps, erected in 1866 at Big Oak Flat, is not running now. The Cosmopolite mine, near the head of Garrote creek, is on a vein which runs northwest and southeast and dips to the northeast, and is ten feet wide. The lowest workings are 150 feet below the surface, and a 10-stamp mill, formerly known as the.Cross or Anita mill, belongs to the mine. The Mississippi mine at Big Oak Flat has had some rich pockets. A mill was built in 1866, but it is not running now, crushing being done at present in an arrastra. The Cross mill is standing idle. It belongs to the Golden Rock Water Company and offers to do custom work. The AMack, mill is -also idle. The Jackson mill, four miles east of Big Oak Flat, ditto. SECTION V. CALAVERAS COUNTY. The county of balaverias extends from the Stanislaus river on the soith, to the lMokelumne on the north, and from the summit of the Sierras on the east, to near the base of the foot-hills on the west. The rivers which serve as the northerln and southern boundaries are permanent, but all within the limits of the county, unless streams confined to thie snow regions near the summit, go dry in summn1t. The Calaveras river, from which the county takes its name, and the Sil Antonio, are considerable streams in winter, but their beds are bare in the fall. With the exception of West Point, all the towns of any note in this county are on the lime belt, or west of it; andl most of them are within 1,800 of the level of the sea, and in a region which, except near the large streams, is gently undulating, so that there is little difficulty in travelling about. All the streams are auriferous, but mnost of the diggings have been shallow and are now exhausted, and as a consequence the business of the county has very much declined. There is not one large hydraulic claim in the county, and although there are many quartz claims that have each yielded large sums, there is no quartz mine that has paid high and constantly for five years. There is good reason to believe, however, that Calaveras will, in a few years, occupy a much higher position in quartz mining than at present. i-The county is well supplied with water by ditches; the roads are comparatively good; and timber can be had in sufficient quantity for mining purposes. The debt of the county is $240,000, and the State and county tax is four per cent. annually of the assessed value of property. There- are fifteen ditches in the county, with a total length of 300 miles constructed at a total cost of $2,000,000. The only large ditches are those owned WVEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 51. by the 3IMokelumne 1ill and Campo Seco Company and by tlhe Union'Water Company.* ]Th:e principal quartz mining towns are Angels, West Point and Carson H-ill. 3lMurphys, DIouclas Flat and Cave City are placer mining towns on the limestonDe belt. Moke.lumne Hill and San Andres fare near old channels, and both have, some shallow plhcers. Jenny Lind and Campo Seco had rich placers in early days, but both are exhausted now, at least so far as the present wages and mnod(ls of working will pernmit. Cat Camp, near the western line of the countyr not worked hitherto because of the lack of water, is to have a ditch finished befo:re the end of the year, and 350 claims have been located there in anticipation. Deep beds of gravel have been found in several high ridges in the eastern pa.rt of the county, but so fa.r as they have been examined they have not proved rich enough to pay for hydraulic washing. It is known that there are considerable. deposits of gravel near the Big Tree grove. Somle explorations have been undertaken in the hope of finding in that neighborlhood the Big Blue lead of Sierra and Placer. counties, but without success. El Dorado Flat is a portion of an old channel near the Stanislaus river, 300 feet above its level, and half a mile above Robinson's ferry. The gravrel is 1.00 feet deep, and the bed rock pitches as if the stream had run up the course of tlle present Coyote creek. Ten men, in four months, took out $7,000 at El Dorado in the early part of 1867. Thlle Mokclumne river paid very well at nearly all the bars, more than a dozen in number between Union bar and Clay's bar, and even in the bottom of the channel. At Sandy bar 107 pounds of gold were taken in two days by seven Frenchllmen. The river was fluzmed every year from 1850 to 1865, and for tle first seven or eight years paid high. At Union bar much of the gold was in pieces resembling melon seeds in size and shape. The Mokelunmne river hasbeen worked for about 30 miles along its course. The Stanislaus river has been worked every year since 1849. In that year the work was confined chiefly to the bars; in 1850, 1851 and 1852 thle stream was dammed at many places and turned, but paid at only a few. The bed,. except near the mouths of Carson's creek, Coyote creek, and Jackass gulch, was comparatively poor. The best diggings were found at the heads of bars and near hiigh-water line, and the rich spots in the deeper parts of the bed i-were nearly all in crevices, some of them miade by the decomposition of quartz veins. After 1853 the river was flumeed repeatedly, but in nine cases out of ten these fillumingenterprises were unprofitable. The river mining, for the last six or seven years, has been mostly in the hands of Chinamen. BIG TRt:EE GnovE. —The Big Tree grove, situated 15 miles from Murphys,, 81 miles from Stockton, and 4,500 feet above the level of the sea, is a faLvorite place of resort. Five days' time and $50 are required to make the trip from. San Francisco and back in the cheapest and most expeditious 1manner. The; * Mr. Watson, referring to the resourlces of Calaveras county, says: "The sectional area of this county is 1,140 square miles, with but 98 square miles or 6(2,763 acres of cultivated land. The assessor's valuation of the county is $2,004,430. The population, 16,299 in 1860,1 is mostly engaged in mining pursuits, and are large buyers of imported products and merchandise, all of which must pass over the Stockton and Coppeiopolis railroad. Aside from the gold and copper of this county, there are extensive quarries of marble and granite of very superior quality, which cannot be worked at the present rates of transportation. Icr upper range of mountains are covered by a dense forest of pine and oak, embracing an area of about 300 square nmiles, which can probably be transported to the San Francisco market for 23 per cent. less than an equal quality of timber can be procured from any other source on this coast. In this county is located the Big Trees or " Mammoth Grove," which, as a curiosity, attracts thousands of tourists every year, and, as a natural production, it excites the wonder and admiration of every visitor.'The up freights for the county will amount to 15,640 tons per annuim, and down freights, including copper ores, 65,400 tons per annum-total, 71,040 tons-. * Estimnated population in 1866, 12,000.-Swett's Report on Public Schools. 52 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES elevation is so great that snow lies four or five months in the year, and the hotel, which is commodious and -well-kept, does not open for visitors until May or June, according to the season. The grove contains 90 trees over 15 feet in diameter, and of these ten are 30 feet through just at the ground, tihough 10 or 15 feet above the diameter is considerably less. Five men spent 22 days in 1854, cutting down a tree which was 92, feet in circumference and 300 feet high. The stump has' been taken as the foundation and floor of a house in which dancing parties are sometimes held. There is abundant room in it for a large quta.drille. The bark was taken from another tree to a height of 116 feet from the groundnup to where the branches began-at the same time, and the tree did not begin to show signs of dying until two years afterwards, and some of its boughs were green six years later. It is estimated that one of the trees which had fallen: long before the grove was discovered was 450 feet long and 40 feet in diameter. Prof. Whitney carefilly counted the rings of the tree which was cut down and found that they nuinmbered about 1,300. The big trees are scattered about in a forest of very large trees, many of which are as high, and some almost as large, as tlih smaller specimens of the sequoia gigantea, as the big tree is technically named. The number of visitors annually is about 2,000. AGoICuLTvriE. —Aguriclture in Calaveras county is not in a very flourishing condition. Water is not cheap enough to be used for irrigating grain or pastuile land; fruit and wine will not pay the expense of transportation to S acramento, and bran dy will not pay with the present tax upon its production. There are a multitude of fine orchards and vineyards, but as many of them are unprofitable, so they are neglected. With'cheap water and cheap transportation to market this county,hlotild;be prominenit in the production of wool, wine, and fruit. At Douglas Flat, in the orchard of -Mr. Hitchcock, the peach thrives better than anyv other tree fruit. The yield is very large and regular, and the quality good. Apricots do not thrive. The white winter Pearmain apple bears well and keeps well. The Porter apple bears well, and though rated as a fall fruit in the eastern, States,, keeps here- till Februarv. The Wine Sop keeps till Julne. The Newtown pippinl is the best keeper, bears well, and has a fine flavor. The Belleflower, Northern Spy, and Peck's Pleasant are good at neither bearing nor keeping. The Vandevere bears tolerably, but does not keep. The Esopus Spitzenberg keeps well, but does not bear heavily. The Roxbury Russet bears very well, but does not keep. The satne may be said of the Baldwin, except that it, bears- well only in alternate years. The Golden Russet is one of the best and; most regular bearers and keeps till December. At: MIurlphys, although the distance is only two miles from Douglas flat, the fruit is' two weeks later, in ripening ( and -the - mlore delicate kinds, such as figss will not ripen. The difference in elevation does not seem to be more than a' couple of, hundred feet. In the western part of the county figs are very productwive. 3iE;TEoRoLoGY.-The amount of rain in the rainy season of 1865 and 1866, at' Murphys was 31 inches, and in 1866 and 1867 44 inches.'As much as 10 feet of snow has fallen at the Big Trees in one storm, but: the depth is seldom more than five feet at any one time. As the ground does not freeze, there is no good sleighing. SAN ANDREAS.-San Andreas is the present county seat, and is situated at a point wvlere San Andrea;s ravine intersects an ancient river channel. The county seat was formerly at MIokelumne Hill, on the northern limit of the county, ant iwas removed after the people had voted at a special election for San Andreas. Great frauds were practiced in the election, especially at Mokelurune Hill, which then contested the election, and years el'psed before the courts and county offices were removed to San Andreas, which had spent $75,000 in the contest. The people of the new county town were much chagrined to find that there W[as scarcely any perceptible increase in the amount of business or in- the value of property WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 53 after the chanllge and many of those wloespent their cash would be glad to have it back, even if Mokelumne Hill were to have its former dignity. The monthly shipment of dust from San Andreas is, $25,000, nearly all placer. rIHE SANr ANDREAS OLD CHANNEL.-An ancient channel runs past San Anidreas, and indeed it is to the rich deposits of the old river that the town owes its:existence. This ancient channel has been traced a distance of eight miles from ite head of Old Gulch, past San Andreas, and Gold Hill, to the south fork oftheleCalaveras. The general course is nearly west; the average width is 100 feet, and:: the depth under the surface is 150 feet, of which about 100 feet is volcanic sand. The richest pay stratum is a soft blue gravel, for feet deep, which yields seven-eighths of; its gold at the first washing; but there is also a red cement, hicih: Sometimes Usurps the place of the blue gravel on the bed rock; sometimes overlies it, and sometimes occupies half -the channel, leaving the blue on the other side. This red cement is not so rich. as the blue, nor is the gold so coarse, and:it should be crushed in a 11ill, if more than one-third of its gold is to be got at the first: washing. Some of the gold found in the blue gravel is quite black. -Ihitas been reported that a petrified turtle thirty inches long was found in one of the claims on this channel.; but the report is mentioned here not to accredit;itbit suggest it as a matter for investigation. Mi. Marshall says he found in the pay dirt in the claim of Marshall and Shiowalter an Indian mortar, and this is perhaps one of the best authenticated cases of human handiwork found in an ancient stream. I:n that claim, starting from the surface, the shaft passed through 5 feet of coarse gravel; then sand and gravel 100 feet; then a thin bed of fine brownish grayel; then 4 feet of cemented sand; then 15 feet of blueish volcanic sand; the.l 6 feet of pay dirt, and finally slate-bed rock, one foot of which is rich. The following is the forml of a notice used in locating a.claim on this channel: NOTIcER.-The undersigned claims this groundfor mining purposes, known as the Robert McCall & Co.'s claim,_ beingsa deep or shaft claim, and being bounded on the northwest by the. Gilchrist and Cornwell' claim, and on the southeast by the Plug Ugly claim, 1,000 feet more or less, and he intends to work it according to the laws of the San Andreas mining district.WILLIAM IRVINE.. J;OHN SHOWALTER, Recorder. August 18, 18s6. -,he;- first notable claim on the channel commencing at the highest point thfat has been worked is that of Foster, Frazier & Co., 800 feet long on the channel, where the depth is 100 feet. It has been worked 10 years, and paid about $7 per -day to the hand. The pay is obtained by drifting, and is taken to the surface through a shaft and tunnel. After an interval in which the channel has not been found, we come to the claim of McLaughlin and Dore, who have been at work 10 years, and have averaged about $5-per day. Three or four men are now employed on the claim. After another space in which the channel was not found, is the claim of George Barnhardt & Co., situated on the hill between Old Gulch and French Gulch. It has been worked six or seven years, and four or five men are now employed in it. It is.a hydraulic claim, and the bank is 75 feet' deep. The next claim, that of Young & Co., is on the hill, south of upper Caleverit-s, and has paid well for 10 years. It has been Worked both by hydraulic and by tunnel. Three or four men are employed..' Knight, Simpson & Co., work their claim by the hydraulic process, with four men. It has paid well for six or seven years. The railroad claim, on Railroad Hill, one mile below the previous claim, has never paid, but has broken several parties who, took- hold of it. It is now idle. The chlannel was never found in it. Wade, Johnson & Co., between Yaqui Gulch and lower Calaveritas, employ 54 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES four men in their claim, which they work by drifting, and have obtained moderate pay. IIedrick, Wilcox & Co., are working with three men. and getting very moderate pay. They erected a cement mill, but the gravel was not rich enougl, and the mill was moved to a quartz mine at Fairplay. The Plug Ugly claim, 800 feet long has yielded $1.,100 in one day, and still contains rich ground. Contention among the shareholders has prevented work for two years. Irvines claim, 1,000 feet long, has been worked for two years, and has paid well. The gravel is so tough that after being slalked for a while it will yield ten times as much in the sluice as it will if Nwashed immediately after coming out of the drift. The proprietor is now erecting a water-mill to hoist and crush the ce'ment. I The claim of Patrick Gilchrist, 180 feet long, paid well for a short time, but is closed now as if worked out, though some good miners think it still valuable. Marshall and Sllowalter have 600 feet, and have been at work for 13 years, usually employing six or eight men.'T'heir claim has been very rich, and it yielded nine pounds in one forenoon. The dirt is hoisted by a whim. r'1he Ilarlette claim, 600 feet long, was opened about 1857, and work was stopped in 1861, for want of'drainage. The MclFall claim, 600 feet long, has been worked for 10 years, and has paid about $10 per day to three men. The proprietor of this claim cut a long drain at considerable expense and solicited some contribution from the claim ouwners above, but they refused, so he left 20 feet at the head of his claim standing, atnd this served as a wall to back the water on the Marlette, 3Marshall, Plug, and Irvine claims, and stopped work in parts of them for five years. Lately they hlave paid $1,000. The drain has been opened and they have resumed work. The/ Dunning claim, 400 feet long, was opened in 1854, and was worlked out in five years, during which time it paid about $20 per day to six men. One pan yielded 12 pounds, and in one week:10,000 was taklen out. Here the channel strikes San Andreas gulch, and below this point the old channel is six feet or more below the level of the present stream, in some places 35 feet deeper.- For 1,500 feet the channel is under the gulch, and there, because of the shallowness of the ground, the diggings were very profitable when first worked. After leaving the bed of the gulch the old channel runs 1,000 yards to Gold Hill, where a remlarkable fault is found, the channel having been here broken off and raised up 100 feet perpendicGularly by some convulsion of nature. The bed rockl, the size, course, and grade of the channel, and the character: of the gol(l and of the strata, all indicate that the Gold Hill diggings belong to the ancient river of San Andreas. The Gold Hill claims paid well, but are now all worked out. MIOKELUMNE HILL.-M- okelumne Hill was for a long time the largest town in the southern mines, and it is now one of the most populous. It is situated on the south bank of the Mokelumne river, but about 800 feet above its level, at a point where an ancient channel has been cut througtl, leaving a convenient pass bfor travel from north to south and exposing rich deposits of gold near the surface. lThe town, instead of being on the summit of a hill, as might be. inferred from its name, is rather in a flat or basin, with hills several hundred feet higher both east and west. There are a number of very pretty gardens in the suburbs. Manvy of the business houses are built of a light lava or tufa, -which is found,abundantly in the neighborhood. Houses in the town are sold for about onefifth their cost. MAokeiumne Hill is a stage centre from which lines runto Stockton, (45 miles,) to Sonora, (50 miles,) through San Andreas, Angels, Vallecito, and Columblia, to Latrobe, (38 miles,) through Jackson, Sutter, and Dry Towrn, and to West Point, (16 miles.) There is also a horse mail to Campo Seco, 12 miles elistant. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 55 In the spring of 1851 three Frerchmen found an extremely rich old channel high up on the side of French Hill, northeast of the town of Mokelumne Hill, and in a few dayrs took out $180,000. They attempted to keep their wealth a secret, but in vain, and some Americans founid it out and went into the claim at night and stole from it. One night they dug out a piece weighing 11 pounds, but as it was dirty they did not discover its character in the dark, and, threw it aside. The Frenchmen found this piece the next morning, and a piece of candle which had been left behind; so the next night they watched their claim in arms. The robbers, finding themselves foiled, laid claim to the mine, and threatened to takle it by force, and the Firechmen of the neighborhood assembled to defend their countrymen, since, if the claim of one Frenchmzan could be taken, there would be no security for the others. There was much animosity at the time against foreigners, and the report that the Frenchlmen were arming gave great ofience, and soon there were two arimies ready for the fight. The-e French viceconsul at MIokelumne Hill acted as mediator, and succeeded in mlaking a compromise, by the terms of which a committee of American miners were placed in possession of the claim to work it until they had taken out enough to payv the expense of the military organization of the Americans, an-d theni to return it to the French owners. The comllittee worked at the claim for months and worked it out, and the entire sum that they paid from it towards the expenses of the military organization was $1,100, a sum less than the Frenchmlen had been in the habit of getting nearly every day. Thus ended the French war, in which many French cabins were burned but nlobody was killed; though attempts were made to assassinate several Frenchmen, and one American who, having been appointed to consult -wNith the French consul, took sides with the Frenchmen. Before the compromise was effected the Frenchmen fortified themselves on Corral Hill, but they fled when they saw the enemy coming to storm their works. This discretion saved much bloodshed, for the assailants outnumbered the entrenched party, and they had laid their plans so that the French would be' exposed at the time of assault to the fire of an enemnly occupying a comiancding position in the rear. MOKCELUMNE r ILL OLD CHIANNEL. The M1oklelumne Hill old channel begins or is found at its highest point about a mile cast of the town of that name, near the residence of J. Tynan-1, and runs thence under Corral Flat, striking Stockton T-ill, (at a point between the Stockton 1-Till upper dligings and the Water Company's claim,) thence passing in a southwardly direction under the Stockton Hill ridge, about 330 feet below the surface, until it strikes Chile gulch, under the Innes & Co. claim, which gulch it then follows down on one side or the other to its intersection with the old San Andreas channel, where the two unite. This channel has been worked to great profit in some of its parts, and others, though openedl very thoroughly at great expense, have proved entirely barren. The largest yield has been obtained east of the point where the old channel first strikes Chile gulch, but further down there is a place called Junction, where a number of claims have proved very rich. The WVater Companv's claim, 1,800 feet long, in Stockton Eill, southwest of Mokllumne Hill, has been worked by several long' tunnels, and has yielded, accordino to rumor, $110,000. The Water Company's cemnent mill, on Chile gulch, near Mokelumne Hill, has 10 5staps, and is driven by 40 inches of water forced under 100 feet head upon a lhrdygurdy wheel. The iaul claim, 2,600 feet long, has been worked continuouslv for ten years and has paid well, the net yield, as stated by common report, being $160,000. The Cailaveras Tunnel Comnpany worked from 1857 till 1866, and did remarlkably well at first, but afterwards spent much money in hunting for the channel, and made but little gain as the total result of their labors. The Allen claim 1,000 feet long, was worked from 1 859 to 1865, and was not profitable. 56 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The Innes claim, 1,100 feet long, was worked from 1856 to 1864 by.a tunnel 1,400 feet long, which passed over the deep channel, and by four shafts from 45 to 110 feet deep. The result was the loss of nearly.all the money invested. The Cubberly claim has yielded some very rich pay gravel. The-Amherst claim, 1,400 feet long, has proved extremely rich. The channel here crosses a streak of soft rock called "rotten granite" by the miners, and this has caught the gold which has slidden over the harder rock. The claim has been worked for 10 years, paying all the time. Foi 5 years, 10 or 12 men were employed; now there are 4. It is reported that a partner who had owned l.alf the claim went to the east in 1862 with $28,000. The work was done by drifting for some years, but the tunnels have caved in and now the hydraulic process is used. The Shaw claim has been worked 10 years, most of the time with large profit. An attempt was made lately to pipe away the dirt through a shaft and tunnel, but the shaft caved in, and it is now necessary to pipe away the dirt from the outside of the- hill. This completes the, list of the claims in Stockton Hill, commencing at Mokelumne Hill and running down stream. Mention has been made of but one old channel running under this hill, but really there are two, the smaller one being from 90 to 120 feet above the level of the main old channel. About a mile and a quarter below Mokelumne Hill the upper channel breaks off and seems to fall 90 feet into the lower channel, and it does not appear again below that point. OPALS.-In the north end of Stockton Hill, almost within the limits of the town of Mfokelumnne Hill, is an opal-bearirg stratum about 60 feet below the surface of the hill. This stratum is a rough gravel enclosed in a tough reddish clay,, from six to eighteen inches deep, lying between two layers of volcanic sand. In 1865 three claims were worked for opals, which were obtained in great abundance, but they were of very common quality and did not pay. None of the fire opals were found. The dirt, vwhen taken out, was.allowed to dry, and was then broken up with wooden mallets, and the opals, which were from a quarter of an inch to two inches in diameter and white in color on the outside, were picked out by hand. The longest opal tunnel ran 190 feet into the hill. On one occasion there was much excitement at Mokelumne Hill on account of the rumored discovery of a mine of emeralds and sapphires, and men went out at night with lanterns and staked off a large district in claims. Afterwards they investigated the nature of the first discovery, and came to the conclusion that the supposed precious stones were only pieces of colored glass which had been in the gizzard of a turkey. CAMPS NEAR MOKELUMNE HILL.-Tunnel Ridgc, one mile southeast of MIokelumne Hill- is three, miles long, has a cap of volcanic rock, beneath which in places is found a stratum or lead of auriferous gravel, most of which has been worked through tunnels. Buckeye, two miles'east of Mokelumne Hill, has several hydraulic claims, which have been worked for six years. One of them is now paying well., Buena Vista Hill, four miles northeast of Mokelumne Hill, has four hydraulic claims, which have been worked for ten years with much profit. The ground is very rich, but the water cannot be taken to the top of the hill, and therefore the expenses are great. Rich Gulch, six miles east of Mokelumne Hill, had very rich surface claims in early days, and still yields well in a few spots. DOUGLAS FLAT.-Douglas Flat is situated on the limestone belt, which is here a mile wide. The deepest workings are at a depth of 150 feet; and in those places the pay began 125 feet from the surface, and was covered with three strata of volcanic ash, with intervening strata of coarse gravel. The deep claims were worked through shafts, with pumps and hoisting apparatus driven by ditch water. The town has been more permanent than most mining canmps because .WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 57 of the deep diggings, and according to repute it has produced more gold in proportion to its population than any other in the county. Among the notable claims are the following: The Texas, 500 feet long by 150 feet wide. The pay stratum is from 6 to 25 feet deep and 125 feet below the surface. Work was cmolinenced in 1853, and has continued since with an interruption from 1859 to 1862, caused by water. The claim employs 8 or 10 men, and it pays, sometimes, $500, and never less than $200, per week above expenses. The total production has been about $60,000, and there is pay ground enough to last for 5 or 10 years more. A stream of water yielding 16 inches, miners' measure, has been struck in the bottom, and a pump with a pipe 14 inches in diameter, with a five-foot stroke, is used for keeping the claim clear. The lowest drain is 60 feet below the surface. A tunnel to drain the bottom of the claim would have to be two miles long. The Union claim, 1,000 feet lbng by 100 wide, was opened in 1860, and is 150 feet deep. The average number of men employed was ten, and the average weekly yield has been about the same as in the preceding claim. On one occasion they took out 90 ounces or $1,700 per week for several weeks. The total yield has been about $40,000. The claim is doing nothing now, but work will be resumed. The Wild Goose claim, 800 feet long by 100 wide, has been worked to a depth of 200 feet without finding bottom' or pay. A drift is now being run in hope of finding bottom. Four years' work and $15,000 have been spent without any return so fir. In two drifts of this company the dirt swelled so fast for three davs that the drifters made, no headway. The Perseverance claim, 800 by 100 feet, has been worked to a depth of 130 feet without finding anything, alld the shaft is still going down. A drift run into this claim from the adjoining Union claim has struck rich pay gravel. r1The Dashaway, 1,000 by 100 feet, has been worked by an incline 300 feet deep perpendicularly from the surface, which is there on a hillside. The claim has been worked five years, and has produced about $25,000. Five men are at work in it. The above are the only companies now working or likely to work soon. The Southwestern claim, 1,200 by 100 feet, yielded $750,000, and is worked out. The Ohio, 800 by 100, yielded $50,000; worked out.'The Harper, 200 by 100 feet, yielded $100,000; worked out. The Lone Star, 300 by 100 feet, yielded $100,000; worked out. The Holmes and Toll, 100 feet square, yielded $100,000; worked out. The Hitchcock and Burgess, 100 by 50 feet, yielded $100,000; worked out. The Skunk Tunnel, 400 by 100 feet, yielded $50,000; worked out. MuRHY7's. —Murphy's, 16 miles from San Andreas, formerly known as Murphy's Camp, is situated on the limestone belt in a pleasant valley surrounded: by low hills. The diggings are found here in a basin half a mile in diameter, with dirt and gravel to a depth of 200 feet. The pay stratum was found in some places within twenty and in others within 100 feet of the surface; but little of it was high enough to be washed in the natural channels, so the miners hoisted the dirt by derricks, or with a horse, rope, and pulley, to their sluices.- Afterwards, however, an opell cut 900 feet long and for a considerable'distance 40 feet deep was made. This facilitated the washing of the flat greatly. There were a dozen claims which paid high, averaging $100,000 or more each it is said, but there is no record of the details. The Rhodes claim, one of the richest, produced $250,000 from an area 100 feet long and 40 wide. The deepest workings were 100 feet. In one afternoon it paid 37 pounds, and the next forenoon 63 pounds of gold. In this claim a tunnel was cut through a large mass of limestone far below the surface, and in the midst of the mass was ~58 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES found a cavity containing a rich auriferous quartz boulder weighling not less than half a ton; and there was no orifice leading to the cavity large enough to let in a stone weighing 20 poimds. There was, besides, some rich gravel in the cavity. This statement about tile quartz boulder, if it camne from some unknown source, would deserve no consideration, but it is vouched for by Alonzo Rhodes, agent for Wells, Fargo & Co., who is an intelligent gentleman, and is reputed to be most trustworthy. Murphy's derives some importance from the fact that it is a stopping point for travellers going to and from the Big Trees. Some of the gold at Murphy's was quite black on the surface. Between 3turpihv's and Douglas Flalt an old cl-annel lhas been tracedcl for 600 feet. VALLECITo.-Vallecito, 14 miles from Stan Andreas, is a level vallev, with deep diggings, which are covered with three strata of lava or volcanic sand. The valley was in its most flourishing condition from 1852 to 1855, and is still far from being worked out, but there was a lack of drainage, and the claimns which would pay for drifting have been exhausted. In 1855 a mammoth tunnel, to be 2,700 feet long and 10Q feet deep, was commenced, to drain the flat, which is about 86 feet deep in the deepest workings. After 400 feet of the mammoth tunnel had -been cut, a considerable part of the way in very hard greenstone, and after $1.5,000 had been spent, the work was abandoned. In 1862 a new tunnel, to be 1,500 feet long arnd 36 feet below the surface, was commenced, and last spring it was completed, though the flume is not yet ready for washing. The flume in and out of the tunnel is to be 2,000 feet long, hnd the total cost of the work is $30,000, exclusive of interest. An ancient channel 100 feet wide has been traced for half a mile up and down the valley, and it is considered still rich. The ground is held by old miners, who will nov wash off their claims through the tunnel. No public notice has yet been given of the conditions on which miners can tail into the tunnel. The shipment of gold from Vallecito is $20,000 per month; formerly it was $69,000. The Day aud Hunter claim in Vallecito Flat Wvas 100 feet square, and paid $25,000. The Isabel and AMitchell, of the same size, paid the same amount. In the Durham & Co. claim a piece weighing 25 pounds was founid. There were 50 claims in the flat that paid well, but there is no record of their production severally. Near Vallecito is a gravel ridge 60 feet deep, anld a portion of it paid well in hydraulic claims. MIINOR PLACER CAMPS.-At San Domingo, on the limestone belt, four men took out $100,000 in three years, commencing in 1863. Near Murphy's is Owvlblrrow Flat, which is rich and might be drained. Indian creek, San Antone, and Cave City, on the limestone belt, have had some rich claims, but the diggings are now nearly exhausted. QUARTZ REGULATIONS OF ANGELS.-The quartz reglations of the Angels district provide that a lode claim for one person shall be 100 feet on the vein, with 150 feet on each side; and a discoverer is entitled to 50 feet more on the vein than an ordinary claimant. The regulations say: He or she [the claimant] shall have the right to all the dips, strikes, or angles of every vein originating on the claim. We understand that a vein originates on or below the surface running downwards, and not from below running upwards; so that no person or persons locating a claim on either side of the boundaries of another shall have a right to a vein running through his or their claim that originates, as above understood, on the claim first located; but no man shall have the right to follow a vein on the length of it beyond the perpendicular of his boundary. Miners shall be compelled to perform at least 10 bonea fide days' work on their claim or claims during the year commencing from the first day of April, 1860. Miners failing to do so, their claim or claims will be considered forfeited and open to other parties, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 59 It will be observed that there is no express requirement of any work after the 1st of April, 1861, as a condition of title; but the intention was undoubtedly to require 1.0 days' work on each claim within each year, ending with March. The records of this district were ~burned in 1855, and no copies or written evidences of title before the fire are preserved. There are 57 quartz claims on record in the district, and 55 of them bear date previous to 1864. In that year no claim was made; in 1865, one; one in 1866' and none in 1867 tp to June 1. QUARTZ REGULATIONS OF SAN ANDREAS. — The following are extracts from the miners' regulations of the San Andreas district for ledge mi ing: Claims in said district shall be 200 feet in length on the lead, with all its dips, spurs, and angles, with 300 feet in width on the surface. Shareholders shall be compelled to perform one day's labor for each 200 feet held or claimed by them, or its value in improvements thereon, in each month, from the first day of May to the first day of November in each year; if they fail so to do their claim shall be considered forfeited and open to entry by other parties, unless the first parties shall have been prevented by sickness of themselves or families from complying with this law. When a company shall have put $500 worth of work on a claim the same may be held over for one year, and no longer, by a renewal:of the record of said claim, made at any date previous to the first day of May of each year, during which year the parties owning such claim shall not be compelled to perform any work on the same. These regulations were adopted in March, 1866; and there are 57 lode claims recorded, the latest dated in 1865. There is no quartz mine in operation in the district, save at Wilson's creek, where. there are two arrastras at work. QUARTZ MINING IN CALAVERAS.-The most noted quartz mines of Cala-'eras county are the Morgan, the Reserve, the Enterprise, the South Carolina, the Stanislaus,.the Union, and the Carson Creek, at Carson Hill; the Bovee, the Angels, the Hill, and the Sickles, at Angels; all on the mother lode; and the Woodhouse, near West Point. A number of rich veins have been found near the limestone belt, but their wealth has been confined to pockets. {ORiGA.- The Mforgan mine, 500 feet long, on the mother lode, was discovered in 1850 by a man named IHance, who took in six partners, Morgan *being the president. The discovery was made on the summit of Carson Hill, and the rock was extremely rich; indeed, if the statements of those who lived at the place are to be taken, the gold was abundant beyond any parallel. Much of it was taken out in mortars, and not unfrequently there were so many strings of gold in the rock that cold chisels had to be used to cut them. On one occasion gold to the amount of $110,000 was thrown down at one blast. The news filled the State with excitement. The town of 3Melones, on the southern side of the hill, became the largest mining camp in the State, with a population variously estimated from 3,000 to 5,000. People came in crowds to see the mine. Robinson's ferry, on the Stanislaus river, two miles south of the place, took in $10,000 for ferriage in six weeks. From February, 1850, till December, -1851, tlhe production continued uninterrupted and with very little decline. In that time, according to Thomas Deare, who has lived at the mine longer than any other person, $2,800,000 were extracted and immense sums were stolen. It is reported of one Mexican miner that he stole $1,500 in one day from the arrastra which lhe had in charge, and paid it the next day for a horse. All the rock too poor for the hband mortar was ground in arrastras, and it is said that 50 of them were running at one time.' The facilities for stealing were great and the temptation strong. Gambling was carried to a great extent and gold seemed to have lost its value. The miners were mostly Mexicans, who, as a class, were not looked upon with much favor by American miners; but they had had some experience in this kind of mining and their services were indispensable. They'could pick up the lumps of gold in the mine, or they could take handfulls of amalgam from the arrastra with little fear of detection. As for the lamount taken in this way, it could never be ascertained, but that it was great was assumed in the conmmon conversation of the miners themselves. f6 0 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The vast production was too great to be witnessed in peace. Several hundred ruffians banded themselves together under the lead of Billy'Mulligan and others of his kind and drove away the owners of the mine by force and worked it themselves. A suit to eject them was, commenced, and after nine months their work was stopped by injunction, and in the spring of.1853 final judgmlent was rendered in favor of MIorgan and his associates. Morgan then went to England,to sell the mine, but more litigation sprang up about the title, and there was no final decision and very little work till the spring of'1867, the mine having lain idle for nearly 15 years. The work has lately been recomrmenced, and report. says some marvellously rich rock has been taken out, but the superintendent did not consider himself authorized to give the precise facts for publication. The mine is near the summit of the hill and includes two veins, which unite 100 feet below the surface. One is about six feet wide and called the stratified vein, because of numerous seams parallel with the walls; the other is 40 feet wide and is called the boulder vein, because the quartz in it is solid and boulderlike. A tunnel 160 feet long strikes the vein 100 feet below the outcroppingsj and from this drifts have been run 200 feet on the vein, finding pay rock all the wayv. The richest rock is a talcose slate on the foot-wall. The mine cani'be worked: conveniently by tunnels to a depth of 500 or 600 feet. There is no mill now, but the proprietors propose to erect one, and they are now taking out rock. In the middle of June they had 5,000 tolls already out. RESERvE.-Immediately south of the Morrgan is the reserve mine, 980 feet long. This mine was opened in 1860 by a tunnel 300 feet long and a shaft 135 feet deep, and common report says that 3,000 tons of talcose slate were cruslihd and $200,000 obtained. A' report made by a French mining engineer to tlhe Meloanes and Stanislaus 5Mining Company, which is better authority than common report, says the yield has been $130,000. MNIr. Coignet, the author of the report, says': The lead worked at the Reserve belongs to that order of vein which runs west 150 noithb, east 15~'south, and is rich in ore throughout its whole extent. At the walling, [foot-wall,] and "for many feet in width, the slate formations are impregnated with auriferous pyrites, partly decomposed near the surface. X * * I was told on the spot.that the slate formatlons. of the casings throughout the length of the claim did not pay less than $18 per ton at the mill, and that the ore formerly extracted contained from $90 to $300 per ton. ENTERPRISE.-The Enterprise, 900 feet, adjoining the Reserve on the south, has been opened by a tunnel which runs 450 feet on the lode. There is no mill connected with the imine, nor is any work being done. SOUTII CAROLINA. —The South Carolina, 2,550 feet long, cldjoins the Enterprise. The vein is'seven feet wide, and has been opened by drifts running 580 feet on the lode, 280 feet below the surface, in pay chimney all the way. Tlhe mine was first worked, from 1850 to 1853, by some Mexicans under a lease, who accounted'at the rate of $85 per ton; but rumor says that the actual yield was much larger; and that' the total amount which they took out'was $400,000, and that they.got $40,000 in one week froln their arrastras. In one period of seven months.they accounted for $119,000, and paid over, according to contract, onehalf, or $59,500;. but the. owners were dissatisfied, and terminated- the lease in 1853, and the mine, notwithstanding the general belief in its great wealth, stood still five years. In the: spring and summer of 1858 a ten-stamp mill ran for three months and took $19,000, and then the work was stopped by litigation. The last rock taken out paid $40 per ton. The mill is now in ruins, and no work is being done. 3Ir. Coignet says of the South Carolina: The quartz is generally white-bladed, foliated with green, slaty streaks, and assuming a striped appearance. It is in these slate formations that the'flattened or laminated leaves of gold:are found. Sometimes the quartz is compact and yellowish,-.but then it is nearly always near an intersection. Against'the walling [foot-wall] of theses leads the slates are of a yellow brown, very talcose, and perforated by- cubical holes, indicative of deposits of rotten iron 'WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 61 pyrites. These are ductible, and can be cut with a knife. Between their strata is found some bluish quartz surrounded by pure gold. On the whole line of the leads, beginning at the South Carolira'claim and up to the Hope, where they still exhibit the same character, it may be said that these slaty formations, in a breadth of several feet fiom the walling of the lead, contain at least $18 per ton. STANISLAUs.-The' Stanislaus mine, 1,200 feet long, is on the middle branch of the mother lode, immediately north of the Stanislaus river. At this claim the vein runs nearly north and south, and dips to the east at an angle of 75 degrees. The mine has been opened by three tunnels, one 400 feet long and two of 100 feet each, and by several shafts running down from the tunnels. The quartz is remarkable for containing much gold in the form of a telluride, which., thoug.h very rich, has never been worked so, as to yield much. Mr. Coignet, who examined the mine, says: The quartz croppings are white, with reddish tints in the cracks, and containing crystals of feldspar, of carbonate of lime, and of iron. The free gold which had been found on the sui'face changed readily into tellgurets of gold and silver, and into auriferous iron pyrites, Which, by their decomposition when in contact with the atmosphere, have spread a reddish hue over the rock. In these ledges, among which the Stanislaus offers an example, the thickness of the quartz varies considerably, both in its course and incline, whereas the roofing [hanging wall] remains perfectly regular. Thus, from the middle of the tunnel to within a few feet of the shaft, at the northern extremity of French and Wood's claim, the croppings have a thickness of more than six feet, whilst beyond that space the quartz disappears in the slate, without, however, causing a break in the lead. At the bottom of the shaft just mentioned the lead has a depth of six inches and contains numerous crystals of tellurets. At 120 feet south of the entrance to the middle tunnel a shaft was formerly sunk by Mexicans, by means of which a large sum was taken. There also the quartz has disappeared, and the ore is found in the slate. The rich deposits of the lead are found in chimneys with a horizontal incline of about 31 degrees to the south in the walling, [foot-wall,] and in the small quartz feeders which follow the line of the slate formations, and at their junction with the principal leads. It is of importance to observe, with regard to this mineral system, that tellurets are found exclusively in the quartz which contains crystals of feldspar and carbonates of lime and of iron; and hence, whenever these minerals are met with, the speedy appearance of ore may be relied upon. The compact quartz of the lead is often found to contain, and, in fact, generally does contain, auriferous iron pyrites, which are sometimes of great richness. The slate formations in wvhich the lead is imbedded are also full of iron pyrites, but contain no gold, or perhaps a very small amount. The difference between these two kinds of pyrites is such that they can be readily distinguished from each other. The richest pyrites, in fact, seldom'crystalize very distinctly, being in compact masses, which clearly exhibit the numerous lines of cleavage; they are very bright, and have a very distinct yellowish appearance. The indifferent pyrites, on the contrary, are found in well-defined cubical crystalizations, isolated, and with a sharp edge, and usually disseminated through the slate formations. Throughout the length of the zone [the main pay chimney] the roofing [the hanging wall] is well defined, but the walling [the foot wall] is irregular, and composed of quartz feeders which follow the stratification of the slate formations and finally unite with small quartz veins containing feldspar, carbonates of lime, and, as is the case always, some tellurets.' The association of these minerals is so perfectly verified that when one is met there is a certainty of the presence of the others at a short distance. — * *' These ores are sometimes of an extraordinary value; thus, during my visit to Melones, an assay which I made myself on four ounces of sulphurets and tellurets, taken from a concentration of second-class ores, yielded $150 of gold and il of silver, or about $17,500 to the ton eof concentrated sulphurets. * X No process of economical manipulation of this class of ores has, as yet, been found without inflicting serious loss' s. The concentration which has to be resorted to, costly in itself, still permits the escape of a large portion of the precious metals. Charles A. Stetefeldt, a mining engineer a'nd metallurgist, to whom specimens of the ore from the Stanislaus mine were submitted, wrote a report, in which he said: These ores are of extraordinary interest for the mineralogist and metallurgist, since besides their great richness in native gold, they contain also telluric gold and silver in such quantities as have never before been known. Telluric ores of all kinds are extremely rare, and found only in small quantities at the following places: at Offenbanya, Salathna,. and Nagyag, in Transylvania; it Schemnitz, in Hungary; at the Sawodinsky mines, in the Altai mountains; and at Spottsylvania, in Virginia. But at none of these places are the telluric 62... RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ores as important as in the Stanislaus mine; on the contrary, the quantity found in them is so small that no regular process for their reduction can be said to be in practice.'' The samples of ore from the Stanislaus mine, shown to me by you, contain large quantities of sylvanite or graphic tellurium, of steel-gray color and metallic lustre, by far the richtest tellurium ore, and smaller quantities of the tellurium of lead, recognizable by its tin-white color and great lustre. It is probable that other combinations of tellurium will also be found on a closer examination of the ores. * - * * *, * Science indicates and your own experience fully proves that the ores are not suitable for amalgamation. Quicksilver not only fails to absorb any portion of the gold contained in the telluric combinations, but the presence of the latter prevents the quicksilver from producing its natural effect even upon the native gold, so that even of the latter a comparatively srall percentage only can be obtained by amalgarration. Nor would the matter be much helped by separating the tellurium, were that practicable, by roasting, for the Stanislaus ores contain a considerable amount of tellurid of lead, and the lead, as is well known, is most injurious to amalgamation. *' * The distribution of the ores in the vein renders a separation of them by hand into three or more different qualities, according to richness, conmparatively easy and inexpensive. These different qualities I would submit separately to a process of wet concentration, which for the richer ores would have to be carried on with extreme care. * * * *' For the first qualities, which contain only a small amount of gangue, I should recommend cupellation with lead. This process consists in melting a quantity of lead in a cupelling furnace and gradually adding the finely-crushed ore as soon as the lead begins to oxydize, and acoating of litharge is thereby formed on the surface. The ore floats about on the molten lead, and the base metals become oxydized through contact with the atmospheric air and with the litharge or oxyd of lead, which has a tendency to give up its oxygen. The oxydation of the base metals immediately liberates the gold and silver, which combine with the molten lead and are retained by it while the oxydized base metals form with the litharge a thoroughly fluid slarr, which can be raked off; as much further ore can then be added as the lead is capable of absorbing. If experience should show that a part of the tellurium also passes into the molten lead in a metallic state, instead of at once oxydizing and combining with the litharge, it will then be necessary to carry on all the earlier stages of the cupelling process in furnaces especially constructed for that purpose. The lead which has absorbed all the gold and silver out of the ore can be worked in these furnaces as long as riecessary to oxydize all the tellurium, which will then gradually form tellurite of lead, and be raked off like the first slag formed in the beginning of the process. The purified lead can then be removed to the cupelling furnace and the cupellation be proceeded with in the ordinary manner. SANTA CRuz. The Santa Cruz mine is 1,500 feet long on the western branch of the mother lode, north of the Stanislaus river. This vein is barren so far as examined, except in the walls, where it is crossed by two smaller veins, whlich run west 15~ north. Some of the rock has yielded $300 per ton. A tunnel 240 feet long has been cut, reaching the vein. No work is being done now.. UNION. —The Union mine, 400 feet, is on Carson Hill, and the vein is supposed to be a branch of the mother lode. The vein is 30 feet wide in places, but the best pay (from $20 to $70 per ton) has been found in a seam of talcose slate from two to four feet thick, on the hangingr wall. A 20-stamp steam mill is being built now. CARnsoN CrEEK.-The Carson Creek quartz mine, situated on a branch of the mother lode, near the mnouth of Carson creek, is 1,000 feet long. The vein is 12 feet wide for 600 feet, but then pinches out till it is only an inch or two thick. The thick part of the claim has been prospected to an average deptli of 40 feet, and rock has been found nearly all along to pay $7 or $8 per ton, exclusive of a few rich pockets. The wall is in places as smooth as glass. There are parts of the vein where the quartz contains enough argentiferous galena to yield 60 ounces of silver to the ton. There is on the claim, a 10-stamp mhill, which has heretofore been used for dry crushing, but is now being remodelled for wet crushing. The pulp, after passing from the bhttery and over copper-plate, is to be settled in tanks, fronom which the'sand will be taken to be ground in Hepburn pans and amalgaamated afterwardsin iarrastras with iron floors and stone drags. BOVEE.-The Bovee mine, 465 feet long, at Angelo, includes four veins which here represent the mlother lode. The main vein seems to be talcose slate near the surface, and is from 20 to 30 feet wide. The first vein to the west of this is two and a half feet wide, and barren, and underlies a heavy bed of talc, three and a WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 63 half feet wide. The next vein is three feet wide, and contains $8 or $10 rock. Then come two feet of slate, beyond which is a vein 15 feet wide, with hard white barren quartz on the hanging wall. At a depth of 120 feet it is only three feet thick, and carries rich sulphlrets in spots. The character at that depth changes from a brittle white to a blueish, spermaceti-like quartz, which promises well. The main vein is a hard, Whlite, barren quartz, with occasional spots of sulphurets. It is supposed from the dip of these veins that they will meet and unite about 400 feet below the surface. At the surface they are about 200 feet apart between the outer lines. The deepest workings are 130 feet down, and at 60 feet drifts have been run 350 feet on the vein. All the rock pays not less than $6 per tonll; but there are two pay chimnleys, which appear to be nearly vertical, and which paid $16 near the surface, and yield $26 per ton at a depth of 120 feet. Seams of slate appear on the surface, but are not found below. Talc is found mixed with the quartz, amid is rich in sulphurets. As soon as a blast is let off in the mine there are men who set to work to break and select the rock, throwing aside all the barren stuff, of which there is considerable. This breaking and selection needs to be done without delay; because after the rock has been shovelled about it becomes so dirty that its quality does. not show without washing. This mine was long known bv the name of its first owner, Mr. Winters, and according to rumor its gross yield under his management was $500,000. He. woriked the claim along its whole length by open cut; andcl in his early workings by picking the rock, he obtained $2,000 or $3,000 per ton in an arrastra. No such vein stone can be found in it now, though it is still considered a rich and very valuable mine. Tlhe Bovee mill has 10 stamps of 500 pounds each, driven at the speedc of 75- blows per minute, with eight inches drop. The screen is of wire No. 20. The gold is amalgamated in the mortar with loose quicksilver, and below the screen there' is a copper plate, -after passing which the pulp goes into a tank where the current is arrested, and through another where the current at the surface is not arrested —that is, there is a steady discharge. For a time Mr. Bovee ran the pulp through three tanks, one below the other, with a constant discharge fronl each; but the experiment satisfied him that the two last did not pay. The first tank below the mortar catches coarse sand; the second catches fine sand; and the third and fourth fill up with slum that does not pay to work. Tile sands from the first two tanks are shovelied upon a platform, fiom which they are taken to charge the Wheeler & Ranadall pans, four feet in diameter, in which they are ground in charges of 800 pounds each for three hours. Half an hour before the grinding is done the mullers are raised a little, and four pounds of quicksilver are put in. The pulp while in the pan is as thick as it can be worrked conveniently. To each charge a large peck of hot coal and wood ashes fronm under the grate are added, and steam is thrown into the pulp. Wheeler, the inventor of the pan, recommends the introduction of 200 pounds of quicksilver at the commencement of the grinding. Bovee uses only four, introduced near the close of the grinding. In Mr. Bovee's opinion, the grinding is facilitated and hastened by keeping the pulp nearly to the boiling point as long as it is in the pans. Three of Knox's pans are used as settlers for each grinding pan. The runs last for two weeks. If the run lasts four weeks a larger proportion of the quicksilver is lost, and that which is saved is corrupt or dirty. Besides the stamp and pan mill, there is an arrastra mill with 15 arrastras, driven by 61 inches of water on an overshot wheel 30 feet in diameter and three' feet wide. The rock is crushed in the stamp mill as fine as peas for the arrastras, in which it is ground for six hours in charges of 280 pounds each. The yield in the pans is 25 per cent. greater than in the arrastras. AxGELS. — The mine of the Angels Quartz Mining Company is 900 feet long, 64 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES and the working vein has an average width of 15 feet of talcose slate mixed with quartz. The quartz-lode is 150 feet west at the surface, and it is supposed that the two will meet about 300 feet from the surface. There is a good gouge on both sides and clay slate walls to the vein. The mine has been worked for 10 years, and is now yielding $$ per ton, though assays show that the rock contains froml $15 to $20. The gold is very fine. The mine has a 30-stamp steam mill, with a Blake crusher to prepare the rock for the stamps, two Wheeler pans for grinding, a Belden settler, and -lately an. experiment has been tried with one of IIesse's pans. The pulp is discharged from the mortar through a slot screen, the orifices being, as wide as those in a No. 40 wire screen. The advantage of the slot screen is that it discharges more freely, as the holes are not plugged up by the sulphurets. The deepest workings are 1SG6 feet deep, and the drifts extend along the vein 350:feet, in payt all the way. Most of the early worlkings were in open cut, and the rock was richer at the surface than in the lower levels. IHILL.-Dr. Hill's mine, 412 feet long, is also working on the talcose slate veini, which averages 15 feet wide, and contains much silicate of lime, besides quartz, the slate occupying a very subordinate portion here. The proprieter of the mine says that most of the oold is found in threads of sulphate of barytes, and in bunches of silicate of lime. Work was comllmenced on the mine in 1857 with arrastras, and has been continued since with the exception of three years. Tlhe total production is estimated at $250,000, and the amount spent in the mine, $300,000. There is now a 12-stamp mill at work on it. The depth from the dies in tile mortar to the discharge is 14 inches, and the stamps when raise d to their highest point are two inches deep in the water. For a time no screen was used, but the result of the experiment was not satisfactory.. T'he present screen is of No. 60 wire. -1unterJs amnalgcamator and Hill's lpan are used. The latter, named after its inventorl the owner of this mine, is a circular copper dish six feet in diameter, six inches deep. A section through the centre represents a segment of an oval. This bowl revolves horizontally on a central axis, and in the centre is a cup to hold quicksilver. The pan makes 18 revolutions p,'.r minute. The whole surface of the pan is covered with amalgam.. One of these pans at the mill of the Angels Quartz Mlining Company saves 8200 per month, it is said. In Hill's mine there are numerous horses of barren slate, and in one place a trachytic dike 15 feet thick crosses the lode running westnorthwest and east-southeast. About five per cent. of the pay rock consists of snlpllnrets.'i'he silicate of lime gives a milky look to tihe pulp as it comes: from the mortar. STICKLEs. —The Stickles mine, 400 feet long, near the town of Angels, on the mother lode, which is there 20 feet thick, is quartz and pay all the way througll, with numerous seams of slate. The deepest workings are SO0 feet below the surface, and drifts have been run 120 feet on the vein, in pay rock all the way. There is a 10-stamp mill in operation on the mine.. UTICA.-The Utica, 600 feet long, is owned in San Francisco. There was a nine-stamp mill which did not pay, and has been moved away. The deepest workingso are 60 feet from the surface. LIGHTNER. —The Lightner mine, 400 feet long, owned in San Francisco, was worked in open cut for three or four years to a depth of 70 feet with a 10-stamp mill, but the expenses were a trifle imore than the receipts, and so the mill was moved awav and the mine left idle. If wages were a little lower fhis mine xwould pay, for, according to the general opinion in the neighborhood, there is a large body of rock that will yield at least $4 or $5 per ton, and probably $6 or $8. ELLA. — The Ella mine (known also by the names of the Calaveras, thle Terrific, and the Demorest) is seven miles northwest of Angels, on a veinll whicl is eight feet wide and crops out along the surface for 800 or 1,000 feet. Tlhe vein-stone is a hard ribbon rock, rich in sulphurets, with a seam of barren " bastard quartz" in the middle. The ribbon rocl yields $S per ton. The foot WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 6 wall is black slate and the hanging wall green-stone. -A shaft has' been sunk 110 feet, and drifts have been run 35 feet on the vein. The mine is in a deep ravine at the foot of Bear mountain, with steep hills on both sides. There is a- 0-stamp mill, but both mine and mill are now standing idle.At this mine an experiment was tried of roasting the rock with superheated steam. A furnace was built 20 feet high and 16 feet in diameter externally, with an ore chamber seven feet wide at the bottom, nine feet at the top, and 16 feet high. The fire boxes were on the sides of the ore chamber'near the bottom, and over the grating ran a steam pipe full of orifices, through which steam could escape. The rock as it came from the mine was thrown into this furnace, and was roasted from 40 to 70 hours at a red heat with a steady discharge of superheated steam from the pipes. The heat was reduiced by shutting off the steam, or increased by letting on more. The expense of roasting in this method was $2 per ton, the price of wood-the only fuel used-being $3 50 per cord.'The sulphurets were completely desulphurized by this method, and the battery crushed twice as much in a day as of the run rock. The gold in the roasted ore amalgamated readily, but the quicksilver was lost. The experiment cost $25,000, and was regarded as a failure. WEST POINT.-West Point is a quartz mining town between the middle and the north fork of the Mokelumne river, eastward from Mokelumne HIil, from which it is 12 miles distant in a direct line, and 16 miles by the road. Its elevation is about 2,800 feet above the sea. The bed rock is granite, and the limestone belt lies three miles to the west. Quartz mining is conducted here on a peculiar system. The lodes are narrow and rich in sulphurets, and their wealth is confined chiefly to pockets. Mining and milling are separate occupations. One set of men get quartz, and another set own mills and do customwork. The " pockety" character of the veins renders mining, with the majority, a very irregular, if not a very uncertain business; and there is not one.vein in ten, even among those which have yielded large sums, that will furnish' steady employment to a mill. The custom among the "pocket" miners is to hunt for pockets near the surface, and when they have found one they clean it out carefuilly, going down seldom more than 50 feet; and having pounded out the coarsest gold in a -hand mortar, and sent the -quartz containing the finer particles to a custom mill, they leave that spot and hunt for another pocket near the surface. The experience of those who have gone down in search of other pockets has not been encolrging. The prospecter lays bare as much of the surface of the vein as he can, and goes picking along in seairch of a visible speck of gold, and having found that, he makes a careful search for a pocket in the neighborhood. When these pocket miners are successful they get a good lot of money at once, and many of them live high till it is gone, and then they may have very plain meals for three, six, or nine months, before they come on another treasure. It is said, however, that they have more money to spend than any other class of miners in Calaveras county. There are some mines here which give regular employment to mills owned by the same proprietors, but'pocket mining and custom milling are followed more extensive here relatively than in any other part of the State. There are about 100 men who make pocket mining their only business. If the quartz does not yield 815 per ton it will not pay them; and they can tell by a brief examination within a dollar or two of the yield per ton. When' they have found something worthy of examination, they pound up a fair sample in a'hand mortai and boil it in nitric acid, as a rude mode of assay. In the neighborhood of West Point there are several hundred veins that have had rich pockets, and one hill 400 feet across has three dozen such veins. In many of them the gold is so fine that none of it can be obtained in a hand mortai. The tining laws of West Point.give 200 feet on a' vein to a claim, and require one day's work every month to hold a claim. 5 6 6 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES FISHErm's:MILL. — Fisher's custom mill, one mile southeast from West Point, has been running 11 years. It is driven by water-power, has two staimps and two arrastras, charges $7 per ton for working rock, and works two tons per day, with the services of one man. The whole establishment cost about $2,000. HARRIs'S MILL.-Harris's custom mill, on Sandy gulch, a mile and a quarter west of West Point, has five stamps, four Brevoort pans, and three patent concentrators, and charges $5 per ton for working rock. This mill was built four or five years ago, and has been running almost constantly. BELCHER'S MILL.-The Belcher custom mill, a mile and three-quarters southeast of West Point, has eight stamps, but does not run regularly because of the difficulty of getting a steady supply of water. LACEY'S MILL.-Lacey's mill has five stamps, and does' custom work only. SKTULL FLAT MILL. —The Skull Flat mill is two miles east of West Point, has ten stamps, goes by water, amalgamates in the mortar and in copper-plates, and uses two Hungerford's concentrators, but does nothing as yet with the concentrated tailings. The Skull Flat Company owns claims on six or seven veins, the widest not over two feet, and a depth of 100 feet has been reached in several of them. The veins run north and south, and the rock pays $30 or $35. CARLETON.-The Carleton mine, a mile and a half northwest of West Point, is on a vein a foot wide. There are two arrastras which were built in'1866, and crush and amalgamate each a ton per day. VANcE AND MINA RIcA. —Vance's mill, five miles west of West Point, has eight stamps, and is standing idle. The Mina Rica has two veins two feet thick, with very hard quartz, and much water in the lower levels. The mill has 10 stamps and 10 Baux's pans. The power is steam. Both mine and mill are standing idle. MORRIS'S MILL.-M-Iorris's mill, near West Point, has two arrastras and a roasting furnace. All the ore is roasted, and according to report the yield is $50 per ton, whereas without roasting it yields only $3. MOSQUITO.- The Mosquito mine, 1,500 feet long, is five miles west of West Point, on a vein five feet wide in slate. A large quantity of rock, yielding $7 per ton, was obtained near the surface; and now a tunnel is being cut to open the mine to a considerable depth. The mill was built in 1857, and was rebuilt illn 1863. It has 15 stamps, and is standing idle. RAILROAD FLAT MILL. -The Railroad Flat custom mill, 13 miles east of Mokelumne Hill, has 10 stamps, was built in 1866, and does not get enough business to keep it running constantly. The veins in the vicinity have not been well opened. WOODHousE.-The Woodhouse mine, 5,000 feet long, is between the -forks of the Mokelumne river, 14 miles by the road, eastward from Mokelumne Hill. The vein is four feet wide, runs north and south, and dips to the west at an angle of 45~ The walls on both sides are granite, and there is a white clay gouge, whlich is generally found on the foot wall. The croppings of the vein show for two or three miles. The pay quartz is white near the surface, and at greater depth is bluish and rich in: sulphurets. The barren quartz is white, glassy, and coarsegrained. The first pay chimney is found 1,800 feet from the south fork of the TMokelumne liver, (which is the boundary of the claim,) and 900 feet above its level on the mountain side. This chimney is 150 feet long horizontally. After an interval of 600 feet another chimney' is found, and this one is 400 feet long beyond which the lode is barren for 200 feet, and then it splits up for 1,000 feet into small branches less than a foot wide. These contain good pay, and one shaft has been sunk 100 feet to work them. Beyond this place the vein has not been prospected. The rock from the different chimneys can be distinguished by persons familiar with the mine. All the rock in the pay chimneys is worked. The vein is crossed by several trap dikes which are nearly vertical, dipping slightly to the south. They appear to bear no relation to the position of the pay WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 67 chimneys; that is, the appearance of a dike is not considered an indication of the proximity of a chimney. Most of the work has been done through cross-tunnels which strike the vein 200 or 300 feet from the surface. The mine has a 15stamp mill, which has crushed 14,000 tons of rock and taken out $140,000. After the pulp has been amalgamated in the mortar and on copper-plates, it is concentrated on blankets, and the blanket washings are ground and amalgamated in five Brevoort pans. The mill is driven by two 30-foot overshot water wheels. There is a considerable quantity of loose or "float" rock along the surface of the vein, and 3,000 feet of 11-inch iron pipe are to be obtained for the purpose of washing this float rock by hydraulic process. Much of the gold in the rock from the lower levels is lost in the sulphurets, and an agreement has been made for the erection of a'revolving furnace to roast 15 tons in 24 hours, at a cost of $3 per ton. HOLMES. —The Holmes mine, 1,600 feet long, south of the Woodhouse and adjoining it, was opened in 1866. The vein is eight feet wide, and has been opened by tunnel along a length of 500 feet. The mine has a 10-stamp mill. The sulphurets contain from $300 to $1,300 per ton. BOSTON.-The Boston mine adjoins the Woodhouse on the north, and was worked by an eight-stamp mill in 1853, but did not pay. The mill was washed away afterwards. Some Mexicans are now at work on the mine, with two arrastras driven by water. They obtain their rock from small rich chimneys. QUAIL HILL.-Quail Hill, near the western line of the county, has a large deposit of auriferous talcose slate, containing seams of quartz and copper ore. It is not a well-defined vein, but the general course appears to be northwest and southeast, and the dip 60~ to the northeast. The width is about 60 feet. Much of the surface has been washed in sluices, which paid at times very well. The total yield in sluices was not less than $25,000, and besides the gold 150 tons of good copper ore were obtained. This mine is the property of a San Francisco company, which is now building a 20-stamp mill and constructing a ditch 11 miles long from Salt Spring reservoir.* " Professor Silliman, in a paper read before the California Academy of Natural Sciences, said:, In the search for ores of copper which occurred in California in what is now known as the copper belt of the Lower Sierras, -deposits of iron rust, as they were called by the miners, were observed at numerous points far below the range of the main gold belt of the Sierras. Several of these ochraceous deposits had been previously located by prospecting miners for gold before there was any knowledge or suspicion even of the existence of ores of copper in connection with them. It was a matter of common observation that certain gulches or watercourses in the neighborhood of these rusty deposits were rich in placer gold, having been worked for gold from an early date. The search for copper in this kind of deposit was not commercially successful, although there were shipments of green and blue carbonates of copper, red oxyd, and metallic copper, to a limited extent from both the localities here referred to, (the Harpending mine in Placer county, and the Quail Hill in Calaveras,) the metal from which was known to contain a notable value of gold and silver, stated to be about $50 to the ton of ore. This search for copper has however opened up these deposits so as to display their character in a conspicuous manner. The rocks appear to have been originally talcose and chloritic schists, sometimes micaceous, enclosing masses of argillite, and of quartz, which appears to have been massive enough at certain points to assume the character of a vein, and parallel to the stratification, which has the usual northwestern strike and easterly dip of the region. All this mass of material, which at Quail Hill is certainly 300 feet wide, and possibly twice that, and with a linear extent exceeding 1,000 feet, appears to have been very highly impregnated or mineralized by sulphurets, chiefly of iron, with a portion of copper, zinc, and lead. The sulphurets have undergone almost total decomposition throughout the entire mass, leaving soft ochraceous deposits of a rusty red and yellow color, and staining the rocks with brilliant color, a peculiarity' which the miners have characterized by the name of " calico rocks." This decomposition or oxydation of the sulphurets has extended to a point as low as atmospheric influences extend, or probably to a point where water,is permanently found, which at Quail Hill is assumed to be about 170 feet below the outcrop of the mass. Dikes of porphyry and of other rocks commonly called intrusive are seen dividing these great ore channels in a' direction conformable to the line of strike. But the decomposition which has -68' ~ RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES CoLLtER.-The Collier claim, one mile southeast of Quail Hill, is similar in character to the preceding mine, and has been worked in the same manner. The total yield is estimated at $10,000. It is said that if the mill at Quail Hill succeeds one will be built here. affected other portions of the ore channel appears also to have changed them; for they are found to be reduced completely to the condition of kaolin and lithromarge, or kindred alterations of feldspathic rocks. The outlines of the feldspar crystals are still easily distinguished, although the mass of the dikes is completely friable. In another paper on the mine Professor Silliman says the explorations made for copper have laid open the deposit sufficiently to disclose clearly its true nature, extent, and almost incalculable value in gold and silver. It is an ore channel, conformable like all the copper mines of the region to the line of strike of the rocks, not less, probably, than 300 feet in width, and perhaps more than twice that width. Its eastern wall is distinctly seen in the open cut, as shown in the section, dipping easterly about 70~. The western wall has never been seen, but is certainly pretty far down the slope, on the western side. The contents of this enormous channel of ore-bearing ground, so far as exposed, are entirely decomposed by chemical agency, so that they offer to the miner and geologist one of the most remarkable cases known of the total destruction of metallic sulphurets which plainly once filled the whole chasm, now converted into gossans or oxides of iron of various colors, and carbonates of copper, mingled with masses of spongy and white quartz, of talcose and chloritic rocks, rotten porphyry, heaviy spar, &c., &c., all so completely changed and decayed by the causes alluded to that the entire mass yields to the pick and shovel in any direction. This extreme decay of the original contents renders the study of the mass at first a little difficult; no sulphurets of any kind remain visible to guide the eye, but in their place everywhere the results of their decomposition. The mass is evidently a gigantic vein, the main constituent of which was a highly sulphuretted quartz, holding originally iron and copper pyrites throughout its entire mass; these sulphurets, and the quartz itself, being very uniformly impregnated at all parts with gold and silver. Examined by the battea, the pan, or the horn spoon, no part of the contents of this great ore channel fails to give abundant "prospects" of gold. Even the dry cherty croppings broken from all parts of the hill, without selection, gave an ample show of gold. The gulch at the base of the hill has always yielded good washings, and does so still, the source of which is from the ores of Quail Hill. I found the gold in nearly all the varieties of mineral contents contained in the hill, showing that any attempt at selection would be useless, and that the whole of the mass must be worked as it runs, except certain layers of soft white rock, resembling kaolin, which are probably too poor in gold to pay for working. EXTENT OF EXPL'RATIONS.-This mass has been opened by a cut driven 82 feet into it, beyond the line of the east wall, by an incline 57 feet long, at an angle of 38~0, and by a shaft 42 feet below the cut, sunk in pursuit of copper ore. The shaft in the open cut explores the mass over 80 feet below the walls of the cut and nearly 150 feet below the crown of the hill. Another shaft, sunk 100 feet south of the open cut, opens the deposit to a total depth of 90 feet under the crown of the hill. Near Gopher Gulch is another shaft 62 feet deep, which passes into the unchanged sulphurets 25 feet, it is said, from its mouth, (this shaft has water in it now,) or about 170 feet under the hill. The position of all these openings is seen on the map; but there is a tunnel, not shown on the map, run some 70 feet into the hill, on the west side, and several hundred feet (about S50 feet) beyond the western' limits of the location, in which the entire mass of the hill is still seen to be completely decomposed at that part also, the tunnel having been run by the pick alone. From this tunnel I obtained spongy quartz, which prospected well for gold; but this point is very far west of the supposed productive limits of the deposit. Numerous surface-pits have also been sunk over the hill in various places for the purpose of obtaining averages, from all of which gold prospects may be obtained in the pan. VALUE OF TIlE ORES.-I collected for assay and practical workings careful samples from1. The whole face of the open cut on both sides and end. 2. The incline shaft. 3. The south shaft. I give here only the general results and averages, viz: (1.) The average from the three places named above was by working tests: Gold.....................................................$................ $29 18 Silver..................................................................... 5 91 Total value per ton of 2,000 pounds.............................. 35 09 By assay, value per ton of 2,000 pounds............................. 50 17 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 69 BRUSRVILLE.-The Austin and Hathaway mine at Brushville, half a mile south of the Calaveras river, is on a similar deposit, and has been worked down to a depth of 30 feet. The owners of the mine, who reside in San Francisco, are erecting a 20-stamp steamn mill. PLYMOUTH.-The Plymouth mine, 2,000 feet ldng, at Brushville, is on a deposit similar to that at Quail HIill. Mr. HIeusch, a mining engineer, who examined the mine in 1865, said: This mineral deposit may be described as a vein or belt of gold-bearing quartz imbedded in a soft decomposed talcose rock, the whole being enclosed between two nearly perpendicular walls of greenstone. The quartz, of which there is a lode of about eight feet in width, (2.) Ten (10) small samples collected at various points in the open cut, with a view to determine where the ore was richer or poorer, (the details of which are appended,) gaveGold.......................................................... $17 08 Silver........................................ 5 82 Total........................................................... 22 90 Assay value of same............................ 24 70 (3.) A large lot of 2,843 pounds of ores collected some time since, under direction of Messrs. Attwood and Peachy, were carefully worked by Mr. Lewis Blandiug, giving by working tests an aveirage ofGold...................... $35 08 Silver...................................................................... 14 38 Total..................................... 49 46 Assay value.... 82 65 (4.) Averaging these three independent sets of returns, as we have for the general averageGold $30 11 Gold.~. ~............................................................... Silver..................................................................... 8 68 Averaging total working tests..................................... 38 79 Average assay value..52 51 An inspection of the tabulated results given in detail with this report will show that the silver is very unequally disposed, being found in greatest quantity in the incline shaft or near its mouth. If we view the results from the least favorable side, even accepting the lowest single averages as those most likely to be obtained in working in the large way, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the Whole mass of the ores at Quail Hill, so far as explored, exceeds the average gold tenor of most of the best quartz mines of the State of California. * * i * * * * * *. * COST AND MODE OF TREATMENT. —At Quail Hill the water-power is sufficient to move 100 stamps, as the water is delivered under an estimated pressure of about'200 feet head. The only water in all the region is at the command of the owners of Quail Hill. The reservoir has a: present area of over 650 acres, and the right of flowage, by the terms of its loca-.tion, of an elevation of 15 feet more than its present height. A line of survey is now being run for a ditch, estimated to be of about ten. (10) miles in length, to convey the water to Quail Hill, and also of the line marking the area of flowage at an elevation 15 feet higher than the present. This reservoir fills the valley known as Salt Spring Valley. With these facilities it is estimnated that the cost of treatment of the Quail Hill ores will not exceed 70 to 80 cents per ton, including the cost of extraction and delivery at mill. The mode of treatment is based on the condition of the gold, which is all free, viz: amalgamation in battery, double discharge; moderately coarse screens, No. 2 or No. 3; amalgamated copper aprons and riffles; large settlers to collect amalgam and mercury; an ample flow of pure water to aid in settling the residuum, and large slime pits to retain the ttailings, are the main features. As experience in the management of the ores teaches us better methods, such improvements as are thus warranted may gradually be introduced. Blankets may form a part of the system, following the copper inclines. I would not advise an estimate of value exceeding $10 per ton, net saving, or say 40 and 50 per cent. of the demonstrated value. The residue is not lost, and the ample head and flow of water will permit the company at any future time to set up a pan mill, or any other approved mode of working over the. tailings, provided the tailings are retained as herein advised, and should be found valuable. 70 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES occupies the western part of the vein, while the remaining space is filled with the auriferous talcose rock, the whole forming a regular channel of gold-bearing matter of about 40 feet in width, many hundred feet in length, and doubtless many hundred feet in depth. It is in fact a wide chasm, running through a hill several hundred feet in height, and filled with auriferous quartz and other gold-bearing matter. AMr. Heusch estimated that there were, within 300 feet of the surface, in a length of 600 feet, 214,185 tons of auriferous matter that would yield $10 gross and $4 net per ton. There is a 10-stamp mill on the mine, and it began to run on the 1st of September. The estimated yield is $8 per ton, and the expense $2. LAMPHEARI.-The Lamphear mine, 1,800 feet long, is two miles southeast of Miokelumne Hill, is on a vein which is four feet wide, and has been worked to a depth of 45 feet and to a length of.100 feet. Six hundred tons of rock have been worked, and sonme of it was quite rich. There is an eight-stamp mill on the mine. CADWALLADER MILL-Tile Cadwallader mill has three stamps, was built for prospecting, and is not at work. FRENCHn MILL.-The French mill, at Rich gulch, six miles east of Mokelumne Hill, was but two yeais ago, has 15 stamps, and is standing idle. McGLYNNT'S MILL. —IcGlynn's six-stamp mill, erected at San Andreas to crush quartz, is being moved to Irvine's claim, on the old channel, to crush cement. CHERo KEE.-The Cherokee mine, 1,700 feet long, west of Altaville and a quarter of a mile west of the line of the mother lode, was discovered by some placer miners, who washed the gravel and clay from the surface of a vein of decomposed quartz, and dug up the carions quartz filled with auriferous clay and washed that too. The discoverers, having taken out $27,000, sold to others, who got $9,000 and then leased it to a gentleman who obtained $30,000; and after him came a party who got out $25,000. The mine is now owned by a citizen of San Francisco, who has a 16-stamp mill now idle on it. The gold is coarse and is in pockets, and most of the rock does not yield more than $2 or $3 per ton. SAN DOMINGO. —At San Domingo a rich auriferous pocket was found in limestone, the rock yielding $1,500 per ton. After most of the gold-bearing quartz was extracted the mine was sold to a San Francisco company for $10,000. They never obtained any return for it. MIURPHY'S. —At Murphy's a similar pocket was found and a mill was erected at a cost of $40,000. Although water could have been obtained in constant supply, it was driven by steam. The rich rock was soon exhausted, and the mill was sold and removed. At Mlurphy's there is a three-stamp mill now running, called the Valparaiso mill. At Cave City some rich rock was found, and a mill was built, but it has since been moved. At El Dorado there is a mill. CRISPIN.-The Crispin mine, 2,400 feet in length, two miles west of Murphy's, is on a vein which runs east and west and dips to the south at an angle of 80~. A shaft has been sunk to a depth of 100 feet, and drifts have been run 150 feet on the vein. The width of the lode is six feet, but the pay is confined near the surface to a very narrow seam next the hanging wall, though it widens as it goes down. The pay chimney is only 30 feet long on the surface, but ft the 100-foot level the drifts have not reached the end in either direction. T'he walls are of slate, with a gouge of auriferous talcose slate. There is a water-wheel for putmping and loisting, but no mill. A custom mill crushed 225 tons and obtained ano average of $20 per ton. A quartz lode running northwest and. southeast passes through Murphy's and Douglas Flat, anid has been struck at many places by placer miners. At the surface it consists of decomposed quartz, and all along its line quartz boulders are found, and some of them have been rich. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 71 ISABEL.-The Isabelnmine, about half a mile westward from Vallecito, yielded $50,000 in a single pocket. A mill was erected, but as it did not pay it was moved away, and the mine is not worked. CALAVEIRrras.-The Calaveritas mill, erected about 10 years ago by a French company at a cost of $110,000, has been moved away. It never crushed a pound of quartz from the mine which it was built to work. Before it was completed the pocket supposed to represent the average richness of the vein was exhausted, and as no auriferous rock could be found afterwards, the mill had nothing to do. ALBION. —The Albion mine, in Salt Spring valley, three miles west of Copperopolis, has been worked for three years with a 10-stamp mill. The average yield is about $6 per ton, leaving very little profit. The gold coins $11 per ounce. THoRPE's.-Thorpe's mine, 600 feet long, six miles west of Angels, is on a vein which runs northwest and southeast, and is similar in its gangue to the Bovee mine. The thickness of the lode is three feet, and the yield is $10 per ton. The rock is crushed and amalgamated by two arrastras, driven by a water-wheel. 24 feet in diameter. The Ratcliffe mine, 400 feet long, is two miles southwest of Angels, on the Copperopolis road. The vein is from four to six feet wide, and the rock is quartz mixed with talcose slate. This mine has been worked at intervals for three or four years, but steadily for 18 months, by one man, who throws the quartz upon the road, where it is ground fine by the heavy wagons passing over it, and then he shovels the dust into his sluice, which runs along the road, and catches the gold. This is the only lode mine worked on this plan in the State. CARPENTER. —Adjoining the Ratcliffe mine and on the same vein is the Carpenter mine, on which a five-stamp mill was erected in 1855. The mill was moved to Angels, and the mine is now lying idle. PURNELL.-The Purnell mine, 600 feet, adjoining the Carpenter, has been worked for five or six years, and a 10-stamp mill is now going up on it. SECTION VI. AMADOR COUNTY. Amador, one of the smallest mining counties of the State, and also one of the most prosperous, lies between the AMokelumne and Cosumnes mivers, extending from the summit of the Sierra to near the plain, with a length of 50 miles and an average width of 14. It owes its prosperity chiefly to the mother lode, which crosses the county about 12 miles from the western boundary, and has within three miles three mines, which have all been worked continuously for 15 years, have probably produced not less than $8,000,000, and form the most remarkable cluster of quartz mines on one vein in the State. Twelve miles further east, near Volcano, there is another rich quartz mining district, which has some peculiar features. Otherwise, the county has not much wealth. It has no great thoroughfare leading across the mountains, no place of fashionable summer resort, no productive mines of copper, no extensive hydraulic claims, few rich surface placers, and no quarries of marble or deposits of plumbago. The agriculture of the county is prosperous but not extensive\ The farmers do not aim to do more than supply the home demand, except in wine, and for that there is no regular market as yet. The county has a large number of vineyards, and they are cultivated with care. Timber is abundant in the eastern part of the county, but scanty in the western. Near the eastern boundary, at an elevation of 10,000 feet above the sea, is Silver lake, a mile long and a half mile wide, surrounded by beautiful scenery. 72 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES It will probably become a favorite summer resort at some future time, when better means of access are provided. A road following up the main divide between the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers, in this county, leads across the Sierra Nevada through the Carson pass. It was made at considerable expense, but there is not much travel on it. The most remarkable topographical feature of the county is the Jackson butte, which rises 1,200 feet above the adjacent country, five miles from the county seat. In form it is a regular cone, with a sharp peak, and there are no signs that it ever had a crater, although it has often been spoken of as an extinct volcano. Jackson creek, Sutter creek, Dry creek, and Indian creek, which drain the county between the rivers that serve as boundaries, all go dry in the spring.'Water is supplied by 28 ditches, with an aggregate length of 433 miles and an aggregate cost of $1,154,500. The only large ditches are the Butte, Amador, and Volcano ditches. The county debt is $100,000, and the State and county taxes together are $3 20 on the $100 of assessed value. Jackson, the county seat, formerly had rich placers in its neighborhood, but now depends chiefly upon quartz. Sutter Creek is the chief town and business centre of the county. It ranks next to Grass Valley for the production of quartz gold. Amador and Drytown are other towns situated on or near the mother lode. Volcano, the only placer mining town in the'county now producing much gold, is on the lime belt, and has diggings very similar to those of Columbia and Murphy's. Butte City, which depended on shallow placers and was once populous and prosperous, is now exhausted and abandoned. Buena Vista, Forest Home, Willow Springs, Slabtown, Clinton, and Aqueduct City are also worked out. Tiddletown has a few good hydraulic claims, and Lancha Plana several that pay a little more than expenses. Ione City is surrounded by a fertile farming land, and there are more than 1,000,000 vines-in the vicinity. The quartz mines of the county, as a class, were unprofitable previous to 1858, but since that year they have been steadily improving, and the white population has been increasing. It is estimated by county officers who have occasion to make close observation, that 1,000 Chinamen have left the county this year. Several high ridges or divides that come down from the Sierra are supposed to consist chiefly of gravel with rich auriferous strata in them, but there is no proof of the correctness of this theory save the general resemblance of'these ridges to others known to be auriferous. VoLcANo.-The town of Volcano, situated on the lime belt, 12 miles east — ward from Jackson, was so named because it is in a deep basin, and the first miners at the place supposed they were in an extinct crater. This supposition has not been accepted as correct by scientific men generally who have visited the place, although there are many marks of volcanic outflows in the neighborhood. The diggings here are very similar to those of Murphy's and Columbia on the lime belt further south, and the same difficulties of drainage have been experienced. On China Hill, south of Volcano, are the following hydraulic claims: Ross & Co., 300 by 100 feet, have been at work since 1855, and have made $5 or $6 per day. During the last three years three men have been employed. Their claim is 80 feet deep. Goodrich & Co. have 200 by 100 feet, have worked for 12 years, and have not found very good pay. The claim is 80 feet deep, and will last four or five years. There are two men at work. Farrin & Co. have 300 by 100 feet, and are working to a depth of 20 feet, below which they have no drainage, and must hoist their dirt. The claim has been worked at intervals for 13 years, and now employs three men. The Murphy & Co. claim is 300 by 100 feet on the surface, and 100 feet deep, WEST OF TIIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 73 has paid from $8 to $12 per day to the hand, until within the last year, and lately has not paid expenses. There have been a number of other claims on China Hill, but they are either abandoned or of little note. At the mouth of China gulch are the following' dump-box claims: Foster & Co. have 400 by 150 feet, employ six or seven men, and have been at work since 1853, excepting from 1858 till 1862, when they were idle, waiting for the completion of the open cut to give them drainage. In 1866 they took'out $8,500 clear of expenses. The claim will last three years, and is worked only in the summer. Sullivan & Co. have 200 by 150 feet, commenced work in 1865, and have made $3 or $4 per day to the hand. They employ four men, and their claim willlast two years. Armstrong & Co. have 800 by 150 feet, and employ five men. They commenced work in 1852, and made good pay till 1857, when work was stopped for want of drainage. In 1861 they began again, and did well till 1866, in which they only paid expenses. This year they are again getting good pay. The claim will last seven or eight years. It is worked only in the summer. Hayt & Co. have a very small claim. On M{ahala Flat, Goodrich and Co. have a hydraulic claim, 200 by 100 feet. They have worked since 1856, and have made wages until lately. Two men are employed. On Volcano Flat are the following dump-box claims, which are worked only in sumrnmer: Terrill & Co. have 400 -by 100 feet, and employ six men. The claim has been worked since 1861, and has paid very well. Green & Co. have 300 by 100 feet, employ five men, have been at work since 1861, and have made good pay. The Italian claim has been worked since 1865, and pays well. Cerrelli & Co. have been at work since 1865, and have obtained good pay. Much ground now occupied for gardening purposes in Volcano will be mined out within three or four years. QUARTZ REGULATIONS OF AMADOR.-In Amador county, each district has its own mining regulations for quartz, as well as for placer mining. If a claim is not within the limits of any district, it may, according to custom, be recorded in the nearest district, and held under its laws. In the Volcano district a lode claim for one person is 200 feet on the vein, and 75 feet on each side. In the Pinegrove district a claim for one person is 300 feet, and 100 feet on each side, and in this, as in the Volcano district, one day's work is necessary each month to hold each share. In the Volcano, Pinegrove, Clinton, and Jackson districts a compan's claim, no matter how large, may be held for a year by doing work to the amount of $500, posting a notice on the claim, and filing notice with the recorder that such work has been done. In the Jackson district, if the company is a small one, it may do work to the amount of $20 for each share, and this will hold the claim for a year. There: are no pocket veins in Amador county similar to those at West Point, in Calaveras county, or at Bald mountain, in Tuolumne. The limestone at Volcano is full of bunches of quartz, but they are not large enough to work, and there are no regular veins. In the vicinity of Volcano, most of the quartz veins cut across the slates at an angle of 450, and run between 15 and 300 east of north. Elvan courses are abundant in the limestone. QUARTZ VEINs ABOUT VoLcANo. —The quartz lodes in the vicinity of Volcano generally run northeast and southwest, cut across the slates, contain considerable 74 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES portions of antimony, arsenic, lead, and zinc, with traces of tellurium, and are intersected by elvan courses, which run north and south, and dip to the west at an angle of 700. The elvan courses are usually from one foot to four feet in thickness, and the intervals between them are very irregular. Quartz veins crossed by elvan courses are usually poor near the intersections. Those lodes which run with the courses are very spotted, rich in some places, and poor in others.. Where the quartz is thick in these veins, it is richer than in the narrow places. Pockets and coarse gold are rare. MARLFETTE. — The following mines are on the motherlode or its branches. The Marlette, 800 feet long on the mother lode, near the Mokelumne river, is reputed to be rich, but unprofitable on account of the high cost of working. There is a 10-stamp mill which has been idle a year and a half. CoNEY.-The Coney mine, 800 feet long, is half a mile south of Jackson, on a vein which is 30 feet west of the main mother lode, and can be traced for 10 miles by its croppings. The dip in this mine is 720 to the northeast. The lode is nine feet wide. The deepest workings are 200 feet from the surface, and drifts have been run 300 feet on the vein, all of which, so far as examined, is pay rock. For 150 feet from the sqrface there is much slate, and lower down the vein-stone is all quartz. Near the hanging wall is found ribbon rock, containing some free gold, which is rare elsewhere. Five per cent. of the vein matter, and in spots 20 per cent., is sulphurets, which yields $7 50 per ton of unconcentrated rock, and $200 per ton of clean sulphurets. The free gold yields $6 per ton, so the total yield may be put down as $13 50 per ton. The mill has 16 stamps in four batteries. Hendy's concentrater and sluices are used in concentration. It was necessary for the purpose of working this mine with a profit to have a chlorination establishment, which has been erected. The furnace is 17 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 84 feet high outside, with a smoke-stack 25 feet high. There are two reverberatory hearths one over the other, and each 10 feet square, with a capacity to hold a ton and a half. There are 12,000 brick, fifty perch of stone, and five cubic yards of soapstone in the furnace, which it is supposed will last three years. A charge is roasted 12 hours in each hearth, so that the furnace has a capacity to roast three tons in 24 hours. The total cost of the. establishment was $2,100, and the cost of the chlorination is estimated at $25 per ton of sulphurets. A cord of wood costing $4 is consumed in roasting three tons. BLUE JACKET.-Adjoining -the Coney on the north is the Blue Jacket mine, 1,000 feet long. The shaft is down 100 feet deep. Only $1 25 per ton of free gold has been obtained, and $100 per ton from the concentrated sulphurets. No work is being done now. TROWBRIDGE.-The Trowbridge adjoining has 1,200 feet, and is at work, but is not crushing. The Adams mine on the same vein is not crushing. ONEIDA.-The Oneida mine, 3,000 feet long, is a mile and a half north of Jackson, on the mother lode. The course there is nearly north and south, and the dip to the eastward from 650 to 800. The main shaft is 500 feet deep, and drifts have been run about 600 feet on the vein; the width is from 10 to 40 feet; the foot-wall is slate, and the hanging wall greenstone. The quartz is white and blue, with some ribbon rock which contains more free gold than is found in other parts of the vein. There is a black putty gouge on the foot-wall. There are two pay chimneys, which dip to the north, and all the rock in them is pay. The quartz within six or eight feet of the hanging wall yields $30 or $40 per ton, but the average of all worked is $17 50 per ton. All the ore heretofore worked has been taken from one pay chimney, which is 300 feet long, horizontally, at the surface, and 400 feet long at a depth of 400 feet. The vein pinches out at the ends of the pay chimneys, so that there is very little barren rock. The walls are, in places, as smooth as glass. The mine is opened so that there is ore enough in sight to supply 60 tons per day for five years. The mine was discovered in 1851 by a hunter who chased a rabbit to some WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 75. large quartz croppings, in which, after a brief examination, he found rich specimens of gold. Since then work has been prosecuted continuously and with almost constant profit. Three or four mills were built successively, and the mine has changed hands a dozen times. Many thousand tons of quartz have been crushed from it, but there is no record of its early yield. In eight months preceding June 1, 1867i $135,000 were taken from 7,710 tons, at an expense of $5 per ton, leaving $12 50 net per ton. The present owners have not had possession long, and they have expended much in opening the mine and putting the mill into good condition. The superintendent says that if the proprietors had not had a considerable sum of money at their control after purchasing the mine, they would have been ruined, since without the repairs andti the new shafts and levels they could have got nothing. The mill has 60 stamps, and is driven by steam. Amalgamation begins in the battery, and continues on copper aprons below; then there are shakingtables, blankets, copper sluices 60 feet long, blankets again, and sluices. The screen is No. 4, punched in slots. One.per cent. of the ore is sulphurets, which, when concentrated, yield $200 to the ton. HAYWARD.-The Hayward mine, one of the most valuable gold mines of California, is 1,800 feet long, and includes two old claims known as the Eureka and the Badger. The average width of the vein is 12 feet, and the dip 75~ to the east. All the rock is taken out. The hanging wall is of hard serpentine; the foot-wall is of slate, polished smooth. The foot-wall swells so that the mine closes entirely up behind the workmen, and saves the trouble of leaving pillars, and prevents any apprehension of caving in. There is a continuous black putty gouge. There is only one pay chimney, and that is 500 feet long, horizontally, on the surface, and at 1,200 feet below the surface the supposed length is 600 feet. The walls come together at the ends of the pay chimney, which dips to thenorth at an angle of about 800. The deepest incline is 1,230 feet deep, the greatest depth reached in the mines in California. The surface of the earth at Sutter creek is 900 feet above the sea; so the lowest drifts in the Hayward claim are 300 feet below the sea level. Work was commenced in 1852, and has been continued uninterruptedly since. A 10-stamp mill was erected on the Eureka claim in 1852. A new mill, with 20 stamps, was erected in 1856, and 20 more were added the next year. A 10-stamp mill was built on the Badger or southern claim in 1854, and six more stamps were added in 1857. Mr. Hayward, the present owner, obtained a controlling interest in the Badger in 1854, purchased the Eureka in 1858, and became sole owner of the Badger in 1859, thus consolidating the two claims. There are three shafts-the southern 760 feet deep, the middle 960, and the northern 1,230. At the level of 760 feet a pillar has been and is to be left to catch the water which comes from the surface. About 45,000 gallons were hoisted daily in buckets in the early part of June —25,000 from the southern and 20,000 from the northern part of the mihe. In February and March the quantity was twice as great. There are two mills now, with 56 stamps, and with capacity to crush 80 tons per day, but at times much quartz is sent to custom mills. The gold is nearly all fiee, and the amalgamation is effected chiefly in the mortar and on copper aprons. The sulphurets are saved in sluices. For the first 20,0 feet the Badger mine did not pay, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the mill was kept going, but the vein appeared to be getting wider and the quartz richer, and work was continued, with some trust from the laborers, until the receipts exceeded the expenses; and'soon after the two claims were consolidated the Hayward took a leading position among the mines of the State. Within 5n0 feet of the surface the average yield did not exceed $10 or $11 per ton, and now it is; according to report, $27, with a wide vein and 125,000 tons of ore in sightenough to keep the two mills going for five years. The proprietor of the mine 76 RESOURCES:OF STATES AND TERRITORIES has a great fear of being suspected of seeking publicity, and he refuses to give information about the details of his receipts or expenses, or even to' communicate his experience in or his opinions about quartz mining. It is, therefore, necessary to rely upon the statements of persons not connected with the mine for the yield; and they say the total yield has been $6,000,000; the gross yield last year per ton $27; the net yield, $22 per ton; the amount of rock worked in 1866, 30,000 tons; and the profit of that year, $660,000. Much rock is at times sent to custom mills to be reduced. The quartz in sight, it is estimated, will yield $3,375,000 gross, and $2,750,000 net. Sixty miners are employed, 12 blacksmiths and engineers, and 25 others as fieeders, amalgamaters, teamsters, &c. The miners and laborers in the mill work by two shifts, a day shift and a night shift of 10 hours each; and at the end of each week the shifts change, so that each man works in the night-time one week and in the day-time the next. The rock is' carried from the mine to the mill on a tramway. RAILROAD.-The Railroad mine, 800 feet long, has been worked four years, has produced $70,000, and has had much rock which yielded $15 per ton. A depth of 340 feet has been reached, and drifts have been run. 300 feet on the vein. There is no mill connected with the mine. LORING HILL.-The Loring Hill, 700 feet abreast of the Railroad mine, on another branch of the mother lode, was worked for ten years, paid from $5 to $12 per ton, and has been idle for five years. Work is soon to be resumed. A depth of 150 feet was reached. WILDMAN.-The Wildman, 1,130 feet long, has reached a depth of 530 feet and has run 200 feet on the vein. There is a 12-stamp mill, which is busy at custom work. LINCOLN.-The Lincoln mine, 2,078 feet long on the mother lode, is half a mile north of Sutter creek. The course of the vein there is north 17~ west, the dip about 75~ to the eastward, and the width six feet. A depth of 669 feet has been reached in. one shaft and 270 in another; and drifts have been run 400 feet on the vein. There are two pay chimneys, one 150 and the other 250 feet long. They dip slightly to the north, although their lines are irregular. The mine has been worked since 1851, with the exception of a couple of years. About 3,500 tons have been extracted annually while the mine was worked. Work was stopped in November, 1866, and is to be resumed next year. There is a 20stamp water-mill, which is now doing custom work for Hayward. The mill catches 90 per cent. of its gold in the mortar, 3 per cent. on the apron, 5 per cent. on the shaking table, and 2 per cent. on blankets. CoMET.-The Comet mine, on the mother lode, north of Sutter creekl, is 750 feet long, and a depth of 145 feet has been reached. The mine is now being opened to a greater depth. -JERBERTVILLE.. —The Herbertville mine, 1,200 feet long on the mother lode, a mile north of Sutter creek, was worked from 1851 till 1859, but never was profitable, though some good quartz was found. A depth of 600 feet was reached. There was a 30-stamp mill, which was burned down. Kr.YSTONTE. —The Keystone mine includes claims on two distinct lodes-3,000 feet on the Keystone, which runs north 48~ west, and dips eastward at an angle of 52~; and 840 feet on the Geneva, which is 280 feet east of the Keystone, has a dip of 64~, and a width varying from 3 to 7 feet. The foot wall of the Geneva vein is slate, and the hanging wall is a hard greenstone. The average width of the Kevstone is 10 feet. Professor Ashburner, in a report on the mine, says'the wall of this (Keystone) vein on the west is generally hard, well-defined, and regular; on the east it is softer, and frequently incorporated with the quartz. The ground in many places is loose, and the vein seems to have been subjected to great pressure, crushing the quartz to powder." There are many horses of hornblendic slate in the Keystone vein, on which vein most of the work WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 77 is now being done. The quartz is mixed with black and green talcose slate, and the green contains good pay. The Geneva vein contains good pay rock, but it-is harder than the IKeystone. It is calculated that the two veins, if thev maintain their present dip, will unite at a depth of 1,800 feet. The deepest shaft is down 375 feet, and drifts have been run 450 feet, in pay all the way. The mine was opened in 1851, and has been worked continuously since. The total quantity of rock worked has been 44,000. tons; the average yield per ton, $16 j the total yield, $700,000. The croppings were, rich. The present mill has twenty stamps, and is driven by steam. Most of the gold is caught by amalgamation in the mortar, and on the -copper apron below the screen; next to which are blankets, and the tailings from them are ground in Hepburn and Peterson pans, and amalgamated in settlers; and the pulp is concentrated again for' sulphurets in Prater's concentrater. The rock contains one and a quarter per cent. of sulphurets which are gold. The present average yield is $16 per ton, and 17,000 tons have been worked in the last two years. The yield from December 8, 1865, till December 21, 1866, was $135,333 30; the dividends, $51,300; the amount spent in building, $34,000; the current expenses, $50,033 30; and the total profits, $85,300. SPRING IILL.-On another branch of the mother lode, abreast of the Keystone, is the Spring Hill mine, 1,200 feet long, which has been worked to a depth of 350 feet, has turned out 50,000 tons of rock, but has paid little, if anything, beyond expenses. There is a 30-stamp mill, which is now idle, with the exception of five stamps employed on custom rock. AMrADoR.-Adjoining the Spring Hill on the north is the Amador, which is 1,300 feet long and was worked in early days to a depth of 240 feet. BUNKER IIILL.-The Bunlker Hill, 1,200 feet long, has been at work since 1854, andc has reached a depth of 350 feet. The vein is six feet wide, and the roclk yields $10 per ton, leaving $3 profit. There are several faults in -the lode within the limits of this claim. The mine and an eight-stamp mill belonging to -it are the property of gentlemen residing in San Francisco and in Boston. HAZARD.- The Hazard mine, 800 feet long, is not worked now, but has produced 5,000 tons of rock, some of which yielded $15 per ton. The vein is three,feet wide, and there is an eight-stamp mill. LOYAL. —-he Loyal, 600 feet, has a 20-stamp mill, and both mine and mill are idle. ITALIAN.-The Italian mine, 340 feet long, has a six-stamp mill, and has crushed 2,000 tons of quartz, but is now idle, and has been for two years. It paid very well near the surface. SEATON.-The Seaton mine, a mile and a quarter east of Dry Town,:is 1,200 feet long on the mother lode, which there averages 30 feet wide. About 10,000 tons of quartz have been worled, yielding $9 per ton, and leaving a. small profit. There is a 40-stamp mill which has a 40-foot wheel to drive it when water is abundant, and a 60-horse power steam-engine for other times. The mill is now idle waiting for the further opening of the mine. The deepest works are 500 feet from the surface. Thle mine was purchased a couple of years since by a San Francisco company, which has expended $150,000 in improvements. POTOsI.-The Potosi mine is 800 feet long, has been worked since 1852, and has a good pay chimney four feet wide. There is a 16-stamp mill on the mine. WEBSTER.-The Webster mine, 600 feet long, was worked for a long time, but the rock paid only $7 per ton leaving no profit, so the mill which once belonged to the mine was moved away and work was stopped. The average width of-the vein was six feet. PLYMOUTH. —The Plymouth mine is 1,200 feet long on the main mother lode -and has other claims on branch veins. The lode is twelve. feet wide there on an average, and the rock now worked yields $8 per ton, at a depth of 400 feet. 78: RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The quartz obtained within 300 feet of the surface paid $15 per ton. There is a 15-stamp water-mill driven by a water-wheel 38 feet in diameter. ENTERPRISE.-The Enterprise mine has a 10-stamp mill, which commenced to run in the spring of this year. RICHMOND.-The Richmond mine, 1,200 feet long, is being prospected, and its 10-stamp mill is standing idle. MEADER'S SULPHURET WoPrs. —Meader's sulphuret works, a mile and a half east of Sutter creek, was fitted up with machinery invented by Mr. Ambler, consisting of a sizer, grinder, concentrator and pan, but the establishment has not been successful. The grinder is constructed somewhat like a coffee-mill, of cast iron, with ridges running downward on a cone working against other ridges running in a contrary direction in a hollow cone. RosE.-Rose's mill has eight stamps, and was formerly occupied as the sulphuret establishment of Mr. Thoss. It was standing idle in June for repairs. The mine which is to supply it with quartz had been opened at that time to a depth of 150 feet and to a length of 60 feet. WOLVERINE.-East of Jackson, on another vein, is the Wolverine mine, 1,000 feet. It was opened by a tunnel 100 feet long, and 500 tons yielded $4 40 per ton of free gold. No work is being done now. KIEARs ING.-The Kearsingmill was first erected at Big Bar on the Mokelumne river in 1855, and was moved in 1863 to the vicinity of Jackson to be used as a custom mill. It has four stamps and Ambler's pan. IrNcKlrLEY.-The HIinckley mine,- near the town of Jackson, is on a vein not traced elsewhere. The claim is 600 feet long, and it has been opened to a depth of 50 feet. There are two veins-one from three to seven feet in width, and the other pinches out. About $15,000 have been taken out in a hand mortar; and some rock crushed in a mill yielded $12 per ton. Much of the gold is black or purplish, offering a singular contrast to the white quartz in which it is found: The vein was first struck in digging a cellar, and the gold-bearing quartz was in June still visible in the cellar wall. Some of the gold is found in little sheets or leaves rolled up or tied up in a very singular and unaccountable manner. ATTcrISON.-Atchison's mill, one mile north of Jackson, built in 1867, has 20 stamps, and is employed on custom work. It was built to work an unopened mine, but after opening no pay was found. TuBBns.-Near the Atchison mill is Tubbs' mill, which was moved, in 1866, from the vicinity of San Andreas. It is idle now; waiting for the opening of the mine which it is to work. PAUGH.-Paugh's mine, 1,000 feet long, is seven miles east of Jackson. The vein has not been found beyond the limits of this claim. The course is eastnortheast by west-southwest, with a dip to the southeastward. The average thickness is seven feet, and the walls are slate on both. sides. There is no continuous gouge, but such as there is is yellow in color. The mine has been worked for two years and a half and a depth of 175 feet has been reached. Drifts have been run on the vein 300 feet. The quartz has paid from the beginning, and the average yield without selection is $10 per ton, and after selection $12 or $15. The richest quartz is found near the foot wall. The gold is fine and there is no "specimen rock." There is but little pyrites, The mill has 10 stamps driven by steam, and was built in 1865. The pulp is amalgamated in the battery and in copper plates. UNION.-The Union or Steen mine, a mile and a quarter south of Pine Grove, is 3,000 feet long on a vein which is eight feet thick on an average, and runs northeast and southwest with a dip of 60~ to the southeast. The rock is a blue ribbon quartz, richest near the sides. One and a half per cent. of the vein matter is sulphuret of iron, lead, zinc and antimony, and these sulphurets when concentrated assayv from $200 to! $6,000 per ton. About 600 tons of rock have been worked, giving a yield of $11 50 of free gold per ton and the rock heavily WEST OF- THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, 79 charged with sulphurets yielded $4 50 in the battery and from $22 to $150 in the pan. The vein has been opened to a depth of 197 feet and to a length of 130 feet. There is a nine-stamp steam mill built in 1857. The proprietor of this mill has used a saturated solution of cyanide of potassium, bulk for bulk with the quicksilver, and found a gain of 23 per cent. in the yield of the gold. The potassium seems to loosen the sulphurets, set the gold free, and keep the quicksilver clean. TELLURIuIM.-The Tellurium mine, near Pine Grove, owned by a San Francisco company, is 3,000 feet long on a vein which runs north 400 east, dips to the east at an angle of 75~, and is seven feet wide. The walls are of slate, hard on the east and soft on the west. The quartz is bluish in color, and the pay, which is one-third of the vein, near one wall or the other, skipping from side to side, is charged with seven per cent. of blue sulphurets of iron, lead, antimony and arsenic. The superintendent of the mine says it contains tellurium in considerable quantities, but others say the proportion of that metal is very slight. There are two pay chimneys, each 130 feet long horizontally. A cross tunnel 1,200 feet long strikes the vein 250 feet from the surface, and drifts have been run 700 feet on the vein, or on its supposed course, for its place appears to be usurped by a porphyritic dike. The pay rock above the level of the tunnel has been worked out and the drift is being extended in the hope of striking another pay chimney. The rock yields $25 per ton in free gold, and the concentrated sulphurets have been sold at $200 per ton. The mill was built two years ago, has 10 stamps, and amalgamates in a mortar and on copper plates. It is standing idle, waiting for the opening of a new body of pay quartz. The superintendent of this mine has been in the habit of making large assays by mixing pulverized ore with 10 per cent. iof sawdust or charcoal, and moulding with a little clay and water into bricks which, after drying, are burned with the assistance of very little fuel save that in the bricks. He considers this a very satisfactory method of burning out the sulphurets, and thinks there are some ores which would pay for working altogether by this method. ANAcoNDA. —The Anaconda mine, near Pine Grove, is 900 feet long on a vein four feet wide. A shaft has been sunk 90 feet and drifts have been run 100 feet. Somne of the rock has been crushed at a custom mill and has paid well. The mine is now being opened to a greater depth. THoss.-The sulphuret mill of W. HI. Thoss, near Pine Grove, is the only establishment of the kind in the State, and he is the only man who has any repute for possessing exclusively any valuable metallurgical secrets. He pays high prices for sulphurets, and works them without wasting, and in a few instances he has worked sulphurets at a fixed price per ton or on shares. Those for whom he has worked speak well of the result obtained, and the.general impression in the neighborhood is favorable to his claims. He says that his process is valuable only where there are sulphurets; that he can extract 90 per cent. of both gold and silver at a total expense of $6 per ton; and that he would rather have new than old sulphurets. In the chlorination works roasting is necessary and the silver is lost. Among those who speak well of Mr. Thoss are the proprietors of the Sirocco mine, who paid him $80 per ton for working sulphurets, and returned them $220 per ton. The mill consists of a crocodile crusher which reduces the rock to the size of peas, and of two cast-iron pans'10 feet in diameter, cast in sections and enclosed in wood. These pans have each four heavy greenstone mullers which make 25 revolutions per minute. The pans take charges of 750 pounds of crushed quartz or sulphurets and reduce them to impalpable powder in five or six hours. From the pans the pulp runs into a lower chamber into which nobody but the proprietor enters, and there his secret process of amalgamation is accomplished. He says that lie makes from $10 to $600 per ton from the material which he purchases, and that the supply of sulphurets offered to him for sale is five-fold more than he can work. He does not enlarge 80 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES'his estabtlishment because it would be necessary to communicate his secret to.others, and he is unwilling to do that.'CRAFTS.-The Crafts mine, 1,S00 feet long, is supposed to be on the same vein with the Anaconda. The course is east-northeast and west-southwest, and the dip 60~ to the southeast. A shaft has been sunk 200 feet, and drifts have been run 125 feet on the vein. The pay chimney dips 60~ to the northwestward. About 20 per cent. of the vein matter is represented to be sulphurets of iron, copper, zinc, and tellurium. There is no mill, and little work has been done. GOLDEN EAGLE.-The Golden Eagle or Vaughn mine, two miles and a half southwest of Volcano, is 900 feet long on a vein which runs north and south, crossing the slates, and is three feet wide. A tunnel has been -un 375 feet on tile vein, and a depth of 170 feet has been attained. Tilhe rock yields $15 per ton, and the total production has been $50,000. The mill was built in 1858 and rebuilt in 1865. It has 10 stamps, and is driven by water. The mine and-mill have been worked together, although there are some owners on the mine not interested in the mill. BELDEN. —The Belden mine, owned by the California Furnace Company, near Pine Grove, is on a vein which averages 18 inches in thickness, and runs inorth-northwest.. The shaft is down 250 feet, and drifts have been run 200 feet on. the vein. The rock is rich, but it pinches out in places. The mine has been worked for 10 years, sometimes at a profit, and sometimes at a loss. There is a five-stamp mill and a roasting furnace in which the rock was roasted as it camie from the slopes. PIoNEEr.-The Pioneer mine, three miles from Volcano, is on a vein 18 inches wide between hard granite walls. The rock is rich in sulphurets of copper, arsenic, and antimony. The shaft is down 80 feet, and drifts have been riun 250 feet on the vein. The rock yielded $40 of free gold near the surface, but that from the deeper levels did not pay, the precious metal escaping. There is a five-stamp mill, which is standing idle with the mine in consequence of litigation.. MITCHELL.-The Mitchell mine, 1,200 feet long, is on a vein which runs northeast and southwest, and is 12 feet wide. The shaft is down 200 feet, and drifts have been run 100 feet on the vein. Some of the rock paid $60 to the ton, and thousands of tons have been worked. - The mine is troubled by water, and common rumor in the neighborhood says the late explorations have not been in the pay chimney. There is a 20-stamp mill, which, as well as the mine, is standing idle..GOLDnEN GATE.-The Golden Gate, two miles from Volcano is 1,800 feet long on a vein three feet wide. A depth of 220 feet has been reached, and drifts have been run 350. feet on the vein, in pay chimneys all the way. About 2,800 tons have been worked, and rumor in the neighborhood says the yield has been $45,000, or $16 per ton. The mine is being opened further, but a 10-stamp mill belonging to the mine is standing idle. SIRocco.-The Sirocco mine, a mile and a half west of Volcano, is 2,500 feet long, on a vein which is four feet wide, and runs north and south. A depth of 350 feet has been reached, and drifts have run 700 feet on the vein. The total number of tons worked has been 9,000, and the average yield of free gold in 1866 was $15. Near the surface some of the rock paid $80 per ton. The vein grows wider and the pay less per ton in proportion to the distance from the surface. Ten per cent. of the vein matter is sulphurets, which yield on an average $80 per ton.- There is enough ore in sight to keep the 10-stamp mill busy for two years. Before 1867, the sulphurets were sold to Mr. Thoss; now they are saved.... KELLY.-The Kelly mine has one claim 1,200 feet long and another 1,500 feet long- on two veins which intersect each other; one running north 30~ east, and the other north 70~ east. Both are intersected by a little vein which runs WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 81 east and west, and though small is full of metal. A depth of 80 feet thas been reached, and drifts have been run 150 feet. The rock averaged $14. A mill containing two stamps and two arrastras was erected in 1857, and ran four years, but has since been idle, and so has the mine. SECTION VII. EL DORADO COUNTY. El Dorado county lies between the Cosumnnes and the Middle fork of the American river, and extends from the eastern boundary of the State to near the Sacramento plain. It was in this county that Marshall made his discovery of the gold on the 19th January, 1848; and El Dorado was previous to 1.853 called the Empire county, because it was for a time the most populous in the State, but it is now surpassed by many others. In this county we observe various features not found in Mariposa, Tuolumnei Calaveras, or Amador. Granite appears as the bed rock on the western border of the mining region. No rich quartz veins are found in the granite at an elevation of 2,500 feet or more above the sea. The lime belt, which is distinctly traceable across Tuolumne, Calaveras, and Amador, appears at Indian Diggings in El Dorado, and then seems to be lost, A new lime belt appears very distinctly twelve miles west of the main belt. In this new belt is the beautiful Alabaster cave, near Centreville. E1 Dorado has 25 ditches, with a total length of 821 miles, constructed at a cost of $1,500,000. Of these the principal are the South Fork, the Pilot Hill, and the Michigan Flat ditches. TowNs.-Placerville, the county seat, 50 miles from Sacramento, on the bank ofl Hangtown creek, has some hill diggings and quartz, and is the most prosperous town in the county. The principal mining towns are Georgetown, 14 miles north; Coloma, 10 miles northwest; Diamond Springs, three miles west; El Dorado, or Mud Springs, five miles west; Grizzly Flat, 20 miles, southeast; Indian Diggings, 25 miles southeast; and Kelsey, seven miles north. SHINGLE SPRINGS RAILROAD.-E1 Dorado county has a railroad 26 miles: long, extending from Folsum to Shingle Springs. It was commenced with the intention of extending it across the Sierra, but the work was stopped when the road reached Shingle Springs in 1865, and there is no probability of its resumption soon. The terminus of the.road is 11 miles from Placerville. PLACERVILLE WAGON ROAD. —The Placerville road is the best wagon road across the Sierra Nevada. It cost $585,000, and as now travelled from Shingle Springs to Van Syckles, in Carson valley, is 82 miles long. The steepest grade is six degrees. The total length of the stretches that exceed five degrees is a mile and a half; there are five miles of five degrees, 10 miles of four degrees, and most of the road is under two degrees, with a very regular and easy ascent. In 1858 Sacramento and El Dorado counties each subscribed $25,000 to construct a wagon road across the mountains; but the road was not good enough for the pulrposB, and in 1860 the present road was commenced by private enterprise, and was finished in 1863. It was of vast service to the State and to Washoe during the silver excitement, and was for a time very profitable to the owners. Although other routes have lower passes and easier grades, no other can compete with this for the ordinary purposes of wagon travel, because this is on the shortest route between Sacramento and Virginia City, is an excellent road, and is kept in fine condition. In 1863 the total alnount of tolls taken on the road was $190i000, 6 :82 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES and the expenses were $70,000; in 1866 the receipts werle $65,000, and the expenses $50,000. The road is watered every evening along its wvhole length by water carts, whicllh are stationed at intervals of three miles. This is found to be tile cheapest method of keeping the road in good condition, for if it were left. dry it would have deep dust, which would obstruct the wheels and blow away, leaving deep ruts. About one-fourth of the expense in keeping the road in order is required to keep the snow down. Last winter snow lay for nine miles on the road, and 10 span of horses were kept for tle special purpose of breakingr it down. There was a station in the middle of the snow belt, and whenever it began to snow a% man started with a team and a sled in each direction to the end of the snow belt and then drove back; then took another team, and the horses were kept going as fast as they could. In this way the snow was packed down and the road was made hard and fit for travel. It would be useless to shovel the snow from the road, which would immediately drift full. The toll for a fourhorse wagon from Shingle Springs to Van Syckles and back is $17 50, threefourths being for the eastern trip. Most of the freight, however, has been carrlied in wagons drawn by more than four horses. The best teams have 10 mules and two wagons, the second- wagon being smaller and fastened immediately to the firast An ordinary load for such a team is 20,000 pounds. The advantages of having two -wagons insteadc of one are that one wagon, unless made in a most unwieldy manner, would not ble strong enough to support the weight; that the two wagons do not cut up the road; t.hat if themre is a mud-hole, only a small part of the weight is in it at a time; that at any steep pitch in -the-road the wagons can be separated, and each hauled up separately; and that one teamster can as easily take care of two wagons as of one. The cost of the first wagon is about $600; of the second, $300; and of good mules, $300; making 83,900 as total cost, exclusive of harness. The tolls on a round trip from Shingle Springs to Van Syckles are $26 25; and the total necessary outlay on a trip $240. This is the most extensive toll road in the united States. MISCELLANEOUS RESOURCES.-A considerable part of the marble used for tombstones in California is obtained fromrn a marble quarry at Indian Diggings. Stealite, or soapstone, of very good quality is obtained fiom a quarry near Placerville, and numerous places in the county supply a chalk-like silicate of lime t;hat is used in San Francisco for polishing mletals, especially silver-ware. The county has 85,000 acres of enclosed land, 22,000 acres under cultivation, 1, 164,000 grape-vines, 91,000 apple trees, 52,000 peach trees, saws 10,000,000 feet of lumber annually, has. taxable property assessed at $3,500,000, and casts 5,000 votes. -Agriculture has made more progress in this than in any other mountain county, perhaps because of its proximity to Nevada, which it supplies with fresh and canned fruit, with wine, and withl many kinds of vegetables. The possession of the Placerville road across the mountains has done much to bring business to the county. The Alabaster cave in. the northwestern corner, and Lake Tahoe at the northeastern, are both places of fashionable resort. THE BLUE C HANN EL.-There are several old channels in El Dorado county, and they appear to belong to two different systems of drainage and periods of existence.. They may be distinguished as the blue and the gray, according to the eolor of the cement or gravel found in their beds. The blue is prior in time, anld onluy one blue:channul has been distinctly traced in the county. It runs from the northwest to the southeast, nearly with the course of the slates, and has been found at White Rock, Smith's Flat, and Tryagain tunnel. The channel is 220 feet wide, and 250 feet,above the level of Weaver creek. The rim Jock is never less than eight feet higher than the bottoml of the channel The ceonent is harder and more brittle, and contains more quartz, and qLuartz of a bluer color, and pebbles smraller and more uniform in size than the gray cement. This channel, with its well-defined baxnks and a deep covering of lava, formed a led in which rai a subterranean stream of water that broke out in spring on the hill WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 83 side, where the channel was cut through by. Weber creek, and the quantity of water was sufficient to supply Placerville when it had 4,000 inhabitants. A tunnel company working in the basin of Hangtown creek cut a tunnel across this old channel, and the stream of water which had previously run down- to Weber creek then ran out through this tunnel into Hangtown creek. The tunnel company sold the water to the Placerville Water Company, but tile South Fork Canal Company, which had previously appropriated the water of Hangtown creek, brought suit for the water on the ground that Hangtown creek was the natural outlet for this water, and that they owned it by prior right. Professor Silliman was called as a witness by the defendants, and after examination he testified that the waters never had run into Hangtown creek, but that until the tunnel mwas cut their only escape was at the springs on the bank of Weber creek. The plaintiffs, after seeing the testimony, discontinued the suit. This is the only case known to us of a, legal investigation into the character of an ancient auriferous channel in California. GRAY CHANNELS.-The gray cement is in several channels, which rise 20 miles or further east of Brockliss's bridge, and runs westward across the blue channel and at a higher level in the divides between the present streams. The gray cement is from 20 to 50 feet deep, and is found on both sides of Hangtown creek, in high hills, which have been prospected along a length of 10 miles, -and worked with profit in many places. The old channels were cut through by numerous ravines, which carried the gold down to the creek, and thus made the bed of that stream rich as it was in early days. The following are the principal claims on the Weber divide, south of Hangtown creek, commencing at Coon Hollow, on the north side, and going eastward. CLAIMS ON WRBER DIvIDE. —Aldersen Brothers Hydraulic claim has been worked 12 years, has paid largely, and employs six men. The claim is 150 feet deep, and uses 200 inches of water. The Phillips and Pazker claim is 800 feet long by 300 wide, and 80 deep. It employs three men, and has paid well at times. r The Italian claim, 1,000 feet long, was worked for years by hydraulic process, but now the pay dirt is brought out through a tunnel. The Weber claim is worlied as a drift claim in the summer, when water is scarce, and as a hydraulic claim in the winter. It yields large pay. The claim of the San Francisco Cement Gravel Company is 1,200 feet. long, rnmning, as do the other claims along here, to the middle of the Hill Learsago. A tunnel was run 800 feet into this claim, and was abandoned because the gravel was too hard to wash in a sluice. The company are n'ow about to pipe away the:face of the hill preparatory to opening and retimbering the old tunnel. It is the expectation of the company to erect a mill to crush the cement. In the Buckeye claim the face of the hill is being piped away to. make room for a cerment mill. On the Cox claim, Cox's pan is being tried for the reduction of cement. It is a cast-iron pan, six feet in diameter, and 18 inches deep, with. four iron arms projecting on a level with the top of the pan from a central vertical axis, and from each arm project three strong wrought-iron fingers,, reaching down to within an inch of the bottom of the' pan. In the bottom are a number of holes, an eighth of an inch wide, and half an inch long, through which. holes the pulverized matter escapes. The bottom is of white chilled iron.. A charge of 1,200 pounds of cement is thrown in, a stream of five inches of water is turned on, and the arms are started, making 20 or 30 revolutions per minute.. In seven minutes and a half all the pebbles and boulders are washed clean, and they are discharged through a gate into a sluice prepared for.the special purpose of carrying them off. There is another sluice for washing the fine matter. Charging and discharging occupy two minutes and a half, but the discharging gate is to be enlarged, so that the discharge will not occupy more than a quarter of 84 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES a minulte, instead of two minutes, as at present. By this pan 40 tons can be worked in 12 hours, more than would be done by a 15-stamp mill, and the work is done in better style, because the pebbles and boulders which form from 50 to 75 per cent. of the cement are excluded from the sluice in which the gold is caught. The greater the quantity of base matter carried through the sluice, the greater the danger of the loss of gold. The power is supplied by a hurdy-gurdy wheel, which is eight feet in atiameter, four inches in thickness, with buckets four inches deep, and nine inches apart. The power is nominally by 19 inches of water, but much is lost through leakage, and the proprietor of the pan asserts that he does not use more than 12 inches under a head of 260 feet. The wheel is made by bolting together two -layers of twoinch plank, laid crosswise. The cost of the wheel was $100, and of the machinery, including pan, gearing, and all, less than $1,500. The cement in this claim appears to be nearly as hard as any found elsewhere. In the Italian claim a tunnel is being run to be 800 feet long. The Van Dusen claim has a tunnel 800 feet long, and is standing idle because of the hardness of the cement. The Hardy Brothers have a hydraulic claim, which has been worked three years. McConnell & Co. have the next claim, and work it by the hydraulic process. Stewart and Hall have crushed their cement in an eight-stamp mill, which is now standing idle. The Scott Brothers' claim is 1,000 feet long, was opened by a tunnel in 1854, and was abandoned because of the hardness of the cement. Work has now been resumed in the expectation of erecting a mill. CLAIMS ON RESERVOIR HILL.-North of Placerville, on the north side of Reservoir Hill, commencing at the west, are the following claims, viz: Hancock and Salter's hydraulic claim, drained by a tunnel, and open cut 1,500 feet long, has been worked by two men five years, employs 100 inches of water, and pays well. -The Friar claim has yielded $50,000, but after leaving the surface the miners found the cement so hard they could not wash it, and nothing was done on it for years. A San Francisco company is now at work, opening it by a tunnel, to be 1,000 feet long, and to be finished in two years. The Slide claim is being opened by a tunnel, to be several hundred feet long. This claim never yielded much. The Pioneer claim is worked by drifting, and has paid very high. It has been worked for 12 years. The George Barlow claim is also worked by drifting, and has paid well at times. The Live-oak claim is worked through a tunnel, and has yielded $50,000 or $60,000. Under -this claim runs the blue channel. The Roanoke claim has the repute of having been one of the richest claims on the channel, but nothing could be ascertained of its yield. On the south side of Reservoir Hill are the following claims, viz: Tlie Trask claim is worked by the hydraulic process by a company of Chinamen with very little profit. The Oldfield is a hydraulic claim. The Wolverine was worked with much profit in early days, and then lay idle for a long time. Work has lately been resumed on it. It seems that there was a slide which threw the pay stratum out of its regular position in this claim. The Ohio has a tunnel 800 feet long, employs five men, is paying well, and lhas been worked for 12 years. Crusen & Co. have a claim on Wisconsin fiat, and are trying to reach the Blue chanilnel through a tunnel 1,200 feet long, from the end of which they are sinking a shaft to be.80 feet deep. 'WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 85 The Granite Company are running a tunnel to strike the Blue channel, and are in several hundred feet.... The Deep Channel Company has been at work seven or eight years. The dirtis hoisted through an incline by horse power, and pays $4 to the car load. Most of thei- cement is crushed in the 10-stamp custom mill of P. M. Taft. The Blue Lead Company employ 10 or 15 men in their claim, and crush their cement, which yields about $8 per ton, in a 10-stamp mill, driven by 30 inches of water over a wheel 45 feet in diameter. The Buchanan, Fremont, Henry Clay, and Hook and Ladder Companies, facing Smith's Flat on the east, have had'some very rich claims.:Redd & Co. have a five-stamp custom mill, and crush cement for the Hook and Ladder Company. SPANISH HILL CLAIMS.-On Spanish Hill, east of Placerville, are the following claims, viz: Hoxie's claim, which is now exhausted. It paid from $10 to $16 per day to the hand for several years. The Stogy Tunnel claim was equally rich, and is worked out.:The Bay State was also rich, and is not exhausted, but has been consolidated with the next claim, and is worked by hydraulic. The Hook and Ladder claim has a crevice 175 feet, and a tunnel 600 feet long, running to the bottom of the crevice. The hill is to be washed down through the tunnel. The Golden Gate and Duroc claims come next, and have been consolidated. Two auriferous quartz veins are found in the slate bed rock in these claims, and it is supposed that some of the gold came from the decomposition of the slate.The Hoxie, Stogy, Bay State, Hook and Ladder, Golden Gate, and Duroc claims have yielded together not less thanll $200,000. INDIAN DIGGINGS.-Indian Diiggings, 25 miles southeastward from Placerville, is on the limestone belt, and is the furthest north of all the large mining camps on that belt. No solid bed rock is found here. It is supposed that pay gravel is found 200 feet from the surface, and to drain the diggings to that depth would require a tunnel a mile long. At Slug gulch a shaft was sunk down through what appeared to be solid limestone bed rock into a stratum of limestone boulders. A ditch of water was accidentally turned into this shaft, and the water ran there for several days without any accumulation of water in the shaft. No outlet was ever discovered. Brownsville, at the side of the Indian Diggings, may be considered part of the same place, and the two together have about 20 acres of deep diggings, which will not be exhausted for many years. Indian Diggings and Brownsville, unlike Columbia and Volcano, do not wash with a pipe in a dump box. The Douglas hydraulic claim, the most notable claim at Brownsville, is 180 feet square, and was worked for 10 years previous to 1866. In 1856 and 1857 it yielded $55,000, and since the latter year has paid little over expenses. There has been no work of late for lack of drainage. An open cut has been started to drain the claim, so that it can be washed 20 feet deeper; 700 feet of the cut have been completed; there is a quarter of a mile still to be done, and several years may elapse before it is finished. PLACERVILLE MINING REGULATIONS.-Each district in this county has its own mining regulations. The mining regulations of the Placerville district, adopted March 21, 1863, provide that — Each claimant may hold 200 feet in length upon a ledge or lode with all its dips, spurs and angles, and 250 feet upon each side thereof. Each claim must be filed for record within five days of posting notice thereof, and the notice must distinctly specify the general direction of the claim, ledge, or lode, and the record made accordingly. 86( RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERJRITORIES LEach company shall be required to expencA at least seven days' work upon the ledge or lode held by them for and in every month of the time said claim is held; otherwise the same may be considered as abandoned. The number of quartz claims on record is 186. The following are copies of notices entered in the record book: Notice is hereby given that we the undersigned claim 1,000 feet on this ledge, commencing at this notice and running in a northerly direction to a stake and pile of stones, and that we intend to hold and work the same according to the laws of the Placerville mining district. Said claim is situated in H. S. Hulburd's ranch, in Placerville. May 23, 1867. [Signatures. ] Notice is hereby given that we the undersigned claim 1,500 feet each way from this notice, on any and all quartz lodes discovered in sinking this shaft. July 18, 1866. LSignatures. J MUD SPRINGS }MINING REGULATIONS.-Tle following are the principal provisions of the mining regulations of the El Dorado or sud Springs district, adopted April 7, 1863: No person shall be allowed to hold more than 300 feet by location on the same ledge, but can hold 600 feet in width for the purpose of prospecting and defining his lead or ledge. The discoverer of a ledge is entitled to an extra claim. A notice upon a claim to be valid must be wrmitten with ink, and placed upon a board, stake, or tree in as conspicuous a place as possible, and upon, or as near the ledge as can be. Such notice must state the number of feet claimed, describing as accurately as possible the boundaries thereof, containing all the names of the claimants with the date truly affixed; a true copy of xwhich must be recorded by the district recorder within 20 days fiom the do,-aie of such notice, or such claim shall be considered forfeited. Notice upon a claim holds the same for 20 days onryV Recording the notice of a claim holds the same for 90 dlays only, before the expiration of which time labor to the amount of $2 50 for each 300 feet in the claim must be expended upon the claim by the company, which will hold the same for 15 months from the date of record. Non-compliance with the provisions of this article by ally company will be construed as an abandonment by them of their claim. In case of dispute between parties claiming the same ledge or lead, each of the contending parties may choose an arbitrator, and the two may choose a third person, who shall be disinterested. The three shall constitute a board of arbitrators, whose decision shall be final, unless notice of an appeal be given within ten days of the rendition of the decision. There is no provision requiring a description of boundaries. The number of claims on record is 40. The following is a copy of one of the notices recorded: DRY CREEK, April 1, 1863. Know all men by these presents that we the undersigned claim 45 claims on this lode, 300 feet each, making in all 13,500 feet, and intend prospecting the said claims for coal, copper, silver, gold, or any other minerals it may contain, running in a northerly direction 13,000 feet and southerly 500 feet, with all its dips, angles, and spurs. [Forty-five signatures.] GEORGETOWN BMINING REGIULATIONS. — The following are a portion of the quartz regulations of the Georgetown mining district, adopted Deeember 10, 1866: The size of claims to each person locating shall be 200 feet of or on any quartz lode or ledge, including all dips, spurs, angles, and all surface ground and minerals which may be contained within the space of 150 feet on each side of said ledge or vein located; but no company's claim shall exceed 3,000 feet in length on any one vein or ledge. The discoverer of a vein or lode of minerals shall be entitled to one claim forhis discovery. All notices of claims located, whether individual or company, shall describe the locality of said mine, the number of feet claimed, the point where measurement commences, and naime the lode or company locating. Said notice shall be posted on the lode, and shall hold the claim for 10 days from the date WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 87 thereof w ithout record, but no claim shall be held valid without record after the expiration of said time unless labor is being done on said claim. All notices of.quartz mining claims are required to be recorded unless labor is being done on the claim, by a recorder elected by the miners of Georgetown quartz mining district. Said district recorder shall keep a book, record all claims, copy the notice, and give the names of the miembers of each company. It shall be the duty of the recorder to go upon the ground and define the claim, measuring and staking the same, and he shall receive for such service the sum of 50 cents for each name, and if not required to perform such service, to receive 25 cents only. Any person or corporated company locating a mining claim within this district shall be required to have expended in actual labor upon each and every claim not exceeding 1,200 feet, and a proportionate amount for larger or smaller claims, the sum of $50, within 60 days from the date of the record, and $150 within six months from the date of record, and a like amount for every additional six months until the sum of $500 shall have been expended. Whenever the sum of $500 shall have been expended in prospecting or development of the mine, whether by sinking shafts, running tunnels, cuts, or dritts, whether on the ledge or in the direction thereof, designed practically to develop the claim, then and thereafter for the term of two years said claim shall be held by the parties peformning the labor or expending the said amount; but no labor being performed for the period of two years, the said claim shall be considered abandoned and subject to relocation. REED. —The Reed mine, 2,000 feet long, isthree miles south of Placerville, has a greenstone hanging wall, a slate foot wall, and a vein 18 feet wide.'The qulartz, as found by a shaft running down 80 feet prospects well, and a 10-stamp mill is going up. PACIFI. —The Pacific mine, 1,800 feet long, is on the same lode, and is within the limits of Placerville. The mine was opened in 1852, and was worked till 1862, vwhen it caved in, and then it lay idle four years. Lately a Boston company has purchased it and opened the main shaft to a depth of 320 feet, and found some good quartz, but not enough to commence work upon. T'he quartz is a ribbon rock, tinged in places with a green color. The total yield of the mine is reported to have been $500,000, and the annual average profit for seven or eight years $30,000. The new shaft was started 120 feet northeastward of the working vein, and in going down 300 feet four veins were intersected, each about six feet thick, all containing similar quartz and all widening out as they go down. The two middle veins thus far reached are mixed with a large proportion of talcose slate, and appear to be barren. The westernmost of the four veins has produced all the gold of the Pacific mine in a depth of 200 feet, in a pay chimney 200 feet long. The chimney was nearly vertical, but dipped slightly to the north. A 20-stamp mill, erected in 1853, is standing idle. HARMoN.-The Harmon mine, 1,400 feet long, just north of Placerville, is on a vein which is 100 yards west of the Pacific lode, and is 30 feet wide ini places, though the average is not over four or five. The vein stone is a white quartz with seams of black slate, and a considerable proportion of sulphurets of iron and lead. It was worked with arrastras and paid high; and then a 15stamp mill was erected, but that has not been profitable and is now idle. The reputed cause of the trouble is the difficulty of reducing the undecomposed sulphurets found below the water-line. SH:EPARD, —The Shepard mine is 1,200 feet long, on a vein two feet wide, near Placerville. The claim was opened at the end of 1866, and yielded some rich pockets of beautiful foliated gold. The specimens extracted were worth $5,000. The mill rock from its appearance must have contained at least $30 per ton. The vein matter was much of it an ochrous earth, intersected withi seams of quartz. The rock was workled through a crusher and two arrastras driven by steam. %Much of the vein has been opened by open cut to a depth of. fifteen feet. CLEoPATRA.-The Cleopatra, 1,200 feet long, on the same vein, is to be opened to a depth of 100 feet, and then if the rock prospects well a mill is to be erected with a capacity to crush 20 tons per day; the contractor to receive half half the mine for opening it and erecting the mill. 8 8 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES WHITE AND BuPDICKr.-White and Burdick. own two claims, one of 2,000, the other of 1,800 feet, on the same vein.. The claim of 1,800 feet has been opened to a depth of 75 feet, but the mine caved in several years since and is not well reopened yet. Miners have been working at it since last year. There is a 10-stamp mill, which was built in 1861. PERPsEvERn.-The Persevere mine, 4,200 feet, at Poverty Point, near Placerville, is on a vein five feet wide. A depth of 155 feet has been reached and a drift has been run 45 feet on the vein. No mill has been erected yet. WnITE. —The White mine, 2,000 feet long, near Placerville, has a 15-stamp mill, which is idle. A new shaft is now being sunk. The rock is rich in sulphurets. MANNING.-The 3Manning mline, five miles eastward from Placerville, has a vein two feet wide, a shaft 180 feet deep, and a six-stamp mill. No work is being done. ELLE ELLEN.-The Elle Ellen, 2,000 feet long, is half a mile from the Manning, on a vein which runs northwest and southeast, is nine feet wide, and dips to the east at an angle of 80~. The hanging wall is.hard blue slate, and the foot wall brown slate. There is a tunnel 100 feet long run on the vein. There is no mill. EPPLEY. —The Eppley mine, 1,200 feet long, two miles and a half south of Placerville, has been opened to a depth of 85 feet, and 30 tons of rock sent to mill have yielded $1,500, or $50 per ton. The mine is to be opened further, and so soon as enough good quartz to pay for a mill is in sight, one will be built. DAvIDsoN.-The Davidson mine, a mile and a quarter northwest of Placerville, has a tunnel 350 feet long and a shaft 160 feet deep. The quartz prospects well, but none has been worked as yet. The New York and El Dorado mill, of 20 stamps, has been purchased to be erected on this mine. MONTEZUMkA. The Montezuma Quartz Mining Company, an English association, own claims on four veins seven miles south of El Dorado, and are working two of the claims. That on the Montezuma vein is 1,900 feet long; has been worked since 1851, and has yielded $150,000. The lode runs north and south, is three feet wide, has slate walls and ribbon quartz, which averages $10 per ton. There is a black clay slate gouge on the hanging wall. A depth of 180 feet has been reached and drifts have been run 180 feet on the vein. The McDowell vein is seven feet wide, three-quarters of a mile east of the Montezuma and parallel with it. A depth of 25 feet has been reached. There is a 20-stamp mill, made to run either by steam or water. The Montezuma Company have invested $100,000 in the property, and it is said they are the only English company mining for gold now in California. NEW YORK AND EL DORADO MILL.-The New York and El Dorado mill was erected at a cost of $20,000, five miles south of El Dorado, by a Neow York company under representations that they possessed a splendid mine; but they found nothing, and the mill has been sold for $2,500 to be moved to Davidson's mine, a mile and a quarter northwest of Placerville. HIERMITAGE.-The Hermitage mine, six miles south of El Dorado, at Sugar Loaf, is on a pocket vein and has paid irregularly, yielding $100,000 in all. A mill was erected in 1852 and taken down, and a second mill of 20 stamps was erected in 1866, at a cost of 817,500, by a Boston company, which paid $38,000 for the mine. The vein is 10 feet wide, and a depth of 175 feet has been reached. A tunnel is being run to intersect the shaft at a distance of 170 feet. It is said that there is a large quantity of pay rock in sight suitable for milling, but most of the gold heretofore obtained has been taken out in a hand mortar. The mine was discovered by placer miners, who followed up a rich streak of gold in gravel till it stopped at this quartz vein. UNION.-The Union lode runs north 100 east, dips east at an angle of 800, and is from 3 to 12 feet thick in slate walls, which, according to Professor Sil WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; 89. liman, who made a report on the mine, is striated in lines dipping to the southeast. The quartz is soft, fissile, and ferruginous. The stope north of the shaft yielded 15,000 tons, from which, according to the books kept at the mill, $4.50,000 were obtained. A large part of the claim is unexplored, and its value is merely conjectural beyond the pay chimney at the shaft. The Cosumnes lode is 120 feet west of the Union, and has the same dip and general course, although there are some bends in it. It is three or four feet thick, and the quartz bears a strong resemblance to that of the Princeton mine. The walls are of coal black shale, and there is a black putty gouge on the eastern wall. This vein has a shaft 120 feet deep. Some of the croppings were very rich and yielded most of $150,000 taken out by the mill from rock that did not come from the Union mine. WILDER.-The Wilder quartz mine, a mile and a half west of El Dorado, is on a vein three feet wide, containing quartz that yields $9 per ton. An eight-stamp water-mill has been running two years. POCAHONTAS.-The Pocahontas mine, two miles south of El Dorado, has a vein four feet wide and a pay chimney a 100 feet long, averaging $15 per ton. There is a 10-stamp mill which has been at work one year, and has paid for itself and for all the work done in opening the mine. UNION CHURCH. —The Union Church Gold Mining Company have claims on three veins, three miles southeast of El Dorado. The Union claim has been worked since 1852, has been stoped to a depth of 160 feet, and has yielded a large amount of gold. There is water in this claim now, and it is being taken out preparatory to sinking. The Cosumnes claim is now being worked, and the rock yields $10 or $12 per ton. GRAY.-The Gray mine, three miles east of Shingle Springs, is a rich deposit of decomposed quartz in a vein five feet wide. On one occasion specimens worth $10,000 were taken out in one dlay. A depth of 60 feet has been reached. There is a 10-stamp mill, built in 1865. BRYANT.-The Bryant mine, two miles south of El Dorado, yielded $20,000 in one pocket, which was emptied in three days in 1857. Considerable quantities of -quartz, sent to a mill- four miles off, paid well. The mill ran several years,then was abandoned, and now a 20-stamp steam mill is to be built. A depthof 150 feet has been reached, and drifts have been run 600 feet on the vein. BEARD.-The Beard mine, two miles south of El Dorado, has yielded $250,000, proving very profitable at times. The gold was deposited chiefly in numerous little chimneys or streaks, which the miners followed. There was a 10-stamp mill in 1860, but it was moved away to the State of Nevada. The Jamison mine, at Aurum City, has been worked about a year with an arrastra. INDEPENDENCE.-The Independence mine, 1,200 feet long, at Brownsville, is on a vein which runs east and west, is three and a half feet thick, and has granite for a hanging wall and "blue trap,/ as the miners call it, for a foot wall. A tunnel has been run 400 feet on the vein, in pay all the way; 250 tons have been worked, and the yield has been $30 per ton, in the Tullock eight-stamp. mill rented for the purpose. The Independence mill is now being built and is to have 10 stamps. The quartz contains a large proportion of rich sulphurets. STILLWAGON. —The Stillwagon mine, also at Brownsville,s is on a vein simi-. lar to that of the Independence. There is a five-stamp mill, which, with the labor of six men, took out $4,600 in,May, 1867. The average yield is $25' per ton. There are no other quartz mines regularly at work at Brownsville. SLIGER. —The Sliger mine, 400 feet long, is four miles southwest of George-L town, on a vein four feet wide between granite on the west and slate on the east. Five thousand dollars were taken out of a pocket near the surface. The mine is now being opened. GREENWOOD. —The, Greenwood mine, five miles southwest of Georgetowni 90 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES has been opened by a cross-tunnel 400 feet long. A 15-stmwnp mill has just been erected, but work is not vet commenced at crushing. TAYLoR.-The Taylor mine, 3,000 feet long, is two and a half miles south of Georgetown, on a lode that runs north-northwest and south-southeast, and is two feet wide at the surface, and six feet at a depth of 100 feet. A depth of 107 feet has been reached by an incline, and drifts have been run 41 feet. The vein is filled with seams of slate, but the quartz shows firee gold in all parts of the mine. There is a black putty gouge two feet thick in places. The west wall is bastard granite, the east slate. There is no mill. RoSEcRANS.-The Rosecrans mine, 900 feet long, adjoins the Taylor on the south. The shaft is down 40 feet; and 60 tons crushed at a custom mill yielded $12 on an average. The vein has been uncovered for 280 feet along the surface, and it'shows gold all the way. BLrUE LEAD. -The Blue Lead, three miles south of Georgetown, has been opened by a San Francisco company to d depth of 250 feet and to considerable length. The quartz is mixed with blue slate and shows some fine specimens, but has not paid. A very fine 20-stamp mill has been erected, and about $250,000 have been invested permanently in the mine. Work has ceased. COLLINS. —In the Collins mine one mile south of Georgetown, the vein has been reached 170 feet below the surface by a tunnel 250 feet long. The vein is eight feet wide, and the rock in sight will yield $15 per ton. ALPINE. —The Alpine, on the same vein, is four feet wide, is working with an arrastra, and obtains $12 per ton. The quartz is extracted through a tunnel 150 feet long. The Mount' Hope Company, of San Francisco, own a claim of 3,000 feet aldjoining the Alpine. The vein is six feet wide, but is split up considerably. The shaft is 61 feet deep. The Ph5iladelphia Slide Company, of San Francisco, have 3,000 feet on a vein hallf at mile south of Georgetown; and have levied an assessment for the purpose of erecting hoisting works. The Clipper mine, two and a half miles northeast of Georgetown, is 5,000 feet long, on a vein two and a half feet wide, running north and south between a granite foot wall and a slate hanging wall. The deepest workings are 80 feet from the surface. About 700 tons of quartz have been crushed, and the yield was $15 per ton. There is a stamp mill which is not running. WOoDSIDE.-The Woodside mine in Georgetown is 1,200 feet long, on a vertical vein, which is two feet wide and runs northeast and southwest between slate walls. A shaft has been sunk 110 feet, and drifts have been' run 40 feet on the vein. The average yield has been $30 per ton for mill rock, exclusive of. specimens worth $12,000. On one occasion a mass of rock was found so tied together with seams of gold running through it that a cold chisel had to be used to cut it. The pay chimney dips to the northeast.'There is a five-stamp mill driven by water power, but it has had little to do lately, the mine having been filled with water last winter. The lode is rich in sulphurets, and has peculiar sheets of sulphurets about an eighth of an inch thick, with transverse crystals running from side to side. Mr. Woodside is the inventor of a concentrator which he uses in his mill. It consists of a sheet of Idiia-rubber cloth, 22 inches wide and about eight feet long, sewed together at the ends and stretched over two wooden rollers four inches in diameter and three feet apart. The rollers are placed on a frame horizontally, one three inches higher than the other. The rollers turn so that the cloth makes three complete revolutions in a minute. A water pipe perforated with little holes passes above the cloth near the upper roller and discharges a number of little streams, which wash away the light sands and leave the heavy sulphurets to be carried up over the upper roller, and after passing that they drop down into a box beneath. The concentrator has been used in this mill for a year to the satisfaction of the inventor, but nobody else has adopted it. The mine was discovered by the gentleman whose name it WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 91 bears. He picked up a piece of auriferous quartz in a little ravine and then sought for croppings, and when he prized up a piece of rusty rock that peeped out of the ground, he found the under side of it speckled with gold. He immediately commenced work, and the mine paid its'way from the surface to its present depth. JAMEs's MILL.-James's custom mill, with five stamps, eight miles south of Georgetown, is standing idle. EUREKA.-The Eureka mine, on the same vein, north of the Woodside, is 900 feet long, and has been opened to a depth of 130 feet. There is a steam hoisting establishment, but no mill, on the mine. GEORGIA SLIDE. —Georgia Slide, one mile north of Georgetown, is a mining camp on a hillside, where, under rich placers, are found a multitude of small seams of decomposed auriferous quartz. Three companies are sluicing; one is working with a seven-stamp mill and another is putting up an arrastra. The hillside has yielded an immense quantity of gold. MosQrITo.-The Mosquito mine, eight miles east of Kelsey's, is in granite. A mill built in 1866 had its roof broken in by the weight of snow last winter. PLYMOUTH. —The Plymouth mine, a mile and a half west of Kelsey's, is on a vein very irregular in width, but averaging seven feet. The rock avera(ges $18 per ton; but 15 tons, selected carefully from 700 tons, yielded $8,000.'Ihe quartz contains eight per cent. of sulphurets. GOPHER.-The Gopher mine, a mile west of Kelsey's, has three veins, with an aggregate thickness of eighteen feet. MAost of the pay is in the western vein. The rock is a ribbon quartz, rich in sulphurets, and there are slate walls on both sides. A depth of 100 feet was reached, but the old works have caved in, and the mine has not been reopened. In 1858 the mine yielded $15,600. There was a mill, which has been moved to Washoe. LAST CHiANCE.-The Last Chance mine, 800 feet long, is opposite Coloma, on the north side of the south fork of the American river. The vein runs north and south, dips to the west at an angle of 50~, and varies in width from 2 to 12 feet. The eastern wall is greenstone, and the western granite; but on the western side, for a depth of 400 feet on the hillside, there was no wall-only a bed of gravel, which has been sluiced away, leaving the quartz exposed, so that an immense quantity of rock can be obtained without using either shaft or tunnel. Two men can take out 20 tons in a day ready for the mill. Both free gold and sulphurets are abundant, but some selection is necessary. The total yield, as reported by one of the owners, has been $60,000, though rumor among outsiders says it has been $200,000. One lot of 500 tons of quartz paid only $2 per ton; then 30 tons yielded $250 per ton; and five tons of the bestyielded $40,000. There is a 10-stamp mill, with a Joinville turbine, driven by 60 inches of water under 70 feet of- head. Amalgamation is effected in the mortar and on copper plates; the tailings are concentrated on blankets, and the blanket washings are worked in an arrastra. A railway track, 2,100 feet long, is being laid from the mine to the mill, and when it is finished the proprietors expect that their entire expenses will not exceed $3 per ton. The owners of this mine are Danes, and it is generally known as the Danes' mine, though that namne beldngs to the next claim. The Danes' mine, 2,200 feet, is on the same vein as the last, but has produced nothing and is unopened. REWARD. —The Reward is 1,400 feet long, one mile southwest from Uniontown. The rock prospects well, and the walls are slate on the west and granite on the east. A tunnel is being run in to strike the vein 135 feet from the surface. 92 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SECTION VTII. PLACER COUNTY. Placer is a large county, and the only one that reaches from the Sacranmento river to the eastern boundary of the State. It extends with the meridian from the middle fork of the American to Bear river. Its chief mineral wealth is in the Blue lead, which crosses the county at an elevation of 3,000 feet above the sea, and is worked at Dutch Flat, Gold Ruln, Indiana Hill, Iowa Hill, Picayune Divide, Yankee Jim, and Forest Hill. Ancient gravel deposits appear also at Toddl's Valley, Paradise, Bath, Michigan Bluff, Damascus, and Monona Flat. The surface placers of the county produce very little now. The county, in proportion to the richness of placers, has, so far as known, the poorest quartz mines in the State. The Green Emigrant mine, lately opened, has produced some rich specimens, but the owners keep the amount secret, and they have no mill; and no other quartz mine in Placer has paid any considerable profit. MISCELLANEOUS RESOURcES. s.-Nearl.v all of the Central Pacific railroad in California is in this county, and the people have derived considerable profit fromn it in one way or another. The county is also crossed by the unfinished road from Lincoln to Marysville. The county is supplied with water for mining and irrigation by the Bear river; South Yuba, Dutch Flat, Michigan Bluff, and numerous smaller ditches. Their total number is 29; their length, 699 miles; their cost, $2,000,000. The western and lower part of the county has much good farming land. There are 60,000 acres of land enclosed, 20 000 cultivated, including 3,000 in wheat, 310,000 grape vines, 30,000 apple trees, as many peach trees, 5,000 head of neat cattle, 20,000 sheep, 20 saw-mills, which turn out 10,000,000 feet of lumber annually, 14 toll-roads 131 miles long, made at a cost of $350,000, and $3,000,000 of taxable property. THE FOR.EST HILL DIVIDE. - The Forest Hill ridge, on the southern line of the county, at an elevation varying from 3,000 to 3,500 feet above the sea, has the rich mining camps of Todd's Valley, Forest Hill, Bath, and Michigan Bluff, on the south side of the ridge, and Yankee Jim and Damascus on the north. Todd's Valley, Michigan Bluff, and Yankee Jim had chiefly hydraulic claims, and are now nearly worked out. Bath has cement claims, and is more prosperous than ever, besides being a pretty town prettily situated. Forest Hill has declined much, but it has a large body of rich ground, and will probably see a return of prosperity. Yankee Jim was a long time the chief trading point for this divide, but now it has lost its trade, as well as exhausted its placers. The gold at Damascus has the peculiarity that a tin-cup-full of it will weigh 20 per cent. more than an equal measure of the common dust. FA OREST HI;L.- Forest Hill, which has been the most productive cement tunnel-mnining district in the State, is situated 22 miles eastward from Auburn, at an elevation of 3,400 feet high, on the summit of the divide between the middle forlk of the American and Shirt Tail canon. The town is 2,500 feet above the level of the middle fork, and about a mile distant. The scenery,along the cafion is grand. Five miles further up the divide is Michigan Bluff, and the Auburn stage runs through to that point; but there is no other stage running to Forest Hill. The caflons north and south are too deep and steep for much wagon travel. The Forest Hill ridge appears to be composed of auriferous gravel covered by volcanic sand, but the Forest Hill diggings are in the Blue lead which crosses the ridge fiom north to south. These diggings are 500 feet below the summit and 2,000 feet above the level of the river. THE BLUE LEAD AT FOREST HILL.-In the Blue lead the lowest stratum WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS..: 93 resting on the slate-bed rock is the blue cement proper, from 5 to 20 feet in thickness; above that is a red gravel, 100 feet thick; and over that is volcanic sand, which is covered in places by a stratum of trachytic boulders anad soil. The blue cement is harder than the red gravel. The boulders and pebbles in the red gravel are all of quartz; those in the blue are quartz, slate, and greenstone. The red gravel has smooth gold in coarse pieces, most of them weighing two pennyweights or more, and some as much as seven ounces, and 900 fine. The gold in the blue cement is fine, flaky, 860 fine, the largest piece not worth more than 75 cents. The slate-bed rock is soft, and the gold is found in its seams to a depth of four feet. This gold is coarse, and is black externally, so that a person not familiar with it would not suspect its value on looking at it. The Blue lead contains large quantities of sulphurets, which are rich in goldl. The claims at Forest Hill are 50 feet along the side of the hill to the person, and extend in to the middle of the hill, a distance varying from 2,000 to 5,000 feet. CARXELESS WORKING. —Instead of working the claim regularly from end to end, the companies generally sought to get out the richest and the softest dirt; and they changed about from place to place nearly every week, so they had not much room to work. They could not afford to lay tracks down to haul out their gravel; many of their drifts could be used for only a brief period, and the top caved down in the spots which they had worked, enclosing good ground, the position of which cannot now be ascertained without much expense. The New Jersey claim was the -most notable exception to this mode of procedure in the district. FUTURE OF FOREST HILL.-J. W. Reamer, superintendent of that company, is of the opinion that Forest Hill might be made more productive than ever by consolidating the claims and working them systematically on a large scale. There ought to be a large tunnel for each, half a mile, 60 feet below the level of the present tunnels, so as to be certain of having drainage.for the deepest gravel that could be found. These tunnels should be made for the purpose of using mules to lhaul out tile gravel and haul in the cars. There should be large mills to crush the cement; the sulphurets should be saved carefully, and all the pay dirt should be removed so that a place should not be left until everything of value had been extracted. In 1859 Forest Hill shipped S100,000 of dustmonthly; now $25,000 or $30,000. Forest Hill is one of very few places where the pay dirt swells; but a tunnel cut in the blue cement, as well as one cut in the slate, will soon close up here by the swelling of the earth if it is not trimmed frequently. THE PRINCIPAL CLAIMS. —The principal claims at Forest Hill and in the vicinity have been the following: The Darcianelles has yielded $2,000,000; the Jenny Lindhas yielded $1,100,000; the New Jersey has yielded $850,000; the Independence has. yielded $450,000; the Deidesheilmer has yielded $650,000; the Fast and Nortwood, the Rough and Ready, and the Gore, have each yielded $250,000; the Alabama has yielded $150,000. It is said that the claims within rifle-shot of the express office have produced' not lessthan $10,000,000. No other placer district in the State can show a yield equal to this, and yet it is certain that a large proportion of the gold has been lost. The gravel or cement extracted was hard, and a,considerable proportion of it was carried away by the water in lumps rich in gold. Mr. Reamer says that if he could have another claim like the New Jersey to work, with a cement mlill, and with sufficient means to cut his tunnels and drifts in the most economical manner, he coul(l obtain $2,000j000 instead of $8S50,000 from the same quantity of dirt. CLAIMS AT TODD'S VALLEY.-The Golden Calf claim, near Todd's valley, 94 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES below Forest Hill, has 1,000 feet front on the hillside and a tunnel 1,00- feet long. It has never been worked systematically, and has not paid. The Big Springs claim, with 975 feet of frontage, is being opened, and meantime a 10-stamp cement mill built to work it is standing idle. DA)DANEL;LS. —The Dardanells Company have 1,000 feet front, commenced wolrk ill 1853, and have been at workf ever since-at first drifting and now piping. They have taken out $2,000,000 from the blue gravel, which is soft there. Tlley have worked out 400 feet alone the fiont, have run tunnels 1,600 or 1,800 feet, and have drifted out much ground. They can hydraulic away about 300 feet along the face of their claim, but beyond that the hill is too.deep to pay for piping. At one time the company employed 60 or-70 men, now they have only four or five, but these with pipes do more than twelve times the number did drifting. The company own a ditch which is 10 miles long, cost $15,000, and supplies 300 inches of water from the 1st December till the 1st of June. O 0no, GREEN SPRING AND UNCLE SaM.- The Oro, 1,000 feet, has yielded 8$35,000, but is now in litigation, is not doing anything of note, and never was worked with much system. There is a 20-stamp cement mill on it, now idle. The Green Spring, 750 feet long, has a bed-rock tunnel reaching to the pay fdirt, none of which hlas yet been worked. The tunnel was commenced in 1854, by ~poor men, who workled a portion of their time in surface placers or as hired laborers to get the means for continuing work on this claim. It is probable that the front,of the hill will be piped away so as to expose the cement, which can then be obtained, at little cost, for crushing. The Uncle Sam Company have 100 feet and have done very little.. Three men alre engaged in tunnelling and washing. HOPEr AND RocRLAND.-The Hope claim is 500 feet long on the hillside, has a tunnel 2,000 feet long in bed rock, has a 20-stamp mill, has yielded $20,000, and has cost $100,000. The mine is now being opened with the expectation of crushing. The mill was kept running six weeks and paid well. The Rockland, Baltimore and Boston claim is 2,600 feet long; has a tunnel.2,300 feet long; has cost 8100,000, and has yielded no return as yet. The tunnel was conmenced in 1854, and it has not yet reached the channel. FAST AND NorTwooD.-Thoe Fast and Nortwood claim, 400 feet long, has been worked through the Baltimore tunnel, and has yielded $250,000. The company run their dirt in drifts on four diffbrent levels, and must load it four different times before they get it to the surface. The claim, in consequence of this nmode of working, hlas not been profitable for several years, but the cement is rich, paying $5 to the -carload, or about $7 50 per ton, and there is a large quanitity of it. There is a 10-stamp mill to crush the cement. SNYDER.-The Snydei claim, 200 feet long, has yielded $250,000. This was the pioneer claim of the dlistrict, the blue lead having been discovered here in December, 1852, by Mr. Snyder, on a hillside where a slide occurred, exposing the rich gravel to view. A little basin 40 feet in diameter at the slide yielded $40,000. When work was stopped, three years ago, there was a tunnel 1,800 feet long, but as the rock swells very rapidly it is now entirely closed up. There was a stretch of 400 feet in thetunnel where the rock swelled so rapidly that as much rock as would fill the tunnel had to be taken out in each period of eight months. The entire yield was obtained from the red gravpel, and that was worked without system. INDEP:END ENCE. —The Independence, now united with the adjoining New Jersey claim, had a tunnel 3,500 feet long, and produced $450,000 before the consolidation. It was worked without system. One spot about 20 feet square yielded $10,000. NEW JERSEY.-The New Jersey claim is 650 feet front by 4,000 feet deep, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 95 under the lower part of the town of Forest Hill. Work was commenced in August, 1853, on the tunnel, and six years and a half of hard work passed with a.n expenditure of $60,000 before any return was obtained. When the tunnel was in 1,800 feet, an incline was run upwards to the red gravel, which was found to be rich, and the $850,000 were taken from an area 500 feet long by 400 feet wide. The extraction of gravel was continued till April, 1867, when drifts were commenced to open new ground. The tunnel was started in 1853. with the confident expectation of reaching pay in a year; but as the work advanced more slowly and cost far more, the company had to run in debt, and when they reached the pay their debts amounted to $30,000 or more, and some of them had been outstanding for more than four years. The creditors numbered 8 or 10, mostly merchants, who knew nothing of the New Jersey Company save that they appeared to be hard-working, sober, honest men, and were trying to develop a claim supposed to be valuable. There was no long personal acquaintance and no security. The debts bore three per cent. interest per month. The most dangerous period for the company was after they began to wash. A dishonest creditor might then, perhaps, have taken the claim, or at least have caused much expense by an attachment suit; so the fact of the finding of good pay was kept as secret as possible until the $30,000 had been taken out, and then all were paid off at once. This system of giving credits was general in the mines 15 years ago, when the profits charged were very high, when large interest was allowed, when many extensive enterprises were undertaken, and when a large number of these enterprises met with magnificent success, of' which the New Jersey claim is a bright example. Seven channels have been found in this claim running with the slates about northwest and southeast, all parallel to one another, about 25 feet apart, 60 feet wide, with ridges of rock seven feet high between them. The dip from each side of the divide seems to be towards the middle of the hill. There is no water for washing from the middle of July till the middle of November, and meantime the dirt extracted is thrown into a pit large enough to hold 8,000 tons, where water is thrown on it occasionally so as to soften the cement and also to attach the mass together and prevent it from sliding down hill when the rains come. In busy times the New Jersey Company employs 60 or 70 men, the annual expenses are $60,000 or $70,000, and the profit one-half of the yield. The dirt is hauled out in cars four feet and nine inches long, 28 inches wide, and 15 inches deep. The weight of an ordinary car-load is 1,600 pounds. A steady stream of water runs out from the tunnel and is caught in wooden reservoirs, 20 feet square and eight feet deep,.to be used for washing. The sluice is half a mile long, and the grado is in one part 18 inches and in another 23 inches to 12 feet. The steepness of the cafion renders it necessary to have a steep sluice. Slat riffles made of five strips of board an inch thick; two inches wide and six feet long, with strips of the same thickness set between at the ends and the middle and bolted through, are used. The top of each strip is shod with a strip of iron an inch and a half wide and a quarter of an inch thick, screwed on and countersunk. JENNY LIND.-The Jenny Lind, 450 feet on the hillside, had a tunnel 2,800 feet long, which is now probably closed up, at least in places, since no work has been done for three years. The yield, almost exclusively from the red gravel, was $1,100,000, and there is a large amount of ground still unworked. In this claim were found many rich quartz boulders. The yield of $1,100,000 was obtained by the company from the first washing, leaving to others who rewashed the dirt a very large sum in addition. GORE MAINE, AND ROUGH. —The Gore claim, 100 feet wide in front on the hillside and twice as wide firther back, took out $250,000 from a tunnel 1,200 feet long. No work has been done for four or five years. Rich quartz boulders were lound in this claim also. 96 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The Maine claim, 200 feet front, had a tunnel 1,200 feet long, and took out $250,000. No work has been done for four years. The Rough and Ready has 1,200 feet front, had a tunnel 1,200 feet long, took out $250,000, and has done no work for three years. DEIDESHEIMER AND OTHERS.-The Deidesheimer has 400 feet front, had a tunnel 1,800 feet long, took out $650,000, obtained much from quartz boulders, and has done nothing for three years. The India Rubber has 250 feet front, had a tunnel 1,200 feet long, produced $50,000, and has done no work for three years. The Alabama has a frontage of 300 feet, had a tunnel 1,200 feet long, took $150,000, and has done nothing in the last three years. The Eagle has 200 feet front, had a tunnel 800 feet long, expended $40,000 or $50,000, and took out $15,000. The Moss has 900 feet front and a tunnel 1,000 feet long, but found no gravel, though it is generally supposed that there is rich gravel in the claim. Quartz was found in the tunnel, and a 10-stamp mill was erected to work it; but it did not pay. This is the last claim to the eastward in the Forest Hill district. An unrepealed provision in the miners' regulations of the district requires one dav's work; every month from December till June to hold the claims, but so much work has been done that nobody seems to think of forfeiture under the letter of the regulations. MICHIGAN BLUFF.-Michigan Bluff, seven miles from Forest Hill, on the same divide, and 29 miles from Auburn, saw its best days between 1853 and 1858, when it shipped $100,000 per month; and now it does not ship more than $25,000. The claims were worked first by drifting and then by the hydraulic process, and for a time this was one of the principal hydraulic camps in the State. The pay stratum is remarkable on account of containing ninety-five per cent. of quartz boulders, pebbles, and sand, and not more than five per cent. of clay. Some of the boulders weigh twenty tons, and half the weight of the boulders is in those that weigh over a quarter of a ton each. This quartz is very white, and immense piles of the boulders-probably hundreds of thousands of tonsare piled over the many acres that have been washed off. The deepest claim is 80 feet deep, and probably all the ground washed off averaged 40 feet1 of which at least five feet were in boulders that are larger than a man's head, and that now lie on the ground. The only claim now at work on a large scale at Michigan Bluff is the North.American, and there is little expectation of extensive work in any other claim for some years. There are places that would pay if water could be obtained conveniently, and there is much ground known to be rich, but it would not pay at present. The price of water in 1859 was 37~ cents per inch, and it was reduced successively to 30, 25, and 20 cents; in 1865, to: 17., and in 1866, to 15 cents per inch. The original size of the claims was 100 feet square to the man. TAIL SLUICES.-There are four tail sluices, making a quarter of a mile altogether, in Stickness's Gulch, below Michigan Bluff. The sluice is four feet wide, three deep, with vertical sides, and a grade of 14 inches to the sluicebox. Part is paved with wooden blocks and part with boulders. From 1860 to 1863 the tail sluice paid very well, as four or five companies tailed into it, but now there is only one. NORTH AMERIcAN.-The North American claim, as originally located, was 600 feet long and 400 feet wide; but much additional ground has been purchased, and half of the original area is worked out. Sluicing and drifting were commenced in 1854 in front, where the claim was shallow; and in 1858, when deeper gravel had been reached, piping began. In 1860 a bed-rock tunnel WEST O'F THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.' 97 1,400 feet long-in one place 150 feet under the:surface of the rim rockl —constructed at a cost of $10,000, was first used for washing. The'grade is. 13 inches to 12 feet, but eight inches is considered preferable. The sluice in the tunnel is two feet wide at the'bottom, 32 inches wide a;t the top, and two feet deep. The flaring are better than vertical-sides for the passage of large boulders two or three feet through, though anything over 150 pounds injures the sluice. Nearly all the gold is caught within 200 feet at the head of the sluice, where the: bottom is covered with slat frames six feet long and one foot wide, with four frames to one sluice-box. The slats are boards an inch thick,'-shod" with iron straps three-quarters of an inch thick and an inch' and a half wide. All the sluice-boxes below the first 200 feet are paved with fir blocks eightlinches thick. ~The first hundred feet of the sluice are cleaned* up every evening, and the second hundred twice a week. This cleaning up keeps the riffles in good order, and requires half or three-quarters-of an hour. There are 2,300 feet of 11-inch pipe and 150 of 7-inch pipe in use in the claim.. The total yield has been'$300,000. NITRO0-GLYCERNE. —The nuniber of men: now employed is 15; last year it it was 28. One of the chief difficulties in this claim is the removal of the of the stratum of pipe-clay which rests'on the pay gravel and must be carried: off in the sluice. It is too hard to be piped away, so it must be blasted into smiall pieces. Previous to this year powder was used, but now Mr. Swenson, one of the partners of this claim, and the pioneer manufacturer of nitro-glycerine, in: California, supplies that fluid, which is: so much better than gunpowder t-hat IS men do.more in 1867 than 28 did in 1866. The nitro-glycerine shatters the- pipe-clay into a multitude of little pieces, whereas powder tbroke it into a few'large ones; so, after a powder blast, the miners had to reduce the large lamps with gads, for which there is now little use. *It costs about $2 per pound, and is preferred by the. miners after they once become accustomed to it. No accident has happened with it on this claim, although sometimes two or three dozen'blasts are set off in a day. The smoke from it disappears sooner than that from powder, but it is more injurious. About 400 inches of water are used in the North American claim for four or five days in the week. BATH DISTRICT.-The following claims are in the Bath district, adjoining the Forest Hill.district: In the San Francisc6 claim no work has been done for a long time. The Oro claim never yielded much, and is doing nothing now. The Rip claim, 450 feet front, has a tunnel 450 feet long in the bed. rock. From this tunnel a shaft has been raised to the Paragon sheet, which was worked firom 1852 to 1858. The company are preparing to pipe away the front of the claim, and they intend to erect a nmill next year. Work is continued meantime on thb tunnel. The Golden Gate Company have 180 feet front, and own half of a joint tunnel, 400 feet long, on the boundary line of the Rough Gold Company. They are are now working the blue gravel, and getting $5 per ton from it, but they intend to work the Paragon'sheet. They have a Ave-stamp mill, driven by a hurdygurdy wheel. The Rough Gold Company have a frontage of only a few feet, but the claim grows wider as it goes back into the' hill, and 400 feet back it is 200 feet wide. There is a tunnel 1,800 feet long, 150 feet under the Paragon sheet, which is now being worked; but the tunnel was located for the purpose of working the *blue gravel. There is a 10-stamp mill, which was erected in, 1866, and is now running steadily. -PAIrxGoN.-The Paragcon claim has a front of 250 feet, extends a mile and a half through the hill, and is 400 feet wide at the back. The pay stratum now 7 98 RESOURCES' OF STATES AND TERRITORIES worked is a deposit of rusty gray gravel, four feet deep, resting on the blue gravel 100 feet deep, and covered by volcanic sand.. The blue gravel immediately on the bed rock, as well as for 100 feet above, contains some gold, but not enough to offer much profit. The gray gravel contains $10 per ton, the gold being coarse, some of the pieces weighing two or three ounces, and others containing quartz attached. Work was commenced on the claim in 1852, and the gravel was sluiced for 10 years. It was so tough, however, that it had to be washed repeatedly, and after all much of the clay escaped undissolved. At the first washing the yield was about $1 per ton, and the second, third, and fourth washings, made at intervals of a year, yielded each $2 per ton, and $1 per ton for the fifth, sixth, and seventh washings. Freezing and thawing slaked the cement more rapidly than did sun or rain. In 1864 a 20-stamp mill was built, and then the claim first began to prove its high value. The yield of the claim was $100,000 in 1866, half of it profit. The yield per ton in the mill is no more than it was in the sluice, but the dirt, is now not so rich as it was before. The gray gravel, or "sheet," as it is called, has all been taken out for 1,600 feet front. The tunnel is in the middle of the claim in the blue gravel, 20 feet below the sheet. The pay dirt is breasted out on drifts, which run entirely across the claim, so that there are 400 feet of breast for the men to work at. The gravel becomes softer when exposed to the air, so the large breast gives the benefit of exposure, as well as of abundant room. At intervals of 30 feet a chute is made from the sheet down to the tunnel, for the purpose of throwing down the gravel; few timbers are used, and the roof falls down upon the blue gravel, close upon the heels of the miners. Two men are constantly employed repairing the tunnel, which would close up in a month, if neglected. The blue gravel swells very much in.one stretch of 150 feet. There is enough dirt in sight for four years' work. All the dirt is piclked down. The mill crushes 200 tons a week, and the expenses are $1,000 per week. Fifty men are employed: 32 miners; four carmen in the tunnel; two carmen outside; two tunnel menders; four feeders, and six others in and about the mill. Two men feed the 20 stamps, and two others pick out the large stones from the gravel. The stamps weigh 700 pounds, have 75 drops per minute, and 13 inches fall-.The screen is punched with holes a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, but they soon wear larger. Two tons of gravel are fed per hour to each five-stamp battery, and three inches of water run steadily into each mortar. A quarter of a pound of quicksilver is put in every morning, and as much more every evening into each battery. A flask of quicksilver is bought once in four months, implying the loss of 75 pounds in that period, or half a pound per day on an average, or one-quarter of all that is used. Theretorting is done carefully, so the loss is in the sluice. Below the mortars are Jenny Lind riffles, and below those hurdy-gurdy riffles. It is said the claim was sold in August, 1867, for $15d,000. OTIER BATH CLAIM.s.-The Greek claim, 160 feet front, has lately been bought by the Paragon Company for 89,650. This claim paid well in frout, but was not worked well; the tunnel closed up; the owners quarrelled, and then they sold out. The New York claim, 200 feet front, has a sheet like that of the Paragon, save that it is on the bed rock. A tunnel was cut 1,800 feet long in the bed rock, at an expense of $15,000, but bad air proved very troublesome; the work was stopped before'pay was reached; the tunnel closed up, and nothing has been done for three years. WEST OF THtE ROCIKY MOUNTAINS. The Sebastopol Company has a front of 1,000 feet, cut a tunnel 800 feetf in very hard rock, found no pay, and stopped work in 1866, after spending $20,000. DAMrASCUS.-Damascus, twelve miles northeast of Forrest Hill, on the same divide, but on its north side, has the same slate bed rock, and a simnilar bed. of blue cement, though there is no overlying red gravel. The Damascus Company has a claim 500 feet in front, and 3,000 long, running into the hill. The blue cement is four feet thick, lies immediately on a soft talcose slate-bed rock, soft enough to pick, and is covered by 600 feet of volcanic sand; at least it is supposed to be sand, though no careful examination has been made of it. The richest part of the cement is within 15 inches of the bottom, but the largest nuggets of gold are found in the bed rock. The gold is mostly coarse, in long narrow pieces, and those found in the bed rock, like those found at Forest Hill, are frequently quite black. The claim is opened by a tunnel, 450 feet long, of which distance 200 feet were passed before the rim had been pierced. The tunnel runs pearly south-southeast, about the middle of the claim, and apparently in the middle of what was the channel of the ancient stream. The present supply of cement is obtained northeast' of the tunnel, and the breast is about 200 feet, extending nearly half way across the claim. A pillar 20 feet wide is left standing alongside of the tunnel to protect it. A rail track is kept along' the face of the breast, and after 20 feet have been breasted out, the track is relaid for convenience of loading. The tunnel is eight feet below the bed of the channel, and the load in the breast car is dumped into the tunnel. car. There are many large quartz boulders, some of them weighing a ton each in the cement, and these are thrown back to support the proof, which never cracks. A post six feet high, with a cap 30 inches long, is set up in each square of 30 feet at the breast, but so far there has been no trouble with the roof. There is a 10-stamp mill, driven by steam, but it runs only in day-time for lack of water to run longer. The company intend to make a ditch, so that the mill can run day and night. Twenty-five tons of cement are crushed every day, and the average yield so far has been $3 35 to a car load of 1,700 polnds, or $3 94 per ton. The bed rock, of which 15 inches are dug up, is not crushed, but is simply washed in the sluice. The stamps weigh 650 pounds each, make 70 to 80 blows per minute, and drop from 9 to 11 inches. When the shoes and dies are new the drop is 9 inches, and the number of blows 80, and when the drop is 11 inches the number of blows is 70. Three inches of water are turned into each mortar, and three inches'more are turned into the sluice below.' The cost-of the mill, including the engine, was $12,000, and the expenses daily are the following, viz,: a cord of wood, $3; an engineer, $4; a blacksmith, $3;. a feeder, $3; six miners, $3 each. Five men breast out five tons per day to a man, and one carman takes out the cement. The engine is'of forty-horse power.. Two candles are burned per day to the breaster. The mill was built before the mine was properly opened. The bed rock does not swell. The bed rock is full. of vertical quartz-veins; averaging a few inches in thickness, running south-southwest and north-north — east. O These seams appear to form in places half of the bed rock; some of them. are a foot thick, and some as thin as paper. The same quartz veins, but more, strongly marked, are found in a second tunnel, which is 65 feet lower and 350) feet long. MOUNTAIN GATE.-The Mountain Gate claim, adjoining the Damascus on: the west, has 2,000 feet front, and the tunnel runs in 4,000 feet. The bed rock is 35 feet higher than in the Damascus, it swells, there is less quartz in the, bed rock, and some of the gravel is softer; but otherwise there is much similarity in the two claims. The tunnel was started'40 feet below the top of the 100 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES rim rock, which was passed in 500 feet, and then the tunnel was extended 3,500 feet, running nearly level, and the company are now troubled so much by water that they have started another tunnel 65 feet deeper, and it is in'1,500 feet. The tunnel is about 200 feet from the Damascus line, and they have worked 200 feet on each side of the tunnel. They breast out on the same system as that used in the Damascus. They have.no mill, and when they come to cement too hard to wash, they usuallv leave it behind and virtually throw it away. Some of it, however, is so rich that it pays to crush with a hland mortar. The softer cement is washed three or four times, at intervals of six: or eight months. Three-fourths of the total yield is obtained at the first washing, and three-fourths of the further yield at the second. The sluice is 200 feet long. There'are 16 partners, all of whom work in the claim, and they seldom hire anybody. Rumor says the present yield i's $12 per day to the man,-though the work done is much less than the amount required from hired men. The claim has been worked for 12 years, and has produced altogether $370,000. They have enough water from their own claim to wash all their dirt. The bed rock rises 150 feet near the western line of the Mountain Gate, and at the eastern line of the Damascus, so those two companies take the whole channel there. loWA HILL.-At Iowa Hill the blue cement lies on the bed rock, or lay before it was mined out, 12 or 18 feet deep. The cement was so soft that it could be picked out, and so hard that it could be washed once a year for seven years without being entirely disintegrated. Much of the cement was so rich that it was pounded up in a mortar weighing 250 pounds, and measuring 16 inches across the bbowl. The pestle weighed 70 or 80 pounds, was attached to a spring pole, ~and was worked by two men, who could thus pound up two tons or two tons and a half in a day. Over the blue cement was a layer of sand from one foot to four feet in thickness. Upon that rested a stratum of rich brownish gravel six or eight feet thick. Over this came 140 feet of poor brown gravel, with layers of sand in it,.and usually there was a very rich stratum-of gravel just over the sand. Above the brown gravel was loam 20 or 30 feet deep. A few claims on this Blue lead were extremely profitable. The Jamison, the pioneer claim, yielded $500,000; the North St.ar, $400Q000; the Sailor Union, $300,000; the Iowa Hill, $250,000; and the Dutch, $250,00.0; but three dozen large tunnels were run and not onebthird of them paid expenses. If the loss were balanced against the profit, the Iowa Hill district would not show much net gain.. The town stands on the summit of a ridge 200 feet high and a furlong wide, and the blue cement of the channel which passes under the town has all been drifted out, and the hydraulic pipe is now at work on both sides, so that the town site will itself be washed away in a few years. The richest spot ever found in the neighborhood of-Iowa Hill was in the brown gravel, from which two men took out $30,000 in one day. East of Iowa Hill is Indian canon, reputed to have been the richest cafion ever found in California. WISCONSIN HILL.-Wisconsin Hill is on the same divide with Iowa Hill, but is two miles distant in a southeast direction, and the two places are separated by a ravine. The channel is the same as at Iowa Hill, but not so rich. T he Oriental cement mill at Wisconsin Hill was built in 1866 and has 20 stallps, but it does not. pay, -as the cement yields only 80 cents to the ton. Fortunately, the surface has been stripped, so the cement lies bare and can be obtained at little expense. ROACH HIIL. —Roach Hill, one-mile east of Iowa Hill, has had some good clains. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 101 Monona Flat, half a mile east of Roach Hill, has also paid well in places. The channel at these two camps runs with the divide. Pleasant Flat, a quarter of a mile further up, has a channel running across. MORNING STAR. —Three hundred yards south of Iowa Hill, bevond Indian caflon, is Picayune divide, through which runs the Blue lead, on which is located the Morning Star claim, which has 1,200 feet front, and extends 4,000 feet to the middle of the ridge. The channel here appears to have been 150 or 200 feet' wide. The Morning Star tunnel was commenced in 1856, and no pay of any note was obtained until 1865, by which time a distance of 1,800 feet had been run and $45,000 had been expended. After reaching the cement it was'found that the tunnel iwas 30 feet too high, and now the dirt has to be hoisted an.l the water pumped by hand to the level of the tunnel. The bed rock swells, ald sometimes the track is raised six inches in a night. The cement varies in thickness from six inches to six feet, and yields $3 per ton. The mill has six stamps, goes by steam, and crushes 40 tons in 24 hours-. From June to December, there is but half the needed supply of water, and the mill runs only in the day-time.. Twenty-four men are employed. BIPRD FLAT AND LEBANoN. —Three-quarters of a mile above the Morning Star claim, on the Picayune divide, the Iowa Hill and Bird Flat Company have been running a tunnel since 1854, have gone in 1,100 feet, have spent $50,000, and have obtained no return as yet. The Lebanon Company, at Prospect Hill, have a claim which adjoins the Morning Star on the back. They have been at work 13 years, spent $100,000, and cut a tunnel 1,500 feet, and in 1866 they struck into pay and erected a 10-stamp mill, which is driven by a hurdy-gurdy wheel. This tunnel is not low enough. GOLD RUN.-On the Railroad divide, between Bear river and the North fork of the American, the Blue lead appears at Dutch Flat, Gold Run, and Indiana Hill. The width of the lead here is nearly half a mile, and there are 200 or 300 feet of pay gravel, with no overlying barren stratum. Squires's caiion, which empties into Bear river, separates Dutch Flat from Gold Run. The latter did not obtain a large supply of water until lately, and therefore its best claims have not been exhausted, and it is the most prosperous hydraulic camp in California. Nine thousand inches of water are used here, requiring a payment of $1,000 a day or more in gold. The gravel is peculiarly soft and there is great depth, so that high power is obtained, and more dirt is washed in proportion to the quantity of water used than in any other large hydraulic district. GRAVEL AT GOLD RUN.-The bed of auriferous gravel at Gold Run is about 350 feet deep, of which only about 150 feet have been worked so far. The sluices are therefore 200 feet above the bed rock. A shaft was sunk 185 feet deep in Potato ravine to the bed rock, and the bottom of that ravine is below the level of most of the sluices. It is to be presumed that the bed rock in that shaft is no lower than elsewhere in the channel. Pay gravel was found all thle way down, and it was soft until within six or eight feet of the bottom. This vast bed of gravel two miles long, half a mile wide, and 250 feet deep, cannot be washed away for many years. OUTLET.-Although the cai'on of the north fork of the American river is at least 2,500 feet deep, yet it is two miles distant from Gold Run, and the tailings must run into Cafron creek, which near the claims is only 150 or 175 feet below their levels. Several claims have been compelled to stop work because they no longer have any outlet. An outlet must be obtained 200 feet deeper than Caiion creek, and it must be had without waiting for the gradual washing out of the Blue Lead channel from the caion of the north fork of the American river. That outlet will be through a tunnel about a mile long, and from this tunnel shafts will run up to the various claims. It will be very costly, but on the other hand it will yield an immense return. 102 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES FACILITIES FOR PIPING.- There is no prettier hydrautlic washing than tllat at Gold Run. The gravel is very soft, it is deep, water is abundant with a high pressure, the claims are large, and there is no superincumbent layer of barren matter. In proportion to the amount of work done fewer men are employed at Gold Run than at any other camp in the State. At Smartsville much time is spent in blasting; at La Porte, in puddling; at Dutch Flat, in attending to large boulders; but none here. Two men are sufficient here to do all the work in a claim that uses 300 inchtes of water. As an inch of water is equal to a supply of 145 pounds per minute, or 8,700 pounds per hour, or 102,900 pounds (51 tollns) in 12 hours, so it follows that 300 inches supplies 15,000 tons in a day; and as the water carries off at least one-tenth —the ordinary calculation is one-fifth-of its bulk of earthy matter, it follows that two men wash 1,500 tons at Gold Run in 12 hours, or 750 tons each. It is a common saying at Dutch Flat that there three pipes are required to break down as much gravel as the water of one can washt away, but in Gold Run one pipe will break down as much as three can wash away. This is an exaggeration when stated as a general princil:le, though it has been true in some instances. C~iRON CREE. — Caflon creek runs from Gold Run along the eastern border of the Blue Lead 34 miles down to Indiana Hill, where it empties into the north fork of the Amelican river. This creek furnishes the outlet~ for many of the claims. The original bed of the creek was in general 350 feet below the surface of the leadc or "gravel range," as it is also called, but the bed has been in some places, filled up as much as fifty feet with gravel. WATER- — Piping was commenced at Indiana Hill on a small scale in 1857, with 400 inches, supplied in the late winter and early spring by a ditch from Carlon creek. Four years later the Dutch Flat ditch brought to Gold Run 800 inches which ran for six or seven months, and have since been doubled; and the Bear River ditch brought in 800 more; and in 1864 the South Yuba ditch broughlt in 2,500 inches. The demand for water has always exceeded the supply, and as the supply increased so did the amount of' work and of production. ()old RIun produced $150,000, in 1865; $300,000 in 1866; and the yield for 1 867 is estimated at $500,000. The customary price for water is 12~ cents per inch for 12 hours, and 20 cents for 24 hours. SQUIRlE' CANON CLAIMS. —On the southern lode of Squire's eafion, in the Gold Run district, are the following claims, commencing at.the east: Frost & Co. began work in 1865, wash through an open cut, use 300 ilches of water, and usually run in day-time- only, though they have run night and day at times. WV. H. Kinder began work in 1866, uses 300 inches of water, washes through an open cut, and runs in day-time only. Wentworth & Co. began work in 1866, use 300 inches of water night and dlay, and wash through an open cut. A. Bell & Co. are'running a bed rock tunnel, and have not commenced washing. Wolcott & Co. began work in 1867, and the claim was sold in June for $3,500., They use 300 inclies of water in daylight only, and wash through an open cut, but/ intend to cut a tunnel. The Bailey claim, consisting of 21 claims, each 100 by'200 feet, has not been opened, and no work is being done. Crader & Co. began in 1867, and use 175 inches dlay and night. CANON CREEK CLAIM.- The claims which have their outlet into Caiion creek are the following, near the head of Squire's cafnon: The Rock Company opened their'claim in 1866, and used 250 inches of water, running day and night. They are not piping now, but are preparing to lay a long pipe so as to have a heavy pressure for 1868. Hughes & Co. opened their claim in 1866, but are not at work now. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOIUNTAINS. 103 A. S. Bent6n opened his claim in 1867, and uses 300 inches of water by daylight only. The Harkness claim has been worked byv sluice and pipe for 10 years, is now taking 650 inches of water day and night, and draining through an open cut. Behind Harkness is the claim of Halsey & Co., 90( feet long by 500 wide, which cannot be worked until an outlet is obtained through the claim in front. A fourth interest was offered for sale in last February for $2,000, but no buyer appeared. It would have found ready sale if there had been an outlet. Next to Harkness, on Canon creek, is the claim of Goding & Co., who have worked off the top. of their claim as low as they can go, and are now waiting for a deeper outlet. The claim of Benton & Co., adjoining, is in a similar condition. The Bay State claim was opened in 1857, and has been worked steadily since whenever water could be had. In 1866 it used 750 inches day and night; this year it used 350. The profit never has been large, though the gross yield has been $150,000, and the yield for 1866 $37,000. The claim of A. Beel is in the same condition as that of Goding. GOOSLING RAVINE CLAIMs. —Goosling & Co. have been at work since 1854. A ravine runs down through the middle of the claim, and they are piping on each side, using 300 inches day and night on one side, and 300 inches in daytime only on the other. Goosling ravine is in this claim. Prindle & Co. opened their claim in 1864, and used 275 inches of water day and night. Work has been closed for this season because the pipe has advanced to within 50 feet of a ditch, the proprietors'of which have warned the claim owners that they will be held responsible for any damage to the ditch. Four ditches cross this claim. The outlet is through Goosling's ravine. The Uncle Abe claim, behind Goosling, is irregular in shape, but is about 1,000 feet long by 850 feet wide. It was opened in 1867, and in April, May, and June, yielded $12,000. It was sold in May for $6,000. The consumption of water is 275 inches day and night. LOWER CArON CREEK CLAIMws.-The claim of Winters & Co. has been worked three years, and is in the sarre condition as Goding's. The Bay State No. 2 is unopened. An offer of $3,000 for the claim was refused. The Hall 61aim was worked for two years, but is idle this season for want of an outlet. The claim of Taylor, Moore & Co. is about 1,000 feet square, was worked on a small scale from 1853 till 1865, and for the last two years has been piping on a large scale. It was sold this year for $11,000. The yield in "a run of 22 days," as a run of 11 days day and night is termed, is usually between $4,000 and $5,000. The Church claim was opened in 1860, and the yield in 1866 was $27,000, Three-fifths of the claim were sold in 1865 for $7,000.' Of water, 275 inches are used in the day-time only. The Golden Gate claim began work in 1858, uses 300 inches of water in daytime only, pays well, and is the last claim that tails immediately into Caion creek. GOLD RUN CANOK. —The Gold Run claim began work in 1859, Uses 300 inches of water in the day-time only, has paid well, and tails into Golden Run cafion, which is on the southern side of the claim. An offer of $10,000 for the claim has been refused. The Fitzpatrick 6laim, fronting on.Gold Run canion, has lately been sold for $2,100, and is now preparing to work with 300 inches of water. On the south side of Gold Run canion, and opposite to the Fitzpatrick claim, is the Sheldon claim, owned by the Dutch Flat Water Company. It has been worked several years, but is idle now. 104 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The Huyck and Hubbard claim, fronting on Gold Run canon, has a sluice tunnel, but is waiting for cheaper water, and doing nothing. The Home Ticket has been worked four years, and uses 350 inches in daytime. The gross yield in lMay and June, 1867, Nas about $100 per day. The Newark was opened in 1863, uses 300 inches in the day-time, and yielded about $75 gross in June, 1867. POTATO RxAVINE.-The following companies tail into Potato ravine, a tributary of Canon creek: Baldwin and Bailey have been at work three years, using 275 inches of water in the day-time, and obtaining about $70 gross per day. The Harris claim is large and unopened. The Fitzpatrick claim yields about $75 gross per day, was opened in 1866, and consumes 330 inches of water in day-time. The Cedar Company have 900 by 800 feet, began work in 1861, run 300 inches day and night, and obtain about $230 in 24 hours. The yield in 1866 was $35,000, one-half of it profit. Stewart and Kinder have 500 feet square, fronting on both Canon creek and Potato ravine, but are not at work. Along Canon creek there is a rim rock, so they will tail into Potato ravine. They refused an offer of $1,500 for the claim. The Judd and Griffin claim, 1,000 feet square, has been worked since 1854, and was sold in 1866 for $3,500. The yield is about $75 per day, with 270 inches running twelve hours out of the twenty-four. To get drainage an open cut was made 600 or 700 feet long in the rim-rock, and in one place 40 feet deep. Huyck and Judd have one of the most profitable claims of the district on the eastern side of Indiana Hill cahion, which empties into the north fork of the American river. They have been at work since 1854, use 275 inches of water in the day-time, and cleared $7,000 in 1866. The' Hoskin claim adjoining is open, but is not worked. INDIANA CEMENT MILL.-Mallory, Gaylord & Co. are working with an eightstamp cement mill, driven by a hurdygurdy wheel. Their claim is the only one in the district in which the bed-rock has been reached. Their mode of getting out dirt is to cut a tunnel 60 or ~0 feet on the bed-rockl, let off a blast of 200 kegs of powder, sluice off the top dirt, and run the cement through the mill. INDIANA CANON CLAIMS.-The following claims tail into Indiana Hill caifon. The Hawkins claim was opened this year, uses 350 inches night and day, and yields 8200 in'24 hours. The Brink claim was opened in 1864, but is not worked now on account of disturbance of the telegraph or flume from which the pipe is fed. The yield was about $75 per day, and the quantity of water 30 inches. Work will be resumed next year. Stewart and Prindle opened their claim in 1867, use 200 inches day and night, and take out about $100 per day. MOODY'S TAIL SL-UICE. —In Calion creek Moody & Co. have a double tail sluice 2,000 feet long, consisting of two flumes, each eight feet wide and about four feet deep. This sluice cost $25,000. The lower part was carried away in 1862, and the upper part was buried and had to be replaced. The yield was $10,000 in 1865, $7,000 in 1866, and $3,000 in the first half of 1867. An offer of $11,000 for a third interest was refused. The estimated receipts for 1867 are $10,000. Most of the cleaning up is done in September and October, when there is not much water for piping. KINDEIr,'s TAIL SLUIcCE. —Kinder and White have a tail sluice in Cafion creek, and claim the creek for a mile' and a half below Moody & Co. In the upper part of their claim they have two sluices eight feet wide and 700 feet long. Half of the sluice was sold in 1865 for $3,000, but since then it has become more valuable. The grade is three inches to 12 feet. This sluice was carried away in 1865. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 105 The following companies tail into the two tail sluices in Caiion creek: Companies. Inches. Companies. Inches. Rock Creek-......275 Golden Gate 0...............,........ 300 Benton & Co........-............... 350 Home Ticket - -............... 350 Harkness........................... 600 Newark..., 3300 Bay State-.-.....,.............. 350 Bailey & Brother. 275 Bell- c............................ 300 Fitzpatrick 300 German........ 600, Brogan. ——.......- --------- 300 Uncle Abe.................. 275 Taylor & Co......................... 400 Total.........................5, 250 Church.......................... 275 The Gold Run tail sluice,,in Gold Run cafon, is 1,500 feet long, six feet wide, and yields $6,000 or $7,000 a year. It tails into Calion creek. Goosling & Co. have a tail sluice 3,000 feet long in Goosling ravine, and four companies tail into it. Two tail sluices are buried 20 or'30 feet deep in this mine. Huyck and Judd have 1,000 feet of tail sluice in Indiana Hill canlon. HOSKINS TAIL SLUICE.-The Hoskins tail sluice is in Indiana Hill ravine, which is so steep that the sluice is in short sections, the longest 24 feet, and between the sections the water pitches dogwn over steep rocks. There are in all fifteen boxes of main tail sluice, six or eight feet wide and two or two and a half feet deep, with a grade of eight inches to 12 feet. Besides the main sluice,boxes there are a number of undercurrent boxes, fiom six to nine feet wide, 14 inches deep, wvith a grade of 12 or 13 inches to 12 feet. -Not more than one-fifth of the matter in the main sluice gets into the undercurrent, passing through a cast grating of white iron, with openings an inch wide, eight inches and a half long, separated by bars an inch and a half thick on top. There are usually from 600 to 1,200 inches of water running in the main sluice and 120 in the undercurrent, which latter catches three times as much gold as the former, because the current is slower and shallower. There are second undercurrents, or secondaries, as they are usually called. Their grade is 14 or 15 inches to the box, their width 30 inches, and their depth 12. They take one-fifteenth of the water of the undercurrent, and catch oneeighth as much gold. They are especially serviceable for catching quicksilver. The spaces in the grating are five inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide. There are three boxes of 12 feet to each undercurrent, and two to each secondary. The undercurrents always pay where the gold is fine, and the secondaries are especially serviceable in steep cations. DUTCH FLAT.-Dutch Flat, on the north side of the divide between Bear fiver and the north fork of the American river, and within half a mile of the line of the Central Pacific railroad, has for 12 years been one of the leading hydraulic camps of the State. It is pleasantly situated, and is one of the most prosperous towns in the mines, although the monthly gold yield was thrice as great in 1858 as it is now. There are many comfortable homes, most of the people *consider themselves permanent residents, and there is a steady increase in the number of families. Dutch Flat, probably alone of all the mining towns, has never been burned down, and only one house has been burned. The shipment of gold in January, 1867, was $31,600; in February, $33,000; in Marchll, $43,000; in April, $74,000; in May, $66,000; and in June, $60,000. These shipments included much from Gold Run. 3Most of the soft gravel that covered the Blue lead, and that could be washed down readily with the pipe, has been washed away, and the blue cement, which is too hard for the pipe, and perhaps not rich enough for the stamp, has been reached; and most of the claims are now lying idle in the hope that some other mrnde will be devised of workingo them. The principal claims at Dutch'Flat, commencing on Bear river, at the northeastern corner of the district, are the following: PH(ENIX AND AMERICAN.-The Phcenix, 900 feet long by 300 wide, was s06 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES opened in 1857 and was workled until 1865, with an average yield of $150 and an expense of $60 per day. All the soft gravel has been washed and the hard cement remains. The depth to the bed rock is not known. The American, 900 feet long by 400 feet wide, was opened in 1857, and was worked for six'years as a hydraulic claim, yielding $150 per day. It will not pay now for piping, and Chinamen are sluicing in it. BUCxEYE. —The Buckeye was opened as a sluicing claim in 1854, and it was piped from 1857 till 1867, and may be regarded as worked out for the hydraulic process. It has used 250 inches of water and employed from four to six men. An incline was sunk 250 feet below the level of the present workings to the bed rock, and the cement taken out in going down yielded $8 to the car-load, and not more than one-third of the gold was washed out. If this statement be correct, and if the cement found in the incline was a fair average of all in the claim, the Buckeye is an extremely valuable piece of property. DUTCH FLAT AND QUEEN CITY.-The Dutch Flat, 1,800 by 900 feet, was opened in 1857, and is, still at work with 12 men. The yield is from $200 to $400 per day. The soft gravel will last another season. The company comrlenced work in 1854, cutting a tunnel for drainage, but after going 450 feet and spending $46,000 on it, they gave it up. Some of the rock was so hard that they paid $85 50 per lineal foot. The Queen City, 900 by 250 feet, began piping in 1858, and will exhaust its soft gravel this year. Four men are employed; the yield is $130 to $150 per day, and 200 or 250 inches of water are used. BEAR RIVER AND TEAFF.-The Bear River claim, 900 by 400, was opened in 1856, and will be exhausted, so far as the soft gravel is concerned, this year. Four men are employed,a 250 inches of water are used, and the yield is $150 per day. Teaff's claim, 900 by 310 feet on one side of the hill, and 1,500 by 900 on the other side, was opened as a pipe claim in 1855, and the- soft gravel will be worked out. next year. From 1857 to 1860 125 inches of water were used, and the average yield was $100 per day. About 80 feet have been washed away from nearly the entire area of the claim. The amount of water used is 250 inches, at an expense of $30 per day; four men are employed at $3 each; the total expenses are about $50 per day, and the yield $150. The head of water for piping is 120 feet. FROM BOSTON TO YANKE E.- The Boston claim, 600 by 450 feet, was opened as a hydraulic claim in 1855, and the soft gravel will all be washed away this year. Four men are employed, 250 inches of water are purchased, and the yield is $150 per dav. The Gray Eagle, 900 by 300 feet, was piped from 1858 till this year, and now the soft gravel has all disappeared. The yield was $150 per day, and 250 or 300 inches were used per day., The North Star was worked as a drift claim for a long time, and then piped. The soft gravel is all gone, and the claim is lying idle. The Unioli is working, and paying good wages to two men. The Yankee, at the junction of Dutch Flat ravine with Bear river, has worked off nearly all the soft gravel. In 1858 and 1859 it was worked as a drift claim by 16 men, and it yielded 250 ounces (about $4,500) per month. DRIFT CLIT s..-The Blue Cut struck pay in 1856 as a drift claim, and paid very high for a time, and now pays $400 per month. Four men are employed, and the claim is still worked by drifting. The Potosi, a drift claim, pays 200 ounces per month to 12 men drifting day and night. - The Whynot Company is worked as a drifting claim; yield not ascertained. The Badger has 22 feet of drifting dirt, and has been very rich, but is working now on a smnall scale.. In four years it paid $192,000 of dividends WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 107 MILL CLAIMs.-The Ohio claim has a four-stamp cement mill, which started this year and pays well. The cement is hauled out with a mule. The soft gravel has been sluiced off from the top. The erection of a mill has been commenced on the Baker claim. The German Company intend to build a mill. OTHER CLAIMS.-The Deep Shaft claim is the property of the Water Company, and is worked by the hydraulic process, but the supply of water is irregular. When there are 250 inches of -water the yield is about $150 per day. The Iowa claim uses 250 inches, and pays $150 per day, but did not pay more than $100 previous to 1866. The soft gravel will be worked out next year. The North Star yielded $150 per day for four or five years,-but the soft gravel is all gone now. Between Dutch Flat Ravine and Squire's Canon are a -number of hydraulic claims that have been worked many years, and have paid very little more than expenses. TEAFF'S TAIL SL-uIcE.-James Teaffi who owns one of the piping' claims at Dutch Flat, also owns a tail sluice-probably-the largest one in the State. The total length is 5,500 feet; 2,500 feet long, five and a half feet wide, and 26 inches deep, in a tunnel, and 3,000 feet loing and six feet wide outside. The construction of the tunnel and sluice cost $55,000 in money and' four years' time, and was completed in 1863. The Teaff, Dutch Flat, Queen City, Bear River, Franklin, Boston, and Iowa companies, with 1,550 inches of water, tail into it. It is paved all the way with boulders 14 inches deep. The grade is 10 inches to 12 feet, but eight inches would have been better. At intervals of 120 feet there are falls or dumps two feet and a half high in the tunnel and five feet high outside. These dumps are of, great service in breaking up pieces of cement. Boulders 10 and 15 inches in diameter are constantly rushingthrough the sluice, and some of 20 inche's frequently pass. The great weight of these boulders rushing along at a speed of nearly 10 miles an hour tries the sluice severely, and the rock bottom is always worn down about two inches in three months, and half of the paving boulders are broken so as to be unfit for further use. The rock for the paving is obtained by putting an iron grate in a sloping position in the sluice. The bars of the grate are an inch and a half thick and eight inches apart, so everything small passes through. A Chinaman stands by the grate, examines every boulder that stops, lays the good ones on one side, and throws the others over. Every evening 15 or 20 pounds of quicksilver are put into the sluice, and tlhe largest amount in the sluice at one time is 900 pounds. The owner of the sluice never buys any quicksilver, but has it to sell, for he catches more than he putsin. He cleans up several sections-a section is between two dumlps-between Saturday night and Monday morning, which time he has for cleaning up under a contract with the companies. Six men are employed 20 hours — 12 days' workin cleaning up a section of ten boxes or 120 feet, and the expense, including new stone and repairing, is $3 75 per box. The yield is usually $25 per box, or $250 per section, at a clean up, and there are 416 boxes in the sluice. Three men are constantly employed in looking after the sluice, and extra men are engaged to clean up. The companies which' tail into the tunnel have about 600 feet of their own sluices. DRAINAGE OF BEAR RIvEn.-Bear river, opposite to Dutch Flat, is 70 feet deep, with tailings, the mass of which extends for some miles above and -many below. It has been proposed to cut a tunnel three miles long from Bear river at Secret ravine through the railroad divide to the north fork of the American river, the bed of which is 1,000 feet lower than that of Bear river. It is supposed that an immense profit would be derived from such an enterprise, though the cost of making a tunnel for that length 11 feet wide and eight feet high, at $40 per foot, 108 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES would be about $630,000. The bed of Bear river, opposite Dutch Flat, never was flumed, and is probably quite rich. The present deposit of tailings began to accumulate in 1858 or 1859. They rise about two feet per mouth from February till September, and then the floods of winter carry away a considerable portion of them. SOUTH PLACER QUARTZ REGULATIONS.-There is no general quartz reguilation for Placer county; each district has its own rules. The following are the main provisions of the South Placer quartz regulations: Any person may take up and pre-empt one claim of 200 feet in length on the lode by 200 feet in width, (following the dip of the lode,) with all dips, spurs, angles, and courses, with all precious metals therein contained. Such claims shall be valid by the locator's posting one notice thereupon, naming the number of feet claimed each way from said notice; designating, if possible, by croppings, the general direction of said lode, but if no croppings are visible, then by the words easterly, westerly, northerly, or southerly, as the case may be; but in no case shall a location of a claim be invalid by reason of any misapprehension in regard to the direction of said lode. Notices of locations shall be put upon the records of this district, together with filing a copy of the same with the recorder, which shall give as full a description as possible of the claim. All claims shall be recorded as above specified within 20 days from the date of their notice. All claims in this district shall be held. by working the same, the work to amount to at least one full day's work to each claim in each company in every month in good faith; and after the sum of $50 to each name in such company shall have been expended upon the claim, on application to the recorder it shall be his duty to go and see the work, and if he finds that the said amount of work or money has been expended as before stated, he shall give to the parties owning or their representatives a certificate stating that the said amount of work and money has been expended, which entitles the owners to lay over and suspend work for the term of six months from the date of said application, and the claim will not be considered forfeited until after the said six months has expired. CANADA HILL AND LONE STAr> REGULATIONS.-The quartz regulations of Canada Hill allow 200 feet on the lode to each person, and 50 feet on each side, and 10 feet on every cross-lodle; and require five days' work per month for each individual claim or share. In the Lone Star district, west of Auburn, the regulations allow 200 feet to each person, and 300 feet on each side. A company's claim may be held for the first year by doing work of the value of $25 within 60 days after the location; and an equal amount of work will hold it for any subsequent year. GREEN EMIGRAN}T.-The Green Emigrant mine, three miles northwest from Auburn, is 1,000 feet long on a vein which appears to run north 650 west- but there are a number of veins that seem to concentrate at the top of the hill, in which a rich deposit has been found. The vein which runs through the hill is called the Green Emigrant, is three feet wide, and dips 45~ to the southwest. The foot-wall is serpentine and the hanging wall talcose'slate and schist. The vein itself near the surface seems to be decomposed quartz, talcose, and schist. The middle parallel vein is 18 inches wide and nearly vertical, and the vein matter is like that in the Green Emigrant. The southwestern vein is four feet and a half wide, and dips 450 to the east. The vein matter is the same as in the other two. There are spaces of 50 feet between these parallelveins at the surface, but it is supposed that they unite 150 feet below the surface. The walls of the middle vein and the hanging wall of the southern vein are talcose slate; and the foot-wall of the latter vein is a hard rock resembling sienite. A shaft was sunk 10 feet in the southwestern vein, and the rock averaged $10 per ton. The mine was discovered in 1864, and not more than 50 tons have been crushed, yielding $100 per ton. The yield for the first two years was $20,000, but the proprietors refuse to tell what ithasbeen since. Rumor, which probably exaggerates grossly, says that $100,000 have been taken out in a hand raortar in the first six months of 1867. That WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 109 many rich specimens have been obtained is indubitable. All the work in the mine, except on rare occasions, is done by two partners in it, and strangers are not permitted to enter. The rich deposit is found in streaks near the walls. The mine is opened by a tunnel 225 feet long. The mine owners say the whole hill will pay-the rock for crushing and'the gravel for washing. The first extension of the Green Emigrant on the north is 600 feet long, and is being opened or examined by cross cuts. Some auriferous talcose slate has been found, but so far no vein. Monahan & Co. have 2,000 feet on the same vein, and have done nothing. The Wells claim is 2,400 feet long, and the vein is five feet wide. There are two shafts, one 50 and the other 40 feet deep, Forty tons have been crushed, and they yielded $12 50 per ton on an average, after the specimens had been picked out. The first extension south of the Green Emigrant is 2,000 feet long. A shaft has been sunk 25 feet, and the vein is 18inches wide. The rock prospects well. NEW YORK AND EMPIRE.-The New York mine, formerly known as the Conrad, one mile west of Auburn, has three veins, each two feet wide, not more than 200 feet apart. The Empire Company, at Ophir, has 11,000 feet of claims on various veins, and is working, in a shaft 35 feet deep, in a -vein two feet wide. The mill has 10 stamps, and began to run in March of this year. The average yield is $8 per ton, exclusive of the sulphurets, which are not saved. An experiment was made in this mill of working the float quartz, which covers the whole countrv near Ophir, but it did not pay. The working vein is in granite and runs north and south. The mill was burned down in July, after it was visited. SCHNABLE.-The Julianne' or Schnable mine, on Jenny Lind Flat, near Ophir, is 2,000 feet long on a vein two and a half feet wide, running north and south in granite, and dipping 80~ to the east. A shaft has been sunk 105 feet, and drifts have been run 50 feet below the surface, 1,200 feet on the vein, in pay all the way. The pay is evenly distributed thrcugh the vein, and the average yield of free gold, as reported by the proprietor, is $6 per ton'; but the general impression in the neighborhood is that the mine is quite valuable. The expense for stoppihg out is $2 per ton, and the total expense $4. The croppings have paid for 2,()000 feet on the surface.' The rock contains seven per cent. of sulphurets, which assay $147 per ton, or $10 per ton of rock. There is a five-stamp mill which has been running for two years and a half, working 25 or 30 tons per week. WALTER AND ST. LAxWEN-cE.-The Walter mine, 900 feet, at Hamberg'Flat, is on a vein which- runs northwest and southeast, averages 18 inches in thickness, and -dips 800 to the southwest. A shaft has been sunk 45 feet, and drifts have been run 48 feet on the vein in pay rock all the way. There is slate wall on both sides, but in some places the granite comes to the west wall. Some very rich specimens have been found. The mine has no mill. Twenty tons have been crushed, and the yield was $13 per ton. The St. Lawrence Company has three claims. The St. Lawrence vein, on which, they are working, runs northeast and southwest, dips southeast 65~, and is 20 inches wide. The claim on this vein is 1,400 feet long. A shaft has been sunk 75 feet, and drifts have been run 85 feet in pay'all the way. The walls are granite, with a slaty gouge about an inch thick on each side. The surface Was worked with a profit by Mexicans for many years. The St- Lawrence claim on the Boulder vein is 2,400 feet long. The vein is three and a half feet wide, and has the same course, dip, a.d walls as the St. Lawrence. A shaft has been sunk 75 feet, and drifts have been run 75 feet. An assay of the sulphurets shows $138 gold and $158 silver per ton. An assay of dry slun'showed $19 gold and $46 silver per tor. GOLDEN RIULE.-The Golden Rule Company, of Sacramento, (to be distin 1[10 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES guished from the Golden Rule Company of San Francisco, which has a valuable mine on the Mother lode in Tuolumne county,) has claims, each 2,000 feet long, on three parallel veins nine miles south-southwest of Auburn. The eastern vein is three feet thick, and has been opened by a shaft 250 feet deep and drifts 160 feet long on the vein, all the way in rock that averages $12 to the ton. The.middle vein is two feet thick, and the rock averages $8. This is 100 feet from the eastern vein, has been reached by a cross-drift from it, and a drift in the vein has been run 60 feet. The western vein is 60 feet distant, is fifteen inches wide, and has been opened to a depth of 75 feet by a shaft, and to a length of 50 feet by drifts. The eastern and middle veins show quartz of the same quality; the western has a bluish hard quartz, containing more free gold than the others, which have white quartz and sulphurets. A 20-stamp mill is going up, and also a reverberatory furnace, with a capacity to roast a ton at a charge. The sulphurets are to be concentrated with Hungerford's concentrator. There is a 75-horse power steam engine and steam hoisting works. For hoisting, a flat wire rope is used. STEWART'S FLAT, AMERICAN BAR, AND DAMAscus.-Stewait's Flat mine, 1,350 feet long, is on a vein two and a half feet wide, running north-northeast and south-southwest, in granite walls. A shaft has been sunk 120 feet, and drifts have been run 380 feet on the vein in pay all the way. The average yield is $15 per ton. The mine was worked from 1862 to 1864, and was then left idle till this spring, when work was resumed. There is a five-stamp mill. At American Bar, two miles below Michigan Bluff, a quartz mill is being built. The- Damascus quartz mine, at Damascus, was worked for three years, paying a profit part of the time, and has been idle for the last three years. The vein' is 12 feet wide and the mill has five stamps. RED STONE.-The Red Stone, 10 miles north of Dutch Flat, on the north branch of the north fork of the American river, is 2,400 feet long, on a vein which runs northwest and southeast, and is five and a half' feet wide, between granite and talcose slate. A depth of 1.65 feet has been reached, and drifts have been run 30 feet in the vein' The'rock, so far as examined, is very rich. A fourstamp mill has been running, and an 18-stamp mill is now in the course of erection. There is a mill of two stamps erected in Bear Valley, for the purpose of prospecting the Champion and the Blue Belle lodes, both of which yield excellent quartz. CANADA HIILL. —Canada Hill, on the Forest Hill ridge, 10 miles west of the summit, has a number of quartz lodes, some of wtiich are very promising at the surface. The gulches about the hill are full of rough gold and gold-bearing quartz. Most of the miners there are Mexicans. The Secret mill, built four years ago, ran two years and is now standing idle. The Buena Vista Company are opening a quartz claim. Bald Mountain, two miles east of Canada Hill, is covered with float-quartz, and many of the pieces contain spec-ks of gold plainly visible. There has been much prospecting for lodes, but none of any size have been found. HARPE'NDING MNE. —The Gold Quarry Company's property, familiarly known as the Banker or Harpefiding mine, is situated near Lincoln, on a deposit similar to that of Quail Hill, in Calaveras county. The ores are delivered by Jontract at 40 cents per ton. A 40-stamp mill is at work, crushing about five,ons daily to the'stamp. The labor is principally Chinese. The estimated cost of the entire extraction and treatment is within $1 per ton. Professor Silliman, in a paper on the Harpending and Quail Hill deposits. says: Accompanying the entire mass of decomposition at both localities, occur both gold and silver, disseminated with remarkable uniformity in all parts of the ore ground. At Whiskey Hill films of metallic silver are visible upon the talcose masses, stained green by malachite WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUINTAINS. 11 or chrysocolla. The gold is rarely seen in situ, being mostly obscured by the very rusty and highly-stained character of the associated materials. But it is rare that, on washing a small quantity of any of the contents of'these great deposits, gold is not found in angular grains or small ragged masses, from the size of a few grains' weight to impalpable dust. Nuggets of several pennyweights occur occasionally. This gold has evidently accompanied the sulphurets and been left in its original position and condition by their decomposition. There can be little doubt that the gold of the gulches adjoining these deposits lhas been -derived from them. At Whiskey Hill the gulch gold ceases to be found as soon as the limits of this deposit are passed; and the same is true at Quail Hill. The occurrence of deposits of this nature throughout the range of the foot hills seems to offer the best solution which has suggested itself of the origin of the placer gold, which is found in situations so far removed from the gold belt of the upper sierras, and away from sources usually recognized as those to which placer gold may be referred. * The chemical results of the extensive decomposition of metallic sulphids which has in former: times occurred. at these localities offer an interesting problem in chemical geology. The sulphur has been removed chiefly as sulphuric acid, beyond doubt, which has combined with iron and copper to form sulphates of those metals. These have, for the most part, disappeared, being washed out by the atmospheric waters, and have followed the drainage of the country. At Whiskey Hill I found. the sulphate of iron, (coquimbite,) sulphate of copper, (cyanosite,) and alum. The water of the shaft contains copper enough to redden the iron tools. X *,* * From all the evidence presented, we seem justified in regarding these xemarkable metallic deposits as segregated veins, holding a pretty uniform and high tenor of gold and silver, associated with and derived from the decomposition of extended masses of metallic sulphurets and quartzose matter, and carrying, at times, ores of copper, the commercial value of which is, however, entirely subordinate to that of the precious metals which are found to characterize these veins or ore channels. SECTION IX. NEVADA. COUNTY. Nevada county, Ctlifornia, has for its eastern boundary the dlividing line betweenf California and Nevada State; extends across the' summit and down the westerly slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the foot hills that border the eastern edge of the Sacramento valley. Its northerly and southerly boundaries are the Middle Yuba and Bear rivers, to the sources of those, streams; thence due east to the State line. Its length from east to west is about 65 miles, having an average breadth of 20, and containing about 1,300 square miles. It is neri the middle of the great gold region that stretches along the westeily l!ope of the mountain chain, extends entirely across the auriferous belt, and in the last nineteen years has produced more gold than any tract of country of equal extent in the world.* The elevation above the level of the ocean ranges from 800 to 1,000 feet, along the foot hills, and rises to 8,000 and 9,000 feet in places on the summit, thus affording a great variety of climates. On and near the summit the ground is covered with snow for more than half the year, while at the foot hills snow and ice are seldom seen. Several streams, which have their sources high up in the mountailis, flow westerly through the county, and empty into the main Yuba or Bear river. The most considerable of these are the South Yuba, Deer creek, and Greenhorn, which, with their tributaries, have cut deep channels in the primitive rock. Between these streams and those forming the northerly and southerly boundaries * Professor B. Silliman says of the product of the valley district: "The place has obtained a well-earned celebrity as the most prosperous of all the gold quartz-mining districts in California. Quartz mining was begun here as early as 1850, and has been continued, on the whole, With a steadily increasing success, to the present time. "It is difficult to obtain exact statistics of the total product of the Grass Valley quartz mines, but it is believed by those best able to form a trustworthy opinion on this subject that the product in 1866 was probably not less than $2,000,000, while for the whole period from. 1851-say 14 years-it was probably in excess of $23,000,000." 112 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of the county are four main ridges running nearly at right angles with the mountain chain, and varying in length from 25 to 40 miles. These ridges are composed mainly of gravel and alluvial deposits, the debris friom the higher mountains, and ihatter of volcanic origin. In places the bed rock rises nearly to the surface, but in general the alluvium is from 100 to 200 feet in depth, and at the higher elevations is covered with basaltic rocks and a deep volcanic cement. The volcanic covering is supposed at one, time to have extended over a much larger area than at present, forming extensive table lands, but in course of time has been worn away on the lower portions and along the margins of,the ridges, leaving the alluvium as the upper surface, and which now constitutes the principal field for hydraulic mining.* * Professor Silliman, in an article published in Bean's Directory of Nevada, says of the general geological character of the Grass Valley district: "The gold-bearing rocks at this place are mostly highly metamorphic schists or sandstone passing into diorite or greenstone syenite. These. greenstones, seemingly crystaline, are probably only highly altered sedimentary rocks, containing a large amount of protoxide of iron with sulphuret of iron. In some parts of the district slaty rocks occur, more or less talcose.or chloritic in character; masses of serpentine also abound, forming at times one wall of the quartz veins. This serpentine is probably metamorphic of the magnesian rocks last named. The red soil, seen almost everywhere in the Grass Valley district, has its origin from the peroxidation of the iron contained in the greenstones and diorites, and set at liberty by its decomposition. ""The line of contact between the gold-bearing and metamorphic rocks of Grass Valley and the granites of the Sierra Nevada is met on the road to the town of Nevada, about a half mile before coming to Deer' creek. The talcose and chloritic slates are seen to the north,.in the direction of the Peck load, and in the slate districts of Deer creek. "The dip and strike of the rocks in the Grass Valley region is seen to vary greatly in different parts of the district. Following the course of Wolf creek; a tributary of Bear river. it will be observed that the valley of this stream-which is Grass Valley-as well as of its principal branches, follows, in the main, the line or strike of the rocks. In the absence of an accurate map of the region it may not be easy to make this statement evident. But all who are familiar with the chief mines of this district will recall the fact that the course of the veins in the Forest Springs location, at the southern extremity of the district, is nearly north and south-N. about 200 E.-with a very flat-dip to the east; while at the Eureka mine, on Eureka Hill, about four miles to the northward, the course of the vein is nearly east and west, with a dip to the south of about 78 degrees. Again, commencing at North Gold Hill and following the course of the famous vein which bears the names of Gold Hill, Massachusetts Hill, and New York Hill, we find the veins conforming essentially to the southerly course of the stream, with an easteily dip. The North Star, on Weimar Hill, has likewise the same general direction of dip. Near Miller's ravine, at El Dorado mill, Wolf creek makes a sudden bend to the left or east, leaving the Lone Jack, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Allison Ranch mines to the west. All these last-named mines are found to possess a westerly dip, showing the existence of a synclinal axis running between the base of New York Hill and the mines having westerly dips last named, along which, probably, the veins will, if explored in depth, be found'in basin.' The dip at Lone Jack is about 300 west; at Allison Ranch it is about 450 west. Just below the Allison Ranch mine Wolf cmeek again makes a sharp turn to the left; nearly at a right angle, and then resumes its former course with the same abruptness. A mile lower down, where it strikes the Forest Springs locations, we find the Morambagna inclosed in syenitic rocks, dipping at a very low angle to the east; a dip is seen also, at a still less angle, in the Shamrock, yet further south. There is probably a saddle or anticlinal axis below theAllison Ranch mine, due to the elevation of the syenitic mass, Which, it seems probable, sets in at the sharp bend in the stream, before alluded to, and where the ravane trail joins it. The stream probably runs pretty nearly in the basin of the synclinal. "The rocks on the east side of Wolf creek, and above Forest Springs locations, dip westerly. Such is the case at Kate Hayes and with the veins on Osborn Hill. The middle branch of the creek sweeps around to the east, forms its junction with the north fork, and the veins explored there near its upper waters, as atUnion Hill, the Burdette ground, Murphy vein, Lucky, and Cambridge, all dip southwest or south, conformably to the Idaho and Eureka,- and at a pretty high angle. The Eureka vein, going west, faults in the Whiting ground, and, having previously become almost vertical, has, west of the fault, a northerly dip at a highl angle. At the Coe ground this northerly dip is also found at an angle of about 50~. At C'incinnati Hill'the vein dips southerly, in a direction exactly opposite to that of the North Star, there being a valley between the two, and a saddle or anticlinal between Cincinnati and Massachusetts Hills. "These facts, which by a-more detailed statement could be easily multiplied, seem to warrant the conclusion that the course and dip of the Grass Valley veins is especially conformable -WEST': OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 11t The whole country was originally covered with magnificent forests, the different varieties of the pine predominating in the more elevated regions, and giving place to the oak in the foot-hills. As the first settlers had no interest in the soil, and felt that they were but sojourners for a time in the mines, the timber has been wastefully used, and much of it has disappeared. The entire county is what might be termed mineral land, as distinguished from agricultural. Yet there are many sheltered valleys of rich, arable soil which have been cultivated, and amply rewarded the husbandman. The largest of these is Pema valley, lying near the westerly border of the county, and containing about 2,000 acres of good soil, which has been occupied and cultivated for many years. SRETTLEM ENT.-The first settlement in what is now Nevada county was made in-the summer of 1848, when the south and middle branches of the Yuba were prospected for gold for a considerable distance into the mountains, and many to that of the rocks, and that the streams have, in general, excavated their valleys in alike conformable manner." In reference to the gold-bearing veins of Grass Valley, Professor Silliman says: " The quartz veins of Grass Valley district are not generally large. Two feet is probably a full average thickness, while some of the most productive, and those which have given fiom the first a high reputation to this region, have not averaged.ver a foot, or possibly eighteen inches in thickness. There are some exceedingly rich veins, which will hardly average four inches in thickness, mad which have yet been worked at a profit, while at the same time there are veins like the Eureka, which have averaged three in thickness, and the Union Hill vein over four feet. The Grass Valley veins are often, perhaps, usually imbedded in the inclosing rocks, with seldom a fiuccan or. clay selvage or parting,. although this is sometimes found on one or both walls. "The walls of the fissures and the contact faces of the veins are often seen to be beautifully polished and striated. " The veins are, as a rule, highly mineralized, crystalline, and affording the most unmistakable evidence of an origin from solution in water, and afford not the least evidence of an igneous ori.gin. Calcedonic cavities and agatized structure are very conspicuous features in many of the best characterized and most productive of the gold-bearing veins of this district. These indisputable evidences of an aqueous origin are seen in Massachusetts Hill, Ophir Hill, Allison Ranch, Kate Hayes, and Eureka. " The metallic contents of the Grass Valley veins vary extremely; some carry but little or no visible gold or sulphurts, although the gold tenor is found in working in mill to be satisfactory, and the sulphurets appear on concentrating the sands from crushing. This is the case in the Lucky and Cambridge mines, for example. But in most cases the veins of this district abound in sulphurets, chiefly of iron, copper, and lead, the sulphureted contents varying greatly in the same vein; zinc and arsenic are found also, but more rarely, the most noted example of arsenical sulphurets being in the Norambagua and on the Heuston Hill; lead abounds in the Union Hill lodes, (as galena, ) and the same metal is found associated with the yellow copper in parts of the Eureka mine. The gold when visible is very commonly seen to be associated with the sulphurets; this was particularly the case in Massachusetts Hill, while Rocky lBar and in Scadden Flat, on the same vein, the gold is found sometimes in beautiful crystallized masses, binding together the quartz, and almost destitute of sulphurets. Mr. William Watt informed me that in working some seventy thousand tons of rock from Massachusetts Hill vein, the average tenor of gold was about $30; but at times this vein was almost barren, while again the gold was found in it so abundantly, especially where it was thin, that it had to be cut out.with chisels. -It is matter of notoriety that in the Gold Hill vein, (continuation of the vein in Massachusetts Hill,) portions of the lode were so highly charged. with gold that the amount sequestered by the miners in a.single year exceeded $50,000. On the other hand, in the Cambridge and Lucky mines, having a tenor of about $35 to $60 gold to the ton, the precious metal is seldom visible. In the.Eureka, where the average tenor of gold in 1866 was $50 per ton, it seldom exhibited what may be called a'specimen' of gold. "The structure of the veins in Grass Valley varies in different portions of the district, especially in respect to the distribution, of the pyrites and portions of the adjacent wall. On-the Eureka Hill the veins possess a laminated structure parallel to the walls, enclosing portions of the diorite or talcose rocks, forming closures or joints in which the vein splits easily. On these surfaces of cleavage minute scales of gold may often be detected by close inspection. The sulphurets are also seen to be arranged in bafrds or lines parallel to the walls. In many other cases this kind of structure is found to be wholly absent, while the sulphurets and gold appear to follow no regular mode of distribution. In a few mines the 8 114 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES rich deposits were found in the gravel bars and along the margins of those streams. Two or three parties remained in their camps over winter, but the most of the adventurers returned to the valleys or.to San Francisco in the fall. The next season, when the news of the discoveries brought a rush of gold-seekers from the eastern States, the lower portion of the county, and as far up as Nevada City, was explored by prospectors. One or two companies of overland immigrants that crossed the mountains by the Truckee route stopped near Rough and Ready. and remained there during the winter of 1849-'50. Another company of immigrants stopped in Grass Yalley, and others who had found rich claims, including two or three families, spent the winter in the basin of Nevada. Mining, which commenced along the running streams, was gradually extended to the dry gulches and flats, and thence into the hills, thus greatly enlarging the known mining area. Enough prospecting had been done in the summer and fall of 1849 to proye the surface diggings to be incredibly rich, individuals in some cases having taken sulphurets are arranged very distinctly in bands or zones, parallel to the walls, forming' ribbon quartz.' This is especially distinct in the Norambagua, where, as before mentioned, the sulphurets are arsenical, and the gold very finely disseminated. " The average tenor of the gold in the Grass Valley veins is believed.to be considerably in excess of what is found in most other portions of California. In Allison Ranch, Massachusetts Hill, Rocky Bar, Ophir Hill, and Eureka, this average has probably reached $50 to the ton. In many other mines it has been considerably less, but, on the whole, $30 may not be far from the general average tenor of the whole district, meaning, of course, the amount actually saved by milling operations. "The loss of gold is very various, but is probably nearly always greater than owners are willing to confess, if indeed they know, which is doubtful. It is certain, in one well-known mine, my own samples of quartz sands, and sulphurets from'pans,' assayed respectively $'23 and $57 per ton-a result which was later confirmed by the researches of another very competent mining engineer, quite independently. In other cases, as at Eureka and Norambagua, my own researches show the loss in the tailings fo be very small, not exceeding $7 to the ton in the latter, and less than that in the former. "The gold in many of the Grass Valley mines is very easily worked, being clean, angular, and not very small, hence it is readily entangled in the fibre of blankets, together with a considerable portion of sulphurets, naturally leading to the method most commonly. in use in Grass valley for treatment of the gold ores." The same authority refers as tollows to the Grass Valley method of amalgamation: "What may properly be called the'Grass Valley mode,' consists in the use of heavy stamps, 700 or 1,000 pounds, crushing usually two tons, sometimes two and a half tons of ore each in 24 hours through screens not exceeding No. 6, rarely so fine. Amalgamating in battery and copper aprons are usually united. In some mills mercurial riffles are placed in front of the discharge, -but more commonly the whole body of crushed stuff is led at once over blankets, which. are washed out every few minutes into tanks, where the free gold and sulphurets are allowed to collect preparatory to being passed through the'Attwood amalgamators.' These simple machines are designed to bring the gold into thorough contact with mercury contained in little vats, sunk in the surface of an inclined table, over which the stuff is fed to the vats in a regulated manner by a stream of water, while iron blades slowly revolve in the vats to cause a mixture of the sands and quicksilver. By this apparatus, at the Eureka mill, 90 per cent. of all the gold is obtained which is saved from the ore. Beyond the amalgamators the sands are carried over amalgamatic copper sluices, and are put through various ore-saving processes, with a view especially to concentrating the sulphurets.' These processes vary much in different mines. In some mills, especially the Ophir, much more elaborate mechanical apparatus has lately been introduced, with what results still remains to:be seen. It is certain that if the method of treatment just sketched seems imperfect, (as it undoubtedly is,) it is the method which has hitherto, yielded the large returns of gold for which Grass valley has obtained its well-deserved renown. As the development of the district goes forward, cases will occur of veins containing gold in a;state of very fine division, to which other methods of treatment must be applied. Such.examples indeed already exist, and the problems which they offer will be met by the use of other systems of amalgamation, or by suitable modifications of the existing system. "VALUE OF THE SULPHURETS.-The sulphurets occurring in the Grass Valley district are usually rich in gold-some of them remarkably so. In quantity they probably do not on.an average amount to over one per cent. of the mass of the ores, although in certain mines they are found more abundantly. For a long time there was no better muode known of treat-,ing them than the wasteful one of grinding them in pans and amalgamating. In this way irarely was 60 per cent. of the gold tenor saved. After many abortive efforts, at length comtplete success has been met with in the use -of Plattner's chlorination process. Mr. Deetken, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 115 out tliosands of dollars in a few days, and the fame of the mines reaching, other parts-o:: -the State, the hills and ravines of the county were overrun with eager prospeictors in the spring and summer of 1850. DIuring that season settlements were, made -and mining commenced in every part of the county, except what is now Meadow Lake township, while the towns of Nevada, Grass Valley, and Rough and Ready each became the centre of a large mining population. No definite estimate can be made of the gold product of the county in 1850; but it must have been large, for there were not less than four or five thousand men engaged in tl:le mines. The claims were extraordinarily rich, and a considerable proportion of the miners returned to their former homes with wheat they considered snug fortunes, of from $5,000 to $10,000 each, as the result of their summers work. i Never were fortunes more easily made by the unskilled laborer. In the spring of 1851. the legislature passed an act for the organization of the county,. the territory having previously been comprised within the limits of now connected with the reduction works of the Eureka mine, is entitled to the credit of having overcome the difficulties which formerly prevented the successful use of this process in Grass Valley, a more detailed description of which will be found in our notice of the Eureka mine." - In reference to the length and depth of productive ore ground, the following remarks, by Professor Silliman, are interesting: "Of the length of the productive portion of. quartz veins and the depth at which they conm mence to become productive, Grass Valley offers some instructive' examples: " The North star vein, on WVeimar Hill, has been proved productive on a stretch of about 1,000 feet, while the tenor of gold has gradually increased with the depth, from an average of $20 in the upper levels to nearly double that in the lower levels. The limits named are rather those of exploration than the, known extent of the productive ore. In the vein on Massachusetts and Gold Hills, on the contrary, the distribution of the'pay' has been found much more capricious, being at times extremely rich, and again, with no apparent reason, yielding scarcely the cost of milling. The Eureka mine offers the most remarkable example, however, of a steady increase from a non-paying tenor of gold near the outcrop to one of uncommon productiveness. An opinion has found advocates, and has been perhaps generally accepted by most writers on the subject of gold-bearing quartz veins, that they were richest near surface and in depth became gradually poorer. There is nothing in. the nature of the case, as it seems to me, to. justify such a generalization more than there is to sustain an opposite opinion. If we accept facts as a guide, ve find in California that the deepest mines, for example, Hayward's Eureka, in Amador, 1,200 feet; North Star, 750 feet on the slope; Princeton, in Mariposa county, 800 feet; Eureka, (Grass Valley, )' 400 feet; Allison Ranch, 525 feet, &c., as a rule have had an increasing tenor of gold. If the Allison Ranch, the Princeton mine, and some others appear to be exceptions, the answer is, we may reasonably expect the same variations of productiveness in depth which are known to exist in linear extent. The Princeton, after an excellent run of good ore, became suddenly poor, at a depth of over 600 feet, in 1865; but I am informed by Mr. Hall, the present superintendent, that the good ore came in again'in a short distance. Mr. Laur, the French engineer, whose papers of California mines is often quoted, cites the Allison Ranch mine in evidence of the theory of a decreasing tenor of gold in depth, but it is in proof that since the date of Mr. Laur's visit (1862-'3) this mine has been at work on ores which have yielded over $100 value, its present suspended activity being due to causes quite unconnected with the intrinsic value of the mine. The rich'chimneys' or productive zones of ore ground are known to be of various extent in quartz veins, from a few feet to many hundreds of feet, and it is impossible to assign any valid reason why we may not expect the same changes in a vertical direction which we find in a horizontal. As the ore-bearing ground or shoots of ore have in many, if not in most cases, a. well-determined pitch Doff the vertical, it is self-evident that a vertical shaft or incline at right angles to the veins must, in descending, pass out of the rich into the poor ground, at certain intervals, and it is perhaps due to an ignorance-of this fact that miners have abandoned sinking because they found the' pay' suddenly cease in depth, when a short distance more would probably bring them into another zoine of good ore. The experience of every gold-mining district offers examples in illustration of these remarks: In quartz veins containing a considerable amount of sulphurets, it is evident that the outcroppings should offer much better returns.to- mining industry than will follow after the line of atmospheric decomposition has been passed, because above this line nature has set free the gold formerly entangled in the sulphurets, leaving it available for the common modes of treatment, with the. added advantage oftentimes that the particles of free gold formerly distributed through a considerable section-of the vein, are found concentrated in a limited amount of ore. It is easy to reach the.conclusion in such cases that the tenor of gold in the vein is less in depth,,after the real average tenor is reached, while in fact it is neither greater nor less; but the metal is no longer available by common methods of treatment. *116 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Yuba. Nevada City, then the: principal town and near the centre of popidlation, was made the county seat, where it has ever since remained. The county is divided into nine townships for local government, viz: Nevada, Grass Valley, Rough and Ready, Bridgeport, Bloomfield, Eureka, Washington, Little York, and IMeadow Lake. Rough and Ready comprises the foot-hills extending across the western end of the county, from the Yuba to Bear river; Meadow Lake includes the summit extending across the eastern end; Bridgeport, Bloomfield and Eureka lie between the middle and south Yuba on the north; Little York is on the south, mostly lying between Bear river and Greenhorn creek; and between Rough and Ready andlMeadow Lake are the townships of Grass Valley, Nevada and, Washington, occupying the central position. Of the early settlers but few remained permanently in the county, by far the larger proportion returning to the east, or taking up their permanent abode in other parts of California. But their places were filled by other adventurers, and the population gradually assumed a permanent character, and now numbers not far from 20,000 souls, of whom about one-third are adult males. The inhabitants derive their support either directly or indirectly from the mines, on the prosperity of which depend all other branches of business. PLACER MINING.-Placer mining properly signifies the working of the shallow deposits; but in California the term "placer" is usually applied to the deep deposits as well as the shallow diggings-hydraulic and cement mining being only branches of placer mining-and all except the quartz lodes being designated as placer mining. The placer mines of Nevada county have been worked steadily since 1849, and have vielded an amount of treasure that, could the figures be procured, would stagger belief. The rich pockets along the margins of the streams, and the shallow diggings and ravines that required no capital and but little preliminary labor to mine successfully, have been mostly worked out, and capital and skill are now indispensable to success, yet there is but little diminution in the yield. As claims are worked out in one place new ones are opened in other localities, and although failure in any given enterprise is about as likely as success, yet the prospect of big strikes, and the hope of acquiring a fortune or a competency by one or two years of well-directed labor, are incentives that cannot fail to enlist the skill of the most energetic of the mining population. At first, mining was confined to the gravel bars and beds of the running streams, and as these were partially exhausted, it gradually extended to the dry ravines, flats and hillsides adjacent. The rocker was the principal machine used for washing the auriferous sands and separatingthe gold from the lighter particles. It had been brought into use in the summer of 1848, during the first season of mining in California, though much of the gold obtained that season was separated by the Mexican method of washing the sand in wooden bowls. Sheet-iron pans are now used by the American miners for prospecting and other purposes, in place of the wooden bowls of the Mexicans. The rocker was superseded by the long-tom, by means of which a larger amount of earth and gravel could be washed; and the long-tom in its turn gave place to the sluice. -T'his was a most important improvement, and enabled miners to work many claims that would not pay Ywith the. rocker and long-tom.* * Professor Silliman, in a report on the property of the Eureka Ditch Company, says of the sources to which the gold in California is referable: "The original source from whence all the gold of California has been derived is undoubtedly the veins of gold-bearing quartz which occur so abundantly in all the slates and metamorphic rock of the western slopes of the Sierras within the areas known as the gold regions. 3But this original or great source of the precious metal is historically secondary to the shallow and deep digging or placers, in the former of which gold was first discovered, and which during the early years of California history furnished nearly the whole of the metal sent into commerce. That the placers were derived from the degredation or breaking up of the auriforous veins and the distribution of the detritus thus formed by the agency of running water WEST OF THIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 117 ADitches at length were constructed to bring the water over the hills, and as themminers were compelled to leave the fiats and ravines and take to the deeper diggings, the process of shovelling the earth into the sluices became unprofitable, and the practice of ground-sluicing came into use. By this process the surfacesoil, being loosened up or thrown into a trench cut ill the bed rockl was washed away by a stream of water, leaving only the heavy gravel at the bottom to be shovelled into the sluices. Ground-sluicing was carried on extensively in this and ice does not admit of a question. It appears, also, to be pretty conclusively proved that the gold-bearing gravel is of two distinct epochs, both geologically very modern, but the later period distinctly separated in time from the earlier, and its materials derived chiefly from the breaking up and redistribution of the older or deep placers. These appear to be distinctly referable to a river system different from that which now exists, flowing at a higher level, or over a less elevated continental mass, and with more power, but generally in the direction of the main valleys of the present system. It was pretty early discovered that very extensive and valuable deposits of auriferous gravel lay at levels far above the present course of the streams, and that to wash these deposits required the adoption of new methods adapted to meet the case. Hence came the so-called hydraulic process, which, although in use now for more than ten years, has yet made barely more than a commencement upon the great mass of deep-lying auriferous shingle which remains to be treated by this method of gold washing. "Finally comes the era of quartz mining in depth, the successful prosecution of which demanded more skill and capital, as well as cheaper labor and better machinery, than the early days of California furnished. In this man undertakes to do for himself by the use of his own skill what in an earlier age nature had done for him on a grand scale, in breaking up the matrix of the precious metal, commencing at the fountain head of the stream of gold. " I propose at present to consider with some detail the second of the great sources of gold productions, viz: deep-lying placers. The character of these deposits is well illustrated by a. description of the ground between the south and middle forks of the Yuba river, in Nevada county, where this description of gold deposit is well exposed in consequence of the. considerable amount of mining work which has been performed there, the wvhole of this ground being controlled by the waters of the Middle Yuba Canal Company and of the Eureka Lake Water Company. " THE DEEP PLACERS OF THE YUBA.-The Yuba is an affluent of the Feather river, which it joins at Marysville on its way to its junction with the Sacramento. The south and middle forks of the Yuba river unite with the North Yuba, the course of which is nearly at right angles to these two branches, whose mean course is west about 130 south, (magnetic,) the Feather river running about north and south.' The ridge of land embraced between the south and middle forks of the Yuba is from six to eight miles in width, and to the limits of the auriferous gravel, as thus far explored, about 30 miles, forming an area of about 200 square miles. The elevation of this ridge above the sea is, at its western extremity, near French Corral, about 1,500 feet, fromnwhence it gradually rises into the high Sierras, the Yuba Gap Pass being 4,570 feet above the sea, and' the Downieville Buttes about 8,840 feet. This Mesopotamia is cut up by ravines descending from a central axis both ways into the valleys of the two rivers forming' gulches' with steep sides, often beautifully wooded. The more elevated portions of the land are covered by a heavy bed of volcanic ashes and breccia, which evidently at an earlier day formed a continuous sheet over not only the tongue of land under consideration, but over the adjacent region, as is conspicuously seen in the sections afforded by the various -rivers This mass of volcanic ashes contains numerous angular fragments of cellular lava, trachyte, basalt, porphyry, and volcanic mineral aggregates quite foreign to the general geology of the country. Its thickness varies with the topography and drainage of the surface, but it forms the summits.of. all the hills above a certain horizon, and in places reaches an elevation of from 2,000:to-3,000 feet above the level of the rivers. Below Columbia the denudation of the surface has removed the volcanic matter, leaving the auriferous gravel exposed as the upper surface. This volcanic deposit receives from the miners the general name of'cement,' a term it well deserves from its compact and tenacious character, much resembling pozzolana or Roman cement. "The auriferous'gravel varies in thickness from 80 to 100 feet, where it has been exposed to denudation, to 250 feet or more where it is protected from such action. Probably 120 feet is not an over-statement for its average thickness in the marginal portions, where it has been exposed by working the deep diggings or hydraulic claims. This vast gravel bed is composed'of rounded masses of quartz, greenstone, and all the metamorphic rocks which are found in the high Sierras. "' It is often locally stratified, but I could find no evidence of any continuity in its beddings. The lower portions are composed of larger boulders than the upper as a general rule, but this does not exclude the occasional presence of huge boulders in the central and upper portions. In a fresh fiacture of the whole thickness of these deposits, such as may be seen daily in the'claims,' which are being actively worked, a striking contrast of color is seen between the 118 f3 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES country- in 1851 and 1852, the use of the sluice proper at that time beihg well understood, and having in a great measure superceded other methods. With most of the mining improvements there were no especial inventions, but the different appliances came into use gradually as they were needed by the changing charaoter of mining, and may be considered as the result of the combined skill and ingenuity of the mining population. William Elwell put up and used the first sluice at Nevada City, in February or March, 1850, but he does not claim it as lower and upper portions of the gravel mass, consequent on the percolation of atmospheric waters and air, oxidizing the iron resulting from the decomposition of pyrites, and staining the gravel of a lively red and yellow color in waving lines and bands, contrasting boldly with the blue color of the unoxidized portions. A close examination of the blue colored portion of the gravel shows it to be highly impregnated with sulphuret of iron, (iron pyrites,) forming, in fact, the chief cementing material which holds the pebbles in a mass as firm as conglomerate, requiring the force of gunpowder to break it up. In the upper portions of these beds are frequent isolated patches, often of considerable extent, composed of fine sand, clearly showing water lines, curved, sloping, or horizontal, but never for any distance regular, and in these portions occur frequently large quantities of lignite, or fossil wood, little changed from its original condition, but blackened to the color of coal and flat with pressure. Among these remains are logs similar in appearance to the Manzanita, now growing abundantly on the hills of auriferous gravel. Some of these, which I measured, were 15 to 18 inches in diameter, and 10 to 15 feet in length. Occasionally the mass of this ancient driftwood accumulated in these eddies of the current, where they were deposited with the fine sands, amount almost to a continuous bed of lignite. "Wedge-shaped and lenticular masses of tough yellow and whitish clay also occur in the ancient drift, replacing the gravel and affording, by their resisting power, a great impedi ment to the operations of mining. "The'sla'fking down,' or disintegration which a few months' exposure of the' hard gravel'cement' produces, is due mainly, if not entirely, to the decomposition of the associated pyrites before noted. It is remarkable how large a part of the smoothed and beautifully rounded stones, even those of large size, undergo a similar slacking by atmospheric action, evenr in a very brief period of time, rerndering it almost impossible to preserve specimens of the gravelly concrete unless they are protected by varnish. The most unyielding of the'cement' masses are sometimes left over one season by tile miners, exposed to the air and firosts, to secure the benefits of this disintegration, without which but little of the contained gold can be obtained. "The gold'is disseminated throughout the entire mass of this great gravel deposit, not uniformly in value, but always in greater quantity near its base or on the bed rock. The upper half of the deposit is found to be always less in value than the lower part, sometimes so poor that it would be unprofitable working by itself, but inasmuch as there is no practicable mode of working the under stratum, without first moving the upper portion, in practice the whole is worked. "' The gold rarely occurs in large masses in this ancient gravel. Often on the polished and very smooth surfaces of the'bed rock' and of the superincumbent masses of gravel when freshly raised froml their long resting place, the scales of brilliant yellow metal are beautifully conspicuous. These are fiirequently inlaid so firmly upon the hard granite floor of the-ancient river or glacier as to resemble hard stone mosaics. In fact the whole surface of the bed rock requires to be worked over by the pick to secure the gold entangled in its surface, to a depth, when soft, (as of mica or chloritic slate or gneiss,) of several inches. * "The bed rock, as it is significantly termed by the miners, shows everywhere, when freshly exposed, the most conspicuous evidence of aqueous or glacial action. The course and direction of the motion which has left its traces everywhere is plainly discernable. * * * "The'bed rock' varies of course in different portions of the area now under consideration, being either granite, gneiss, greenstone, or shale. In the granite are observed numerous minute quartz veilns pursuing a course parallel to each other often for hundreds of feet without interruption. " In the' American claim,' at San Juan, the granite is succeeded on the west by a large jointed blue siliceous shale of the same strike with the main joints of the granite. This latter rock is covered by numerous very large boulders of metamorphic conglomerate, of which no traces, are seen in place. "The course of the ancient current, where I had an opportunity of measuring it, appears to have been about 2(~ to'25~ west of north, (magnetici) which it will be observed is nearly at right angles to the meati course of the middle and south forks of the Yuba river; but it is not far from parallelism with the axis of the Sacramento river valley, or of the great valley between the coast range and the,Sierra Nevada. I have noted the same general direction of the scratches elsewhere ill the great gold region, but additional observations are required to justify any' comprehensive.generalization. This much appears clearly shown, however, by the present state of our know'ledge on this subject, viz: that the spread of the ancient gold. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 119 an invention-some one having suggested the idea to him. A. Chabot and M. F. BHit used them soon after, and greatly improved the arrangement of the riffles'and the method of working.t HYDRAULIC MINING.-The hydraulic system came into use in Nevada county in 1853, and enabled miners to work with profit a vast amount of auriferous ground that would never have paid by the old process of sluicing. About April, 1852, A. Chabot, mining near Nevada City, used a hose of some thirty-five or forty feet in length, through which the water was conducted from the top of the bank: to the bottom of his diggings. There was no pipe or nozzle at the end, but still it was found to be a great saving in sluicing off the earth and gravel that had been picked down, and also a convenience in cleaning up the bed-rock. So far as known the hose was not used that season in any other claims, and it does not appear that Chabot discovered the great advantage that would result by directing the stream of water against the bank. This discovery was made by E. E. Matterson a year later. In April, 185,3, Matterson and his partners, who were working a claim' on American Hill, rigged up a hose, attached a nozzle at the end, and directing it against the bank, as water is thrown upon a building by a fire engine, found that a small stream of water would do the work of a hunmclred men in excavating earth. Very soon after this the hydraulic was adopted by the miners throughout the county wherever water and a sufficient fall could, be procured. Successive improvements have been made in hydraulic mining, until the appliances now in use but little resemble those of 1853; but the principle is the same, and to Matterson is due the, credit of the important discovery. The water is usually conducted into the diggings through large iron pipes, at tihe end of which the hose is attached, and the water having a high fall is combearing gravel was produced by a cause greatly more elevated than the existing river system, or, which is more probable, at a time when the continent was less elevated than at present,* and moving in a direction conformable to the course of the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. We find it impossible to admit'the existing river system as a cause adequate to the spreading of such vast masses of rounded materials; the facts plainly point to a much greater volume of water than any now flowing in the valley. The section already given illustrates perfectly the relations of the present river system to the more ancient one whose grand effects are chronicled in the bed rock and its vast superincumbent mass of auriferous gravel. It serves also to illustrate the process now in progress by which the existing river system derived its gold-bearing sands, in great part at least, from the cutting away and secondary distribution of these ancient placers. "Those who have had the opportunity of visiting other portions of the great gold region of California than that now under consideration, will at once recognize the local character of the details given as perfectly consistent with the general phenomena of the ancient placers as observed elsewhere; while at the same time great differences are foundin many of the details.. Thus in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, 80 or 100 miles further south, the volcanic matter capping the auriferous gravel is found in the form of basaltic columns, beneath which occur the same phenomena already described. Here the -wood contained in the gravel beds is beautifully agatized, or converted into semi-opal, as is also the case, at Nevada City, Placerville, and elsewhere, associated with beautiful impressions of leaves of plants and trees similar in appearance to those now found in this region. "This general description of the deep-lying placers of the Yuba might be greatly extndede from my notes, but enough has probably been said to convey the impression that the phenomena here described are on a grand and comprehensive scale, and referable to a general cause long anterior in date to the existing river system-a cause which has been sufficient to break down and transport the gold-bearing veins of the Sierras, with their associating metamorphic rocks, thus laying up in store for human use deposits of the precious metal in amount on a scale far beyond the notions generally prevailing of the nature of placer deposits." * It is the opinion of geologists that subsequent to the tertiary period was the time when the main valleys of the continent were excavated by erosion. It was probably in this epoch that the deep-lying auriferous gravel was produced from the degradation of the metamorphic schists and quartz veins of the sierras by the joint action of water and of glaciers. t The sluice is undoubtedly the most essential of any one contrivance for saving gold, and is used in all placer mining operations. It can hardly be called a machine; but is simply a board flume, on the bottom of which are fitted blocks of wood, rounded stones, or riffles, with quicksilver to catch ahd detain the gold, while the earth and gravel is carried down by the current. 120 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES pressed and forced through an aperture of one and a half to two inches in diameter. The pipes are made of heavy sheet iron, and the hose of stout canvas usually double thickness. Where the pressure is great, the hose are still further strengthened by a net-work'of strong cord. In some of the larger mining operations five or six streams of water are kept playing upon the bank, undermining tile ground and melting away the hills at an incredible rate. In this manner acres of ground, frequently 100 to 200 feet deep, are washed away in a single season, and the bed-rockl left bare. The water shoots from the nozzle with tremendous force, and miners frequently direct the stream against huge boulders to roll them out of their way. The hydraulic is the most effectual method ever yet devised for excavating large quantities of earth, and the process was employed to some extent in 1866, by the Central Pacific Railroad Company in cutting through the deep hills near Dutch Flat. The American miners, except those engaged in quartz; are chiefly working the deep hill diggings by the hydraulic, the shallow flats and ravines, as a general thing, being abandoned to the-Chinese. In most cases, the cost of opening the deep claims is heavy, requiring considerable capital and the nerve to invest it, or the aggregated labor of a number of miners who are content to work, perhaps for years, in the hope of an eventual reward. In too many cases their labor and perseverance has come to naught. The richest deposits are found on the bed-rock in basins or in the channels of ancient streams, and to reach these tunnels have to be run in solid, rock, varying in length' from a few hundred to several thousand feet in order to drain the ground and get an outlet for sluicing. Wherever practicable, a shaft is first sunk to prospect the ground and ascertain the position of the basin or channel, so that the tunnel in coming in shall be below the auriferous deposit. But this cannot always be done, and expensive tunnels are sometimes found to be too high to work the ground, and a lower one must be run or the claim abandoned. The tunnel serves the double purpose of draining the ground and a sluiceway, and the mining usually commences from a shaft sunk from the surface to the head of the tunnel. The most important centre of hyrauli( mining in this county is at North San Juan, in Bridgeport township, and a brief statement of the operations of some of the companies there will give an idea of the scale on which this branch of mining is conducted. The Eureka Company, whose claims were on San Juan Hill, commenced a tunnel in August, 1855, to reach the inner basin. The tunnel was completed in October, 1860, at a cost of $84,000, in actual assessments, and the cost incurred before a dividend was declared was $142,Q00. During the existence of the company the average number of men employed daily was 25, and the total yield of the claims $530,000. The claims known as the Deadman Cut, which were worked out in 1859, yielded $156,307, at a cost of $71,433. The claims of McKeeley & Company, on Manzanita Hill, were worked from 1855 to 1864, yielding $368,932, and paying its owners in dividends $1'26,660. The claims above mentioned have been worked out' but there a-e other companies still carrying on extensive operations in the vicinity, scane of which are deriving a handsome revenue from the profits of working their claims. The tunnel of the American Company is 1,800 feet in length, having been run much of the distance through blasting rock. This company has adopted all the improvements in hydraulic mining. They have a mill with eight stamps for crushing cement, and their sluice boxes extend from Manzanita Hill to the middle Yuba, a distance of nearly a mile, where they have pans for grinding the sand. The coinpany usually employ 25 men, use 500 inches of water, and the claims yield from $10,000 to $15,000 a month. It will require three or four years longer to work out the claims. The tunnel of the Yuba Company is 1,500 feet in length, and was completed last spring after eleven years''labor. This cornpanyr uses 400 inches of water, and has ground enough to last ten vears. The tunnel of the Star Company is 1,400 feet in length, that of the Golden WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 121 Gate Company 800 feet, the Wyoming Company 1,000 feet, the Knickerbocker 2,000 feet, the Badger 700 feet, and that of the Gold Bluff Company 1,800 feet. These tunnels have been run for much of the distance through solid rock, whvlich costs from $30 to $50 a foot. BICCHVILLE, situated four miles west of North San Juan, has also been a prosperonus locality for hydraulic mining. The Irish claims were worked by means of drifting for a number of years, and paid largely. Water was furnished by the Shady creek and Grizzly ditches, but in such limited quantities that little progress was made in hydraulic mining until 1857, when the Middle Yuba Canal Company extended their ditch to Birchville, and furnished water in abundance. In 1859 four bed-rock tunnels were projected, and completed in 1864, at an aggregate cost of $120,000. These tunnels drain theupperportion of the channel; the lower portion will be drained by another tunnel 2,400 feet in length, now in course of construction, by means of which a large extent of valuable mining ground will be worked. The gross yield and net profits of the claims of five of the- leading companies at Birchville, for 1866, were as follows, in round numbers: Gross proceeds. Net profits. Irish American Company...................... $180, 000 $133, 000 San Joaquin Company......................... 134, 000 68, 500 Don-Jose Company......................... 100, 000 72, 000 Granite Tunnel Company....................... 82, 000 24, 000 KIennebec and American Company................- 85, 000 30, 000 The years 1865 and 1866 may be regarded as the harvest time for the Birchville miners, as they had jPreviously been at heavy expense in opening their ground, which is now nearly worked out. Many of the owners in the above claims are appropriating a large share of their profits to running the new tunnel. FRENCH CORRAL is situated at the lower terminus of the auriferous gravel range that is found between the Middle and South Yuba rivers. The ravines and fiats proved to be rich, and attracted thither a considerable number of miners, at seasons of the year when water could be had to work the claims. The hill diggings were discovered in 1853, and ditches were constructed from Shady creek to bring in water to work them. Tunnels and cuts were run into the hills wherever fall could be obtained, the ditches were enlarged, and profitable mining soon followed. Subsequently deeper tunnels were run, in order to reach the bottom of the deposit, which was found to be from 100 to 200 feet below the surface. The total cost of the various cuts and tunnels of the district cannot be less than a quarter of a million dollars, and the amount of gold taken out must be several millions. A large extent of valuable mining ground remains to be worked. In addition to the hydraulic mines, there is a broad, deep stratum of blue cement gravel which is rich in gold. This will have to be worked by mill process, as is already being successfully done in other parts of the county, and will give work to several mills for years.* MooRE's FLAT, situated on the slope of the hill south of the Middle Yuba, in Eureka township, is another important centre of hydraulic mining. Several thousand acres of ground, averaging 100 feet in depth from the. surface to the bed-rock, have been sluiced off, giving employment to several hundred miners for the past 15 years. Of late the claims have been bought up by a few large companies, who are carrying on operations upon an extensive scale, and generally with success. At Wolsey's Flat, a mile below Moore's, are some of the deepest diggings in the county, the bank in one place being over 200 feet. in height. Orleans flat, two miles above Moore's, was formerly an important mining locality, and at one time had a population of 600 or 800; but the diggings For a more detailed account of- this district see article on ditches. 122 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES being comparatively shallow have been entirely worked out, and the town is now deserted. At North Bloomfield and Columbia Ilill, in Bloomfield township, at Gopher Hill and Scotch Flat, in Nevada township, at Quaker Hill, in Littlo York, and many othei places in the county, hydraulic mining is carried on quite extensivelv. The amount of capital invested in hydraulic and placer mining in the county, including the cost of opening.the claims, iron pipes, flumes and sluices, and various other implements and improvements, is estimated at $1,500,000. These mines give employment to about 2,000 men including several hundred Chinese, and yield annutally not far from $3,500,000-say $1,750 to each man. Three dollars a day is the- isual wages paid to miners; but the water bills and other expenses absorb a large portion of the gross product, so that the net yield to the miners, if the whole could be averaged, would be' but little in excess of their wages. Of course, some of the claims afford large profits, while others scarcely yield sufficient to pay water bills; but the miners persevere to the extent of their means in hopes of striking better pay. CEMENT MINING.-In some of the auriferous deposits found in the beds of the ancient likes and watercourses the gravel is cemented together so compactly that considerable force is required to pulverize it, in order to save the gold by the sluicing process. For this purpose various expedients have been devised by the miners amoling which is the erection of stamp mills, similar to those used in crushing quartz, and the business has become of considerable importance in this county. Little York township has taken the lead in this branch of mining. Cement mills have also been erected in Washington, Eureka, Bridgeport, Nevada, and Grass Valley townships, but mostly as adjuncts to hydraulic mining, and the yield from this source, as compared with that from other branches of mining, is small. In Little York, however, it is the leading business. Blue cement gravel was found in many of the hill claims in Little York township as early as the summer of 1852, and in some of tie claims it was so tough that it had to be blasted in order to drift it out. A very small proportion of the gold was saved by merely running it once through the sluices, and the method at first adopted was to pile up thle tailings and allow them to remain some months, until the action of the elements had partially decomposed them, and then sluice them ag*ain. In this manner each lot of gravel was run through the sluices six or eight times, requiring two or three years for the operation. The Chinamen work the cement in the same manner now, and many are of the opinion that it is the most efficient and economical method; but the process is too slow for American miners. The first stamp mill for crushing cement was built by the Massassauga Conmpany, near the town of Little York, in the summer of 1857. This mill had no screens, but the cement was thrown into the battery, where the stamps were kept running, and carried off into the sluices by a stream of water. Of course, much of the cement was not pulverized, but the tailings, after'running through the sluice, were saved for a year or more and allowed to slack, when they were run through again, and yielded nearly as much gold as on the first run. Another mill was built near Little York in the spring of 1858, which was a considerable improvement on its predecessor, and cement mills have since been erected at You Bet, Red Dog, Hunt's Hill, Gougeye, and other places in the township. The screens now used are nearly as fine as those commonly used in the quartz mills, and it has been fully determined that the finer the cement is crushed the more gold will be saved. At the present time there are 16 cement mills in Little York township, having in all 136 stamps; two in Washington township with eight stamps, one in Eureka with eight stamps, one in Bridgeport with eight stamps, one in Nevada with 15 stamps, and one in Grass Valley, with eight stamps. These make an aggregate WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 123 in the county of 22 mills, with 185 stamps. Some of these mills are kept running steadily, others are in operation -only a portion of the time, and a number have been idle for a year or more in consequence of the inability of the owners to open their claims, and other causes. The amount of gravel crushed by a stamp varies from three to eight tons in 24 hours. Sometimes loose gravel is run through the mills to save the gold contained in the quartz pebbles, and which would be lost by ordinary sluicing; but much of the cement is very compact and as difficult to crush as the hardest quartz. The cement mills are not usually provided with the appliances for amalgamnating and saving the gold that are now connected with the quartz mills. Quicksilver is used in the batteries, where the most of the gold is amalgamated, and after leaving the batteries the pulp passes over galvanized copper plates and riffles filled with quicksilver, and whatever gold is not saved by this process is lost. A much-needed improvement is an effectual method of concentrating the sulphurets. These are found in considerable quantities with the cement gravel, and generally contain sufficient gold to yield a good profit when worked by the chlorination process. If machinery, not too expensive, could be dcevised for separating them from the mass of pulp, it would add largely to the profits of the business. The working of the cement deposits, like other branches of mining, has had its ups and downs, but on the wrhole has been progressing, and the business has been increasing in importance since the first mill was erect.ed in 1857. Almost every claim has at times paid largely, and again the receipts would fall below expenses. The gold is unevenly distributed throughout the gravel deposits, being found in great abundance wherever the position of the rock or other circumstances were such as to form riffles, and in other places insufficient to pay the cost of drifting out the gravel. ~ Whether the business is to increase until it becomes of leading importance depends on the character of the deposits that may hereafter be opened in the ancient river channels. A vast anount of placer mining ground yet remains to be opened, and should a considerable proportion of the gravel found therein be cemented so as to require crushing, mills will be erected for the purpose; otherwise it will be worked by the more 6onomical process of sluicing. The capital invested in cement mining in Nevada county, including the mills, hoisting llachinery, cost of opening the claims, &c.,is about $400,000; nulmber of men employed, 300; annual yield, $300,000. These figures, given in round numbers, are very nearly correct, as applied to the past three years. There are some outside expenses, which, added to the wages of the miners, will probably somewhat exceed the gross yield. Some of the cement mines have paid largely, while others have proved failures; but the failures have not been so disastrous and universal as the early quartz failures. EXTENT OF THE PLACER MINES. —The product of the placer mines of Nevada county has neither materially increased nor diminished since 1850, and though they have been worked without interruption for 19 years, the developments of'that period a:hve barely been sufficient to give us an idea of their vast extent. The shallow diggings, which were so easily worked, and afforded such laro'e returns to the early miners, are mostly exhausted; but the deep placers, or hi71 diggings, ini the channels of ancient streams, in many places underlying hundreds of feet of alluvial deposits and volcanic material, cannot be exhausted for a long period of time. In fact, for all practical purposes, they may be considered as inexhaustible. The long gravel ranges, extending from the high Sierra to the foot hills, cover nearly, half the surface area of the country, for the most part are anriferous, and in places' are of great depth. Gold in greater or less quantities is found from the surface down, in some places sufficient to pay running expenses; but for their profits the miners mainly rely on striking rich gravel deposits in the chan 124 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES nels of what once were running streams. These ancient channels ame very numerous, and the gravel deposits therein are of the same character as those in existing streams. MIany of the old channels are cut transversely by others, silowing the existence of not only one, but several ancient river systems; but whether the great clhanges on the western slope of the mountains were produced by causes now in force, or by sldden convulsions, the facts yet brought to light are not sufficient to warrant us in forming a theory.,The petrefactidns, which are found plentifully in the deepest diggings, are the pine, oak, manzanita, and other varieties of wood now growing in the mountains, indicating that no great climatic or geological changes have taken place since the ancient channels were filled up. The filling up process may have been aided by volcanic action, raising the -beds of rivers in places and forcing their waters into new channels. Those new channels would, in time, wear deeply into the bed rock, and in this way the deep gulches, ravines, and vallevs were formed. The formation of new valleys by the action of water left the old- river channels filled with gravel and volcanic ashes to solidify, and become less pervious to the assaults of time than the primitive rock that walled them in. Myriads of ages have abraded and worn away the solid rock that once enclosed and towered far above the old channels; but the cement ridges, defying more stoutly the action of the elements, remainn to attest their comparative indestructibility and the magnitude of nature's chaniges. Thus far the old river channel has only been opened and workled at the more favorable localities, where there are biwashes, or where they have been cut by more modern streams, as is the case in the Nevada basin. The ridge between the South Yuba and Deer creeks is broken by two deep depressions, directly north of Nevada City, and a peak called Sugar Loaf Hill rises between the gaps. At this point the ridge curves to the wedst, but the ancient channel, which for some distance above follows the course of the ridge, continues its general southwesterly direction, and makes out into the basin. fHere the overlying strata being comparatively shallow, the channel was discovered at an early day, and worked by means of drifting, or burrowing, whence it was called the " C0ayote Lead." Shafts were sunk on Bourbon, 3Manzanita, Wet, and American Hills, and the richest deposits drifted out, but the claims were subsequently bought up by a few companies, and the ground worlked from the surface down by the hydraulic. These claims yielded immensely, and the amount of gold extracted from the base of Sugar Loaf to the lower workings on American Hill, a little over a mile, is believed to have reached $7,000,000 to $8,000,0QO0. Tile amount, however cannot be ascertained with any degree of accuracy. Subsequently the channel was traced northeasterly under the high ridge, and worked( out for a distance of 3,000 feet by the Young America, Live-oak, Nebraska, iand somen other companies of less note, and the yield of gold in that distance along the channel is known, however, to have exceeded $3,000,000. The channel is nearly parallel with Deer creek, though it must have carried a much larger quantity of water, and the average fall appears to have been but little over one foot in a hundred. The same channel was opened a mile above by the Harmony Company, where the deposit was found to be equally rich; but that company was so unfortunate'as to commence operations on the north side of the ridge, when the channel, at their location, sweeps round to the south side, thus largely enhancing the cost of working. After taking out $70,000 at a cost of $S3,000, they suspended operations. The most of the ground has been located for a distance of eight miles up the ridge, and at two or three different places the channel has been found, and fine prospects obtained, but the operators, for the want of adequate pumping machinery, were compelled to desist. The claims of the Cold Spring Company adjoin the IHarmony ground above, and still further above are the claims of the Fountain Head Company. These companies are preparing to commIence operations under favorable auspices.'The evidence is conclusive WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 125 that the channel extends a considerable distance up the mountains, perhaps 20 or 25 miles, and there is no reason to doubt that every 1,000 feet of its length holds its million of treasure. Besides tthis, large quantities of gold are found in Jthe smaller channels that were probably once tributaries of the main streams as well as in the alluvium above. The rich hydraulic diggings at Gold lill, Alpha, Omega, and other places, now mostly worked out, are on this ranger'The most extensive placer mining field in the county, and perhaps in the State, is the ridge between the Middle and South Yuba, embracing the townships of Bridgeport, Bloonfield, and Eureka. This ridge is about 30 miles in length, and from six to eight in width, forming an area of about 200 square miles. The more elevated portion is covered by a volcanic formation; but in the lower portions, in Bloomfield and Bridgeport townships, the volcanic material has been worn awa.y, leaving the ground in a more favorable condition for hydraulic operations, which is now being improved at North San Juan, and other places already referred to. Professor Silliman, and M. Laur, a French engineer of mines, have described this ridge, and made some curious estimates of the amount of gold contained therein. Laur estimates that the region under consideration, worked at a rate which would yield $12,000,000 of gold annually, would be exhausted only after a period of 524 years, which would give as the gold product over six thousand millions of dollars. This estimate, howevelr is based on the supposition that the entire gravel range is equally as rich as the claims which he examined.* The more moderate estimate of Professor Silliman gives * The Lake Company distributes water to several hundred workings, among which I will choose, for illustration, that of the "Eureka claim," near tbe little village of San Juan. In the Eureka claim, the gravel bed is 135 feet deep, or about 43 metres. The first 22 metres from the surface are a rather poor but easily washed sand; the 18 metres below are a very coarse gravel, richer, but quite difficult to disintegrate. The working, therefore, is carried onQ under- conditions of some difficulty. The working district has been controlled by a "bed rock tunnel" or drain-gallery, cut for a great distance into very hard granite, at the rate of 40 francs the running foot, (about 700 francs a metre,) giving a total cost of 140,000 francs. The claim is still in full activity. The working is carried on by four jets d'cau, discharging together about 25,000 litres of water a minute under a pressure of 43 metres. These jets d'eau break up the gravel against which they are directed, and the current carries off the mud and stones into the sluices in the drain-gallery, where the gold is deposited. Four men are sufficient to diiect this work, which is carried on for two weeks, say ten working days of eight hours each. At the expiration of this time the washing down of fresh earth is stopped, the sluices are washed, and the gold is taken up., During this period of ten days 28,080 cubic metres of gravel are worked over, removing the auriferous deposit over a superficies of 620 square metres. The charges for working are as. follows: Francs. Expenses of water............................................................ 5, 000 Manual labor............... 864 Sundries, about.................................................... 500 Total................................................................ 6, 364 The gold taken from the sluices at the end of this period brings an average of 30,000 francs. This yield increases to 80,000 and 100.000 francs, when the working has been confined exclusively to the lower portions of the gravel. These results show the value of gold extracted from one of these California alluvial mines; they bi ing out especially the great progress on working and the small amount of human labor in this new method of washing. In fact, estimating the cost of a miner's wages at the uniform rate of 20 francs, the expense of manual labor necessary for working one cubic metre of gravel by the several methods hitherto employed is as follows, viz: Fr. Cent's. By the pan............ -........................... about 75 00 By the rocker......................................................... " 20 00 By the "long tom....... " 5 00 By the'sluice........ —......-.. " 1 71 By the new method (hydraulic washing)........................'....... "'0 28 Let us suppose the workings now actually open on the ridge of land which I have taken 126 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the area of the places where gravel deposits have been worked on this ridge as equal to fifteen square miles, and its probable yield in gold is estimated at $544,610,000. In this estimate the gravel deposits underlying the volcanic formations were not taken into account. These are known in many places to be rich, but in most cases can only be reached at considerable cost.* The Mount Zion Company has been enraged for eleven years in an enterprise to open the ground under the cement ridge near Snow Point. They commenced operations on the South Yuba side and ran a tunnel to the centre of the hill, where they found rich gravel; but the tunnel proved to be higher than the bed of the channel, and was of no service in working the ground. Trley then started another tunnel on a lower level, which, after several Vears' labor, is now nearly completed. The Kentucky Company, encourage(d by the prospects obtained in the claims of the Mount Zion Company, commencecd a vertical shaft last spring, near Snow Point, with the view of sinking to the bed rock. After sinking 108 feet through lava cement, thev reached the alluvial deposit, and the enterprise is still in progress. Tlhe cost, and length of time required to realize returns, have a tendency to discourage miners from embarking in such undertakings, though they may feel certain that the gold is there.. THE CHALIK MOUNTAIN RANGrE, lying mostly between Bear river and Greenhorn creek, on the soutlherly border of the county, is another mining field of immense prospective value. The average elevation of the ridge is somewhat greater than either of the others in the county, and the higher portion is covered with lava and basaltic rocks. At the southwesterly extremity, near Red Dog and You Bet, and along the margins of the ridge, where the volcanic covering has been worn awav, the auriferous gravel has been worked by the hydraulic, and in most places yielded excellent returns; but by far the larger portion of the ground will have as an example, to be replaced by one hundred areas equal in importance to the Eureka claim. These one hundred hypothetical districts would be precisely equivalent to all those now existing; for, according to the preceding indications, it would absorb all the water brought by the Lake Company, as does this. The richness of the gravel, taken in its total mass, being assumed to be nearly uninterrupted, the yield of gold would be in both cases sensibly the same. Now, the actual working of the Eureka. after a year, equivalent to 200 day's' effective labor,, brings a value in gold of 3,000X200=600,000 francs. After an equal period the one hundred openings supposed would have brought in 60,000,000 francs, and would have removed the auriferous deposit over an extent of 1,240,000 square metres. But the total superficies'of the deposit being at least 650,000,000 square metres, we see that this total gold-producing area, yielding $60,000,000 of gold annually, would be exhausted only after a period of 524 years. -The placer to which the preceding indications refer is certainly one of those where the production of gold is most perfectly organized and most active; but its extent, which is 650 square kilornetres, is unimportant in connection with the total extent of the analogous deposits which are found scattered over the superficies of 19,000 square kilometres which forms the auriferous zone of California. An increase of the aena worked over, and a consequent increase of production from this class of deposits, is possible everywhere, within limits, in the gold regions of California.-Memoir de la Production des 1116tana Precieux en Californid. Rapport a' son Excellence M. le M inistre des Travaux Publics. Par P. Laur, Inbgeaieur au Corps Imperial dfls Mines. Paris, 1862. Svo. pp. 132. * Mr. Black estimates the length of the mining claims of the present, supplied with water by the Middle Yulba Canal Company, at five miles, with an average width of 350 yards, and an average depth of 40 yards, making a quantity of 123,000,000 of cubic yards of auriferous gravel. He also estimates that eight per cent. of this quantity has been worked away in the past 12 years, leaving 113,000,000 of cubic yards which remain for future operations. At an average of 34 cents of gold to the cubic yard, (the average of the Yuba region appears to be from 30 cents to 45. cents per cubic yard, saved in the hydraulic process,) the volume of auriferous gravel here estimated would yield over $38,000,000. But the total area of the various places where gravel deposits have been worked on this ridge is estimated by Mr. Black as equal to 15 square miles, all of which, and much more, is controlled by the water of the Eureka Lake Company, or of the Middle Yuba canal. If this area is estimated at an average of 40 yards in depth, (it varies from 80 to 200 and 250 feet in depth,) we shall have 1,815,936,000 cubic yards of gravel, and if this be estimated to yield only 30 cents per yard we reach the giand aggregate of $544,610,000 as its probable yield of gold.-Professor Silliman's Report on the Deep-lying Placers, March, 1865. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 127 to be worked by drifting, either by means of deep shafts or extensive tunnels. The ridge extends nearly to the summit of the Sierra, but is divided by the valley of Bear river, 15 miles above Red Dog, which cuts through it nearly'at right angles, making a deep depression, the hills rising to the height of 600 or 800 feet on each side of the valley. Three miles below Bear valley, on the southeasterly side, the deep gorge of Steep Hollow has cut down through the volcanic and gravel formations to the bed rock, showing the thickness of the overlyging mass to be at least a thousand feet. The Chalk Mountain Blue Gravel Company made extensive locations on the ridge in the spring of 1866, and has since been engaged in making explorations under the superintendence of S. N. Stranahan. An incline shaft was sunk at the southwesterly end of the company's ground, into the body of the mountain, going down on the red gravel, under tho pipeclay. Their explorations revealed a well-defined ancient river channel, the rim rock rising to a considerable height on each side. The course of the stream was nearly southwest, and evidences of an -old river channel have been found at Steep Hollow arid Bear valley, which is believed to be the same. For the past six months a mining company has been engaged in sinking a vertical shaft at Bear valley, and at a depth of a little over a hundred feet they struck a deposit of gravel and boulders, evidently made by a running stream, having a, southwesterly course. Whenever explorations have been made in this region, the different strata are found in the following order: The blue cementgravel,in which the gold is very unevenly distributed, is found only in the channels of the. ancient streams. Over this is a deep bed of loose, gold-bearing gravel, of a reddish color, and this is covered by a deep layer of pipe-clay. This is what is termed the hydraulic ground, the principal " pay" being in the red gravel. At hig'her elevations on the ridge, the lower section is exactly the same, but with two ac.dditional stratifications. Above the pipe-clay is a deep deposit of conglomerate boulders, aind above this a bed of lava or basaltic rocks. The bed rock is uneven, and in many places rises into the pipe-clay and cuts off the red gravel; but wherever this deposit is found, and the overlying mass is not too deep, it invariably pays for hydraulicing. There, is a vast quantity of this ground to be worked, but to open a claim usually requires the labor of severalminers for two or three years. Deep cuts have to be made in the bed rock, or long tunnels run, to obtain sufficient fall for a sluiceway to run off the earth. Another gravel range dividing the waters of Greenhorn andl Deer creeks, passing Nevada on the north and Grass Valley on the south, extends westerly through the county to the foot-hills, terminating at Smartsville, in Yuba county, where some of the best mines in the State are situated. The elevation of this ridge is less than either of the others described, and the ground in many places hlas been worked successfully by the hydraulic. At the Alta shaft, sunk on this range near Grass Valley, an immensely rich deposit of gravel was discovered in the bed of an ancient stream, which afforded large profits, to the owners of the claim. It is believed by some that a continuous channel extends the length of the ridge from which came the rich surface diggings at Rough and Ready that were worked out at an early day. Much of this range will not pay for working with the present appliances for mining, and at rates now charged for water; but with further improvements in the art of mlining, and perhaps the cheapening of water and the cost of living, it is probable that the most of it will eventually be worked. No estimate approaching to accuracy can be made of the amount of gold contained in the placer mines of this county, and which yet may be brought forth for the benefit of the civilized world. To say that it is enough to pay off the national debt would be a moderate estimate, and it is not improbable that in some of these deep placers, deposits of gold may yet be found in sufch quantities as will materially diminish the value of the metal. But to extract it from the vast accumulations of debris in which it is hidden will cost thousands of miners 128 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES centuries of toil. Some of the workers, more lucky than their fellows, will strike valuable deposits, and become suddenly enriched, while the majority, as has always been the case, will toil on in poverty. The hope of rich strikes is the great incentive to the miner to persevere, but the risk, which is always considerable in mining operations, even when the best judgment is exercised, has a tendency to deter capital friom enbarking in the business. QUARTZ MINING.-In the mining and working of gold-bearing quartz, as in most other branches of mining, Nevada county has taken the lead, and is far in advance of other sections of the gold region. It was not until the spring of 1850, when the placer mines had been worked two seasons, that attention was directed to the quartz veins-as the matrix in which the gold was originally formed, and the sources from which that found in the surface diggings was derived.' The early settlers, and those who first rushed to California on the announcement of the discovery of gold, had no knowledge of vein mining, and were too much absorbed in collecting the precious particles which were found mixed with the gravel on the bars and in the beds of the streams to give any attention to the sources whence they came. The discovery of gold imbedded in quartz pebbles led to an examination of the lodes, and some quartz locations were made early in the spring of 1850. The first quartz location in Nevada county, of which we now have any inform-aatihon, was made at Gold Hill, near Grass Valley. This was in June, 1850. Quartz was discovered at Massachusetts Hill soon after, and in October of the saume year the Gold Tunnel lode was located at Nevada. The latter was discovered by four young men from Boston, while engaged in their first day's work at mining. A few other locations were made the same season, both at Grass Valley and Nevada, but the three above named have become especially famous for their immense yield of gold, amounting in the aggregate to nearly doublethe present assessed property valuation of the county. The first mill in the county vwas erected by two Germans, at Boston ravine, near Grass Valley, in the winter of 1850-'51. It was a rude affair, and of course was a failure. In 1851 there was a great quartz excitement in this county. The shallow surface diggings were beginning to show signs of exhaustion, or at least were not so readily found as in the preceding years, and prospectors were running over the hills in search of lodes. Numerous mills were projected, and during the fall and winter eight or ten were erected at Nevada, and as many more at Grass Valley. All the Nevada mills, with the exception of the Gold Tunnel, and the most of those at Grass Valley, proved disastrous failures, and in 185.3 the quartz interest was completely prostrated. With our present experience in quartz mining, we can readily perceive the causes of the early failures in the business. The mills were erected at enormous expense, in many cases the projectors paying an extortionate interest for money; they had been deceived by professed assayers, or had deceived themselves as to the amount of gold contained in the quartz; the appliances for amalgamating were of the rudest description, and there were no: miners in the county who knew how to open and work a quartz vein. At Grass Valley, where some eastern and English capital had been invested, a number of companies continued operations, several mills were kept running, and the business slowly revived. But at Nevada, where the failures had been more decided, the business was almost entirely abandoned, and the miners turned their attention to the hill diggings, then just beginning to be prospected. The Gold Tunnel mill was kept in operation, and yielded good returns, but for several years the dependence of the population was almost entirely on the placer mines. The few companies that continued operations, however, were measurably successful, their mines at times paying largelyv and this was an inducement for others to resume work on their lodes, particularly at seasons of the year when water could not be procured towork. the placer mines. By 1857 the Grass WEST OF THJE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 129 Valley mines were in quite a flourishing condition, and continued to prosper for the three or four succeeding years, becoming the leading interest of the town, wlhile at Nevada the business steadily improved. The development of the quartz interest, however, was destined to meet another reverse, though by no means so disastrous and discouraging as that of 1852-'53. The discovery of silver in Washoe was first made public in this county in the summer of 1859, and quite a number of our most energetic quartz operators hastened to the new mining field. The wonderful richness of the Comstock lods was fully determined that fall, and the next spring witnessed the exodus of mazyv of our best working miners, who abandoned their claims here for what appeared to be the more promising field of enterprise east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. For three years there was a constant drain of population and capital from the county-the capital, especially, being much needed in the development of our own mines. Added to this drain upon our resources, the most of the best-paying mines in Grass Valley were flooded during the severe winter of 1861-'62, requiring many months to place them again in working condition, during which time there were no returns and the expenses were heavy. From these causes business was greatly depressed and property depreciated very materially in value, especially at Grass Valley and Nevada. In 1864 the adventurers who had left for distant mining regions began to return, satisfied that this county presented the best field for mining enterprise on the coast. As a consequence, the quartz business speedily revived, aud at the present time Grass Valley is the most prosperous mining town in the State, her prosperity being due entirely to the surrounding quartz mines. Without taking into account the temporary drawbacks, the quartz business has been improving since 1853, and the yield of gold from that source has steadily increased. The successful operations have in nearly all cases been conducted by practical miners, who learned the business here, and who have discovered and brought into use all the improved methods of mining and reducing the ore, and amalgamating and collecting the gold. Very little foreign capital has been invested in our mines, although there is not a mnining region in the world that offers better inducements for judicious investment. The comparatively small amount that has been invested by capitalists in this county has, in most cases, been in dividend-paying mines, and, of course, was no assistance in developing our resources. At no period since the wild speculations of 1852 has quartz mining been in more favor than at present, or the prospects more flattering. There are in the county four distinct quartz-mining districts, in different stages of development, viz: Grass Valley, Nevada, Eureka, and Meadow Lake. GRAss VALLEY DISTRICT.-The Grass Valley district is, beyond question, the most important and prosperous quartz-mining region of California. The mines have been worked uninterruptedly since 1852, anid, though there have been many failures, and some of the best mines have at times been temporarily abandoned, yet the miners persevered, until the business is now established on a firm basis. It is not possible at present to obtain accurate statistics of the gold product of the Grass Valley mines, but, from the best information that can be obtained, the yield, up to the beginning of the present year, is estimated to have exceeded $25,000,000.* The lodes of the district are narrow —some of those which have been most productive not averaging over a foot inll width-and the bed-rock, or what is called by vein miners the "country" rock, is mostly greenstone and slate. The lodes run in every direction, though the principal mines which have been opened and worlked usually approximate an east and west or north and south course. The average yield of the Grass Valley mines has been variously estimated at from $20 to $35 a ton; but the higher estimates have * Professor Silliman, in his report of March, 1865, estimated the entire yield as then exceeding $23,000,000. 9 130 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES undoubtedly been based on the yield of the best-paying mines, examined by scientific gentlemen and passing strangers, who have written on the subject, and who had no knowledge of the large amount of rock worked at Grass Valley, which scarcely paid for hauling and crushing. Taking all the rock worked in the district, $20 a ton would be a fair estimate for the average yield. The cost of mining the rock depends on the size and situation of the lode and the character of the enclosing rock. With a lode of two to three feet in width, which can be worked by means of tunnels, the cost of extracting the vein-stone may not exceed $1 or $2 a ton; but where the vein is small and enclosed in blasting rock, and steam has to be used for hoisting and pumping, the cost sometimes reaches $20 and $30. The charges for reducing ore at the custom mills range from $2 50 to $5 a ton, depending on the character of the ore, the amount furnished, &c. THE EUREKAA MINE, now regarded as the most valuable gold mine in the county, and perhaps the most valuable in the world, is situated a mile and a quarter northeast of the town of Grass Valley, and was located early in 1851. It was worked at intervals, by various parties, up to 1857, but the most of the rock failed to pay for crushing. In the latter year it was purchased by Messrs. Fricot, Ripert, and Pralus, and the first crushing made by them; the rock, being taken from near the surface, yielded only $4 a ton. From 1857 to 1863, the mine was worked to a perpendicular depth of 50- feet, during which a large quantity of quartz was taken out, none of which paid largely, and the greater portion failed to pay expenses. Becoming satisfied, at length, that the mine was a good one, they sank a vertical shaft, in 1863, to the depth of 100 feet, and the mine has since been yielding handsome returns. On the 1st of October, 1865, the mine was sold to a company of capitalists for $400,000 in gold coin. How much it had yielded up to that time is not known, but the owners erected hoisting works and a 20-stamp mill, all at a cost of $60,000, besides receiving large dividends from the profits. The mine has been producing, under the present management, at the rate of about $49,000 a month. The first year, ending September 30, 1866, the gross product was $531,431, and for the eleven months ending August 31, 1867, $588,139, making a total of $1,119,570 in 23 months. Nearly a thousand tons of rock have been taken from the mine every month and reduced at the mill, the average yield being not far from $50 a ton; and the monthly expenses, including repairs to machinery and permanent improvements, have averaged about $16,000. The regular monthly dividends for over a year past have amounted to $30,000, and one or two extra dividends have been declared in addition. The Eureka mine is opened by an incline shaft, 51by 20 feet,: which is designed to explore the vein to a great depth, and is now down nearly 500 feet. Levels have been run from the shaft at distances of 100 feet apart, and for 700 feet along the lode. At 50 feet from the surface the quartz paid $15 a ton, and increased to $28 at 100 feet. Between the 100 and 200-feet levels the average yield was $37 a ton, and below that the average has been $50. The vein runs nearly east and west, dipping south at an angle of about 78~; and over the whole extent of some 700 feet which has been worked the average width is about three feet. At the fourth level the mine is said to show still further improvement, with an increase in the yield of ore, though it has' been worked but little below the third level. The value of the mine, with the mill, hoisting works, and other property connected therewith, is now rated at about $1;000,000. William Watt, a successful quartz miner and one of the owners of the Eureka, is the superintendent. THE GOLD HrLmL MINE, the first discovered at Grass Valley, was worked by various companies, and with little interruption, for a period of 14 years, yielding in that time, according to popular belief, $4,000,000. At times the mine paid enormously, the quartz being fairly knit together with gold, and again the receipts would fall below expenses, the gold being found in "pockets," and apparently distributed tbro gh the vein stone in the most capricious manner. The mine was WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 131 worked to the depth of 300 feet on the slope of the lode, and for.a length of 600 or 800 feet, but the upper levels are now mostly filled up and inaccessible. The vein is very irregular and crooked, and perhaps does not average over a foot in width. The work on the mine was suspended in September, 1865, but operations have lately been resumed, with fair prospects. THE MASSACHUSETTS HILL MINE, which is believed to be identical with that on Gold'Hill, was worked by different companies up to 1866, yielding in that time over $3,000,000. The working of this mine was attended with more than the usual vicissitudes of gold-mining, some of the companies failing most disastrously, and others realizing large profits. The failure of the Mount Hope co-rlpany, working the mine from 1856 to 1858, was the occasion of a most shocking tragedy. Michael Brennan, the superintendent, having hopelessly involved the company, murdered his wife. mad three children and then committed suicide. The deed was committed on the 21st of February, 1858. The mine passed into other hands, and a year or two later a large body of rich ore was struck within a few feet of where Brennan had abandoned work in despair. THE OPHIR HIILL MINE is situated a mile southeast of Grass Valley, and was located in 1851. The original owners worked the mine a year or two, when they failed, and the property was sold at auction, the purchasers organizing as the Empire Company. This company erected a six-stamp mill, and worked the mine from May, 1854, to September, 1863, the yield in that time amounting to $1,056,234. The property was then sold to other parties, Captain S. W. Lee, one of.the purchasers, taking charge, and work was resumed in April, 1865. The product of the mine from that period up to June of the present year was $286,082, making a total yield in 13 years of $1,342,316. The amount of quartz worked is estimated at 37,840 tons, giving an average yield of over $35 a ton. The present company have erected a magnificent 20-stamp mill at a cost of nearly $100,000. It is the finest quartz mill in the State, but the mine is not yet sufficiently opened to keep it constantly employed. The mill, hoisting works, and other machinery and property of the company, with the drain tunnel and other permanent improvements on the mine, has cost'some $250,000. The Ophir lode runs nearly north and south, and dips westerly at the low angle of 27 degrees. The lode is not large, averaging, perhaps, not over 18 inches in width, but it has been explored by levels for a distance of 900 feet along its course, showing a continuation of rich ore for that distance. THE NORTH STAR MINE has been worked with varied results since 1852, changing hands several times, once under a forced sale. This mine is perhaps more thoroughly opened than any other in the county, an incline shaft having been sunk on the slope of the vein to the depth of 750 feet, and levels run along its course nearly 1,000 feet. In the five years ending in January, 1867, the net earnings of the mine amounted to more than $500,000, and in the early part of this year the net profits were reported at $12,000 a month. On this representation the mine was sold to San Francisco capitalists for $450,000, of which $250j000 was paid down, and the remainder was to have been paid from one-half the net profits. But the receipts fdr the first two or three months, under the new administration not coming up to the representations, the sellers released the purchasers from further payments. THE ALLISON RANCH LODE, which for many years ranked as the leading mine in the State, was discovered in 1855, and worked with continued success over 11 years. It yielded in that period $2,300,000. in gold bullion. In working the mine rich bodies of ore were encountered which paid $100 and $200 a ton, with poorer rock between that scarcely paid the cost of working. An examination of the books of the company shows the average yield of all the rock worked to have been $50, the rock taken from the mine and crushed amounting to 46,000 tons. The mine has been worked to a depth of over 500 feet, and for nearly 1,000 feet along its course. The vein has been an expensive one to work, on 132 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES account of the large quantity of water that had to be raised and the hardness of the enclosing rock; but probably not less than two-thirds of the gross proceeds were divided as profits among the owners. Owing to a want of agreement in the management the work in the mine was suspended at the beginning of the present year. There are many other ualnable mines in the district, some of which are now or hlave been paying regular dividends to the owners. Among these'may be mentioned the New York Hill mine, which has been worked at intervals since 1852, and produced not less than $500,000; the Wisconsin, from which was talen, in 1866, 1,400 tons of ore that yielded an average of $51 a ton; the liartery, which has yielded over $250,000; the Norambagua, a vein not exceeding an average width of five inches, but which yielded over $80,000 in 1866; the Houston Hill mine, which yielded over $500,000 in the past three years, and plaid good profits, although the cost of extracting and reducing the ore amounts to some $40 a ton; the Osborn Hill mine, which was producing large returns at a time when the quartz interest of the district was supposed to be on the wane; the Lone Jack, which has produced over $500,000; the Cambridge mine, on Howard Hill, and the claim of the Lucky Company on the same lode, which have been opened at great cost and are regarded as promising mines, though at present idle on account of disagreements among the owners; the Union Htill mine, and the adjoining mine of Win. O'Connor Sydney, which is now being opened and explored in the most systematic manner and without regard to expense; besides urmerous others in the district which would be tiresome to sketch in detail. There are now some 30 dividend-paying mines in the district; 28 quartz mills, having an aggregate of 300 stamps, and the capital invested in the mills, hoisting works, and other machinery, and in the opening of the mines which may now be considered as available, is about $2,000,000. The number of men employed in the mills and mines is about 1,600, and the yield of the mines in 1866 was $2,000,000., in round numbers-an average of $1,250 for each man. The product of the district will probably be somewhat less the present year than in 1866, on account of the suspension of work in the Allison Ranch and some other mines, but the falling off will be only temporary, as the mines are too valuable to remain idle for any great length of time. NEvADA QUARTZ DISTRICT.-The Nevada quartz district includes the township of that name, though the most of the gold-bearing lodes are situated in the Nevada basin, forming an area of eight or ten square miles. The primitive rock in the basin is a soft granite, encircled by a slate formation on the east, south, and west. Numerous quartz lodes, both in the granite and surrounding slate, have been opened and worked more or less —the general course of the veins being a little east of south and north of west, and the most of them having an easterly dip at various angles. Some are nearly perpendicular, and others descend at a low angle, the more usual dip being about 35 or 40 degrees. At the southwesterly end of the granite formation are a number of parallel veins, having the same general course, but dip westerly. The most noted of these are the Sneath and Clay and the Mohawk. All the lodes in the district which showed any surface croppings were located in 1851, during the first quartz excitement, and it being then understood that thev were the sources from which the placer gold was derived, the most extravagant expectations were formed as to their prospective yield. Mills were erected at great expense, and a large amount of ill-directed labor was expended in endeavoring to open the veins; but, with two or three exceptions, the enterprises were failures, and quartz was very generally pronounced a humbug. THE GOLD TUNNEL MINE, situated west of Nevada City, but mostly in the corporationr limits, was the only one in the district in which operations were continued without interruption. This was the first gold-bearing lode discovered in the dis WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 133 trict, and the discoverers worked it for a time by washing the decomposed quartz in a rocker, realizing large profits. In the spring of 1851 a tunnel was started on the lode, and the following summer a six-stamp mill was erected on Deer creek, near the mouth of the tunnel, to crush the rock. From 1852 to 1855 the mine was worked by E. W. Kidd, who owned a controlling interest, and in the latter year the property, including the mill and mine, was sold to a company of Cornish miners. Up to this time the mine has yielded over $300,000 in gold, the rock paying on an average $50 a ton, though worked in a mill that would not now be used. The Cornishmen worked the mine over eight years, suspending operations in 1863, but the vield during that period is not known. A continuous body of rich ore extended from: the mouth of the tunnel at Deer creek for a distance of 600 feet north; beyond that the rock contains gold, but not in sufficient quantities to pay for working. The vein has never beei worked below the level of Deer creek, but there is no doubt that it will eventually be opened to a great depth, and worked again with profit. THE ILLINOIS AND CALIFORNIA CLAIMS, situated on the gold tunnel lode south of Deer creek, have been worked at intervals since 1851, and at times have paid largely. In 1866 the Eagle Company purchased the California claim, erected hoisting works and a 10-stamp mill, and expended a large amount in sinking an incline shaft and exploring the vein. Considerable rock was taken from the mine and crushed, but it did not yield in accordance with the anticipations of the company, and recently the work was suspended. It is understood that operations will soon be resumed. TiLE BANNER MIINE is situated three miles east of Nevada City, and is a comparatively recent location. Some work has been done on it in 1860-'61 by two different companies, but the indications being unfavorable, they abandoned it. It was relocated in 1864 by the parties from whom the present owners derive their title, and the first crushing yielded only four or five dollars a ton. After a suspension of some months they took out another crushing, which yielded near $20 a ton, and this gave the mine a good reputation, which it has ever since sustained. With two or three temporary interruptions, the mine has been worked fiom June, 1865, up to the present time. The lode runs nearly north and south, dips to the east at an angle of about 50~, and is opened by an incline shaft sunk to the depth of 350 feet on the slope of the vein. Four levels have been run in each direction from the shaft, the upper one being 60 feet from the surface, the next 60 feet deeper, and the other two at distances of 100 feet. r Two "chimneys" of rich rock, or "ore shoots," as they are commonly called by the miners, have been found in the lode, both of which rapidly widen with the depth. At the first level, 60 feet below the surface, the large ore chute extends along the course of the lode only about 100 feet; but'at the third level, 160 feet deeper, it has a breadth alongv the lode of 225 feet. North of the main ore chute another body of rich quartz has been struck, which has a breadth of 40 feet at the secGud level and 75 feet at the third level. If they continue their course tlhey will come together at the fourth level, thus affording continuous rich ore for a distance of about 500 feet along the lode. Outside of the ore chutes the quartz pays only $8 or $10 a ton, barely suffcient to c6ver the expenses of mining and reducing it. Up to the 1st of January, 1866, 5,000 tons of rock had been taken friom the mine and reduced, yielding an average of about $19 a ton. From the 1st of January to the 1st of September, of the present year, the yield has been $76,000 from 3,000 tons ef rock worked, an average of $25 33 a ton. The vein is of good size, being from three to four feet in width, and is now vielding from 30 to 40 tons of quartz daily. The owners have a 20-stamp mill convenient to the mine, and besides keeping this'employed, they are having considerable quartz worked at custom mills. THE PITTSBURG MIINE:, more commonly known as the "Wigham,"' is situated a mile and a half southeast of Nevada City, on the slope of the hill descending 134 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES into the basin. It was located in 1851 for a Pittsburg mining company, by R. S. Wigham, who erected a mill the same season, but the enterprise was among the early quartz failures. The property finally fell into the hands of Merritt & Bourn, of San Francisco, who still retain it. The mine was worked on a lease in 1855, and again in 1857, but with indifferent success.'In 1862 it was leased to Weeks & Thomas, who, in the course of 15 moniths, took out 3,700 tons of quartz, which yielded at the mill an average of $22 a ton, and the profits to the lessees amounted to near $40,000. The mine was then idle until January, 1866, when the owners made arrangements for further explorations. Another level was opened, and in the course of the year the mine yielded $102,000 from 1,700 tons of rock an average of $60 a ton. A mill and first-class hoisting works were erected last spring, and started in operation about the 1st of June, but we have no report of the yield for this season. At the upper level the ore chute extended only about 50 feet along the lode; but in the lower level, 380 feet on the slope of the vein, it has a breadth of 400 feet. The average width of the vein is about two feet, and the country rock is slate. The Wigham and the Banner are the leading quartz mines of Nevada district at the present time. THE MINE OF THE NEVADA QUARTZ MINING COMPANY, commonly known as the "Soggs" mine, is situated a mile west of Nevada City, and is a parallel vein with the Gold Tunnel. The lode was located at an early day, but no successful effort was made to develop it until 1857.'A rich chimney having been discovered by the owners, they made arrangements for the erection of an eight-stamp steam mill to work the mine. This was run two or three years successfully, when it was taken down, and the owners put up a new 12-stamp water mill on Deer creek, and the mine has been worked, with one or two brief interruptions, for 10 years. About 5,000 tons of rock have annually been taken from the mine and crushed at the mill, the gross receipts ranging from $40,000 to $70,000 a year. During the year 1866, according to a statement'furnished by William AI. Ratcliff, the superintendent, the amount of rock crushed was a fraction under 5,000 tons7 which yielded at the mill $42,000; while the returns from sulphuret ore shipped to Swansea and. concentrated sulphurets netted $8,000. The'average yield of all the rock crushed has been about $13 a ton, yet the owners have at times derived large dividends from the working of the mine, and, with the exception of the construction account of the first mill, but one assessment has been levied, and that only for a trifling amount. The lode is one of the largest in the district, though very irregular, ranging from a mere seam to 16 feet in width, and averaging about four feet. It is opened by three tunnels, starting in above the mill and running north. The length of the upper tunnel is 2,900 feet, and the other two about 1,900 feet each. The rock is taken from the mine in cars and dumped in front of the stamps, thus saving the cost of hauling; and having a large lode, and the advantage of water-power to run the mill, the owners have been enabled to work a low grade of ores with profit. TE3r SNEATH AND CLAY MINE, situated a mile southeast of Nevada City, was discovered in the spring of 1862, and several lots of the quartz crushed during the next summer yielding good returns, the locaters erected a mill, which was started in operation about April, 1863. For a time the rock yielded largely, the gross product in two years being $180,000, of which over half was clear profit; bat the owners were unable to agree in the rlanagement, and having worked out the opened levels the property was sold in May, 1865, to a New'York company for $27,000. The mill and hoisting works had cost $45,000. The New York company opened two-additional levels, which havinig been worked out to the extent of the pay ore, the work was suspended in the summer of 1867. The mine is believed to be a good one, and had it been judiciously mana(ged from the start, and the "dead w.ork" kept well in advance, it might have been profitably:worked for a long period. THEE LECOMPTON MINE~.three miles above Nevada City, on Deer creel% was WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 1.35 located in 1858, and in the course of two years the net proceeds amounted to $60,000, the quartz averaging 840 a ton. The gross yield of the mine up to 1863 was $220,000, and it has been worked but little since, the pay ore above the level of the creek being exhausted. This lode is situated near the junction of the granite and slate, and cuts through from one formation to the other without changing its course or dip. There are numerous other mines in the district whicll have at times afforded large profits to the owners, but which are now idle, either from bad management or other causes. Among those now being worked may be mentioned the Cornish, the Pennsylvania, the Providence, and the Murchie, which have mills connected therewith, and the Cunningham, Mohasvk, Mattingly, and Harvey. All of these have yielded good returns, and are still worked with fair success. There are now in the Nevada district 17 quartz mills, having an aggregate of -137 stamps, and the capital invested in the business is a.bout $500,000. T'h.e total yield of the mines in 1865 was about $400,000; in 1866, according to statistics kept by Wells, Fargo & Co., it was a fraction less than $500,000, and. will be about the same in 1867. The number of men employed in the mines and mills is about 450, the gross yield being equal to $1,100 for each man. A conlsiderable proportion of the quartz miners are either prospecting or engaged in opening veins, which are not now productive. EuREKA QUARTz DIsTRICT.-Within the past year or two considerable attention has been given to the development of the quartz lodes near the town of Eureka, some twenty-five miles above Nevada City. The general characteristics of the Eureka district resemble. in many respects, those of the Nevada district, the country rock being a soft granite, which can be excavated in most places without the aid of powder, and the course of the veins being east of south and west of north, corresponding with the mountain range. This quartz belt crosses the South Yuba into Washington township, where the enclosing granite is hard, which greatly enhances the cost of working the mines. In the slate formation, which comes in half a mile west of the town of Eureka, there are numerous well-defined quartz veins, but they contain very little gold, and with one or two exceptions are considered valueless. In 1856 a quartz lode was located on Gaston ridge, some miles south of Eureka, and a. mill was erected to work it a year or two later, which was run with little interruption until November, 1863, when it was destroyed by fire. In that time some 15,000 tons of quartz were extracted from the mine anid crushed in the mill, yielding an average of $s or $9 a ton. The mill was an inferior one, having no pans or other improved methods of saving the gold; but the vein being large and favorably situated for working the owners realized a small profit, though not sufficient at that time to justify them in erecting a new mill. Two other mills were built in the district in 1857; but one was sold on account of a disagreement among the owners, and the machinery moved away; and the other, after doing a fair business for two or three years, was taken down and moved to Washoe at the beginning of the silver excitement. No further attempt was made to develop the mines of the district until'the spring of 1866, when some of the old iesidents, having worked out their placer claims, and others who had noted the favorable indications, commenced operations in earnest. A couple of arrastras were erected near the town, run by water power, and capable of reducing three tolls of quartz in 24 hours. These arrastras have been constantly employed, have done excellent work, and been of great advantage in prospecting and determining the value of the mines. During the summer and fall of 1866, Messrs. Black & Young erected a 10-stamp mill on a lode situated about a mile south of town. Operations, however, were not fairlv commenced on the mine until May last, since which time the mill has been running steadily, and the quartz is yielding from $20 to $25 a ton. Two other mills.were also built the same season, one of five stamps to work the Jim lode,'and 136 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the other of four stamps, intended for custom work., Two new mills are now in course of construction, one of 10 stamps to work the Veatch and Powell mine, and the other of five stamps on the Birchville mine. Both of these mines have been thoroughly prospected, are of good size, and the gold is found in paying quantities very generally disseminated through the vein-stone. TECUMSEH MIILLs.-Some years ago two mills known as the Tecumseh and Star were erected in Washington township,rbut on the same quartz range. Considerable quartz has been worked in both mills, which yielded fair pay; but owing to want of means to properly open the mines, the expense being very great on account of the hardness of the enclosing rock, the enterprises have not proved successful. The Star Company, however, is still prosecuting work, and the Tecumseh mill has lately been leased to parties who are prospecting other lodes. THE GRIZZLY LO-DE, situated four miles west of Eureka, in Devil's cafon, was purchased by the Eagle Company, of Hartford, about the beginning of 1866.,The company erected a five-stamp mill at the mine in the fall of the same year, but being unprepared for winter work, little was done in developing the lode until Ma'y last, since which time the mill has been running steadily and with favorable results. The vein has an average width of four feet, runs in slate, and is opened by tunnels. It is so situated that, with proper arrangements and a larger mill, $6 and $8 quartz can be worked with profit. As long ago as 1854 a mil was erected on a lode called the National, about half way between Eureka and the Grizzly. This mill was run a year or more, a portion of the time being leased, but the yield of the quartz was not sufficient to pay with the prices then ruling. The work was suspended in 1856, and the mill was destroyed by fire a year or two later. The Grizzly and National are the only quartz lodes yet discovered in the slate formation of that region that have exhibited sufficiently favorable surface indications to justify an outlay of capital to develop. About 250 men are engaged at the present time in the quartz mines and mills of the Eureka district, many of whom are prospecting or working on lodes that are not yet productive. There are 10 mills in the district, including the two in Washington township, having an aggregate of 60 stamps, and the capital invested is estimated at $200,000. The yield of the mines for 1867, it is believed, will amount to $200,000. MIEADOw LAKE DISTRICT.-The AMeadow Lake quartz district is situated near thle summit of the Sierra Nevada, but on the western slope. It derives its name from a laige mountain lake, used by the South Yuba Canal Company as a reservoir, a dam having been constructed across its outlet to retain the water in the spring, and is let out into the company's ditches as fast as needed by the miners. Gold-bearing quartz lodes were discovered near the lake in 1863, others the year following, and in 1865, some of the lodes giving indications of extraordinary richness, considerable excitement was created throughout California and Nevada State, causing a rush of adventurers to the locality. The real work of developing the mines was not commenced until the summer of 1866, and considering the many disadvantages, including the deep snows of winter, has progressed favorably, though not, on the whole, equal to the anticipations of the first adventurers and locaters. The country rock of the district is sienite, and usually has to be blasted in making excavations; but this disadvantage is partially compensated by the size of the veins, which will average considerably larger than those of Grass Valley and Nevada. The general direction of the lodes is northwesterly and southeasterly, and they are easily traced by the dark, reddish appearance of the croppings, caused by the oxidation of the iron pyrites encased in the quartz. The quartz contains an unusually large proportion of sulphurets, averaging, it is said, 20 to 25 per cent. The sulphurets yield by assay $60 to $70 a ton, and are successfully reduced by the Plattner chlorination process, works for that purpose having been constructed in the district. Seven quartz mills have been built in WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 137 the district, having in all 62 stamps. The mills, however, have not been run-. ning regularly, having been erected in advance of the development of the mines. Of several hundred quartz veins located in the district during the excitement in the summer of 1865, 50 or more have been partially developed and given indications of value. THE U. S. GRANT COMPANY, whose mine is situated six miles south of Meadow Lake, and within four miles of the line of the Central Pacifi* railroad, has been the most successful of any in the district. The owners of the mine have kept a five-stamp mill running most of the time during- the past year, and the quartz worked has paid largely. They are now building a larger mill, while the work of developing the mine is continued. The Golden Eagle, Mohawk, Montreal, California, and Excelsior companies have also erected mills and made fair progress in the development of their mines. The number of men employed in the mills and mines of the district at the present time is about 200, and the available capital invested may be set down at 200,000. The yield of gold this year will be about $50,000. Much of the labor and capital is being expended in opening mines which are not now produ,tive; consequently, if the mines are equally as good, the yield will not be as large in proportion to the men employed as in the older districts. There are no placer mines in the district, or at least none have been discovered. Table s7wwing the number of men employed, the capital invested, and the gross yield of the mines of Nevada county, California. Men em- Capital inployed. vested. Placer and hydraulic mines.................. 2, 000 $1,500, 000 $3, 500, 000 Cement mines.............................. 300 400, 000 300,000 Quartz minesGrass Valley district.................... 1, 600' 2, 000, 000 2, 000, 000 Nevada district............-............ 450 500, 000 500,000 Eureka district......................... 250 200,000 200, 000 Meadow Lake district...................-200 200,000 50, 000 Canals and ditches.......................... 00 1,000, 000.. Totals............................... 5, 000,. 5,800, 000 6,550, 000 NoTE.-In estimating the capital invested in mining, the design has been to include the cost of machinery, tools; &c., as well as the labor expended in opening claims which are now considered of value, and excluding those that have been worked out or proved failures. The ditches might be considered as a part of the capital invested in the placer mines, as the water is mostly used by the placer and hydraulic miners. SECTIlON X. SIERRA COUNTY. The Sierra, the principal drift mining county of California, lies between the middle Yuba and Slate creek. The lowest point in the county is probably 2,000 feet above the sea, and most of the mining camps are at an elevation of 4,500 feet or more. The surface is cut up by numerous canons, about 2,000 feet deep, and not one acre in 50 is fit for the plough. There are numerous high peaks, 1388 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES among which are the Dounaieville Butte, 8,500 feet; Fir Cap, Saddle Back, Table mountain, and Mount Fillmore, each about 7,000, besides numerous others. The Dounieville Butte is one of the landmarks of the State, being visible from a large area in the Sacramento valley, and it is remarkable for the ragged outline of its summit. The county is so rough that only two wagon roads enter it west of the summit of the Sierra, one on the divide, between the middle Yuba and' the north Yuba, and another on the divide between the Slate creek and Cainon creek. No road crosses the county from north to south. The principal mode of travelling is mule-back riding. The snow is very deep at the higher camp, lying in some of them three or four months in ordinary winters. Most of the mines are on old channels, high above the'present streams, so high that the introduction of water is very expensive. There are few ditches, and many claims are not able to wash more than four or five months in the year. Two old channels cross the county. The main Blue lead,-'which crosses Nevada and Placer, is worked at Deadwood, Sebastopol, Little Grizzly, Excelsior, MIonte Cristo, City of Six, Forest City, Chipps Flat, and Minnesota. All these have been mined mainly by drifting, and all save the three first are much less flourishingg now than they were from six to 10 years ago. r'Phis channel runs from the northwest to the southeast. Another. channel which seems to run from the northeast to the southwest, passes through La Porte and Brandy City, thence to Camptonville and San Juan. This channel is not covered, as the other is, by heavy layers of tufa, lava, or volcanic sand, and the auriferous gravel coming to the surface offers excellent opportunites for hydraulic mining, which is or has been carried on extensively at all the points named. A channel found at Howland Flat and at Cold Canon, and another found at Moerristown, Craig's Flat, and Eureka, are supposed to be tributaries of the main Blue lead. La Porte and Port Wine, which belonged to Sierra county previous to 1866, were given to Plumas in that year by a legislative act, which was entitled "An act to better define the boundaries of Plumas county," and was passed without any suspicion on the part of the representatives of Sierra or the members generally that it took a rich mining district from the latter county. The blue cement found in the Blue lead in Sierra county is soft, and it yields three-fourths of its gold or more at the first washing, so there is no cement mill in the county. In the eastern part of the county is Gold lake, which has the appearance. of being in the crater of an extinct volcano. A belt of limestone is observed between Dounieville and the Sierra Butte, and it may be that the belt which appears near Magalia, in Butte counfity, is the same. The State and county taxes in Sierra are $2 91 on $100 of taxable property, and the county debt is $30,000. BRANDY CITY.-Brandy City, the principal hydraulic camp of the county, uses about 3,000 inches of water in piping claims, of which there are twelve, some of them using 500 inches. The lead is 200 feet. The supply of gravel will last 10 or perhaps 20 years. ST.LouIS AND NEIGHBORING TowNs.-St. Louis has 10 or 12 hydraulic companies working, and using in all 1,000 inches of water, with a pressure of 100 feet. Cedar Grove has drift diggings, but is doing nothing this year. Pine Grove, a mile below Howland Flat, was an important place before 1862, but in that year the latter town grew up, and the former declined. All the mining is done by drifting, save in one piping claim. Rabbit Point, a mile below Pine Grove, has two hydraulic claims, which are 100 feet deep, and together employ thirty men during the whaler season, which lasts three or four months. Chandlerville, a furlong below Rabbit Point, had rich hydraulic claims from 1853 to 1857, but they are now worked out. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 139 Pine Grove, Rabbit Point, and Chandlerville together purchase 700 inches of water in the water season. nMORnPISTOWN. —The diggings at Morristown are remarkable for the presence of larger quartz boulders, and more of them than any other hydraulic claims in the State.: A stratum 10 or 15 feet deep is made up chiefly of boulders that weigh over a ton, many of them beipg from five to 10 tons in weight. There is only one company, the American, now piping in iMorristown. They own all the water that comes into the place, and as it runs only two or three months, they want it all for their own use.'When their flume is full they have 1,000 inches. They employ 40 men during the water season. In 186;5 they took out $20,000, and paid very little dividend. The bank is 50 or 60 feet deep. MINNESOTA.-At Minnesota the pay channel is a quarter of a mile wide, but the pay is not equally distributed over it, for there are parts that are barren. - If one side is rich the other is probably poor; and if much gold is found on a bank or bar, there is little likelihood of finding a rich bed. The bed rock is serpentine, and the pay stratum is from three to five feet thick. The gravel is made up chiefly of quartz, usually from two to six inches in diameter; and it is soft enough to wash, but so tough that it is not entirely disintegrated until it has been washed three or four times. The fourth washing however does not pay, and the dirt of most of the claims has been washed only twice. The second washing pays better than the first. The gold is coarse, many pieces weighing an ounce, and it frequently happens that in large lots of dust there is not a piece worth less than 25 cents. Most of the pieces are worth $2 or more. The sluices are usually about 400 feet long, with a grade of 16 inches to 12 feet, and no quicksilver is used in them. The fine gold is lost in sluices so short and steep, and tail sluices pay well. The car load must yield 50 cents or the claim will not pay for working. The ground is solid and the sides of the tunnel need no lagging; but a cap supported by posts is required to secure the roof. The pay stratum is usually soft enough to be picked down. The Blue Lead was discovered here in 1852 by some surface miners who followed up a rich deposit in Taylor's ravine till it ran out, and then they hunted along the side till they found the place where the lead went into the hill. It was very rich, and for a long time Minnesota had some of the best drift digging in the State. Only four claims are worked now. In 1853 400 miners were employed here, and they made on an average $12 or $15 per day, and now there are 100, who average $3 per day. The Keystone Company have been at work since 1859, emnploy 18 men, and the yield is probably $6 or $8 to the man per day. The Wisconsin Compaily have been taking out pay most of the time foreight years, employ 10 men, and get $6 or $8 per clay to the man. Chipps's Flat is doing very little in the way of successful mining, but there is some prospecting in progress. Alleghany has the credit of having produced $400,000, but the flush times passed away six or eight years ago. The money was nearly all obtained by drifting, and there was bad drainage and little systematic working. The bed rock swells badly, and in places the timbers must be put in as thick as they will stand, and reset every week. There were claims which paid well, but when work was stopped not half of the pay dirt was extracted. A company called the Alleghany Consolidated Mining Company has been formed to rework this ground. They have purchased eighty acres of claims, and are about to commence the cutting of a tunnel to be large enough to use mules for hauling in the cars. Thev will run out by their own weight. In 1858 there were 18 tunnel companies at Alleghany, all paying; now only 25 men are at work there. - X Water was supplied by a very costly ditch, which was allowed to go to ruin when the miners had no longer any considerable quantity of dirt to wash. '140 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The Oregon Company took out $400,000, the Buckeye $200,000, and the Empire $200,000. The Blue Lead was found at Forest City by the Dutch Company, which obtained two or three ounces to the pan, and brought water to their sluice in a canvas flume. The claims at Forest City are situated on the sQuth side of a ravine, north of which the lead has not been found, although a tunnel has been run half a mile into the hill. At one time there were 20 companies working at Forest' City and all making money, and now there is only one at work. LIVE YANKEE CLAIM. —The principal claim at Forest Cty is the Live Yankee, which has 360 feet of front and a depth of 2,600. The following table shows the receipts, expenses, and dividends, from 1854 till 1863, inclusive: Year. Receipts. Expenses. Dividends. 1854..........$1......... $15, 243 $7,152 $8, 091 855 ------................................. 95; 713 32, 385 63, 328 1856. - 85, 921 42,691 43, 230;857 -........**.* 95, 806 55, 616 40,190 1858......................................... 84,875 43, 973 41,902 1859-.1...... 129, 937 67, 303 62,634 1860. —. —-... —--........................ 84, 120 40,236 43, 884 5861i........................ --- - --------- 60, 092 38, 192 21, 900 1862.-.................................... 30, 720 26,970 3, 750 1863. -------------—................................ 31,350 22, 800 8, 550 Total.................................. 713, 777 377, 318 336, 459 Since 1863 the dividends have been about $10,000 per year. The expense.of keeping up the mine is considerable. There is a very long tunnel and a long track, that need frequent repairs. HIGHLAND AND MAsoNIc.-The Highland and Masonic claim, near Forest City, was worked at first through a shaft 368 feet deep. There was much water in the channel, and steam-pumping and hoisting works were erected at a cost of $75,000. The yield xvas $300,000, but the expenses were so great that little if any profit was left; and the works stopped, and the hoisting works were burned down. The claim was sold for debt, and the new proprietors bought three claims in front and a bed rock tunnel 4,000 feet long, and by extending the tunnel the claim was worked at much less expense. The yield was $100,000 per month for a time. It is said that under the new management the expenses have been $8,000 or $10,000 more than the receipts. Nevertheless, some dividends have been paid. Some shares of the claim are in litigation, and it is not easy to ascertain the precise production. The water in this claim is acidulous, and a piece of sheet zinc left in it entirely disappears in a day or two, and iron shovels are made worthless in a few days. M rONTEcRIsTO.-At Montecristo the channel is 200 yards wide, but the pay is only half as wide, and is in a stratum three feet deep. The pay is usually in the middle of the channel. The gold was obtained by drifting until 1862, when piping was commenced, but the supply of water never exceeds 300 inches, and does not last long, so there cannot be much hydraulic washing there. The bed rock swells, and most of the tunnels were allowed to close up three years ago, so that though there were 300 miners in 1857, there are now only a dozen. DEADwooD. — Deadwood is on the ridge between the north fork of the Yuba and Canon creek, about 6,000 feet above the sea, and it has an old channel, the extent and character of which are not yet proved, but it is supposed to be in the WEST OF THE'ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 141 main Blue Lead. The Deadwood claim, 700 feet front on this old channel, has been worked since 1856, has cost $115,000, and has yielded $10,000. Some good gravel has been found, but it does not appear to be in a continuous lead. Fifteen men are now employed in prospecting. There are three tunnels, one 2,500, one 2,200, and one 1,200 feet long. FIR CAP, SEBASTOPOL, AND GRIZZLY.-At Fir Cap Camlpon the south side of Fir Cap mountain, there is an old channel in which some very rich gravel has been found lately. Sebastopol, on the south side of the ridge, between the North Yuba and Cation creek, is supposed to be on the main Blue Lead. Miners have been engaged in prospecting and mining-chiefly prospecting-since 1854, and the expenses have, been double the receipts. Three long tunnels have been run. Little Grizzly,' on the north side of the same ridge, and on the same channel, has spent $100,000, and taken out about as much. The New Orleans Company struck pay gravel in 1866, and are doing tolerably well now. COLD CARON.-Cold Calnon, sixteen miles northward from Downieville, and on the southeast side of the ridge between Cahon creek and Slate creek, is directly opposite to lHowland Flat, on the same ridge, and apparently on the same channel. The claims at both places are worked by drifting, and the tunnels of each place point in the direction of the other as if they would meet. The channel appears to be 800 or 1,000 feet wide, and the course at Cold Cailon is south 760 east. The grade is from five to seven feet in a hundred. The pay is best where the boulders are largest, and the general width of the pay is 200 feet, and its depth from three to five feet. Over tie pay stratum is a deposit of gravel that would pay well if it were accessible with a hydraulic pipe. A stratum of pipeclay from 20 to 60 feet deep, and another of volcanic conrglomerate 500 or 600 feet deep, are the superincumbent matter. The character of the gravel, of the gold in it, and of the various strata, are the same as at MIontecristo. FASHION CLAIM.-The Fashion Company, at Cold Cafion, have a claim 954 feet in front by about 4,000 feet deep. Work was commenced in 1856, in which year 400 feet of tunnel were cut, at a cost of $10,000. In 1857 286 feet more cut, at a cost of $5,000, bringing the company into pay. Then it was necessary to build a dump-house and sluice, and make other preparations to wash, at a cost of $50,000. In 1858 the receipts were $80,000, and the dividends $18,000; in 1859, receipts $60,000, and dividends nothing; in 1860, receipts $45,000, dividends $1,000; and from 1858 till July, 1867, the total receipts were $430,000, and the total dividends $45,000. In 1865 and 1866 the company took out no pay, but now they again have good gravel. The gravel yields $1 50 to a car load, the estimated weight of which is 3,000 pounds. Half that yield would pay expenses. There have been places in the claim that paid $4 per car load. The working tunnel is 3,300 feet long. The space worked out is 2,000 feet long by 500 wide. Twenty-five men are now employed. Gold is found three or four inches deep in the bed rock, but the miners dig up a foot and a half of it for convenience of working, as it is softer than the barren gravel, and the pay gravel is not deep enough for them to work in. The bed rock swells badly for six or eight months after the drifts are cut. The posts in the tunnels are crowded together a.t the bottom by the swelling, so the tunnel is cut nine feet wide at the, bottom and four feet at the top, with the posts straddling out at an angle of 55~. In a few weeks or a few months the posts are nearly perpendicular, and they may have to be set back at the bottom several times beforetlhey get right. Drifts are run through the pay dirt with a'breast 30 feet -wide on each side, and two men work at each breast. SIERRA CLxIim. — The Sierra Company, 1,800 feet front by a mile deep, is the only company besides the Fashion at Cold canion. The company coinmenced work in 1858, and in 1864 they reached pay in a tunnel 3,000 feet long, after 142 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES spending $70,000. Since they began to wash their expenditures have been greater by $5,000 than their receipts; so they are now, at the end of nine years, $75,000 out of cash, exclusive of interest. The claim, however, is valuable, and will last twenty years. The working of the last three years would have been profitable if the company had not changed the grade of their tunnel and raised up, so that they got too high for drainage and for easy trafisportation of their gravel. They have lost much time and labor, and have had to go back and run in on the original level at a cost of $10,000. Their receipts now are $46,000 per year. Their expenses are $35,000 for labor, at $3 50 and. $4 per day; $3,500 for timber delivered, $1,200 for candles, $300 for oil for cars, $100 for steel rope, and $5,000 for other materials, including powder. Twenty-five men are employed; and two of them are kept busy repairing the tunnel and the track, principally on account of the swelling of the bed rock; 60 car-loads of gravel, weighing 3,000 polmds each, are extracted every day; 100 loads are thrown into a dump-box, and then the mass is piped away. The sluice is 500 feet long, and 75 per cent. of the gold is obtained in the first three boxes. The gravel, after passing through the sluice, is saved and is'washed a second time, but 97 per cent. of all saved is caught at the first washing. Chinamen, however, catch the tailings in the creek after the second washing and put them through the sluice again. The space worked out so far is 500 by 100 feet. HOWLAND FLAT.'-Howland Flat is now the most prosperous mining camp in the Sierra and the most productive drifting camp in the State, unless Fir Cap has surpassed it. The shipment of gold this year will be about $300,000; it was twice as much annually for four years previous to 1866. The shipment for February, 1867, was $23,000; for March, $10,000; for April, $24,000; for May, $31,000; for June, $31,000. The fiat from which the place obtained its name is worked ont, or, at least, has been worked over by drifting..It would, perhaps, pay for piping on an extensive scale. The diggings now worked are under Table mountain, and are of the class known as hill diggings. They are in an old channel from 400 to 700 feet wide, with a pay stratum from three and a half to ten feet deep. The boulders in this stratum are all of quartz, solme of which weigh a ton. The best pay is among boulders weighing fi'om 100 to 500 pounds. There are large quantities of sulphurets in the gravel, and it would probably pa.y to collect them by concentration. THE SNOw AT IOWLAND FLAT.-The town is situated about 6,000 feet above the sea, on the north side of Table mountain, which is a rallying point for snow-storms, and snow-drifts collect deeply on its northern slope every winter. Rain is comparatively rare, and there have been winters almost without rain, though snow was abundant. Last winter snow fell about 16 feet. deep on a level near RHowland Flat, but by drifting it got 25 feet deep in the town, and it lay in the streets till the 1st of June, and deep drifts were still lying on the mountain side within half a mile in the middle of July. For three months the snow was so deep that most of the chimneys were below its level, and people went friom house to house either through tunnels or by climbing up to the house-tops and going over the surface. Last winter an open reservoir 100 feet square, containing running water, could not be found, although a pole 20 feet high had been fastened on it to mark the place. The water in this reservoir was eight feet deep, and was supplied by springs, and a steady stream ran from it. The snow over it was white, as clear and as hard as that over the adjacent land, and several attempts to find it were vain. The water was several times exhausted, but the snow did not change its place or its appearance. The abundance of the snow and its long duration renders it necessary for the people to accustom themselves to snow-shoes, and snow-shoe races are'the chief amusement in the winter. People travel 20 or 30 miles across the country to see WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 143 them, and large sums are bet on the results. The racing ground is always on a long slope, down which the racers slide at a speed that sometimes reaches a mile a minute. Thle shoes are thin pine boards, 12 or 16 feet long, 4 inches wide, turned up at the toe. UNION CLAIM.-The principal claim at tIowland Flat is the Union, 2,000 feet in front by 3,300 deep. The Bright Star Company began work in 1857, and in 1859 they failed, with debts amounting to $40,000, and they had paid $50,000 as assessments. The Union Company succeeded to the ownership of the mine, and spent $30,000 over and above receipts, and did not get any dividends until two years later. Four years' time and $120,000 of cash were required. to bring the mine into a paying condition. It is now trying to make amends. Its total yield has been about $900,000. The vield for the last 18 months has been as follows: Yield. Car loads. Wages. Ounces. Value. First half of 1866......... 3, 181 $56, 680 44 41,950 $27, 150 Second half of 1866..2... —-.. 2, 870 50, 660 00 33, 160 22, 223 First half of 1867..................... 3,1831 57, 307 50 48,167 29, 556 Eighty men are employed, at from $3 to $3 50 per day. The cost per carload, exclusive of labor, is 10 cents. Round timbers, from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, and from five to eight feet long, for gangways and tunnels, cost 60 cents each. Breasting posts, eight inches square and from three. to seven feet long, cost 12 cents each. Caps, 30 inches long, 12 wide, and 6 thick, cost 12 cents each. Lagging, six feet long, five inches wide, and an inch and a half thick, cost four and a half cents each. The cost of all,the material is lumped at $10,000 per year. The bed rock swells, and the tunnel is cut 10 feet wide at the bottom, and four at the top. In six months the sides are nearly perpendicular, the bottom being in the bed rock and the top in the pay dirt, which does not swell. The timbers are usually forced into the bottom by the swelling of the bed rock, and not broken; the rock seldom swells, except near the pay. In some places the posts must be set back in two months; in others, in a year. An air tunnel four by three feet is cut 20 feet above the pay; 30 feet is left on each side of the main tunnel for support. The dirt is hoisted on an incline by a Fredenbur wheel, driven by 40 inches of water, under a pressure of 124 feet. The water after leaving the wheel is used to wash the dirt. There are 1,200 feet of sluices. It is estimated that there is pay gravel in sight enough to last eight years. Ventilation is secured by having an air drift 20 feet over the working tunnel, communicating with an air shaft 200 feet deep. The gravel is taken out through drifts or gangways 50 feet apart, with breasts 25 feet wide on each side. In 1861 the company obtained the privilege of drainage through the DownEast Company's claim adjoining, by paying $2,000 and giving a strip of ground 75 feet wide and 3,400 feet long. Thus a great expense previously incurred for pumping was avoided. OTHER CLAIMs. —The Pittsburg Company have 800 feet front, have been at work since 1860, have extracted $500,000, have paid $40,000 of dividends, and having exhausted the pay in sight, are now running for another channel. The Hawk Eye Company have 800 feet front by 3,500 feet deep. They began work in 1857 and reached pay in 1861, after spending $301000. Since then they have taken out $360,000, but the dividends have not been over five per cent. of the receipts, and the company are out of pocket. They made the mistake 144 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of opening the mine on the upper side, so they had no drainage. They cut a drain tunnel through Union claim, but it closed up in December, 1866. They are now running a new drain tunnel, to be finished in three years, to cost $30,000, and to he 3,000 feet long. The Down-East Company, who have a frontage of 350 feet, commenced work in 1855. There are 12 shareholders, all of whom work in the mine, and they hir'e no labor. The claim pays about $2,000 a year over ordinary wages. The total yield has been $425,000, and $240,000 have been paid out as dividends. There is enough pay dirt in sight to last three years. The Hibernia claim, 600 feet in front and wider at the back, was opened in 1862 by a shaft 1S0 feet deep, and after being worked two years was sold by the sheriff, and was purchased by the Shirley Company. The total yield has been $125,000. The first company lost $40,000 in the mine; the second is making a moderate profit. There is enough pay dirt to last a year. There are twelve shareholders, who work in the mine, and they employ three or four Chinamen as carmen and puimpers at $1 75 per day. The' Ohio claim is undeveloped. The Black Ball was bought by the Shirely Company and worked out by them. The Sierra, Wild Rover, and Wisconsin claims are undeveloped. The Sugar Loaf Company have been at work eight or nine years, have pay gravel to last three or four years longer, and have not taken out much more than enough to pay expenses. Some of the company work in the mine. The company have a seoond claim (numbered 24 on the diagram) which has yielded $120,000 in all, and $25,000 of dividends. Part of the Nevada claim has been worked; the Hollins is undeveloped. The Shirley claim has' been worked out, yielding $100,000 gross, and $20,000 net; it was worked four years. The Mountaineer claim was opened in 1859, and is now nearly exhausted; the dirt was brought through a shaft by an engine; the yield was $200,000, and the dividends 10 per cent. of that sum. The Last Chance claira was worked out by the Mountaineer Company. The French Company opened their claim in 1862 by a shaft, but were compelled by water to abandon it. They started again by a sharft, in 1864, and made it pay expenses. In June, 1867, they bought the Sugar Loaf tunnel, and intend to extend it so as to drain their claim. Their pay will last four or five years. The Mlountain Ranger claim has been worked out, paying no profit. The Wabash Company worked two or three years and lost $20,000. The Empire and Tip Top claims were rich, and were worked six or eight years ago. Adjoining the Pittsburgh on the east is the Monumental claim, 1,200 feet in front. The tunnel was started in 1863, and after running 2,400 feet it struck rich- gravel this year. The company arc now raising an air shaft to be 300 feet high, and to cost $3,000. The dump-houses, sluices, stock of timber, cars, &c., necessary as a preparation for washing, will cost $15,000. The expense of the tunnel was $25,000, but the Empire Company, which intends to use it for drainage, has contributed $10,000 towards it. The Empire Company have 1,000 feet front, with the privilege of working and draining through the Monumental tunnel; but they must cut a tunnel 1,200 feet long, at a cost of $20,000, to reach-their pay. They are about to commence that connecting tunnel. The Virginia began to prospect, but after expending $5,000 had to quit for lack of drainage. The Nebraska Company began a tunnel, but got into very hard rock, and gave it up after expending $10,000. The Gross-'Company began a tunnel in 1856, have gone in 1,200 feet, expended $55,000, and are now working for wages to get the means of continuing their tunnel, which is still in the bed-rock. QUARTZ IN SIERRA CoUNTY.-Sierra has very few quartz mines that are now profitable, but among those few are several that deserve to be classed among WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 145 the best in the State. There is one set of quartz regulations for the whole colnty, and these were published in the report of 1866. Some rich veins have been discoiered near Gold Lake, but they have not been developed sufficiently to prove their peimanent value. SIERRA BUTTES. —T1he Sierra Buttes, or, as it is also called, the Reis line, is 2,000 feet long, and is situated 15 miles east of Downieville, and the office is 5,100 feet above the sea. The elevation has commonly, been placed at 7,200 feet, but barometrical observations have proved that the latter figures are incorrect. The. situation is on a steep mountain side, 1,500 feet above the vallev of the South Yuba, so steep that there is no wagon road near it. All the supplies are brought by pack animals-even the fire-wood cut in the immediate vicinity. The mine is situated on a lode which is split up into several branches; the width from wall to wall being from 70 to 100 feet, and of this width from 46 to 70 feet is quartz, with intervening horses or beds of hard blue slate of the same character as the walls. In some places there are two and in others six branches. The course of the lode is a few degrees north of west, and the dip is 40~ to the northward. Six pay chimneys have been found, one of them 500 feet long horizontallv. All these chimneys are vertical; the pay is irregular in them, skipping from one branch to another; if the chimney disappears in one branch, the miners look for it in the other branch. No pay chimney gives out. All the rock is extracted through tunnels, of which there are six, the lowest. one being 225 feet above the upper mill, the distance from which to the uppermost workings is 1,100 feet, and to the bottom of the mountain is 1,500 feet perpendicularly, or 2,200 feet following the dip of the vein, so that there is a probalhility of opening and draining the mine to a depth of 3,000 feet by tunnels. There are about 40,000 tons of pay rock now in sight, enough to keep the mills going three years, and to pay $60,000 of profit. The lower tunnel is being extended, and if that should strike the same pay chimneys found above, with the same size and quality, the stock of good ore in sight will be 200,000 tons, enough to employ the mills 15 years, and to pay $3,000,000. This is the most extensive and most promising project now in progress in the State in the matter of opening a mine. The mine was taken up in 1857, and has been worked ever since-previous to 1857 with arrastras; from 1857 to 1860, with eight stamps, five arrastras an-d two Chile rollers; from 1860 to 1867, with 24 stamps; and since June, 1867,, with 28 stamps. F'rom 1853 to 1857, six tons were reduced per day, or 1,500' tons per year; from 1857 to 1860, 6,000 tons per year; from 1860 to 1864,. 10,000 tons; from 1864 to 1866, 12,000 tons; and the present crushing is at the, rate of 14,000 tons per year. The average yield of the quartz has been from $15 to $17 per ton. In 1866; it was over.$17. In the last report the receipts, expenses and dividends Awere, given year by yearfrom 1857 to 1865, showing aggregates of $1,120,000 receipts,. $385,000 expenses, and $735,000 dividends. In 1866 the receipts were $224,000; expenditures, $70,000; dividends, $144,000Q, and $10,000 were retained in the treasury more than at the end of 1865. The yield during the first nine months of 1867 was $156,000, and the dividend was. $87,000. The yield previous to 1857 is estimated at $250,000, and the total yield from the discovery to the 1st October, 1867, $1,75,000, and the dividends. since 185'7, $966,000. The yield previous to 1857 is estimated at $250,000, and the total yield from the discovery to the 1st of October, 1867, $1,750,0002 and the dividends, silnce 1857, $966,000. Previous to 1857 the quartz was assorted carefully, and about $40 per ton wnat these diggings. There are, however, near them a number of small quartz lodes containing free gold. Somne of these were worked in 1860, by means of arrastras, driven by water, and for a time good results were obtained; but the pay streak in these lodes was very narrow, rendering it expensive to get out sufficient ore to keep the arrastras running, which led to a final cessation of work upon them. With more thorough development it is thought these veins could still be worked with remunerative results. There is water at hand for driving a considerable number of stamps. For supplying water to the placers a ditch 20 miles long was built in 1860, at an expense of $75,000, which work might still be made available as a power for driving machinery. Mono lake, the principal body of water in this county, having been elsewhere described, it only remains here to speak of the numerous streams filling from the Sierra, so1me flowing into the lake, and others uniting in the Big Meadows and forming the east fork of Walker river. M3any of them are large, and by their volume and fall create an immense water-power, a portic. of which, as they run through the finest of timber lands, has been applied to the propulsion of machinery. Mono contains a great extent of pine and spruce forests, ranging along the Eastern slope and the foot-hills of the Sierra. Those in the vicinity of the Big Meadows are the most valuable. The trees here, though not extremely large, are straight and well formed. There are eight saw-mills in the county, having an average capacity to cut 5,000 feet of lumber daily. They are mostly driven by steam, and cost from $2,000 to $10,000 each, or an aggregate of 835,000. A large quantity of lumber is made here every year, which fiinds a market at Aurora and in the adjacent mining districts. There are three quartz mills in the county, two in the Bodie district driven by steam, and one at Hot Springs driven by water. The former carry, the one 16, and the other 12 stamps, and the latter four. The entire cost of these mills has been about $200,000. The only town of any size in Mono is Bridgeport, the county seat. It is situate at the Big Meadows on tile east fork of Walker river, and is surrounded with fine agricultural and hay lands, with a stretch of excellent timber a short distance back on the foot-hills of the Sierra. From Bridgeport to Aurora a good wagon road has been built, also an expensive road across the mountains to Stock-.ton, California. The vote in this county numbers a little over 300; the value of real and personal property is estimated at $400,000. It contains a number of hot springs, one group, situate in the foot-hills on the road to Stockton, discharges a large volume of boiling water. Mono is not without valuable ore WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 179 bearing veins, both of gold and silver. Some of these are described in the chapter on Esmeralda *county, Nevada, being situate in the Blind Spring and other districts lying partly in that State, and partly in California. In the'Bodie district, 10 miles east of the county seat, are some gold and silver-bearing lodes, several of which are explored by means of tunnels, varying from. 300 to 800 feet in length. There are also two quartz mills in this district, both of which, having, as is supposed, overcome, after many ineffectual and costly trials, the difficulties met with in working the ores here, are now in a fair way of achieving success. That there is some fair grade ore in these lodes has been clearly shown, the only trouble having been to hit upon a proper mode for their reduction. This having now been attained, and two well-appointed mills placed upon the ground, it may reasonably be expected that some bullion will be sent from this district the incoming year. Within the present year a new district named Castle Peak, lying a few miles southwest of Bridgeport, has been erected, a large and'very rich gold-bearing lode having been found there. It lies immediately under and to the northeast of Castle Peak, one of the highest summits along this portion of the Sierra. Very rich float rock had been observed here, which led to the prospecting of the locality and, after some time spent, to the final discovery of the lode mentionedl. Placer minlling had for sonme years been carlried on along the streams below, with success, the gold found having been released from this large vein and carried by the water of these creeks, and deposited along their banks. The most of this mining has been done by Chinamen, a company of whom are still at work, realizing wages that to these people are satisfactory. The exploration of this recently discovered lode is now being prosecuted, and it gives promise of proving a good vein. It is situated at the line of contact between two favorable formations for the production of metal, granite and slate. Gold predominates in value, though the lode is also well charged with sulphurets of silver, and from assays made it is calculated that the ore will yield by mill proeess, under the most inexpensive mode of treatment, from $40 to $60 per ton. The means essential to an economical reduction of ores prevail here, the mines being in the midst of stately forests, with two large creeks —Virginia and Green -but a couple of miles distant, affording sufficient power to carry several hundred staiips. A large number of claims in addition to the original location have been taken up on this ledge, and as some of the owners are possessed of energy a'nd means, it is thought that operations will be initiated here the coming season. The erection of several mills has been determined upon, the work of exploration to go on meantime, and it is generally believed an active mining camp. will spring tp here next summer. SECTION XIX. MINING DITCHES. Ditches occupy an important place in the mining of California. Indeed, it may be said that without them the mines of the State would be relatively insignificant. At least four-fifths of the gold is obtained with the assistance, direct or indirect, of ditch water. There are very few springs in the mining regions, the bed rock being usually slate with perpendicular cleavage, through which the water soaks down to the lowest levels. The permanent streams are found only at long intervals, and run in deep, steep, and narrow channels. Nature has fi;rnished no adequate supply of water near the surface for towns or for quartz mills; so they, as well as the hydraulic pipes and sluices, must depend upon ditch water, which thus is an indispensable requisite to the production of four-fifths, perhaps nineteen-twentieths of the gold. It is fortunate that the mountain ridge east of 180 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the mining district rises high into the region of snow, whvere the moisture that falls from the atmosphere in winter is condensed and retained until summer and fall. But without the ditches this moisture would do little good to the miners, since there are few camps near springs or on the immediate banks of constant. streams. EXPENSIVE CONSTRUCTION.-The first experiments in ditching in 1850 were magnificently successful. The canals were short and small, and the water yias either sold at a very high price, or was used in working out rich claims. It was not uncommon for several years for little ditches to repay the cost of construction in a couple of months. It was supposed that the right to the water of a good stream would be worth a fortune. The merchants in each town considered it their interest to encourage and assist the miners to bring in water, so as to increase the population, gold production, and trade. The country was full of enterprise and money, for which there was not much other use. Numerous ditch companies were formed to bring water from the elevated regions in the mountains, and many had invested too much to withdraw before any of them had learned the business before them by experience. The work was done when labor was very high; the price for common laborers being $8 per day, and lumber was $100 per thousand feet. Before the canals were finished, wages had fallen 50 per cent. or more, and the work done was worth in the market only half its cost. Besides, in 1851 and 1852 the common price for water was 50 cents or $1 an inch, and the ditch companies made their calculations upon charging those figures, but before the completion of the ditches the best claims in the ravines had been exhausted, and there was not enough rich ground left to pay high prices for all the water. BAD ENGINEERING. —iThe ditch companies did not find good hydraulic engineers. Many of the canals were constructed uncler'the influence of carpenters who wanted to turn their skill in wood-work to account, and wherever it was possible they constructed wooden flumes, even in places peculiarly favorable for ditching, and where the latter would have cost less than fluming. The flume loses value every year, while the ditch, by getting more solid, gains. The flume must be rebuilt about once in six, eight, or at most ten years, and the ditch, never. The flume soon leaks, and the ditch after a time loses very little by leakage. HIGi FLUMES. —But the mistake in constructing flumes resting on the ground was little compared with the loss suffered by constructing high flumes, which were wonderful specimens of engineering skill, and still more wonderful samples of bad investments. It was common to see flumes 100 and 200 feet high, and there is one now standing near Big Oak Flat, in Tuolumne county, 256 feet high. These high flumes are very costly, and are frequently blown down. The water could, in most cases, have been conveyed in iron pipe, which is much cheaper, and far more durable, and in many instances it could be and has been conveyed in ditches, constructed at small cost round the head of a ravine. As the yield of the mines decreased, the charge for water became onerous, and the miners formed combinations to compel a reduction of rates, and these strikes were accompanied sometimes'by malicious injuries to ditches and flumes. UJNPROFITABLE INVESTMENTS.-The big ditches, almost without exception, proved unprofitable. So-me of them have paid more than their cost, but not near so much as the same money would have paid at the current rates of interest. It is estimated by competent men that not less than $20,000,000 have been invested in the mining ditches of California, and that their present cash value is not more than $2,000,000. In many cases they broke the men who undertook them. Most of them have been sold by the sheriff, some of them several times over; breaking the first purchaser, as well as the builders. Bean's " History of Nevada County," speaking of the South Yuba ditch as a remarkable work, says: " While nearly all the canal enterprises of the country have passed from the control of the men who conceived and executed them, the South Yuba canal remains a triumph, as well of WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 181 the engineering as of the financial ability of its managers, still remaining in possession of. the fathers of the enterprise, and owned without an incumbrance or enemy, all the men who assisted in any degree in the construction of- the works having long ago been paid to the uttermost farthing."' DECLINE IN VALuE. —There is a steady decline in the value of the ditches, as there is a steady decrease in the yield of the placer mines, which consume nine-tenths of the water. The Truckee ditch, which was completed in 1858, at a cost of $1,000,000, to supply the towns on the Blue lead, near the souther:n border of Sierra county, has gone to ruin. Forty miles of the new ditch, at Columbia, have been abandoned, and 11 miles of the Amador ditch are abandoned. Besides these costly main trunks of large canals there are hundreds of miles of branclhes each large enougll to carry 100 inches or more, that once supplied water to thousands of miners, who have now left their camp, and the ditches are dry ancl broken. The Miokelumne Hill Ditch Company is now constructing a branch ditch to Cat Camp; the Sears Union Ditch Company, in Sierra county, are constructing a branch to Poverty Hill antd Scales's Diggings, and the proprietor of the South Fork canal, in Eldorado county, is talking' of building a new ditch, to be 50 miles long, and to carry 5,000 inches of water; but it is probable that more miles will be abandoned during the next three or four years than will be- built. The receipts of the Bear river and Auburn canal show a steady decline from $90,000 in 1863 to $40,000 in 1866. One of the best-infobred ditch miners in Tuolumne says that the receipts of the ditches in that county decrease six per cent. every year on an average, while there is no correspondent decrease of expenditures. The decrease in the State generally is probably not less than 10 per cent. THE SUPPLY OF'WATERt EXCEEDING THE IDE3MAND.-IMany of the companies are seriously troubled by inability to sell all their water, and some hlave commenced to buy up mining ground to wash on their own account. It not unfrequently happens that miners finding their clailms will not pay, after having run in debt to the water company, transfer their claims in payment, and the company, by hiring Chinamen, and requiring the dclitch tenders to devote their spare hours to the labor of superintendence, and using water for which there is no sale, manarge to make a good profit where the original claim owners could make none. SMALL DITClHES.-Although the large ditches, as a class, are unprofitable, many of the small ones pay very well. The minor ditches are short, constructed on favorable ground, have no high flumes to be blown down by,ile wind, or to be broken by the snow, or swept away by avalanches, and not unfrequently they pick up water that escapes from a ditch higher up, so they avoid many of the most serious expenses of the larger ditches. They usually run dry easily in the summer, and supply single claims or little camps of no note, and so they are relatively of little imuportance to the mining industry of the country. -FLUures.-Flumes are usually made with boards, an inch and a half thick for the bottom, and an inch and a quarter for the sides. At intervals of two and a half feet there is a support for the flume box, consisting of a sill, posts, and cap. The sills are four inches square; the posts three by four inches, and the caps one and a half by four inches. To erect a flume 25 feet high, costs about twice as much as to lay one on the level of the* ground, and at 60 feet it costs four times as much. The annual repair of a flumne is about one-eighth of its original cost, in favorable circumstances. If the flume is left dry several months, the repairs mnay be more, for the sun warps and splits the boards, and draws the nails. A flume box, 40 inches wide by 20 inches deep, with a grade of 13 feet to the mile, will carry about 800 inches, and such a flume built on the surface of-the ground will cost now at the rate of $4,000 per mile, near a saw-mill. The boards are put in the flume rough, but are always battened, and sometimes caulked. The cheapest flume costs twice as much as the cheapest ditch of the same capacity, and the repairs of a flume cost 90 per cent. more than tlhose of a ditch. The duration 182 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of a high flumee is on an average about six years, and of a low one 8 or 10. For the first two or three years after the construction of a ditch there is much trouble from gopher holes and slides. The flumes in the highest portions of the Sierra, and especially about Howland Flat and La Porte are much troubled by the snow, and much labor is spent on them every winter. The weight of the snow is so great that after every snowstorm, or while it is in progress, a man must go along and clear the flumne with a shovel. In cases where the flume is on a hill-side it is necessary to shovel away the snow from the upper side of the flume, for the mass moves down hill with tremendous weight, though with very slow motion, and no flume could resist it. IRoN PIPE.-The use of iron pipe in the form of an inverted siphon, instead of high flume, for tile purpose of carrying water across ravines, has been a great improvement and saving in the ditch business. Near Placerville, water is carried across a depression 190 feet, and 1,600 feet long, in a pipe that cost $900, whereas a flume would have cost $25,000. Not only is it cheaper, but it can be used where fluming is peculiarly impossible, as in crossing ravines 400 feet deep. The sheet-iron used in making pipe comes in sheets two feet wide and six feet long. The common sizes of pipe are 7 inches and 11 inches in diameter, made in joints two feet long. A sheet makes two joints of 11-inch pipe, and three of seven-inch, and 11 joints are riveted together to miake a section 20 feet long. At the end of each section, as pipes are usually made, there is an ear or hook riveted on each side, and when the foot of one section is thrust into the head of another, a1 wire is wrapped round the opposite ears or hooks to tie the sections togetherl. In case the pipe is laid on a hill-side running dovwn, each section is tied at the head to a post to keep it in pla.ce; and the post may be supported by a board placed edgewise and crosswise in the ground. About an inch and a half of space is allowed for the lasp at the end of the sections. The ends need to be made with precision, so that they will be water-tight, without packing. The pipe should lbe put together in a straight line, and the sections should be driven together with a sledge-hammer, striking a board laid across the end of the section. The} pipe needs to be coated with tar to preserve it, and if very large it may be coated inside as Uwell as out.. The cost of 11 —inch pipe made of No. 20 iron is about 75 cents per foot. The thiclness of the iron depends upon the amount of pressure and the size of the pipe. The larger the pipe the thicker the iron should be. The pressure at 190 feet is 88 pounds per square inch, and No. 20 iron is strong enough for that, if the pipe be not more than 1.1 inches in diameter. The capacity of an inverted siphon depends mainly on the three elements of diameter, head and depression. The deeper the depression the greater the friction and the slower the current. A straight pipe 11 inches in diameter will carry five times as much water as an inverted siphon of the same size and head with a depression of 200 feet. DITcH LAw.-The rules of the common law relative to the rights to water were unsuited to the wants of California, and therefore the courts have, by their decision, established a new code, which was original here. Among the principles of the California water code are the following: The water of a stream may be led away from its natural bed and never returned. Water becomes the property of the first claimant; but it becomes his property only for the purpose for which he claims it, and to the amount which he appropriates. The holder of a claim has a right to use the water without any obstruction from later claimants, who may, nevertheless, use the water, if they return it clevr land uninjured above the point where the first claimant takes it. If a miner after claiming and using water abandons it, and allows it to run into a channel claimed by another, the latter becomes the owner. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 183 If a ditch is cut for drainage alone, another may claim the water for minlinr. When the waters of all artificial ditch are turned into a natural stream iwith the intention of taking out the same alllount at a, lower point on the streafil, they, may be so taken out,'though the stream had already been claimed by nnotlier title. No person has a right to take the water from the bed of a stream in which there is a prior mining claim that cannot be workled without the water-. Section 9 of the act of Congoress of August, 1866, relative to ditch companies, mcakes a material change in the l:ilghits of ditch companies. It provides: That wherever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowlecldged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same; and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes aforesaid is hereby acknowledged and confirmed: Provided, however, That whenever, after the passage of this act, any person or persons shall, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possessions of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage. Under this act a ditch company acquires a title to the land on which the ditch is made, and to as much more on each side as may be necessary for the safety or business of the ditch. The company has, beside, the right to run a ditch over mining claims and farms on the public domain, on the payment of the actual damage done. Previous to the passage of this act, if a ditch was located over a mining claim of prior date, the miner had a righlt to wash aNway all his ground, and if the ditch was- damaged tle ditch company had to bear the loss; but undel the new law the ditch company has a better title than the mining claims of prior location; and if the miner washes away the ditch or injures it, he becomes respon-. sible for the damage. CONILICT BETWVEN[ D)ITCHERS AND MIINTERS.-The first conflict or casc under the law arose at Gold Run, in Placer county, where 4lere was a large extent of ground suitable for hydraulic washing, but it remained long inaccessiblo for want of water or of outlet. Several ditch companies ran their ditches ovei mining claims, and the miners notified the ditch companies that the g'round there would, after a time, be washed away. The ditch companies replied that they recognized the prior riht of the miners and would move the ditches at their own expense when the washing should get near to the line. Before that time came, the act of 1866 was passed givingl to the ditch companies superior rights. Early in this year one of thle miners, over whose claim several ditches ran, notified the companies that lie was rapidly approaching their lines with his pipe, and the bank would soon be washed away. One company replied that they would move -at their own expense; another gave him notice not to come within 50 feet, or they would hold himn responsible for all damage done. HIe has been compelled to stop because his profits would not have been large enough to cover the damage. PROPOSED GR-IANT OF LAND ALONG DITCHES.-The ditch companies have solicited from Congress a grant of at least 100 feet on each side of their lines; and their wish upon this point deserves attentive consideration. If such a grant, at least along the main trunks where not less than 500 inches of water are carried for six months in the year without disturbing the claims of miners located previous to the location of the ditch, would encourage the construction of new ditches, or would give longer life or greater size to those now in existence, it W'ould be politic. These companies, by whose assistance $700,000,000 have been taken from the ground, at a loss of $10,000,000 to themselves, deserve to receive some favors, which will cost nothing to the government, do no injustice to individual mines, and increase or keep up the supply of water. Before the passage of the act of 1866, granting the right of way to the ditches, the Pacific Railroad act had been passed, giving to that road alternate sections of puiblic land for a width of five miles on each side of the line, and thus the Central Pacifio-Railroad Company has become the owner of many miles of 184 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ditch belonging to different companies along its line; and although it has net seen fit to demand anything from them, still it is very unpleasant to the ditch companies to know that they are at the mercy of another association of later date. The act of 1866 giving a right of way for the ditch companies secures them against losing their lines by future railroad grants, but it leaves them subject to fears that the land immediately alongside may be taken in such a way as to prevent changes and improvements that might be required. In some places where there are high flum es a strip 100 feet on each side of the line -would not be too much to be granted to the ditch companies; but in those places where there is a plain ditch or iron pipe on a plain surface, there would seem to be no good reason for granting more than room enough to drive a wagon along. MiEASUREMENT OF WATEPr. —Water is sold by the inch, and usually an inch is the amount which escapes through an orifice an inch square, with the water six inches deep above the top of the orifice. That is called a six-inch pressure. If a large quantity is sold, the orifice may be two or three inches high. The mode of measurement, however, is not uniform. In some places the pressure is nine or ten inches; in others there is no pressure but thile quantity that escapes through an orifice an inch wide, and three inches high, without pressure, is called an inch. In calculations made by machinists it is often necessary to use the term "an inch of water," and by common consent that phrase is accepted now to mean a supply of 4.032 cubic inches, or 145.86-100 pounds per minute; 3,360 cubic feet, 10,656 gallons in 24 hours; and 1,226,400 cubic feet, 30,41.0 tons of 40 cubic feet each, or 6,020,540 gallons in 365 days of 24 hours each. If an inch of water pass 200 feet fall it supplies an amount of power about one-tenth less.than one-horse power. At the last session of the legislature of California a bill was introduced to provide that " where the question shall be involved as to the quantity of running water sold, purchased, delivered, or used, and described by "minelrs inch,:: it shall be held and declared that a'miner's inch' of water shall consist of twio and one-third cubic feet of water passing a given point in one minute of time, or seven and o-14 —54 gallons of water passing a given point in a minute, or 145 8 6 pounds of water passing a given point in a minute." The bill was referred to the committee on mines, which reported a substitute, providing that "' a legal inch of water sold for mining, agricultural, or other purpose, is hereby declared to be what water may pass through an orifice of one inch square, through plank of one inch in thickness, with a pressure of seven inches measured from the centre of the orifice to the surface of the water: Provided, the water shall be delivered from a box in which the water has no motion except that caused by the flow of the water to be delivered fiom that particular box." Both the original bill and the substitute were indefinitely postponed. The objections to the substitute were that it might be as well to let the miners and ditch companies agree upon their measurements as well as upon their prices, and that some companies which hand long adopted other modes of measurement would be inconvenienced. EUREKA LArKE AND YnBA CANAL COMPANY'S DITCHES.-The property of this company, under the present organization, is a consolidation of the ditch and mining property formerly owned by a number of different companies. It extends over a vast range of country, and embraces many valuable mines. The main ditches were constructed during the years 1855 to 1859, inclusive. Purchases of the smaller ditches and consolidation of the larger have taken place at different times during the last eight years; that between the Eureka Lake Water Company and the Middle-Tuba Canal and Water Company was on the 1st of August, 1865. All the property of this company has since been transferred to a corporation organized for the purpose in the city of New.York, the transfer having taken -effect on the 1st of January, 1866. The following statement is derived from the superintendent, Mr. Richard Abbey: Capital stock, $2,250,000. The first cost WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 185 of construction of all the works wouldc be difficult to estimate, but would probably not fall far short of $2,000,000. The cost of the Eureka Lalke Water Company and Middle Yuba Canal and Water Company's property was $1,600,000; length of main ditches and flumes, 100 miles; supplemental, 60 capacity, 5.000 inches. Estimated amount of gold taken out by the miners supplied with water by this company during the last five years, $2,000,000 per year. Mr. George Black, civil engineer, thus describes the district of country through which these remarkable ditches run, the prevailing systems of mining, and the costs and profits: The mining section of country supplied by the Middle Yuba canal is situated in the northwest of Nevada county, and commences at North San Juan; it thence extends, on the south side of the Middle Yuba river, to its junction with the Main Yuba; thence, on the south-. easterly side of the Main Yuba, by Sebastopol, Manzanita Hill, Sweetlands, Buckeye, Birchville, and French Corral, a distance of about six miles. At Junction Bluff, a spur from Manzanita 1-ill, the Middle and North Yuba rivers join together and flow in a southwesterly direction, for a distance of about eight miles, to the junction of the South Yuba, at Point Defiance, three miles below French Corral. From San Juan to a point about a quarter of a mile below Junction Bluff, the north edge of the mining ground is at a distance of about half a mile from the river, and at an elevation of about 800 feet above it, having a gradual inclination to the water's edge. From this point to French Corral a slate ridge of hills extends between the northwest side of the mining ground and the river. On the south it is bounded by a low ridge of hills, which extend to the South Yuba. Along the north and west sides of these hills, and in the intervening valleys, part of the company's main canal is situated, together wilh the branches and reservoirs belonging to it.''lhe mining ground from San Juan to French Corral is composed of a succession of gently rounded gravel hills, in length from one mile to One mile and a half each, separated by ravines; the width is more contracted in some places than in others; on an average, it may be taken at 1,500 feet. The depth along the centre varies from 150 to 200 feet, diminishing towards the sides. The deposit rests on a basin-shaped depression in the bed rock, which is composed in some places of granite, in others of either trap or transition slate. In those places where the superincumbent gravel has been washed away the bed rock is exposed to view, and presents a similar appearance to that of the present river, which flows several hundred feet beneath. The water-worn appearance of the rocks, all the angles and projecting points of which have been rounded off, show very plainly that at one time a powerful current of water must have swept over them. The gravel hills are composed of layers (in some places almost horizontal) of sand and gravel, intermixed here and there with streaks of clay. The upper layers are composed of sand and fine gravel; the gravel becomes coarser as the depth increases. The lower portion is composed of boulders and gravel cemented together into a hard and compact mass, resting on the bed rock. Gold is found throughout the Mwhole of this deposit; the upper 50 or 60 feet contain it only in very small quantities; it increases with the depth, the lower 20 to 30 feet lying above the bed rock being invariably the richest. The gold is what is usually termed -" fine," being in very minute scales, in some cases almost resembling the fineness of dust. Large and coarse gold is rarely met with in this locality. Gold mining was at first only carried on in the beds of rivers and ravines or along their banks, where coarse gold was found, with comparatively little labor or expense in the extraction of it. When these places were partially exhausted the attention of miners was turned to deposits such as these under notice, which could only be made available by a large supply of water, brought in over the mining ground at a high elevation. It was to attain this object that a number of miners joined together in 1853 and organized the Middle Yuba Canal Company, and commenced the construction of their works. When they were completed, a new system of working was inaugurated here, by which water was made to replace the labor of men. Practical experience has since then proved that the more water is used the more economically and effectually can the deposits be worked. The water is conducted from.the flume or ditch into the measuring box, 12 to 14 feet square, in the side of which openings are left two inches in depth, and extending along all the sides. The water is allowed to attain a depth of six inches above the centre of these orifices. The measurements are made according to the sectional area through which the water flows; for instance, 20 inches in length by 2 inches in depth iA called 40 inches in miners' measurement; 50X2-100, and so on. The discharge is regulated according to the demand, and is allowed to flow during a working day of 10 hours. A cubic foot, or 7.49 U. S. gallons, equals 38 miners' inches. The water from the main canal, or from the reservoir, is carried over high flumes and in branch ditches to the different hills, where measuring boxes are fixed to receive it; from these boxes it flows through pipes to the different companies at work. The main pipes at present 186 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES used are made of sheet iron one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, firmly riveted together; (8,000 feet of pipe are in use on the different hills.) The lengths are usually about 12 feet; the diameter from 11 to 18 inches. The main pipe is connected to a cast-iron box, placed as low down as circumstances will admit; to this box pipes of a lesser diameter are attached, at different sides, so that the water can be thrown on different points. At the extremities of these pipes flexible tubes are fixed, to which are attached nozzles with metallic ends. The diameter of their orifices is two to three inches. The nozzles are pointed against the bank which has to be removed. The water used varies from 200 to 1,000 inches; 1,000 inches, miners' measurement, equals 26~ cubic feet, or 197 U. S. gallons; in weight., 1,630 pounds; being a constant discharge, under pressures varying from 140 to 200 feet. This colossal force brought to bear against the banks cuts and breaks them away to within a few feet of the bed rock. Blasting is resorted to to break up the cemented gravel; sometimes long drills and sand blasts are used, with only a small quantity of powder. Where the crust to be removed is too thick for this a drift is run in a little further than the height of the bank, and from I to 20 kegs of powder are used, according to the depth of the bank to be lifted. In the centre of the hills the hard gravel is generally from 20 to 50 feet in depth. A drift is run in on the bed rock, and from 50 to 175 kegs of powder are used at one blast. Some miners think it more economical and profitable to drift. They construct parallel tunnels 100 feet apart on the bed rock, six to seven feet in height, running into the cliffs, and connect them together with cross-drifts. The connecting walls are washed away by hydraulic power, which causes the entire cliff to settle down and break to pieces in its fall. The water is then brought to bear on this mass with such force that it sweeps everything away through tunnels constructed in the bed rock. Timber sluices are laid through these tunnels, varying in width from two and a half to four feet, and 18 inches in depth. The grade is usually 1 foot in 15. Two sluices are sometimes used in the same tunnel by different companies, from two to two and a half feet in width each. Larger sluices and heads of water, with a smaller grade, seem latterly to be preferred as more efficient. Several methods are in use for the effectual saving of the gold. In some places the bottoms of the sluices are paved with rounded stones of oblong shape, the lesser diameter being about three inches. The gold, as it is carried along, is deposited in the interstices between them. A " clean up " is made in every 10 or 20 days. In other places blocks are used, sawn across the grain, and about two feet square and six inches in depth; a ba ten two inches wide and two inches in depth is placed between them across the flume, which forms a hollow of four inches in every two feet; in these crevices the gold is deposited. These blocks, of course, wear out very rapidly, and have, about once in every two months, to be replaced. The velocity of the water is so great that rocks weighing from 100 to 150 pounds are often carried along by the current through the tunnels. The entire mass is precipitated over falls from 12 to 20 feet in height, which breaks up the boulders and cement; the fragments are taken up anew by other sluices, again precipitated over falls, which operation is repeated several times before the river is reached, several hundred feet below. In several places under-current sluices are used. At the end of and in the bottom of the last sluice-box a grating is constructed of iron bars, through which a portion of the fine gravel, clay, sand, and water is separated from the larger particles, and drops into a set of more gently-graded sluices underneath, varying in width from six to eight feet, through which they are carried off by the current in onre direction, while the main body of gravel and boulders is dashed over the falls, to be again taken up by Qther sluices, along with the tailings from the under current, and subjected anew to the same operation, which is thus repeated several times before the river is reached. To show the enormous advantages gained by the present system of working, compared with those formerly in use, I may add that, taking a miner's wages at $4 per day, the cost of extraction of a cubic yard of deposit will be as follows: With the pan................................................................ $20 00 With the rocker... -5 00 With the Long Tom......................................................... 1 00 While with the powerful means now employed it is only. —-.... —-----------—.. 20 A considerably greater quantity of gold is retained by this operation than by any other hitherto employed. Quicksilver is used more by some miners than by others, distributed through their sluices so as to form an amalgam with the gold. They have no fixed rule to guide them in its use. The works of the Middle Yuba Canal Company were commenced by the construction of a small ditch from Grizzly cafion (a small stream which falls into the Middle Yuba) to San Juan. The water supply not being sufficient, the ditch was enlarged in 1855 to its present size, while the works were extended from Grizzly cation to the river, across which a small dam was built. It is situated about three miles below Moore's Flat, the latter place being, in altitude, about 1,500 feet above it. The distance from the dam to San Juan is 22 miles, and four miles further to the termination of the main canal, at the Sweetlands creek reservoirs. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 187 Four receiving reservoirs hold the water which flows at night and on SundaysSan Juan reservoir, having a capacity of discharge of... 2,300 inches. Manzanita Hill reservoir, having a capacity of discharge of-................. 2,000 " Northrup reservoir, having a capacity of discharge of..................... 2,500 " Garden reservoir, having a capacity of discharge of........................ 2,000 " Total.......................................................... 8,800 " The various hills are supplied either by branch ditches from these reservoirs, or directly from the main canal. The branch ditches are connected with high flumes which span the low ground intervening between the ridge and the mining ground. At San Juan a high flume connects with the main canal. The length and greatest height of these flumes are as follows: Length. Height. Feet. Feet. San Juan aqueduct...................................... 1,200 48 Mazanita Hill aqueduct................ —....................... 2,000 54 Buckeye Hill aqueduct.................. 400 3.) Birchville Hill — 1,00..................1,000 40 The aggregate length of the branch ditches is about 12 miles. The dimensions of the excavated part of the main canal is as follows: bottom, four feet top, seven feet; depth, three feet; the grade from the dam to Grizzly caion is 10 feet per mile, and from there to San Juan, 12 feet per mile. The dimensions of the ditch from San Juan to Garden reservoir are: bottom, three and one-half feet; top, six feet.; depth, two and one-half feet; grade, 12 feet per mile. The main flume is of the following dimensions: bottom, four feet; depth, three feet, with same grade as ditch. The branch ditches are: bottom, two and one-half feet; top, four feet; depth, two feet; grade, 12 feet per mile. The safe capacity of the canal, as it is at present, is equal to a constant stream of 1,500 inches for 10 hours, miners' measurement, or 3,600 for 24 hours = 38 cubic feet per second. The cost of the works has been as follows: Construction of canal from river to Mazanita Hill-.,-.......... $261, 765 83 Construction of canal from Mazanita Hill to Birchville Hill, together with purchase from Sweetlands, &c.................... -- 31,237 50 Expenses and improvements, to May, 1857................................ 70,954 29 San Juan, Mazanita, and Jones'sreservoirs.....18,099 29 Purchase of Grizzly Company's works, at San Juan....................... 10, 000 00 Purchase of Pollard's, at Buckeye Hill.................................... l, 500 00 Sandy creek extension................................................. 3, 625 00 Total cost to June, 1858........................................... 397, 201 91 Water sales, receipts and expechses of the J3idd le Yuba Canal Coalmany, firom January 20, 1856, to July 1, 1864. Sales. Receipts. January 20, 1856, to December 1, 1857..................... $164, 834 45 $142,615 48 December 1, 1857, to January 1, 1859...................... 167, 113 58 148,689 74 Jan-uary 1, 1859, to January 1, 1860........................ 172, 432 54 144,375 39 January 1, 1860, to January 1, 1863........................-378,940 78 369, 577,81 January 1, 1863, to January 1, 1864 -...................... 123,153 80 109, 480 87 January 1, 1864, to July 1, 1864..... —-—......... —--------—.... 68,726 01 62,283 43 1,075, 201 16 968, 022 72 Expended in construction of extension ditches, reservoirs, and other improvements, and working expenses in three years, ending January 1, 1863, $132,535 70. 188 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Statement of water sales, receipts and expenses fiom January 1, 1863, to June 30, 1864. Working expenses. }ash~tL1 mi.. M arch te. Sals. Receipts.11,981 96 6 00 243 7 5 6 0 1,7 48 $ 0 April.............. 10,998 00 7,963 02 625 625 00 130 75 81 87 39 50 1,502 12 M.ay.............. 14,124 60 6, 077 40 650 607 00 467 63 69 72.......... 1, 794 35 June,....-...- 10, 333 80 9, 368 70 600 535 00 226 75 20 75.. 1, 382 50 July............., 8352 300 6,198 93 f 564 40 176 25 1, 545 46 Augusta........... 12, 941 20 7, 895 48 650 415 00 33 4 65 745 75 64 00 2, 209 40 September........ 1,52244 30 8,159 41 5960 4100 70 69 00 43 102 17 5 61 50 1,588 67 October.......... 10, 351 60 8, 900 45 575 70625 00 1350 30 75 81 87 00 1, 333 25.fovember....... 5, 124 60 9, 4025 66 650 4607 00 267 63 567 48 4,80 18 5, 980 29 JunDe cember......... 10,142 80 12, 347 06 6 415 00 5 2 00 44 375 0 75 00 1, 128 30 January....1... 1, 941 80 10, 615 92 650 415 00 247 5 77 113 76 00 2, 209 4025 Februer.y......... 7, 863 20, 15978 24 650 415 00 62 169 05 515 90 2, 400 57 Octoberh......... 10, 3500 60, 900 45 87 5750 40 00 539 62 29 06'7500 1, 633 4325 April............ 16,165 30 22,882 05 650 405 00 234 80 2 28501 64, 59802 44 Decay............. 142 80 12, 347 06 63 6 405 00 157 7 4 69 28 51 500 1,308 5230 une.............. 12, 818 66 8, 721 72 650 405 00 87 75 169 576 409 72 1, 435 07 ot.......... 45 8, 429 63 625 405 00 157 74 69 28 51 50 1, 308 52 Inns.~-~.~,..~. —. 12, 666 8,721 72 650 405 00 87 75 169 57 122 75 1,435 07 To'tal. 191,879 81 162, 764 30 11, 340 9, 134 50 4, 330 643,39766,302 20 34,5 10 The expense of $5,980 29, in November, 1863, includes State and county taxes. It will be seen from the foregoing statements that the actual receipts for the sales of water, from 1856 to July 1, 1864, a period of eight and one-half years, have amounted to $968,022 72. The receipts from January 1, 1860, to January 1, 1863, (three years,) have amounted to......................................................... $369, 577 81 While the expenses have been.........3....2........, 535 00 Net receipts.................................................. 237, 042 81 And the receipts from January 1, 1863, to July 1, 1864, (one and one-half year,-) have amounted to......................$.........$..................... $162, 764 30 Expenses.. 34,505 10 Net receipts.......................... 128,259 20 In addition to the supply derived from the Middle Yuba, the canal also receives part of the water from the reservoir of the Sierra Nevada. Lake Company, which, after being used on American Hill, Chips, Alleghany, and Minesota, falls into the river or -its branches, and fi ws from thence into the flume In like manner the water in Eureka Lake Company's reservoir, after being used at Snow Point, Moore's, Orleans, Woolsey's Flats, and at other points along the north side of the ridge, falls into the river, and also flows into the flume. Very extensive mining operations have been carried on for some years on this section. Tunnels, amounting in the aggregate to thousands of feet in length, have been driven through the bed rock to insure the fall necessary for the sluices. These tunnels have cost from $15 to $25 per foot run; some have taken years to complete, while others are still in course of construction. SAN JUAN HILL.-The Eureka Claim embraces 80 claims of 180 feet by 80 feet-consequently an area of 261 acres. The depth of the gold-bearing deposit is 100 feet to 175 feet. The north edge of the granite basin on which it rests is at an elevation of 850 feet over the Middle Yuba, which flows beneath. 500 to 1,000 inches of water per day, supplied by the Eureka Lake Company, are used through three iron pipes 12 inches to 14 inches in diameter. Upwards of five years-from August, 1855, to October, 1860-were takeni to construct a WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 189 tunnel so that the gravel could be worked to the bed rock. The expenses incurred before a dividend was declared were $142,000. The expenses of working this claim from July 24, 1860, to December 21, 1862-two and one-third years-were as follows: Canvas and hose.-..............$.................-........... 4,654 Purchase of claims........................................... 22, 800 Water..........-........-......-........... —... 67,800 Labor, quicksilver, tools, &c............................................ 51, 952 Lowering tunnel.......... ——................................... — -..... 20, 000 Lumber............................................................ 6,400 Powder.................................................................. 20, 000 193, 600 Proceeds from claims............ 287, 200 Net profits.......................................................... 93,600 During the period of two and one-third years, eight months were lost in lowering the existing tunnel, so as to obtain the requisite fall for the flumes. December 21, 1862, to April 1, 1863-three and one-fourth months: Expenses for water........................................................ $11,000 Labor, quicksilver, &c....................................,............. 8, 000 19, 000 Proceeds from claims -................................................... 50, 000 Net profits.-...................... 31, 000 In June, 1863, this company was regularly incorporated, and the office established in San Francisco. The following is a detailed account of expenses and receipts since then: Receipts and expenditures of the Eureka Gold-Mining Company's Claim from June 5, 1863, to August 11, 1864. August 11, 1864: Cash, labor account.................-..,.-....... $24,986 56 Expense, lumber, candles, coal, merchandise, incidentals..... —--- —. —-- 4,568 42 Claims account........................................................ 602 50 Hose ----... —----....................... -.. — - 1,488 10 Powder................................................................ 9,642 17 Water...................... ——.. —-—..... —------------------------. 35,782 49 Quicksilver.................................................... 272 81 Taxes.................................................................. 108 40 Dividend account...................................................... 66, 000 00 Balance............................................................... 4,078 45 147,529 90 August 11, 1864: Cash received from claims from June 5, 1863, to date..-................... $147,529 90 SAN JUAN HILL. Deadman Cut Mining Claims-superficial area, square feet................. 94, 623 Average depth, feet..................................................... 100 Cubic contents, cubic yards............................................... 350,455 April 29, 1855, to February 4, 1859: Water- —..............................$23, 565 76 Special expense.................................,......................20, 017 78 Labor.........-.....-..............-.....-................-............ 27,849 75 71,433 29 Cash received from claims............................................. 156, 307 73 Net profits...............84, 874 44 This claim was entirely worked out in 1859. The average quantity of gold in it was, per cubic yard............................44 The total cost of extracting, including water, per cubic yard........................ 20 190 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES MANiANITA HILL. McKeeby & Company's Claims, average length 851 feet by 315 feet, square yards. - --------—....................-..S.. 28, 240 Average depth, feet..-..........-.... --—. —................. —---- 120 Amount of gravel, cubic yards............... 1, 191, 400 Cash received from- claims.... - -........ $368, 932 78 Construction of tunnel.......................... —........ $-000 00 Water. - -......... —---—.. ----------------—. ------ 81,555 25 Expenses. —-—..............-........ —--- ----—. —--- 142,717- 53 Dividends paid............................................ 6, 660 00 368,932 78. This claim has been in operation since 1855. The total quantity of water used has been 339. 374 inches, the price of which has varied from 50 cents to 20 cents per inch. The average quantity of gold, 30 cents per cubic yard. Cost of water, 7A cents per cubic yard. Total cost of extraction, including water, 20 cents. The shaft sunk from the surface of the bed rock to the sluice is 169 feet 10 inches. The size of the claims is 180 feet by 80, or olle-third of an acre in area, (each company owning several claims.) The average quantity of water required for the complete working of each has been 18,614 inches; at 20 cents per inch, $3,722. The Middle Yuba Company's receipts over expenses for 12 months ending July 1, 1864................................................................ $85,506 The Eureka Lake Company's receipts over expenses for 12 months ending July 1, 1864, were, say-.......................... 145,0050 Net receipts-..................................................... 230, 506 The safe capacity of discharge of the canals of both companies, being a constant stream during 10 hours, is as follows: Minors' inches. Eureka Lake canal.................................................. 3, 000 Miners' canal..-. —-------- -- -.. —... — ---- ---------- 750 Other districts...-......... —-----------------—..... —... 250 4, 000 Middle Yuba canal —.............. ——.... —....-...-.... —-...... —-. 1, 500 5, 500 5, 500 inches for ten hours, equal for 24 hours............................ 1.3, 200 20 per cent. deficiency in supply, stoppages, and other causes................... 2, 620 10,580 Say 10,000 inches per day, &c. In reference to the Eureka Lake canal, Mr. Black makes the following remarks: The section of country which can be supplied by these works extends over a large portion of Nevada county, commencing at the junction of the North and South Yuba rivers, four miles below French Corral; thence it extends in a northeasterly direction between these rivers toward the summit of the Sierra Nevada. A main ridge between these rivers gradually rises from 1,500 feet, the altitude of French Corral above the sea, to 8,000 feet on the summit. Numerous lateral spurs, with ravines separating them, extend from the main ridge on each side to the rivers. In most cases the mining ground is situated on benches near the extremities of these spurs; in some, however, it is situated in channels between them. From French Corral to Eureka, a distance of about 32 miles, the average width between the rivers is seven miles; from thence the width gradually increases to about 16 miles on the summit of the mountains. The first portion is that in which the mining section is situated, and comprises an area of about 175 square miles. The area of the different places where gravel deposits have been found may together be about 15 square miles. The deposits in addition to those from French Corral to San Juan, already described, extend on the north side of the ridge by Badger's Hill, Grass Valley, Eurisko, and further up by Woolsey's, Moore's, Qrleans Flat, and Snow Point to Eureka; and on the south slope of the ridge from Montezuma to Pleasant Hill, Cherokee, Chimney Hill, Columbia Hill, Lake City, B1loomfield, Relief Hill, and Mount Zion. The thickness of the deposits varies from 60 to 200 feet, nearly similar to those before WEST OF THE ROCKY 2MOUNTAINS. 191 described at San Juan, save that they are not so rich in gold, and are more intermixed with seams of clay, which render them more difficult to be worked. From Eureka to the summit of the mountains no deposits have been found. The geological formation is mostly granite and gneiss, which rise into high and rugged peaks, some of which attain an elevation of 8,500 feet above the sea. The Middle and South Yubas, witil their tributary streams, such as Canion creek, Pass creek, and others, take their rise in these mountains, amongst which are numerous lakes from 20 to 400 acres in area. The Caion Creek lake, situated at the head of Cation creek, about four miles west of the summit, is the largest, and forms the company's principal reservoir. A substantial dam formed of blocks of granite has been erected across its outlet. The transverse width at bottom is 120 feet, its height 70 feet, and length from bank to bank 250 feet. The front is protected with two layers of 24-ineh lumber, well secured to the face. An arched sluice is constructed through the dam, by which the flow of water is regulated from the interior. When full of water, the area of the reservoir is 500 acres, the average depth of water 42 feet, and its contents 935,000,000 cubic feet of water. Sources of supply, from the middle of April to the middle of August, are derived from the mountain streams, which become swollen from the rapid melting of the snow, and afford a four months' plentiful supply. After that date recourse is had to the reservoirs. MINERS' DITCH. Coot of purchases of ditches and water rights.. -$.......... $57, 900 Miners' ditch and reservoirs cost. —.......................................... 180, 000 237, 900 EUREKA LAKE DITCH. Cost of purchase of small ditches, water rights, &c........-........ 174,250 Eureka Lake damn........................................................ 35, 000 Lake Faucherie dam...................... 8, 000 Smaller dams.................................................... 2, 00 Magenta and National aqueducts.-.............................. 23, 0 Storage reservoirs........................................................... 51, 000 Iron pipes to San Juan..................................................... 12, v00 Main canal and flume..................................................... 256, 000 Saw-mill...7,........,000 806, 150 Management, law expenses, &c., 20 per cent................................. 161,230 9G6,380 The following is a list of the storage reservoirs named in the above estimate, with their capacity and cost: No. of Capacity Cost reservoirs. in inches. Eureka............................................. 1 50 $300 Snow Point....................................... 1 2, 500 1, 000 Orleans............................................ 4 500 3, 000 Moore's -4 800 6, 000 Woolsey's.......................................... 3 1, 000 7, 500 Relief Hill........... 1 300 1, 500 Bloomfield............-............................ 3 - 500 1,500 Lake City........................................ 2 2, 000 5, 000 Kennebec.......................................... 250 1,500 Grizzly Hill........................................ 1 100 1, 000 Columbia Hill...................................... 3 4, 500 15, 000 Grizzly Hill.................................. 1 4, 000 10, 000 Cherokee.................................-......... 2 500 4, 000 Lone Ridge......................................... 1 700 2, 500 San Juan............................................ 2 3,000 10,000 Pleasant Ridge.........-....................... 1 250 1, 000 Montezuma-.-............2 200 1, 000 33 21, 150 71,800 192 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The average annual water sales of the Eureka Lake Water Company. according to the annexed statements, amount-to $161,369, over and above expenses of management, repairs, &c. Deducting 10 per cent. from this for bad debts will leave a net income of $145,233. Some idea of the magnitude with which mining operations are carried on along this ridge may be inferred from the fact that since 1850 the annual quantity of gold transmitted to San Francisco has amounted to from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. So great has been the quantity of ground washed away, that many of the ravines are covered with a depth of 20 feet and upwards of tailings from the sluices, composed of sand and gravel. The fall, therefore considered necessary for the sluices, of one foot in 15, can only be obtained in those places that are situated above the rivers, such as those in the San Juan district, and higher up the ridge at Badger fill, Grizzly Hill, Woolsey's, Moore's, and Orleans Flat. In order to obviate this difficulty of want of fall, tunnels are being constructed at different points, which take from two to five years to complete. Some of those I visited are through granite or trap, and cost at the rate of from $20 to $60 per running foot. They are six to eight feet in width, and seven feet in height; when completed a flume will be laid through them and extended a long distance down the ravine. All the tailings with which a ravine is incumbered will be carried away through the flume by the current of water. After the present year, many of those tunnels now being constructed will be finished, when numerous companies will be enabled to work, which are now precluded from doing so on account of insufficiency of fall in the creeks. I annex a detailed statement of the localities supplied by the Eureka Lake Water Company, and the amounts realized during one week; it is a fair average statement of the weekly sales during the year. WT'ater sales of the Eureka Lake Water Company for the week ending July 5, 1862. Lake City, Grizzly Hill, and Kennebec.......................................................... $175 00 Snow Point 62 16 Woolsey's......... 407 09 Moore's................................................................... —................. 243 84 Orleans.................................................. —............................... 169 14 Pleasant Hill.................................................................................. 32 50 Cherokee..... -.......... - -...... -.....................................-........................... 8 02 Bloomfield....-..................................-................... 10 59 San Juan........................ —-............................... 1, 305 67 Columbia Hill.................................................................................. 853 83 Chimney Hill........-........................... -....................... 484 35 Relief Hill..................................................................................... 212 17 lEureka........................................................................................ 61 50 4,189 77 Abstract of monthly reports by secretary of the Eureka Lake andT Yuba Canal Com)any. 1 hnuy - $10, 079 51a$4,-85671 $3, 142 17 $895 |364 $5, 235 01| 186 -SJhnuary................. $10,079 51. $4, 856 71 $3,142 17 $895 36 $5,235 01 J $10 476 86 Febr u ary 25,965 33 13,740 97 3,107 58 976 71 12, 242 $10, 476 86 March.............. 30,173 51 27,109 38 3, 615 92 1, 019 05 3, 065 76 22, 474 41 April 2............. t. 24, 866 78 26, 496 69 3, 479 15 2, 855 27 18, 946 37 20,162'27 May......... 21, 823 65 17, 898 09 3, 563 49 4, 086 87 22, 871 93 10, 247 73 June 2............. 27, 715 34 30, 537 58 3. 575 66 2, 416 20 20, 049 69 24, 551 72 July..-........... 23, 885 24 14, 259 98 3, 366 30 3, 802 05 29, 674 95 7, 128 63 Augustt ---------------- 20, 392 41 -19, 705 42 3, 462 29 2, 740 31 30, 361 94 13, 612 47 September 26, 093 80 20, 873 18 3,358 55 3, 103 99 35, 582 36 14, 581 01 October-............ 21, 836 95:25, 692 60 3, 317 49 6, 966 90 31, 726 71. 15, 945 97 November............ 18, 474 98 17, 028 62 3, 392 99 9, 700 96 33, 173 07 4, 366 78 December............ 19, 590 32 21, 812 66 3, 592 97 3, 059 87 30, 950 73 15, 442 78 270, 897 82 240, 011 88 40, 954 56 41, 623 54.......... 158, 989 23 1867-January.... -....7..., 615 69. 16, 611 30 3, 633 74 387 04 22,.705 36 13, 112 87 February............. 16, 989 64 12, 995 83 3, 187 32 I, 427 68 26, 699 17 8, 956 81 March................... 20, 524 74 17, 104 16 3, 155 96 338- 93 30, 119 75 12, 166 89 April.................. 23, 027 48 22, 791 20 3, 361 01 1, 782 76 30, 356 03 17, 647 43 May.............. 19, 475 72 22, 375 81 3, 559 99 3, 040 33 27, 498 81 15, 775 49 June................. 25, 353 35 23, 944 15 3, 566 82 3, 276 65 29, 192 97 17, 100 68 July................... 18,138 69 15, 518 00 3, 515 49 2, 237 11 31, 813 66 8, 765 40 August................. 25,114 14 22, 935 76 3, 463 50 2, 374 10 33, 992 04 17, 098 16 166,239 45 154, 276 21 27,443 83 15,864 60 -110, 623 73.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- - - - - - WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 193 FPENC.I CorPnAL.-The Nevada Water Company was organized and iicorporated in New York in November, 1858. It then purchllased the Sha.dy Creek and Grizzly ditches, and now owns, in addition to these ditches, a large extent of mining groundc. The Shady Creek ditch was located in January, 1851, and the Grizzly ditch in 1852. Both were constructed for the purpose of conveying' water from Shady creek (a tributary of thle Yuba river) to French Corral. The Shadycl Creek ditch, the only one in present repair and use, has a running capacity of about 2,500 inchesy-miner's measure. Its width is eight feet at the top and six feet at the bottom, and its depth three feet, having a grade of about 14 feet per mile. Its length is about 12 miles, and with the exception of some 4,000 feet of fluming is excavated vholly in earth. The cost of construction of ditches and reservoirs owned by the Nevada Company has been about $150,000. They pass through Birchville mining district, but at present only supply water.to the French Corral district. Six or eight sets of claims in this district besides the claims owned wholly or in part by the Nevada Company are supplied from their ditches. Another ditch from Shady creek to French Corral, built in 1855, at a cost of some $50,000, including reservoirs, having a capacity of about 500 inches, is owned by the Empire Tunnel Company of this place. The principal claims in the French Corral district are the Kate Hayes Company, Bird & Smith, Black & Brother, Empire Tunnel Company, Empire Flat Company, Dockum Company, French's, Glaister's, Burke & Company, and the Nevada Water Company claims. The price paid for water is 15 cents per inch, and the quantity used by different companies varies from 200 to 1,000 inches per day. The gold range of this district is a deposit of washed gravel filling a welldefined old river channel to the average depth of about 150 feet, varying in width from 1,000 to 3,000 feet. This deposit is continuous from French Corral to San Juan, a distance of six miles, broken only by raviues, but below French Corral and above San Juan it is cut off by the deep callons of the South and Mfiddle Yuba rivers. This deposit is composed of whvlat the miners call blue and red dirt —the blue gravel or cement underlying the red or gray. Both strata have until recently been worked by blasting with powder and washing by the hydraulic process. Hereafter it is believed that the blue cement will be crushed with greater profit, besides saving a larger percentage of gold lost by the ordinary washing. The Empire Tunnel Company have built and are running very successfiully a 10-stamp mill, crushing the blue cement. The American Company, at Sebastopol, are also realizing profits from their eight-stanmp mill, working the same blue gravel.. The English or "Truckee Ditch Company," some 10 or more years ago, expended nearly $1,000,000 in a ditch from the Middle Yuba to the mines on the dividing ridge between the Middle and North Yubas. The enterprise proved disastrous for the reason that paying hydraulic mines could not be found. The gold deposits of that region were generally found in a thin stratum of gravel lying on the bed rock, while the mass of earth above contained little or no gold. The paving lead could be most readily worked by " drifting out," and required but a smuall amount of water to wash it. Unlder such circumstances an extensive and expensive ditch like the Truckee Company's would not pay, and has fallen into disuse. Their water right has recently been purchased by some San Francisco capitalists. TUOLUJNNE DITCH.-Most of the ditch water used in Tuolumune county is supplied by the Tuolumne County Water Company, which takes its water from the Stanislaus river about 90 miles in a direct line above Columbia. The company own two ditches known as " the old" and " the new." The former cost $550,000, and the latter $1,000,000. The old ditch was commenced on the 1st July, 1851, and it began to supply water in May, 1852, but the price of water, introduced at such great cost, was. necessarily high, and the miners formed a 13 194 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES combination to compel a reduction of prices and afterwards to construct a new ditch. The ditch was made, but in a very expensive manner, and when conmpleted it was burdened with debt, so that it soon fell into the hands of those who owned the old ditch, leaving many of the creditors unpaid. A bitter feeling ensued and many threats of assassination were made, and the ditch and flumes -were maliciously injured in numerous places. Although the new ditch was purchased at a small percentage on its cost, it did not pay much profit. Part of it was built on the side of a mountain which is swept nearly every winter by snow avalanches, and the repairs were very expensive. Forty miles of the ditch near the head are now abandoned. The company has 75 miles of main ditch and branches. The river supplies an abundance of water till the 1st July, and after that time the reservoirs are dirained gradually. One of them covers 84 acres, and another is a mile long, three-quarters of a mile wide, and 40 feet deep. The total capacity of the reservoirs is 1,800 inches for four months, in which time they are exhausted, so that there is fisually a month or two at the ehd of the dry season when the company cannot supply water. The ditch has a grade of 18 feet to the mile, and the flume is seven and one-half feet wide, four feet deep, and has a grade of 16 feet to the mile. The price for a 12-inch stream is $3 per day; of 15 inches $3 50; of 18 inches $4; of 21'inches $4 50; of 24 inches $5; of more'than 24 and less than 48, 20 cents per inch; of more than 48 inches 18 cents per inch. The capacity of the flume is 3,600 inches. In many places flumes were constructed where it would have been much cheaper to have had iron pipe, and this is being substituted now as the flumes give way. Not less than $100,000 might have been saved by using pipe at first. The company supplies Columbia, Yankee Hill, Gold Springs, Mormon Gulch, Saw Mill Flat, Martinez, Jamestowxn, Montezuma, Chinese Camp, and their vicinities. The amount paid by the company as dividends in 1866 was $35,750. PHCoNIx DITc-H.-The Pholnix Ditch Company obtains its water from the Tuolumne river in two ditches, known as the Phoemnix and Hydraulic, and supplies Sugar Pine, Soulsbyville, Sonora, Shaw's Flat, Poverty Hill, Algerine, Cherokee, and Somerville. The company has 84 miles of ditching and 16 miles of flume. Both ditches were started in 1850 and supplied water in small quantity the next year, but the Hydraulic did not get water from the Tuolumne river till 1853, nor the Phcenix till 1854. The highest flume is 65 feet high and 360 feet long, and it has been blown down once. The flume at Shaw's Flat, 300 feet high and 600 feet long, has been blown down twice. The flume of the Phoenix line is five feet wide by two and one-half deep; that of the Hydraulic four feet wide by two deep. There are two reservoirs which hold a supply for two months and a half. The price for a 15-inch sluice is $2 per day of 12 hours. The Phoenix ditch cost $380,000, and the Hydraulic $500,000. Both have been sold twice at sheriffs' sale. The receipts of the ditch company were $38,000 in 1860, andl $22,000 in. 1866, and the annual expenses are about $9,600. There are nine ditch tenders and collectors, who are paid $70 and $80 per month. In 1855 the price of water was $6 per day for nine inches. The water is delivered through an orifice three inches high and under a pressure of:four inches over the orifice. There are near Cherokee and Somerville some high gravel hills, which may require a large supply of water when they are opened and their wealth demonstrated. About one-fourth of the water is sold to Chinamen, and one-twentieth for irrigation. The Golden Rock ditch, south of the Tuolumne liver, from which it obtains its water, supplies Gravel Range, Big Humbug, First Garrote, Second Garrote, Deer Flat, Big Oak Flat, Moccasin Creek, Spring Gulch, Boneyard, Peiion Blanco, and Horseshoe Bend. This ditch cost $300,000, and is very unprofitable. There is a flume 1,300 feet long, and part of it is 256 feet high, supported by wooden towers. The main ditch is 38 miles long. The price is $2 per day for a stream of 20 inches. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 195 MuRPHY's iDITCH. —The Murphy's ditch Was commenced in 1851 and finished in 1856. The total cost was $260,000, of which sum $180,000 was obtained by the sale of water. Five years after the work was comnlenced dividends began to come in;, and twice as much' was received by the shareholders as they had paid,out four years before. In 1866 $10,000 were paid as dividends, and the Calaveras ditch was bought for $20,000. The present market value of the ditch is probably not more than one-sixth of its original cost. The. Caleveras ditch obtains its water from the Stanislaus river, and supplies Douglas Flat, Vallecito, French Flat, and Jenny Lind and Quail Hill. It was finished in 1858, and cost $10,000. Connected with this ditch is the Salt Spring reservoir, which covers 2,000 acres and is 30 feet deep, and is the largest reservoir in the foot hills of California. 1MOKELUMNE DITCH.-The 31okelumne Hill and Campo Seco ditch has 50 miles of main ditch, and cost, when constructed, $500,000. The present assessed value is $25,000. The flume is 40 inches wide and 20 deep, and has a grade of 13 feet to the mile. Originally it was all flume, but the fluming has been replaced by ditching, except for six miles, and most of that distance will be ditch. The water is obt.ained from the south foik of the Mokelumne river. The places supplied are Nokelunmne Hill, Campo Seco, Chile Camp, Rich Gulch, and Comianche Camp, and Cat Camp is to be supplied soon. In the extension of the ditch to the. last-named place a depression 5y000 feet long and 80 feet deep is to be crossed by iron pipe two feet in diameter, with 30 feet head. It is expected that the pipe will carry 1,000 inches of water. The charge per inch is 25 cents for i2 hours to placer miners, and 15 cents per inch to quartz miners and millers. The water is discharged under four inches of pressure. The Union Water Com1Pany's ditch is 35 miles long and takes water from the Stanislaus river to supply the placers' mining district between that river and the Calaveras, an area of 20 miles square. There are, reservoirs large enough to hold a supply of 600 inches of water for three months. A-MADOK DITCH. — The Amador Canal Company has two ditches, the Amador and the Pioneer; the main trunk of the Aniador is 20 miles long, all of it flume. The water is obtained from the Mokelumne river. The original length was 31 miles, but the upper part' was so much injured in 1862 that 11 miles were abandoned and will probably not be rebuilt, or at least there is no thought now of rebuilding. Ditch might be substituted for flume for at least half the distance, and the substitution is to be commenced soon, since portions of the flume will not last long. The ditch carries 400 inches'of water during eight or nine months of the year, but previous to 1862 that quantity was furnished the year round. There are parts of the ditch on which the charge for water is 10 cents per inch.in winter and 15 in summer, and on the other parts the price is 16- cents throughout the year. The gross income in 1866 was $28,000; and the ordinary expenses $20,000; and the extraordinary improvements $8,000, leaving nothing for dividend. The VOLCA.NO ditch has 35 miles of main trunlk, and obtains its water from its tributaries of the Mokelumne river. It carries 450 inches of water, but the supply ceases in July. The price for water is 124 cents per inch per day. The cost of the ditch was $140,000. The gross receipts in 1866 were $5,000, and the ordinary expenses $3,000. As the mines at Volcano were in a basin to'which there was no sufficient o4let, the company cut a channel in the bed rock 15 feet deep and a mile and a half long, at a cost of $80,000, into which a tail sluice was put. The company charges 50 cents per day for the privilege of running a sluice-head into the drain, and the company have, besides, all the gold Which they can catch in it, and it amounts to about $3,000 per year, leaving $2,000 net. EUREKA DITCH, (EL DoRAD O CouNTY.) —The Eureka Canal'Company owns two ditches, which were made as rivals to take water from the north fork of the .196 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Cosumnes. They supply Pleasant Valley, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, 3'issouri Flat, Logtown, Btuckeye Flat, Shingle Springs, Clarksville, Western Diggings, and the divide north of the Cosumnes to within 12 miles of Sacramento citv. The main trunks of the two ditches are 170 miles long, and the trenches, which carry not less than 100 inches each, are 180 miles more; makiag 350 miles of ditching owned by the company and tended by its 17 employes. Tlhe length of small ditches made by the miners to canrry the water from the company's lines to their claims is not less than 450 miles. The original cost of the two ditches and their branches was $700,000, and they are assessed at $30,000. There are 16 miles of flume belonging to the company, and there is one reservoir that covers 160 acres. Along the higher lines of ditch the charge for water,is 16 cents per inch for 10 hours for mining, and on the lower lines from 10 to 12 cents; but farmers pay 33 cents, because the water is worked up and lost to the company, whereas the miners' water runs down into the lower ditches, and is sold from them again perhaps three or four times over. This company sells, for an inch the amount of water that escapes through an orifice three inches high and an inch wide without pressure. INDIAN DIGGINGS DITCHES. -Three ditches from the south and middle branches of the middle fork of the American river to supply Indian Digrings, Brownsville~ Flairplay, Slug Gulch, and Cedarville, carrying 1,000 inches in all in the spring, and declining to'150 inches in September. One of these ditches was finished in 1.853, and the other in 1854 and 1S55. The three are owned now by one man. The original cost of the three was $125,000, and they are now assessed at $15,000.' There is a mile and a half of flume.' The charge is 124 cents per inch for 12 hours, and 183 cents for 24 houirs. The inch is delivered under six inches of pressure. There has been sale for all the water previous to 1S67. The expenses of the ditches while full are about one-fourth of the receipts. NATOPrNA DrTCH.-The Natorna ditch takes its water fiom the south fork of the American river, 14 miles above PFolsom, and supplies Red Banks, nMormon Island, Willqw Springs, Rhodes Diggings, Texas Hill, Alder Creek, Rebel Hill, Prairie City, and rTates's Flat, which together contain about 500 miners. The ditch was constructed in 1852 and 1853, and the total cost of the main trunk and branches has been $200,000. The present assessed value is $75,000. The main trunk is 16 miles long, eight feet wvide on top, five feet wide at the bottom, and three deep. There is also one mile of flume. The price of water varies at different places, but the average is 20 cents per inch per day, and the inch is delivered under six inches of pressure. The net annual profits since 1860 have been $30,800, and the gross receipts were twice as much. Previous to 1S61 the gross receipts were about $75,000 annually. In 1857 the company purchased 9,000 acres of land, most of it auriferous ground covered by their ditches. Having thus a large amount of land which it becomes important to improve, the company have undertaken to build up a large manufacturing town at Folsom, to which they are about to bring 250,000 inches of water, with a fall of 80 feet. A caunal is being cut a mile and a half long, 40 feet wide at the top, —25 at the bottom, and seven feet deep, with a grade of four feet to the mile; and a dam is to be built in the American river, of granite laid in cement, 400 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 57 feet high. The whole work vill be finished in 186S, and with its assistance Folsom will become the most important manufacturing town of the coast, next to San Francisco. Water power can be furnished here at one-third the cost of steam, and no other town on the State coast can have power so cheap or so much of it, or so near San Francisco. SOUTHr Fornx DITCH.-The South Fork canal, in E1 Dorado county, has'a main trunk 34 miles long, and carries 600 inches of water, which is taken frnom the south fork of the American river to supply Placerville and vicinity. The original cost was $500,000, and the present value is about one-tenth of that sunm. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 197 The total length of the mainf ume, laterals, and branches is 142-t niles. The length of the ditch from thle darn on the south fork of the American river to the reservoir near Placerville is 24 miles; from the reservoir to Coon Hollow, nine and three-fourth miles, andc from Hangtown Creek to 3uckeye Flat 32 miles. The Poverty Point branch is four and one-eighth miles long; the Indian Hill branch, four and a half; the Clay Hill branch, two; the Shober Hill branch, five; the Hang'town Hill branch, one and one-eighth; the Texas Hill branch, one and a half. The Gold Hill canal is 10 miles long; its branches and laterals, 121-; the Weber canal, 13}1; the Iowa canal, 21, and the Red Hill branch, one an(l a half. The South Fork ditch has three reservoirs: the Silver lake, which holds 170,000,000 cubic feet; the Red lake, which holds 115,000,000; and the Willow valley, which hllolds 56,000,000 cubic feet. The Gold Hlill ditch has very muddy warter, and sells for an inch the water which runs through an orifice two inchels high and an inch wide under a four-inch pressure. The South Fork canal sells for an inch the ramount that escapes fiom a hole an inch square unlder six inches of pressure. The charge for water is 25 cents per inch for mining purposes at all seasons. Water for irrigation has been supplied in some cases for $7 per acre of vineyard in its second year, when' the vines need water once or twice a week. The grade of the South Fork flume is four and a half feet to the mile. In one place iron pipe is used to carry 50 inches of water across a depression 1,600 feet long and 190 feet deep. The pipe has a diameter of 10 inches, and the hlead of the inverted siphon is 20 feet higher than tile foot. The iron is about a sixteenth of an inch thick. The proprietor, Mlr. T. B. Hunt, expresses the intention of constructintg a ditch to supersede the present flume, to be 27 miles longer, to have a grade of 10 or 13 inches per mile, to carry not less than 5,000 inches of water, and to supply many places above the level of the present flume. PILOT CREEKc D)ITci.-The Pilot Creek ditch takes its water from Pilot, Little Silver, and Rock creeks, and supplies Georgetown, Volcanoville, Bottle 1ill, Fairplay, Kelsey, Johntown, Spanish Dry Diggings, Spanish Flat, Greenwood, Pilot Hill, and Wild Goose. The main ditch is 60 miles long, and cost $180,000, and there are 65 miles of branches which cost $320,000, makling the total cost 8500,900; and the present market value is $18,000. The ditch is considered one of the best in the State, on account of the small proportion of flume and the solidity of the banks, which are seldom broken. The largest piece of flume is 300 feet long and 95 feet high. The capacity of the ditch is 1,500 inches, but it is seldom full. It carries 1,000 inches about nine months of the year; and 300 inches at the close of thie dry season for three months. The length of the main ditch terminating at WVild Goose fiat is 60 miles; the Bottle Hill branch, 10 miles; the Volcanoville branch, 5 miles; the Kelsey's branch, 10 miles; the'Fairplay branch, 7 miles; the Spanish Dry Diggings branch, thlree miles; the Rock creek feeder, 7 miles; the Rock Cation feeder, three miles, and the El Dorado ditch 20 miles. The price for water is 12y- cents per inch. MICHIGAN FLAT DITCE.- The Michigan Flat miners' ditch, on tile north side of the south fork of the American river, was commenced in 1858 and completed in 1860, at a cost of $65,000. It is now assessed at $3,000, but since January, 1865, the expenses have been greater than the receipts by $3,019. From July, 1862, till January, 1865, the net profit was $13,673. Much of the flume was washed away last winter. The water is sold at 20 cents per inch for 12 hours to placer miners; at 20 cents per inch to quartz miners for 24 hours; and to farmers at $10 per acre for the season, on an average. The amount received in a year for irrigation water is $1,200. COLOmA DI)TCHS. —Two companies supply Coloma on the south side of the south fork of the American river, with ditches which carly about 500 inches of water and are 13 miles long. They supply Coloma and Uniontown, charge the 198 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES same rates as the Michigan Flat miners' ditch, and sell about one-third of their water for irrigation. BExAR RIVER DITCH.-The Bear river and Auburn Water and Mining Corn pany has 75 miles of main trunk and 250 miles of branches, constructed at a cost of $1,000,000, and now assessed at $25,000. In 1863 the receipts were $90,000; in 1864, $75,000; in 1865, $55,000; and in 1866, $40,000. The ditch takes its water fronm Bear river, and supplies Auburn, Illinoistown, New Castle, Pine Grove, Virginiatown, Clover Valley, Antelope Ravine, Secret Ravine, Miners' Ravine Mississippi Bar, Rattlesnake Bar, Horseshoe Bar, Doten's Bar, Rose Flat, Millertown, Doty's Ravi'ne, Doty's Flat, and Whiskey Diggings-in fact, the whole country between the American river and Bear river, extending 25 miles from north to south, and as many more from east to west. It is estimated that $50,00(),000 have been washed out by means of the water of this ditch, and could not have been obtained without it. The Bear River ditch carries 3,000 inches when full, and the Gold -Hill ditch 1,500; but in September the two do not-carry more than 2,000 inches. The Bear River ditch had 13 miles of flume on the line when first made, but since then ditch has been substituted for all save half a mile. In one place there was a flume 139 feet high and 900 feet long, erected at a cost of $22,000, and ditch has been substituted for it. This comnpany has been notable for its litigation, in which it has expended $250,000, and some of the judgments rendered against it have been notorious for their injustice. MICHIGAN BLUFF DITCH.-The El Dorado Water Company obtains its water from El Dorado ctanon, and supplies Michigan Bluff and vicinity. The main ditch is 20 miles long, and the total length of ditch and branches 35 miles. The amount of water carried is 400 inches during the rainy season, but the ditch is dry after the middle of July. The ditch was commenced in 1853 and finished in 1855, at a cost of $100,000. It is now assessed at 88,000. In the spring the demand for the water is not equal to the supply. The price is 15 cents per inch, delivered under a six-inch pressure. DUTCH FLAT DITCH.-The Dutch Flat Ditch Water Company's ditch has a capacity of 3,000 inches, takes its water fromn the north fork Of the American river and from Little'Bear river, and supplies Dautch Flat, Gold Run, Nary Red, and Lost Camp, and formerly it supplied Blue Bluff. The length of the ditch and branches is 60 miles, the original cost $100,000, and the present assessed value $40,000. For three months 4,000 inches are sold per day; but for the last four months of the dry season the amount is not more than 400 inches. The water is sold under six incLos of pressure, at 12# cents per inch. The Central Pacific railroad runs for portion of its route very near the ditch, and has done very serious damage to it. The Cli-ect loss so far has been not less than $60,000. The railroad has become owner of the ditch itself, where it crosses the sections belonging to the road; but has not charged the water company anything for the privilege of using the land. But in consequence of the near proximity of the railroad cutting and embankment the ditch was ruined for about a mile and a half, and it was necessary to erect 3,000 feet of flume, and to lay down 3,500 feet of 31-inch iron pipe, and 837 feet of 32-inch pipe. The ditch began to supply water in 1851. SOUTH YUBA DITCH. The South Yuba Canal Company takes water from the South Yuba, Deer creek, Rock creek, Meadow lake, and other lakes in the neighborhood of Meadow lake, and supplies Nevada, Chalk Bluff, You Bet, Omega, Alpha, Blue Tent, Quaker Hill, Scotch Flat, and Grass Valley, in Nevada county, and Dutch Flat and Gold PRun, in Placer county. The company owns several ditches, which measure in all 275 miles in length, and cost $1,000,000. Bean's History and Directory of Nevada County says: "In 12 years the expense account of the company reaches $1,130,000, and its receipts $1,400,000." A dam 42 feet high and 1,150 feet long was built across the outlet of Meadow lake, which when full is a mile and a quarter long and half a mile wide. WEST OF THE ROCKY. MOUNTAINS. 199 There is a tunnel 3,800 feet long, cut at a cost of $112,000 through a divide between the South Yuba and Deer creek. The company control about 12,000 inches. The South Yuba ditch, in Placer county, is 26 miles long, beginning at the lower end of Bear valley, and supplying Gold Run, India Hill, Cailon creek, and Nary Red. The ditch was completed in 1865, and it runs 2,500 inches. There is usually demand for all the water. The assessed value is $20,000. The grade of the ditch is 13 feet to the mile. The largest flume is 48 feet high7 and 100 feet long. The head of the ditch is so elevated that the water is somlaetimes full of snow, and is unfit for hydraulic washing or for any other kind of mining. The cost of the ditch was $108,000. TRTUCKEE DITCH.-The Truckee ditch, to supply MBinnesota and. other points in the vicinity on the Blue lead, near the southern line of Sierra county, was constructed in 1858, and was abandoned and went to ruin in 1865. It is said the cost of the ditch was $1,000,000. As the diggings grew poor, the ditch ceased to pay for the expense of repairs. There were 13 miles of flume, eight feet wide and four feet deep, hung on the side of a steep canlon. An artificial lake was made for a reservoir. The capacity of the ditch was 3,000 inches. SEARs's DITcH. —Sears's Union Ditch is, with its branches, 18 miles long, and supplies Howland Flat, Pine Grove, Potosi, St. Louis, and Cedar Grove. It carries 2 000 inches for four months in the wet season, and about 200 inches in October. There are two miles of fuming. An extension of the ditches has been commenced, to be 20 miles long, and to cost $50,000. The charge is 30 cents per inch for 24 hours for piping companies, and 50 cents for drifting companies, The water is sold under a pressure of 10 inches, measured from the middle of the orifice. There is a demand for all the water, except in the spring. The extension is to supply Scales's Diggings and Poverty Hill. At the latter point the company is also cutting a bed rock tunnel six feet high, six feet wide, and 500 feet long to drain a basin nearly a mile square of rich ground. The tunnel is to be finished next year. NEVADA RESERVOR DITcH.-The Nevada Reservoir Ditch Company takes 1,000 inches of water from Wolf creek, and supplies Sucker Flat and Mooney Flat. The main ditch is 28 miles long, and in that distance there are not more than 600 feet of flume, the highest 12 feet. The ditch was commenced in 1857, and finished in 1860, at a cost of 8116,000. The company does not sell any water, but uses it all on Sucker Flat, in its own claims. There has been no washing at Mooney Flat for two years. EXCELSIOR DITCH.-TIhe Excelsior Canal Company owns the Excelsior, the B:oyyer, the Tunnel, and the Onsley Bar ditches. The first named takes 1,500 inches from the South Yuba. It was commenced in 1854, and finished in 1858. The supply is constant, and the length is 28 miles. The BovSer is 20 nmiles long, and takes 2,000 inches from' Deer creek, opposite Rough and Ready; but the supply fails in the summer. The work was commenced in 1858, and finished in 1859. The Tunnel ditch, commenced in 1851, and'finished in 1852, is 20 miles long, and takes 1,000 inches from Deer creek. It fails in the summer. The Ousley Bar ditch is 10 miles long, and starts at Smartsville, where it is fed with 800 inches of fresh water from other ditches. It was commenced in 1852, and finished in 1853. On the Excelsior ditch there are five miles of low flume, and half a mile of 40-inch iron pipe, a mile of 20-inch pipe, and half a mile of 38Linch pipe. The 40-inch pipe crosses a depression 150 feet deep, and with a head of 32 feet, carries 2,500 inches of water. The original cost of'the four ditches was $1,000,000. The water is discharged under 10 inches of pressure, measured from the centre of the orifice. The price is 20 cents per inch for less than 100 inches; 15 cents per inch for more, and for irrigation there is no fixed pr'ice; but a field of 10 or 15 acres pays $50 for a season. The amount of water is about 5,000 inches for eight months, 3,500 for two months, and 2,500 for the last two months before the rains come. 200 RESOURCES OF -STATES AND TERRITORIES FORBESTOWN DITCH.-The South Feather Water Company gets water from the south fork of Feather river, and supplies Forbestown, Brownsville, lTansonville, Evansville, Wyandotte, Bangor, and Brown's valley, andl, in fact, the entire divide between the South Feather and the North Yuba. The main ditch is 30 miles long, and the branches 30 miles more. The work was commenced in 1855, and finished in 1857. There is one mile of flume on the main ditch. The highest part is 60 feet high, but very little of that. The original cost of the ditch was $300,000, and its present assessed value is $25,000. The ordinary charge per inch for 24 hours is 30 cents, and for 12 hours 20 cents; but there are places where the water, after being sold, can be picked up and sold again, and there the price is 10 cents for 12 hours. It is probable that a branch will be constructed to Indiana Ranch and Oregon Hill, at which latter place there is a large body of rich ground. OROVILLE DITcm.-The Oroville ditch has a main trunk 22 miles long, and was finished in 1856. The original cost was $250,000, and the present assessed value is 820,000. The capacity is 800 inclhes, and the supply exceeds the cdemand. The price is 50 cents per inch for drift claims, 10 cents for hydraulic and sluice claims, and $1 25 per acre per week for irrigation. TABLE OF CANALS AND WATimB DITCrEcs. — The following complete table of all the canals and water ditches for mining purposes in the State is taken-from Langley's Pacific Coast Directory, a valuable work published biennially in San Francisco. As many of these properties have been consolidated or changed hands since the table was prepared, the names of the owners are omitted. Mir. Langley says: There are 5,328 miles of artificial water courses, for mining purposes, constructed in this State, at a cost of $15,575,400. In addition to the length here stated, there are numerous subsidiary branches, the aggregate length of which is estimated at over 800 miles, and several hundred miles of.new ditches in the course of construction. In addition to those enumerated above, there are numerous enterprises organized to furnish water for municipal and agricultural purposes. Twenty-seven cities and towns in the interior are thus supplied, and the capital employed amounts to several millions of dollars. The Spring Valley Water Works, of San Francisco, is an extensive and costly undertaking, with a capital of $6,000,000. The county of Los Angeles has nearly 300 miles of ditches, and extensive works for the supply of water have been completed in San Bernardino, Yolo, and several other agricultural counties of the State.' Table of canals and water ditches for mi;ning plurposes in the State, with the location, source of water, length, cost, &cc., of each. Name of ditch. Source of water. X ~ Cost..,' AMIADOR COUNTY. Amador......................... Sutter creek.............. 13 $20, 000 Amador Co. Canal..-.....M.k.... Mokelumne river, north fork...... 66 400, 000 Boyle...........................-............................... A 3, 500 Buckeye......................... Sutter creek, north fork.-. 5 3, 000 Buen.a Vista................... Sutter creek, north fork. 15 18, 000 B3ltte Canal.-.. Mokelumne river, north fork...... 50 125, 000 Cosumnes Water Co..... Cosumnes river. south fork. 22 40, 000 Dry Creek.-...................... Dry creek...................... 4 6,000 Indian Gulch.-.................. Jackson creek, middle fork.-..10 10, 000 Indian Gulch.................... Rancheria creek. 3 2, 000 Kellum Ditches (3).....- Jackson creel, middlel fork..r. 22 22, t0() Lancha Plana.-..-............... Jackson c(reek, middle fork...... 30 30, 000 Lorees Rancheria creek, south fork... 5 2S, 000 Meels. -- -..-.... Jackson creek, south fork. 2 1, 500 )Mlile Gulch -- Rancheria creek. 4' 2, 000 Open Cut Flume --—.. ——. —— I. Sutter creek. —. —......... 1 90, 000 Pardees Jackson creek, south fork. Purinton's............ Sutter creek, middle fork.-...... 25 15, 000 WEST'OF TIHE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 201 Table of canals and water ditches, &c. —Continued. Name of ditch. Source of water. Cost. AMADOR COUNTY-Continued. Phelps & Co..................... Dry creek.-.... -... 6 $6,000 Pigeon Creek -.... —-.-......... Cosumnes river, south fork........ 7 8, 000 Potosi.....-........ Dry creek --------- -— 5 2, 500( Proctor, Walker & Co.'s..... —. -. Jackson creek................... 14 16, 000 Reichling & Alt (2). —----------- Sutter creek, south fork. ——.-.- 8 10, 000 Richtmyer Dry creek- 15 10, 000 Rich & Co.'s.................... Big Bar caion....- -.... 5 4,000 Ritter...............-. Cosumnes river.............. 25. 150, 000 Sutter Creek and Volcano......... Sutter creek.-................... 7 18, 000 Volcano......................... Mokelumne river, tributaries.... 43 140, 000 BUTTE COUNTY. Abbott & Co......................................... 700 Butte Creek -.. -................ Butte creek..................... 10 10, 000 Cherokee Co.................... Table mountain.-....... 10 5, 000 Deweys..................-..... Feather river, west branch....... 11 20, 000 Forbestown....................... South Feather river......... Hutchings.... "...................... 2 1,000 Little B{utte.....................Butte creek'..-....-1...'Z'.. 34'8,000 Oreon Gulch...........-....... Oregon gulch................... 3 3, 000 Rock Creek —...........Rock creek..................... 3 1,200 Spring Valley ----—.- --------. Spring valley................... 4 4,000 Table Mountain........... Table mountain —-.- ----.4 6,000 Williams,. - — 2 2,000 CALAVERAS COUNTY. Calaveras County Ditch Co -----—. Stanislaus river 36 150,000 Campo Seco & Mok. Hill Canal Co. Mokelumne river. —------ -. —- 36. Clark & Co.'s -.................... Mokelumne, south fork.......... -25 0, 000 Conrad's.. —-. —--... —-. —-. Mokelumne, forks............... 8 20,000 Fisher's. —---- -. —-.M.. —---—. Mokelumne, middle fork.........15 15, 000 Fisher's-..................-...-.... Mokelumne, north fork.2.... 0 20,000 Harris........................... Mokelumne, middle fork7 7.. 10, 000 Kadish --—.. — -.... ——. —-----. Mokelumne, middle fork ------— 12 11,000 Old Gulch. ---------- -O'Niel's creek —---..1-......... 10 15, 000 Piilsbury's. ——. —-. ——. ------ Lincoln Fork, Mokelumne river.. 12 10, 000 Pope-.................-.......... Willow creek -.7-............... 8,'000 San Antonio. ——. —------- -S.... San Antonio creek —--. —.-.....15 15, 000 Table Mountain - ----------—. — San Antonio creek.............. 28 40, 000 Union.. —.. —------—.. —-------- Murray creek......10 10, 000 Union Water Co. —---. —--—. — Stanislaus, north fork -..........50 350, 000 DEL NORTE COUNTY. Bunker Hill. —....... —- —.. —-- Independence creek-............. 4 18, 000 Cox & Frazier-.....-. Myer's creek —---------—... —-. 2 1, 000 Curley Jack Grider creek -...-..- -... —3. - - 3 3, 000 Grider's —--- ---- Grider creek ------------------- 2 1,500 Independence -- ---- --- - Independence creek. —-----—.. 1. 4,000 Indian Flat-.....................-. Myer's creek --—.. —--. —-. —- 3 3,500 Lone Pine. —-—. —- -------- Indian creek -----—. —-. —- - 4 8, 000 McLaughlin Ruxton's creek. —--- ------- 2... 2 800 Moore's. —-—... —-. —------—.. Buzzard Hill creek --------- - 2.. 2'1,000 Patrick's —- -------- ---- Buzzard Hill creek --—. —------- 2 2,000 Quartz Gulch. —-—. —-.... —---- Quartz gulch ----—.. —.. —-—.- 400 Stevens W. M. & M. Co.. ——... Coon creek and Craig's creek 7 —--- 15,000 Wingato Bar -—................ Oak Flat creek --- -—.....1 2, u00 202 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Table of canals and water ditches, d-c.-Continued. Name of ditch. Source of water. Cost. EL DORADO COUNTY. Brownsville-. Cosumnes river, south fork. ——. - 8 $15, 000 Cataract —-' —- --- ----- Cosumnes river, south fork....... — 6 10, 000 Clay IHill -----—.. ——. —----—.. Hangtown creek- -...- 2 500 Eagle - - -Cosumnes river-.... —-------—.. 8 500 El Dorado & Tunnel Iill......... American river, south fork....... —. 10 15, 000 Eureka Canal Co ------. —. —-—. Cosumnes river, north fork -.. 450 500, 000 Foster --— H-n.-.. IHagtown creek- -............ 2 1,200 Gold Hill........................ Hangtown creek -...-.. 12 12,000 Granite Creek.-. —------------—. American river, south fork........ 3 9,000 Iowa............................. Iowa and Brush cations —. —-.... 21 20, 000 italian ------—' ----- Chunk cation- -3 3, 000 Jones's IIill -................. Otter creek-. -...... 15 10, 000 Michigan Bar.................... Cosumnes.river, middle fork -..... 20 60,000 Montezuma H...................... tangtown creek... -... 10 6, 000 Parker.......................... Webber creek. —---. ——. —----- 10 30,000 Pilot Creek...................... Pilot and Rock creek -.... 150 300, 000 Mull's (3) -—. —----—. —-----—. -Hangtown creek -........ 13 4,000 Rock Creek & Michigan Flat..-.. Am. river S. F., and Rock creek —.. 150, 000 RPLossington — Webber creek and Chunk caion -- 10 30,000'Roush & Simpus................. Caion creek.-............... 10 6, 000 Shanghae........................Cosumnes river, middle fork,.-.. 16 12, 000 Shober.......................... Big cation -----—. —-------... 5 5,000 South Fork Canal -------------—. American river, south fork.......- 334 300, 000 Texas-..Hangtown creek.-............... -1 300 Webber -. —---------------- Chunk cation................... 13A 16, 000 INYO COUNTY. San Carlos....................... Owen's river.................... 15 30, 000 KLAMATHI COUNTY. Camp Creek.................... Camp creek. —.. —--—.... —---- 1 2,000 Cecilville -.........Salmon river, east fork...........- 7, 500 Nordheimer Creek................ Nordheimer's creek.............. 2 2, 600 Petersburg...................... Salmon river, south fork —--- —.- 5 7, 000 Sawyer's Bar.................... Salmon river, north fork.-... -, 3 5, 000 Sundry other ditches.-............................................ 73 -- LASSEN COUNTY. Adams.-........Susan river..................... 5 7, 000 Adams & Batchelder -...... Susan river.-.... 4 5,000 Emerson........................ Willow creek-........ 8 12, 000 Susanville-.......Piute creek —-------------- 1I 2,000 MARIPOSA COUNTY. Mortons......................... Maxwell's creek- -................. 15 10,000 Snow Creek -Snow creek..................... 10 800 MONO COUNTY. Mono-............Virginia creek.................. 20 75,000 NEVADA COUNTY. Buckman & Currans. Steep Hollow creek.............. 13 20, 000 E. Williams-..............do....................... 16 40, 000 Empire Co.'s..-... Shady creek. ——.. —-... —....... 13 50,000 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 203 Table of canals and water ditches, &c.-Continued. Name of ditch. Source of water. U Cost. NEVADA COUNTY-Continued. Eureka Water Co....... Middle and South Yuba rivers... —. 150 Excelsior Canal Co.....South Yuba and Deer creek ------- 69 Gardner's.................Bear river..............2....... 22 -30, 000 Nevada Water Co................ Shady creek.................... 13 40, 000 Remington Hill................... Steep Hollow creek. - 16 40,000 Sargent & Jacob's.... Greenhorn creek - 56 30, 500 South Yuba Canal Co.......... South Yba river.200 1,500,000 Stehr's.......................... Greenhorn creek................. 4 4,500 Union................................ do.. 5 12,000 PLACER COUNTY. American River W. & M. Co..... American river..................'22 100,000 Auburn & Bear River............. Bear river...................... 90 650,000 Bartlett & Thomas....do........ 220 65,000 Byrd's Valley.Volcano caion.................. 3 2,000 Dutch Flat Water Co............. American river, north fork, and 60 100,000 Little Bear river. El Dorado Water Co...E...l... E Dorado caion. ——.. —-—.. — 31 100, 000 Gold Hill and branches............ Bear river 40 110,000 Grizzly Shirt Tail caion................. 6j 5,000 Hall & Hubbard's........ Bear river. 13 50,000 Hancock..................... Volcano ca-ion...... 10 15,000 Hills... Indian cauion.................... 10 10, 000 Independent..................... Volcano cation. 10 10,000 Indian. Indian caion.................... 10 10,000 Indiana Water Co....... Caion creek.10.0...........0. 0,00 Jamison.. Indian cation.................... 2 4,000 McKee.......................... Shirt Tail caion................ 15 23,000 McKinstr'.y........... Owl creek.2... ---—. 25 9, 000 M~iner's - Miner's........ Shirt Tail caion, south fork...... 20 35, 000 Mountain... Deep caion..................... 7 15, 000 North Shirt Tail.Shirt Tail caion................. 12 25,000 Secret Caion..................... Secret cation. —.-........... 16 100,000 South Yuba.. South Yuba river. —------ 25 50,000 Todd's Valley. Volcano cation.......... 12 32,000 Union..................... Shirt Tail cafion................ 8 9,000 Union, Yankee Jim................ —do...............12 128,000 Volcano...........-............ Volcano cation....... 10 15,000 PLUMAS COUNTY. Burton Gulch.................... Burton gulch..-.................. 4 5,000 Cascade Water Co................ South Feather river....... 15 30,000 Feather River and Warren Hill...........do........................ 14 20,000 Grub Flat................... Mead Valley creek............... 4 5,000 HIumbug. Butte creek.4.. 6,000 Hungarian Hill................... Slate creek...................... 2, 000 Indian Bar............... Chipp's creek.................... 3 3, 000 Mosquito........................ Mosquito creek.. 3 4,000 Mount Pleasant............ Silver lake............10 i 30,000 Nelson Point.............. Nelson creek.6.............. 30,000 Pioneer.................. Feather river, south f6rk......... 10 10, 000 Plumas................... Silver lake....S..... 25,000 Richmond Hill................. Onion Valley creek........4 12,000 Saw Mill-& Taylor Hill.. Mill creek........... 15,000 Spanish Ranch........... Spanish creek. —--- --—. — 30 15,000 Spring Garden................ Spring Garden creek.......... 4 4,000 Twelve-Mile Bar............. Rush creek..................... 4 8, 000 Do.....do........................ 2 1,500 Do...............................-do...................... 2 1,000 Do...do... 2................... 2 2,550 204 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Table of canuals and water ditches, &c;-Continued. Name of ditch. Source of water. o Cost. SACRAMENTO COUNTY. American River W. & M. Co...... American river....... 30 $300, 000 Deer Creek, W. & M. Co........C.. osumnes river.................. 6 133, 000 Natoma W. & M. Co............. American river. 16 390, 000 Sacramento & Amador Canal Co.. - Cosumnes river.................. 6 125, 000 SHASTA COUNTY. Arbuckle......................... Cottonwood, middle fork.12 10,000 Bald Hill....................... Cottonwood creek................ 1 ] 5, 000 Cedar Flat....................... Whiskey creek.................. 3 3, 000 Clear Creek.Clear creek...................... 53 140,000 Cottonwood...................... Cottonwood creek............... 18 10, 000 Davis........................... Clear creek....,... 8 12,000 Do.do.. 2 10,000 Eagle. —----------------- Eagle.......................... 16 10, 000 Know Mucket.................... Clear creek...__... 4 5, 000 Prairie.......................... Cottonwood, north fork..... 17 15, 000 Quartz Hill. Churn creek................... 8 4,000 Sacramento...................... Sacramento creek.. 22 25, 000 Spring Creek.................... Spring creek.... 10 16, 000 Toson.Clear creek._....... 3 4, 000 Watson.........................-Jerusalem.17 18, 000 SIERRA COUNTY.. American................... Little Grizzly creek.7 50,000 Arnott........................... Fiddle creek.7 12, 000 Council Hill.... Rock creek.3 4, 000 Cox Bar.......................... Yuba river. I 2,500 Depot. Indian creek.1 3, 000 Feather River. Feather river, south branch..-_'.. 2 4, 000 Fiddle Creel..... Fiddle creek.._2 1,500 Fisk. ——. Goodyear's creek.4 18,000 Goodyear's Bar................... Yuba river. 2 5, 000 Grass Flat....................... Grass flat....................... 3 2, 500 Green & Purdy.. Little Grizzly cation............. 4 13,000 Grizzly Hill....................... Cherokee creek.................. 2 3, 000 Hosier.......................... Cannon creek................... 11 50, 000 Humbug........................-Humbug cation.................. 3 2,000 Indian Hill do. 3 6,000 Irish............................. Yuba river..3 5, 000 Jim Crow. Jim Crow caion................. 8 12,000 Kanaka.......... Ladies' cafion................... 2 14,000 Kimball.__ Bunker Hill..................... 6 40, 000 Rock Creek...................... Rock creek..................... 3 10,000 Said & Reese.................... Sardine lake.................... 7 34,000 Sailor_. Shower branch........ 6 10, 000 Sayer's Union (4)................ Slate creek and tributaries........ 15 150,000 Slate Creek & Gibsonville......... Slate creek, west branch. — 3 10, 000 Snow Creek.................. Snow creek.4 9, 000 Trackee. Truckee lake.... Waukegan.Slate creek, west bran'ch... 3 7, 000 SISKIYOU COUNTY. Altona, Mugginsville............. Kidder's creek................... 16 3, 000 Altona, Oro Fino....................... do........................ 15 4,000 Barker, Oro Fino........................ do........2................ ] 4,000 Barkhouse........................ Barkhouse...................... 5 2, 000 Brown......................... Kidder-'sq cree.ok..............' ___9 3,500 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 205 Table of canals and water ditches, c&c.-Continued. C. Name of ditch. Source of water. C Cost. SISKIYOU COUNTY-Continued. Callahan's Ranch................. Scott river, south fork............ 3 $300 Cottonwood.Cottonwood creek........ —----- 10,500 Crawford's-............do -....................... 8,000 French Flats..................... Scott river, south fork ----------- 4 800 Fort Goff. Turner creek5. 3,000 Hawkinsville.Greenhorn creek 6 4,000 Jackson's Bar ------------------—.McKinney creek. 3 2,500 McKinney's Creek....................... 3,000 MugginsvilleH. oward creek 5 2,800 Quartz Hill....................... Mill creek 4 2,500 Quartz Valley.................... Howard creek 7 2,500 Scott Bar..... Mill creek 5 4,000 Scott River Scott river...-.-.. 20 40,000 Shasta River Canal............... Shasta river.85 300, 000 Siad Valley Klamath river-.-...... 4 2,000 Whiting Hill.... Lake Whiting-3 2,500 STANISLAUS COUNTY. Kappelmann Co..................ix-mile ar..................... 10 60,000 Knight's Ferry & Table Mt....... Stanislaus river7................ 25,000 La Grange-...................... Tuolumne river................. 7 40,000 Mountain Brow ------------------ Littlejohn's creek -..............4 5, 000 San Joaquin-..................... Stanislaus river.................15 40, 000 TR.INITY COUNTY. Attingers........................ Indian creek.................... 2 3, 500 Canyon Creek - -Guzner gulch ----------------- - 2' 3,000 Canyon Creek W. Co.'s ---------- Canyon creek. —----- ----- ------ 4 12,000 Carder's ------------------------- Eastman gulch -------------—. 1 1,500 Carrier Gulch. -- - -Carrier gulch_._. -.......` 2,000. Chapman's Soldier creek -2 4,000 Currie's..................... Franklin creek.................. 2 4 000 Depinett's --------- ------------—.Canyon creek, east fork5........., 8000 Dunham's......M................ Mooney gulch ----------------- - 2 3, 000 East Fork-..................... East Fork.................. —.5 6, 000 East Fork-.. -. —.. -... East Fork of north fork.......... 2 3, 000 Eastman's --------- ------------—.Eastman's gulch............. —.3 6, 000 Evans' Bar ----------------- ----- Maxwell's creek ------- ---------- 2 2,000 Ivegan's ---------- ----- ---------- Clear gulch ------------------- 3 4,000 Fenning's --------- ------—........Grizzly gulch...................2 2, 000 Gold Bluff --------- ------------- McKinley gulch ------ ----------- 2 2,000 Hatchet Creek -------------------—.Hatchet creek................... 3 5,000 Honest Bar...................... Trinity river, north fork.......... 3 6, 000 Junction City.................... Canyon creek................... 3 5,000 Junction City.................... Canyon creek.............. —..3 10, 000 Lewistown ------ --------—..... Deadwood creek - - 2... 2 2, 500 Mooney's Gulch.................. Mooney's gulch....... —.2 3,500 North Fork -------- -------------- Trinity river, north fork ---- ------ 2 2,000 North Fork...................... Logan creek. ----—... - --------- 2 2, 000 Ohio Flat.........................Grass Valley creek............. — 2 2, 000 Pettijohn & Co. (3).............. Mooney and Calvin gulches...... 5 5,000 Poverty Flat..................... East Weaver - - -.....-....... 1,500 Red Flat... Gwin gulch 1........ 1,000 Red Hill -Conner's creek.................. 2 6, 000 Red Hill-......................... ush creek- 1,500 Ridgeville Stuart's Fork, east fork........... 10,000 Rush Creek...................... Rush creek.................- - 5 8,000 Steiner's Flat - Brown's creek........ —......... 10, 000 Stratton's Indian creek- - 2, 000 Swift Creek...................... Swift creek-.....3 4,000 Taylor rlat-......................French creek.................... 8 10.000 206{ RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Table of canals and water ditches, &c.-Continued. Name of ditch. Source of water. b Cost. TRINITY COUNTY-Continued. Trinity Centre.................... Swift creek2. $2,000 Turner Bar Co.'s................. Redding's creek. 4 6, 000.Wares (3) -East & West Weaver creeks -..... 1 2,000 Weaver Creek -------------------- Weaver creek'- 2,'000 Weaver Creek. Weaver creek4 6, 000 Weaverville Basin. Weaver creek................... 10, 000 TULARE COUNTY. Broder'& Van Gordan......... Kawiah....................... 5 1,000 Broivn's Mill --------------------- Packwood creek3................ 4,000 Campbell & Martins Tule river........................ 1,500 Davenport's....................... Sand creek -- 2 1,500 Everton's Kawiah......2.................. 3, 000 Fisher's-Sn crek- 80 Sand creek.......................80 Jenning'sMill......................c 1,000 Johnson's........................ Deep creek........1.......... 5 1,00 Long Ditch...................... Kawiah - -- 800. Lowry, Worthley & Co ----------- Sand creek...................... 2 700 Owen's.......................... Sand creek...................... 4 1,000 People's........................ Kawiah.-10 5,000 Reservation...................-... Tule river...................... 4 2, 000 Kawiah 5 2,000 ----— ~ ~ ~ ~ diet —------,000 Town Ditch....................... Brown's Mill ditch............000 Townsend's-Sand creek —.. 500 Union Vineyard & Farming Co.... Kawiah........................ 1,500 TUOLUMNE COUNTY. Big Oak Flat.................... t600,000 Hydraulic Co Tuolumne river, north fork....... 50 300, 000 Jamestown & Chinese Camp -.... Wood creek..................... 7 15, 000 Phcenix Water Co ----------------- Tuolumne river, north fork --- -100 300,000 Sonora and Yorktown D. Co..-.....Tuolumne river, north fork.......10. Tuolumne County Water Co.......- Stanislaus river, south fork -------- 35 550, 000 YUBA COUNTY Birmingham..................... Strawberry creek................ 1,500 Brown's Oregon creek...........-......... 500 Burnett's........................ Dry creek....................... -10, 000. Camptonville....................... 3, 000 Collyer Dry creek 600 Deaver's -...Oregon gulch. 900 Dennison's -- -500 Dunn's.........S..................'leighvi.fle gulch ——::-:'.':.'" ---- -1,500o Excelsior Canal Co............... Deer creek......................150 500, 000 Feather River.' -Feather river.................... 10,000 Little Willow.................... Willow creek ------------------ - -1,200 McQueen's Dry creek........................ 8, 000 Monroe & Cornell................ New York ravine.... 000 MIrock's-Dry creek -... 00.................. 120 Mullan's Dry creek....................... -,000 Muller's......................... Idian creek..........................,0 Never's. —----------------------— 2Indian creek.- 2,000 New York-Oregon creek. 600 Nine Horse...................... -New York ravine. 500 Oregon Creek-...................- Oregon creek.................... 6, 000 Peacock Yuba river. 1, 000 Pine Hill ------------------------ Bear river1..,600 Sleighville............. Sleighville gulch................. 2, 000 -.............-........-.......... Dry creek... 3,000 -....-................. Oregon:creek.................... 10,000 Spencer-.. -Indian creek 6,000 Turffrey's........................ Dry creek........................, 000 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 207 SECTION XX. THE MISCELLANEOUS MINERALS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. In referring to the nature, extent, and development of the miscellaneous minerals found on the Pacific coast, exclusive of gold, silver, and quicklsilver, the materials are so abundant, and the details so interesting' as to render it difficult to select such portions as will convey the desired information within the limits prescribed. When it is remembered that there is scarcely a metal or milneral used in the arts, or known to science, but is represented on this coast-generally in greater proportion than in any other country —it will be perceived that a mere list of their names, and of the localities in which they ar6e found, would occupy more space than would be desirable in an official document. This branch of the report is, therefore, confined to a few facts relating to the best known and most important of these products. The details, thotugh nlecessarily incomplete, contain sufficient data upon which to base an opinion of the extent and variety of the miscellaneous mineral resources of the Pacific slope. CoPPERP.-This branch of mining, which was in process of development last year, is at presentin a depressed condition. Various circumstances, briefly referred to hereafter, have caused a reduction in the value of metallic copper in tihe markets of the world. The depression has been felt more severely by the miners on this coast than by those of any other part of the Union, because copper mining being in its infancy here, was struggling to secure the aid of capital foibr its extension; an object the attainment of which is hopeless under existing circumstances. Another drawback has been the increased cost of freight, consequent on the demand for vessels to carry wheat, flour, and other produce to the ports to which it has been usual heretofore to ship ores and metals. This increase has been equal to a reduction of:$5 per ton in the value of the ores; because they must be shipped in order to reach smelters and consumers, as there are no regular purchasers here, except such as buy for export. Reference to some of the causes which have thus crippled the development of this source of wealth affords the best means for judging whether such reduction is likely to be permanent, or of merely temporary duration. India, for the past quarter of a century, has absorbed all the ingot copper sent there from all parts of the world. 3Many of the wealthy natives in the distant interior of that country hoarded these ingots as treasure, and they passed as currency among them. The importations of gold and silver since the discovery of these metals in California and Australia, together with the extension of railroads and other features of European civilization in Asia, have almost entirely abolished this custom. The precious metals have superseded copper in the business of its semi-barbarous people. This change has not only caused a stoppage in the demand for copper in what was formerly the best market for its disposal, but thousands of tons, the accumulations of years, have been brought out from hiding places to be exchanged for the precious metals. It will require years to absorb the present supply of copper in India by the manufacturers of that country particularly as most of the utensils and ornaments made of that metal used by the people are imported from Europe or the United States. The increasing supply of ores from Australia, Cuba, Chili, Africa, Europe, and the United States, before the revulsion in India was severely felt, had already begun to exceed the demand; and, of course, this excess has greatly increased since, giving the control of evei'y open market to those countries where it can. be mined and melted at the lowest cost. The increase in the nummber of vessels built of iron in Europe, and the decline in ship-building in the United States, have curtailed the demand for sheathing, which a few years since was the chief use to which copper was applied in this country. 208 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Another cause for the decrease in the demand for copper arises from the substitution of cheaper metals in the manufacture of articles formerly made of c pper and the introduction of processes for depositing copper on other metals by electricity, by which a mere film of the dearer metal gives the cheaper one the appearance, and causes it to serve most of the purposes of the other. The above are among the leading causes of the present depression in the value of copper, and springing, as they do, from circumstances not likely to change for the better, the prospects of the copper mines on this coast are not very flattering. Tile mines of Bolivia and Chili, owned by European capitalists, worked at less cost, and more convenient to the Engliish and French markets than those of Cali fornia, can drive the ores from this coast out of those markets. The imports of South American ores into England in 1866 reached 35,336 tons' while but 4,591 tons were received from California, and the disproportion will be still greater during the present year. During the past- six months only 1,211 tons havebeen shipped from San Francisco to England, while the receipts from South America during the same period exceeded 482,000 quintals of 96 pounds each. The present prices of freight and ores forbid any increase of shipments hence during this year. South America, in 1866, also sent 86,440 ton! of ore to France, a market to which our ores cannot be sent with profit, unless a great reduction can be effected in the expenses of mining and exportation. The copper mines of the United States have formidable competitors in the European markets in the mines of Africa and Cuba. The richest ores on the English market for some time past have been brought from the Cape of Good I-lope, Africa. These ores average from 30 to 50 per cent. The mines of Cuba have also yielded a large quantity of rich ores. The product of fine copper in Europe and America, during 1867, is estimated at 90,000 tons, of which Bolivia and Chili will produce two-thirds. The following tables, showing the value of ores in England during the past three years, and the cost of their production on this coast, explain the causes why California cannot compete with Chili in supplying the European markets. As the prices at Swansea, Wales, regulate the whole European market, it is only necessary to give the rates at that place. Price of copper ores at Swansea in 1865, 1866, and 1867. Grade. 1865. 1866. 1867. 10 per cent................................ $33 87 $36 50 10 per cent~~~~~i......per ton. $41 50 3,3 87 $36 50 17 per cent.........................do.. 66 62 58 75 66 50 21 per cent..................................... do.. 91 62 67 62 69 75 Cost of extracting and delivering ores at Swansea. Mining...........-.............-.........per ton. $14 00 Bags.........-....-............................. do... 4 00 Sorting....... do... 1 00 Wear and tear of machinery........................................do. 1 50 Interest on capital.................. —......................... do... I 50 Freight to San Francisco............................ do.. 10 00 Freight to Swansea........................................... do... 15 00 Commissions, &c..............................do.. 5 00 Insurance.......................................................... do... 1 50 Cartage, wharfage, &c....do... 50 Total expenses................... do... 54 00 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 209 By comparing these expenses with the list of prices above, it will readily be perceived that ores under 15 per cent. do not cover expenses. As seven-eighths of the ores obtained on this coast-do not reach that standardY, it is unprofitable to extract them. Tlhe' same figures ap)ply to the marlkets at New York an(d l3o6ston. As more than three-fourths of the ores smelted in Europe and the Atlantic States do not average 15 per cent., it is clear that the mnines whence such ore is obtained possess a great advantage over those on the Pacific coast, entirely throughl the saving in cost of labor and transportation. The statistics relating to the copper mines of England, published by aulthority of the government of that country in 1866, show that during that year 19S,298 tons of ore were obtained from the English mines, which yielded 11,888 tons of fine copper, or an average qf but 5.9 per cent. This ore, estimated at $25 per ton, was valued at $4,967,430. As the mines on this coast could be made to produce annually an equal quantity of ore of greater value, the proportions of the loss the country sustains by their remaining undeveloped deserves consideration. The establishment of comprehensive smeltingT works at some suitable place, with ample capital to conduct operations on a liberal scale, would be a great advantage to the country by encouraging the development of this interest, and would doubtless in time yield fair returns for the amotrlt i wvested. The present plan of erecting temp orary smelting works near each mine, for the purpose of operating on the richest ores, is an injury to the copper interest, because it exhausts materials which might be more advantageously employed. These temporary works can only operate on the richest oxides, carbonates, and silicates, which form but a small proportion of the ores. The great mass of them consists of sulphurets, in the reduction of wlich the oxygen, carbon, and silica of the richer ores serve an important pu)lrpose. It is the opportunity of selecting suitable ores for' combining, which the smelters of Wales possess, with a market for every kind and grade offered, that enables them to operate so successfully. The ores from the Cornish mines are sulphides, and would be too poor to work, but for this arrangement. Lime and silica being essential elements in the reduction of copper from its ores, common sense teaches that it is more economical to employ these elements when combined by nature with the metal, than to collect them fr'om other sources and mix them artificially, at additional cost. It was to secure this advantage that the Boston smelters, during the past year, sent to Wales to purchase a cargo of carbonates to mix tlhe sulphides received from this coast, because the miners here, who have large quantities of carbonates, prefer converting them into matte. None of the English copper miners ever smelt their ores. They are all sent to the public market; smelting and mining being considered separate and distinct operations in that country. The method of traniMsacting business in the Welsh ore market is peculiar, but gives satist'action, owing to its fairness to buyer a;nd seller. All the ores intended for sale are piled and sampled ten days before the sale takes place. During that timne the smelters desiring to do so can take samples to estimate the value of such parcels as they want. Each sends in his bid in writing, sealed, directed to the agent having the particular parcel for sale. The highest bidder for. any lot has it awarded to him. This is a better plan than for miners to be obliged to seek purchasers, without knowing the value of the ore in the market. NEw DIscovERIEs.-The circumstances above stated have had the effect of preventing prospecting for copper to a great extent. But some discoveries llave been made within the present year, though few of them have been much developed. Among the most important are the following: The Sierra Buttes copper mine, located near Hurd's ranch, Sierra county. The lode on this discovery, which may be traced by its outcrop for nearly a mile, differs from that in any of the copper mines, in several material respects. It is' 14 210 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the only body of copper ores of any importance thus far found in the granite on this coast, except at Meadow lake, Nevada county, hereafter referred to. The ore is contained in a quartzose gangue rock, the lode having a well-definted fluecan (as the miners term the soft clay which usually accompanies true veins of ore) on the foot wall; the hanging wall being a hard, compact, feldspathic granite, which also constitutes the "country" in which the lode is enclosed. There are considerable quantites of molybdenumi in the vein-stone, in the form of both the sulphite and oxide of that metal. There are other lodes of copper ores in the same locality contained in the granite; but each differs somewhat in composition and appearance firom all the others, forming an ihteresting field for scientific inlvestigation. The Sierra Buttes is the only one of these lodes that has been worked to any extent, owing to its containing sufficient gold in the gangue rock to pay for extraction, though the ore will average 10 per cent. of copper. The cost of transportation fronm that distance to a market over such roads as exist, under the present condition of affairs, causes such a grade of ores to be valueless. A tunnel is in course of construction on this mine, which when completed will strike the lode at a depth of 1,000 feet below the surface. In a shaft sunk on it to tho depth of 60 feet, the lode was found to be seven feet wide. A promising outcrop of copper ore has been found near Marango Pass, San Bernardino county, California. A company was incorporated at San Francisco in July, 1867, with a capital stock of $240,000, for the purpose of working a copper mine in the Moro district, San Luis Obispo county, California. In the California mine, at Meadow lake, Nevada county, the highest inhabited portion of the Sierra Nevada, at an altitude of 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, metallic copper is found in the quartz, the gold and copper in which, though intimately mixed, are never alloyed with each other. rlThle vein-stone of the lodes in this elevated district carries a percentage of copper, generally in the form of sulphurets, combined with those of ironl, lead, ziinc, cobalt, nickel, and'arsenic. In tile Shooting Star mine, at the depth of 40:fet, the lode contains an ore which yields 15 per cent. of copper, $40 per tonl of silver, and $20 per ton of gold. It is proposed to erect furnaces to smelt the rich but complex ores of this district. The Lyons Company's mine located about three miles from the town of Asliton, Colusa county, in the Coast range, contains a body of oxides and carbonates. A temporary'furnace was erected to work these ores but being unfit for the purpose, one of Haskell's water-lined furnaces is now being built. This, tho(ugh not a new discovery, had not been of much importance till smelting operations were commenced. Persons who have visited the new Territory of Alaska report it as being rich inl copper. 31. Foucoult, a French gentleman, who spent several months in the Territory among the: Indians, states that they value copper as much as civilized mlen value gold. The chiefs wear masses of it suspended round their lnecks, as hi;hly" prized ornaments. Some of the higher chiefs have lumps of the metal that aweigh several hundred p)oullds each, which are lheir-looms of the tribe, aInd(t:xrl kept in the great wigwam. This gentleman states, that in order to obtain these n.uggets of copper, the Indians keep up large fires for weeks on the oit(croppings of the locles, which melts the carbon.ates and oxides near the surface. It is a well-known fact, mentioned in the writings of the earlier visitors to this coaist that the natives of that Territory, and those immediately adjoining, were the only tribes that possessed copper weapons and ornaments whean first discovered. In., August, 1866, a discovery of copper ore was made in the mountains, on the south branch of King's river, Tulare county, about 68 miles from Fresno City. There are four distinct and parallel lodes, a few feet apart from each other, in the locality, each containing a percentage of "horseflesh" ore, or erubescite, in a quartzose gangue rock. The lodes are from two to eight feet WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 211' wide, and mare traceable for several miles, cresting a high hill and across a steep cumnon. Anl analysis of the ore shows it to contain 60 per cent. copper, $20 per ton in gold, and nearly $60 per ton in silver. Owing to the mountainous clharacter of the country where this discovery was made, but little canll be done towards its development till a road can be made to convey materials. This will involve an expense, which capitalists are not disposed to incur in prospecting copper mines at present. If there were no copper in the ledges, there would be less difficulty in obtaining funds to prospect them for the gold and silver -they contain; but the disasters which have befallen the copper interest within the past year have cast a feeling of distrust over everythling beiaring the name or nature of copper. There is abundance of wood and water in the vicinity of the discovery; mand could one of Haskell's furnaces be erected thee, the parties who. own the lodes would probably realize something for theii labor and enterprise. Several discoveries have been made within the past few months in the mountains bordering the Tule river, in Tulare county, which hlave been prospected sufficiently to demoonstrate their value. The lodes are generally similar in character to those found on the south fork of King's river, in the same county, and described above. The localities of the two discoveries are about 50 miles apart. The -lodes on the Tulare are contained in the metamorphic slatei near its junction with the granite A body of ore has been patrtilly developed near Copper City, Shasta county, on which a company of English capitalists have offered to erect smelting works, provided the parties owning the mine will grant them a lease on terms they propose. It is stated by parties who have been prospecting in Utah during the past season that the croppings of copper ore are abund.ant in the south and southeast sections of that Territory. Copper ores are reported to have been found in the Battle Mountain district, Humbol dt county, Nevada, about 90 miles nlorth-northwest from Austin. The surveyors employed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company report the existence of copper-bearing lodes in the Trinity mountains, Humboldt county, Nevada. RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE COPPER 3MINES.-The condition of affairs, resuilting from the causes stated, will be best exhibited by showing the extent of the development of the mines described in the previous report..This will also afford a means for comparison. TRE COPPEROPOLIS MINES.-These Mines, owing to their extent, the ca.pital expended in their development, the value of the ores extrated from them, and the quantity at present available for extraction, place them at the head of the copper mines on the Pacific coast. The Union mine has been but partially worked during 1867. Its owners find it more profitable to place it in a condition for future operations, than to extract ore for sale at present prices. But little ore has consequently been taken out-only such as it was necessary to move in making explorations. The number of men emiployed has been reduced tg 150; in 1865 and 1866 nearly 400 were employed. The chief work doing at the mine at present is keeping it friee from water and making the necessary repairs to the works above and below ground. The explorations in the main shaft have extended to 500 feet in perpendicular depth, where the lode on the north, near the line of the Keystone ground, is 15 feet wide. At the 400-feet level in the same shaft, 100 feet above, the lode has decreased to six feet in width. This increase in its proportions is a favorable symptom of permanence, and proves the correctness of the opinion that the contraction of the lode at the 400-feet level would not be permanent. The total quantity of ore tal en from this mine from January 1 till July 15, 1867, was 8,382,855 pounds; total quahtity since it was opened in 1861, 108,731,678 pounds; all of which has been exported to the Atlantic States and Europe, 212 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES except about 2,376,000 pounds, or 1,000 tons, portions of which remain at the mline, at Stockton, and San Francisco, ready for shipment. r1THE KEYSTONE MINEi.-Explorations in this mine have been extensive and costlyv during the past year. The cross-cut toward the south line, in the sixth level, at a depth of 350 feet, running firoom the south or lioughton shaft. struck thlie main lode where it was 10 feet wide, of 15 per cent. ore. It was deemed best to sink the main shaft 200 -feet, to avoid the necessity of working by a wirze at so great a distance from the shaft, as it was calculated the shaft would strike th.- -ode at that depth. At the depth of 552 feet a cross-cut was made 43 feet in length before the lode was reached. Its width at that depth could not be ascertained, owing to the great increase of water, which prevented the men drifting till a sufficiently large sump-hole could be made. The company have taken out but little ore during the past year, having ceased operations, except for exploration, early in April. At present they only employ a few men to attend the machinery and pumps, to keep the mine from filling with water. - The total receipts from the sale of ores taken from this mine amount to $375,000. The amount of assessments collected exceed $100,000, the whole of which has been expended in developing the mine and purchasing machinery. The company has never declared a dividend. THE OTHER COPPEROPOLIS 3MINES.-The Empire, Consolidated, and Iniimitable were worked to some extent in the spring; but have been idle for several months. The owners of the latter mine (which is parallel and immediately adjoining the Union) had suied that company for taking out ore fri'om their ground. The case attracted considerable attention from its novelty and the value of the interests involved. It was decided in favor of the Union Company. THE NAPOLEON MiNE.-The new shaft on this mine was sunk to the depth of 195 feet, when work was suspended. No ore has been taken from it during 1867. THE CAMPO SECO MINE.-This mine has been partially worked for a few months during the present year. Smelting works were erected by the company as early as November, 1865, and arrangements made for working economically. A railroad a mile in length was constructed for the purpose of conveying the ores from the mnine to the furnace. By a judicious arrangement in the location of the works, the ore, after reaching the surface through the shaft, is carried down to the furnaces by its own weight, and these being located on the banks of the Mokelumne river, the slag and other waste is dumped into that river at trifling cost for labor. The smelting works consist of two cupola furnaces and a 3McKenzie blast, moved by a water wheel, and a roasting kiln. The furnaces are built of sandstone and lined with steatite, both of which materials are abundant in the neillhborhood of the w6rks, and appear to be tolerably well adapted for the purpose. rThe object of thle company in erecting these works was not to make copper or matte of a high standard, but to concentrate the ores obtained below 10 per cent. into about 35 per cent. regulus. The experience of the persons in charge confirms the remarks heretofore made in relation to the impolicy of each mine smelting its own ores. The ores here, like the bulk of all obtained from the mnines on the cupriferous belt which traverses the State from north to south, are nearly pure sulphlides of iron and copper, rarely containing more than five per cent of silica, and consequently difficult to reduce alone. The average assay of 20 samples shows 45 per cent. sulphur, 40 per cent. iron, 6 to 10 per cent. copper, the remainder being silica, water, &c. To reduce such an ore to regulus it was found necessary to add 20 per cent. of quartz, in order to supply sufficient silica to combine w itl the iron after the liberation of that metal from the sulphur. 1Hal silicates of copper or ores containing a considerable percentage of quartzose gangue rock been available, a much larger prodact of copper would have Aeen obtained at the same cost of fuel, flux, and labor. Evenll in the processes for roasting the ores in kilns the absence of silica is WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 213 a gareat disadvantage and source of'loss. The sulphur, when in such excess, as in this class of ores, when heated, coats the ores, formling a refractory material for future operations. Tlhe two fIul:Iaces on this mline, when in full operation, smelted about eight tolns of oie and 20 per cent. of qiuartz in 24 hours. To do this it required 250 bushels of charcoal daily, which cost about 20 cents per bushel; two men to attehd the( fiurnace as smelters, two to supply niaterials, two to carry off the slag, which owving to the large proportion of iron and thle nature of the fllux, was larie, an(d two others to prepare the materials for the futnlace feeders. Most of the work was performled by Chinese labor. THE LANCHA PLANA MlINES.-These mines being under the control of the proprietors of the Union, have not been workied during the year. THE MINrES IN AMADOR CoUNTYr.-The Newton, Cosumnes, and Pioneer mines, in this county, ceased operations in April, 1867. THrE MINES IN MARIPOSA CoUNTY.-The principal mine in this county, La Victorie, owing as much to disagreements among its stockholders as to the depreciation in the value of ores, has been i(dle nearly the whole of the present year. Having given a description of this mine in previous report, the following particulars relating to its working will be interesting for reference: After anll examination made by order of the company, the engineer in his report states that'the mine from the tunnel has been well opened. The foot-wall, where the tunnel enters the vein, is well defined; but, as yet, the hanging wall had not been found, although the vein had been pierced about 70 feet. Two thousand tons of ore had been taken out of the mine, chiefly from pockets or smaller veins, mixed with the materials which had been thrown into the larger vein. A series of deposits of ore exists above the foot-wall, more or less connected, contailning quantities of black oxide, and until the works are carried below the surface disturbances the size, valule, or permanency of the lode cannot be determined. From the indications in the present workings there is reason to believe the mine will prove permanent and valuable. The company not having the means to obtain proper machinery, had done the best'they could under the circumstances. The minei is well timlbered, and is in good condition for future operations. A shaft had been sunk' about 90 feet, on an incline which it was supposed would intersect the lode. But by a cross-cut run from the bottom it was found that the lode had changed in dip. The shaft was therefore sunk nearly vertical, so as to strike it about 80 feet below, or on a level with the tunnel. While running this cross-cut, seams and deposits of black oxide were met with. The extraction of ores while thle mine was worked was slow and costly, owing to the broken nature of thle country rock. The difficulties that beset the coIlpany are in part due to the isolated locality of the mine. It is too far from any travelled road to obtain the advantage of cheap transportation by teams returning empty fiom the mountains. The nearest point of shipment is 84 miles, over a roughl country. T1he cost of transportation swallowed up the value of thle ore. In acddition to this, the company conducted its business on the same extravagant scale as the richest of the Washoe companies. Its officers, salaries, office rent in San Francisco, and incidental expenses outside the mine amounted to $16,000 per annum. There are few undeveloped mines that could stand such a drain. Under more economical management, and with chleaper transportation, this mine might add something to the wealth of the State, even at the present low price of copper. Its ores are abundant, and of a higher grade than the average. THE BUCHAN-AN MINE is located in Hunter's valley, Mariposa county, and has been worked at intervals during the past year. The shaft, in June, haLd reached 150 feet in depth, where the lode was found to be seven feet wide, of: tolerably compact sulphurets. IHaving oxides, silicates, and carbonates convenient to the smelting works, this company, during the year, has made 100 tons of 214 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES 60 per cent. matte, most of which has been forwarded to Sarn Francisco, where it remains at present for want of a market. There can be no better illustration of the reduction in the value of copper than is afforded by the working, of this mine. The matte made from its ores in 1865, aveiraging 60 per.cent. of copper, sold at San Francisco for 16 cents per pound. The same grade of matte cannot be sold at present at nine cents per pound. At James's ranch the Green Mountain Company have erected smelting works and made a few tons of matte. None of the other copper mines in this county have been worked during the present year. THE MINES IN SAN LUIS 0OBiSPO COUNTY.-But little having been done towards developing the mines in this county during the present year, there are no new facts to report concerning them. THE MINES IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY.-With the exception of prospecting among the claims near the Solidad pass, nothing has been done in this county during the past year. THE MINES IN PLUIMAS COUNTY.-The Genesee Valley smelting works had to cease operations during the winter owing to the weather, and work has not been resumed since, the price of copper offering no inducements to the proprietors to incur the expense of refitting furnaces and mine. THE MINES IN DEL NORTE CouNTY.v-With the exception of the Alta none of the copper mines in-this county hlave been worked this year. The Alta company have been engaged in developing their mine. They have sunk their main shaft to the depth of 500 feet, run their tunnel 200 feet, and drifted at several levels, finding bodies of ore which appear to improve in quality as the workings progress. The disturbed and lbroken character of the formation ceases at 200 feet from the surface. The company has sent 400 tons of ore to San Francisco since January, 1867, which has been reshipped to New York. The average of ore has been about 16 per cent.; but the costs attending its transportation to San'Francisco, and reshipment thence to New York, absorbs the value in expenses. T THE MINES IN CONTRA COSTA CoUNTY.-None of the copper mines in this county have been worked this year. TH:E MINES IN NEVADA COUNTY.- Capital and labor have been expended in prospecting the copper mines in the western part of this county, where there is a copper-bearing formation extending across it firom north to south, on which many claims have been located and to some extent explored. The lodes are generally large, but the ores are of too low a grade to cover the costs of transpwftation. Of several hundred tons sent to New York and Swansea the average returns did not exceed nine per cent. of metal. Under more favorable conditions, with cheap labor and transportation, these mines might be made to pay. At present they can only be worked at a loss. The first shaft in the district, called the Well, because sunk for the purpose of obtaining a supply of water, is near Spenceville, in Rough and Ready township. It was used as a well for five years, till the excitement about copper in 1862, when, on cleaning it out, a deposit of sulphlurets was exposed 70 feet wide, and extending to an indefinite length in the direction of thle stratification of the enclosing metamorphosed clay slate, with a foot-wall and fluccan. But the ore, only ranging from ciglt to nine per cent., did not pay for extraction and transport. The Last Chance, the only mine worked for copper in this county, is located on this belt, near the Empire ranch. It was discovered in 1863, and has since been explored withl such satisfactory results as to warrant its owners, who are among the most enterprising citizens in the State, (D. 0. Mills, of San Francisco, A. Delano, S. D. Bosworth, and E. W. Roberts, of Grass Valley,) to make application to procure title from the federal government to the land on which the mine is located, the first application of the kind made. A shaft has been sunk to the depth of 200 feet, -where the lode is found 12 feet wide, of sulphur WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 215 ets, averaging from 12 to 20 per cent. of metal. Before the rise in price of freight a shipment of this ore to Swansea retumrned a profit of $35 per ton. The company own 2,400 feet on this lode. Considerable excitement was created in this county towards the close of 1866 by the discovery of ores in the Fox mine, from vwhiclh about 40 tons of oxides and carbonates wemr shipped to Swansea in October of that year. But the excitement ceased as the price of copper declined, though nearly 100 claimns were recorded during the last quarter of 1866. Several small pa-eels of ores have been received at San Francisco during the present year from the Western Star and Green mines, located near the Last Chance and on the same lode; but at present and for several months past none of the mines have, been worked. OTHER CALIFORNIA COPPER 3MINES.-AV-With thle exception of the Union Company, who own a mine inll Marin county which they prospected for a few months in the spring, the above is a full statement of tioe progress made in copper mining in California during the year 1867. THE OREGON COPPER 3IiNES.-The Queen of Bronze and other mines in this State have been idle during the past year. New discoveries have been made, but none of them have been developed sufficiently to prove their value. They are referred to merely to show the extent of country on this coast in which copper' has been discovered. IThe most important of thq discoveries have been made in the southern part of Douglas county, where croppings of ore exist, not in the form of gossan, as in California, but as masses of oxides and carbonates, which will be of importance if extensive smelting, works shlould be erected. rThe mines on Eagle creek, Baker county, have been explored witth such results as to have induced the owners to enter into a contract with the Oregon Steam Navigation Company to carry their ores to San Francisco, at a stipulated price, for a year. TEr LOWER CALIFORNIA COPPERP MINES.-The Sauce mnine, at Loretto, has n.ot been worked during the past year. The shaft on this mine has reached the depth of 114 feet, where the lode is seven feet wide, the ore said to average 12 per cent. A few tons of ore were received occasionally at San Francisco from mines alollng the lower coast, during the past spring, but such shipments have entirely ceased for several months. THE COPPER MITES OF NrEvADA.*-:Most of the ores found in the district of Pahranagat, though generally famous for the silver they contain, are more properly described as copper ores. They consist chiefly of gray copper, copper pyrites, erubescite, and other familiar ores of copper, combined with sulphites of silver, lead, iron, zinc, &c. No gold has yet been found in the district. These ores are contained in a quartzose veinstone in somne ledges; in others the gangue rock is calespIar, (a carbonate of lime.) Some of the ores contain as high as 50 per cent. of copper. This district lies in the extreme southeast corner of Nevada, where it joins Utah and Arizona, in 370 37' north latitude and 112~ longitude west from Greenxvich. The mineral wealth of the district is contained in a range of mountains about six miles long and four miles wide, running nearly north and south, the general name for which is Mount Irish, though each peak has a separate name. Some of the crests of the range tower to the height of 11,000 feet,' and are covered with perpetual snow. The lodes present the characteristics of true fissure veins, and appear to consist of several series, crossing each other in some places at right angles, the whole being contained in a metamorphosed limestone formation. In any other locality they would be valuable for copper mining. Described more fully in the section on Nevada. D Iescribed more fully inl thle section on N~evada. 216 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Similr ores are obtained in the mines of Inyo and Mono counties, California. These, however, contain a per cent. of gold. These ores are refractory when worked by the ordinary mill processes. Some of this class of ore taken from the Camanche mine, in Mono county, and sent to Swansea for reduction, returned $1,000 per ton in gold, silver, and copper. The minies in Kearsarge, Fish Springs, Aurora, and other districts among the higher divisions of the Sierra Nevada produce similar ores. The completion of the Central Pacific railroad will be of great benefit to the miners of this extensive mineral region, particularly if a process shall be discovered by which the gold and silver can be extracted without wasting the copper they contain-a contingency quite possible'. If such an establishment for smelting as the interests of the coast demand were erected at some point convenient to water and railroad carriage, the refractory ores of the Sierras would become valuable. THE PEAVINE MIr.NES.-In November, 1866, several tons of ores from this district were brought to Sacramento by the Central Pacific railroad, whiich passes within three miles of it, being the first shipment from the Sierras by railroad. The total cost for freilght by railroad and steamb)oat was $12 per ton. Two of lHaskell's water-lined furnaces have since been erected in the district, one to operate for silver, the other for copper, but neither has yet been completed. The ores are chiefly carbonates and silicates, and the furnaces will probably be able to reduce them to a portable form for transportation. As they contain a per centum of gold and silver it may be found profitable to ship them to Europe for separation, till suitable works shall be erected here. An excellent map of this district has been published by A. J. Hatch, deputy United States surveyor, which will be found useful for reference. THE MINES IN ARIZONA.-Tlhe copper minies on Williams fork of the Colorado have been partially worked this year. The developments have been satisfaIctory so far as the extent of the lodes and the grade of the ores are concerned, but the difficulties attending smeltingo operations for want of furnace materials and fuel, the scarcity of means for transport, the high cost of freights from thfe mines to market, and the low prices paid for ores have caused'a cessation of work or confined operations to a limited scale. In Marchl thlere were 100 men employed at the Central and Planet mines, and about 150 about the works at Aubrey City, nearly all of whom have since been discharged. The receipts of ores from these mines since January 1, 1867, have amounted to 1,156 tons, 600 of which were from the Planet mine. The whole quantity ranged between 20 and 60 per cent. of metal. The ores in this district would be valuable if suitable smelting works were erected anywhere on this coast, as they are chiefly carbonates, silicates, and oxidles. TI:HE GREAT CENTRAL MINE contains 3,600 feet on two parallel lodes, and several hundred feet on other lodes atdjacent. The ore is abundant and of good grade, and contains some gold and silver. In May last, the company had about 200 tons averaging 25 per cent., and 50 tons of selected averaging 60 per cent., lying on the river bank awaiting transportation. One of the smaller lodes, the Marion," at the depth of 75 feet firom the surface, is five feet wide, composed of oxides of iron and copper. At the depth of 125 feet firom the surface the main lode exhibits symptoms of sulphur. This, while affording evidence of the permanence of the lode, is nlot favorable to smelting operations. For 200 feet on each side of the shaft on the main lode (which is the extent of its exploration) it is found to be from five to seven feet wide. In April last the company completed a furnace capable of reducing 16 tons of ore in 24 hours, and made about 50 tons of coarse copper, ranging from 60 to 70 per cent., which has been sent to New York. But operations ceased in June. r'TRE ILANET MINE. thoulgh located near the Great Central, contains several WEST OF THIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 217 lodes and deposits of ore separate from those worked by that company, and yields ores of a different character. In one of the drifts a body of red, ferrugillnoulls, calcareous cement was found, about 18 inches thick, but otherwise of unknown extent, which contains a per cent. of metallic copper in the form of fine spangles and flakes, beautifully crystallized, imparting a peculiar brilliancy to each f racture as the lights of the miners are reflected upon the grains. It differs entirely from other copper ores found on the coast. There are no traces of sulphur. At the depth of 80 feet, in the main shaft, the lode is composed of a coarse Malachite, or carbonate of copper, nearly eight feet wide, quite compact, an(l pencilled with dark shadings like green marble. Along the foot wall there are masses of chrysocolla, or silicate of copper —much of it possessing great beautyappearing like bright green jasper, elegantly marbled with darker green and b:lue pencillings. Some of these masses, which are susceptible of a high and permanent polish, would be valuable for ornamental purposes. It is estimated that $100,000 worth of ores have been sold frnom this mine since 1862. MSINE- RAL hILL MINE.-This and the Empire Flat mine are owned by Greenman & Martin, of San Francisco, a firm long engraged in the purchase of copper ores on this coast. They have erected two furnaces and other works, with a 3.0 horse-power steamn engine to run the necessary mnachinery, at Aubrey City, a town which has sprtung up on the balks of the river since tlihe opening of the mines, having expended nearly $100,000 in opening the mincs, building a wharf, making roads, &c. The Springfield Company own the Punta del Cobre mine, and several lodes near the Great Central Company's mine, and there are other mines of probable value in the district. It is to be regretted that these mines, after having been brought to their present stage of development at so great an expense, have been compelled to cease operations. Only a few hands are now employed to keep the property in order. The furnaces are idle. The following details of the expenses of tranisportation from the Aubrey mines may be useful in showing that some of the causes which prevent their development may be removed. The expenses in bringing ores from the mines to San Francisco sum up about $25 per ton; this, coupled with $i5 per ton freight to Liverpool or New York, makes $40 per ton, without calculating insurance, commission, interest on capital, or costs for mining, which swell the actual cost of the ore to $70 per ton, nearly equal to the present market value of 25 per cent. ore. No further explanation is necessary to show why it is unprofitable to ship even rich ores from this district. The difficulties in the way of smelting are as discouraging as those attendiing the exportation of the ores. No suitable materials so far as known can be had in the Territory of which to construct the furnaces. All material has to be brought fronm California at a great expense; steatite from El Dorado county and sandstone from Catalina island, &c. Owing to the depredations of the Indians the wood-cutters were unable to go out of sight of the settlement to obtain wood for charcoal, the supply of which was consequently deficient, the quality bad, and the expense enormous; charcoal made of iron wood, musquete, and cottonwood costs $50 per ton. The total product of copper mnade under these circumstances did not exceed 40 tons. Under more favorable conditions the mines might be made profitable. There are places along the river banks where 100,000 tons of carbonates and oxides of copper, averaging 18 per cent. of that metal, could be quarried like marble; but such ores are valueless at present. 221 8 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The following table gives the exports of copper regulus and ores from San Francisco since 1862: Exports of copper and ores since 1862. To New York. To Boston. To England. Total. Year. Ores pper Copper e Copper s Copper regulus regulus. regulus. regulus. Tons. Tons. Tons. I Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. To ls. 1862..... 86357416........ 3, 660 16-20......... 1863 1,374........1637 4,2081 7 15-20..... 5,5531020.. 18i64...... 4, 19105 16-2'0............ 5, 064........ 264 7-20 10..2340,234 3-20. If1865.3....,.. 4, 146 3-20 25 9,05)2,51.......1... 17,787 19 J 2 1866.. 996') 8-20 4)2 4 536 13-20........ 12 384 15-20 80 10-20 26, 883 16-20 512 10-20 1867........., 633 11878 141 18-20 4,511 319 18-20 Total.... 3, 070720 625 26, 434 4-20. 17, 126 13-20 22 8-20 68, 631 4-20 847 8-20 The above table exhibits tile decline in tile exports during the present year. A considerable portion of that which has been shipped has not paid expenses, but was sent under contracts previously made. COPPErI-SMELTING WORKS ERE:CTED ON THE PACIFIC COAST.-The following list of copper-smelting works erected on the Pacific coast, though not cornplete, shows the extent of the business and the amount of capital invested in its development: List of copper-smelting works erected on the Pacjfic coast. _Where located. Mine. County. State. Plan. Cost. Antioch...................................... Contra Costa...... California. Welsh... $25,000 Copperopolis............... Union............ Calaveras............ do. German... 75, 000 Waldo.......e Bronze.............. Josephine.........Oregon....... do. 40 000 Genessee Valley............. Cosmopolitan....Plums.......... California. Local... 30, 000 James's Ranch.............. M.................... tariposa.............do... Haskell's.. 20, 000 Bear Valley....... La Victorie.........do............... do...... do... 20, (00 Near Placerville............................E..... El Dorado...........do...... do... 10,000 Hlunter's Valley............. Buchanan.... Mariposa............. do...... do... 20, o00 Near Ashton.............. Lyon's............ Colusa............... do........do...6, 000 Peavine Ii.......Peavine......... Strey............ Nevada.....do... 10, 000 *Josephine...... Or-gon.... German.. 20, 000 W illiamg Fork............. Several............................... Arizona... Welsh.... 10), (.00 Campo Seco................ Campoe.......Calaveras. Califo.....rni......do. 30,000 Total.............................................. 406 00 Total~~I................'. 406, (000 _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]................. *Completed June. 1867. Several concentrating and roasting works have also been erected near some of the copper mines at considerable expense. The concentrating worklis on the Keystone mine, at Copperopolis, cost $50,000. It is quite fair to calculate that $500,000 have been expended in tlhe construction of smelting and concentrating works on this coast during the past four years, nearly all of which has proved a loss for thle reasons stated. IM[PORTATION OF MIETALLIC COPPER.-The increase in ship-building on tlhis coast, and the facilities for repairing large vessels by thle construction of docks, &c., at San Francisco, create a demand for'sheathing-metal and nails. rThe general use of copper plates in the quartz mills requhires a large supply of this metal as nlucll of it is destroyed by the chemicals used in the processes for am'algamating the precious metals. The increase in the manufrcture of machinery, in the construction of which brass formus a considerable item, and of articles WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 219 wholly composed of copper or brass, a branch of business which gives emnployment to several factories and foundries, requires a constantly increasing supply of this metal. The following statement, sihowing tihe imports of copper during 1866 and for the first six months of 1867, embraces only the rough metal and sheets. All other forls in which it is imported are included under the head of general merchandise. Though very incorplete, and confined to the imports received at San PFrancis0o, this table shows that there is a field for the manufacture of copper on the Pacific coast which deserves the consideration of capitalists. Imports of copper at San Francis~c from January 1, 1866, to July 1, 1867. Bars and packagfes: In 1866, 1,245; in 180T, 242; total, 1,487. Cases of sheathing: In ]866, 1,203; iI 1867, 386; total, 1,589. The weight and value of the packages are not returned at the custom-house. THEr MAfANUFACTUREi OF SUL tPHATE OF COPPER IN CALIFORNIA.-The annual pcnsumrption of the sullphllate of coapper on the Pacific coast amounts to nearly 500 tons. Trhe present wholesale price is $200 l)per ton. About four-fifths of total quantity imnported is used in the processes of anialgamation. The greater part of the other fifthl, or about 100 tons is used by farmers for soaklingr wheat, &c.; sulphate of coppiL, or blue-stone, as it is generally called, being the best known preventive of rust in that grain. Till recently all the sulphate of copper used here was imported, chiefly from England. At present there is sufficient made in San Francisco to supply the demand. Crane & Brigham, a firm in the drug business, have been cn'aged for several years in perfecting a plan for the manufacture of this article fromll the sulplhrets, which were too poor to pay for export or concentration. Tlhey expended( nearly $50,000 in apparatus and experiments, and obtaine(d at patent for a process whlich they dliscovered in 1864. But the costs of labor and strong opposition fronm importers made it an unprofitable investment. In the sping of 1S67, a method was discovered by them of making this article from the carbonates and oxides brought from the Williamns fork of the Colorado Arizona, by which it is prepared in the greatest,purity at a cost l)below that for which it can be profitably imported. The San Francisco Refinery Works, and other establislhments in that business, of which there are several, also rnmake quantities of the sulphate of copper as a by-product of their chemical operations. Under these circumstances it is not improbable that the importation of this article will soon cease. tIRON.-The failure, till recently, to discover a deposit of coal on this coast suitable for smelting purposes, has prevented much attention being paid to the bodies of iron ores which are scattered throughout California and Oregon. But the discovery of good coal in Washington Territory, and in the late Russian possessions on this coast, within the past year or two, has brought the subject of iron smelting into notice. The consumption of pig, bar, plate~ and every other description of iron, already considerable, must increase with the progress of the States and Territories on this side of tile Rocky mountains, and the importance of thismetal in manufactures anld arts imparts to the sulbject an interest scarcely second to that attached to the production of the precious metals. With an abundance of material necessary for the manufacture of iron at their doors, as it were, it is scarcely probable the people of this coast will he much longer content to import so essential an element of prosperity from foreigon countries. THE FIRST IRON-SMELTING WORKS ON THE] PACIFIC.-Oregon is entitled to the credit of having erected the first iron-smnelting works on the Pacific coast, though several of the heaviest stockholders in the enterprise are citizens of California. - 220 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tlhe Oregon Iron Works are located at Oswego, about nine miles south of Portland, on the west l)ank of the Willamette river. They are theproperty of an incorporated company, having a capital of $500,000. rThe operations of this company were commenced in September, 1865. In 1866 the erection of the furnace and necessai'y buildings was commenced, and completed in June, 1867. But smelting was not immediately commenced, in consequence of an insufficient quantity of charcoal, the fuel intended to be used. The destruction of the company's foundry and machine shop by fire on the night of July 2, which involved a loss of nearly $100,000, further delayed operations. The furnaces were erected under the direction of Mr. G. D. Wilbur, of Conn ecticut, and are constructed on the same plan as those in general use in that State. They are built of the basaltic rock which underlies the ore. This material is found to be adapted to the purpose. The cupola is 32 feet high, and the bosher or hearth nine feet six inches in diameter. The blast (hot) is applied through three tuyeres, under a pressure of two pounds to the square inch, generated by suitable machinery driven by water power. Thie charcoal used is prepared from the Oregon fir, which has been found by experiment to be adapted to smelting purposes, and is very compact, weighing about 16 pounds to the bushel. Contractors supply it to the company at eight cents per bushel, delivered at the works. It is calculated the furnace will reduce nine tons of ore daily, (24 hours,) each two and one-half tons of which being estimated to produce one ton of metal in pigs. The first pigs cast at these works, and consequently on the Pacific coast, were made on the 24tlh August, 1867, when about six tons of very good metal were run out. The ore used ranged from 60 to 65 per cent. The furnace has been running continuously since, producing from six to eight tons of metal per day. About 80 men are employed about the works as miners furnace men, teamsters, &c. On the 1st day of October the Oregon Iron Company had produced 224 tons of pig iron, 2,240 pounds to the toIn, at an expense as follows: Fior each ton (2,240 pounds) iron produced there were used166 bushels charcoal, costing at furnace 8 cents..................... $13 28 884 pounds lime, costing at furnace 40 cents....................... 3 53 4,970 pounds ore, costing at furnace $2 50 per tonl................. 5 50 Labor reducing each ton....................................... 6 67 Total cost of the pig on bank of liver...................... 28 98 This does not include interest on capital, or State and county taxes. A sample of this metal was received at San Francisco August 30, 1867, which, after thorough tests by the various foundries in that city, was pronouncedi a superior article. The average cost of importing pig iron from Europe to San Francisco is about $40 per ton, ranging from $35 to $45; the fluctuation arising from the rates of freight, which is usually from $12 50 to $15 per ton. Occasionally it is brought fbv French and German vessels at a lower price, as these vessels generally carry cargoes of light merchandise, which require heavy freight as ballast. The usual fireirghlt firom Atlantic ports is from $12 to $16 per ton in currency. Within the past year small parcels of pig iron have been received firom Australia. The Australian iron costs about $40 per ton ia gold, delivered oni the whlarf. The following particulars concerning the cost of producing iron, copied from the report of the United States Revenue Commissioners for 1865 and 1866, will be found of interest in this connection. It will be seen by these figures that WEST OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.: 221 WThile it is quite possible to make iron on the Pacific coast as cheaply as in any other portion of the United States, it cannot be made as cheaply as in England: An establishment capable of producing in the United States o10,000 tons of finished iron per annum would cost for ore, leases, lands, blast furnaces, mills, houses, and appurtenances necessary for the full equipment, from the ore to the finishled ii'oon, at the present time.......................................... $1,250, 000 Capital to carry it on.................................................... 750,000 Total....................................2....................... 2,000,000 A similar one in Great Britain would cost.................................. $500,000 Capital to carry it on...................................... 300, 000 Total................................................ 800, 000 Interest on $2,000,000 capital invested in American establishment at 8 per cent................................................................... $160,000 On 800, 000 in England at5 per cent................................ 40,000 Leaving a balance of interest against American manufactures of........ 120, 0(0 In the United States a fair average cost of producing pig iron is not less than $35 per ton. In England or Wales the cost of producing a ton of pig iron averages $14. To the difference shown by the figures given, it is just to add the difference per ton caused by larger interest on the greater capital invested in the United States. ( Vide report, pages:327 and 328.) This question of interest on capital is felt more severely on the Pacific coast than in any other State in the Union, and forms an impediment to all manufactures. In the vicinity of the Oswego works are numerous beds of hydrous sesquioxide, which, according to estimates based on careful measurement, contain 50,000 tons. This ore by analysis is found to contain from 46 to 56 per cent. metal. Nearly one-fourth of these beds consists of solid masses of ore, the remainder consisting of the same deposit very much disintegrated and brokcn, but equally rich in metal. At the distance of two and one-half miles from the Nvorks a similar body of ore has been found, which micasures 100 acres superficially, and of a thickness varying from six to 12 feet. This body of c'e is cstimated to contain several millions of tons. Similar bodies of ore have been found at several places within an area of twenty miles of the works, extending as far, as St. Helen's, on the Columbia river. In every case where these deposits of ore have been examined they are found to be underlaid by volcanic lava and ashes, beneath which are heavy beds of basaltic rocks. No vein or deposit of the ore has been found in this basalt, but in many places the crevices and fissures in that formation are filled with scales and fragments of the overlying ore. These bodies of ore present all the appearances of hleaving been deposited in a liquid state, ifi indentations that existed at the time of the surface of the basalt. The whole formation has subsequently been tilted up so as to dip to the east at an angle of about 10 degrees. The present surface of the ore beds is covered with a deposit of sand, gravel, and clay, from a few inches to 10 feet in depth. Similar bodies of ore exist in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, which are known to have been ejected from that volcano in the form of chloride of iron and subsequently metamorphosed to its present form. Limonite is never found except in recent or secondary geological formations. It is the most valuable of all the ores of iron, being readily convertible into steel. The diffeirence between limonite and hematite consists in the former containing from 15 to 20 per cent. of its weight of water, while the latter contains none. Limonite, owing to this difference, melts at a considerably lower temperature than hematite, a most important matter in a country where fuel is expensive. 222 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES An analysis of this Oregon limonllite, made by Kellogg, IHlueston & Co., of San Francisco, gave the following results: Sesqui-oxide of iron....................................... 77.66. oisture..................................................... 11.1 6 Si.ica.......................... 1.08 Sulphur and phosphorus.......................................10 100.00 Its specific gravity is 4.25. By actual working, on the large scale, it yielded 54.37 per cent. of metal in pigs. rThe extraction of the ore involves but little expense, as it is all near the surface. It is estimated that it can be taken out and delivered at the furnace at $1 50 per ton. These Oregon iron works labor under a disadvantage in having no limestone in their vicinity. This mineral is as essential in smelting operations as fiuel itself. All the limestone used has to bebrought from San Juan island, and costs $6 per ton delivered. As it requires one-third as much of thlis mineral as of thlb ore for smelting, this disadvantage is serious in point of'expense. IRoN IN CALIFORNIA.-Every description of iron ores is known to exist in Califolrnia in abundance. The most important bodies of them are found among the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at too great a distance from the m1anufacturing centres to admit of smelting with profit, to compete with imnported iron at places along the coast having the advantage of cheaper supplies from abroad. The heavy cost of inland transportation fromn thlese cenltral miarts is an advantage, however, in supplying a local demand, because transportation upwards to tlhe mountains is always dearer thIan it is downwards to the plains. The cost of castings received in the mountains from San Francisco rarely falls below 8200 per ton; it is generally much higher. The consumption of cast iron among the quartz, lumber, grist, and other mills located among the foot hills reaches nearly 2,000 tons annually, and the demand is limited by the difficulty in supplying it. The cost of erecting smelting works on a scale sufficiently large to supply the local demand need not exceed a few thousand dollars. The profits of such an establishment located among the mines, or on the line of a railroad connected with the mining districts if properly conducted, would be remunerative. It is stranoe that, with such facts patent to capitalists, workls of this kind have not been establishled at points where materials and facilities are known to exist for carrying them on to advantage. The following particulars concerning bodies of iron ores found in this State, which have been examined by competent persons,'will be useful in showing the character, importance, and location of these deposits. For convenience they are divided under the heads of specular, hematite, magnetic, chromic, titanic, and mixed ores. SP-cUxIAR IRON ORE.-Deposits of this ore have been discovered a few miles north of the town of Santa Cruz, 75 miles firom San Francisco, near the sea, in the Coast range. There is abundance of wood and limestone in the vicinity. Also on Utt's ranch, six miles from Auburn, Placer county, in the foot hills, 45 miles from Sacramento. In the Coast range, in San Bernardino colunty, about 600 miles from Sacramento, is another deposit of this ore. Also at Four Hills, a locality about 10 miles northeast from Downieville, Sierra county, among the summits of the Sierra Nevada. The ore at this place is very pure and abundant in a densely timbered country, with limestone close at hand. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 223: Plumas county, also, contains valuable bodies of this ore. Onl the side of a broad cailon in the southern portion of this county, in sight of the lhigh peaks of the Sierra Nevada, about 16 miles from Downieville, Siei'a county, within a couple of miles of thle line of the proposc.I Oroville railroad. there is an iron mountain composed in great part of this ore. It assays firom 40 to 70 per cent. metal. Parties have pre-empted 320 acres of the land embracing the mountain for the purpose of working it as an iron mine. It is intended to erect smnelting works on the ground during the present fall. Wood, water, and limestone are close at hand, and the Beckwith Pass wagon road runs within a mile of the claim. There are deposits at other places, but the above are among the most accessible. Specular iron ore is somewhat similar in composition to red hematite, but is readily distinguished from that ore by breaking with a bright metallic fraeture, almnost like cast iron, to which peculiarity it owes its nanme. Likle hematite, it is of volcanic origin. The ores of Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain, Missouri, belong to this class. It requires a much greater heat to smelt specular iron ores than any others of that metal; this trait is important on this coast. The iron made from this ore is the best known, when properly made. MAGNETIC IRON OREs. —The most important, because the most convenient, body of this ore in California exists on the line of the Central Pacific railroad, near Clipper Gap, where there is a mountain of coisiderable proportions composed almost wholly of the variety known in Germany as " spiegelien," from which steel is made with so much facility inll that country by the Bessemer process. The advantages of hlaving a plenty of wood, water, building materials,'and fire-clay for furnace purposes, and limestone for flux, and a railroad running close by, have induced an attempt to erect smelting works in the vicinity. Robinson, Brown & Co.'s iron mines are located here, about three miles from the railroad and three miles from Bear river. These mines were located and patents for the land from the federal government applied for in May, 1866. The company purchased the title of the railroad to the even sections of the land, to the eftent of about 1,500 acres. The greater portion of this land is well covered with timber suitable for charcoal. The ore crops out fromn the mountain in many places. There are two qualities in the deposit; onl the east side it is highly magnetic, while on the west it is very much like the Oregon limonite. Assays made by Kellogg & Hueston, of San Francisco, inl March, 1866, gave the following results: the magnetic ore, 64.37 per cent. metal; the hematite, 44.67 per cent. metal. A specimen sent to Professor Jackson, of Boston, Massachusetts, was analyzed by that gentleman, who states in the report onI tlie subject that it contains no phosphorus, sulphur, titanium, or other substance injurious to the manufacture of iron. A tunnel has been cut in the side of the mountain to test the thickness of the stratumn. At the time of our visit, in June, 1867, it lhad been run for 30 feet,. with no signs of the end. OnI the opposite sidle, where there were no croppings near the surface, a shaft was sunk 15 feet; at that depth they struck good ore. Estimates as to the probable expenses of making pig' iron at this locality; and delivering it at San Francis(x) show that charcoal can be mnade and delivered at the furnace for 12- cents per bushel, (the Oregon works pay 8 cents;) the lime will cost $2 per tonl; the total cost for labor, materials, andl interest on capital reaching $20 per ton, to which nmust be added $6 per ton for transport to San Francisco by railroad and steamer. The average cost of pig iron in that city during the past three years has been $41 50, landed onl the wharf. Its price at present is from $47 to $50 per tonl. The mines are 40 miles distant firoom Sacramento by railroad. Arran'gements have been made with the firm of Coffee, Risdon & Co. to erect 22 4 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES one of laslkell's patent water-lined cupola furnaces, to test the working qualities of the ore. This furnace was to have been completed in August. The parties interested in thie enterprise, being men of limited capital, are not prep)ared to,conduct operations on a scale to insure success. It would be to the benefit of thee State if capitalists would take hold of the business. Bodies of:ore of a similar character exist near Gold lake Sierra county, in the vicinity of the line of the Central Pacific railroad. A deposit of fine magnetic iron ore was discovered in the summer of 1867 on Grouse ridge, 14 miles from Washington, Nevada county. This ore is energeticoally magnetic-so much so as to lift knives or nails-and is said to contain sufficient gold to pay for extracting, that metal from it. In the summer of 1867 a body of magnetic iron was discovered near Chapparal Hill, Butte county, near the Grizzly, a tributary of the Butte creek, about 46 miles from Oroville, on the Susanville road. The ore is found in a locality where the slate and granite formations unite. Some portions of it are so magnetic that fragments broken off can be lifted by the larger pieces. It was this pecultiarity that led to its discovery. An analysis made by Kellogg, Hueston & Co., of San Francisco, yielded 65 per cent. of metal. The deposit is in the form of a stratum or bed of unknown thickness and extent. In July a shaft. had been cut to the depth of 20 feet without passing through it. It had been traced 300 feet in length by nearly a quarter of a mile in width. Being located on a densely timbered hill, covered with broken slate, it was not convenient to trace it to its full extent. There is abundance of wood, water,; and limestone in the vicinity. Bodies of similar ores are found in the Santa Ifez valley, in the San Rafael district, Santa Barbara county, about 450 miles firom Sacramento. Ma1gnetic iron ore or magnetite is one of the most extensively distributed and valuable of that metal found on this coast. It contains a larger per centumrn of metal than any of the other ores; when pure it generally contains from 60 to 70 per cent. It is chlanged in many places into specular ore by the addition of oxygen, which it absorbs from the atmosphere. HIEMATITE ORES OF IRON.-There are large bodies of simonite, identical in composition with the ores found at Oswego, Oregon, on the banks of Spring creek, a few miles west of Shasta City-at an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet albove the sea-among the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada, about 180 miles from Sacramento. A deposit of red hematite was discovered in March last on the ranch belonging to the Sisters of Charity, about 16 miles from the city of Los Angeles. The ore presents itself on the surface for nearly a mile in a stratum averaging 15 feet thick, enclosed in hard metamorphosed clay slate. CHIROMIc IRON OREs.-This class of ores, so rare and valuable in the Atlantic States, is abundant on this coast, being found in the Coast range, the foot hills, and among' the Sierra Nevadas, wherever there is serpentine in the country. Among the most important deposits of it are the scattered and broken masses which cover the ground for niiles in the vicinity of the New Idria Quicksilvel mine, in Santa Clara county. There is another body of it cresting the ridge which forms the boundary line between Monterey and Firesno counties. In Tuolumne county, near the Crimea House, are deposits which are fohund between the strata of talcose slate, lying in a vertical position, the weathered portionF of which stand out from the surrounding hills like tombstones in a graveyird. In Del Norte county to the north of the copper mines on the " Low Divide," there is a peculiar deposit of chromic iron disseminated through the serpentine, which constitutes the greater portion of the country thereabouts. This ore weathers into round grains like shot, from the size of a pin-head to a four-pounder, and is WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 225 appropritely-called iron-shot by the miners in the vicinity, who find abundance of it in the sluices when washing up. There is another body of chromic iron illn Del Norte county, of different appearance, on Smith's river, about 20 miles from Crescent City. This ore is compact, and as black as jet. In San Bernardino county there are extensive deposits of this ore along the coast, some of which contain fine specimens of vauquelinite chromate of lead and copper. On the south side of San Diego gulch, Calaveras county, on the crest of the hiighest hill, opposite the Noble Copper mine, there is an isolated mass of this' ore that will weigh thousands of tons, xwhich surmounts a' rather singular formation. A tunnel runam in the hill beneath in search of copper, cut through several wid6e strata of serpentine, brucite talce and other nmagnesian minerals. Chliromic iron, or chromate of iron, is of considerable imioritance inll the arts but not as a source for obtaining the metal. Thoiugh abundant on this coast, it is very rare in the Atlantic States and Europ)e. England contains scarcely any; that country imports about 5,000 tons annally for the purpose of manufactu.ring the various compounds of chromium, used in calico printing, painting porcelain, making igmnents, chromic acid, &c. A large quantity was formerly shipped to England from the Barelhills, near Baltimore, Marylanl, where the most valuable deposit,on the Atlantic side exsits. With cheap transportation and labor this ore would pay to export. TITANIC IRON OrE is generally found on this coast in the form of fine grains, forming the greater portion of the " black sand," so difficult to sepairate from the fine gold obtained from the alluvial washings. All volcanic rocks contain titanic iron in the form of grains. As these rocks disintegrate the grains are set free. There'are several varieties of titaniferous iron in the grains, most of which are magnetic. It has been found in a number of thin seams in trap, in El Dorado county, near Diamond'Springs. Some excitement wa- created in San Francisco, about a year since, by the discovery of titanic iron in the sand on the beach within the harbor. Small quantities of it were collected, and some of it smelted, under the impression that it would make pig-iron, and that there was a "lead", of it in the vicinity. The above explanation of its source Shows how unreasonable such conclusions were. MIXED ORES OF IRON.-Tbhere is a body of iron ore onl Pratt's Hill, near Ione, Amador county, on the border of the Sacramento valley, which does not belong to any of the varieties above described. It is of an earthy nature, and evidently of sedimentary origin, formning a stratum nearly 20 feet thick, extending fo~ a mile near the top of a lode bluiff which projects into the valley. It contains a large per centumrn of iron. In several localities along the margin of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys there are deposits of iron ores in the form of ochres. It is not necessary to give details, as there are such abundant sources fro obtaining better ores; they will be described under the head of " clays," &C. IRON ORES IN NEVADA.-The surveyors employed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company report the discovery of extensive beds of magnetic iron ore within a short distance of the line of that road, near Crystal Springs. Also ai Neilsburg, within a mile of the road, and at Long Valley. There are many other districts in Nevada which contain iron ore. There is a series of regular veins of specular ore, from 8 to 20 feet thick, near the east fork of Walker's river, in Esmera]da county. IRON ORES IN UTAH.-This Territory abounds in iron ores. There are several deposits of carbonate of iron within 20 miles of Salt Lake City. IRON ORES IN ARIzoNA.-The abundaince of nearly all kinds of iron ores in this Territory is quite remarkable. Whole ranges of mountains along the Colorado are in great part composed of them. The copper mines at Williams fork are 15 226 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES surrounded with beds of iron ores. In the Mineral Hill and Planet mines the ores are pure oxides of iron and copper. Several of the tunnels run in working these mines have been cut through solid beds of iron ore. The wall rock enclosing nearly all the copper lodes are of the same minleral. CONCLUDING REMARKS ON OREs. —The above examples, selected fiom a great number of a similar character are sufficient to show the abundance of the ores of ironi on the Pacific coast, particularly in California, and the advantage that State possesses in having furnace materials and limestone convenient to the mines. It will be observed by reference to the analyses that the "lay," or per centum of metal in the ores found on this coast, ranges Ifrom 46 to S0, or an average of,upwards of 50. This, however, is applicableonly to the higher grades. According to the government returns, published in England, the ores obtained from the mines in Wales do not exceed 33 per cent., and those from the mines in Staffordshire, the great iron district of England, do not exceed 30 per cent. Most of the ores found in that country require roasting as a preliminary process, owing to their containing deleterious elements. The ores on this coast, being nearly all oxide, can be smelted at one operation, and will produce a very pure metal. THE CONSUMPTION OF IRON IN CALIFORNIA.-The consumption of iron in this State is large, and constantly increasing. The imports of crude metal, given in the accompanying table, constitute but a portion of the total quantity used, as much of it is obtained by remelting worn-out or useless machinery, and other articles, of which there are many thousands of tons in the State. San Francisco is the centre of this trade. In addition to supplying California, as the following table will show, iron and machifiery are exported to Nevada, and the adjoining Territories, the Sandwich Islands, Mexico British Columbia, and other countries. The following list of foundries and machine shops in San Francisco will convey on idea of the proportions of this business there. There are also 23 other foundries in California, and six in Nevada. The establishments at Sacramento, Nevada City, Marysville, Stockton, Sonora, and one ortwo others, are able to make almost any description of machinery. IRON FOUNDRIES IN SAN FRANCISCO.-The Vulcan covers the block embraced by 137 feet on Frdmont street, and running 275 feet to Beal street, and extending thence to Mission street. On this block there are brick and, frame buildings, suitable for an extensive business. Every description of machinery, from a coffeeroaster to a locomotive, including boilers, and everything complete, is made here. Many improvements in the manufacture of engines and boilers have been introduced in this establishment. Most of the'machinery used at the Mission w0oollen mills was made here, as was also the machinery for the mints at Mexico and British Columbia. The most powerful engines in use on the Comstock lode, Nevada, were also made here. A few months since a quartz mill was made here and shipped to Nicaragua, and a pumping engine for use on a mine at Parquiqua, Bolivia. The capacity of the furnaces at this foundry is sufficient to melt 35 tons of metal. Nearly 100 men are employed on the premises. The Fulton is located on First street, and employs about 50 moulders, doing an extensive business in architectural casting; machinery of all kinds is also made. The Etna is a similar establishment to the Vulcan, but on a somewhat smaller scale. It has facilities for melting six tons of metal. It is located on Fr6mont street. The Franklin is also located on Fremont street. The engine used for printing the Evening Bulletin was made at this establishment. It has conveniences f6ir melting 10 tons of metal, and employs 25 men. The Golden State is located on First street, and is of about the same capacity as the Franklin. The Pacific is an establishment reaching friom First to Frdnont street. It was WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 227 commenced in 1850. The buildings, chiefly constructed of brick, cover two 50vara lots. The machinery for the new rolling mills was made here,the fly-wheel for which weighs 25 tons. It can melt 20 tons, and employs abouLt 75 men. The Miners' is also on First street, and extends through to Fremont. It employs about 250 men, and can turn out a 20-stamp mill, boiler and all complete, in 30 days. The iron castings for the State capitol, at Sacramento, were made here. The San Francisco is located at the corner of Fremont and Mission streets where it covers a fifty-vara lot. All descriptions of machinery are made here. It can melt 15 tons of metal, and employs about 40 men. The City Iron Works are located on Fremont street. Employ about 20 hands. Considerable machinery for the Sandwich Island sugar-mills has been made here. The California Foundry is also on Fremont street. Tlhis establishment does an extensive business in architectural castings, which it makes a specialty. The fronts of several of the most elegant buildings in the city were cast here. It has facilities for melting six tons of metal, and employs about 20 hands. The Union Foundry, corner First and Mission streets, is the oldest and largest establishment of the kind on this coast. It was commenced in 1849. The buildings include a three-story brick, having a frontage of 187 feet on First street, extending 275 feet, and fronting 120 feet on Mission, the whole covering nearly 50,000 feet; 300 men are employed here. The machinery forthe United States steamer Saginaw was made at this foundry. The first locomotive made on this coast was cast and finished here. The Atlas Iron WVorks are located on Fremont street. They are chiefly. engaged in casting for aricultural purposes. Can melt seven tons of metal, and employs about 30 men. The Jackson Foundry is located on Jackson street. Its operations are confined to casting stoves, ornamental railing, and other light and fancy goods. The ranges used in nearly all the first-class hotels in the city were made here. It gives employment to about 30 men.. -The Empire Foundry is on Mission street, near Beale. All descriptions of machinery and castings are made here. It employs 30 men. It is withinlimits to estimate the consumption of iron in California andthe States and Territories dependent on it for supplies, at 30,000 tons annually. The business gives employment to nearly 3,000 men. There are 30 machine-shops in San Francisco in addition to those connected with the above-named foundries. The largest iron vessel ever cast in the United States was made at the Union Foundry in 1861. It was a shallow pan, capable of holding 1,316 gallons, and weighed 8,114 pounds. It was for use in one of the local soap factories. A rolling-mill and steam forging establishment has recently been completed at San Francisco, with machinery and apparatus'for making every description of bar and rod iron, from one-fourth of an inch diameter, and one-eighth of an inch thick, to 12 inches wide, of any shape required by manufacturers, including all sizes and patterns of railroad iron. This establishment furnishes a marlket for all the scrap iron that can be obtained. It is proposed to erect puddling furnaces for converting cast into malleable iron, as the supply of materials is not equal to the demand. The above facts are sufficient to show that there exist on the Pacific coast a fair demand for iron and some facilities for its manufacture. 228 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Imports of iron (chiefly railroad) into San Francisco during 1866, and first six months of 1867. Description. 1866. 1867. Pig iron, tons.......................... —-.... 9, 388 2,063 Bars —.......... —---------- -—... 157,558 100,378 Bars, bundles............... 40, 088 30, 229 Pipes --- ------------------------...... 18, 278 14,429 Pipes, bundles-.................................. 14,5 84 7,451 Hoops, &c., bundles........................................... 31, 985 19,607 Hoops, cases.................................................... 395 394 Sheets, bundles................................................. 21,604 4,048 Sheets, cases-....-....-....-...-....... —... 331 121 Plates.................................... 7,622 10,134 Exports of iron and machinery from San Francisco during 1866, and first six:onths of 1867. Q 0. 6 ro~~~~ ~ ~.c ri~~~~~~~~~~~~Sn -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1=-Q_ Articles. 1866. 1867. 1866. 1867. 1866. 1867. 1866. 1867. Iron, bars...................... 1,577 506 2,012...... 300 77 88 138 Iron, bundles -.- -.- -- 648 229 432 2..... 37.167 16 18 Iron, pig, tons................... 1................- I Sheets, packages - - --- -- ---- 33 -- - --- 14..Hoops, &c., bundles.- -....... 177-. 3..... 38-................. Hoops, cases..........-..-.... 254.....- 23............... Pipes, bundles.........-..... 120 27 5 - - - 2...... Pipes, pieces.__..0 27.2.-................. Castings, pieces............... 07..... -Plates................./.... 40..-.- -- 14....... Machinery, packages...-... - 2,482 2,34-2........... 47 155 54. Machinery, pieces............... 89 1108...........-. -.....-.. 207 7 Machinery, cases............... 396........... -- -- 19- - CoAL.-The importance of coal as an element of national and local prosperity is so generally recognized, that it is unnecessary to make any remarks touching the advantages of an-abundant supply. But the relative value of the several varieties of coal for domestic and manufacturing purposes not being so generally understood, may render some explanations on this point appropriate. The varieties of coal to which England owes its prosperity, and which are so abundant in Pennsylvania and other Atlantic States, do not exist, or at all events have not been found, on the Pacific coast. But there are extensive beds of other varieties, which differ as much in their composition and heating qualities as the coals of other countries differ from each other. In the northern parts of the coast the coal is as superior to that found at Mount Diablo and-further south as the Welch coal is to the Scotch, or the Pennsylvania anthracite to that found in Ireland. Modern geologists have abandoned the idea that coal, to be of good quality, muwst be found in one particular formation. Experience, the most reliable guide, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 229 contradicts such a theory. Researches in India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Chili, and on this coast, prove that good coal, adapted to nearly a.IJ purposes, is found outside of the carboniferous formation. Science has failed to demonstrate that good coal may not be found in any geological formation, There are many reasons for believing that when the mines on this coast shall be worked to a depth approaching that of the mines in other countries, the quality of the coal will be found to bear a favorable comparison. Analyses made by Professor Blake and other scientific gentlemen, of coal taken at a greater depth than the samples tested by Professor Whitney, in 1861 and 1862, shortly after the California mines were opened, exhibit a marked improvement. The following reports exhibit the change in composition of the Mount Diablo coal as the depth of the mines increases: Analysis of sanple of coal from Pittsburg mine, taken from thick seam, 600 feet from surface, in 1867, by Professor W. P. Blake. Moisture-................................................................ 3. 8 Bituminous matter... 47.05 Fixed carbon................................................................ 44.90 Ashes...................................................................... 4.71 99.94 There was no trace of sulphur in the sample. Analysis of coal taken 800 feet below surface on the incline in Black Diamond mine, in May, 1867, by Professor Price, superintending chemist to Golden City Chemical Works, and to San Francisco Befining Works: &c., &c. Moisture. -...... —-..... --- - 9, 54 Ashes...................................................................... 8.25 Sulphur................................................................... 3.25 Oxygen and nitrogen........................................................ 20.50 Hydrogen..............3.75 Carbon..... 54.71 100. 00 Analysis of Mount Diablo coal, taken from near surface, in 1861 and 1862, by Professor Whitney, State geologist of (California. ce 0 CS Water.................................. 13. 47 14.69 13. 84 14.13 20.53 Bituminous matter....................... 40. 36 33.89 40.27 37. 38 35. 62 Fixed carbon.................... 40.65 46. 84 44.92 44.55 36.35 Ash 5. 5.52 4.58 0.97 3.94 7.50 ~~~~~~~~~.. It will be seen by comparing these reports that the proportion of moisture in this coal is much less in the recently examined sample. This change in composition increases the power of the coal for generating stem and other purposes at least 25 per cent. It was the excess of moisture in the coal taken fron near the surface that caused it to crumble on exposure to the air, or when thrown into 230 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the fire. These defects decreasing with increased depth of the mines, thle value of the coal increases in proportion.* There is a very material difference, however, in the quality of the coal taken from each of the seams in the Mount Diablo mines, as well as between this coal and that obtained from other mines on the coast, leading to the inference that each is separate in origin. The Clark or upper seam at Mount Diablo is enclosed in soft sandstone above and below, with scarcely any shale or slate. The Bleach Diamond, or lower seam, is overlaid by three or four feet of slate and shale, and underlaid by two seams of tough clay, separated bv slate highly charged with sulphur, while the coal is comparatively free from that element. The middle seam is divided by slate and contains a large per cent. of sulphur. The following are the prominent traits of the coal found on this coast: The Mount Diablo, California, is an inferior quality of coal, but answers tolerably well, where bulk is no great object, for generating steam. Being cheap it is used to a considerable extent for domestic purposes. The Nanaimo, Vancouvers Island, is excellent for generating gas. It is also extensively used for steam and domestic purposes. It burns with less smoke than Mount Diablo coal, but leaves more ashes. The'Bellingham Bay coal is considered the best on this coast for domestic purposes, as it is tolerably free from odor, and burns with a bright cheerful flame and very little smoke. It may be compared with the lower grades of English coal. The mine is in Washington Territory. In this connection it may not be uninteresting to give results of an analysis made by Messrs. Falkenan & Hanks, San Frantisco Chemical Works, of some Saghaliahen coal from East Siberia, with a comparative table of the results obtained from different kinds of coal, as to their constituents, and the effect obtained in their use: Cd~~~~~~C Designation.' S C ~.. P....SC i!. Ca -. C- -., t0 CS C Lehigh, (Pa.)............590 5.28 89.15 5.56 8.35 792 153 Cumberland, (Neff's) 1. 337 12.67 74.53 11.34 8.82 877 298 Cumberland, (A. & T.).. 1. 333 15.53 76.69 7.33 10. 00 828 505 Sydney................. 1.338 23.81 67.57 5.49 7.47 764 424 Newcastle. 1.257 5.83 57. 00 5.40 8.09 827 595 Coal analysed-. —--— 1. 88 35.70 56.45 6.05................. We have also examined the sample of coal forwarded by you, with a view of determining its, commercial value, and have arrived at the following results: Specific gravity........................................................ 1.2887.9 -Volatile combustible matter................................................ 35.70 Moisture.......... 1.8 Fixed carbon -............................... —-. —-- 56.45 Earthy matter......................................................... 6.05 Amount of gas evolved by 10 pounds avoirdupois of coal, 32 cubic feet. The amount of sulphur contained in the sample was so minute as not to warrant a quantitativedetermination. In regard to its constituents, the coalexamined seems almostidentical with that of Newcastle, England. On igniting the coal, cakes forming a light solid coke, yielding fine reddish gray ashes, which did not show the least tendency to form slag, but passed freely through the grate, were produced. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 231 The Coos Bay, Oregon, is a fair coal for many purposes. When first taken from the mine it appears as compact and solid as "cannel," but as it contains a large per centum of moisture it soon loses this appearance, and crumbles when exposed to the air. It leaves but little ashes, The Fuca Straits, Washington Territory, coal is moderately well adapted to steam or manufacturing purposes, burning with a bright, clear flame and but little smoke, leaving but a small quantity of dark sandy ashes. This coal "cakes" a good deal, which is its chief defect. The coal found farther north not being much used in California, its traits are not well understood. It is found by experience that the coal of this coast is less destructive to boilers and grates than the anthracite imported from Pennsylvania or the bituminous coals of Australia. The article on the geology of the coal formations of the Pacific coast, furnished by Mr. W. M. Gabb, of the California State Geological Survey, and published in the previous report, gives much general information on this branch of the subject, and may be referred to for geological details respecting the formations in which coal is found on the Pacific coast. NEW DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA.-A company has been organized within the past few months for the purpose of working a seam of coal recently discovered near the mouth of Bear creek, a tributary of the San Lorenzo, a few miles above Santa Cruz. The seam is stated to be nearly five feet thick, and the quality good for surface coal. It may be well here to state that coal is much influenced by the atmosphere. Experiments made by the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company of England, prove that coal obtained from the best mines in that country loses 20 per cent. of its heating power when exposed to the atmosphere for a few months in hot climates. The steamers belonging to this company, when in the tropics, consume one-fourth more fuel than when in the temperate climate of Europe. As the temperature of the atmosphere on this coast ranges as high on land during the summer months as in the tropics, it would be unreasonable to expect the coal found near the sturface to be as good as it will be at a depth out of reach of atmospheric influences. A seam of coal is being worked on the south fork of Clear creek, Shasta county, a few miles west of Piety Hill, and about 30 miles from the silver mines. It was discovered in 1863, but was not worked till the discovery of the mines.in 1865 afforded a market for the coal, which is used to generate steam for the engines since erected. A shaft has been sunk on this seam about 60 feet deeps at the bottom of which the coal is found, about four feet thick and of fair quality. In this part of Shasta county there exists a belt of shales nearly a mile wide, tilted to an angle of about 25 degrees, which contains thin seams of coal. These might be made to yield a supply of fuel for local use. Mr. John S. Royal, in January,. 1867, discovered an outcrop of coal in Corral Hollow, San Joaquin county, about 30 miles south of Mount Diablo, in a ravine from which the previous rains had washed the soil to the depth of 25 feet. The seam, where exposed, is about eight feet thick. It is generally believed that the beds of coal worked at Mount Diablo pass through this locality. The cost of transportation and labor has heretofore prevented the working of coal with profit in this vicinity. The projected railroad from San Jose to Stockton passing within four miles, and the San Joaquin river being accessible by a wagon road, it is probable the new discovery may at some future time prove valuable. Nearly 1,00o tons of coal were taken from mines in this vicinity in 1863-200 tons of which came from the Commercial, and 800 tons fiom the O'Brien. The quality was good and well adapted for generating gas. In 1866 a company was organized for the purpose of distilling oil fTom this coal, of which it is said to contain 65 gallons to the ton. The quanitity of water 232 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES that entered the shaft, and the want of proper pumping machinery, caused a suspension of operations. It is possible that with proper machinery the coal deposits of Corral Hollow might be profitably worked. Clark, Bruce & Company have recently discovered three seams of coal on the west side of Butte mountains, on the Colusa road. The position and other conditions lead to the supposition that these seams may be continuations of those worked at Mount Diablo. Samples of the coal tested at Marysville gave satisfactory results. The work of prospecting is being carried on. Deposits of coal have been discovered in San Luis Obispo county, in the Salinas valley, about 70 miles from Monterey. The coal crops out in a small oval valley about a mile in.length, at the head of the Salinas. There are six or seven distinct seams in this outcrop within the distance of 300 feet. The formation has been considerably dislocated and the strata tilted up, but the outcrop may be traced for 20 miles. The third seam from the top is nearly seven feet thick, and has been examined to some extent. The coal is a lignite. The lowest seam in the series is about five feet thick and has also been examined by means of a short tunnel. The other seams vary ftom 10 inches to four feet in thickness. TEI MOUNT DIABLO COAL MINES are located on both sides of a high ridge which projects from the north side of Mount Diablo. Thev are favorably situated for access to navigable. water, being in Contra Costa county, about five miles south fromnt the San Joaquin river, at a point where it is deep enough for vessels of 1,000 tons to approach the bank. The first mine in the district-the Teutonia-was located in 1858. Though coal was discovered there in 1852, none of the valuable mines were located till 1859. Several of the most productive have been located since 1860. It will be perceived by these dates that California coal mining is still in its infaney. The majority of the locations have been made on the outcrop of coal, which is traceable for several miles, trending easterly and westerly. The Peacock mine is on the western edge; the Pacheco and San Francisco are west of the Peacock -but not on the outcrop. The disturbed condition of the seams has caused the abandonment of these three western mines. The Cumberland, or Black Diamond one of the most valuable mines in the district, is located about three-quarters o{ a mile to the north of the Peacock. Somersville a small town created by the working of the mines, is situated about a mile to the east of the Black Diamond, from which' it is separated by a high ridge, and is the centre of operations at present. This place contains about 200 buildings, including hotels, stores, a temperance hall, and a school-house, and has about 800 inhabitants. Within half a mile of it are the mouths of five different mines, from which coal is, or has been, extracted. On the northwest is the Union, a short distance from which is the Manhattan; a few hundred yards further east, and somewhat lower down the side of the ridge, is the Eureka; southeast of this, in a ravine at the base of the western side of the ridge, is the Pittsburg; about 1,000 yards to the north of this, and still lower down in the ravine, is the Independent. All these mines thus clustered together about the sides of a steep, rugged mountain present a singular appearance. The lofty chimneys of the steam engines belching forth columns of dense black smoke; the dark, dingy dwellings of the mniiners and those who minister to their wants; the tall trellis-like viaducts across the ravines, over which the locomotives are constantly passing between the mines and the wharves; the clanking of machinery, and busy hum of workmen and teamsters; the great piles of black waste at the mouth of each mine, all tend to give a peculiar interest, if they do not impart much beauty, to the scene. The distant view of the surrounding country, as seen from the ridge, embraces stretches of grassy -meadows teeming with cattle and sheep; purple hills breaking in rugged outline against the sky, and glimpses of the San Joaquin meandering through its tule banks, dotted with the white sails of sloops and schooners, while here and there WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 233 a neat cottage embosomed in orchards and surrounded. by yellow grain fields, presents a scene of quiet beauty, suggestive of the progress of civilization. The Central mine, one of the first worked, but at present idle, is located near the base of the hill, three-quarters of a mile to the east from Soniersville, from which place it is separated by the hill. The Pacific, the most recently opened in the district, is located near Marsh's creek, seven miles east of Somnersville. The above are all the mines at present in a state of development. Thle Moulnt Hope is on the Black Diamond Company's ground, of which that company resumed possession in August last, and is not described as a separate mine. The mines now producing coal are the Black Diamond, Union, Pittsburg, Independent and Eureka. The workings in these mines are extensive, some of the levels in one connecting with those in another, so that a person may travel a mile onil the line of the seam. It is estimated that during the six years ending July; 1867, 500,000 tons of coal have been taken from these mines. The quantity received at San Francisco, as shown by the following. table, amounted to 302,554 tons, while the consumption on the ground, the waste in handling, &c., and the quantity sent to the interior by water and teams, will make up the difference: Annual receipts of Mount Diablo coal at San Francisco. Tons. 1861................................. 6,620 1862...................................................................... 93,400 1 863...................................................................... 43, 200 1864 — 37,450 189655...................................................................... 59, 559 1 8667.9................................... 79,110 First six months 1867.................................................... 53,215 Total............................................................... 302,554 The discovery of this coal has caused a reduction in the price of the imported article. In 1857 the average price of imported coal was $35 per ton. In 1867 the average price is about $15 per ton. A reduction of $20 per ton. The Mount Diablo coal is used almost exclusively by the river, ferry, and coasting steamers, and by most of the stationary engines at San Francisco, and at places convenient to the rivers. The flour mills at Napa, Suisun, and other places, use it, and considerable quantities are consumed at Sacramento and Stockton. Shipments are occasionally made to the Sandwich Islands,'where it is used for running the engines on the sugar plantations. During the first six months of 1867, 1,300 tons were shipped to Honolulu. The working of the minles has created several prosperous villages in their vicinity, among which may be named Somersville, Clayton, Nortonville or Carbondale, and Pittsburg Landing, the terminus of the Black Diamond railroad, about two miles from Antioch and four miles from New York. From the known dimensions of this coal field it is calculated to contain about 12,000,000 tons. It is probable its extent will be traced beyond the present recognized limits. THE BLACK DIAMOND.-The company owning this mine was incorporated in 1861, and have worked their property continuously since. In August, 1867, the mine produced about 4,000 tons, which was its average monthly product for some time previously. It employs about 150 men. The coal is extracted through two levels, but there is another in progress which, when completed, will strike the vein abotut 800 feet below both the present adits. The upper level is run on what is known as the Black Diamond seam, and is reached by a tunnel 430 feet in length, cut through the sandstone which encloses the coal. The workings on this level extend three-quarters of a mile on both sides of the tunnel. This coal seam is four feet four inches thick. 234 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The second level is about 550 feet below the above, passes through the Clark seanm, which is three feet six inches thick, and extends 300 feet beyond to the Black Diamond seam. The working on the Clark seam extends about half a mile on both sides of the tunnel and several hundred feet on the Black Diamond. The third opening is being made by an incline, which will strike the coal about five hundred feet below both the other levels. It will cut the Clark and the Black Diamond seams. When this incline shall be completed this company will have a sheet of coal to work about 2,000 feet deep, running the length of their claim, nearly a mile. They also own the Manhattan, which they expectto work through the above levels by means of a drift now being cut. In working the Black Diamond the miners pass through several bodies of coal of fair quality, but too small to work with profit, ranging from 12 inches to 18 inches in thickness, each being separated by a stratum of hard black slate. Two miles south of the tunnels on this mine the Black Diamond seam is found to be divided by two lenticular beds of tough clay, each from 10 to 12 feet thick, divided by a body of hard clay slate. This clay furnishes materials for the pottery at Antioch, and makes good fire brick. The mine is worked by stoping and drifting, the men laboring by contract. Every facility is afforded by the company to take the coal out in as compact a form as possible. The arrangements for conveying it from the pit to the vessels on the river afford an illustration of California engineering skill. The mouth of the main adit is situated nearly midway up the side of a steep mountain, several hundred feet above the level of the plain. To overcome this obstacle, a massive incline has been construlcted of framed timbers 900 feet in length, the angle of which is 15 degrees. A double car track is laid on the incline. By means of a stout wire rope passing over a drum, nine feet in diameter, the loaded car is made to haul up the empty one. A car carrying 20 tons of coal descending pulls up 10 tons of timbers and other materials used in the mine. The foot of the incline connects with a railroad over which the cars are hauled by a locomotive to New York, on the San Joaquin river, where the arrangements are completed for loading the fleet of vessels engaged in carrying coal to San Francisco and other places, without any flirther handling. The railroad used by this company has no connection with the Pittsburg road, to be described hereafter; this latter is the property of another corporation. Its terminus on the river is four miles distant from New York. THE PITTSBURG is worked by a stope cut at an angle of 30 degrees, by which the coalis reached at a distance of 3.50 feet. The monthly product is from 1,500 to 1,800 tons. The coal is hoisted by a horizontal winding engine of sufficient power to raise 200 tonlls per day. THE PITTSBURG COAL RA-ILROAD.-In 1862 a charter was granted to a company by the State legislature to construct a railroad from the mines to the river. But little was done towards its construction till the summer of 1865. It was not completed and furnished with rolling stock till February, 1866. The road, a remarkable specimen of engineering skill, is only five and a half miles in length. From the mines to the plain, a distance of a mile and a half, the grade of the track is 274.56 feet to the mile. The four miles from the river to the base of the mountain is constructed on a gradient of 40 to 160 feet to the mile. To overcome the inequalities of the surface of the country eight trestle bridges had to be constructed, the most extensive of which is 340 feet in length; a tunnel 300 feet long had to be cut, and a number of heavy banks and culverts built. All the timber used in making the bridges is selected Oregon pine and California redwood. The rails, of English iron, are laid on square redwood ties. The gauge of the road is four feet eight and one-half inches. To overcome the friction of such a steep grade, two locomotives of a peculiar construction have been made at San Francisco. They have powerful engines and three pairs of 36-inch driving-wheels each, with cylinders 14 by 18 inches. Each weighs WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 235 about 17 tons when loaded with fuel and water, which they carry themselves, having no tenders. The total cost of the road is about $145,000. All the mines in a positiol to do so have constructed side branches to conneet with this road. It is estimated that it can deliver 3,000 tons of coal daily on board the vessels at the wharf. The coal is shipped from the cars to the vessels bv shutes. The friction on the brakes when thle locomotives are coming down the incline is tremendous, but thus far no serious accidents have happened. The coal from the Union, Pittsburg, Independent, and Eureka mines is carried by this road. THE TEUTONIA, the pioneer of the district, has been explored to a depth cf 500 feet by means of an incline cut at an angle of 30 degrees. At this depth the upper seam of coal, two feet thick, was reached. A horizontal drift from the bottom of this incline strikes the CIark seam where it is 3 feet 10 inches thick. Another drift, run in an opposite direction, strikes the lower or Black Diamond seam. It is known that there are two other seams of coal in this mine, the lowest of which is about five feet thick. The want of cheap facilities for conveying the coal to market prevents the owners from working it to advantage. The company owns 640 acres of coal land; have good engines, pumps, and hoisting gear. The mine faces the property of the Pacific Company; the ground nearly four miles between the two mines is almost a level plain. The land belonging to the Pacific Company extends to the hills bounding the Teutonia Company's ground. THE, UNION.-Operations on this mine were commenced in 1861. The coal is reached by a stope, which, in July, 1867, was 500 feet in IeAgth, having a vertical depth of 230 feet. The seam averages three feet six inches in thickness, and is on the Clark, or.upper seam. The monthly product ranges fiom 1,800 to 2,000 tons. The hoisting is done by a horizontal driving engine. THE, INDEPENDENT.-Work on this mine was commenced in 1861, though the coal was not reached till 1866, owing to the quantity of water that entered the shaft, the mine being the lowest in the district, and worked by a perpendicular shaft 700 feet deep. Upwards of $180,000 was expended for machinery, pumps, labor, &C., before the coal was reached. The pump in use at present, and which is barely sufficient to keep the mine dry, is driven by a 75-horse power horizontal engine, and lifts 130,000 gallons per hour. So great is the influx of water that a stoppage of the pumps for 24 hours would require ~0 days' pumping to clear it. The hoisting and other machinery is powerful. The cages, or hoisting cars, each holding nearly a. ton, are lifted by a rope four inches in circumference. About 200 car-loads are hoisted daily. The product of the mine averages about 1,500 tons monthly. THrE EurmRKA is owned and worked by the Independent Company. About 160 men are employed in both mines. This produces about 1,500 tons per month, but could produce more. The company, in March, 1867, increased their capital from $500,000 to $3,000,000, in order to conduct operations on a larger scale and have since made improvements. The coal is obtained by an incline 600 feet in length, at an angle of 45~. It is taken from three seams. The upper, or Clark seam, is three feet eight inches thick; the middle, two feet six inches; and the lower, or Black Diamond, four feet. The two upper seams are passed through in reaching the lower one. The distance between the upper and lower varies from 225 to 350 feet. The Eureka uses a horizontal winding engine for hoisting. TEHE CENTRAL which, prior to the construction of railroads by the Pitsburg and Black Diamond Companies, furnished a large portion of the coal sent to market, is at present idle. The slow and expensive transportation by teams places it out of the field in competition with mines having the advantage of rail 236 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES roads. It is in contemplation to construct a railroad to connect it and the Teutonia with the river. Both these mines are located on the same side of the mountain, and suffer alike from want of cheap transportation; both contain unbroken seams of coal; have been well opened, and have powerful machinery for working purposes. THE PACIFIC, the property of a wealthy corporation of New Yorkli capitalists, is located about six miles east of Somersville, on the Rancho de los Megahos, or Marsh's ranch, as it is now called. The ranch covers three square leagues of land, embracing a portion of the foot-hills at the base of Mount Diablo, and extending to the San Joaquin river. Borings and other explorations have satisfied the engineers and agents of the company that the seams of coal worked in Mount Diablo pass in a nearly horizontal position under this ranch, covering a space of six miles square. A shaft is now in progress at a point near the western extremity of the ranch, several miles west of the disturbed formation in the Peacock, Pacheco, and San Francisco Companies' ground. It is calculated that this shaft will strike the Black Diamond seam at a depth of 400 feet. The calculation is based on the dip of the seam, which was reached by ani incline sunk about 1,200 feet, from - which the seam was prospected 200 feet laterally and found to average four feet four inches in thicknesss. The Clark and middle seams were reached in July last, dipping at an angle of 30~, leaving little room to doubt that the more important seam will be reached at a sufficient — depth. The coal taken from the mine at present is used in running the machinery. The shaft in progress is intended to serve as the general outlet of the mine. Its dimensions are 16 feet by S inside the timbers. It is timbered all through and divided into three compartments two of which are fitted for hoisting purposes. The centre serves as the pump shaft. It is estimated that when the mine is fairly opened and the machinery in operation, 20 tons of coal can be raised per hour. In July last, the shaft had reached 150 feet in depth. The machinery was made at the Union Iron Works, at San Francisco. The pumping engine weighs 20 tons and is of 175-horse power, with three boilers, each 35 feet long and 42 inches in diameter. The pump is what is known as a Cornish "lift," having a six-feet stroke and 121-inch bore. It is estimated to be capable of raising a body of water the size of the bore 1,000 feet. The company have a tease of 13,316 acres of coal land. A railroad from the mine to the river is projected. LABOR, WAGES, &c.-It is estimated that 1,000 men are employed.in and about the mines at Mount Diablo. The miners work chiefly by contract. The general price for breaking out the coal is $1 per square yard. The men who perform this labor make from $4 to $6 per day. The unskilled laborers are paid from $40 to $65 per month, in gold. Board and Jlodging costs-from $6 to $8 per week. No Chinese are employed. The monthly wages paid by the several mines in this district aggregates about $50,000 or $600,000 per annum. The average cost to the companies for extracting and delivering the coal is $6 per ton, divided as follows: Miners' wages, hoisting, wear and tear, and interest on capital, or total cost of coal in the bunkers at mouth of mine, $3 50 per ton; freight by railroad to Pittsburg, $1 per ton; shipping from thence to San Francisco, $1 per ton; commissions and, general management, 50 cents per ton. The present market value of Mount Diablo coal suitable for domestic purposes is from $8 to $9 per ton. As only 80 per cent. of that placed in the bunkers is marketable, 20 per cent. being screenings, which are sold at $5 per ton, the margin of profit, after all expenses are paid, is very linmited. The above shows as nearly as can be ascertained the present condition and future prospects of the coal mines in California. It has not been a remunerative business to the capitalists who have engaged in it, owing to inexperience in the working of the mines injudicious management, the high cost of roads to WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 237 navigable waters, and the difficulties to be overcome in creating a market where the best imported coals had been so long in use. All these obstacles to success are gradually disappearing, and it is believed the coal interest in California will, in time, pay a fair percentage upon the capital invested in it. Incidentally it has been of advantage to the country, having furnished employment to a considerable number of laborers, created a demand for machinery, and supplied cheap fuel for domestic use and for purposes of manufacture and navigation. THE COAL MINES oF OREGON.-A seam of coal was discovered in May, 1867, on the land belonging to Mr. Frank Cooper, in Marion county, about 30 miles kom Salem. Considerable quantities of the coal have been sent to that city, where it sells readily. A wagon road is being constructed thence to the lmine, in order to supply the demand. At the depth of 65 feet the seam is about five feet thick, and the quality of the coal better than at the surface. Good coal has been found near the Premier mills, on Bear creek, a tributary of the Yaquina river, in Benton county, about 30 miles west from Corvallis. Five separate seams of coal have been found in this locality, varying from six inches to four feet in thickness. The most valuable seam is within five miles of Yaquinabay. This is about four feet thick and nearly horizontal in position. It has been prospected over a considerable extent of the adjoining country. It is estimated that coal in this vicinity can be delivered at $3 50 per ton, owing to natural facilities for working and transportation. Most of the mines are not more than five miles from navigable waters, and that distance over an almost level plain. A railroad could be cheaply constructed to the place of debarcation. Towards the close of 1S66 a seam of coal was discovered on the bank of Tillamook bay, 50 miles south of Astoria and 60 miles northwest from Salem. There is another coal seam of a similar character on the shore of Nehalem about 25 miles further up the river. Extensive beds of coal are in progress of exploration about three miles from Farwell bend, on the Snake river. A tunnel has been run on a vertical seam about 300 feet, where a number of smaller seams connect and form a body of coal about 10 feet thick. The mouth of the tunnel is close to the bank of the river. Another seam of coal discovered, 200 feet above the original discovery, is said to contain good coar, and to be five feet thick. Coal has been found in the Calapooya mountains, within a few miles of Barry's survey for a railroad from the Columbia river to California. This discovery is considered of importance in that part of Oregon. There is a coal field on both sides of the Coquille river, in Coos county. The Coos Bay mines are in the northern edge of this field, which extends into Curry county. The seams, of which there are three, are thicker and the coal of a better quality on the Coquille river than at Coos bay. The two larger seams unite on the river and form a body of coal nearly 13 feet thick. There is another field between the south and middle forks of the Coquitle, which is 1,600 feet higher in the mountains than the last mentioned. It has been traced for 22 miles in length by eight miles in width. One seam is 10 feet thick. The Coos Bay deposit extends about 25 miles north and south, and 20 miles east and west. It is most valuable on the south, but is only worked on the north. Coos BAY COAL.-What is known as Coos Bay coal bears a good reputation in California. It is found in a number of seams which crop out on the surface of the ridge that divides Coos bay on the south from the Coquilleiiver. The locality of the best mine will be understood from a brief description of the bay. Coos bay is about 14 miles in length, varying fiom one and a half to two and a half miles wide. The main part of it has a direction northeast by southwest. At the upper end there is a sharp bend to the north. The Coos river rises some 30 miles inland and enters the upper end of the bend. Four miles from the mouth, in a densely timbered and hilly country, is Marshfield, the centre of the coal mining. The facilities for working the mines are crude. If 238 RESOURCES OF STATES ARD TERRITORIES the arrangements were more complete the supply of coal could be increased. There is a good entrance to the bay. The bar at its mouth has 14 feet of water at high tide, and there is a government light-house convenient. Four miles from the entrance of the bay, on the south shore, is Empire City, the seat of Coos county, a thriving little place. The supply of Coos bay coal at San Francisco has increased during the past three years, as the following table will show. The consumption has increased in Oregon to an equal extent. l865~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.~~500 tons. 1865.................................................... 500 tons. 1866 2,120 " 1867, (first six months only)..........2.......................2520" COAL IN WASHINGTON TERxITORY.-A seam of coal is being worked on the bank of the Cowlitz river, six or eight miles from where it unites with the Columbia. The Cowlitz coal differs in appearance and composition from other coal found on this coast. It is light, its specific gravity scarcely exceeding 1. It breaks with a bright glassy fracture, burns with a peculiar white flame and very little smnoke, leaving but a small per cent. of white, powdery ashes. It contains no sulphur, does not soil the fingers in handling, makes a hot fire, which continues longer than most of the west coast coal. It cakes in burning and makes a considerable per cent of coke. Professor W. P. Blake has made an examination of this mine and coal, and considers them valuable. A coal mine of some reputation is at Bellingham bay, near the northwest boundary of the Territory. About two years since it became the property of a San Francisco corporation, which had commenced making improvements for mining and exporting the coal, when, from some cause not clearly understood the mine took fire. The fire could not be subdued till the underground works were flooded. This misfortune prevented operations in the mine for nearly a year, and caused a serious loss to the company. It was reopened in February, 1867. The first cargo of coal since the fire was received in May. Since that time the supply has steadily increased. The following table gives the quantity of coal from this mine received at San Francisco during the past three years: 1865.........14,446 tons. 1866.................................................... 11,380 1867,(first six months only)................................ 1,275 " THEr FUCA STRAITS COAL MIINES are situated in the northern part of Washington Territory, on the south shore of the Straits of Fuca, about 45 miles southwest from Victoria and 40 miles southeast from the Pacific ocean. The company owning the mines possess 2,080 acres of the surrounding country. The land embraces the shores of Clallam bay for several miles. The surface of the country is exceedingly hilly and broken, and is covered with a dense forest of spruce, fir, and cedar to the water's edge. Its geological formation is exposed by several landslides of recent occurrence, some of them being quite close to thenmine. It consists of sandstones and shales, with occasional conglomerate, the whole broken, divided, and tilted up in different ~ections by dikes of indurated sandstone. To such an extent has this displacement been effected that it is difficult to trace the continuity of the stratification,. The largest bodies of the exposed strata dip toward the land at angles varying from 15~ to 40~. The croppings of the coal are conspicuous from Clallam bay to Pillar Point, eight miles to the southeast. The lowest seam is about two feet thick, and is seen some 60 feet above the water line of the bay, in the face of the hill where the mine has been opened. It dips towards the land at an angle of 35~. About 250 feet higher in the hill is another seam about 15 inches thick, and 300 feet still higher another eight inches thick. The mine is located on the lowest of these seams. The work done by the compay inoludes a tunnel run into the face of the hill 70 feet, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 239 where it reaches the coal, at a convenient level for shipping. From this point an incline 250 feet in length has been -un on the seam, the lower part of which changes its dip from 35~ to 25~. Lateral drifts have been run 350 feet to the east and 180 feet to the west, the latter terminated by a thick sandstone dyke. Two dikes of similar materials were met in the other drift, one four, the other nine feet thick. About 1,500 tons of coal were taken from this mine up to the close of 1866, when operations were suspended for want of funds to carry them on. In 1867 a company was incorporated for the purpose of working this mine, under the title of the Phoenix Coal Mining Company. Operations now give better promise of success. The original owners, having no other machinery than a hand pump and windlass, labored under disadvantages. The coal, owing to the expense of labor, cost $7 50 per ton, delivered at San Francisco. The new company, having pumps and hoisting gear worked by steam, can obtain it at less expense. The first cargo, 500 tons, from this mine since it has been reoponed, was received at San Francisco in August, 1867, where it sold at $12 per ton, costing the comparny $6 per ton to deliver. The English government steamer Zealous has been supplied from this mine. The engineers of that vessel speaksfavorably of the coal, stating that it makes less soot in the flues and less ashes than anyother obtained on the coast. The new company have extended the workings onil the original incline to 1,300 feet, where the seam is nearly four feet thick. In making lateral drifts from the bottom of the incline, the dikes mentioned as interfering with the workings on the.upper levels were not met with, though these lower drifts were extended 300 feet northeast and nearly 700 feet northwest. About 40 men are at present employed at the mine, who take out 100 tons of coal per week. Investigations by experinced ninig engineers and geologists lead to the'conelusion that there is an extensive bed of coal in Clallam valley, of which the seams above described are but the margin. A bore 292 feet deep was sunk in this valley in 1866, at'a point about amile and a half from the bay. It passed through the following formations: Feet. Inches. Sandstone..11 6 Sandstone............................................ 6 Till........1.. 1 0 Sandstone............................................. 5 0 Till................................................. 7 0 Till..7 Q Hard sandstone.......................................... 1 0 Beds of hard clay.,..................................... 5 0 Sandstone........................................... 48 0 Fire-clay....... 5 0 Sandstone............................................... 4 6 Till.......1 6 Titll............................................. 1 6 Sandstone, in beds...................................... 8 10 Till.....................................................5 0 Sandstone............1 6 Till................................................ 6 6 Sandstone............................................. 3 6 Till................................................... 1 4 Clay, in beds......................................... 12 6 Hard freestone....................................... 0 10 Sandstone.................................. 13 6 Coal............................................. 0 8 Below this the bore passed through alternate layers of sandstone, shale and conglomorate, till work was stopped for want of machinery. 240 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES It is a matter of some importance to ascertain the extent of the deposit in this locality, as the quality of the coal in Fuca Straits mine is such that a good supply of it is-desirable. OTHER COAL MINES IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.-In July, 1867, the Coal Creek Road Company, of Seattle, Washington Territory, was incorporated under a special act of the territorial legislature, with a capital of $30000, for the purpose of constructing a road and making other improvements for developing the coal mines opened to the east of that town. These mines are reported to contain excellent coal. A seam of coal has been recently opened near Monticello, Cowlitz county, about 740 miles northeast of Mount Diablo. Some of it, tested on board the Oregon Steam Navigation Company's vessels, was found to be good for steam purposes burning with a clear flame and but little smoke, leaving but a small residue of ashes. COAL IN NEVADA.-It is believed by persons who have travelled over this State that good coal exists nears its northern and western boundaries. A seam of lignite is reported to have been found during the past summer a few miles from Hiko, the county seat of Lincoln county, near the Pahranagat district. The surveyors employed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company report the existence of coal at the eastern base of the mountains near Crystal Peak, convenient to the Truckee river, in the immediate vicinity of the line of that railroad. Parties prospecting for gold and silver among the Goose Creek mountains report croppings of coal at several places in that part of the State. The Goose Creek mountains are on'the line of the Central Pacific railroad, above the valley of the Humboldt. Coal has been known to exist in these mountains for many years. The early emigrants who crossed the plains in 1850 frequently spoke of having seen it. An inferior quality of coal is known to exist in the mountain ranges of western Nevada, and in the Walker river country. COAL IN UTAH. A seam of bituminous coal, about six feet thick, has been explored on Webber creek, a few miles from Great Salt Lake City. It is nearly horizontal in position, overlaid by strata of sandstone and a deposit of conglomorate. Coal has also been found at Beaver creek, about 300 miles south from Salt Lake. THE VANCOUvER ISLAND MINES are being worked to some extent. Exports in June from the Nanaimo mine reached 3,636 tons, and July 4,676 tons. The imports of this coal at San Francisco during the past three years has been asfollows: 1865, 18,181 tons; 1866, 10,852 tons; 1867, 9,160 tons, for first, six months only. CONCLUDING REMARKs.-The existence of coal along the northwest coast of the Pacific has been known since the discovery of the country. The seams cropping out in the face of nearly every bluff and promontory from Oregon to Sitka are too conspicuous to have been overlooked. The cost of and difficulty in procuring labor and transportation, as well as the lack of enterprise on the part of the settlers along the coast, have retarded the development of this important resource. The condemnation of valuable discoveries by pretended experts on account of presumed subterranean disturbances in the vicinity has discouraged capitalists from testing the value of many good mines. It is proper here to remark that the subterraneous disturbances on this coast are remarkably local in their effects, rarely extending for any considerable distance. The developments in the Mount Diablo district illustrate this fact. The section in this district on which is located the Peacock, Pacheco, and San Francisco mines is found to be so much broken and disturbed as to render the workings of these mines unprofit WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 241 able, while to the north and south the coal has not been broken or displaoed. It is, therefore, probable that many bodies of coal which are now considered too much broken to pay for development will be found valuable on more thorough, examination. The extent of the coal formnation on the Pacific coast is surprising. Mr. Foucoult, a French gentleman, who spent several years examining the northern coast from Washington Territory to the newly-acquired territory of Alaska, states that anthracite exists at Skidegate inlet, Queen Charlotte's island, and that a seam of the same kind of coal is seen cropping out on the mainland opposite, about 40 miles distant. Specimens have been sent to San Francisco, where they were examined by competent persons, who pronounced them of good quality. The extent of these deposits is unknown, but they establish the fact of the existence of anthracite on this coast. Vancduver's island contains sheets of coal, which may be seen cropping out at various points along its shores on the east and west. From Cape Flattery to Admiralty inlet, in Washington Territory, there is an almost continuous outcrop of coal. The Fuca Straits mine, described above, is only 16 miles from the croppings on Neah bay. Unfortunately this part of the coast is destitute of a good harbor, or doubtless the coal would have been developed to a much greater extent. But capital and engineering skill can overcome even this defect if the inducements are sufficient. From the above data it will be seen that the coal deposits west of the Rocky mountains, though yielding an inferior quality of coal, are quite extensive, and furnish such promise of improvement as to justify the belief that the supply will be sufficient in the future for the demands of all branches of industry on the Pacific coast. MARBLE- LIMESTONE &c. —The use of marble for domestic artistic and funeral purposes is very general in California, especially in San.Francisco. Marble mantels, tables, and slabs are to be found in almost every residence, workshop, and store. The graves of all, save the utterly friendless dead, are adorned with marble tablet or monument of some kind. This taste has created an important branch of productive industry. There are fourteen factories engaged in the manufactures of marble in San Francisco, some of which employ 30 or 40 men. One has steam machinery for cutting and polishing the marble, and turns out 3,000 feet of slabs per month, in addition to tombstones, mantels, and other ornamental work. There are marble factories at Sacramento and Marysville, and one at each of the following towns in the interior: Stockton, Sonora, Petaluma, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Downieville, Folsom, and other places. Probably 1,000 persons are employed in California quarrying, transporting, and working marble. The consumption in San Francisco averages 500 cubic feet per month; the factories in the interior use about one-fourth as much; total consumption in the State, say 600 feet per month, or 7,200 feet per annum. The average price of marble at present is $5 per foot. It thus appears that the value of the raw material used in this business amounts to $36,000 annually. The value of manufactured marble in the State is estimated at $2,500,000. The most singular and suggestive feature in this business is presented in the fact that, although California contains an abundance of marble of great beauty and variety, most of that used in San Francisco is imported from Italy or New York. This fact may be attributed to the want of good roads and cheap transportation. It is found more economical to bring the raw material from Genoa, Italy, including transhipment at Bordeaux or Marseilles, than from the foot hills in the State, less than 100 miles from Stockton or Sacramento. There are two firms in San Francisco engaged in the importation of marble. Brigadelli & Co. are in the Italian branch of the business. They own a vessel of 300 tons register, sailing between San Francisco and Genoa. Large quanti16 242 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ties are brought by French Vessels from French ports. From June, 1866, to Junle, 1867, this firm imported 545 tons of Italian marble and had 600 tons more on the way, the whole of which was sold, leaving orders still unfilled. The present price of Italian marble is 50 cents per superficial foot, in slabs of seveneilghths of an inch thick; in blocks of ordinary dimensions, $5 per cubic foot; blocks weighing several tons at $6 per cubic foot. California marble cannot be laid down in San Francisco at these rates. Myers & Co. Import Italian marble from New York, where it is brought in vessels from Genoa. This firm also imports white marble from Vermont, which sells at $15 per cubic foot being used in the finer kinds of work. Some of the ornamental mantels in the homes of the wealthy cost $750 to $1,000 each. The marble dust used in the preparation of effervescing beverages is imported from New York. Five hundred tons annually are consumed, at a cost of about $30 per ton. The cost of transpolrtation, which gives the imported marble a monopoly of the malkets along the coast, prohibits its introduction in the interior. All the factories in towns above Sacramento, Marysville, and Stockton use the native marble, because it is cheapest at these places. With reference to the quality of the Pacific coast marble, as compared with the imported article, the fact should be taken into consideration that it is excavated from near the surface. None of the quarries have been opened to any considerable depth; consequently the marble is scarcely as fine in color or texture as it will be found at a greater depth.! lMuch of it, nevertheless, when compared with the Italian, loses nothing by the contrast. Many samples of the California marble are superior. The block of white marble, firom the quarry at Columbia, rTuolumne county, from which the sculptor Devine formed the bust of the late Senator B. oderick, compares favorably with the Carrara in color, texture, and purity. The recently-discovered quarries of black and white marbles near Colfax, Placer county, on the line of the Central Pacific railroad, will probably stop the importations from Italy. The beauty of the black marble fromnt this locality, the exquisite polish it retains, and the advantage the owners of the quarry possess in railroad communication, which enables them to deliver it at San Francisco cheaper than the Italian, will probably give it the control of the market. There are many localities in California where quarries of marble are known to exist, but, with few exceptions, they remain undeveloped. A belt of limestone traverses the State from north to south, between the foot hills and the Sierras, said to be 20 miles wide, forming a prominent feature in the topography of the counties famous for placer gold, particularly in Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, Nevada, ElDorado, andPlacer counties. This belt abounds in white or grayish marble; and it is not improbable marble of variegated colors will be found on more thorough examination, as local causes are known to control the color. In illustration, it may be stated that in the gulch on the south side of the road between Columbia and Gold Springs, Tuolumne county, there are bodies of maxble of a jetty blackness, colored by manganese; on Matelot gulch, about a mile to the east, there is a deposit of marble which, through the action of salts of iron, has been mottled with red, brown, yellow, blue, and green spots; on Mormon gulch, about three miles to the west, are masses of marble of very fine textureveined with pale green by the action of chlorine. This variety of color is not peculiar to that locality, but may be observed throughout'the State. The Suisun marble, of Solano county, and the black and white marbles recently found near Colfax, Placer county, are cases in point. Little attention has thus far been paid to the marble quarries of the State, because the working of them has not been profitable, except in a few localities. As soon as railroads and cheaper labor shall remove existing impediments, they will probably become a source of profit both to individuals and to the State. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 243 The most important quarries at present worked are the following: INDIAN DIGGINGS.- This quarry is located on the limestone belt, above referred to, in El Dorado county. It was opened in 1857. A considerable quantity of marble has been taken from it, darkly and coarsely marked with gray and black. It is very beautiful in large masses, but-has a smeary appearance in small pieces; it is susceptible of a high polish, which it retains well. Monuments, after exposure for 10 years to the heat and cold peculiar to the foot hills of California, are as bright and glossy on the surface and edges as when erected. The COLUMBIA is located on the same limestone belt, on the Tuolumne county side of south fork of Stanislaus river, near Abbey's Ferry, 70 miles fromStockton, the head of navigation on the San Joaquin river. This quarry was opened in 1860, and has been well developed. The quality of the marble is fine in grain and nearly white, with pale gray pencillings, and has improved with the depth of the workings. Blocks of 20 feet square, without flaw or blemish, may be obtained from this quarry. Machinery was erected for working it, and a mill built for cutting the blocks into slabs and polishing them. The works consisted of a revolving derrick with a boom 60 feet in length, by means of which two men could take blocks weighing 10 to 15 tons from any part of the quarry and place them on cars which ran on a track laid around it and connected with the mill. This mill had 100 saws and four polishing machines, moved by water power. Many thousands of tons of marble were cut here between 1862 and 1866. The increase of importations, erection of similar machinery at San Francisco and the impossibility of sending the product to market during the winter, owing to the want of good roads, has caused the proprietors to cease operations, except during the summer. Some of the handsomest monuments in the State are made of this marble; that erected to the memory of the late Senator Broderick in the Lone Mountain cemetery, at San Francisco, is a beautiful specimen. THE COLFAX QUARRIxrs.-The most noted of these was discovered in 1866, in the mountains bordering the Bear river, about two miles to the east of the town of Colfax, Placer county, near the line of the Central Pacific railroad. The marble differs from all others found on the coast, being a dark gray, with jet black venation. When polished it is very beautiful. The mantels in the new Bank of California are made of this marble, which contributes to the beauty of the interior of that structure. The proprietors of the quarry are among the first to derive direct benefit from the Central Pacific railroad, and their case illustrates how great an advantage that road will be in developing the resources of the State. Without such a means of transportation the marble could not be delivered at San Francisco for less than $20 per ton; with it freight is only $8 per ton. The owners of the quarry at Columbia pay $10 per ton for hauling their marble to. Stockton when the roads are good, but from $12 to $15 per ton during the winter, with an addition of $2 per ton from that place to San Francisco by water. The expenses for transportation are still higher from the Indian Diggings quarry. Expense of transportation alone has thus far prevented the development of this valuable resource, and cost the State as much for imported marble as would have nearly paid for a railroad to the quarries. There is a quarry of nearly white marble recently discovered on the Appleton ranch, about seven miles from Colfax and two miles from the railroad. Some fine blocks have been sent from it to San Francisco. Both these quarries are in the limestone belt. The SuIsuN marble is found in the Peleoo Hills, a short distance north of the city of Suisun, Solano county. It occurs in the form of irregular beds, in a peculiar sandstone formation, and is of various shades of brown and yellow, beautifully blended in bands and threads, similar to the famous stalagmites.of Gibraltar, which it resembles in origin and structure, as well as in appearance. 244 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES It has been formed by water, holding lime and iron in solution, percolating through the sandstone and depositing the mineral in cavities; consequently it is only found in limited quantity, though much of it, of an impure quality, is burned for making lime. OTHER LOCALITIES WHERPE MARBLE HAS BEEN FOUNo.-A quarry of marble has been opened recently on Butte creek, about 40 miles from Oroville, Butte county, near the lately-discovered iron mines. The quality is good, the color gray and white, and the deposit extensive, being on the limestone belt. There are other localities in the State where marble has been found, but the explorations have been too limited to determine their value. In May, 1867, Mir. J. R. Brown discovered and located a quarry of marble a few miles north of Auburn, Placer county, of a nearly white color. Samples sent to San Francisco are considered fine. The quantity is abundant. A marble quarrTy has also been found to the south of the Bay of Monterey, in the Coast range. LIMESTONE AND LImE.-The supply of these materials is abundant in nearly all parts of California. The great belt of limestone so frequently referred to furnishes materials for lime for the towns in the foot hills and among the Sierras; while in the coast range there are other calcareous rocks, which supply the demands for lime in the towns and cities along the coast and on the plains. The consumption of lime at San Francisco averages about 100,000 barrels annually, three-fourths of which is obtained from the vicinity of Santa Cruz, on the ranch of. the Caiada del Rincon, where there is a supply of white metamorphic limestone, which makes good lime. Considerable quantities ar'e also brought from Sacramento. Since the completion of the Central Pacific railroad in that vicinity, lime is brought to San Francisco from near Auburn and Clipper Gap, Placer county. About 5,000 barrels are brought to Sacramento monthly by the railroad, and the supply is increasing with the facilities for its preparation and transportation. The imports of lime at San Francisco, since 1864, have been as follows: Barrels. 864...................................................................... 73,553 1865..................................................................... 90, 037 1866 -898..........6...................................... 89, 8 1867 (for first six months only)......................................... 67,840 Total............................................................... 321,216 Average price during this time, $2 25 per barrel. The consumption of lime in San Francisco during the past three and a half years has cost $722,736. The increase of brick and stone buildings during the latter half of 1867 has greatly augmented the consumption of lime. The construction of railroads and increase in buildings in the interior towns hlas also increased the consumption. The lime used for various purposes in the State annually probably exceeds $1,000,000 in value. The Golden City Chemical Works, at San Francisco, have made a few tons of chloride of lime as an experiment, but the demand for this compound is so small on this coast that its manufacture is unimportant. It was ascertained in making these experiments that the California lime will not absorb as much chlorine as that made in the Atlantic States or Europe. This may be the effect of a variety (f causes; but it is of importance, both in practice and to science. Some of the English lime will absorb 50 per cent. of chlorine. None obtained in California would take up 30 per cent. The general per cent. of chlorine in imported chloride of lime does not exceed 10. It loses its strength during the voyage. OTHER CALCAREOUS MINERALS-SULPHATE OF LImE.-There are deposits of this mineral in various forms in all the States and Territories on this coast. It is valuable when burned as a fertilizer on heavy clay lands, such as constitute WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 245 muoh of "tule" and "adobe" bottoms in California. It is abundant in the coast range. A body of it is found in the form of selenite in the hills new Stockton, w~ithin a few miles of the San Joaquin river. Considerable quantities of the same mineral are known to exist in most of the mountains which have been examnined for silver in Alpine county, among the the high Sierras. Sulphate of lime, in the form of alabaster, is found in Tuolumne, Los Angeles, Solano, and several other counties. -Near Silver City, Story county, Nevada, alabaster of great beauty is found, but it soon crumbles on exposure to the atmosphere. In 1862 this deposit was quarried as marble. It was soon discovered that blocks cut from it fell to pieces, and were useless for building and ornamental purposes; but it makes good plaster of Paris. Beds of friable sulphate of lime exist in the vicinity of the Sulphur Springs, near Red Bluffs, Tehama county, in the form of loose grains, deposited by the waters of the thermal springs, which cover acres of ground in the vicinity. All the hot springs on this coast deposit sulphliate of lime, in some form or other. In the Granite mountains, between Chico, in Tehama county, and Idaho, there are numerous deposits of gypsum. Anhydrate, or dry sulphate of lime, is found in Plumas and Sierrai counties. Professor Whitney, State geologist of California, has various specimens. Excellent materials for the manufacture of plaster of Paris exist on this coast. Considering the simpleness of its preparation it is remnarkable that its manufacture has not been attempted. The imports of plaster of Paris amount to about 6,000 barrels annually at San Francisco, at an average cost of $4 per barrel, or nearly $25,000 per annum. Nearly all imported is fiom New York. DOLOMITE On MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.-This mineral has been found during the present year, on the Merced river, between Horseshoe Bend and Don Pedro's bar. It is fine grained, of a yellowish gray color, having much the appearance of "Turkey stone," and is prized for hones for sharpening razors, penknives, &c. It has been mistaken for lithographic limestone The deposits are abundant, and it may ultimately be found an important resource. HYDRAULIC LIMESTONE.-California contains deposits of this valuable mineral, of good quality. The best known are found in a range of hills at the back of Benicia, Solano county. Hydraulic, or Benicia cement, as it is called, is made here in considerable quantities, a company having been incorporated in 1860 for the purpose of carrying on its manufacture. The company has good machinery, kilus, and the necessary arrangement for making several thousand barrels per month. An impetus has been given to this business by- the action of the State harbor commissioners, who having charge of the construction of the sea-wall, in the harbor of San Francisco, have had experiments made with the various cements. The Benicia cement proving satisfactory, has been selected for use in the wall, which will be several miles ini length, and of great depth and thickness, and will consequently require many thousand tons of cement. This action of the commissioners has had a tendency to remove a prejudice that had been cultivated by interested parties against the California cement. The imports of cement have been heavy for several years at San Francisco, the damp nature of the foundations in the business portions of the city requiring the bricks or stones to be laid in cement for several feet in extensive buildings. In 1866, 23,812 barrels were imported, at a cost of $91,648. During the first six months of 1867; 14,517 barrels were imported, at a cost of $50,000. These figures show the importance of this business. The mineral in the vicinity of Benicia is found in a series of deposits extending for several miiles. Though there does not appear to be any regular stratum of it, there is sufficient to last formany years should the consumption reach 100,000 barrels annually. 246 RESOURCES OF STATES ANDI) TERRITORIES Hydraulic limestone is a sub-carbonate of lime, which owesits value to its property of hardening under water, to a certain proportion of clay in its composition. Too much clay causes it to set too slowly, while too little renders it unfit for use as a cement. It is necessary to make this explanation to render the following statements intelligible: There are two varieties of this mineral at Benicia, the one making a cement which hardens very rapidly, the other very slowly. Experience and observation prove that a combination of the two makes a hard, durable cement, which may be regulated to harden in any required time. Common limestone exists near the cement rock. The workmen first employed in making the cement, not being aware of the difference, mixed all together in the kilns; the consequence was to spoil the whole, and give the product a bad character in the market. But the processes for its preparation are now better understood, and the, workmen more experienced. Such contaminations are avoided, and a really good cement is prepared. This Benicia cement stone is of a dark yellowish color, speckled with black, tolerably soft; breaks with a dull, earthy fracture, without any appearance of crystalization. The following table gives the results of some of the experiments made with vafiouskinds of cements, to test the time each requires for "setting" in the air and under water: ~~Composition. |Time setting Time setting Composition- in air. in water. 1st quality Benicia cement. 3 5 8 10 2d quality Benicia cement.....................25 30 30 50 Mixture of both........................ 50 1.00 1.20 1.'25 Roman cement 30 50 45 1.00 Eastern cement............................................. 00 1.20 1.50 2.20 Mixture of equal parts Benicia cement and sand. 2......... 20 1.50 2.40 3.10 MiXture of one part of Benicia cement and two parts sand.... 1.50 3. 10 4. 10 5.25 This cement is much used in the manufacture of drainage and water pipes. There are several factories of these articles in California. Miles of such pipe axe laid down in San Francisco. Other places in the Coast range and foot hills have been found where cement stone is known to exist. On the banks of Hospital creek, a few miles south of Corral Hollow, San Joaquin county, there is a deposit of it similar in appearance and composition to that worked at Benicia. Within the past few months a hydraulic limestone has been discovered in Washington Terrnitory, on the Columbia river, abqut seven miles north from Astoria. Works are in course of erection to manufacture cement at this place. There can be but little doubt that this mineral will be found abundantly all along this coast whenever an intelligent search shall be made for it. The metamorphosis of the rocks in the Coast range has been of a nature to form it extensively. OREGON.-Limestone and marble are not so abundant in this State and the Territories north and west as in California. As mentioned in the report on i ron, the Oregon smelting works have to import the limestone used in that establishment.-from the Island of San Juan. The limestone formation extending from Siskiyou to Los Angeles, in California, does not appear to extend into Oregon. At all events, its existence has not been reported. The recent discovery of a bed of limestone on Beaver creek, Clackamas county, about 18 miles fiom the Willamette, is considered of much-importance by the local press. It is presumable this mineral is scarce in that part of Oregon. WEST OF TIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 247 N XvA2DA.-In addition- to the- alabaster mentioned above, in Story county, cement rock has been found in the Pinewood district, IIHumboldt county, and at many other places. No marble has thus far been found in this State, but there is sufficient carbonate of lime in other forms, in nearly all parts of it, to supply material for making lime for building purposes. BUILrDING MATERIALS.-The mountainous nature of the Pacific coast, and the geological formations to which the rocks composing the mountains belong, suggest the existence of a great variety of building materials. Few countries possess greater abundance or variety of these materials than Californlia, and there are few cities in the United States where equal opportunities are afforded for comparing the merits of the materials used in other countries with those obtained at-home than are presented at San Francisco. In the early days of this city everything was imported, from bread and clothing for its inhabitants to lumber brick and stone for their houses. The city hall is built of Australian fireestone, several of the banks and other large edifices are built of China granite, and there are hundreds of steps, pillars, lintels, and other portions of buildings, of sandstone and granite imported from the Atlantic States and Europe. The foundations of many of the old buildings in the city are laid on imported bricks. None of these materials are found to be as durable or as handsome as those since obtained in California. In this, as in other mineral resources, the cost of labor and transportation has impeded development. It is only under favorable conditions that stone for building will pay to ship to San Francisco from the interior of the State; while the cheapness, excellence, and abundance of the lumber, and the general adaptability of the soil for the manufacture of bricks, cause these materials to be used for building almost everywhere throughout the State. The introduction of iron mouldings for the decorative portions of large structures prevents a demand for stone for such purposes. The Bank of California building, at San Francisco, is the only structure of cut stone of any magnitude, outside of the government fortifications, on the Pacific coast. Under such circumstances little, attention is paid to opening quarries to test the quality of the stone. The consumption of stone is confined to granite for curbing and paving the streets, and the basements and steps for a few of the more costly buildings at San FranMisco. The following details concerning the supply of building materials will show how varied and valuable they are in California: GRANITE.-Quarries of this rock are in nearly every county, including portions of the foot-hills or sierras. But as none of them are convenient to railroads or rivers except the following only these will be referred to: The oldest and best known is located near Folsom, Placer county; another quarry worked to some extent exists at Natoma, in the cafion of the American river, a few miles firom the first; another at Rocklin, 22 miles from Sacramento; and a fourth at Penryn, 28 miles from that city. The last two are on the line of the Central Pacific railroad. There is a marked difference in the appearance of the rock from these several quarries. That from Folsom is hard and dark, containing feathery crystals of black hornblende in patches, on a dark bluish-gray ground of quartz and feldspar. Very little mica exists in any of the California granite. That from Natorma is as dark as that from Folsom, but the components being more evenly distributed gives it a lighter appearance. The stone-cutters consider this, the best rock for smooth blocks. It has a clean and fresh appearance, never changing color. The granite from Rocklin is of a nearly snowy whiteness, remarkably fine grained, and free from stains and blotches, and is susceptible of a fine finish. The upper portion of the State capitol at Sacramento is being built of this stone. The mouldings and other architectural ornaments are cut with sharpness and elegance. The lower portion of the structureis built of the Folsom stone, which has a dark and dingy appearance in comparison with the lighter and marble-like stone above. 248 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The fortifications in course of construction near $an Francisco are being built of Penrymn granite, which is somewhat darker than that from Rocklin, but lighter than the others described above. The basements of.nearly all the large stores and warehouses in San Francisco are built of Folsomr rock. The quarries at Rocklin are very extensive. It is possible to break off blocks of large dimensions-masses 100 feet long by 100 feet deep, and 10 feet thick, have been quarried out and afterwards split into smaller blocks, of any required thickness, across the grain, by means of gads andsledges. The rock splits evenly. There is a body of this rock several miles in length and breadth and of unknown depth. In San Francisco are 10 stone-yards, at which about 350 men are employed dressing and trimming granite for building and paving purposes. rThese yards use about 400 tons of stone per month. The curbs and crossings of the principal streets are made of this rock. There are 20 miles of such curbing and crosswalks. The Central Pacific railroad carries about 5,000 tons of granite from Rocklin and Penryn to Sacramento the greater portion of which is brought tb San Francisco by schooners. About 1,000 tons per month are brought from the quarries at Folsom and Natoma. -The price of granite at San Francisco is $1 50 per cubic foot, or $21 per ton in blocks delivered at the wharf. The cost of trimming it is high; stone-cutters being paid $4 per day in gold for nine hours work. SANDSTONES, &c.-Brown stone of good quality for building purposes is quarried near Hayward's, Alameda county. Some of this stone is used in the city cemeteries as bases for monuments and for building vaults. Its sombre appearance is considered an advantage. Greenish-gray sandstone is obtained from Angel island, in the Bay of San Francisco. Of this beautiful stone the new building of the Bank of California has been built. The scroll-work and sculpture on the front are fine and smooth in outline as if cut in marble, while the color is soft and pleasant to the eye. Each pillar, lintel, and post of the doors and windows is formed of a single block, some of them 10 feet in length. The wheels used in the linseed oil factory at Steamboat Point are also made of Angel Island stone. These wheels are seven feet in diameter and 18 inches thick, each weighing five tons. In several of the interior counties are deposits of a variety of trachytes, form: ing portions of table mountain which make good materials for buildings. It is generally of a pinkish or gray color, fine in grain, and when first taken from the quarry is sufficiently soft to be trimmed with a common hatchet, but a few months' exposure to the air renders it quite hard. A valuable deposit is found near Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras county. Wells & Fargo's office, several hotels, and other buildings in that town are made of it. Some of these buildings are 14 years old, and the stones in them retain the marks and edges as when first made. A quarry of freestone, of a pale drab color and fine texture, is found near Marsh's creek, six miles from the Mount Diablo coal mines. Near the Merced river, in Mariposa county, on the road between Bear Valley and Stockton, there are beds of fieestone well adapted to building purposes. The stone is of a pleasant pinkish tint, with wavy lines of brown and purple, and is compact and stands exposure well. With cheap transportation it would become a favorite for many purposes, as it can be cut cheaper than granite, and is better adapted to building than marble, and is more elegant and durable than brick.' BRIcxs.-The manufacture of bricks is carried on extensively in nearly every county in the State. The tough clay of the Sacramento valley probably makes the best. Some of the earth used in one or two localities along the coast in early times, contained a per centum of soda and potash. Such bricks are illsuited for a climate as humid as that-of San Francisco. The moisture causes the alkali to exude, injuring the paint or plaster with which the bricks are covered. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 249 The consumption of bricks at SanFrancisco amounts to about 100,000,000 annually. The average price is $12 per 1,000. About 20,000,000 are used annually in the interior of the State, at an average cost of $16 per 1,000. Until recently the bricks made were the product of hand labor. A brick-making machine was introduced in July, 1867. The increase of building consumes all that are made. The city corporation uses many millions annually in the constructionll of sewers, of which there are 10 miles within the city limits. ROOFING SLATES.-Notwithstanding the abundance of slate on this coast, but little of it fit for roofing purposes has thus far been found. Thej use of shingles, asphaltum, and tin for roofing, which are so much cheaper and lighter than slate, is almost general, so that but little inducement is held out to furnlish slate. In 1865 a company was organized in Amador county for the purpose of working a slate quarry found in that county. Experienced Welsh slaters were interested in the enterprise. They say the Amador slate is quite equal to any fountil in Wales. The causes above stated, together with the cost of labor and transportation, rendered the enterprise unprofitable, and it was abcandoned. No doubt a proper search would result in the discovery of an abundant supply of roofing slates on this coast. STEATITE, OR SOAPSTONE, though not strictly a building material, is classed under this heasd because it is valuable in various departments of arts and man-' ufactures. There are localities in all the States and Territories on this coast, except Arizona, where this mineral is known to exist in great abundanee, but its consutmption is limited at present. Only one or two deposits are found profitable to work, and these only to an inconsiderable extent. There is but one establishment on the coast for the manufacture of articles from soapstone. This is at San Francisco, where it was commenced in 1866.' As marble can be obtained cheaper than this stone, its use is confined to blocks for lining furnaces, slabs fori the chemical works, linings for stoves, beds for ovens, &c. Its peculiar property of standing a high temperature, and retaining the heat a long time, makes it valuable for such purposes. About 200 tons are used at San Francisco anniually; part of it in the form of powder by soap-makets, chemists, boot-makers, and others. Twenty tons of this powder are sold annually at $3 per 100 pounds. The price of the stone, in blocks, is $4 80 per cubic foot, or $40 per ton. In slabs of one inch thick, 75 cents per superficial foot. Most of that used at San Francisco is brought from near Placerville, El Dorado county, where the company owning the factory have a claim containing 3,000 feet in length on a bed of this material 363 feet wide, and there are "extensions" on the same "lead" for miles on both sides of the original claim. Other quarries are worked to some extent-one near Sonora, Tuolumne county; another on Santa Catalina island, off the southern coast, near Santa Barbara; another on the south of the Sap Jose valley, near the city of San Jose, in Santa Clara county another at Copperopolis, in Calaveras county, &c. The cost of transportation from Placerville amounts to $12 per ton for freight alone, divided as follows: For hauling by team from quarry to railroad, nine and a half miles, $6 per ton; by railroad to Sacramento 40 miles, $4 per ton; to San Francisco by steamer, $2 per ton. The California steatite is superior to that obtained in the Atlantic States or Europe for many important purposes. It contains neither mica nor iron. The Golden City Chemical Works, an-extensive establishment, uses steatite to line the retorts for distillation of nitric and sulphuric acids. When commencing operations this company imported steatite from New York, which, owing to its containing mica and iron, was soon destroyed by the fumes of the acids. Induced to try some of the California stone, it was found to last for a lonllg til-e, the acids having but little effect on it. Don Abel Stearns states that when he came to California, in 1825, the common people cooked their food in vessels made of this stone which is abundant 250 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES in all the southern counties, and almost as soft as wood. These "crocks" were made of various sizes, usually about an inch thick on the sides and two inches on the bottom. Such vessels are occasionally found by the surface miners in various parts of the State. Parcels of California steatite have been exported to China, where it is used for various purposes. The furnaces at the copper-smelting works at Aubrey City, Arizona, are lined with steatite taken firom Santa Catalina island. CLAYS.-Under this heading will be included materials used in the manufacture of pottery, glass, colois, &c. As already stated, reference can only be made to such products of the earth as are of immediate economical importance. Many minerals of interest and prospective value must necessarily be passed without notice, and several articles of dissimilar natures are included under one head, for the purpose of securming conciseness. Clay, suitable for the manufacture of fire-bricks, is found beneath the coal in the Mount Diablo coal mines, in Contra Costa county; at Grass Valley, Nevada county; near Colusa, Colusa county, and at other places in California, Nevada, and Oregon. Clay suitable for pottery is found near Marsh's creek, six miles west of the 3Mount Diablo coal mines; also at Pratt's Hill, near Ione City, Amador county, in the foot-hills. The manufacture of pottery is carried on to some extent in all the Pacific States and Territories. In California there are factories of earthenware at San Francisco; Antioch, Contra Costa county; San Antonio, Alameda county; Monterey, Sacramento, San Jos6, Santa Clara county, and at several other places. In Nevada there is a pottery near Virginia City, at which brownstone ware is made from clay obtained in the vicinity. There are several potteries in Oregon. The establishment at Antioch was commenced in 1867. Various kinds of earthenware, both coarse and fine, are made here. It gives employment to about a: dozen moulders and throwers, and a number of laborers. The potters work by contract, earning from $3 to $7 per day, according to their industry and the description of wares made. The cosmopolitan character of the population of California is singularly illustrated by the articles made at this pottery. The French, German, Mexican, Russian, Chinese, and other nationalities represented here, each require differently-shaped crocks and pots inl their culinary and other domestic arrangements. The storehouse of the pottery, in which a stock of these goods is kept, presents a curious medley of bddly-shaped articles made from designs to suit the tastes of all classes of customers. Some of the moulded teapots, jugs, and water-pitchers, made in imitation of French and English ware, are very handsome, and exhibit the excellence of the material used as well as the skill of the workmen. Fancy articles of many kinds, cornices and mouldings, crucibles, mnuffles,'fire-bricks, and tiles, drainage pipes, and a variety of other articles used by the local manufactories, are made here. The clay is obtained from the deposit which underlies the coal at Mount Diablo. The pottery at San Francisco is located at the, Mission. Stoneware and utensils used by refiners, assayers metallurgists, artists, andr manufacturers are made here. The clay is obtained from a deposit near Michigan Bar, Sacramento county. There is a bed of good fire-clay near Grass Valley, Nevada county. KAOLN.-Deposits of this clay are found in Marin, Amador, Tuolumne, Calaveras, and several other counties. It exists in many places in the coast range, the foot-hills, and the high Sierras. One of the most noted of these deposits is at Michigan Bar, Sacramento county. In El Dorado county there is a peculiar deposit of pure white clayv, formed by the decomposition of the granite in the vicinity, which is well adapted to the manufacture of porcelain. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 2i1 PIPE C-LAY.-This material has been found near Dutch Flat, Placer county, and.at San Jose, Contra Costa county; also in Tuolumne, Amador, and Calaveras counties, and at several other localities in the Coast range anild foot-hills. COLORING EARTHS, &c.-Terra de sienna, umber, red, yellow) and other ochreous coloring earths, are found in abundance and purity in many places in the Coast range and foot-hills of California. Several deposits have been opened. The colors prepared from them are varied and excellent.'The limited market for their sale, and the importations from the Atlantic States and Europe, render their manufacture on a large scale unprofitable, though considerable quantities are used by the local painters and others. The most noted of these ochreous deposits was discovered in 1860, near the town of Martinez, Contra Costa county. Six well-defined beds of ochre have been found in this locality, which range from 10 to 20 feet thick, anid extend from E1 Humbre creek to San Pablo bay, a distance of six miles. In 1862 a company was organized to make colors from these materials. A factory, with a 20-horse power steam engine, for grinding the colors, was erected, and about 100 tons, of as many as 84 tints, from white to black, embracing a pale buff and bright vermillion, were prepared. But the causes above mentioned rendered the enterprise unprofitable, and it was abandoned within a year of its commencement. Some of the colors made are as bright to-day as when first prepared. In 1866 a deposit of terra de sienna was found on Gold gulch, about six miles from San Lorenzo, Santa Clara county. Yellow ochre is found in the same locality. There are bodies of coloring earth, red, purple, and white, about five miles west of Ione City, Amador county, which form a portion of what is known as Pratt's Hill, a promontory extending some distance into the Sacramento valley from the foot-hills. Beds of sienna and umber exist in the mountains in the vicinity of San Jose' Santa Clara county. Fuller's earth is found in the same locality. Red ochre is found on Red Rock, in the harbor of San Francisco, and at other places along thie coast. The above localities are named because the materials found in them have been used and are known to be valuable. But there are many localities where coloring earths, clays, &c., are known to exist, which are omitted because they have not been developed. SANDs.-Since the introduction of the manufacture of glass at San Francisco, the quality of the sand along the coast has been tested in order to obtain a supply of such as is best adapted to this business. Much of the sand obtained along the shores of the harbor of San Francisco contains too much iron to be used in making glass. Near the harbor of Monterey there is an exhaustless supply, free from impurities.. The sand used by the glass factories is imported chiefly from this place. A small quantity is obtained along the bay shore in Alameda county, near Oakland. Eight miles north of Santa Cruz there is a hill of white sand well adapted to glass-making, being free from iron and manganese. The sand dunes, which form a peculiar feature in the scenery at some points in the bay of Sani Francisco, do not contain materials suitable for glass-making. The pinky hue of these dunes is imparted by the grains of iron they contain. They are not without value nevertheless. Parties owning them make as large a revenue from their product as is derived from equal quantities of fertile soil. This sand is adapted to building purposes, for which it is used. Small vessels are employed in carrying it to Napa and other counties where suitable sand is scarce. Such vessels are charged $5 per cargo. It sells at $1 50 per ton to brickmakers and builders in the interior.; The consumption of sand for glass-making is considerable. Two glass works at San Francisco make $250,000 of glassware annually, giving employment to about 150 men and boys. These works make nearly all the wine bottles, carboys, 252 RESOURCES'OF STATES AND TERRITORIES demijohns, pickle, spice, and sauce bottles, &c., used in California. They also make lamp chimneys, vials, and chemical glasses. The Pacific Glass Works was established in 1860, and has been enlarged during 1867. It recently made 12 retorts of white glass for one of the local chemical works, each of which holds 20 gallons; and 24 others of 16 gallons each, for another chemical establishment. These operations show the capacity of the glass works, as well as the extent of the chemical prieparations made in San Francisco. Glass for the lighthouses in this district was made at one of these factories. Preparations are nearly complete for manufacturing window and plate-glass. PLUMBtAGO, OPn BLACKLEAD.-ThiS mineral is found in several Ilocalities in California and Nevada. The largest deposit exists near Sonora, Tuolumne county. As the exports from that place have recently assumed some commercial importance, a description of the principal mine there, and of the processes used to prepare the lead for market, may be interesting. THE EUREKA PLUMBAGO MINEi was discoveredt by its present owners in 1853, while they were working a placer mine in the vicinity. Its value was not ascertained, however, till 1865, when a process was discovered by which the earthy matter with which the mineral is contaminated near the surface could be separated. Since that discovery, several hundred tons of plumbago have been collected, nearly all of which has been exported to England, France, and Germany,the demand beingverylimited in California. Thereturnsfrom the shipments to Europe have been satisfactory. The work of development has since been carried on successfully. The exports to Liverpool amounted to 300 tons between Juily and September, 1867, the estimated value of which is $100 per ton. There is some plumbago at present in course of shipment. The total quantity sent firom the mine up to 1st of September, 1867, was about 500 tons. TrE MINE.-The lode or vein from which this mineral is obtained extends about 4,000 feet in a northeasterly direction, conformable to the general stratification of the country, and ranges from 20 to 40 feet in width. It is considerably broken up and mixed with the surrounding earth and rock to the depth of 30 feet from the surface. Below this it appears to be well defined between walls of sandstone and claystone. It dips irregularly to the east, in some places being nearly vertical, at others lying at various angles. The northern, or under side, rests on a stratum of coarse, pliable, yellow sandstone, which is much broken near the surface, but is compact and solid at a depth of 30 feet. The upper side is enclosed in a soft clay slate, which rapidly disintegrates upon exposure to the atmosphere, but is sharply defined and hard below. The lode is frequently divided by lenticular masses of this clay slate, from a few inches to several feet in thickness, which have their longer axis in the same direction as the lode. It is also divided by lateral dikes of sandstone, similar in appearance to the underlying wall rock, but harder. The whole formation abuts on the eroded carboniferous limestone, which forms a peculiar feature in the geology and topography of that section of the foot-hills which embraces Tuolumne, Calaveras, and Amador counties. A shaft sunk on the lode to the depth of 65 feet, revealed the fact that the mineral is purer and more solid at that depth than near the surface. At the greatest depth reached it was found to be 25 feet wide, and much of it sufficiently pure to be shipped without any preparation. PROCESSES FOR CLEANING THE ORE.-As stated above, a great portion of the mineral taken out below the surface influences is shipped without any preparation whatever. Two laborers extract and sack about two tons of the pure material daily. Such of it as is contaminated by admixture with the wall rock or the enclosed masses of clay slate is wheeled out, washed, and dried before shipment. All the operations in the mine are carried on in open cuts; everything taken out from the surface downwards being washed that is not pure enough to ship without such preparation. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 253 TEE SEPArtATING WpRKs.-These consist of reservoirs, settling vats, and drying frames. The chief washing apparatus consists of a sort of arrastra, or puddling machine, having a bed 20 feet in diameter, with water-tight sides three feet high. In the centre of this vat is a stout upright post with four arms set at right angles, to which are attached, by chains four wooden frames with oaken teeth; like roughly made harrows. The teeth, or pegs, are only intended to stir up the materials, which readily separate in water. To grind them would render the separation difficult. A small water-wheel sets this apparatus in motion, and separates about 50 tons daily, the average of which produces 30 per cent. of pure graphite, which is separated by passing a small stream of water through the machine. The graphite, being finer and lighter than the sand and slate, is held suspended near the surface of the water, which passes out through a shallow spout near the top, taking the graphite with it, falling gently into a "sand box," a long, shallow trough, in which any remaining impurity is precipitated. From this box the water containing the fine particles of graphite is conveyed by iron pipes into large reservoirs capable of holding firomrn 3 to 20 days' production. After remaining in these reservoirs for about 24 hours, the graphite subsides to the bottom in, the form of a black slum, the water above being. quite clear; this is let off by means of suitable arrangements for that purpose, till the sediment is only sufficiently fluid to flow, when it is run into a series of shallow vats arranged conveniently around the reservoirs. An exposure to the sun for 24 hours in these vats is sufficient to dry it to the consistence of tough clay, when it is cut up into irregularly-shaped blocks and placed on wooden staging for a -few hours and becomes hard and dry, and is then put up in sacks weighing about 300 pounds each. The capacity of the works at present is sufficient to turn out 500 tons per month, but it can be indefinitely extended to meet the demand. In addition to the puddling machine there are several small separating apparatuses, which are worked by hand, producing about five tons of blacklead per week. The labor on the mine is performed by Chinamen, of whom there are about 30 employed, who are each paid $8 per week without board. A great waste of mate:.ial occurs from the want of experience in working; still the mine is profitable. THE COSTS OF PRODUCTIoN.-The owners estimate the costs for excavating, washing, drying, and bagging the pure material at $1 per ton. The sacks used cost about $2 for each ton. Freight, by teams to Stockton, the head of navigation on the San Joaquin river, ranges from $8 to $9 per ton, (the distance is about, 65 miles;) from Stockton to San Francisco, by steamer, $1 50 per toln; by sailing vessels, $1 per ton; from San Francisco to Liverpool, whence all that can be prepared is sent, the' freight is from $12 50 to $14 per ton, or thus: Cost of preparation per ton........................................ $1 00 Bags, per ton......................... 2 00 Freight to Stockton, per ton................................................ 9 00 Freight to San Francisco, per ton................................ 1 50 Freight to Liverpool, per ton........................ 14 00 Commissions, insurance, &c., per ton....................................... 12 50 Total costs.......................................... 40 00 Its market price is about $100 per ton. OTHER DEPOSITS OF GRAPHITE.-Other bodies of this mineral are found in California and Nevada, but they are all insignificant in value when compared to that above described. Among them is one within the limits of the city of Sonora, about a mile south from the Eureka mine. This has been worked to some extent- It is probably part of the main.,lode. There is another body of it on Jarvis's ranich, near Gold Springs, about four miles north friom the Eureka, also supposed to be a portion of the main lode. It lhas not been examined sufficiently 254 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES to test its extent. Small deposits of this mineral are found in Marin, Plumas, and Sierra counties. A body of metamorphosed limestone exists on the border of Tomales bay, in the Coast range, which contains graphite in thin scales. - There is a somewhat similar deposit near Summit City, Alpine county, among the lofty peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Another body of plumbago is found near Fort Tejon, at the junction of the Coast range and Sierra Nevada. The surveyors engaged by the Central Pacific Railroad Company report the existence of this mineral in the Truckee cafon, Nevada, also near Crystal peak. It has also been found in Storey, Washoe, Ormsby, and Lander counties, in that State, but generally of an inferior quality, though but little effort has been made to test the quality below the surface. IMPORTANCE OF GRAPHITE IN TIE ARTs.-Reference to some of the purposes for which this mineral is used in the arts and manufactures will exhibit the influence a full supply of it will have on these important branches of industry. The manufacture of blacklead pencils gives employment to thousands of persons in Europe. Millions of these indispensable articles are annually imported. No suitable material for their manufacture has heretofore been discovered in our own dominion. Crucibles made of this material are indispensable for melting gold and silver, because they withstand the high temperature necessary to melt these metals, and do not absorb the metal. It is also used in tho manufacture of gunpowder. By ooating the grains with graphite they are not onlypolished, but their explosive power is greatly increased. Good blasting-powder contains nearly one-tenth of its weight in graphite. It is also of importance in the art of electrotyping, being one of the best known conductors of electricity for that purpose. it is employed as an anti-friction for the bearings of heavy machinery. Also, for covering the moulds for iron, brass, and bronze castings, imparting a smooth surface to these metals, and for numerous other purposes not necessary to particularize. So much importance is attached to the supply of this mineral in Europe, that in 1860, when a Mr. Brockedon invented a process by which the powder firom the European mines was solidified by hydraulic pressure, he was hailed as a public benefactor, and was honored by special marks of distinction from the highest scientific associations and many of the crowned heads of Europe. The plumbago obtained in California is so much finer and purer than that prepared in Europe, that a demand for it has already been created. When it is taken into consideration that the same pressure (50,000 tons) used to solidify the powder of graphite will also solidify iron filings, pulverized anthracite, and other impurities, it will be perceived that such a process affords a convenient means for adulteration; while the simple but effective process used in California leaves the graphite pure. This mineral will probably become in time an article of export.. SALT. —Next to coal, no mineral is more necessary to the prosperity of a State than salt. Of this article the States and Territories on the Pacific coast possess an abundance. But for the high price of capital and labor, and the difficulties of transportation, it might be produced as cheaply here as in other parts of the Union. The following statement will convey an idea of the number of salt deposits on this coast and the extent of their development. SALT IN CALIFORNIA.-The product at present reaches about 25,000 tons annually, about three-fourths of which is made in Alameda county, on the eastern side of the bay of San Francisco, where there are works for concentrating and evaporating the waters which cover the marsh land in that locality. These works WEST -OF'THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 255 extend from Centreville to-the San Lorenzo creek, a distance of fifteen miles. They are the property of 17 companies, and some individuals. The aggregate capital invested is about $1,200,000. One hundred laborersare employed in the business during the season. The works are such as are usually constructed for obtaining salt from sea water, and-do not require special description. Till recently the salt collected was of an inferior quality, but experience has effected an nimprovement. There are six steam mills in San Francisco chiefly employed in cleaning and preparing it for domestic purposes. The capital invested in this branch of the business is about $250,000. These mills during 1866 ground and prepared 24,500 tons of bay salt, which will probably be exceeded during 1867. The works commenced in 1860. The importation of foreign salt has since fallen off. The total imports for 1866 did not exceed 7,000 tons, about 5,000 of which were from Carmen island, Gulf of California, and 2,000 from Liverpool, which consisted of a refined article for table and dairy use. The quantity imported from England in 1867 is less than in 1866, in consequence of the local salt makers preparing a better article which they sell at a lower price. Salt works are established in San Bernardino county, the products of which were formerly sent to the San Francisco market. But the cheapness of the bay salt and the costs of transportation from so great a distance have driven it out of this market, though it is used in the southern counties. In 1867 works for collecting salt were erected near San Rafael, Santa Clara county. Saline springs and marshes exist in various parts of the State, friom which salt is obtained; but as it is consumed in the locality, no estimate of the amount can be made. A spring about 14 miles from Los Angeles yields a good salt, shipments of which were formerly sent to San Francisco. Five hundred tons of it were received in 1866, but for the reasons given in the case of San Bernardino, it is now unprofitable to transport it so great a distance. A deposit of salt is found in the Tehachepi valley, Tulare county, -from which a small quantity was obtained during the summer of 1867. Salt beds and saline springs are found in the valley of Kern river, Tulare county, 10 miles from the mouth of the Cafada de las Uvas. The country for miles is impregnated with salt. Holes dug in the ground during the wet season fill rapidly with brine, which deposits a coating of salt when dried during the summer. The consumption of salt has increased in California during the last four years, owing to the demand created by new manufactures. The codfishery in the Ochotsk sea, commenced in 1864, requires a supply of the coarse article. The vessels engaged in this fishery in 1865 cured 587 tons of fish; in 1866, 960 tons, and in 1867 will probably cure 1,000 tons. The increase in pork and beef packing has increased the consumption of salt, The success of the chlorination process for working auriferous sulphurets has also increased the consumption, the chlorine used being generated from this mineral. The chlorination works in the vicinity of Grass valley, Nevada county, consume about 1,000 tons per annum. Farmers consume it as a fertilizer, for which it is well adapted on light, gravelly, or heavy loamy soils intended for wheat. They also use it in baling hay, &c. The increased ploduction of butter and cheese has materially increased the demand for refined salts. The returns of 42 counties for 1866 show a production of 2,250,000 pounds of butter. The product of cheese in 27 counties amounted to 1,601,782 pounds. The product of both butter and cheese will probably be one-half larger in 1867 than in 1866. These figures show the importance of the salt trade, and the reasons for predicting its future increase. SALT IN OREGON is prepared from brine obtained from springs, of which there are numbers in the Willamette and Umpqua valleys, and at other places. Salt 256 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES works are located in Douglas county, in the Umpqua valley, which for several years past have produced from 700 to 1,000 pounds of salt daily during the summer season. But the distance from Portland, the chief market, prevents the owners from deriving any advantage from that market. A cheaper supply is filrnished from the works erected in the lower Willamette valley. THE WILLAMETTE SALT WoRxs are located about 13 miles from Portland, half way between that city and St. Helens, and half a mile from the banks of the Willamette slough. A range of low hills at this locality extend nearly east and west for about 20 miles, at the base of which are the salt springs. From one of them the brine used by the works is obtained. By means of a single furnace this spring yielded from 600 to 700 pounds of salt daily when the works were commenced; but for several months past it has yielded 4,000 pounds per day. This salt is pure and white. Samples of it analyzed by Professor W. P. Blake were found to be free from lime and magnesia, making it peculiarly adapted for use in preparing butter, fish, and meats. Mr. Blake took samples to the Paris exhibition, where it was admired for its crystallization, purity and color. Springs in Jackson county produce about 10,000 pounds annually of a similar quality of salt. Beds of rock salt are repoi ted toexist near the base of Mount Jefferson, in the Cascade range of mountains. SALT IN NEVADA.-There is probably no portion of the globe so abundantly supplied with salt as the State of Nevada. Thousands of acres of its surface are covered with saline marshes and beds of salt, and there are lofty mountains within her borders composed of rock salt of the purest quality. A detailed account of these deposits will be found in that part of the report relating to the miscellaneous resources of Nevada. SALT IN ARIZONA, somewhat similar to that at Pahranagat, has been discovered near the Miuddy river, about' 100 miles from the Big bend of the Colorado. This body of rock salt is stated to be nearly a mile wide, several miles in lengthb and nearly 400 feet high. SALT iN UTAH.-The Great Salt lake, in this Territory, is a prolific source of this mineral. Its waters are more saline than those of any similar lake known. CARMEN ISLAND SALT is obtained from Carmen island, near the harbor of Loreto, Lower California, about 1,800 miles from San Francisco. This bed of salt is three miles in length by half a mile wide, and is the property of the Mexican government, who supply it to vessels at a stipulated price. It has recently been leased or purchased by the Holliday Steamship Company. It is similar in quality and appearance to that found at. Sand Springs, Nevada. Like it the supply is perpetual. Every excavation fills with a fresh deposit in a few days. It is also solid, and has a pinky tint when taken out of the pits, but soon crumbles and whitens. California imports from 3,000 to 5,000 tons per annum. THE PRmiCE O SALT has greatly declined since the establishment of the works in Alameda county. The present prices are: Liverpool, stored, $25 to $27 per ton; Carmen island, $12 to $16 per ton; Bay, $8 to $13 per ton. These prices are an advance of 20 per cent. on Carmen island and Bay during 1866, the falling off in importations and increase in the demand having enhanced the value. ASPEALTUM.-ThiS mineral is abundant in California, but has not been found in any of the other States or'Territories on the Pacific coast' Though generally admitted to be of the same nature and of the same origin as petroleum, and usually found in combination with that substance, it is different in appearance, and is applied to different purposes. As one of the mineral products of the coast, it is classed under a separate heading. Thile principal deposits of asphaltum are found in Santa Barbara county. It is seen along the coast from the Kayamos river, the line of San Luis Obispo WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 257 county, to the boundary line of Los Angeles. In this distance it assumes a variety of forms-hard as rock, soft as putty, oozing from the cliffs in lazy streams like molten pitch, or flowing clear and liquid like oil. Tliere are reasons for believing that a deposit underlies the country embraced within bounds above given, and extending from Buena Vista lake to the sea. A spring of it bubbles up in the ocean several miles from the shore, opposite the northern end of the island of Santa Cruz. Near Carpentaria solid blocks of it lie piled up on the sea beach, while near the Dos Pueblos ranch it is found as glassy and brittle as rosin. Near the mission of San Buenaventura the earth for many acres is covered with it in various stages of hardness. Deposits of a similar character are seen in the vicinity of the Santa Inez river, and in the valley of the Kayamos, to the eastward, and near Buena Vista lake, to the south. The most accessible deposit is on the'Galeta ranch, about nine miles from Santa Barbara. The residents of this part of the coast have supplied themselves with materials for roofing their houses and paving their streets from this deposit for the past 50 years, and quantities are annually sent to San Francisco for the same and other purposes. It is estimated that the asphaltum here covers 300 acres, and extends some distance under the sea. Masses of it are seen enclosed in the rocks which form the cliffs along that portion of the coast. In some places it is quarried and carried in boats to vessels anchored at a convenient distance. At others it is gathered up along the beach, when it is loaded, in the following manner: The vessel waitifig for a cargo is anchored some 300 feet from the shore. A hawser is fastenled to the land; on this a large block is riven, by means of which a flat-bottomed boat is hauled to within fifty feet of the shore, just far enough to keep it out of the surf which breaks continuously oh the open coast. The party on shore, having collected two or three tons, pile it on a cart with a single pair of high wheels, when three or four yoke of oxen, trained for the purpose, haul it through the surf to the boat, into which it is shifted. It sometimes happens that the cattle employed in this business are completely submerged by the rolling billows, but they appear used to it, and stand patiently up to their ears in the salt water. The boat, when loaded, is drawn to the vessel by means of the block on the hawser. This is a crude way of performing such work, and will soon he abandoned, as increase of business has induced some parties to construct a wharf of sufficient length to enable vessels to come alongside to load. There are deposits of hard asphaltum at points between the rivers Gaviota and Buenaventura, a mile or two from the sea beach; also on the ranches of Laguna, Todos Santos, Los Alamos, and others, ranging from 30 to 50 miles from the sea; but none of these are used as a source of supply at present. The Pacific Asphaltum Company have a quarry of this mineral six miles from Los Angeles, from which shipments are made to San Francisco. The asphaltum is hard and black, requiring to be blasted with powder to break out sufficient to supply the demand. In July, 1867, it presented a face 30 feet in depth by 75 feet in length, very compact and of, good quality. Previous to 1867 most of the asphaltum used at San Francisco was brought from Santa Barbara county, the rest from Los Angeles. Recently considerable quantities have been received friom San Buenaventura. The latter article sells at 817 per ton when that from other places is offering at $15 per ton. About 2,000 tons are annually used in San Francisco for making sidewalks and roofs of- buildings, purposes for which it is well adapted when properly prepared. There are a dozen firms in San Francisco engaged in this business. It affords employment to about 120 men. It was introduced as a material for pavement in San Francisco in 1855. At the present time the principal thoroughfares have the sidewalks laid with it. Some of it, after a trial of 10 years, exposed to a variable climate, is still hard and smooth. It is also used for other 17 258 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES purposes, and its consumption is increasing. The Spring Valley Water Company use it for coating their pipes, lining their reservoirs, &c., for which it is better adapted than tement or paint. Many of the springs on this coast deposit asphaltum; others exude petroleum. None of the petroleum springs or lagoons north of Cape Mendocino produce asphaltum. Some of the springs in Santa Barbara and other southern counties do not deposit asphaltum, though in the midst of those that do. The petroleum spring on the Cafiada Larga is an illustration of this latter class. The deposits of asphaltum in California are sufficient to supply a very large demand. The present price (August, 1867) for asphaltumn delivered at San Francisco is from $15 to $20 per ton. At the quarries and along the coast it may be had from $3 to $5 per ton. During the summer of 1867 quarries of asphaltum were opened near Alviso, 10 miles north of San Jos6 and three miles from Santa Clara, in Santa Clara county. Both of these points are convenient to the line of the San Francisco and San Jos6 railroad. PETROLEUM.-Differences of opinion between scientific authorities respecting the mode of occurrence, quality, and quantity of petroleum in California have impaired public confidence in this resource. Many persons have invested time and money in searching for " oil" in localities where it does not exist, because experts said it would be found there; while others have permitted good petroleum to run to waste because experts said it would not yield oil. It is not intended here to take sides with either the "oil" or "no oil" party. The discussion and its results are only referred to in order to show why this product has not been more extensively developed. Mr. Gregory Yale in his valuable work on Titles to Mining Claims in California, says:, According to the results arrived at by the State geological survey, there are two questions settled in regard to bituminous oils: first, that with the facilities and conditions which now exist, asphaltum cannot be profitably used for the manufacture bf burning or lubricating oil; and, secondly, that no fluid oil exists on the surface in sufficient quantity to pay for collecting in a large way. Professor Whitney says the question resolves itself into this: "It is probable that flowing wells will be struck by boring, as in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and that these will deliver a liquid oil or petroleum in sufficient quantities to take up the business and carry it on in a large way. The question, then, whether the geological structure and conditions in the Coast ranges south of San Francisco bay are such as to justify a large expenditure of money, in the expectation of striking copiously-flowing wells by boring to a considerable depth, is discussed and answered in the negative upon the following geological facts: "The great bituminous slate formation, of tertiary age, extends through California from Los Angeles as far north as Cape Mendocino. No doubt it contains bituminous matter enough to supply the world for an indefinite period, could this be made available without expense. But it will be observed that the strata of this formation, all through the region north of the bay of San Francisco, are turned up at a high angle in this respect, occupying a very different position from the oil-producing beds in the eastern States. There the strata in which the petroleum is found in abundance, and in which all the wells which yield any considerable quantity of this material are sunk, are horizontal or inclined at a very moderate angle. Nowhere is oil obtained in large quantity where the stratum in which it originates is exposed to the air by being turned up on edge, or is only covered by light and porous accumulations of detritus. The reason of this is very evident: the oil is slowly elaborated or brought together in a certain bed or set of beds, and unless confined in some way so that it cannot escape, it must be forced to the surface by capillary attraction, hydrostatic pressure, or that of gas generated at the same time, when it escapes and is lost;' to allow it to accumulate, there must be an impervious covering of rock over the oil stratum proper, which will confine the fluid material within limits, and allow it to accumulate away from the influence of the air. For this reason a large flow of oil on the surface cannot be considered as a favorable indication for boring wells, and much less can heavy accumulations of asphaltum be so regarded. If, then, flowing wells are struck in California, it is more likely to be in those portions of the region north of the bay of San Francisco where the bituminous slates are less disturbed and not set upon edge, and where they may perhaps be covered by formations of later age, which will act as covers and receptacles for the elaborated oil. In the Coast ranges WEST OF TUE ROCRY MOUNTAINS. 259 south of the bay of Monterey, as the bituminous shales are everywhere turned upon edge and have no cover of impervious rock, the inference is unavoidable that flowing wells, or at least those delivering any considerable quantity o[ liquid petroleum,-cannot be expected to be got by boring to any depth; the probabilities, at least, are decidedly against it. While, therefore, we would not object to a reasonable and prudent expenditure of small amounts to test the question whether fluid oil can be obtained in California in sufficient quantity to pay a moderate profit on a bona fide investment, we would caution all against paying to speculators an immense premium for the privilege of making these experiments on lands which they have secured for a small sum, and where there are no better, if as good; chances of sueCess as on many other tracts which have not yet fallen into the hands of these monster stock companies. "Whether the asphaltum of California is derived from thickening or oxidation, by exposure to the atmosphere of exactly the same substance, chemically speaking, as that which is called petroleum in Pennsylvania, is a matter of chemical investigation. In the light of the facts and considerations just presented it does not appear to be economically important that it should be settled at once. How large a portion of the numerous hydrocarbons which are originally contained in the bituminous slates of California evaporate on exposure, and how many of them become oxidized into asphaltum, is a delicate subject for investigation. From the well-known fact that there are few, if any, deposits of asphaltum or asphaltic material existing on the surface in the oil region of Pennsylvania, although the oil itself appears to have been escaping at numerous points for an indefinite period of time, it appears to be probable, at least, that the original chemical constitution of the mass of bituminous matter in the oil-bearing shales of paleozoic age is different from that material. which occurs in the tertiary rocks of California, and of which at least much the largest part does, on exposure, become consolidated into a hard and brittle material, which certainly no longer contains more than a very small percentage of light oil." These conclusions have met with some opposition, which seems to resolve itself into a question of fact as to the existence of petroleum in small quantities, which is not denied, and does not refute the conclusion that it is useless to pursue an enterprise which will not prove pecuniarily profitable. That petroleum exists in California is no longer a matter of doubt. It has been obtained at various places from Los Angeles to Humboldt, and merchantable oil has been made fiom several localities within this range, including San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, San Bermiardino, Colusa, Lake, Napa, Tulare, Humboldt, Kern, and several other counties. The quantity available will probably be sufficient to supply the demand of the coast. The quality undoubtedly differs fiom that prepared in the Atlantic States; also the means for obtaining the crude material. Experiments made with oil from different sources show that it differs in composition from the eastern oils in containing a larger per centumn of carbon. It burns with less brilliancy in ordinary lamps. With lamps so arranged as to give an increased supply of oxygen by creating a larger current of air through the chimney, it produces as bright and white a light as the oils from Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Canada. The excess of carbon increases the.value of petroleum for fuel, a use for which it is now attracting attention. In a country where fuel is dear an abundant supply of petroleum of this character becomes an important resource. THE COMPOSITION OF CALIFORNIA COAL OIL.-In 1864, 20 gallons of crude oil from the Buena Vista springs, in Tulare county, were sent to Mr. C. Humphrey, of the Chemical College, London, to be analyzed. In his report Mr.. Humphrey stated that it contained a small per cent. of illuminating and 80 per cent. of lubricating oil. " If the materials s6nt," adds the report, " were in their natural state,' (which they wvere,) they are a most extraordinary product, and unlike anything that has been found in the United States or in Europe." One hundred pounds of crude material analyzed by Mr. Benoist, a French chemist, gave the following returns: Material of the density of 72~ Baum6, or naphtha.... -7 Material of the density of 65~ Baum6, or benzine -......... 7~ Material of the. density of 44~ Baum6, or illuminating oil........................... 37.1 Material of the density of 100 Baum6, or lubricating oil....... 371 Asphaltum..................................................................... 10 100 260 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES In 1866 the crude materials obtained from the Buena Vista springs yielded 50 per cent. lubricating and 40 per cent. illuminating oil. When obtained from the pits it was of the specific density of 20~ to 25~ Banun6. A remarkable difference exists in the density of this material when obtained at different depths from the surface. On.the surface it averages 186; at 20 feet below, 22~; at 30 feet, 26~. The residuum in the stills after extracting the oil furnished fuel for future operations. A sample of 30 ounces of crude oil from Mattole valley, Humboldt county, analyzed by Professor Rowlandsoll, a member of the English Royal Geographical Society, gave the following result: Ounces. Illuminating oil................................... 23 Lubricating oil............................................................. 4. 25 Residuum......... 2.75 30 Upwards of 90 per cent. of merchantable materials. There is a marked difference in the composition of the petroleum found in the northern and southern portions of California. Under the head of asphaltulm it has been mentioned that the northern petroleum deposits no asphaltum, while the latter mineral is abundant in the southern counties. So also under the head of coal, the difference in the quality of that mineral in the north and south is referred to. Without entering into speculations as to the cause, the subject is of some interest to science. It is generally conceded that there is an affinity between coal and petroleum. All the crude petroleum found in the coast range south of San Francisco is nearly identical in composition, though varying from 16~ to 300 Baum6, and nearly all of it deposits.asphaltum. That found north of the Golden Gate is generally of a higher specific gravity and deposits little or no asphaltum. There is no paraffine in most of the southern oil, while that from the north is prolific in this substance. The oil from the south contains a per centum of nitrogenous matter which is unusual in hydrocarbons. Some of it, when kept in open vessels in a warm room for a few weeks, generates a peculiarkind of woln, which would be remarkable if this oil be of a purely mineral character, as stated by the French chemist Berthelot. Professor Silliman, in an article on this subject, read before the California Academy of Natural Sciences, in April 1867, stated the following interesting particulars on the subject: That he had made the experiments with a sample of surface oil obtained in Santa Barbara county, consisting of parcelsfrom 5 to 10 gallons each, of dark, almost black material, which at ordinary temperatures resembled coal tar. Its density at 600 Fahrenheit was 131 Baum6, retaining a considerable quantity of water mechanically entangled, without any odor of sulphohydric acid, usually very decided in such surface oils. Distilled to dryness, it produced: Oil having a density of 0.890 to 0. 900......................................... 69.82 Coke, water, and loss.................... 30.18 100.00'In one trial, the product was divided as follows: Oil of density of 29~ Baum6, at 52.... 50. 00 Oil of a density of 24 Baum6, at580.......................................... 17.05 Coke, water, and loss..................................... 32. 05 100. 00 The coke was large in quantity, strong, and would make good fuel, resembling gas-house coke. The odor of ammonia was strong towards the close of distillation. WEST OF THIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 261 The illuminating oils obtained by these experiments, after treatment with sulphuric acid and soda in the usual manner, acquired an agreeable odor, a light straw color, and burned as well in a lamp as good commercial oil. No paraffine could be detected by refrigerating the heavy oils in a mixture of salt and ice. It is, no doubt, the absence of this body from the series of products obtained from the California oils generally, that accounts for the illuminating oil burning well at a density considerably below the commercial standard for oil obtained from Pennsylvania petroleumr-a difference enhanced also by the absence of any considerable quantity of light naphtha. The lubricating oils of this series, likewise free from paraffine, retain on this account their fluidity at low temperatures. The light oils obtained in these experiments corresponded respectively to 12. 96, 14. 56, and 18. 96 per centum of the crude oil. The total commercial products were about 60 per cent. of the crude body, which likewise yielded sufficient coke to supply the fuel required in the distillations. The excess of carbon in the heavier hydro-carbons of California suggests the probability of their having a value in their crude state as fuel. For this purpose they may be employed to give cohesion to coke, or fine coal, or any other cheap form of carbon, as has already been done with coal tar in England. THE MANUFACTURE OF COAL OIL IN CALIFORNIA.-Small quantities of coal oil have been made in this State bfor many years. The materials in some localities require but little preparation for illuminating purposes. Between 1865 and 1867, Hayward & Coleman, a firm in the oil business in San Francisco, made 40,000 gallons of illuminating oil from springs of petroleum near Santa Barbara; but suspended operations in June, 1867, because imported oil was selling at 54 to 55 cents per gallon, a price so low as to render the manufacture unprofitable, owing to the high price of cases to contain it, transportation, and labor. These gentlemen have expended capital and labor in efforts to render valuable the California petroleum. After many experiments to test its adaptability for fuel, they state that, although it costs $5 per barrel to bring it from the springs to San Francisco, it is cheaper as fuel than coal or wood. It saves expense of hauling and splitting, and of feeding the furnace; it makes no ashes to be carted away; causes no waste in lighting or extinguishing the fire; while with wood or coal there is waste of time and material in these operations. The heat is under control, and may be easily regulated. The operations of this firm have been carrie(d on for a year, with petroleum as fuel, for distillation and driving their engines, thus establishing the practicability of its use. A number of establishments in the southern counties also use it for running machinery. A gentleman interested in the oil business has recently perfected an apparatus for burning it for domestic purposes. He has made application for a patent. This invention it is said performs the duty satisfactorily, burning the crude material without smoke or offensive odor. Stanford Brothers have also expended capital and labor in efforts to manufacture oil from California petroleum, and have succeeded so far as to make oll but not with profit. Up to July, 1867, this firm had made 100,000 gallons of illuminating oil, and a nearly equal quantity of lubricating, and have been making about 20,000 gallons of illuminating per month, since. Their works are still in operation. For reasons stated, much of this oil is prepared to a standard density of 35~ Baum6e,'which causes it to burn better, and exempts it from the tax of 20 cents per gallon levied on coal oils of 36~. This firm purchase the crude oils from several localities, but obtain their chief supply from tunnels and pits near San Buenaventura. The high cost of vessels to contain the oil when made; of transportation and interest on capital, and the low prices ruling for the imported article, are impediments to the successful development of this resource. It costs six cents per gallon for second-hand cans. New cans would cost 15 cents per gallon. Each 40-gallon barrel of crude material costs $3i or 74 cents 262 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES per gallon for transportation from the springsto the refining works. As the crude petroleum only averages 45 per cent. of marketable oil, each gallon of such oil costs 21 cents without the expense of refining, or the 20 cents for tax, or any allowance for commissions, loss, interest on capital, or other incidental expenses. For these reasons the interest is in a depressed condition. It is unprofitable to make oil when the imported article is less than 60 cents per gallon. The material used by Stanford Brothers, in addition to the illuminating oil, produces about 25 per cent. of lubricating oil, which if'it could be sold at 25 cents per gallon would make the other branch of the business profitable. But there is no market for it, owing to a prejudice against its use. The consumption of lubricating oil in California amounts to 50Q,000 gallons annually, including castor and China nut oils. That of illuminating oils reaches 900,000 gallons annually. Of course this creates an important trade for importers. The Buena Vista Company made about 4,000 gallons of illuminating oil at their works near the springs, and other companies made more or less. Nearly a dozen companies had stills in operation for a short time. Mr. Stott has made about 5,000 gallons at San Francisco. Mr. Williams, of the same place, has also made about the same quantity. Altogether it is safe to estimate the quantity of California made coal oil at 175,000 gallons. The capacity of the stills for making it is sufficient to turn out 100,000 gallons per month. The idea that the manufacture of California petroleum may yet be made profitable is not abandoned. A company5 was organized at San Francisco as lrecently as September, 1867, with a capital of $1,250,000, for the purpose of working petroleum and asphaltum deposits. THE MODE OF OccuRRENc.-The oils of California do not "occur" in the same manner as those found in the Atlantic States. Here there are no flowing wells, nor is it probable any will be found. Some of the wells sunk in the Mattole valley, Humboldt county, reached the depth of 1,166 feet without obtaining a flow, though sunk in a district overflowing with oil on the surface. Other wells of nearly equal depth have been sunk in other counties, through various formations, with similar results. Without entering into speculations as to the cause of the abundance of oil on the surface, and its deficiency below, it is enough to know that oil exists in sufficient quantity. There are many natural wells or springs of it in the Coast range, some forming pools of oil; others showing but little more than "indications" of that material. From some of these springs petroleum flows in a black, viscid streami, like tar; from others, clear, colorless, and comparatively pure. In exceptional instances it has been used without preparation in common coal oil lamps. At some places the springs are widely separated; at others, scores of them are found within the space of an acre. Generally the single springs produce the most petroleum. About some are large deposits of asphaltum, while none of this mineral is seen within miles of others, though the oil has been flowing for centuries, and its course can be traced for miles along the surface. Where a record has been kept the flow of petroleum has been larger during the night than the day, and more abundant in winter than summer. Usually where petroleum is found there are salt springs and alkaline waters. Reference to the oil wells of San Fernando district, Los Angeles county, will convey a general idea of the oil formation in the Coast range. This district is situated 30 miles northwest from Los Angeles. The formation lies in a range of mountains extending in a course nearly east and west. Tbe central stratum is shale, which seems to contain the most 6il, and inclines north and south at an acute angle, the top being from 150 to 200 feet wide, slightly depressed, and covered by a stratum of sandstone of variable thickness. This shale is bounded by a similar sandstone, alternating with thin seams of limestone andl hard conglomerate. At the base of the mountains the formation is hard WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 263 sand and limestone, both containing marine fossils of a recent era. These mountains reach a height of about 700 feet above the local river beds, and about 4,000 or 5,000 feet above the sea level. The oil stratum varies in width, being in somne places a mile or more, as in Rice canfon, in others only a few hundred feet; but is continuous for many miles. In the gulches and caflons, where the water has eroded the formation and exposed the shale to the action of the atmosphere, the oil is found oozing out. The water in the district is unfit for use. Oil is also found on the sunmmit of the mountains, which are crested with shale, being carried through the shale by capillary attraction. At some places beds of "bread, or asphaltum, have accumulated, where the oil has evaporated. The rocks, forming beds of streams which dry up during the summer, are covered with a complex alkaline efflorescence. The manner of collecting the oil in this district is by sinking pits in the vicinity of the natural springs, in which oil and water collect. The oil is skimmed off by hand, each pit of 20 by 20 yielding about two barrels per clay. When collected it is dark green in color, and about as thick as sirup in summer, and contains about 80 per cent. of oily matter, mechanically combined with 20 per cent. of water, from which it is difficult to separate it. In other places tunnels are run into the mountain. The oil hdrips from the slate when it is cut through. The Buena Vista oil claim is located on a belt of bituminous shale from two to three miles wide, and from 30 to 40 miles long, running parallel with the Coast range, near Buena Vista lake, Tulare county. From this formation petroleum exudes at a number of places. The oil obtained was the seepage of one of these springs collected in pits dug for the purpose. These pits are generally 20 feet deep, five feet wide by eight feet long, each producing about 300 gallons of crude materials in 24 hours, containing 40 per cent. of light, and 50 per cent. of lubricating, or heavy oil. The claim was worked from February, 1864, till April,.1867, when, owing to the low price of oil, it was found unprofitable to prepare it for the San Francisco market, and the local demand was fully supplied. A notable difference exists in the density of the oil from this place when obtained at but slightly different depths from the surface, ranging from 180 Baume to 22~ at 20 feet, 22~ and 26~ at 30 feet. Similar surface deposits are met with in nearly all the valleys of the Coast range. It will be seen from this imperfect sketch, that although not occurring in the same manner as the earth oils of other countries, the California oils are nevertheless valuable for illuminating purposes. The cost of production is the material point which must govern the development of many natural resources of this State. It is a question that must be candidly met. So far as petroleum is concerned, it must be acknowledged the facts are against us. But cheap labor and increased facilities for transportation will naturally follow an increase of population. With capital and labor as cheap as in New York or Europe, California petroleum would be a source of wealth to the country. At present it is an unprofitable resource. QUICKSILVEr.-THE N'Ew ALMADbEN MII'S:S were so fully described in the preliminary report, that a brief reference to their present condition will be sufficient here. The production of quicksilver in these mines has fallen off nearly one-half during the present year owing to various causes, the chief of which is, the limited demand for the article as compared with former years, and the increased production from other sources. A large quantity has accumulated in the markets of the world; estimated by some as high as 100,000 flasks. The mines of Almaden, inl Spain, have furnished a large proportion of this supply; and the production has been considerable in Austria and South America. 264 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The product of the New Almaden mines from January to AugustA, 1867, inclusive, has been as follows: - Flasks. Flasks. January.......-..-..-............ 2, 270 July............................ 1,931 February......... 2) 195 August.......................... 2,000 March ------------- 2,338 April2...................-... 2, 169 Making....................... 17,063 May............................ 2,160 June......... 2, 000 The present condition of the principal mine is poor, both in the quality and quantity of its ores; its future is uncertain and any conjectures in regard to it would be valueless. THE NEW IDRIA MINE yielded during the six months ending June 30, 1867, as follows: Flasks. Flasks. January......................... 690 June............ 852 February.................. 859 March........................... 915 Total........................ 5,014 April............................ 879 May. 829 THE IERDINGTON MINE, of which no description has heretofore been given, (sometimes called the XLCR, as named by the original locators,) is situated at Knoxville, Lake county, 55 miles northwest of Napa, from which point the product is shipped. It waslocated in March, 1861, but the locators having neither the necessary skill nor capital, leased the mine for a term of years.'Work was commenced thereon in the spring of 1862, and energetically prosecuted, with various vicissitudes ever since, its product up to January, 1867, aggregating 9,009 flasks of 76~ pounds each, selling for a total of $344,594. Up to January, 1867, the ore was reduced in retorts, but at that time there was completed a large and expensive furnace and condenser, constructed of a stone peculiar to the region, which proves itself quite the equal of the best English fire-brick in its capacity to resist the action of fire. By the aid of this improved me.anis of reduction, the product has been largely increased, aggregating in the nine months from January, 1867, to October 1, 1867, 5,145 flasks of 76; pounds each. A -second furnace of equal capacity with that now used, and having many improyements never before introduced in the construction of quicksilver reducing furnaces, has just. been completed,.and the product is hereafter expected not to be less than 1,000 flasks per month. The mine is situated in a hill, and is worked by a tunnel about 700 feet long, not counting the numerous side drifts. Various shafts have been sutnk from these side drifts, and trouble being experienced from water, anll artesian bore of seven inches diameter was sunk on the. hillside before the mouth of the tunnel, to the depth of 250 feet.' In this was placed a pump of five and a half inches diameter, and this, though generally looked upon at first as a very doubtful experiment, is found effectively and permanently to free the whole mine from water, thus saving the great expense of a pumping shaft. The mine employs 150 men, has built and maintains 20 miles of road, and from its isolated position is compelled to create from its own resources all the facilities needful for carrying it on. BORAX.-The production of refined borax by the California Borax Company for eight months, beginning January 5 and ending September 7, 1867, was 481,912 pounds. The present product averages about 120 boxes (112 pounds each) per week. The company is about to erect a machine to lixiviate the mud of the lake, at a cost of $30,000. Mr. J. Arthur Phillips, a distinguished mining engineer from England, made WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 265 a careful examination of the comnpanyls property last year. The following is an extract from his report on Borax lake: The borax occurs in the form of crystals of various dimensions, imbedded in the mud of the bottom, which is found to be most productive to a depth of three and a half feet, although a bore-hole, which was sunk near the centre to a depth of 60 feet, is said to have afforded a proportion of that salt throughout its- whole extent. The crystals thus occurring are most abundant near the centre of the lake, and extend over an area equivalent to about one-third of its surface, but they are also met with, in smaller quantities, in the muddy deposit of the otber portions of the basin, some of them being, in the richest part before alluded to, over a pound in weight, The largest crystals are generaliy enclosed in a stiff blue clay, at a depth of between three and four feet, and a short distance above them is a nearly pure stratum of smaller -ones, some two and one-half and thiree inches in thickness, in addition to which crystals of various sizes are disseminated throughout the muddy deposit of which the bottom consists. Besides the borax thus existing in a crystallized form, the mud itself is highly charged with that salt, and, according to an analysis of Professor Oxland, when dried affords, in the portions of the lake now worked, (including the enclosed crystals,) 17.73 per cent. Another analysis of an average sample, by Mr. Moore, of San Francisco, yielded him 18.86 per cent. of crystallized borax. In addition to this, the deposit at the bottom of the other portions of the basin, although less productive, still contains a large amount of borax; but no analyses of samples appear to have been made, except fronti the portions of the bottom at present worked. It has further been ascertained, by making pits on the lake shore, that clay containing a certain proportion 6f borax exists in the 0low ground, at a considerable distance from the water's edge. EXTRACTION OF BORAX.-The borax at present manufactured is exclusively prepared from the native crystals of crude salt, while the mud in which they ate found is returned to the lake after the mechanical separation of the crystals by washing. The extraction of the mud is effected by the aid of sheet-iron coffer-dams and a small dredging machine, worked by manual power, but the latter has been vey i'ecently put into operation. Until within a few weeks the only apparatus employed consisted of a raft, covered by a shingled roof which has an aperture in its centre about 15 feet square, and above which are hung, by suitable tackle, four iron coffer-dams, six feet by six feet, and nine feet in depth. This raft or barge is moved in parallel lines across the surface of the lake, and at each station the four dams are sunk simultaneously by their own weight into the mud forming the bottom. When they have thus become well imbedded the water is baled out, and the mud removed in buckets to large rectangular washing vats, into which a continuous stream of water is introduced from the lake by means of Chinese pumps-the contents of the cisterns being at the same time constantly agitated by means of rakes. In this way the turbid water continually flows off, and a certain amount of borax is finally collected in the bottom of each tank, which is subsequently recrystallized; but from the density acquired by the washing water, of which no less than 70,000 gallons are daily employed, it is evident that less than one-half of the borax existing in the form of crystals is thus obtained, while that which is present in the mud itself is again returned to the.lake. The dredging machine recently introduced is a decided improvement on the coffer-dams, and may, by the aid of some trifling modifications, be made a very efficient machine; but the mud brought up by it is subjected to the washing process before described, and a small proportion only of the borax is obtained for recrystallization. CRYSTALLIZATION.-The crystals of rude borax thus daily obtained now amrount to about 3,000 pounds, and after being carefully washed they are deposited in boiling water and recrystallized in large lead-lined vessels, from which the purified borax is removed into boxes containing 114 pounds each, for the purpose of being forwarded to San Francisco. The produce of refined borax now daily obtained appears to vary from 2,500 to 2,800 pounds, which is prepared and packed for the market, as nearly as my data will allow me to calculate, at a cost of about $90 per ton of 2,240 pounds. CAPABILITIES OF PRODUCTION.-It is evident from the foregoing description that the present system of working is by no means calculated to develop the best results which this property is capable of affording, and that in order to do so it will be necessary to adopt some method for the lixiviation of the mud, its removal from the bottom of the lake, and the crystallization of the borax thus obtained. The total extent of the muddy deposit considerably exceeds three hundred acres, and if we assume that, of this area, only one hundred acres, or that portion now worked for borax crystals, is alone sufficiently rich to pay the expenses of treatment, we shall arrive at the following figures: One hundred acres are equivalent to 484,000 square yards, and if the mud be worked to the depth of only three and one-half feet, this represents about 565,000 cubic yards; or, allowing a cubic yard to weigh a ton of 2,240 pounds, which is a very low estimate, the total weight of one hundred acres of mud, in its wet state, will be 565,000 tons. If we now assume that the mud extracted from the lake contains 60 per cent. of water, this will correspoud to 226,000 tons of dry mud, containing, according to the mean of the analyses of 266 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Professor Oxland and Mr. Moore, 18.29 per cent. of borax; but if, in practice, only 12 per cent. of borax be obtained, this will represent 27,120 tons of crystallized salt. The present wholesale price of borax in Europe is $320 per ton of 2,240 pounds, and consequently the total value of the amount contained in this portion of the lake would be, on the foregoing assumption, delivered in the market, $8,678,400, If, however, we estimate its value in San Francisco at $275, it is at the port of shipment worth $7,458,000. The expenditure, in plant and appliances, of a further sum of $30,000; would, by the process proposed by Dr. Oxland, allow of a daily production of four tons of borax. This could be produced and delivered in San Francisco at a cost, exclusive of interest on capital and depreciation of plant, of $70 per ton; $1,898,400 for the 27,100, and leaving a difference of $4,559,600 between the expense of production and the market value. The above calculations are made in accordance with the data furnished by the analyses already quoted of the mud in the central portions of the basin, but exclusive of a consideration of the borax contained in the deposits of other portions of the lake, as well as of the 6,000 tons of this salt, indicated by analyses, as existing in solution in its waters. A careful consideration of the phenomena attending the production of borax also leads to the belief that its formation is continually going on by the decomposition of carbonate of soda, (which is abundantly contained in the waters of the lake,) by boracic acid emitted from sources beneath its bed, since large quantities of carbonic acid constantly escape from the surface. Should this prove to be the case, it is probable that any moderate extraction of borax may be replaced by the formation constantly taking place. The quantity of carbonate of soda contained in the mud and water is considerably in excess of the amount of borax present, and could be readily extracted from the mother liquors. Whether this operation could, however, be profitably conducted, with a view to the exportation of soda ash, is a matter of considerable doubt, but the yearly consumption of this substance in California being understood to be about 500 tons, this local demand could, at least, be supplied, at a profit of say 2A cents per pound-$25,000 per annum. SULPIUR.-Mr. Phillips thus describes the sulphur bank belonging to this company, and the mode and cost of refining the crude sulphur: SIJLPHUR BANK.-The sulphur bank, which presents the usual characteristics of such formations, is situated on the shore of Clear lake, and covers an area ot about 40,000 square yards. In addition to sulphur, small quantities of cinnabar are found in this locality. The deposit has not, as yet, been extensively developed, but has already afforded 400 tons of refined sulphur, of which about three tons daily can, it is stated, be readily sold in San Francisco at $70 per ton. From the limited extent of the explorations which have been made, it would be difficult to estimate the probable total yield of sulphur, but it is not unreasonable.to anticipate that the bank contains at least from 15,000 to 20,000 tons of that substance. In order to make immediate returns of sulphur, a refinery has been recently erected for the treatment of the richer portions of the deposit, which frequently do not contain above 10 per cent. of impurity; but there are also vast quantities of tufaceous matters, containing from 5 to 60 per cent. of sulphur, all of which will be ultimately treated with advantage. The-cost of extracting, refining, and delivering a ton of sulphur in San Francisco is now stated to be about $35. The refinery consists of sundry iron, retorts for the purposes of sublimation, together with the necessary condensers and receivers. It is well laid out, and connected with the sulphur bank by a railway 1,300 feet in length. SECTION XXI. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. CALIFORNIA AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. INQUIRIES FROM LOUISIANA-RESPONSE OF THE EMIGRATION SOCIETY-PUBLIC LANDS, AGR1CULTURIE, MANUFACTURES, ETC. NEW IBERIA, LOUISIANA, September 25, 1867. SIR: Some six weeks or two months ago I presumed to address you, not directing the letter, as is now advised, by Panama. I think it more than probable, on account of Indian disturbances, it will not reach its destination. In that, the first letter, I made many inquiries in regard to your favored State, and if I repeat them in this,' I trust you will not esteem me troublesome. There are several families WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 267 of us desirous of escaping from the evils that afflict this section, and try our fortunes in States not cursed by negro supremacy. We lost nearly everything by the war, and we wish only protection and health; that we may try to live and educate our children, and where, if we should be so fortunate.as to make anything, we would be protected in its enjoyment. With politics we are disgusted, and cannot care again to exercise the privilege of voting, but heartily wishing to be governed by our own race. To the following inquiries we most respectfully ask answers, and should your time be otherwise employed, we ask that you hand'this to some one that will honor us with the solicited information: 1. Are the public lands entirely absorbed? 2. Can they be' entered, if public? 3. Are there any special laws regulating the entry? 4. In what part of the State are these lands mostly situated? 5. What is the price of unimproved lands not very close to the city? 6. Of improved places? 7. What are the wages of laborers by day, or month, or year? 8. Is there a demand for labor? 9. Is mining more profitable than farming, or vice versa? 1.0. What section would you advise poor people, desirous of making a living, and, if possible, more, to settle in? 11. At about. what price could work-horses, milch cows, &c., be bought in the.rural districts? 12. Are goods of all descriptions very much.more costly than in New York or New Orleans? 13. Are there any diseases peculiar to the climate? 14. And any information that you may judge would be of interest or service. Several of us are professional men, but we care not for profession if we can only have a white man's chance to work, and thereby support and educate our families. We would arrive in your city with but little money, and it would be well for us, I suppose, to remain but a short time, and not be very long in locating. At what season would it be best to arrive? Cotton crop a failure in this State; corn and cane very fine. Yellow fever has been very severe. Permit me again to ask the favor of an early and full answer to the above inquiries. Yours, respectfully, THOS. T. FOLSOM. His Honor the MAYOR of San Francisco, California. REPLY. Query. "Are the public lands entirely absorbed?" Answer. No; There are millions of acres yet in the keeping of the federal government officers, which can be had for $1 an acre in gold. Only in the neighborhood of the great thoroughfares, the navigable rivers, the fragments of railways yet constructed, the mining, camps and the like, has ever the government surveyor yet erected his theodolite. The whole population of theStates of California, Oregon, Nevada, and the Territory of Washington, does not come to a million of souls, and they have more land to live upon than the entire German family of 30 nations and 60,000,000. There are plenty of good spots where small colonies of immigrants may squat upon and await the coming (for years) of the federal government surveyor, and when he shall come, the $1 an acre demanded by the government will have long before been realized out of the land. In the San Joaquin valley, 60 miles back from Stockton, (a city of about 5,000 inhabitants, and one night's journey by steamer from San Francisco,) plenty of land can be got for $1 in gold per acre from the government office in Stockton. This valley is about 100 miles long, a width varying from 10 to 30 miles, through which streams, navigable for flatboats, flow down to the Sacramento river. The soil is deep and rich, and the bottoms near the water are exceedingly fertile, and able to support abundance of kine. This valley would absorb 100,000 settlers. We have received from Mr. Merry, of Red B3luff, (a growing town of about 2,000 inhabitants, at the head of navigation on the Sacramento river, and to be reached in two days by steamer from San Francisco, at an expense of from $10 to $12,) an elaborate report of the agricultural and business facilities in that section. He says: "The slopes of the Sierra hills and coast range, being well watered, afford good pasturage for sheep and horned cattle during the year.' The arable land of the country lying along the' bottoms' of the Sacramento river and its tributaries bear grain crops of from 16 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. The best lands in the county (Tehama county) are covered by Mexican grants, to which patent titles from the President of the United States have been obtained. These lands can be purchased from present holders for $10 to $15 per acre. They are adapted to the growth of grain, potatoes and beets. All kinds of vegetables and fruit grow in the greatest luxuriance. Sheep breeding pays well. The flocks in this county number about 268 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES 100,000 sheep. The quality of wool has a very good name in the San Francisco market, and brings 20 cents a pound. Butter will pay well for skilful dairymen, and cheese also. For swine there is no better county in the State. Over 4,000 head of grain-fed hogs have been sold out of the county during the past year. A pork and bacon-packing house in this place is doing an extensive business. The establishment of a woollen-mill here would be the best investment of capital extant. Lumber is cheap, firewood plenty, and water power abundant, going to waste. An iron foundry would pay well here. Money is dear, it brings two per cent., and two and a half per cent. per month. Farm laborers get $30 per month and board. Blacksmiths and wagon makers do well. Some have got rich. Good board can be got for $20 to $25 a month. Cottages can be got for from $8 to $15 a month rent. Town lots for building can be entered at government prices. Common necessaries from the farms are cheaper than in San Francisco. Imported articles are about 30 per cent. higher. As to vine culture it is the best localityfor that industry in the State. Here is the celebrated Bosquejo vineyard, where the'Gerke' wine is made, which is a fair sample of our vine lands. Thousands of acres of equally good lands can be had here for $1 25 an acre." The section of country referred to by Mr. Merry would absorb and maintain 100,000 persons. In the counties south of San Francisco-Monterey, for instance-two days' journey by stage from Francisco, large tracts of the richest land, owned by easy-going people of Spanish descent, can be purchased or rented upon very advantageous terms; purchased for $1 or $2 an acre, or rented on shares for one-forth of the annual product of the land. The chief and greatest cost is the cost of fencing. In many places the old Spanish settlers own tracts of 30,000 to 50,000 acres, unfenced and undivided, over which numberless flocks of sheep and cattle roam and breed and die, without control or much care from the proprietors, who live in rude ease, and almost secluded from the outside world. Their slumbers will-soon be broken by the hum of busy immigyants, who will come crowding by sea and land into their fruitful territories. Further south, towards Los Angeles, the best lands can be purchased from those old-fashioned settlers for $1 an acre, or even less. There is very little timber to be cleared from any of these lands, To go upon these lands, several families should form themselves into villages or companies, and go out togetheron the land and help each other. This co-operative system is sure to make immigrants happy and prosperous. Farming implements can be got here better and cheaper than in England, or in any of the American cities of the Atlantic. Farm horses can be purchased for $20 to $40 apiece; milk cows, $20 to $30 each. The expense of transporting one person from this city to the government land may be set down at $20. Markets can be found for any quantity of grain, butter, wool, and fruits. The vine is slow in its returns, but quite certain to pay at the end of four or five years, and will yet be the great occupation of Californians. The climate in most parts of California is moderate; in winter there is neither frost nor snow. The population of California is about 500,000. About 90,000 of these have votes, and are entered on the great register. Being an American citizen, and residing three months in one loeality, gives the privilege of voting for all public officers. The voting is done in one day, by ballot, all over the State, and there is no property qualification required in the voter or in the public officer. A person born out of the United States must be two years resident in the United States, have sworn fealty to the American government, and hyve registered his name on the great register before he can vote. There are about 50,000 Chinese, and about 10,000 negroes in the State. Neither of them have any political rights allowed them. They cannot vote for any public officer, nor is it likely that ever they will enjoy such privileges. The Chinese are looked upon with much jealousy by the white race. Opposition to them has assumed an organized shape, and there are numerous anti-coolie clubs existing in our city, whose object is to resist and discourage the importation and employment of Chinese labor. About 8,000 Chinamen are employed on the Pacific railway works; about 20,000 are working in and around the mines, and the remainder are scattered over the State engaged in doing the lowest kind of work about the cities and towns; washing, gardening, dealing in fish and vegetables, &c. Question 2. "Is there a demand for labor?" Answer. We are anxiously and carefully gathering information from every side, firom reliable sources, with the intention of forming a small hand-hook for the intending immigrant. We are full of the great idea of inviting an extensive immigration from Europe, and from the southern and eastern States, to the Pacific slope, but we shudder at the thought of misleading any one.,It is almost unnecessary to repeat that we have room and work for millions of people in our fields and mines, but the great trouble is to support people while they are finding the work suited to their strength, their habits, and their experience. The idea that fills the minds of many persons in making towards California is, that they shall go a goldhunting in the mines, make lucky hits, and return at some distant day to their old homes in Europe or the Atlantic States to enjoy their good fortunes. This idea has been the unseen rock that wrecked many an emigrant to this golden land. None should come to the California -miaes but miners. On the first discovery of gold in California, and for several years afterwards, every kind of laborer went into the mines, and many of them did very well; but of late years the Chinese WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 269 got in, and swarmed over the "placer" or stream mines, and as they work in well organized companies, live upon little, theyare able to scrape a living from the oft-washed sands in the older washing grounds of the earlier miners. The principal mining now carried on in California is quartz mining, which is as like coal or iron mining as possible-penetrating the bowels of the earth several hundred feet-men working in gangs, in "watches" of eight hours each shift, so that the work never stops, night or day. For this kind of work miners get $4 a day. Their board and lodging in the neighborhood of those quartz mines comes high, about $8 or $10 a week, as a general rule; two and a half days' wages is required to pay for a miner's board and lodging for a week. A great deal of the work on the Pacific railroad on our side of the Rocky mountains is performed by Chinamen, under white overseers. They get about $1 a day for their labor. White mencould get that wages and board, but they won't work for it. A dollar a day is the lowest notch which the strong man's labor has touched in any part of California. Common labor, according to skill, ranges up to $1 50 and $2 a day. We are not now talking of skilled mechanical labor, such as carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, smiths, machinists, foundry men, tailors, shoemakers, and the like. The labor of these sort brings $3 to $5 a day in all the cities and in all the towns of the Pacific coast. As to clerks and light porters, and those who are always waiting for an easy berth or something to "turn up," there is little encouragement for them. The cities are full of them. This sort of helpless people are the production of an erroneous system of education, which has weaned the boy from labor, and left the man a helpless, pitiable mendicant. You are, doubtless, impatient to learn, then, what sort of people are likely to do well here, and we answer, any sort who are thoroughly determined to work-men and women, young and old. The lowest wages for labor among us is about twice the wages of New York, and four times the wages obtained in Great Britain, Ireland, or Germany. The priceof.wheaten flour is about one-half what it is in Liverpool or New York-$8 a barrel of 196 pounds just now. Tea, sugar, and coffee about the same as in England or New York. Clothing and house rent about double the English rates, and about the samp as in New York. All the foregoing rates are in gold. Question 3. "Is mining more profitable than farming?" Answer. This question is one still more difficult to answer. Farming has lately acquired a fixed character. The fine qualities of wheat and flour which California yields-the vast quantities of wool, of butter, of fruit and wine, and the high prices these products realize in New York and Liverpool, have latterly decided great numbers of our population to go rinto farming. One only drawback which farming in California will ever experience, and that will occasionally arise from long seasons of drought. The last thi'ee years the seasons were very well mixed with rains about the time they were wanted, and sunshine when wanted'; and our farmers have had splendid crops and obtained high prices. About four years ago there was a long drought and a cattle famine was experienced. Flour ran up to very high rates, and there was much suffering among the working people. This has passed away and is forgotten in our present prosperity, but it is well for all immigrants facing to this country to be made aware of these things. We have, in general, about seven months of the year when there does not fall a drop of rain, yet vegetation is nourished by copious dews. Then we have four or five months when it pours down plenteously, and this rain it is that brings us the means to obtain the food that lies intact in the earth, and enables our miners to wash the clay and sand that contains the gold dust. The total produce of our gold and silver mines may be set at $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 a year. Our farming and general agricultural products will very soon, if they do not now, foot up to $50,000,000 worth a year. The value of the wheat and flour shipped from California since last harvest comes up to $9,000,000; and as fast as good ships come into the harbor they are eng'aged to take out wheat and flour, wool, hides, &c. The general demand for all sorts of mechanics in this city, and throughout the State, was never better. The wages, as we have said, range: For Chinamen, $1 a day; common laborers, $2 a day; skilled mechanics $3 to $4 a day-some of superior skill, $5 a day; female servants, $15 to $25 a month, and board; farm laborers, $30 a month, and board. All these prices are gold, and all our dealings here are managed on a gold basis; Question 4. "Are there any diseases peculiar to California?" Answer. The climate of California is the most healthful to be found in the world. It is equable all the year round. The thermometer raniges from 500 to 900 throughout the State. We lay from 320 to 420 north latitude. We have neither frost nor snow, except on the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada, and some of the mountains in the Coast range. The only drawback to health is experienced in the neighborhood of the mines, where the water is overstrongly impregnated with mineral matter, which generates ague and peculiar fevers; but in the agricultural regions the people live on from year to year their whole lives without experiencing a day's sickness, and the children multiply in numbers and develop in symmetry and beauty beyond those of any race on the face of the globe. Next to the employments under the head of "ordinary agriculture" is the vine culture, which is peculiar to California; its vines and wines are now celebrated all over the world. 270 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES But a few years ago it was not supposed the vine would flourish anywhere but in the southern region and Los Angeles. Latterly, experiments have demonstrated that it will flourish in the acclivities around the mining camp as well as amid the sheep-walks and pastoral pl ains and valleys; that whether it is pressed into wine or distilled into brandy, it will reward the labor bestowed upon its cultivation. The California wines begin to make their way in the New York market, and each new year will confer on their quality more richness and more reputation. The grape vines of California, when five years old, yield plenteously; one has only to own half dozen acres, well planted with vines of that age, to realize a life-long indepedence. In a few years from the present time, the wine and silk of California will form some of.the leading articles of its export. The fruits of California are now so rich and plentiful that the farmers begin to dry, and press, and ship them to the Atlantic cities, from whence, but a very few years ago, we imported dried fruits, flour, &c. The raising of the silk-worm has been commenced in California, and has succeeded. It is proven that the climate is quite as favorable as that of France or Italy for this branch of industry. Arrangements are in progress to start a silk factory. The success of this experi ment will lead to national results by and by. We shall soon.come to the raising of tobacco, beet root, and manufacture of beet and cane sugar, cotton, flax, linen, hemp, and hops, for all of which the soil and climate are admirably fitted. Some cotton has been raised in the southern parts of the State in a desultory way, but the soil awaits the enterprising hands of toiling men to bring about those great results from the vast and varied material that sleeps neglected in the soil, and hovers over us in the overhanging climate. We are building small coasting schooners of 50 to 200 tons. All those craft are well employed in carrying lumber, coal, and the produce of the fields into market, and latterly groups of those small craft have gone fishing for cod in the North Pacific with great success. The salmon and other fish caught in our waters are certainly the best in the world. Our progress in manufacture is infantine and rude. Three or four woollen mills and one cotton factory are all that California can boast of, but these are doing well, and in good time others will start. Our tanneries are numerous in city and country, and their manufactures well liked and in good demand. We should say the business is healthy, with fair profits. Soap and candle factories are experimenting on the native tallow and beeswax of the country -this is the land for bees and honey. They have begun one factory for making boots and shoes, and so far it is prosperous, employing two hundred hands. There is room here for many paper and flour mills. We have two glass factories, on a small scale, doing well, and any number of iron foundries, all at full work. *There has been a glove factory lately started, and is doing well; also a rude pottery-ware factory. We want half a dozen hat factories, in which the hat from the foundation would be made, trimmed and finished. We have plenty of printers and an abundance of newspapers. The population of San Francisco is about 120,000. We have eight morn ing and evening newspapers, and 12 or 15 weeklies. We have a score of banks, 15 insurance companies, any number of hotels, boarding houses, and public schools. About half the population are native-born Americans from the Atlantic States; the other half is divided among the Germans, Irish, French, Spanish, Chinese, and negroes. The Jews have two synagogues, the Roman Catholics eight churches, and the Protestants a dozen or so, Take them as a whole, they are the most hospitable and generous crowd of citizens to be found in any seaport round the whole earth. No man nor woman will be suffered to want food here, and no industrious man nor woman need be afraid of casting their destiny in the fertile grazing lands of California. We hope these few hints on our.new and growing State will be useful. The worst time for travelling through our interior districts are the winter and spring months, when the roads are softened by the rains. Rains usually begin in December and continue down to April. We remain, respectfully, H. A. COBB, Prcsident. THOMAS MOONEY, Vice President. J. W. McKENZIE,.Sccretary. SAN FRANCISCO, October 29, 1867. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 271 Tabular statement of receipts and exports of agricultural products at San Fran cisco, California, from June, 1860, to July, 1867. RECEIPTS. Year. Flour. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Wool. barrels. 100-lb. sacks. 100-lb. sacks 1001-b. sacks. Pounds. 1861.................. 122, 809 2,164, 320 671, 414 305, 208 3, 721, 98 1862.................. 111,269 1,45L, 465: 612,014 343, 808 5,990,300 1863............... — 149, 825 1,890,777 435,945 172,896 6,268,480 1864.......... 99, 298 1,843,840 623; 266 304,504 7, 435,670 1865.-.... -61,670 509,163 415,914 255,839 8,889,931 1866-......... 167, 316 2,138,442 984,208 322,528 7, 851, 629 1867... —-..-.-.301, 449 5,214,196 767,938 326,119` 7,166,680 Totals.......... 1,013,636 15,212,203 4,510,699 2,030,902 47,334,688 * To August 1. EXPORTS. Year. Flour. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Wool. Barrels. 100-lb. sacks. 100-lb. sacks. 100-lb. sacks. Pounds. 1861]...........,197,181 1,529, 924 339,537 116,462 3, 721,998 1862.-..191,652 851,844 188,619 154,587 5, 990,300 1863................. — 144, 882 1, 043, 652 49, 809 39,985 5,268,480 1864................. 152, 633 1, 071,292 40,\260 91, 082 5,935, 670 1865.-... 91,479 25, 360 13, 920 3,389 6;549,931 1866.................. 279,554 11,039,518 349,994 113,961 4,62,129 1867 -......... - 485,337 3,636,194 142,157 88, 331 2,104,000 Totals..........., 452, 718 9,197,784 1,124,296 607,)797 34,232,508 Countries to which exported daring the year 1867. New York. 201,478 510, 784 27, 625....- -. 2,758, 000 Great Britain......... 38,921 3,131,553 2, 797 83....... China..... 69, 270 151,124 1,700 3,544 Japan.......... 1,410 544 28,579 2, 700.. Hawaiian Islands..... 4,171 366 1,763 2,487..... British Columbia....... 1,676 2, 950 7,788 565. Mexico................. 3,149 10 2,130 187.... Australia........... 1,650 172,069 70,892 1, 281 Rio de Janeiro..... -..., 669- --- Other countries..... 40, 732 58,546 1, 223 196. Totals.......... 385, ]126 4, 027, 946 143, 497.11,043 2,758, 000 272 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SAN FRANCISCO IN 1867-'68.* The total population of the city, August 1, 1867, is estimated at 131,100. The estimate for 1858 was 83,223, showing an increase in eight years of 47,877. The particulars of the estimate for 1867 are as follows: White males over 21, names ift the present volume............................. 45, 000 White females over 18, estimated.-............................ 27,000 White males under 21 and females under 18, estimated.......... 40, 000 White males, names refused, and foreigners, estimated.4, 000 Chinese, male and female.... - 3,600 Colored, male and female............................................. 2,500 Total permanent population........................................... 122,100 To which should be added a large element of our population known as "floating," which consists of: 1st. Transient boarders, &c., at hotels, boarding-houses, &c. 2d. Soldiers at the fortifications in the harbor. 3d. Persons engaged in navigating the bay, who claim the city as their residence. 4th. A large number of persons who have no permanent place of abode, together amounting to about... 9, 000 Total population....................................................... 131,100 The school census of July, 1867, gives the number of children under 15 years at 34,710. The number of males between 15 and 21, and females between 15 and 18, is estimated at 5,290, maklting the aggregate 40,000 of all ages. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE YEAR PAST.-The number of buildings erected in San Francisco during the year ending June 30, 1867, is 1,050, of which 340 are of brick; total in the city and county, 17,368, of which 3,857 are of brick. The estimated cost of the improvements during the same period is nearly $9,000,000. The sales of real estate for the first seven months of the present year exceed $10,000,000. The operations of the department of streets and highways, for the year ending June 30, 1867, show an expenditure exceeding $1,000,000. The cost of a number of the principal new buildings is thus given: Bank of California, $275,000; Mercantile Library, $110,0()0; Merchants' Exchange, $190,000; Fireman's Fund Insurance, $45,600; Pacific Insurance, $80,000; Merchants' Mutual Insurance, $60,000; Hibernia Savings and Loan, $65,000; Murphy, Grant & Co.'s four-story iron-fronted brick block, $170,000; enlargement and improvements Lick House, $175,000; Dr. Scudder's church, $64,000; Trinity church, $75,000; St. Joseph's, Catholic, $18,000; Tehema street school-house, $26,000; almshouse, $60,000; Oriental buildings, $200,000; additions to Occidental Hotel, $125,000; Blanding & Pringle's block, $70,000; Ellis's block, $65,000; Brannan's new building, $60,000; Sav;ngs Union building, $50,000; Hayward's building, corner California and Leidesdorff, $90,000; Morrow's building, California, near Montgomery, $50,000; Tucker's building, $45,000. STPREETS AND SEWERS.-The total expenditure in the department of streets and highways for the year ending June 30, 1867, amounts to $1,009,883 85, viz: For grading 1,191,257 cubic yards, at a cost of $327,333: paving 166,083 square feet cobble-stone and 236,005 square feet Nicholson, together, $117,594; brick sewers, 21,203 lineal feet, $156,745; planking, 2,571,083 feet, $96,897; sidewalks, 69,925 front feet, $96,154; cross walks, 6,296 feet, and curbs, 19,193 feet, together, $47,423; macadamizing, 1,560,119 square feet, $117,272; redwood sewers, 12,137 feet, $49,578. The entire cost of street work from July 1, 1856, to June 30, 1867, is $5,439,287. The total length of sewers constructed from July 1, 1856, to June 30, 1867, is 165,583 lineal feet, or nearly 30 miles of sewerage. The principal improvements have been the grading of McAlister street, from Larkin to Fillmore; Tenth street. from Market to Howard; Townsend street, between Third and Fourth; Brannan street, between Second and Third; Fillmore street, from Sacramento to Pacific; Clay street, from Jones to Leavenworth; O'Farrell street, from Larkin to Polk; California street, from Polk to Franklin; Fulton street, from Buchanan to Fillmore; Van Ness avenue, from Bush to Geary; Franklin street, from Ellis to Turk; Main street, from Mission to Folsom; Fourth street, between Brannan and Townsend; Taylor street, between Broadway and Vallejo; Spear street, from Harrison to Folsom, and Bush street, from Larkin to Cemetery avenue.. WNVATER FRONT IMPROVEMENTS.-The work of constructing a sea wall for the protection of the city front and better accommodation of shipping has been commenced during the past year. It will be 8,336 feet in length when completed. It is estimated to cost $2,462,470, or f295 371 per linear foot. It is to be constructed of. solid granite, eight feet thick at base and six feet at top, resting on a broad embankment of rocks and cement The new dry dock, nearly completed, at Hunter's Point, about four miles southeast from Folsom street wharf, is one of the most important enterprises ever undertaken by private citizens. This work was commenced in September, 1866, and is expected to be completed by the close of the present year. The dimensions of the dock are 465 feet long by 125 feet Compiled from Langley's City Directory. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 273 wide on the surface, and 400 feet long by 80 feet wide on the bottom, and of sufficient depth to permit vessels drawing 22 feet of water to float in it. Nearly the whole of this great excavation has been cut out of solid rock. The materials extracted have been sufficient to cover 10 50-vara lots of the adjoining swamp land to a depth to bring them up to the grade of the city. The whole front of the dock Wvill be covered with solid blocks of cut granite, 13,000 square yards of which have been brought from the quarries at Rocklin, Sacramento county, for that purpose. Powerful engines, pumps, and every necessary arrangement foi rendering the works complete have been constructed, the whole cost of which will exceed $1,200,000. The Merchants' Dry Dock Company have completed a floating apparatus, calculated to sustain vessels of 1,000 tons burden. This dock cost $60,000. The Union Lumber Association are constructing a dock near Beale street, which is estimated to cost $150,000. This association has expended $185,000 in the construction of wharves and other improvements on lands adjoining the new wharf of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The improvements made and in progress under the direction of this latter company have quite changed the topography of the western fiont of the city. This company owns the block of overflowed land bounded by First, Second, Townsend, and Brannan streets, about 12 50-vara lots. They have constructed wharves, which have required 1,200 piles, 3,000,000 feet of sawed lumber, 35 tons of iron bolts, and 300,000 cubic yards of earth to complete. They erected a two-story brick warehouse, 195 feet deep by 230 feet wide, cut down hills and filled up swamps to such an extent that what had been the most useless portion of the city front has become the centre of an extensive business. Hundreds of men and teams are at present engaged cutting down the hills in the vicinity and filling up the shallow bay with the materials, extending the area of the city hundreds of feet over what had been useless territory. The erection of several large warehouses is contemplated in the vicinity. MARKETS AND ROLLING MILLS.-The new California Market, extending from California to Pine streets, was commenced and has been completed during the past year. This is one of the most useful improvements in the city, being centrally located and most conveniently arranged. It is a most substantial structure, with elegant iron fronts on each of these streets, resting on a solid cut-granite basement. It cost about $200,000. Anotherextensive market, which cost about $60,000, has been built on Howard street, between Third and Fourth. Among the new branches of manufacture introduced during the past year the Pacific Rolling Mills holds a prominent position. It is located at Potrero Point, and has been fitted up with every requisite for manufacturing iron bars and rods of any shape or form, firom a inch up to 36 inches in diameter, including railroad iron of all descriptions. These works cost $1,000,000. I REAL ESTATE.-Statistics in the office of the city and county assessor place the value of our real estate improvements for the past fiscal year at $58,000,000. The number of sales of property made for the 12 months ending July 31, 1867, was 5,213, at a valuation of $15.383,196. The above figures include only the sales recorded. The prices paid at the Beidman sale would swell the total to nearly $16,000,000. EDUCATIONAL FAcTs.-There are 34,710 white children under 15 years of age in the city. Our juvenile population has increased nearly 300 per cent. in seven years. The average number of pupils belonging to the public schools Junle 30, 1867, was nearly 11,000. Eight new school-houses were erected during the year. The disbursements of the school department of the public school fund upon the assessment roll of the last fiscal year were $320,958 88 -slightly within the receipts. Basing the amount of taxes for the benefit $80,000,000, at the school tax rate of 35 cents on each $100, the amount raised from this source the present year will be $280,000; apportionment of the State school fund, $60,000; poll taxes, $2,500: dog tax, $1,000; rent of school property, $600; evening schools, $200. Total revenue for the present year, $344,300. The whole number of private educational institutions in San Francisco is about 70, with an aggregate attendance, including students at the different colleges, of 4,2'250. Of this number 12 are under the control of the Catholic denomination, and the regular aggregate attendance upon the same is over 3,400. There are 21 schools connected with the Protestant Sunday School Union. The average attendance at these schools is 4,340; other Protestant schools, 2,405; Catholic schools, 3,600; Hebrew, 690. Total who receive religious instructions on the Sabbath day in this city, 1],035. Libraries —number of volumes Sabbath School Union, 19,927; other Protestant schools, 12,000; Catholic schools, 6,000. Total number of volumes in Sabbath schools in this city, (Hebrew not included,) 37,927. NEW MANUFACTURES.-Among the most prominent of the branches of industry put in operation are the Pacific Woollen Mills, located at the Mission, manufacturing knit goods of all descriptions. at the rate of $500,000 annually, and employing nearly 400 persons; the Golden City Chemical Works, with a capital of $2,000,000, and manufacturing a great variety of chemicals and medicinal extracts; the San Franclsco Glass Works, manufacturing both white and colored glassware to the extent of $150,000 a year, and the San Francisco Linseed Oil and Paint Works, with capacity to supply the entire wants of the coast. TJese with minor enterprises inaugurated during the same period, have absorbed more than $3,000,000 capital, and will turn out manufactures to half that amount annually. The most prominent of the enterprises yet unfinished is the Pacific Rolling Mills, which promises to be in suc18 274 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES cessful operation within the next twelve months. This establishment is much needed, both to do away with the importation of a vast amount of manufactured metals and to stimulate new branches of labor by furnishing supplies of home materials which are required to make them successful. The large capital of these mills, and their contemplated extensive scope of manufacture in copper as well as in iron, promise to do more to develop the resourcesof the State in these metals than allsimilar enterprises now in operation combined. GENERAL MANUFACTURING ITEMS.-The pecuniary results of all the manufacturing interests in this city for the past year are favorably reported. The sugar and petroleum factories are alone complained of as being less successful than in former years. The Pioneer and Mission Woollen Mills manufactured for the year ending June, 1866, goods to the value of $899,734. The Mission mills alone turned out, with 425 hands, 80,000 pairs of blankets, 125,000 yards of broadcloth and cassimere, 500,000 yards of flannel and cloaking, besides a quantity of shawls; the whole consuming 2,000,000. of wool. The Pacific Woollen Mills will make up into knit woollen goods this year 500,000 pounds of fine wool. Mayer & Sons' cotton wadding, batting, and twine works can turn out 2,000 pounds of wadding and batting per day. The cotton they use is imported chiefly from Tahiti and Mexican ports. The Pacific Cordage Factory turned out last year 2,000,000 pounds of cordage.'The rope-walk is 1,500 feet long, and the works altogether employ 47 men constantly. The Pioneer Woollen Mills, during last year, employed 350 hands, and made 30,000 pairs of blankets, 60,000 yards of broadcloths, tweeds, and cassimeres, and 375,000 yards of flannels, which consumed 1,300,000 pounds of choice wool. A very large portion of the flannels manufactured is made up at once into shirts, the company employing 60 sewing machines in that and other work connected with their manufactures. There are three manufactories of acids and other chemicals in the city, which supply the assay offices and mint on this coast. The Phoenix Oil Works have a refining capacity of 400 gallons per day. Mallon & Co.'s glass-cutting works manufactured to the amount of $6,000 in 1866. The Pacific Saw Works turned out manuLfactures valued at over $3,000,000. Dana's neat-foot oil works turned out 33,997 pounds of glue and 5,007 gallons of oil. Cameron, Whittier & Co. made mirrors to the value of $18,000. Zech made 12 pianos last year, of an average value of $450, using native ash, laurel, and other domestic woods. John Mayer made two large organs of good quality. The glass manufactures of the year aggregated $80,000. There are 11 extensive flaur mills in the city, which exported the first eight months of this year 136,958 barrels of flour via the Isthmus of Panama. Eight mills turned out last year an aggregate of 247,708 barrels, besides large quantities of other meals. Eight saw-mills turned out 8,950,000 feet of lumber. Up to the present time the principal foundries and machine shops located in this city have turned out machinery for the propulsion of 1,000 ton vessels, stationery engines, batteries of heavy guns, the most powerful quartz-crushing machinery, saw and flour mills, and for a multiplicity of business not needed to mention. With the exception of the raw materials used for castings and machinery, the foundries of the State have rendered its people indepenitlent of other countries and given profitable employment, directly and indirectly, to several thousands of persons. At the present time there are 14 large foundries and machine shops, some of which have no superiors anywhere in excellence of work and adaptation of materials to meet the wants of the people. During the year 1866 these foundries, with some few smaller ones, employed 1,018 men, using 6,921 tons pig iron, 1,448 tons bar and rod iron, 1,027 tons sheet and boiler iron, and 110 tons rivets. Several of these establishments have extensive boiler shops connected with them. The three sugar refineries in this city have a capacity nearly double the local consumption; One establishment alone has a capacity to refine 1]20,000 pounds daily. Altogether about 300 men are employed in these refineries. Twenty thousand boxes of maccaroni and paste were made by one firm last year. Another house made 3,000 gross of yeast powders. About 24,000 brooms were manufactured. Wooden ware and.box manufacturing is extensive and profitable. The new linseed oil works can crush 4,000 pounds seed per week. Two firms have made 5,000 billiard tables in this city in 16 years. During 1866 they employed 12 men and made 70 tables, worth $480 each. The products of several other manufactories may thus be condensed: Ten soap establishments, 2,831,419 pounds; three match factories, 250,000 gross; five tanneries, 2,400 hides, 615 dozen calf and 515 kip skins; hose.and belting, 6,000 feet hose, $7,000 worth of belting, and 400 dozen horse collars; boots and shoes, total manufactures, $750,000, employing about 500 men; type foundry at the rate of $20,000 per annum; 24 breweries, of which 17 turned out 76,602 barrels of beer; furniture establishme'nts employ over 300 men and turned out about $800,000 worth of furniture; 800 cigar makers, employed by 100 firms, turn out nearly 3,000,000 cigars a month; the clothing manufacturers employ 700 persons and turned out last year $1,500,000%worth of goods; 20 firms are engaged in making carriages and wagons. TRADE FLUCTUATIONS.-A general table of the fluctuations of trade shows that the number of persons in business in this city has increased from 5,300 in 1862 to 6,942 in 1867. Only the leading branches of trade are included in this table. Of those in business in 1862 only 3,956 are still found in existing trade circles. The yearly changes among small dealers will not fall short of 40 per cent. per annum. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 275 MUNICIPAL FINANCES.-The total assessment for 1866-'67 is $96,700,397. Of this valuation $53,485,421 is assigned to real estate, and $43,214,976 to personal property. The total of State, city, and county taxes is $3 10 on each $100. The amount absolutely collected on is much less than the aggregate valuations for the last two years. In 1865-'66 it was $22,730,719 personal against $39,775,500 assessed, and $45,436,924 real estate against $49, 138,027 assessed; in all, $68,167,643 collected on against $88,913,527 assessed. The city expenditures for 1865-'66 were $1,437,281 20, which amount was divided as follows: Curnent expenses, $916,934 45; permanent improvements, $90,995 90; interest, $256,198 38; reduction of debt, $154,055; old claims, $19,097 47. The expenditures for 1866-'67 are thus stated: Current expenses, $939,285 05; permanent improvements, $188,073 75; interest, $213,353 06; reduction of debt, $354,686 82; old claims, $71,166 66: total, $1,766,565 34. Increase this year, $329,284 14. The total revenue for 1865-'66 was $1,624,408 06. That for 1866-'67 was $1,841,753 96, showing an increase of $217,345 90. The revenue is derived this year as follows: Taxes, $1,482,476.31; State and county licenses, $93,901 50; municipal licenses, $31,762 50; sale of bonds, $125,965 38; other sources, $107,647 97. The bonded debt aggregates $4,748,667, bearing interest at from 6 to 10 per cent. The annual sinking fund is about $198,500. The bonds in aid of the Pacific railroad alone amount to $650,000, bearing 7 per cent. interest. CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA.-The following interesting and instructive observations on the climate of California are from the proof-sheets of a forthcoming work on the Pacific Coast, by Mr. T. F. Cronise, soon to be issued by Messrs. H. H. Bancroft & Co., of San Francisco: THE VARIETY OF CLIMATE.-There are essentially two climates in California, the land climate and the sea climate. The latter derives its low temperature from the ocean, the water of which. along the coast stands at from 52~ to 45~ all the year round. The evenness of the ocean temperature is owing to a steady current from the north, which is accompanied also by winds in the same direction during the entire summer season, or rather from April to October, inclusive. Almost daily during this period a deluge of cold, damp air, of the same temperature as the ocean over which it has passed, is poured upon the land. It is mostly laden with mist, in dense clouds, which it deposits at the foot hills and on the slopes of the highlands, or carries a short distance into the interior, wherever there is a break in the land wall. The land climate is as nearly as possible the opposite in every respect. In summer and atuumn it is hot and dry. It undergoes various modifications from the configuration of the surface of the earth. Even the mountains, which retain the snow till a late period, present a high temperature in the middle of the day, and the presence of the snow on their summits in June is owing to the great mass which has accumulated on them rather than to cold weather. A large district of territory lies between the. jurisdiction of the two climates, and subject to their joint influence. It is composed chiefly of valleys surrounding the bay of San Francisco, and penetrating into the interior in every direction. There is no climate in the world more delightful than these valleys enjoy, and no territory more productive. While the ocean prevents the contiguous land frombeing scorched in summer, it also prevents it from being frozen in winter. Hence ice and snow are not common in the ocean climate. The difference in temperature is comparatively slight between winter and summer. The cold of winter in the interior is not intense, even on mountain elevations, with the exception of the tier of counties in the extreme north. Its degree depends much, however, on the altitude of the locality. The severity of winter is due, not to extreme cold in any part of California, but to violent and prolonged snow-stgrms in one section, and cold and prolonged rains in the others. It is interesting to cast the eye over the map of the State, and trace out climatic modifications as governed by topography. First, look at the long range of coast, the slope of which, as far back as the first mountan wall, is under the control of the ocean, and has the most uniform of climates. It is a narrow strip of territory, the only part of the State preserved firom dessication in summer by daily showers of mist, and therefore admirably adapted to dairy purposes. Then survey the counties bordering on the great bay, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo, borrowing one-half their climate from the ocean; and the other half from the interior; inexhaustible in agriculturul resources, and forming the granary of the Pacific. The Pajaro and some other valleys further south, to which the sea winds gain access, belong to the same system, and those also of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, although in a lesser degree, being further removed from the ocean. Then regard the mountain range, with its countless little valleys, buried up with snow in winter, bursting forth into a paradise with the spring, and converted into furnaces by the summer's sun, and yet luxuriant with all kinds of delicious fruits. In this section are concentrated the mining interests. Finally, view the southern section, embracing -one-fourth of the State, removed alike from.both extremes, which operate in'the north, controlled neither by mountain nor 276 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ocean, and enjoying the most genial temperature-a section of country wanting only in the certainty ofwinter rains to make it an Eden. CLIMATE OF SAN FRANCISCO.-The record of the climate of San Francisco, as kept by Mr. Henry Gibbons, extending from the autumn of 1850 to January, 1868, a period of 17 years, shows the coldest weather during that time to have occurred in January, 1854, when the mercury fell as low as 25~. The coldest noonday for the same period was 370. Persons who do not rise early may see no ice in that city for several years in succession. When it is cold enough to preserve ice in the shade all day, the circumstance is noted as a phenomenon. It is not uncommon for the entire winter to pass away without bringing the thermometer down so low as the point of freezing. In the year 1853, it fell at no time lower than 400, or 80 above the freezing point. The extreme of heat in the same period occurred on September 10 and 11, 1852, when the thermometer reached 97~ and980~ on the two days respectively. This, however, was entirely exceptional, and might not again occur in half a century. The air was dry as a sirocco, and had a curious effect on the wood-work of houses, causing a constant crackling noise, from the shrinking of the timber and the plaster breaking on the wooden partitions. In a locality somewhat exposed to reflected heat from the sun, and where the temperature was 100c, a thermometer with a wet bulb fell to 68~, the evaporation reducing it 320. With the exception just noted, the hottest dayin the 17 years was on the 6th of July, 1867, when the thermometer stood at 93~. In October, 1854, and in September, 1865, it reached 91~; and in July, 1855, it rose once to 90~. Thus, it appears there were but six days in 17 years when the temperature was as high as 90~, and only two of these six days were in the summer months. The absence of warm weather in the summer months is characteristic of the coast climate, and strikes a stranger forcibly. The most ordinary programme of this climate for the year is as follows, beginning with the rainy season: The first decided rains are in November or December, when the country, after having been parched with drought, puts on the garb of spring. In January the raiis abate, and vegetation advances slowly, with occasional slight frosts. February is spring like, with but little rain. March and April are pleasant and showery, with an occasional hot day. In May the sea breeze begins, but does not give much annoyance. In June, just as warm weather is about to set in, the sea breeze comes daily, and keeps down the temperature. It continues through July and August, occasionally holding up for a day or two, and permitting the sun to heat the air to the sweating point. In September the sea wind moderates, and there is a slight taste of summer, which is prolonged into the next month. The pleasant weather often lingers in the lap of winter, and is interrupted only by the rains of November or December. By running the eye over the following table, a general idea can be gained of the coast climate as regards temperature. The first column represents the average temperature of each month at sunrise, for 17 years; the second at noon, and the third is the mean of the other two: a.~~~.. Months.; Months. -8.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 January....................... 44. 56. 50. August......................... 53. 67. 60. February...48.................. 48. 60. 53.5 September.5. 535 69.5 61. March......................... 48. 63. 55.5 October........................ 53. 68. 60. 5 April......................... 49. 64. 57. November...................... 49. 62. 55. 5 May........................... 50. 64. 57. December...................... 45. 55. 50. June.......................... 51 68. 59. 5 July.......................... 52. 67. 59.5 49. 5 63. 7 56. 6 Observe in the table the regular increase from January to September, and the rapid decrease from October to December; nine months of increase and two of decrease. Notice, also, the uniform increase of the night temperature as represented in the first column, and the irregularity in the noonday increase, the sea-breeze arresting it-in May, and the sun giving it an upward impulse in June, before the sea wind has gained undisputed control. MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE.-The mean annual temperature at San Francisco is 56.6, which may be set down as the mean of the coast and bay climate. As we recede from the ocean, the days are warmer and the nights colder, the sun, being the great disturber of temperature, and the ocean the great equalizer. But the increase of the day corresponds so nearly with the diminution of the high temperature, that the mean varies but little within the range of the sea breeze. Washington and Richmond, nearly in the same latitude as San Francisco, have a mean of 54 or 54k, two degrees colder than the latter. This appears, at first sight, to be a small WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 277 difference; but its value is made evident by reflecting that it is a difference for every day in the year-each day of the year in San Francisco, from January to December, having an average of two degrees higher than the corresponding day on the Atlantic border. Cold as our summers are in proportion to those in the east, it appears that the winters are warmer in still greater proportion. In the Atlantic States the mean annual temperature diminishes in going northward about one degree for evelry degree of latitude. This is the general rule in all climates. But the climate of California presents an extraordinary anomaly in this respect. Along the coast, from the mouth of the Columbia river to Monterey, a range of nine degrees of latitude, the mean temperature varies but little-not more than three or four degrees at most; and even this difference does not correspond exactly with the difference of latitude. On the other hand, the interior climate varies indefinitely, every valley having a climate of its own. The summers, however, are generally hotter in the north. One might start from Los Angeles, near the south line of the State, in summer, and travel northward, inland, 500 or 600 miles, and find it growing hotter every day; and he might go in a southeasterly course less than half that distance, and arriving at Fort Yuma, on the Colorado, he would find one of the hottest places in the world. The sudden fluctuations of temperature, incident to the climate of the Atlantic States, are unknown in California. We have none of those angry outbreaks from the northwest, which change summer to winter in a few hours. The sea breeze is chilling enough, especially when it comes in suddenly to reassert its sway, after one of the occasional warm days of summer. But the sea breeze can never bring the thermometer down below 520. In the summer months there is scarcely any fall of temperature through the night in the coast climate. The early morning is sometimes clear, sometimes cloudy, but always calm. A windy morning in summer is u, jcommon at San Francisco. A few hours after sunrise the clouds break away and vanish, and the sun shines forth cheerfully and delightfully; not a breath of air stirring. Towards noon, or.a little after, the sea breeze sets in, and the weather is completely changed. From 650 degrees the mercury drops to 530 or 540 long before sunset, and at that point it remains almost motionless till the next morning. This is the order of things in three days out of four in June, July, and August. In the climate of the coast the nights are never uncomfortably warm. The extreme heat at 10 p. m. at San Francisco, for 17 years, was 750. The thermometer reached this point on three different nights; on two nights it reached 750, on four nights 73~, on two nights 72~, and on five nights 700-making only 16 evenings in 17 years when it was warm enough at bed-time to sit out of doors with thin clothing. The warmest morning in 17 years was 690. These facts have special interest in relation to sleep. Though the nights in the interior are not so uniformly cool, yet there are few localities, even in the valleys, where they are too warm for sleeping, even though the day temperature may have reached 1000. This is a remarkable feature of the climate of the Pacific States, and it has an important bearing on the health, vigor, and character of the population. In the southeastern corner of the State is a section having a climate of its own.. It is known as the Colorado desert, and is comparatively barrren. of vegetation, owing to the small quantity of rain which falls there. The mean temperature of Fort Yuma, though not exactly in the desert, is, in the month of July, upwards of 1000 at noon, and 900 at 9 p. m. In contrast with this, is the winter climate of Yreka, near the extreme northwest corner of the State, and representing a small alpine section bordering on Oregon. During the stormy weather of January, 1868, when the thermometer at Marvsville and other localities in the north were telegraphed as ranging from 250 to 350, at 8 a. m., the despatches from Yreka placed it below zero day after day, and sometimes 100 or 120 below. We will conclude the subject of temperature with a table, representing the mean of the several seasons at a number of prominent points in California, and also further northward. The first column gives the temperature of the spring months, March, April, and May; and so on, the other seasons are arranged. The last column is the mean annual temperature. Localities. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Year. 0 0 0 0 0 San Francisco........................................ 56.5 60.0 59.0 51.0 56.6 Sacramento.................... 56. 0 6.59 61.0 46.5 58.0 Benicia............................................ 56.5 67. 0 60. 5. 49.0 58. 0 Monterey'......................... 54. 0 59. 0 57. 0 51.0 55. 5 San Diego......................................... 60. 0 71.0 64.5 52. 5 62. 0 Fert Yuma.......................................... 72.0 90.0 75.5 57. 0 73. 5 Humboldt Bay*.......... 52.0 57.5 53.0 43. 5 51.5 Port Orford.......................................... 52. 0 60.0 55. 0 47.5 53. 5 Dalles, Oregon...................................... 53. 0 70. 5 52.0 35. 5 53. 0 Astoria.-........................................... 51.0 61.5 54.0 42.5 52. 0 Fort Steilacoom, W. T........................ 49.0 63. 0 51. 5 39. 5 51.0 * The figures for these localities are probably too low. 278 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES There is this difference between the summer in the interior of California and the Atlantic States, that in the former it is unbroken by the showers and storms which in other regions temper the heat and give variety to the climate. From the beginning of June until November the sky is mostly unclouded, and the sun shines out brightly the whole day. TIE ANNUAL RAINS.-In theentire absence of rain during one portion of the year, and its restriction to another portion, California has but one climate. There is this difference, however, between one part and another, that the rain commences sooner and continues later in the north, and that both the quantity of the rain and the duration of the rainy season diminish on approaching the southern part of the State, or rather on receding from the mountainous section. The rain year of California does not conform to the calendar year, but extends from summer to summer, embracing the latter part of one year and the former part of the year ensuing. The natural division is in July or August-say the first of August. The calendar year fails to represent properly either a dry winter or a rainy one. Thus, the smallest quantity of rain in any one of the 17 calendar years was 10.50 inches, in 1865, while the climatic year 1850-'51 had but 7.12 inches, and 1863-'64, 8.49. On the other hand, the calendar year 1865 had but 10.50 inches, or half the average supply, from which it would be inferred that one, at least, of the two seasons in which it enters was dry; whereas, by reference to the table, it appears that both of these seasons had the full supply, being a fraction over 21 inches. It so transpired that the rain of one season was mainly in the latter part of 1864, and that of the latter season in the early part of 1866, leaving the intervening calendar year deficient. In seasons of scanty rains the deficiency is not confined to certain districts, as in the Atlantic States, but it is general. The annual supply, however, varies greatly in different sections. Taking the gauge at San Francisco as a basis, very nearly the same quantity falls in the valleys surrounding the bay, and also in the Sacramento valley as far north as the capital. Speaking more precisely, the quantity in Sonoma and Napa counties is greater, and in Santa Clara, south of the bay, rather less, than at San Francisco. Proceeding southward, it diminishes rapidly, the rain-fall at Los Angeles and San Diego being only one-half that of the bay. In the north and northeast, among the Sierras, it is generally much greater, being three or four times as much in some localities. In San Francisco [according to a table which we cannot conveniently reproduce] the rains of each month, during a period of 17 years, averaged as follows, in inches and fractions of inches: January, 4.51; February, 3.08; March, 2.76; April, 1.74; May,.82; June,.05; July,.02; August,.01; September,.09; October,.57; November, 2.74; December, 5.37. The greatest quantity of rain for any one month, as the table shows, was 18.14 inches, in January, 1862-a winter memorable on account of destructive floods on the Pacific slope. The greatest quantity in any one month.in eastern Pennsylvania, during a period of 30 years, was 13 inches; and this was in one of the summer months. So much as this never falls in a winter month in the Atlantic States. For one season of excessive drought there have been two of excessive rain. No two seasons in succession have given as much rain as 1866-'67 and 1867-'68. The rains of each season are exhibited in the following table, in juxtaposition-with the rains of each year: Season. Rain. Year. Rainf 1850-'51...-11.12 1851...........................................15.12 1851-'52.....................................1800 1852. -— 25. 60 185'2-'53-..................................... 33.46 1853..............19. 03 1853-'54......................................22.80 1854...........................................22.12 1854-'55...................... -...........24. 10 1855........................................... 27. 80 1855-'56...................................... 21.13 1856...........................................22.01 1856-'57......................................19.90 1857...............................-........... 20.55 1857- 58.......................................19. 05 1858....................................... 1 9.65 1858-'59..................................19.76 1859...........................................18.03 1859-60.....................................17.10 1860....................... 15.15 1860-61......................................14.54 1861............................ 18.43 1861-'62...................................... 38.04 1862...........................................31.05 1862-'63............................. 15. ] 9 1863........................................... 16. 63 1863-64..................................... 8.49 1864.......................................... 13. 05 1864-'65......................... 21.30 1865.........................10.30 1865-'66........................21.19 1866.......................... N................. 32. 98 1866-'67..32.22 1867........................................... 33.00 Mean............................ 20.79 Mean............................. 21.62 It appears that December is the month of greatest rain. The, rainy tendency reaches its climax about Christmas, and then diminishes gradually until the termination of the season of rain, towards the latter end of May. June, July, August, and September are dry, with exceptions so light as scarcely to deserve notice, only 2.50 inches having fallen in these four months collectively in 17 years. In almost every winter there are two rainy periods, with a drier period interposed, showing an analogy to the earlier and later rains of Palestine and other oriental countries. The month of February is the most frequent representative of the dry period; but the spring rains, which sometimes commence in this month, and other heavy rains which occasionally fall swell the aggregate so as to prevent the exhibition of a deficiency in the table. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 279 In speaking of the "rainy season," strangers will not infer that rain is perpetual, or nearly so, during that time. The term is employed only to contrast with the dry season, and it implies the possibility rather than the actual occurrence of rain. In more than half the winter there is not a drop beyond the necessities of agriculture, and even in the seasons of most rain much very pleasant weather is interspersed. If the winter be not extraordinary, it is generally regarded as the most pleasant season in the year. In the intervals of rain it is bright, sunny, and calm. It is spring rather than winter. The grass starts as soon as the soil is wet. At Christmas nature wears her green uniform almost throughout the entire State, and in February and March it is set with floral jewels. -The blossoms increase in variety and profusion until April, when they are so abundant in many places as to show distinctly the yellow carpeting on hills five miles distant. There is great irregularity in the time of the commencement of the rainy season. It never sets in before November, and sometimes not till the latter part of December. In the northern section the rains commence earlier than at San Francisco, and in the southern section later. The spring rains, which are of immense importance to agriculture, rarely fail. March is one of the surest months in this respect. April often gives a copious supply. There is a remarkable tendency to rain about the 20th of May, and a complete cessation soon afterwards.. It is a striking feature of the climate, that when the weather puts on its rainy habit, the rain is apt to continue every day for one or two weeks, and then an interval may ensue without a drop for several weeks. The rains of California are tropical in one respect, being showery, and not often regularly continuous for many hours. The monotony of an easterly storm, such as the Atlantic climate furnishes, is almost unknown here. The sun breaks forth frequently in the midst of a shower and directly the sky is almost clear. Presently, when it is least expected, the rain is heard on the roof with, the suddenness of a shower-bath. The night is more favorable to rain than the day. No matter how dense the clouds, how fair the wind, how resolute thfe barometer in its promise of filling weather, the sun rarely fails to break up the arrangement before noon, and to tumble the clouds into confused masses or dissipate them altogether. But before night, or during the night, the clouds resume their function. The prevailing direction of the cloud-current is from south to west, and the cloud supplying the rain is mostly of the cumulo-stratus or nimbus form, and quite low in the sky. What is singular, the rain begins most frequently to the northward, although the cloud comes from the south. The horizon in the south may be entirely clear under these circumstances, the cloud forming in view, -and growing denser and denser in its northward travel, until it precipitates the rain. The following table exhibits the mean quantity of rain falling at different stations, and the number of years on which the mean is computed. The stations are arranged in the order of their latitude, beginning with Fort Yuma and San Diego, which are about on the same parallel: Localities. Term. Mean. Fort Yuma................................................ Four years. 3. 24 San Diego.............................. Three years. 10.43 Monterey........................... Four years. 12.20 Stockton............................................... Four years. 15.10 San Francisco.......................... Seventeen years. 20.79 Benicia............................................-....... Eight years. 22.86 Sacramento...... Twelve years. ] 8.23 Placerville........................... 1861-'62. 86.00 Placerville................................................ 1862-'63. 26.00 South Yuba............................................. 1861-'62. 109.00 South Yuba.............................................. 1866-'67. 81.56 Red Dog, Nevada county................................. Three years. 64.00 Fort Jones.........-............................. Three years. 16.77 Hoopa valley, Klamath county............................ 1861-'62. 129. 15 Port Orford....................................... Four years. 71.63 Astoria, Oregon....................................... One and a half ycar. 86. 35 Dalles, Oregon.......................................... Two years. 14. 32 Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory...................... Five years. 61.75. A comparison with the Atlantic slope presents a striking contrast. The smallest amounts of rain that falls in one year, in any locality on the eastern side, say.20 inches, is at least. equal to the average annual supply in the great grain-growing valleys of California; while,, on the other hand, no locality on the eastern side, until you reach the tropical latitude of Florida, approaches the maximum'of the Pacific slope. Thus' California, with a range of 10, degrees of latitude, has a minimum of 31 inches at Fort Yuma, with a maximum exceeding: 100 inches on the Sierras; while the Atlantic slope, with upwards of 20 degrees of latitude,, and an expanse of territory vastly greater, with mountainous elevations of considerable height, presents a mrinimum of 20 inches with the same maximum as California. 280 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES To make the contrast more striking it may be added that the annual supply'of rain has a greater range in California, in a distance of 50 miles from Sacramento City, than on the Atlantic slope, from Maine to Florida. Two or three times as much rain may fall in a single night in the mountains of California as in the entire year in the southeastern corner of the State. The enormous quantity of 129 inches, at Hoopa valley, is stated on the authority of Dr. Kirkpatrick, of the United States army. In general, such extreme results are to he accepted with caution. The gauge may not have been fairly exposed, or it may have been wrongly graduated. But Dr. Kirkpatrick gives, in detail, the supply for each of three months, which seems to confirm his report: November, 44.10 inches; December, 23.79 inches; January 30.95 inches. An observer on the South Yuba, Nevada county, reports 41.95 inches as falling there in the' month of December, 1867. Instead of being surprised at the floods in the Sacramento valley, we may wonder what becomes of so much water. It is worthy of note that Hoopa valley is but about 40 miles west of Fort Jones, where the annual supply is set down as 16.77 inches. Both places are on the northern border of the State, among the Coast mountains, and remote from the ocean. In reference to the climate of California and its effect upon diseases of the lungs, Lorin Blodget says: In California the proportion of cases of this class has been given imperfectly for two prints, on the authority of Dr. Hatch. Three years at Sacramento, which would represent the average of Upper California quite correctly, give 113 deaths in a total of 1,251, or 90.03 per ],000, but of this he remarks: "Certain it is, however, that few of the cases of consumptive diseases hitherto met with in the valley have originated here. In most if not all the instances the disease has been implanted before reaching the country, and the most that can be said is, that it has not been benefited by the change. Of admissions to the city hospital, San Francisco, for nearly two years, August 7, 1851, to July 1, 1853, there were 84 in a total of 1,870 belonging to the respiratory class. Of these but 11 were of consumption-45 per 1,000 of all, and 5.8 1,000 of consumption. It is believed that the cases of all diseases of this class originating in California will not reach four per cent. on the number of deaths, and will thus stand at less than one-third of the number of the eastern States. (Climatology of the United States, p. 475.) PRINCIPAL ROUTES THROUGH CALIFORNIA. Tables of distances,fares, andfreights.* STEAM NAVIGATION-INLAND SERVICE. San Francisco to Sacramento, 125 miles.-Steamer Chrysopolis, 1,300 tons, and steamer Yosemite, 1,100 tons, daily, at 4 p. m.; returning, leave Sacramento at 2 p. m. Through fare, $4 and $5; to Benicia, $2;'to Rio Vista, $3. Through freight, $3 per ton. San Francisco to Stockton, 127 miles.-Steamer Julia, 600 tons, and steamer Cornelia, 600 tons, daily, at 4 p. m.; returning, leave Stockton at 4 p. m. Fare, $4 and $5. Freight, $'2 50 and $3 per ton, Sacramento to Marysville, 45 miles.-Steamers Flora and Governor Dana, daily, at 7 a. m.; returning, leave Marysville at 7 a. m. Fare, $4. Freight, $5 per ton. Sacramento to Red Bluff, 105 miles.-Steamers Gem and Lark, every Saturday morning. Fare, $10. Freight, $17 per ton. San Francisco to Napa, 47 miles, via Vallejo and Mare Island.-Steamer Amelia, summer, daily, at 9 a. m.; winter, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at t0 a. m. Fare to Napa, $3; to Vallejo and Mare Island, $2. Freight, $2 50 per ton; grain from Vallejo, $1 per tolln. San Francisco to Suisun, 40 miles, via Benicia.-Steamer Paul Pry, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Fare, $3; to Benicia, $2. ~Compiled from Hoi~dredge's "Guide-book of the Pacific,"~ and other authorities. X*Compiled from ttoldredge's " Guide-book of the Pacific," and other authorities. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 281 Tables of distaes, fares, and freights —Continued. CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD. SAN FRANCISCO AND SAN JOSE RAILROAD. -~~~~~~~~~~~.~.- o O W1^,. o o o o Staons Stations,.'. -~ S~ations... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~cJ2 "' Y Sacramento.................. San Francisco.......................... Arcade..........$0 70 $1 05 Mission $0............. 20 Antelope.................. 1 50 2 25 Brannan's.-. 25 Junction........ 80 2 70 Bernal................... 35 Rocklin..... 2 20 3 30 San Miguel...................... 50 Pino.. 2 50 3 75 School House.................... 60 Newcastle 3 10 4 65 12-Mile Farm........... 70 Auburn................... 3 60 5 40 San Bruno $0 40 75 Clipper Gap............... 4 30 6 45 17-Mile House............ 45 90 Colfax.................... 5 50 8 25 San Mateo. 50- 1 00 Cisco............................ Belmont. 6.5 1 25 Redwood City.- -- -- 75 1 50 Menlo Park.. - 1 70 Mayfield........................ 1 80 Mountain View........... 1 05 2 10 Lawrence's-......... 1 15 2 25 Santa Clara................ 1 25 2 40 San Jos6................. 1 25 2 50........... SACRAMENTO TO STOCKTON. Stations.' Distance. Fare. Freight. _ _Buckner's. -- -- - 14 $ 00 Hicksville.......................... 22 3 00 Liberty........ 29 350 Woodbridge....... -35 4 00 Stockton........ 50 500 Steamers run at irregular intervals between Sacramento and Stockton, carrying freight only. SACRAMENTO TO NAPA. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Solano House. —--- ---- - 17........ Through freight, 5 cents per Silveyville........2................ 5 -....... pound. Vacaville.......................... 35, 00 Suisun............................. 47........ Rockville........................... 51........ Suscol.............................. 61........ Napa.............................. 65 4 00 Connect at Suisun with stages for Benicia, and at Napa with HIealdsburg with stages, and line for St. Helena and Calistoga. 282 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tdbles of distances, fares, and freights-Continued. SACRAMENTO TO KNIGHT'S LANDING. Stations.. Distance. Fare. Freight. Woodland.........2... 0 $1 50 Through by team, 25 cents per Cucheville.............. 25 2 00 cwt. Knight's Landing........35 3 00 The Buckeye and Cache Creek mail branches off at Woodland. STOCKTON TO CAMPO SECO. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Waterloo................ 8 $1 00 Through freight, 4 cents per Locust Shade. 14 1 50 pound. Lockeford........................ 18'2 00 Poland's..........2......... --- 20 2 00 Camanche........................ 28 3 00 Poverty Bar....................... 30 3 00 Campo Seco..................... 38 4 00 -~~~~~...,.. Connect at Campo Secowith stages for Ione City, via Winter's Bar, Lancha Plana, and Buena Vista. Distance, fifteen miles; fare, $2. STOCKTON TO COPPEROPOLIS. _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Twelve-Mile House................. 12 $2 00 Stage, 4 cts. per pound; team, Farmington...................... - 16 2 50 A cent to Telegraph City; Rock Creek..........21 3 00 stage, 4 cents per pound; Shafer's........................... 28 4 00 team i cent to Stockton. Shafer's.28 4 00~~ team, ~ cent to Stockton. Telegraph City................ 29 4 00 Copperopolis..... 36 5 00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. STOCKTON TO SAN ANDREAS. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Fifteen-Mile House................ 15 $2 00 Through by express, 10 cents Gorham........................... per pound; team, 1 cent per Spring Valley. —- -.-. —-- 37 3 50 pound. San Andreas.......... - 45 5 00 Connect with stage at Mokelumne Hill. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 283 Tables of distances, fares, and freights-Continued. MARYSVILLE TO LA PORTE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. -I~~~~~~~~~~~., Oroville, via Northern railroad..l 28 $2 00 Forbestown...- -..................... 48 - By team, $15 per ton. Clipper Mills.-:.. —. -... 56...... Strawberry Valley....... 60. Eagleville.....62........6 La Porte.......................... 74 10 00 Connect at La Porte with stages for Gibsonville. Clipper Mills is situated near the eastern edge of Butte county, within one quarter of a mile of the Yuba county line, and in one of the best surgar-pine sections of the State, from which large quantities of clear lumber are made for the San Francisco market. MARYSVILLE TO FORBESTOWN. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Sewalls.............. 12 $1 50 Bangor _ —-----------—. 20 2 50 Miiller's Ranch........... 24 3 00 Brownsville.................... 32 4 00 Forbestown...................... 37 5 00 Connect at Forbestown with stages for La Porte. MARYSVILLE TO DOWNIEVILLE.................. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Brown's Valley................... 12 $1 00 Express, 2 cents per pound. Foster's Bar.............. 36 Camptonville............. 41 6 00 6 cents per pound. Goodyear's Bar.................... 57 9 00 9 cents per pound. -Downievrille.......... 62 l0 00 10 cents per pound. MARYSVILLE TO NORTH SAN JUAN. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Empire Ranch................. 16 $2 00 By express, in summer,'$ to I French Coral.......... 30 3 00 cent per pound; in winter, Birchville. 32 3 50 1 to 1~ cents per pound. Sweetland.... 34 4 00 North San Juan..................37 5 00 Freight from Lincoln, 35 miles distant, to North San Juan, in summer, t to 1 cent per pound; in winter, lI to 2 cents per pound. Connect at North San Juan with North Bloomfield, Forest City, and Nevada stages. 2 84 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tables of distances, fares, ond freights-Continued. OAKLAND TO SOMERVILLE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. _ ~~.......,- _.... Lafayette.......................12 $1 00'Walnut Creek................... 16 1 50 tPacheco. 2 2 00 Clayton............................ 30 2 50 Carbondale....................... 33 2 75 fSomerville ------- --- 35 3 00 ~~~~~............. * Connect with Danville stages. t Connect with Martinez stages. + Connect with Antioch stages. WALNUT CREEK TO DANVILLE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Alamo............................. 3 $0 50 Danville - 7 75 ANTIOCH TO SOMERSVILLE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Somersville......-............. 6 $0 50 $4 per ton. Connect at Antioch with Stockton boats. OAKLAND TO SAN JOSEP. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. San Antonio......................... 3 $0 50 1 cent per pound. San Leandro....................... 9 75 1 cent per pound. San Lorenzo................ 12 1 00 I cent per pound. Alvarado........................... 17 1 00 I cent per pound. Centreville. 21 2 00 2 cents per pound. Mission.. 26 2 00 2 cents per pound. Warm Springs.......... 30 2 00 2 cents per pound. San Jos6 42 2 50 2. cents per pound. SAN JOSE TO ALMADEN MINES. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Mines............................... 12 $1 00 WEST OF THIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 285 Tables of distanees, fares, and freights- Continued. SAN JOSh TO LOS ANGELES. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Natividad.........-.. -....... 52 $4 50 4, cents per pound. Burns's................... 62 6 00 6 cents per pound. Salinas..-........ 82 8 00 8 cents per pound. Cock's............................ 108 11 00 11 cents per pound. Jolone.......... 120 12 00 12 cents per pound. Plieto1................... ]32 14 00 14 cents per pound. Hot Springs.........-.............. 166 16 00 16 cents per pound. San Luis Obispo................... 190 18 00 18 cents per pound. Foxen's..2........... 40 19 00 19 cents per pound. Santa Juez......................... 265 20 00 20 cents per pound. Santa Barbara..................... 310 20 00 20 cents per pound. San Buenaventura...-.. 342 23 00 23 cents per pound. Las Posio...................... 362 25 00 25 cents per pound. Mountain Station..... 382 26 00 26 cents per pound. Lone Station. 402 27 00 27 cents per pound. Los Angeles........................ 418 28 00 28 cents per pound.,,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Connect with stages for San Pedro, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Clear Lake. SAN JOSE TO SOUTH SAN JUAN. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Fifteen-Mile House....... —-- - 15 $1 00 1 cent per pound. Twenty-one-Mile House............. 21 1 50 1 cent per pound. Burnett's............... Gilroy............. -- -30 2 00 2 cents per pound. San Juan.....-............... 42 3 00 3 cents per pound. Connect at San Juan with stages for Watsonville, Salinas, and Monterey. SAN JOSe TO VISALIA. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight..... I.... Hallenbeck's.......... 50 $5 00 5 cents per pound. San Luis............................ 66 7 00 7 cents per pound. Lone Willow-.............. 84 9 00 9 cents per pound. Temple's.. 98 11 00 11 cents per pound. Firebaum's............ 110 14 00 ]14 cents per pound. Fresno City.-................-... 128 17 00 17 cents per pound. Elk HIorn.- -.....-............. 150 20 00 20 cents per pound. King's River...................... 168 21 00 21 cents per pound. Cross Creek........... 180 23 00 23 cents per pound. Visalia.......... --—. 192 25 00 25 cents per pound. Connect with 10. 30 a. m. train from San Francisco. Semi-weekly in winter; through ii three days. 286 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tables of distances, fares, and freights — Continued. SAN JOSt TO LEXINGTON. Station. Distance. Fare. Freight. Lexington -$..................... $1 00 50 cents per 100 pounds. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PETALUMA TO BODEGA. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Stony Point........:.$1.. 00 Express ~ cent per pound. Sebastopol........................... 16 2 00 Express 1 cent per pound. Bodega........... 26 2 50 Express 1 cent per pound. Connect at Petaluma with boats for San Francisco, and stages for Cloverdale and Mendocino. PETALUMA TO CLOVERDALE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Santa Rosa................... 16 $1 50 1 cent per pound. Mark West.................... 22 2 00 l cent per pound. Windsor........................... 26 2 25 1~ cent per pound. Ifeardsburg.................. 32 3 03 Team, 50 cents per 100 pounds. Geyserville......................... 39 3 50 1 cent per pound. Cloverdale......................... 49 4 50 2 cents per pound. Connect at feardsburg with stages for Skaggs's and the Geyser Springs. Connect at Cloverdale with stages for Big River and Ukiah, and Long Valley. PETALUMA TO DUNCAN'S MILL. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Two Rock Valley............... 8 $1 00 cent per pound. Bloomfield.......................... 14 1 50 i cent per pound. Valley Ford................1.... 8 2 00 i cent per pound. Bodega Corners............2......... 2 2 50 1 cent per pound. Bodega Bay......................... 27 3 00 I cent per pound. Duncan's Point................. 31 3 50 1 cent per pound. Duncan's Mill.................. 36 4 00 1 cent per pound. SUISUN TO KNOXVILLE. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Gordon Valley................................... Big Caion.......................... 25 $2 50 Berreyesa Valley.................... 30 3 00 Sulphur Spring House............... 44 4 00 Knoxville...................... 50 5 00 1 cent per pound. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 287 Tables of distances, fares, and freights-Continued. NAPA TO UPPER LAKE.,........ _..... Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Sebastopol.............-... 9 $0 50 St. Helena............... 20 I 00 Calistoga...................... 27 2 00 IovrLke.................. 62 70 Lower Lake 62 7 00 Kelsey Creek........................ 72 7 50 Lakeport......................... 87 8 50 Upper Lake...................... 101 10 00 Connect at Napa with Sacramento stages and boats for San Francisco. LOS ANGELES TO SAN DIEGO. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. _ ~ l Anaheim........................... 30 $3 00 San Juan Capistrano........... 60 6 00 San Luis Rey...................... 93 8 00 San Diego................130 12 00 LOS ANGELES TO SAN BERNARDINO. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. El Monte.. 14 $1 00 Mud Springs........ 30 2 50 Sosamongo..45 4 00 San Bernardino..65 5 00 2j cents per pound. Connect with Los Angeles and San Jos6 stages, and Los Angeles and Cleveland stages. LOS ANGELES TO SAN PEDRO. Stations. Distance. Fare. Freight. Sausee............... 7 $0 25 Los Cuervos........................ 11 0 25 Wilmington..22 0 50. San Pedro.. 2 6 0,50 288 RESOURCES OF. STATES AN] TERRITORIES Table of distances from Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, and from San Francisco, California, to various ports of the Pacfc and the world; prepared by J. H. Riley, Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department, and verifed by J. E..lilgard, esq., United States Coast Survey Office, to accompany statistical report on the Sandwich Islands. Shortest dis- Shortest sailFrom — TO — tances. ing routes. Naut'l miles. Naut'l miles. Honolulu. New York, via Cape Homr.- 14, 376 Do New York, via Panama....... 4,320 6,587 Do Panama, New Granada............. 4,560 4,560 Do Callao, Peru....................... 5,172 5,364 Do - - Valparaiso, Chili 5,928 5,990 Do -Acapulco, Mexico -3,282 I 3,282 Do - Mazatlan, Mexico 2, 856 2,856 Do......... Guaymas, Mexico.................. 2,580 3,012Do....... Cape San Lucas, Mexico - -2,658 2,658 Do -San Diego, California... 2,262 2,262 Do -San Francisco, California_....-. 2,080 2,080 Do - Portland, Oregon................... 2,256 2,330 Do -Victoria, Victoria Island -2,310 2,330 Do New Westmihster, British Columbia.. 2,358 2,41-0 Do ----- ---------- New Archangel, (Sitka Isl'd,) Alaska. 2,370 2, 370 Do............... Yokohama, Japan................... 3,354 3,475 Do -Canton, China.....-................ 4,848 5,017 Do ----- ---------- Sydney, New South Wales ---- ------ 4,405 4,820 Do -Melbourne, Victoria................ 4,810 5,280 San Francisco-.... -Jeddo, via Honolulu......... 4,460 5,580 Do- Shanghai, via Honolulu............ 5,328 6,740 Do-.:.. Hong Kong, via Honolulu.......... 6,012 7, 000 Do............... Sydney, via Honolulu ------- -- 6,456 6,700 Do............... Melbourne, via Honolulu............ 6,860 7, 160 Do ------------.. Calcutta, via Honolulu............. 6,810 11,380 Do -------:-.....-New York, via Cape Horn................ — ----- 14,000 Do- New York, via Panama.......................... 5,287 Do..............-Panama........................... 2,886 3,260 Do............... Callao............................ 33 992 4,010 Do............... Valparaiso........................- 5,124 5, 300 Do- Acapulco, Mexico.................. 1,740 1,850 Do.. Manzanillo, Mexico.................. 1, 472 1,550 Do............... Mazatlan, Mexico.................. 1,200 1,390 Do............... Guaymas, Mexico -864 1,530 Do -. Cape San Lucas, Mexico............ 1,104 1,145 Do - - San Diego, California... 400 450 Do ------------- Portland, Oregon............ 462 570 Do -Victoria, Vancouver's Island 654 746 Do.. New Westminster, British Columbia. 690 815 Do - - New Archangel, (Sitka Island) 1,284 1,290 Do............... Kanagawa, Japan. -- 4,900 Aspinwall............. Milford Haven, England ----- ------- 4, 390 4,500 Panama.- Tahiti, Society Islands.............. 4,430 4,540 Do - - Sydney, New South Wales ---- ------ 7,638 7,690 Do............... Canton, China-..................... 8, 760 9,577 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 289 SECTION XXII. GENERAL SUMMARY. AREA OF CALIFORNIA, ARABLE LANDS, POPULATION, PRODUCT OF PRECIOUS METALS, SHIPMENTS OF TREASURE, COINAGE, &C. The Commissioner of the General Land Office, in his Report for 1867, says: California extends along the Pacific coast 750 miles, with an average breadth of 230. Its area is 18,981 square miles, or 120,947;840 acres, of which not less than 89,000,000, including swamp and tule lands capable of reclamation, are suited to some kinds of profitable husbandry. Of these over 40,000,000 are fit for the plough, and the remainder present excellent facilities for stock-raising, fruit-growing, and all the other branches of agriculture. This agricultural area exceeds that of Great Britain and Ireland, or the entire peninsula of Italy. The State also contains about 40,000,000 of acres of mineral land, unsurpassed for productiveness. About 30,000,000 of acres have been surveyed, leaving a residue unsurveyed of 90,000,000. Nearly 9,000,000 have been granted to the State by the general government, under various acts of Congress, for common schools, agricultural colleges, public buildings, and internal improvements. Of the 40,000,000 acres of arable land, 14,000,000 are found in the basin of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, 16,000,000 in the coast valleys, and the residue in the region called the "Colorado desert," in Owen's river valley and the Klamath basin. When irrigation is practiced on an extjnsive scale, as it must be within a few years, and the valley of the Colorado is brought under its influence, much of what is now characterized as "desert " will become productive and valuable. The land not fit for the plough, but valuable for grazing and in a measure for horticultural purposes, especially the grape culture, is to be found on the foot-hills and slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range mountains. Langley, in his Pacific Coast Directory, estimates that 65,000,000 acres are adapted to agriculture, 15,000,000 to grazing purposes, that 4,000,000 are swamp and overflowed lands; also, that the greater portion of the latter is capable of reclamation, and is to a great extent each year being added to the cultivated lands of the State. The area of lakes bays and motuntains he estimates at 14,000,000. Of the 65,000,000 acres of agricultural land, [says the same authority,] there were returned by the county assessors, for the year 1865, as under fence, 4,055,690 acres, and under cultivation 1,504,680 acres. It will thus be seen that there is but six per cent. of the agricultural land of the State under fence, and little over two and one-half per cent. under cultivation. The returns for 1866 will increase these estimates about 15 per cent. 19 290 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES [From Langley's Pacific Coast Directory.j Table exhibiting the county seats of the different counties, legal distances, population of 1860 dnd 1866, &c. a 00 -~~~~~~~~~~~~-O m:,O P'~.2 C;._ Counties. Countyseat.;. ~ q 0 t' 0 s. _ ~-1 ~ ~ ~ re ~ ~ ~ ~~~.00 a an,-, ___ 10 0 4 CS Miles. Alameda............ San Leandro.... 135 1853 8, 926 2, 278 4, 631 15, 430 $4, ~33, 560 Alpine.............. Silver Mountain. 140 1864 - - 612 231...450, 00 Amador............. Jackson. 55 1854 10, 933 2, 591 2, 816 9, 380 1, 907, 252 Butte............... Oroville......... 75 ]850 12, 107 2, 856 2,806 9, 350 5,128, 358 Calaveras - San Andreas.... 60 1850 16, 302 3, 635 3, 600 12, 000 1,890, 657 Colusa.............. Colusa 75 1850 2,.274 699 956 3,180 1, 689, 155 Contra Costa........ Martinez........ 90 1850 5, 328 1; 480 2, 682 8, 960 2, 544, 282 Del Norte........... Crescent City....- 465 1857 1,992 306 299.- ----—.. 379, 025 El Dorado........... Placerville...... 50 1850 20, 562 5, 071 3, 892 12, 970 3,476, 526 Fresno -Millerton........ 190 1856 4, 605 451 486 1, 680 826, 000 Humboldt -.......... Eureka.-........ 390 1853 2, 694 685 1, 601 5, 330 2, 220, 00~ Inyo..... Independence - - - 1866.................. 8......... 00 Kern............... Havilah......... t 1866...... 819,8 Klamath............ Orleans Bar.... 450 1851 1, 803 261 197......... 288, 089 Lake................ Lakeport........ 120 1861 - - 618 995 3,350 395, 708 Lassen Susanville....... 20 1864......... 554 426 1,420 +,750, 001) Los Angeles......... Los Angeles..... 550 1850 11, 336 1, 299 3, 882 12, 940 2, 353, 392 Marinn............... San Rafael...... 135 1850 3, 334 1, 095 1, 347 4, 490 -2, 247, 571 Marsposa-............. Mariposa -,....... 145 1850 6, 243 1, 609 1, 253 4,170 1,237, 470 Mendocino.......... Ukiah........... t 1850 3,967 1, 354 2, 301 7,670 1, 9C0. 000 Merced. -Snelling........ 115 1855 1,141 291 596 1,980 842,847 Mono - ----- Bridgeport...... 60 1861......... 305 357,961 Monterey......... Monterey 245 1850 4, 739 779 2,123 7, 000 1,265, 450 Napa............... Napa City. 60 1850 5, 515 1, 328 2,175 7, 250 2, 797, 688 Nevada -............ Nevada City..... 65 1851 16, 447 4, 577 4, 970 16, 560 5,173, 837 Placer. Auburn 35 3851 13, 270, 792 3,123 10,410 2, 826, 243 Plumas. - Quincy.......... 145 1854 4, 363 1, 497 982 3, 670 1, 192, 521 Sacramento - Sacramento. Capital. 1850 24,145 5, 956 6, 914 23,000 10,316,976 San Bernardino...... San Bernardino.. 600 1854 5, 554 736 1, 679 5, 260 695, 201 San Diego ----- ------ San Diego....... 750 1850 4, 326 294 454 1, 500 448, 706 San Francisco....... San Francisco - 117 1856 56, 805 21,019 30, 694 102, 313 88,402,274 San Joaquin......... Stockton........ 51 1850 9, 434 3, 276 5,143 17, 140 5, 275,016 San Luis Obispo.....-San Luis Obispo. 335 1850 1, 782 408 856 2, 850 758, 330 San Mateo.......... Redwood City. - - 140 1856 3, 214 977 1,544 5,148 2, 70; 000 Santa Barbara ------- Santa Barbara.. - 435 1850 3,545 423 1,641 5,470 771,861 Santa Clara......... San Jos -........ 150 1850 11, 912 3,3J32 6, 509 21,696 7, 972, 899 Santa Cruz......... Santa Cruz...... 2 45 1850 4, 945 1,426 2, 780 9,260 1, 441, 739 Shasta - -............. Shasta - -3........ 185 1850 4, 360 1, 471 1,276 4, 250 1, 091,723 Sierra.............. - Downieville.... 110 1852 11, 389 3, 088 1, 555 5,180 2, 314, 096 Siskiyou -.......... Yreka............ 350 1852 7,629 1,882 1,727 5,7511 1,617,822 Solano.............. Fairfield.- 90 1850 7, 170 2,163 4, 755 15, 850 3, 044, 120 Sonoma............. Santa Rosa...... 130 1850 11, 867 4,362 7,585 25,280 5,346,686 Stanislaus ---—..... Knight's Ferry 85 18'54 2, 245 623 940 3,460 1, 626, 216 Sutter —............... Yuba City....... 50 1850 3, 390 1, 263 1, 739 5, 796 1, 778, 268 Tehama............ Red Bluff....... 145 1856 4, 044 846 1, 016 3, 386 1, 598, 500 Trinity.............. Weaverville.... - 255 1851 5,125 1,114 728 2,426 653,189 Tulare-.............. Visalia -......... 250 18 4, 638 1,167 1,363 4,890 1, 299, 379 Tuolumne........... Sonora........ 115 1850 16, 229 3,155 2 951 9, 836 Yolo - - Woodland....... 16 1850 4,716 1,328 2, 1]25 7,080 2,156,427 Yuba... Marysville..... 50 1850 13, 671 3, 203 3, 126 10,420 4,150,5so Total....................................... -- 380, 016 103,135 137,498 456,437 197,133, 345 NOTE.-Total estimated population in 1867, 480,000. The figures in the above table referring to the population of this State for 1866 are taken from the report of the State supe'intendent of public schools, Mr. John Swett, and are estimated upon tJne basis that the school children under fifteen years of age constitute thirty per cent. of the population. In the absence of official data, this is probably as fair a mode as can be adopted to arrive at an approximation of the population,of our State.. We think, however, that the estimate for San Francisco is at least 18,000 too low.-Compiler. Not yet defined by law.. Estimated. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAPNS. 291 Statement of the number of passengers by sea arriving at and decarting from the port of San Francisco during the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 1867, as declared at the custnom-house..............~~~~~~. Arrivals. Departures. aE,,a a a,, ax Panama, New Granada..-. 3, 089 6, 409 5, 654 5, 630 20,.782 2, 227 3,168 2,194 2, 434 10, 074 San Juan del Siir............. 1, 766 1, 519 1, 674 1, 055 4, 34 Vieloria, British Columbia..... 242 236 341 405 1, 2'24 77 134 120 71 402 China and Japan.............aa 463 2,129 1,429 273 4, 294 424 410 1, 232 2, 433 4, 499 Europe, direct................ 12....... 6 ]:3 31 1....... 2 1 4 Eastern ports, direct.....-...... 4................ 4......................... Australia..................... 150 315 702 98 1,267........... 67' 67 Mexico...................... 193 73 230 97 593 156 111 67 107 441 Hawaiian ismtnds............. 145 227 67 105 544 63 51 47 99 260 Other countries............... 20 18 47 54 139 15 9 344 14 382 Total.................. 6, 086 10, 926 10,150 8,510 35, 672 3, 881 5, 296 5, 011 6, 281 20, 469 RECAPITULATION. 1st quarter. 2d quarter. 3d quarter. 4th quarter. Total. Arrivals................................ 6, 086 10, 926 10,150 8, 510 35, 672 Departures.................................. 3,881 5, 296 5, 011 6, 28] 20,469 Gain................................... 2,,203 5,630 5, 139 2,229 15,203 One of the most agreeable features of the past year is the increase in population which reached our shores during its passage. The arrivals during the second and third quarters were more numerous than in the first and fourth quarters, while the departures for the fourth quarter exceed those of anyother. This we believe to be contrary to the general rule. Heretofore the greatest number of arrivals by sea have been during the last quarter, and the departures fewer. People at the east are generally more anxious to leave when the rigors of their severe winters commence, while those who have been residents of the Pacific coast usually evince more desire to go eastward when the spring has fairly opened and our winds commence. During the year 1867 the arrivals by sea exceeded the departures by 15,203. But we have also received large additions overland. Our probable increase from abroad will reach 27,000 souls. Large numbers are known to be on their way from Sweden, Germany, and Norway, and considerable tracts of fine farming land have already been purchased and made ready for their reception.-[Commercial Herald and Market Review. PRODUCT OF PRECIOUS METALS, ETC. RECEIPTS AND EXPORTS OF TREASURE.-The following tables derived from official sources are copied from the Commercial Herald and Market Review: TREASURE PRODUCT, IMPORTS, ETC. The receipts of treasure from all sources through regular public channels during the past twelve months, as compared with 1866, have been as follows: 1866, 1867. From California northern mines......................... $38,715,340 $40, 927, 309 From California southern mines......................... 5,149,749 4, 477,461 From Coastwise ports, Oregon, &c..................... 5,940,536 6,192, 734 Imports, foreign, British Columbia, &c.................. 2, 887, 028 3, 969, 322 Total............................................ 52, 692,653 55, 566,'826 292 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES From an examination of the statements of treasure received in this city, it will be seen that there has been an increase of more than $2,000,000 in the amount received from the northern mines the past over the preceding year; the greater portion of this increment being due to the State of Nevada. The receipts firom the southern mines have meantime fallen off materially, while those from coastwise ports, Oregon, &c., have increased slightly, and those from British Columbia and other foreign ports very considerably. The bullion transmitted the past year to this city, through Wells, Fargo & Co's. express, as being the product of the State of Nevada, amounted to $18,000,000. To this sum may be added, perhaps, $500,000 to represent the amount of bullion arriving during the year in private hands, making a total product for that State for 1867 of $18,500,000. Of this sumabout $2,000,000 maybe set down as the product of Reese river and other outside localities, leaving the balance $16,000,000 to be credited to the Comstock lode. In apportioning the product of these several outside localities, about $1,500,000 should be set down to account of what is usually termed the Reese river country, which, for the end in view, should be made to embrace all the outlying districts about Austin; in fact, the whole of Lander, Nye, and Lincoln counties, excepting, perhaps, the Silver Peak district, which lies in Esmeralda county, and which has turned out but little bullion the past year. The remaining half million may be divided between Humboldt and Esmeralda counties in the following proportions: $300,000 for the former, and $200,000 for the latter, none of the other counties in the State, except Storey, containing the Comstock lode, producing any bullion worth naming. These figures, as will be seen, denote for the year in question a very marked increase in the State at large over the yield of any formersyear; this rate of increase being in about the same ratio for the Comstock lode and the outside precincts. The product of the former for 1866 was estimated at $16,250,000, and of the other localities named, $1,250,000, of which $1,000,000 was assigned to Reese river, and $250,000 to Humboldt and Esmeralda. While, however, such gratifying gains have, during this period, signalized the progress of Nevada, the year has rather been one of preliminary preparation than of progress and fruition; the most of the companies owning what may be considered the more promising of the outside mines, having been engaged at heavy expense in developing their claims, and erecting mills-very few of them in active productive operation. These mills will soon be completed, and the mines be thoroughly explored, and placed in condition to yield ores largely, rendering it probable that still more marked additions will be made to the bullion returns of the State the present than was done the past year, and almost insuring for that State a total product for 1868 of $20,000,000. Even if the Comstock mines should not advance their yield, or should suffer some small abatement, this result will probably be attained, as there is an almost certainty of the mines at Silver Peak and those about Belmont turning out a large amount of bullion the current year, to say nothing of the promised gains for Humboldt and Esmeralda. The following table shows the value and destination of treasure shipments from this port during the past 14 years-from 1854 to 1867, inclusive: Years. East'n ports. England. China. Panama. Other ports. Totals. 1854... $46,533, 166 $3, 781, 080 $965, 887 $204,592 $560,908 $52, 045,633 1855.... 38,730,564 5,182,156 889, 675 231,207 128,129 45,161,731 1856... 39,895,294 8,666,289 1,308,85-2 253,268 573,732 50, 697,434 1857.... 35,531,778 9,347,743 2, 993, 264 410,929 692,978 48,976,692 1858.... 35,891,236 9,265,739 1,916,007 299,265 175,779 47,548, 026 ]859.. 40,146,437 3,910,930 3,100,756 279,949 202,390 47,640,462 1860.... 35,719,296 2,672,936 3,374,680 300,819 258,185 42,325,916 1861.. 32,628,011 4,061,779 3,541,279 349,769 95,920 40,676,758 1862... 26,194,035 12,950,140 2,660,754 434,508 322,324 42,561,761 1863... 10, 389,330 28,467,256 4,206,370 2,503,.296 505,667 46,071,920 1864.... 13, 316,122 34, 436,423 7,888,973 378,795 686,888 56,707,201 1865... 20, 583, 390 15,432,639 6,963,522 1,224,845 1,103,832 45,308,227 1866... 29,244,891 6,532,208 6,527,287 511,550 1,548,457 44,364,393 1867.... 23,355,903 5,841,184 9, 031,504 372, 552 3, 075,149 41,676,292 Totals. 428, 159,453 150, 548,502 55,368,810 7,755,344 9,930,338 651, 762,446 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 293 RECEIPTS OF' TREASURE. The. following tables comprise the receipts of coined and uncoined treasure from the interior and coastwise during the years 1865, 1866, and 1867: FROM THE NORTHERN MINES. 1865. 1866. 1867. Uncolned. Coined. Total. Uncoined. Coined. Total. Uncoined. Coined. Total. Jan...... $3, 236, 768 $440, 637 $3, 677, 405 $2, 347, 832 $452, 288 $2, oo,, 120$3, 077, 269 $439, 264 $3, 516, 533 Feb_.2, 995, 163 245,174 3, 240, 337 2, 846,130 173, 030 3,019, 160 2,262,155 265, 857 2, 528, 012 March.... 3, 875, 331 216, 853 4, 092,184 2, 567, 000 182, 000 2, 749,'000 2, 719, 436 281, 876 3, 001, 312 April..... 3 258, 420 279, 504 3, 537, 924 2, 951. 030 599, 415 3, 550, 445 3, 943, 605 246, 910 4,190, 515 May-..... 3, 851, 533 211, 808 4, 063, 341 3, 523, 482 360, 670 3, 884,152 3, 521,435 250, 354 3, 771, 789 June. 3, 416, 304 271, 438:3, 687, 742 3,'357, 702 230, 373 3, 588, 075 3, 465, 576 273, 403 3, 738, 979 July..... 2, 860, 830 274, 776 3,135, 606 3,158, 584 445, 000 3, 603, 584 3, 701,611 291,524 3, 993,135 Aug...... 3, 058, 004 209, 118 3, 267,122 3, 293, 276 243, 097 3, 536, 373 3, 736, 035 209, 8901 3, 945, 025 Sept...... 2, 613, 623 185,342 2, 798, 965 2, 802, 649 241, 443 3, 044, 092 3,101, 754 185, 920 3, 287, 674 Oct.'2, 688, 079 225, 977 2, 914, 056 3,128, 320 198, 420 3, 326, 740 3, 082, 637 307,219 3, 389, 856 Nov -..... 2, 614, 218 250, 853 2, 865, 071 2, 621, 219 196, 337 2, 817, 556 2, 968, 419 253, 263 3, 221, 682 Dec...... 2,181,064 281, 630 2, 462, 694 2, 595, 531 200, 512 2, 796, 043 1, 998, 695 343,202 2, 341, 897 Total... 36, 649, 337 3, 093, 110 39, 742, 447 35, 192, 755 3, 522, 58538,715,34037, 578, 627 3, 348, 682!40, 927, 39 FROM THE SOUTHERN MINES. ~jan....... $425, 711 $123,374 $549, 085 $289, 984 $138, 836 $428, 820 $220, 367 $166, 767 $387, 074 Feb...... 386, 287 72, 283 458,570 308, 716 65, 431 374,147 203, 918' 57, 452 261,370 March.... 530, 210 129 073 659,283 250, 000 57, 000 307, 000 203,.250 98, 674 301, 924 April..-.. 471, 963 79, 600 551, 563 355, 295 64, 479 419, 774 287, 478 123, 275 410, 753 May...... 501, 267 135, 444 636, 711 269,045 84, 080 353,125 290, 543 130, 600 421, 143 Juneo -.. 433,818 86,534 520, 352 296,168 119, 350 415, 518 314,402 114,107 428, 509 July...... 408, 903 136, 363 545, 266 306, 373 70, 432 376, 8051 309, 661 87, 910 397, 571 Aug...... 407, 355 100,404 507 759 309, 361 79, 595 388, 956 262,188 75, 825 338, 013 Sept...... 421,033 82 50362941 256, 683 97, 608 354, 291 237, 027 104, 969 341, 996 Oct -......-3, 274 156,642 593, 9161 488, 450 87, 614 576, 064 263, 728 232, 028 395, 757 Nov...... 373, 433 122,935 496,3681 490, 301 92, 330 582, 630 254, 921 184,837 439,758 Nee ------ 311,159 95,634 406,7931 486,600 86,019 572,619 165,873 187,721 353,594 Total - - - 5, 108, 413 1, 320, 547 6, 428, 960~ 4, 106, 975 1, 042, 774 5, 149, 749 3, 013, 356 1, 464,t105 4,477,461 COASTWISE. Jan -. $333,123 $128, 611 $461, 734 $257, 930 $30, 853 $288, 7831 $344, 440 $15, 381 $359, 821 Feb::." - 219,926 59,978 279,904 174,219 80,972 255,191 128,799 10, 884 139,683 March.. 167,411 40,911 208,322 197,023 iO,577 217,600 119,398 23,284 142,682 April. 291, 949 60,873 352, 822 274, 620 29, 974 304, 594 344, 075 7, 450 351, 525 May -..... 362,150 47, 975 410,134 411, 427 90, 956 502, 383 380, 780 11, 636 392, 416 June 791, 928 52, 669, 844, 59' 460,132 42, 388 502, 520 366, 265 8, 976 375, 241 July...... 823, 641 31,269 854, 910 680, 953 37, 591. 718, 544 760, 693 214,744 975,437 Aug -... 786, 550 32, 241 818, 799 932, 392 56, 959 989, 351 1, 006,186 2, 5361 1, 008, 722 Sept....- 954, 813 28,876 983, 689 621,426 7, 618 629, 044 490, 853 5, 556 496.409 Oct....... 634, 116 23, 864 657,980 559, 212 54, 055 613, 267 744,349 80, 980 825,329 Nov...... 794,085 16, 818 810, 903 412,183 45, 300 457, 483 536, 548 100,520 637, 068 Dec —---- 708, 802) 24,180 812,982 415, 583 32,193 447,776 442,951 45,450 488, 401 Tota 1. 6, 948, 511 548, 265 7, 496, 776 5, 397, 100 529,436 5, 926,536 5,,6.65,-3371 527, 397 6, 192, 734 RECAPITULATION. 1865. 1866. 1867. Uncoined........................................ $48, 706, 261 $44, 696, 830 $46, 257,320 Coined...:................................................. 4, 961, 922 5, 094, 895 5, 340,184 Total.................................................. 53, 668,183 49, 791, 725 51, 597, 604 294 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Statement of the amount and destination of treasure exported from San Francisco during the year ending December 31, 1867, as declared at the custom-house. TO NEW YORK. In January........................................ 289 35 5 In January —~~~~~~~~~$2, 809, 235 55 In February....................................... 1, B96, 207 24 In March —......-. -1,646,058 86 In April............................................ 1,186,780 34 In May........................................... 2,535,232 56 In June............................................ 2,661,643 57 In July........................................... 2,389,688 29 In August.................................. 1,610,041 45 In September....................................... 1,337,755 30 In October......................................... 1,024,552 18 In November.......... 1,957,828 43 In December....................................... 2,800, 881 68 $23,355,903 45 TO ENGLAND. In January 703, 070 85 Ini February —. 384,098 00 In March.......................................... 357,661 60 In April............................... 297,174 02 In May-.. 788,772 13 In June........................................... 502,834 36 in July. —......................................... 616,302 22 In August......................................... 515,691 91 in September...................................... 493,065 34 In October......................................... 704,600 43 in November............................... 321,514 42 in December.... -. 156,408 71 5, 841,183 99 TO FRANCE. In January......................................... 122,331 56 In February... 105, 079 91 In March.....................-.................... 67,000 00 In April —69,537 25 In May......................................... 101,509 48 In June........................-................... 117,400 57 In July........................................... 183,751 64 In August......................................... 234,905 70 In September...................................... 106,600 42 In October.......~.................................. 34,772 40 In November....................................... 65,555 27 In December................................. 74,791 53 1,283, 235 73 TO CHINA. In January................................... 86062 In~~~~~~~~~~~) January 806, 076 27 In February........................................ 376,206 32 In March........................1..1................. 110,642 72 In April.............-.............................. 1,081,513 57 In May........................... 760,0-27 73 In June ---------------------------------------—. 698, 933 73 In July............................................. 1,746,078 69 In August -... 385,540 53 In September...................................... 1,180,308 18 In October......................................... 1,119,629 84 In December...........-............................. 766,546 77 9,031,504 35 TO JAPAN. In January.............. 21,685 46 In March..................... 10,000 00 In April.............................................'2,238 72 InMay.. —2,845 00 In July - -- - 1,100 00 In September....... —.............................. 10,000 0o In October......................................... 650 00 In December....................................... 593,430 34 641,949 52 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 295 TO PANAMA. In January....................... $30, 000 00 In February................. 30, 000 00 In March.......................................... 30,000 00 In April................................-........ 29,000 00 In May...... 30.000 00 In June............................... 30000 00 In June-~~~~~~~~~~~30, 000 00 In July 30, 000 00 In August................................ 32,127 40 In September...................................... 40,000 00 In October 30,000 00 In November................... 31,424 30 In December....................................... 30,000 00 $372,551 70 TO CENTRAL AMERICA. In February....................................... 20,000 00 In April................... -45,550 00 In May........................................... 28,400 00 In June.... —--—. —---—.-.-.8,000 00 In July........ 3,000 00 In October..... -.8,660 00 In December........................................ 58,370 00 171,980 00 TO HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. In April,... 1,300 00 In June.' —..... —--------- 1,000 00 In July-................. 1,000 00 In August......................................... 5,000 00 In October - -18,906 00 In November.......... *.................. 29,826 42 57, 032 45 TO MEXICO. In January........................................ 10,000 00 In February.................................. 3,000 00 In March -13,000 00 In October........................................ 5,000 00 In December..._.._..............,.....' 11,000 00 42,000 00 TO VALPARAISO. In February...................................... 399,849 08 In.March....................... 323,601 89 -- ~ ~ 723, 40 97 TO TAHITI. In February............ -.-500 00 TO VICTORIA. In February........ 50, 000 00 In October..........................-.80,000 00 In December....................................... 25,000 00 155, 000 00 Total, 1867.................................................. 4,676,722 16 Total, 1866.........................44,364,'393 05 Decrease this year............................................ 2,688,100 89,~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. * To the figures representing the amount of treasure shipped hence in 1867 would justly be added about $6,000,000 sent east by the United States sub-treasurer in this city, whereby the total sum sent out of the country reached $48,000,000 for the last year. This officer shipped on government account $11,500,000 in 1866, though, so neatr as we can learn, not over $6,000,000 were shipped by him last year. 296 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES AMOUNT OF BULLION ASSAYED AND TAxED.-The following table, prepared at the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shows the total amount of bullion produced in the United States, upon which the revenue tax qf one-half of one per cent. has been collected during the calendar year 1867.* It should be observed that the bullion is not always assayed and assessed in the State or Territory in which it is produced. California, for example, shows a total estimated value of gold and silver bullion in coin of $28,840,139; this includes a considerable portion of the product of Idaho, Washington Territory, and Oregon. Nearly all the bullion produced in Nevada is assessed in that State; whilst in New York and Pennsylvania the assessments are upon bullion deposited there friom other sources. The table, therefore, is chiefly valuable as showing the'aggregate product upon which taxes have been collected. The total value assessed, viz: $58,175,047, and the actual product for 1867, as estimated in letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, (page 3,) viz: $75,000,000 show a difference of $16,824,953. Of this amount a portion may be accounted for as remaining unassayed, and some may have escaped taxation. Statement showing the tax returned on bullion as assayed from each State and Territory of the United States for the calendar year 1867; also, the value of the bullion in currency and its estimated value in coin, assuming that the average premium on gold for the year was 385 per cent., or that one dollar in currency was worth seventy-two cents in coin. Taxin currency Tax incurrency Valueofthegold Value of the silStates and Territories oaxn curre ncy on silver bul- bullion,in cur- ver bullion, in -tate s an- T e r r it ries ongolion. rency. currency. California............................... $193, 366 74 $6, 912 00 $38, 673, 348 $1,389, 400 Colorado.............................. 1, 447 45................ 289, 490................ Idaho................................. 5,680 12 1,682 02 1,136, 024 336, 404 Montana......................... 11,413 70 44 2, 282, 740 88 Nevada...... 43,865 20 77, 021 21 8, 773, 040 15, 404, 242 New York.......... 28,140 27 3, 007 70 5, 638, 054 601, 540 Oregon................................. 10, C24 60 4 61 2, 004, 920 922 Pennsylvania......................... 14, 030 14 1, 747 00 2,806, 028 349, 400 Utah.................................. 4,087 16................ 817,432................ Washington........................... 1, 563 02................ 312, 604................ Total.......................... 31l3, 618 40 90, 374 98 62, 723, 680 18, 074, 996 Total value of Total estimated ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~Estimated value E stim ate d value gold and silver vleofgl States and Territories goldand silver ofgoldbullion, of silver bul- al ivr ld bullion, in cur- in con. ini on and silver hul. /rency. i coin. lion, in coin. lion, in coin..... California............................. $40, 055, 748 $27, 844, 811 $995, 328 $28, 840, 139 Colorado.................... 289, 490 208,433................. 208,433 Idaho................................ 1, 472, 428 817, 937 242, 211 1, 060,148 Montana............................... 2, 282, 828 1,643, 573 63 1, 643, 636 Nevada........ 24,177,282 6, 316, 589 11, 091, 054 17, 407, 643 New York...... 6, 229, 594 4, 052,199 433,109 4,485, 308 Oregon................................ 2, 005, 842 1, 443, 542 664 1, 444, 206 Pennsylvania.......................... 3,155, 428 2, 020,340 251,568 2 271, 908 Utah.................................. 817, 432 588,551.588,551 Washington.......................... 312, 604 225, 075................ 225, 075 Total.......................... 80,798, 676 45,161, 050 13, 013, 997 58,175, 047 * This tax is abolished under the new internal revenue act. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 297 DEPOSITS ANID COINAGE. The following is a statement of the deposits and coinage at the branch mint of the United States, in San Francisco, during the year ending December 31, 1867: Value. Gold deposits. —- ---------— $18,923,15217 Silver deposits and purchases...... 613,117 94 Total deposits.............................................. 19,536,270 11 Statement of coinage executed. Denominations. No. of pieces. Value. GOLD. Double eagles.......................................................... 920, 750 $1 8, 415, 000 00 Eagles..........................................-....................... 9, 000 90, 000 00 Half eagles................................................................. 29, 00 0 145, 000 00 Quarter eagles...................................................... 8,000 70, 000 00 Total...................................... 986, 750 18, 720, 000 00 SILVER. Half dollars........................................................... 1,196, 00 0 598, 000 00 Quarter dollars..................................................... 48, 000 12,000 00 Dimes.................................................................. 140, 000 14,000 00 Half dimes........ 120, 000 6, 0(00 00 Fine bars'.............20 20, 534 92 Total............................................................ 1, 504, 020 650, 534 92 RECAPITULATION. Gold coinage............................................................ 986,750 18, 720, 000 00 Silver............................................,...................... 1,504,020,,650, 534 92 Total............................................................. 2, 4 90, 770 19,370, 534 92 The deposits for the year ending December 31, 1867, were of the following character: GOLD DEPOSITS. California, bullion........-.................... $5,700,871 12 Idaho, ".................................... 1,144,483 04 Oregon, ".................. 319,620 90 Montana, ".................................... 309,843 32 Nevada, ".................................... 49,030 47 Arizona, ".-........... —.......... 48,797 73 Parted from silver bullion............................. 168,901 92 - $7,741,548 50 Fine bars..............-......................... 10,980,791 94 Foreign coin.-............................ 153,453 31 Foreign bullion..................................... 47,358 42 11,181,603 67 Total gold................................................. 18, 923,152 17 298 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SILVER. Nevada, bullion...................................... $205,618 87 Arizona, "...................................... 8,425 74 Idaho, "............................... 39,727 45 Parted from gold bullion............................ 69, 999 56 - -.....$323,771 62 Bars-2.................................. 239, 799 25 Foreign coin....................................... 27,595 31 Foreign bullion.................................... 21,951 76.289, 346 32 Total silver.................................................. 613,117 94 Silver bars stamped................................................ $20, 534 92 Total gold and silver.............................................. ]9, 536,270 1] Fine bars) total..................................................... 20,534 92 TOTAL DEPOSITS AND COINAGE.-The Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report for the year 1867 states that the total value of the bullion deposited at the mint and branches during the fiscal year was $41,893,100 76, of which $40,069,200 06 was in gold and $1,823,900 70 in silver. Deducting the redeposit, the amount of actual deposit was $34,537,048 39. The coinage for the year was, in gold coin, $28,217,187 50; gold bars, $11,621,691 32; silver coin, $986,871; silverbars, $575,823 18; nickel, copper, and bronze coinage, (one, two, three, and five-cent pieces,) $1,879,540. Total coinage, $31,083,598 50. Total bars stamped, $12,197,514 50. The gold deposits of domestic production were, at Philadelphia, $2,418,1 7 89; at San Francisco, $17,936,169 40; at New York, $10,320,821 55; at Denver, $130,559 70. The silver deposits were, at Philadelphia, $37,399 72; San Francisco, $744,387 48; New York, $274,893 19. The gold and silver deposits of foreign production were $2,674,619 46. The amount of gold coined at Philadelphia was $10,072,060 86; at San Francisco, $18,225,000; of silver, at Phila1elphia, $357,490 38; at San FranCisco, $780-048 54; of bronze, nickel, and copper, at Philadelphia, $128792540. Total number of pieces struck, 54,110,384. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. - 2-99 NEVADA. SECTION I. TOPOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL FEATURES, AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. SYSTEMr O MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND VALLEYS.-This State, in common with the entire region lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky mountains, is an elevated plain, having a general altitude of about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Crossing this plateau are many mountain ranges, the most of which have a northerly and southerly course, being separated from each other by valleys from 5 to 20 miles wide, which is also about the width of the adjacent mountains, measured on a straight line from base to base. These mountains have an absolute height varying from 5,000 to 12,000 feet, being from 1,000 to 8,000 feet above the common level of the country. The Sierra Nevada, forming for some distance a natural barrier along the western and southwestern parts of the State, varies in height from 7,000 to 13,000 feet. This range is covered with heavy forests to its very base, while all the others in the interior of the State are barren of wood, or but sparsely timbered. This alternation of mountains and.valleys is preserved with great uniformity throughout all parts of the State, more especially in the central and eastern portions. In places these mountains disappear, or so contract as to transform the valleys into broad plains or basins, some of which are open and unobstructed, while others are dotted with buttes, or covered with groups of rugged hills. At points along their course these ranges are much depressed, or cut by ravines striking across their summits, forming passes so low, and with such gradual slopes on either side, as to greatly facilitate the construction of wagon roads, and even railways, across them. In some parts of the country the mountains, instead of running in parallel chains, are broken into confused and detached masses, their longitudinal axis conforming towards no common direction. The sides of these mountains are everywhere cut by deep ravines or canons, the most of them running from crest to base, and usually at nearly right angles with their general course. In some places these ravines are but one or two, while in others they are five or six miles apart, dividing the mountain slopes into enormous ridges, some of them 2,000 or 3,000 feet above the separating calions. The latter are in some cases well watered, perennial streams flowing through them, rendering irrigation of their banks always feasible, while in others there are neither springs nor running streams, whole mountain ranges being, like the adjacent plains, nearly or quite destitute of water. As in the Sierra Nevada, these interior ranges contain a few high ridges and peaks, upon which in places sheltered from the sun, or where deep drifts have been formed, the snow lies throughout the year. Granite, sienite, slate, limestone, and porphyry, are the prevailing rocks in the composition of the Nevada mountains, which have generally a rounded and dome-like contour, though occasionally shooting. up into pyramidal peaks and spire-shaped summits. The tops of the divides between the lateral eafions are especially apt to be sharp and rugged, the bare and splintered rocks occasionally standing far above the crest of the ridge, and sometimes strongly inclined towards the comb of the principal mountain. While the most of these ranges are covered with a scanty growth of bunch grass, and with patches of piion, juniper, and other scrubby trees, much of their surface is destitute of both grass and every other species of useful vegetation, fully three-fourths being without any kind of timber. Along some of the streams flowing through the calons are narrow strips of arable land which frequently, at the point where the former opens into the valleys, spread out into tracts of several acres, affording a sufficiency of tillable land for gardens and small farms. Some of these streams are fringed with cottonwood, birch, willow, wild cherry, and similar trees the most 300 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of them small, and of but little value, mixed with which are often varieties of wild vines, rose, currant or gooseberry bushes, and other shrubbery. Up the most of these caiions it is no difficult matter to construct wagon roads leading quite to the summits of the mountains, a consideration of moment, as the latter, the principal repositories of the precious metals, are thus rendered easily accessible to loaded teams; and these'mountain ridges sometimes run for 100 miles or more without any material deviation from their general course. So also do the adjacent valleys extend for a like distance without other obstruction than perhaps an occasional butte, or outstanding spur, and with no perceptible variation of level. Sometimes these valleys, owing to a subsidence of the mountains, or a change in their general course, expand into immense plains, as in the southern and northwestern parts of the State, or connect with other valleys having the same or nearly the same level, or, may be, are separated from the latter only by low ridges or swells of land so inconsiderable as to present no obstacle to the building of railroads throughout the entire series. A more favorable reion for the construction of railways than is offered by this system of communicating plains and valleys, especially where these improvements are required to pursue a generally northern and southern direction, could not be desired. Besides, being so nearly level, and wholly unobstructed; the soil, for the most part a dry sand, or a compact sandy loam, affords the best possible material for a road-bed, whether facility of construction or durability be considered. Upon these plains and valleys nothing of a vegetable growth is to be found larger or more formidable of removal than the wild sage, a shrub that can, as a general thing, be ploughed up with a single yoke of oxen, while their surfaces are almost entirely free from rocks, loose stones, or other obstructions. But while these valleys are, longitudinally viewed, so nearly level, they all have a slight descent from the foot of the adjacent mountains to their centres, caused by the wash that, going on for years, has been gradually wearing down the mountains and filling up the valleys. The difference in altitude between the tops of the mountains and the level of the valleys, now varying from 1,000 to 8,000 feet, was formerly much greater, since at one time th6 bottoms of the opposing mountains met, no doubt, in the middle of the intervening valley, making the difference in altitude two or three times as great as at present. While many of these valleys receive a great number of small streams from the mountains on either side, or about theirheads, very few of them have any large stream flowing through the centre, the most of these tributaries sinking into the arid and porous soil as soon as they reach the edge of the valley. As a consequence, the latter, few of them having any common outlet, are great natural reservoirs; but the water, resting upon the bed rock, can only be reached by penetrating the immense mass of superincumbent debris. Hence wells in these valleys require to be sunk to a great depth, nor is water always obtained even then; though it could no doubt be reached in many places by artesian boring, a method not generally adopted, if in any instance yet resorted to in this State. In the few cases where there is a sufficient accumulation of water to cause a stream to run through the valley above ground, there are usually at points along it, patches of alluvial bottomn constituting good plough or grass lands, the quantity generally being in proportion to the size of the stream. Reese river, Carson, Umashaw, Paradise, and Franklin valleys, afford good examples of this kind. In Ruby, Big Smoky, Degroot, and Toquima, we have examples of large valleys containing much good land, yet without open streams running through them; while in the Great Salt, Fairview Ralston, Sinkavata, and Sand Spring valleys, there is neither' arable land nor running water. In the case of the Big Smoky and similar valleys, the mountain streams after disappearing make their way underground towards their centres, where, meeting with obstructions, or gathering into natural basins, they saturate the earth and render it productive. Much of the soil both in the valleys and upon the mountains, is rich and friable being easily tilled and abounding in the elements of fruitfulness, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. S1 but unavailable for agricultural purposes because of its aridity and the lack of means for its irrigation. Both the open plains and the more contracted valleys are, for the most part, destitute of timber, the only exceptions being where they are traversed by considerable streams, as the valleys of the Carson, Walker, Trlluckee, and Humboldt rivers along wlich are a few scattered cottonwoods and copse of willow, there being no other trees, large or small, along them. Both the valleys, plains, and mountains are, in some sections of the country, wholly destitute of wood, and but ill supplied with grass and water, the latter, where it does occur, being often so impregnated with mineral substances as to render it unwholesome, or so warm as to be unfit for immediate use. Several of the more extended of these plains are so arid and barren as to justly merit the appellation of "desert," popularly applied to them. The regions most strongly marked in this respect are those adjacent to the sinks of the Humboldt and Carson, the vicinity of the Big Mud lakes, and the belt of country stretching from the Great Salt valley of Churchill county south through the centre of the State, and spreading out in the desolate and sandy wastes that surround Death valley and the sink of the Amargosa, reputed to be depressed many eet below the level of the sea. The characterizing of these sections, however, as peculiarly sterile does not imply that there are not many other considerable tracts in the State almost equally worthless, the only difference being in their more contracted area. To this system of mountains, valleys, and plains, the latter so spread out, and often connected together, as to constitute a series of basins, each having a drainage of its own, but no outlet to the sea, Nevada is indebted for its singular hydrography, this common receptacle of its gathered waters becoming, according to circoumstances, a lake, sink, meadow, alkali flat, or a salt bed. SINKS, SLorGHs AND LAxES.-The only waters of Nevada that are supposed to reach the ocean consist of a kew inconsiderable streams in the northern, and a still smaller number in the southern part of the State. The former are tributaries of the Ow~yhie and the Snake rivers, and the latter of the Colorado. With these exceptions all the surface flow of the country is collected in lakes, inone of them of large size and most of them extremely shallow, and in sinks, a name popularly applied to a certain class of these lakes from the circumstance that the streams emptying into them or received from other lakes are here supposed to sink and finally disappear beneath the surface. The idea, however, is erroneous, as these bodies of water, while they are not deep, are quite as permanent as any other, though fluctuating in area with the size of the streams by which they are fed. Most of the mountain streams in this State do sink, as already stated, as soon as they reach the plains or valleys., Some of the larger streams flowing through the latter as Reese river, also disappear in like manner, being absorbed by the earth without accumulating at any point in a lake. These are the only cases to which the term sink properly applies. The fact that some of these lakes having no visible outlet receive each a large stream without overflowing its banks, or being greatly raised even when these tributaries are at high stages of water, has led to the supposition that they communicate with the sea, or perhaps with subterranean lakes, through underground passages. The consideration, however, that but comparatively little rain or snow ever falls in this region, while the extreme dryness of the atmosphere and the soil causes evaporation and absorption to go on rapidly, dispenses in a great measure with the necessity for such a theory. The only lakes of any considerable size in Nevada are those formed by the Humboldt, Walker, Carson and Franklin rivers, and bearing the names of these streams respectively, together with Pyramid lake, the largest of the group,'formed by the waters of Truckee river. To Lake Tahoe, lying onethird within its limits, Nevada can only advance a corresponding claim. By the the early emigrants the name Sink, was given to Humboldt lake, and a large shallow lake situate in the northern part of Churchill county is still called the 302 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Sink of the Carson, from the fact that it receives the surplus waters of that river through a sluggish tortuous stream, in some places having numerous channels, and in this country generally designated a slough. There is also a slough running from Humboldt lake to this sink, through which the former, at high stages, discharges its water. Through a similar channel Pyramid lake, when above its ordinary level, sends its water into Winnemucca lake, a large shallow basin lying east of Pyramid, and at certain seasons of the year nearly dry. In addition to the above there are small lakes and ponds in Degroot, Franklin, and various valleys in the State, the waters of which are in some cases fresh and pellucid, while in others they are more or'less opaque and impure. About these ponds, which are mostly shallow, there is often a body of good grazing or agricultural land. Lake Tahoe, which has a depth of over 1,500 feet, is of an irregular oval shape, 21 miles long and 10 miles wide, and, though elevated more than 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, it never freezes over, nor does the temperature of the water vary much from 57~ winter or summer, a circumstance owing, probably, to its being fed largely by springs. That it receives most of.its supplies from this source is evident from the fact that it has but one tributary stream of any magnitude, while its outlet, Truckee river, carries a heavy body of water. This lake, like Pyramid, abounds in trout of large size and fine flavor, and is surrounded on every side by lofty mountains, which,..rising abruptly from its shores, are covered for nearly two-thirds of the year with snow. These mountains are heavily timbered with forests of pine, spruce and fir. Pyramid lake, the largest body of water wholly within the limits of the State, is about 30 miles long and 12 wide, and is situate in. the southern. part of Roop county, near the western line of the State. This lake, which derives its name from a pyramidal rock standing near its centre and rising 600 feet above its surface, has an elevation of about 4,000 feet above tide level. Like the Walker, it has a considerable depth, and the scenery about it is extremely grand, it being walled round with precipitous mountains rising fiom 2,000 to 3,000 feet high. Walker lake has about the same altitude and length, but is not so wide as Pyramid, its average width not being over six or seven miles. Like the. latter it is of an irregular oblong shape. The shores are indented with numerous small bays. Besides an inferior species of fish it contains the salmon trout; but the latter are not so large, numerous or well flavored as in Pyramid or Lake Tahoe, the water here being neither so deep nor pure. Walker lake is flanked on both sides by high mountains and rugged hills, the whole extremely arid and barren, almost entirely destitute of wood, grass or water. Carson lake has a diameter of about 12 miles; Hlumbold and Franklin are somewhat smaller. They are all of an irregular circular or oval shape, have low, flat shores, and are nowhere over 50 or 60 feet deep. They contain no fish except suckers and others of an inferior kind, the water of these, as well as most of the other small lakes and ponds in the country, being brackish and slightly alkaline-that of Humboldt lake and Carson sink so much so as to render the fish quite unpalatable and hardly fit for culinary purposes. The same is true of the water in most of the sloughs, and also in some of the livers, especially the Humboldt, which becomes greatly deteriorated at its lower stages, particularly as it approaches the lake. Washoe, Toshepall, Pueblo and Guano are all small and shallow lakes, the water of which is in some cases clear and sweet, while in others it is discolored with earthy matter or so impregnated with salt, soda or other substances as to render it distasteful if not unwhblesome. About some of these lakes, as well as along a few of the rivers, occur patches of tule lands, or ground overflowed at high water and covered with a species of large-sized bulirush. Where susceptible of easy drainage, these patches can readily be converted into excellent meadows. The most extensive tracts of this land are found at the mouth of the Humboldt river, around Carvson.lake and sink, and above Genoa on Carson' river, along the west shore WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 303 of Franklin, and at the outlet of Washoe lake, smaller patches being met with at the sinks of the'Umashaw, Weatherlow, and Wemissa creeks, Humboldt county, and around several small lakes in Franklin valley, Lander county. As Honey, Mono and Owens lakes, though not within the boundaries of Nevada, all lie west of the Sierra, and form a part of the system of valleys and lakes stretching along the western rim of the Great Basin, the first two being very near the line of this State, it may be proper to give here a passing description of them. Honey Lake, so named from the honey-dew abundantly precipitated throughout this'region during the summer months, is a small and very shallow body of water, even at high stages, andwholly disappears in extremely dry seasons. Its principal confluents,. Willow creek and Susan river, sink into the taule marsh before reaching the lake, the shores of which are in some places low anid swampy, while in others they are dry and elevated. It has no outlet, and is destitute of fish, the water being strongly alkaline. To the west of the lake is an extensive valley, skirted by the Sierra Nevada in that direction, a strip of hilly country separating it from Pyramid and Mud lakes on the east. Mono lake, lying about 10 miles southwest of the dividing line between California and Nevada, derives its name from the tribe of Indians originally inhabiting the vicinity. It is about 14 miles long and 9 wide, and, though never sounded, is supposed from the configuration of the adjacent mountains to be very deep; some trials said to have been made with a 300-foot line failed to reach bottom. It has been suggested that the bed of this lake is the centre of an extinct volcano filled up with water, a hypothesis that assumes plausibility from the crater-like form of one of its islands, as well as of numerous small mountains in the neighborhood. By chemical analysis a gallon of this water weighing eight pounds is found to contain 1,200 grains of solid matter consisting principally of chloride of sodium, (common salt,) carbonate of soda, borax, sulphate of soda, (glauber salt,) and silica with indications of the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen. Holding such a large percentage of.these substances in solution the water of this lake is, of course,, so acid and nauseating as to render it not only unfit for drinking but even for bathing.* Leather immersed in it is soon destroyed by its corrosive properties, and no animal, not even a fish or frog, can for more than a short time exist in it. The wild fowl in visiting it keep about the mouths of the creeks, where the lake water is mixed with that flowing from the mountains. The only thing able to live within or upon the waters of this lake is a species of fly, which, springing from a larva bred in its bosom, after an ephemeral life, dies, aind collecting on the surface, is drifted to the shore, where the remains collect in great quantities, to be fed upon by the ducks or gathered by the Indians, with whom this forms la staple comestible. Nestling under the eastern water-shed of the Sierra, this lake receives several considerable tributaries; and, although destitute of any outlet, such is the aridity of the atmosphere that it is always kept at nearly the same level by the process of evaporation. So dense and sluggish is the water rendered through supersaturation with various salts and other foreign matters, that none but the strongest winds can raise a ripple on its surface. As the Sierra in this neighborhood reaches nearly its greatest altitude, the scenery about Mono is varied and majestic, some portions of it.being at the same time marked by a most cheerless and desolate aspect. This lake may aptly be termed a dead sea, its bitter and fatal waters rendering it literally such, while all its surroundings-wild, gloomy and foreboding-are highly suggestive of sterility and death. Owen's lake, lying to the south of Mono, though somewhat larger and not so deep, does not otherwise differ materially fiom the latter. It has the Sierra on the west for a back ground,' while its water is almost equally saline and bitter. Like Mono, it has no outlet; and, though receiving the waters of Owen's river, a large and rapid stream, its surface is observed to be every year getting lower,. a process that its former shore-line marks indicate to have been going on for a long time. This subsiding for the last five years has been at the 304 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES rate of nearly two feet per year. Former beach lines along the shores of Mono lake indicate that it has in like manner fallen by gradual stages many feet below its ancient level. The larvre generating the insect found on Mono lake also breed abundantly in these waters, being the only form of animal life adapted to live in or about them. The decomposing action of this water is shown by its effect Upon the bodies of a company of Indians, some 20 or 30 in number, who, while seeking to escape the whites several years ago having taken refuge in the lake, were there shot by their pursuers, who left them in the water. In the course of a few weeks not a vestige of their bodies was to be seen, even the bones having been decomposed by this powerful solvent. ALKALI FLATS AND IMUD LAKES.-The surface of many of the plains and valleys in this State being composed of a stiff clay nea'ly impervious to water, and at the same time quite level or but slightly basin-shaped, are readily converted, during wet weather, into shallow lakes, some of which exist but for a few days, while others last until the dry season comes on, a few sometimes continuing throughout the year. These bodies of water, though often covering a large area, are rarely more than a foot or two deep. When drying up they usually leave behind a slight deposit of argillacious sediment, to which circumstance and their generally miry condition they are indebted for the name mud lake, commonly applied to them. When covered with water, or even but moderately wet, these spots are mostly impassable to teams or even horsemen. To obviate this difficulty roads require to be thrown up and impacted by travel during the dry season. Besides this clayey sediment many of these lakes on drying up deposit a variety of salts, the most of them of alkaline nature, whence the name alkali flat given them when in this condition. These salts are white, and glisten in the sun, so that these localities are very hot in summer as well as trying to the eyes of persons crossing them. When dry their beds become so hard that the hoof of an animal or.even the tire of loaded wagons leaves but a slight impi'ession. In some instances while the greater portions of these flats become dry and hard, others remain moist, the water in places coming to within a few inches of the surface. From these damp spots a constant efflorescence of saliae matter goes on. The sublimated particles are left upon the surface or adhere to the shrubbery if there be any near by. The most of these desiccated lakes, however, are wholly without vegetation, not even the artemesia being able to take root upon them. These spots, so transformned alternately into mud lakes and alkali flats, are also the localities of the salt beds and marshes characteristic of this country. Though met with in nearly every part of Nevada, the most extensive occur in the northwestern, central and southern portions of the State, where in the wet season, some of them cover more than a hundred square ailes. RIVERS AND STREAMS.-In proportion to its size Nevada has, perhaps, fewer large streams than any other State or Territory in the Union; none of those within its limits being navigable, and not more than four or five justly entitled to be called rivers. The Humboldt, the largest and longest river in the State, is at ordinary stages fordable at many places, as are all the others nearly everywhere along them. But, while possessing so few rivers, this State contains a great number of small streams, which, issuing from the various mountain ranges, afford an extensive propulsive power and means of irrigation. As a general thing the rivers have a swift current, with occasional rapids, though nothing like a cataract exists in any part of the State. The most of the mountain streams have a great descent, some of them falling a thousand feet every two or three miles. Where running through valleys or plains, the immediate banks of the streams are apt to be low; in the case of the smaller ones only a few feet above the water, though some have higher benches further back. Reese river, for example, flowing through a channel having nearly parallel banks, is scarcely anywhere more than 10 or 15 feet below the adjacent plain. Except towards its terminus it never dries up, and rarely ever overflows its banks.'. At one point WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 305 it disappears for several miles, having no channel above ground. The water here is diffused throughout the soil, fiorming, by a system of natural irrigation, an extensive meadow. Below this it reappears at several points, and being finally collected again in one channel flows on as before. This stream has an average width of 15 feet and a depth of about two feet. After pursuing its course for more than a hundred miles it begins to diminish, standing only in pools, and finally disappearing altogether. During high stages of water it runs for a greater distance, making its way nearly to the Humboldt, where it terminates in a tule swamp, which dries up in one summer. Weatherlow, Wamissa, Umrnashaw, and several other considerable creeks in the State resemble Reese river in their leading features. The most of them in like manner terminate in small fens, usually called sinks. Nearly all the running waters of the Nevada are palatable and wholesome. That of the mountain streams is always excellent. In most of the sloughs it is disagreeably brackish, which is also the case ix the Humboldt.l river, and some other of the larger streams, particularly at low stages of water, the impurities increasing as the stream descends. In consequence of waste from evaporation and absorption most of the larger streams lose as much water from these causes as they gain from their tributaries, rendering them sometimes larger near their sources than at points further down. The Humboldt, for instance, a stream about 40 yards wide and four feet deep, is scarcely so large where it enters the lake as it is 200 miles above. The Walker and Carson rivers are also smaller where they empty into their respective lakes tlhan at points higher up. The Truckee, though not so large, being a moie rapid stream, discharges a greater volume of water throughout the year than the Humboldt. In point of size, Walker river ranks next to the Truckee. Carson river has an average width of 20 yards, with a depth of three feet, and is about two-thirds the size of Walker. Franklin river is a much smaller stream than Carson. The entire length of the IHumboldt, including its two main forks, is over 300 miles. That of the others is much less. Both the Humboldt, Carson, and Walker rivers are formed by the union of two main forks or branches below which none of them have a single affluent of any size, the Walker none whatever. Truckee river, issuing a large stream from Lake Tahoe, receives a number of tributaries before leaving the mountains, after which, though not enlarged by any afiluents, it preserves a nearly uniform volume, running with a swift current until it empties into Pyramid lake. The water of this stream is cold and pure throughout its entire course, and, as it has a great descent, it could be made to supply an immense propulsive power. That it will be largely diverted to this use, as soon as the Central Pacific railroad is completed, admits of no doubt, since this improvement follows along its banks' for more than 50 miles, nearly half the distance through heavy forests of spruce and pine, which supply,. in connection with the extensive water power, great advantages for the manufacture of lumber. The Humboldt river takes its rise in the Goose Creek mountains, in the northwestern corner of the State, whence, running in a westerly cohrse about 250 miles it deflects to the south, and flowing 50 miles farther falls into Humboldt lake. It runs through a tortuous channel with a moderate current, falling about 500 feet while traversing a distance of 250 miles. It passes through an exceedingly dry and sterile country. The only good land is comprised in a narrow belt of alluvion along its immediate banks. While this belt Contracts at some points to very narrow limits, or disappears altogether, it expands at a few others as at Lassen's meadows into grassy bottoms of considerable extent. During the period of high water, which occurs on the melting of the snow in the mountains about its sources, in the months of April, May, and June, the river is swollen to a size somewhat larger than above stated, occasionally overflowing its banks, while at low water -it shrinks into smaller dimensions, a condition common to most of the other large streams in the State. The only tree found in the valley of the Humboldt is a species of small willow, growing on the banks of the stream. Nothing but a little 20 306 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES scrubby juniper and pine, and these very sparsely, is met with upon any of the mountains adjacent. In the Goose Creek range, however, about its head waters, there are some groves of large-sized timber, with fair supplies of bunch grass and water. The grass along the river bank consists of several wild varieties, such as wire, rye, blue, clover, and bunch, some of which are so injurious to stock that experienced drovers will not allow their cattle to feed upon them, but drive them into the mountains, where the grass, though less abundant, is more nutritious and wholesome. The only fish found in this stream, or the lake into which it discharges are minnows, of little value. During the summer the Humnboldt swams with mosquitoes, gnats, sandflies and other troublesome insects. These pests are very numerous along the lower portions of the river and about the lake. In their leading features and surroundings the Truckee, Carson, and Walker rivers do not, except as to size, differ materially from ihe Humboldt, having first a narrow and partially fertile valley near their immediate banks, with another much more extensive, but wholly barren, lying somewhat higher and stretching away to the base of the mountain ranges that bound them on either hand. The cottonwoods that ohce formed a narrow fringe, or stood in small clumps along these streams, have mostly been cut down, and there is little left except a willow copse to mark the meanderings of the rivers through the plains, or their passage through the deep carions that sometimes occur along their routes. These cafons, by subdividing the main valley into different parts, sometimes cause the waters of the same river to be designated by separate names. After leaving the mountains from which they all take their rise, there is, with the exception of a little willow and the few cottonwoods mentioned, no timber along any of the streams in this State or in the valleys through. which they flow. In Reese River valley, proper, more than 100 miles long, there is not a stick of timber large enough for a fence rail, and nearly all the other valleys and plains in the country are equally destitute of timber. THEE SPRINGS OF NEVADA. —-These abound in many parts of the State, and are to the economist not mnore objects of value on account of their utility than of interest to the scientist because of their size, temperature, modes of occurrence, chemical properties, and other natural peculiarities. They are met with at all altitudes, and often under such strange conditions as justly entitle them to be considered geological curiosities. They are found on the mountain sides, in the valleys, and far out on the desert-large, small, deep, shallow, cold, hot, and tepid. Some are in a state of ebullition, leaping up with a gurgling sound, as if heated by fierce fire~ below, while others are quiescent. Some are pellucid and perfectly pure, while others are impregnated with a great variety of mineral nd metallic substances. In some places they occur solitary and, at others in groups, as many as a hundred being found within an area of a few acres. In temperature they range firom 50 to 204 degrees, the latter about the boiling point of water in this region. In diameter they vary from I to 100 feet, and in depth from 3 or 4 to 150. In shape they incline to be circular, many of them being perfectly round, with funnel-shaped or perpendicular well-like walls. The mineral and thermal springs are generally situated on a mound formed from the silicious or calcareous particles brought up and deposited by their own waters. Some of these mounds cover several acres and reach a height of 50 or 60 feet, or even more. In some cases the walls of the springs are formed of these limy or silicious concretions, which, shaped into huge basins lift them several feet above the level of the mounds, while in others they are composed simply of earth or turf. T'Phe water in most of them is soft and palatable when cold, and so clear that the smallest object can be seen at a great depth, even the minute orifices through which the water enters at the bottom of the deepest spring being visible. Fre-' quently a hot and a cold spring are in such proximity that a person can dip one hand into each at the same time. From some a small, and from a few quite a WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 307 large, stream of water issues, while in others the water merely keeps even with the top, or does not rise so high. Some of these springs emit an odor of sulphuretted hydrogen, and taste slightly of sulphur, while others have a chalybeate taste. Analytical tests of the waters from the more highly mineralized of these springs show them to contain, in various proportions, the chlorides of sodium and magnesium, with soda in different forms and a small percentage of lime, sulphur, silica iron, and organic matter. A few of these have an intermitting or tidal action, the water coming to the surfacee with a gurgling sound and sinking away every few minutes, this subsidence sometimes continuing for a much longer period. —occasionally for weeks, or perhaps months. The mounds and orifices of ancient thermals are frequently met with, being now destitute of water, a condition to which many seem rapidly, and perhaps all are gradually, approaching. These fountains, both mineral and thermal, are much frequented by the Indians for their supposed medicinal virtues; and that some of them do possess valuable curative properties has been abundantly shown by the benefits conferred through their use upon multitudes of invalids who, during the past few years, have had recourse to them. Some of the cold springs, especially those in the larger valleys, are quite as limpid as the'thermals, while they are often not only larger and deeper, but also freer from mineral substances than the latter. It frequently happens that the mountain streams, aftar sinking, reappear in the form of springs near the margin or out in the middle of the valleys; and while some of these are small or of but moderate size, others are immense pools, being from 10 to 100 feet in diameter, and often 100 feet or more in depth, some of them sending off large streams of water. Not all the cold springs, however, are free from distasteful and deleterious matters, some being so repulsive that even animals though suffering from thirst, refuse to drink from them. The most remarkable group of thermals in this State is that known as the Steamboat Springs, so called because, when first discovered, they are said to have emitted a puffing noise something like that of a high-pressure steamboat. The only sound escaping from them at present is a seething, gurgling noise like that of a boiling caldron. These springs are situated in Washoe county, about 16 miles north of Carson City and four east from the Sierra, near a range of low basaltic hills, an extensive flow of this rock overlying granite. They occupy a rocky mound about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, having an elevation of 50 or 60 feet above the adjacent valley. This mound, which is composed wholly of silicious matter deposited by the waters, is rent longitudinally by a number of irregular, scraggy-edged fissures, from six inches to a foot in width, caused, apparently, by some upheaving force from below. Gurgling up through these chasms, which probably extend to the bottom of the mound, come, at intervals of a few minutes, volumes of hot water, which, after hissing and foaming for a minute or two, subside, leaving the aperture again nearly empty. From some of these openings small jets of steam constantly escape, accompanied with the emission of gas. Besides these fissures there are pools filled with hot water) one of which, occupying a basin three feet in diameter and.one foot high, built up by the deposition of solid matter held in solution by the water, rises and falls with great regularity every six minutes. For about five minutes the water left in the bottom of this basin remains quiescent, when it gradually rises, the ebullition increasing until it runs over the rim, when it again subsides, the agitation lasting a little over a minute. By throwing a few ounces of soap into this basin the water, after rising and falling a few times, as usual, begins to boil with fury, throwing up the spray six or eight feet and sending off volumes of steam. In this manner its action can for hours be preternaturally excited, with varying degrees of energy, until it finally comes to rest, the water disappearing entirely from the basin, and not rising again for some time, as if exhausted by these vehement exertions. The temperature of the hottest'of these springs is 204~ Fahrenheit, this being about the boiling point of water at that 308 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES altitude. The temperature of others, however, is much lower. The air about the spot smells of sulphur, the ground inthe vicinity being in places impregnhated with that mineral. Along the eastern base of the tumulusoon which the springs are situated flows a rivulet pure and cool, till it mingles with the warm and mineralized water of the latter. At tinmes the chemical agents at work here seem more active than at others, the sounds emitted being louder and more frequent and the steam more abundant. It is even probable that a gradual but general subsidence of action is going on, as the loud puffing sounds said to have been observed here when the springs were first discovered, some 20 years ago, are no longer heard. The country about also affords evidence that the springs in this neighborhood were formerly much more extensive than at present. Other groups of warm springs, scarcely less remarkable besides many less worthy of note than that above described, are met with in different parts of the State. In the valley of the Great Salt Bed, southern part of Humboldt county, occur three clusters of thermals, separated by a distance of six or eight milesone on each side and one in the centre of the valley-but all so much alike that a description of one will serve to give a good idea of the others. The principal group at this place, being that in thie centre of the valley, consisting of over 20 springs, occupies an oblong mound covering 10 acres and rising 60 feet above the level of the valley. This mound, formed wholly by the carbonate of lime brought up and deposited by the waters, is covered with short, coarse grass. Some of the springs are fringed with rushes and tules. Much of the surface is saturated with water from the overflow of the springs. This overflow runs in small channels out upon the plain's where it is soon evaporated or absorbed by the dry and porous earth. Upon the summit and about the sides of this tumulus are situated the springs, some occupying well-shaped openings in the turf and others issuing from huge basins composed of limy concretions resembling alabaster, or from the tops of tumuli formed of the same material and raised six or eight feet above the surface of the mound. Some of these springs, or rather pools, are more than 60 feet wide, while the diameter of others is not more than two or three feet, the whole varying as much in depth as in superficial area. There is also a wide difference in temperature, some being at boiling point while others are simply tepid or quite cool, the hot and cold springs in some instances being separated only by a few feet. The water in all is soft, pure, and limpid, and so transparent that the smallest object can be seen at a depth of 50 or 60 feet. Bubbles of gas are seen constantly ascending through it, but there is no eSbullition nor perceptible escape of steam. While all these springs keep quite or nearly full but few overflow, the aggregate amount of water discharged being small. The cluster of springs on the west side of the valley contains eight pools, hot, warm, and cold, the most of them larger and deeper than those in the central group, while those on the eastern side, though equally numerous, are not so large. At Wilson's ranch, in the southern end of' the valley, are a number of small springs, some of them quite hot, while along its eastern side are to be seen the crater-shaped basins and tumuli of extinct thermals. At the following additional localities in this State hot springs occur, either. isolated or in groups, and of different dimensions, some large and in a state of active ebullition, others small and wholly quiescent: at several points in Carson and Eagle valleys; on the desert between Truckee river and Humboldt; in the vicinity of Black Rock, very numerous; along the eastern base of the Pine Nut mountains; on the desert between the Big Bend of the Carson and Walker livers; neiear Kepler's station on the Wellington road, 16 miles west of the Sinkavata mountains and 40 east of Walker's lake; at a number of places in Lassen, Alpine, and Mono counties California, near the Nevada line; upper end of Degroot's valley, western part of Lander county; east side of Reese River valley, 60 miles north of Austin; south end of Smoky valley; in first range of mountains east of Toquima valley, and in the valley beyond; along the south side of the Upper WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 309 Hnmboldtt, and great numbers scattered over Franklin valley, besides, in many places throughout the State, the mounds and other evidences of extinct thermals, how without signs df heat or moisture. At some of the localities enumerated the springs are large, deep,. and numerous, the water being kept at a high temperature and in a state of violent commotion by internal heat; at others these colnditionis are nearly all reversed, the orifices, once apparently much deeper, being nearly filled up and the temperature of the water scarcely above blood heat, justifying the conclusion that the cooling process is general, and that the chemical action upon which it is dependent for its elevated temperature is constantly diminishing, and will, in process of time, cease altogether. There are cases, however, in which this action is supposed to be on the increase and in which the springs appear to be of recent origin, not being contained in the usual rocky basins nor suTrrounded with the mounds formed by the deposition of silicious or calcareous matter. Of this kind are the springs situate in the Hlot Creek districts, Nye county, the surplus water of which is so copious and hot as to have given the name Hot creek to the stream issuing from them. Besides this there are other hot creeks in the State having their origin in a similar cause. Some of the cold springs in Nevada are scarcely less remarkable because of their size, depth, or the great volume of water they discharge than the thermals above described. The most noted of these occur in the central and eastern part of the State. Along the western side of Smoky valley are a number of pools, varying in diameter from 20 to 80 feet, some of them beinig at least 100 feet deep-so deep, in fact, that the water, which is soft and clear as crystal, has a dark blue appearance. Several of these are filled with small fish and send off a large stream of water. So immense are some of these fountains that it has been conjectured they must have their sources in subterranean lakes; a more plausible theory, however, is that they originate frm the mountain streams which, sinking on the margin of the valley, pursue their way under ground until they rmeet with some obstruction, when they collect in reservoirs that ultimately find an outlet in these springs. In the second tier of valleys east of Smnoky occurs another group of these springs, also circular in form, very deep and full of clear cold water, but having no apparent outlets or inlets. These also swarm with small fish, the number of which leads to the belief that there must be more room for them beneath the turf-like sod by which they are surrounded. In one of the lateral valleys on the Upper Humboldt is a meadow covering 1,200 acres and clothed with luxuriant grass, in the midst of which are several hundred circular openings, from three to six feet wide, through which the pure, pellucid water rises nearly to the surface. They are very deep -and full of small fish, the' number of which becomes greatly increased on shaking the surrounding turf, which can easily be done by the weight of the person, favoring the supposition that these apertures are really the vent holes of an extensive underground lake. Franklin river, a good-sized stream, is formed almost wholly from tributaries that take their rise in a series of large springs ranged along the base of the mountains bounding its valley on the west. Some of these springs send off creeks 15 feet wide and over a foot deep, which run with a rapid current. The number of springs contained in Thousand Springs valley, on the Upper Humboldt, is sufficiently indicated by its name; many of these are distinguished for their size and the excellence of their water. SALT BEDS.-These deposits, through their extent and number, become not only a notable feature in the chllorography, but also an important item in the economical resources of Nevada. Like the alkali fiats and mud lakes they are confined to the valleys and plains, in which they cover the points of greatest depression, the most of them being adjacent to or encompassed by a belt of alkali lands. They are doubtless of lacustrine origin, occupying what were formerly the basins of inland seas and salt lakes their deposition being effected through the evaporation of these bodies of water. Besides the extensive beds of this 310 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES mineral occurring in Churchill, Esmeralda, and Lincoln counties, there are severan smaller deposits, as well as a number of saliniferous springs, elsewhere in the State, all of which may become of local value on account of their proximity to supposed valuable mines. The most productive bed at present is that of the Sand Spring Salt Mining Company, 75 miles east of Virginia. The claim of this company, consisting of 1,600 acres, occupies a depression in the southeastern corner of an extensive alkali flat, the centre of which for a space of several hundred acres is damp and marshy, and some portion of it covered with a few inches of water. This damp surface is coated to a depth of two or three inches with a crystallized incrustation of salt formed by sublimation of the particles of this mineral with which the clayey strata below are charged. On removing this coating of salt a thin body of fine white clay is exposed, overlying a stratum of soft black clay, which, in turn, rests upon another seam of green and black clay, containing coarse globules of salt. Beneath this seam occurs a deposit of crystallized salt, hard and massive but of unascertained thickness. In collecting the salt at this place,. a tract embracing a score of acres or more is selected, and divided into strips, from each of which, in regular order, it is scraped into large heaps with a broad wooden hoe. These heaps, after being exposed for a few days to drain and dry, are conveyed in wheelbarrows or cars running on wooden tracks laid down for the purpose of facilitating transportation over the soft ground, and thrown upon platforms or dumps, when the salt is ready for sacking and shipment to market. After onb of these surface sections has been stripped of salt, the incrustration immediately begins to reform, and so rapidly do the secretions from the saliniferous clays below proceed that a few weeks, and sometimes less, is sufficient to fully replace it, admitting of the gathering of a fresh crop at least every month. As the masses of crystallized salt underlying these clayey strata are probably inexhaustible, it would seem as if this process of replenishment might go on forever. These clays are not the primary sources of supply, though no doubt serving a useful purpose in promoting by their heat the sublimation of the saline particles as well, perhaps, as in aiding their condensation upon the surface. Large sections of the alkali flat at Sand Spring, lying outside of this company's claim, are, during the dry season, covered with a coating of salt; but it is neither so heavy nor pure as that owned by them, being rarely more thaan n inch thick, and largely mixed with alkaline and other foreign matters, resembling, in these particulars, the deposits in Smoky valley, and in the Cortez district, and other salt fields of limited extent elsewhere in the State. The leading features of the larger beds, however, are almost identical with those of this deposit at Sand Spring, the character of the salt and the mode of collecting it being also very much the same. Prior to 1862, all the salt used in this State was brought from San Francisco, at an average cost, laid down in Virginia, of about $150 per ton. During that year parties, having imported a herd of camels for the purpose, began packing this commodity in from the salt pools, 45 miles southeast of Walker lake, whereby the prices were somewhat reduced. The following year, the Sand Spring Company having commenced operations, the price of salt suflfered a further reduction, and for the past two years this article has been delivered to the mills about Virginia at the uniform rate of $60 per ton, being considerably less -than the average cost of fieight fi-om San Francisco. During the year 1866 this company disposed of about 150, and during the past year of about 250 tons of salt per month, the most of which was consumed in the mills and reduction works, a little also, after grinding having been used for meat-packing and culinary purposes, for which it is well adapted. The Sand Spring Company have over $100,000 invested in this business, and, though owning several large teams, hire many others to hautl the product of their salt fields to market, their freight bills amounting to from $10,000 to $15,000 per week. Large as is the amount of salt they are thus enabled to deliver, the supply is scarcely equal to the demand, some of the larger mills consuming between 35 WEST OF THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS. 311 andi 40 tons per month. The company, finding their salt well suited to table use, have erected a steam mill-at Virginia, where considerable quantities are ground and put up for this purpose. About 40 miles north of the Sand Springs bed. also in Churchill county, is another and still larger but very similar deposit of salt. At this place there is, first, an incrustation of salt an inch or two thick overlying a stratum of blue clay 18 inches thick, filled with cubical crystals of salt, and resting upon a heavy body of these crystals free from earthy matter and reaching downward to an unknown depth. This.property is also owned by a company, who have laid down a tramway for running out, a platform for receiving, and a house for storing their salt. From this locality the Humboldt mills obtain their supplies of this commodity, a little, also, having been sent to Virginia and Austin, it being extremely white and pure. In the Silver Peak district, Esmeralda county, occurs the most extensive salt field in the State, its area covering some 40 or 50 square miles, much of which is coated with a thick incrustation of the pure chloride of sodium, underlaid by seams of clay and a, crystallized mass of salt of unknown thickness, as at Sand Spring and Big Salt valley. Situate near the edge of this bed are a number of saline springs, the water of which evaporating is constantly increasing the deposits of salt about them. Holes dug in the earth in this vicinity are in a short time completely filled with a solid mass of salt, deposited from the supersaturated water seeping into them. It is a curious circumstance that situated in close proximity to these pools of perfect brine are a number of springs of soft fresh water. In the Columbus district, and within half a mile of the principal mines, layers of salt interstratified with clay are found near the surface; and by removing a foot or two of earthy matter on top, the water coming in fills the excavation in the course of four or five days with a compact mass of pure white salt. North of this spot five miles are the pools from which the camel train several years since procured their loading for Virginia, and at a point 10 miles to the west is the extensive deposit known as Teal's salt marsh, and from which the mills at Aurora obtain their supplies. Besides these, there are several other salt beds of minor importance both in this vicinity and in other parts of Esmeralda county, as well as also in Owen's valley, Inyo county, California, adjoining Esmeralda on the southwest. In the Pahranagat district, southeastern part of Lincoln county, on the upper waters of the Rio Virgin, masses of crystallized salt exist in such quantities as to constitute a notable part of the mountain in which they occur. They lie in strata, are almost chemically pure, and so transparent that ordinary print can be read through blocks of this material a foot square. The salt deposits before alluded to as occurring in Smoky valley and near the Cortez district are slight and impure. The former and the more important of the two, lies 40 miles south, and the latter 60 miles north of Austin. The incrustation of salt at these localities is scarcely more than half an inch thick. It is deposited as elsewhere by effloresdence, and though destitute of any heavy bodies of salt below, possesses the usual power of reproduction, renewing itself as often as removed. It is dissipated, however, by the least amount of rain, though readily reappearing on the return of dry weather. From the Smoky valley bed, where a considerable amount of salt is collected, and also some manufactured for table use, the mills about Austin, at Belmont, and those around the valley procure their needed supplies of this article. This salt is sold on the ground ready for sacking at one cent a pound, the - cost of hauling it to the mills where used being about as much more. Most of the salt of Nevada as found in its natural condition is remarkably pure;.samples taken from the Silver Peak and the Great Salt valley beds gave by analysis 98 per cent. chloride of sodium, that from Sand Spring giving 96 per cent. Samples fiom Smoky valley show by assay 909 per cent. chloride of sodium, the impurities consisting of sand and sulphate of soda-ingredients which do not appear to detract from its efficacy for amalgamating purposes, though rendering it less fit for table use. With salt in such illimitable quantities of such excellent B1:2 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES quality and easy procurement, there can be no question but this article, besides supplying all local demands, will be largely exported from thisState whenever railroad transportation shall have been extended to it. SECTION II. WOODLANDS-SOURCES OF FUEL AND LUMBER SUPPLY-COAL, ETC. The only timber in this State suited for making first-class lumber is that found on or near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. There are, as observed in the remarks on the central and eastern parts of the State, a few groves of spruce and white pine in that quarter; but the trees are comparatively small, and the wood for the most part soft and brittle. The prevailing tree, where there is any east of the Sierra, is the scrubby pitch pine, already described, having a low bushy trunk, from 10 to 15 inches in diameter, and from 12 to 30 feet high. Being compact and resinous, it burns freely, even when green, emitting much heat, and though worth but little for lumber, constitutes a valuable fuel. Mixed with, these are a few juniper and mountain mahogany trees, equally scrubby with the piaon, though the mahogany, when dry, burns well. Some of the mountain streams are firinged with a' narrow belt of willow, birch, and cherry, all slender and dwarfish, and fit at best only for fence rails or fire-wood. With so great a scarcity of large timber, the better qualities of lumber necessarily command high prices in most parts of Nevada; the rates increasing with the distance from the Sierra, the principal source of supply. Thus, while this article can be purchased at the mill for about $20 per 1,000, it costs nearly three times that amount delivered in Virginia, five times in Austin, and six or seven at Belmont. The price is proportionally increased where delivered, at points still further in the interior. This question of fuel and lumber supply is more fully elucidated in the pages relating to the working of the Comstock ores and mines. COAL.-Although no heavy deposits of coal have yet been found in Nevada, it is too valuable an article to be overlooked in making up a summary of the mineral resources of the State. THE WHITMAN COAL MINES-DEVELOPMrENTS AND RESULTS.-The first locations of mineral coal lands and efforts at working the same were made in 1861, when parties encouraged by the outcroppings of narrow seams of lignite in the Pine Nut mountains, at a point about 12 miles northeast of Dayton, Lyon county, proceeded to form a mining district, adopting a set of laws and regulations for governing the locating and holding of claims therein. These laws were similar to those used in taking up and holding quartz lodes, but with this difference, that individual claims, instead of running longitudinally with, and being confined to a narrow space along the ledge, consisted of square plats of 40 acres each, the same requiring to be surveyed by the territorial surveyor, and to be recorded after the manlner of real estate. The coal signs observable in this locality are distributed over an area' of several square miles, all of which, and much more was taken up soon after the district was formed. Quite a large amount of money was subsequently expended upon these claims in the work of exploration, road building, &c. Upon the most promising, shafts were sunk to a considerable depth. Whitman, the discoverer and his associates, besides opening several short inclines, and performing other preliminary labor, ran a tunnel 175 feet in length, from the extremity of which a shaft was sunk to a depth of 100 feet. The entire outlay of this company amounted to some $8,000 or $10,000, a portion of whiQh, however, was spent in constructing a wagon road leading from their claims to the valley of Carson river, six miles distant. The invest WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 313 meent proved nearly a total loss. Less than 100 tons of coal was disposed of, as, indeed, scarcely more than that amountof a marketable quality wvas ever raised from the mines. None worth speaking of has been obtained from the other claims in the neighborhood. This coal delivered at the quartz mills or other points where required for consumption, commanded from $8 to $12 per ton, rates at which most of that of local production has since been disposed of. Numerous trials were made to test its adaptability for generating steam. The proprietors of the Sacramento quartz mill, in Gold Caion procured such alterations in their furnace grates to be made as seemed necessary to afford ample draught, and although their mill was run upon it for a short time, its use was soon abandoned. The large percentage of non-combustible matter present, choked the draught, and prevented the production of sufficient heat for the rapid creation of steam. The attempts made to introduce this coal, and that procured from Eldorado Canion, near by, as. a domestic fuel, were somewhat more successful. Considerable quantities were obtained from the latter place for a year or two, and consumed in Virginia City and vicinity. The geological features of the Whitman district are not such as to indicate the presence of heavy bodies of carboniferous matter. The country about the mines is dry and barren; the surface in places discloses traces of former volcanic action, and although there is here a species of coarse sandstone, the old red sandstone, and most other rocks accompanying the true coal series are absent. There is also here a shale, but like the sandstone, it evidently belongs to the'pliocene age, and indicates for these coal beds a comparatively modern origin. The following strata encountered in sinking a perpendicular shaft 110 feet on the Whitman grounds, serve to exemplify the general geology of the district. The first foot passed through consisted of a clay shale, below which lay several feet of steatite, mixed with tale; next nearly one foot of bituminous lignite, underlaid with a bed of talcose slate was encountered. This slate rested upon sandstone, followed by another thin seam of lignite. Then followed in succession a stratum of slate; 30 inches of lignite, of a somewhat improved character-a narrow seam of slate; six inches of coal; various strata of sandstone alternating with thin beds of steatite, shlale, and coal, the shaft terminating a thick layer of white sand. The planes of these successive strata are nearly parallel, the whole pitching at an angle of about 20, the dip varying slightly at different points. OTHER DISCOVERIFS.- Soon after the location of the Whitman mines a still heavier deposit of lignite was found 12 miles further south, in Eldorado cafion, resting in a similar geological formation. From this place several hundred tons of this material was soon afterwards taken, the most of which found a market in the neighboring towns, where it was used chiefly in stoves and grates. As a domestic fuel this coal has met with more favor than that from the Whitman mine, though unfit for furnace or forge purposes. Upon the claim of the Newcastle Company, the principal claim in Eldorado cation, a good deal of exploratory work has been done, yet no heavy body of coal has been developed. The contents of this vein resemble the brown coal of Germany, with which they coincide in their chemical constituents. An analysis of the coal from the vein of the Newcastle Company, shows it to contain, moisture 19.65, hydro-carbonaceous matter 40.59, fixed carbon 28.31, and ash 11, with traces of sulphu and iron. The resultant from distillation is a charcoal, and not a coke, as from the English coal, which generally contains more sulphur, but less volatile matter and ash. As the Nevada coal contains but little sulphur, it would be valuable for forge use and iron works, were it not for the large percentage of volatile substances it carries, composed mainly of water, which detracts from its merits as a fuel, as well as for the generation of gas. For the latter purpose it might be made to answer by the addition of some carbonaceous material, since by this plan, as has been ascertained, it could be made to produce about 9,000 cubic feet of gas to the ton, which owing to the absence of sulphut, would posses high powers of '314 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES illumination. Soon after the above discoveries further coal signs were noticed two miles southeast of Fort Churchill, where a number of thin seams of lignite crop along the steep and barren hills that abound in that neighborhood. To secure these a district was laid out, and several claims taken up, on two or three of which open cuts were run and other work done, but without establishing for them any positive value. Discoveries of coal in other parts of the State have from time to time been announced, but with two or three exceptions they do not appear to have had any substantial foundation. As early as the summer of 1860, parties excited by the finding of a black slaty substance, a few miles east of Sand Springs, took steps for securing a tract of land there, but abandoned the purpose on ascertaining, the worthless nature of the material. There was a rumor prevalent some years ago of mineral coal having been found in the country to the north of the Humboldt river, but the report lacks verification. In 1864, some miners prospecting to the north of New Pass station, Churchill county, having come upon a species of obsidian possessing a cleavage and lustre similar to hard coal, for which it was ignorantly mistaken, quite an excitement supervened on its being made known in Austin. The non-combustible nature of this substance was readily established,'and the interest so suddenly awakened by its discovery speedily subsided. Two years later a company of miners searching after silver lodes, picked up in the Eureka district, 60 miles east of Austin, some pieces of float coal, which on trial were found to burn freely, emiting a strong heat, and leaving but little ash. This float was not traced to its original bed, concerning which nothing is known, though' the sample picked up was of a superior quality, and there is reason to hope that mines of good coal will yet be found in that quarter of the State, valuable seams having already been met with in the adjacent Territory of Utah. In the Volcano district, Esmeralda county, at a point about 80 miles easterly from Aurora, two veins of coal, the one 12 and the other 30 inches think have been discovered. They can be easily traced for several rods by the bituminous debris on the surface; are evidently of an earlier period than the lignitefound elsewhere in the State, and are highly carbonized, and bear the appearance of a silicious anthracite coal mixed with calcite. The impurities in this article amount to 40 or 50 per cent,, yet it emits a strong heat, and burns almost entirely to a white ash. It has been used successfully as a substitute for charcoal by blacksmiths and assayers; that tested came from but three or four feet below the surface, to which depth only have the seams yet been opened. The fissures are well defined; have an argillaceous shale on the one side, and limestone of the Jurassic age on the other; but whether these coal measures will prove to be of greater extent or value than those at the localities already described, we have not the data to determine. They remain as yet wholly undeveloped. Should they afford even a moderate amount of fuel, their'presence in a region where there is but little wood and much mineral wealth would hereafter prove important. This coal is but three or four miles from a series of copper-bearing lodes, and there are also in this district promising veins of gold and silver-bearing quartz. Outeroppings of soft coal can be traced for several miles along the foot hills of the Wassack mountains. This locality is about 25 miles north of Aurora, and four miles east of the east fork of Walker river. In thickness this seam ranges from a mere thread of shale to 6 or 7 feet. The coal burns readily. A lot taken from a shaft 30 feet below the surface underwent perfect combustion on being ignited, while lying in an open heap on the ground. The vein runs nearly northwest and southeast, and dips southwesterly at an angle of 20~ degrees. The accompanying formation consists of shale, sedimentary rock, sandstone, &c., the whole having a range corresponding with that of the coal seam. The deposits at this place are not in their natural situation much exposed, and but little work has yet been done upon them. It is difficult to form an opinion as to their value, though competent judges speak favorably of the chances for finding here a fair article of'oft coal. Recently a WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 3,15 coal vein of the anthracite variety is reported to have been found 15 miles from Hiko, the county seat of Lincoln county, in this State. The vein is represented to be 15 inches thick on the surface, and its contents are said to ignite readily, and burn with freedom, leaving less than three per cent. of residuum. In gravity and external characteristics it compares favorably with the best coal found on this side of the continent, though assigned to a later geological period. Should the deposit prove at all extensive it would greatly benefit the surrounding region, which, with much mineral wealth, is rather limited in its supplies of fuel. CRYSTAL PEAK.-At this locality, some 35 miles northwest of Virginia City, coal signs similar to thlose in El Dorado canon occur in a depression known as Dog valley, lying near the eastern base of the Sierra, distant one mile from the Truckee river, and two from the lineof the Central Pacific railroad. The adjacent hills, as well as the valley, are covered with a stately growth of spruce and pine timber, which, should the coal fail, might still afford profitable employment to a considerable population, as good lumber can be made here at small cost. The Truckee affords ample water-power for saw-mills to manufacture, and the railroad a ready means for transporting it to market. There are also some gold and silver-bearing lodes in the district, which, with the facilities at hand for reducing the ores, may come to be worked with remunerative results. The discovery of coal at this place was made about four years ago, fragmentary portions of a dark-colored, lustrous lignite, strongly marked with the structure of the trees and plants from which it was formed, having been found along the line of the outcropping coal seams. A good deal of work directed to the exploration of these beds has since been done. Several thousand dollars have been expended in sinking shafts and artesian borings, and in excavating cuts and tunnels. Some of the former have been carried to a depth of 300 feet. In some cases the work of prospecting was first effected by means of boring, after which working shafts were put down and steam machinery was employed to facilitate hoisting and pumping operations. The carboniferous strata at Crystal Peak vary in thickness from a few ihnches to two and a half feet; they are much compressed in spots, and largely intermixed with foreign matter. Although a considerable quantity of this lignite has been extracted, and one company claim to have reached, by boring, a seam eight feet thick at a point 300 feet beneath the surface, the developments made have not, in the main, proved satisfactory; and of the several enterprises at one time set on foot for the purpose of exploring these beds, none are now being actively prosecuted; and as some of those interested may contemplate resuming operations, it may be expedient to copy here the opinions of the State mineralogist of Nevada, as to the probabilities of any considerable bodies of coal, even of the lignite class, ever being found at this place. Mr. Stretch, having given the locality a personal examination, remarks concerning its geology and coal prospects as follows: As so much imperfect knowledge relative to the probabilities of finding coal in Nevada is prevalent, it may be well to speak more fully of the indications in this neighborhood. The seams of coal originally discovered at this place are interstratified with thin beds of coarse sandstone or volcanic tufa, of light colors. This formation is traceable easterly forea distance of 15 miles, being intimately associated with trachytes and basalt wherever it is found. Where it is exposed in Long valley, north of Virginia, it contains great numbers of fragments of willow leaves, grasses, &c., remains resembling some varieties of sage-brush, and in one instance the elytron of a beetle, apparently the same as a species now foun'd on the same mountains, and attached to the pifion. These remains indicate for the formation a comparatively recent date, a conclusion confirmed by the manner in which it is associated with the surrounding rocks. The rocks of the Sierra at Crystal Peak are entirely igneous or metamorphic in their character, and'ave been tilted into every conceivable position by the agencies which seamed them with intruded granite and basalt. Did any of the formations which are known to accompany the coal fields of Europe and the eastern States occur in this vicinity, even though covered up by lava beds, their immense thickness, and the' distortions to which they have been subjected, would certainly have disclosed their presence, and they might have been recognized by their peculiar fossils. They certainly do not exist at Crystal Peak. Had the tufas and sandstones containing the so-called coal seams been formed before the elevation of the Sierra, 316 -RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES they would have necessarily been tilted and displaced in the same manner as the associated rocks, partaking of all the flexures and faults of the mountain range near which they lie. Instead of this being the case, the stratification is nearly horizontal, or only slightly inclined. In some places the beds have been somewhat tilted, probably by the causes which finally raised them above the water level, and gave the present configuration to the surrounding country. The conclusion is almost irresistible, that whatever coal is found in the neighborhood of Crystal Peak will be confined to the small valleys in thatvicinity, which, at the period when Steamboat valley was an inland sea bounded by the Sierra on the west and the Virginia.mountains on the east, formed small arms of the lake, and collected more or less of the vegetable d6bris which during violent storms was washed down from the pine forests on the surrbunding hills. There is yet another consideration to~be taken into account in estimating the probable extent of the deposit. The loss of bulk during the conversion of vegetable matter into coal is equal to about three-fourths of the original mass. It becomes evident from this that an extensive bed of coal can only be found where there has been, at some remote period most luxuriant forest growth and water sufficient in quantity to convey the debris to vast tracts of marshy ground favorable for decomposition. The coal fields of the Eastern States and England afford abundant evidence that they were at one time extensive tracts of swampy forests, with a tropical climate and a luxuriance of vegetation with which even equatorial forests in the present day cannot compete. On the other hand, the remains of' plants found in the associated rocks at Crystal Peak do not warrant us in entertaining the belief that such conditions evter existed in that neighborhood. What we do find point rather to a scanty growth, such as is found on the hills to-day. The almost entire absence of animal remains in the beds~strongly supports this idea. Where there is an abundant vegetation there is generally a corresponding abundance of animal life, which could scarcely have failed to leave some mementos of its existence. If these views are correct, as there is good reason to believe they are, no body of coal will be found in this vicinity which, from its extent or thickness, will repay the capital expended in its development. The mere fact of the formation having accumulated in a contracted mountain valley, limits its extent and value at the same time. The thin seams of bituminous matter found between the layers of tufa may have been the product of dense growths of tule and other water plants. SECTION III. COPPER. Among the more promising cupriferous localities in the State, is THEr PEAVINrE DISTRICT, situate aboht 30 miles northwest of Virginia City, being six miles north of the Truckee river, and about the same distance from the Central Pacific raihroad, with all which it is connected by good wagon roads. This district, erected in March, 1863, has a length of about 20, and an average width of 10 or 12 miles. Near its centre is a cluster of small springs, at which a house was built in 1860. About these springs grow quantities of wild peavines, hence the name of the station and subsequently of the district, which covers a region of low hills Stretching along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. The country about the mines is dry, barren, and treeless, though it contains several small lakes with a number of springs, and water can be obtained in many places by digging wells from 30 to 50 feet deep, while wood, both for fuel and lumber, abounds in the Sierra, four or five miles distant. The lodes in this district, found almost invariably in a granite and metamorphic formation, have a northerly and southerly strike, and are from 3 to 12 feet in thickness with a few of greater dimensions. They do not project much above the surface, and although a small number have been traced by the outcrop.for several hundred yards, and have been found persistent for a considerable depth, many of them have the appearance of segregated rather than deep fissured veins. The lodes possessing the best local reputation as based on size, assays of ore, and extent of development, are the Great Eastern, 20 feet thick, the Bevelhymer, American Eagle, Enterprise, and Metropolitan, upon which tunnels have been run, varying from 50 to 300 feet in length, and the Pacific, Indiafi, Occidental, Young America, Great Western, Orient, Challenge, and Bay State, all somewhat explored by means of shafts, open cuts, and other excavations. The Tolls Company have expended some WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 317 $4,000 in" prospecting their lode; from which they have taken quantities of ore assaying from 15 to 40 per cent, of copper, and from $60 to $500 per ton in gold and silver. While the above-mentioned claims, as well, perhaps, as many besides, cover large and permanent lodes, others in the district have the appearance of being merely limited and superficiMl deposits. The Peavine ores, composed chiefly of carbonates and oxides, besides assaying largely in copper, contain a sufficiency of the precious metals to defray cost of transportation to the seaboard, when, as will be the case in the course of next year, railroad transit can be hbad. In the, metalliferous portions of these veins free gold can frequently be detected by the unassisted eye; particles of this metal being sometimes found on the surface where the veinstone has undergone decomposition. The ores of this district give by assay from 10 to 50 per cent. of metallic copper, selected samples often-going much higher. Small lots of the better class of ores have been found by working tests to yield from 30 to 40 per cent. of metal. By an assay of these ores made by Mr. Ricard, the following results were obtained: Gold............. 0005 $2 50 per ton. Silver..............0200 7 85 " Oxide of copper..-.34.1000 135 00 " Peroxide of iron............................................3200 Alumina.........2200 ulphurm i.................................................. 1. 3600 Sulphur. 1. 3600 Carbonic acid —........................ 11.2000 Silicia.................................................... 46. 6600 Water...3. 8400 Loss..............2795 100.0000 145 35' Some choice ores reduced at the English Company's mill, seven miles distant from the mines, yielded 100 ounces of silver to the ton. Smelting works on the Swansea plan, with a capacity for operating 10 or 12 tons of ore daily have been erected in the district, plumbago, obtained from a bed of that mineral near Washoe City, having been employed in their construction. This material is abundant in the locality mentioned, and although not yet thoroughly proved, there is good reason for believing it well adapted to this and similar uses. Several other furnaces, some of them on a different plan, have been projected, and there is a likelihood that one or more of these will be completed and in operation in the course of a few months. It is probable, however, that the bulk of these ores will be shipped to San Francisco for a market, or sent elsewhere for treai'ment when the railroad shall have been completed tq this point; an event that promises to revive operations, now nearly suspended, enhance the value of claims and repopulate this eligibly situated and promising district. A town, also named Peavine, was laid out in 1863, at the group of springs mentioned. It contains several houses, and being adjacent to the mines, should the latter turn out according to expectation, its growth will no doubt keep pace with their future development. TEiE'WALKER RIVER COPPER REGION covers a considerable scope of country lying between and adjacent to the east andwest forks of that stream. The principal mines, so far as developments extend, are distant from the latter in a westerly direction, from 3 to 10 miles. This cupriferous belt has an average width of eight' and a length of. about 25 miles. Within these limits some strong veins occur, and here most of the labor and money laid out in that region have been expended. Like the Peavine, this is an arid, sterile, and timberless district; the only water in the immediate vicinity of the mines is afforded by a few small springs, while the only vegetable products consist of a scantygrowth of bunch grass, artemisia, and a few other equally scraggy and.worthless shrubs. There are, however, scattered groves of pifion on the Pine Nut mountains a few. miles to the west, while the west branch of Walker river, in close proximity, and at all seasons a 318 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES strong and rapid stream, supplies every requisite forreduction works. The volume of water is ample for propulsive power, and also for floating down fuel and lumber from the heavy pine and spruce forests 30 miles above. The veins here, which are numerous, well defined, and of fair average dimensions, have a generally north-northeast trend, assay from 12 to 50 per cent. in copper, and from $15 to $30 per ton in the precious metals. Most of the country rock is of a calcareous nature.. The ores embrace almost every variety, and often carry small particles of virgin metal. The first discoveries were made in this district in 1862, since which time a good deal of work in a promiscuous way has been done. Although several lodes have been opened to a considerable depth, it can hardly be said that any have been thoroughly explored. Active exertions, except upon a few claims, have been suspended for the past two years. On the Bewley mine an incline shaft 6 feet by 10 has been sunk to a depth of 100 feet. From this lode several hundred tons of ore have been extracted which gave an average yield of nearly 40 per cent. of metal. It is well formed, has a thickness of about six feet, has a northerly and southerly strike, and an easterly dip in conformity with the prevailing pitch in the district. Other veins located near it and partially opened, promise almost equally well. Upon the Constitution, Peacock, Ward, and Weister lodes, some prospecting work has been performed with encouraging results. The former, which is the most extensively opened, exhibits a vein 16 feet thick, and carries ores that assay from 20 to 30 per cent. of copper, with a large percentage of iron, and from $15 to $18 per ton in gold and silver. The quantity of iron diminishes as depth is attained on the lode. The Ward and Weister lode, lying near the Constitution, and some 10 miles to the westward of the river, is about six feet wide, carries a pure gray sulphuret ore of high grade with native copper, and from $25 to $30 per ton in gold and silver. The Peacock, four miles firom the river, is a four-foot vein, impregnated with yellow sulphuret ore assaying about the same as that from the Constitution. In the foot hills that flank the Tollock mountains lying between the forks of Walker river, as well as in the country contiguous to the main stream and that stretching along the western base of the Wassack range west of the Walker lake, occur numerous copper-bearing lodes, which, judging firom surface indications-none of them having been much opened-will yet constitute a cupriferous field of considerable extent and value. As in the district further west, a variety of ores is met with in these localities. TiThe facilities for transportation and reduction are about the same. In Battle Mountain district,* in the eastern part of Humboldt county, are several deposits of the red oxide of copper. TheDunderberg,'thepriincipal lode in the district, consists of a mass of silicious rock and limestone nearly 200 feet thick, permeated by numerous small veins of this ore, assaying throughout 50 per cent. of metal. Owing to the remoteness of the district, 90 miles north-northwest of Austin, and about the same distance easterly from the settled portions of Humboldt county, these deposits, though apparently rich and extensive, possess only a prospective value, since they cannot be opened to advantage or worked with profit until the railroad, to pass within 10 miles of them, shall be completed. With that auxiliary they will probably command the means necessary for development. The country about these mines, though generally barren, contains some patches of good land,. with a narrow strip of fertile bottoms along the Humboldt river a few miles distant, to the north. Being without timber, however, and the other agents essential to an economical'reduction of the ores, the mass of them will require to'be shipped elsewhere for treatment. In the Volcano district, Esmeralda county, at a point about 80 miles northeast of Aurora, have been found some of the heaviest and apparently richest copper lodes in the State. The deposits at this place consist of well-defined veins, some ofthem of considerable *See section on Eastern'Nevada. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 319 magnitude, and of ore-bearing masses lying upon or projecting friom the surface. The top ores are carbonates, with a sprinkling of other varieties, and at greater depths sulphurets, the average assays of which indicate a fair percentage of copper and the presence of from $25 to $30 per ton in silver, and from $2 to $10 in gold. The region for a considerable distance around is forbidding and desolate; it is scantily supplied with wood and water, and wholly destitute of arable lands. Moreover, it is far removed from the line of any contemplated railway, and otherwise unfavorably situated for the cheap extraction of the metals and exportation of ores; so that an early development of its mineral resources, of which copper forms but one, can hardly be anticipated. About 50 miles southeast of Volcano, in the San Antonio district, signs of copper manifest themselves over a considerable scope of country. The ores at this place are said to be rich, yet nothing has been done to indicate the extent or probable permanence of the mines. One of the ledges located here at a point two and a half miles east of Montezuma Spring, called the Ruby, has a thickness of 12 feet, and, although it carlies a variety of metals, copper appears to predominate. In the Bolivia, Mammoth, and Palmetto districts, as well as in numerous other localities in different parts of the State, strong and well marked veins of copper ore occur. Although many of these bear superficial evidence of permanency, no positive opinion canl be pronounced on this point, since only upon a few of them has any work been done. Upon none have explorations been prosecuted to decisive results. SECTION IV. METEOROLOGY, BOTANY, ZOOLOGY, ETC. Of the climate of Nevada so much has been said elsewhere that it only remains here to notice a few of what may be considered its meteorological peculiarities; among which the most remarkable are what have been denominated cloud bursts, a heavy precipitation of rain caused by the meeting of two clouds surcharged with moisture. This phenomenon is thought to be produced through electrical agencies, though not enough has been ascertained to settle this fully. Numbers of these. "cloud bursts?" occur every summer. They are most frequent in the southern and western parts of the State. In some instances an immense amount of water falls to the earth in a few minutes, filling up gulches and sweeping away everything opposed to its progress. Several lives have been lost and considerable property destroyed in the State during the past few years through this cause. The mirage, an optical illusion caused by saline particles floating in a heated atmosphere, is often seen in great perfection on the deserts of Nevada. Sometimes it takes the form of lakes, with islands and headlands bathing in their limpid waters; assuming, at others, though more rarely, the appearance of extensive groves and wooded lawns, the whole so closely resembling nature that it requires an effort of reason to dispel the illusion. The same or similar atmospheric conditions sometimes so refract the rays of light as to distort and magnify in a strange manner objects seen at a short distance. A sage bush viewed through this medium has the appearance of a large spreading tree, and the little cones formed by the drifting sand loom like pyramids on the deserts. Snow slides, though often happening in the Sierra, where they sometimes occur on a large scale and with fatal results, are not common in the interior of the State. Nearly every winter some unfortunate traveller loses his lifein the SierrTas by being overwhelmed by these descending masses of snow. Sand storms and sand cloudcs are regular features of the climatology of this region. The former is brought about by certain strong winds, which, blowing steadily for some days, so completely fill the air with sand and dust that it is 320 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. impossible to see for more than a few rods. Respiration becomes labored, and tile atmosphere often grows oppressively warm during their continuance, which rarely lasts more than a single day. The sand clouds or pillars are formed after the manner of water-spouts, and consist of immense bodies of fine sand and dust carried to a great height by a rotary and upward, but at the same time advancing, current of air, sometimes at a slow and again with a rapid pace. Frequently these columns sway high in the atmosphere, and many of them can be seen at the same time following each other in majestic procession arcoss the plains. This region, like California, has its wet and dry seasons, though the latter is scarcely so long or uninterrupted here as there, nor is the precipitation during the wet season so great. Summer showers, accompanied with thunder and lightning, are more frequent in Nevada than in California, though much less common than in the States east of the Rocky mountains. Both the fauna and flora of Nevada lack fullness and variety. The indigenous plants and flowers are few, while the animal kingdom, except in the department of insect life, is barren almost beyond example. With the exception of the pinenut, a few wild currants and gooseberries, and one or two other inferior kinds of berries, found only in a few localities, and none of them very plentiful, there is little in the vegetable world that civilized man considers eatable. There are few or no wild plums, blackberries, strawberries, or grapes. The wild cherries found growing on a scrubby bush in some of the canons are small, bitter, and astringent. The Indians find many medicinal herbs and esculent roots, but neither are much esteemed by white men. In the tule6 about the sink of the Humboldt and Carson grows a species of cane which exudes a sweet sirup that, drying in small lumps on the surface, forms a tolerable article of sugar. Wild flax and tobacco are found occasionally growing on the hills, and along the Humboldt a species of wild hemp is met with, having. a long and stout fibre, which may, with cultivation, come to form an important textile. The artemesia or wild sage, a scraggy shrub growing from one to six feet high, is found nearly everywhere. This species is worthless for anything except fuel, though there is a small white kind of sage upon which cattle feed with avidity after it has been visited by the first frosts of autumn. The cactus, growing but sparsely in the northern and central parts of the State, is common further south, where, also, the mesquit tree abounds. Game, with the exception of sage hen and hare, is scarce in all parts of the State. There are no wildcats, panthers, bears, or other animals that can justly be called beasts of prey. The nearest approach to these are the coyote and wolf, of which there are a few in all parts of the country. On some of the more lofty ranges are to be seen occasionally small herds of mountain sheep. These animals are shy and fleet, keeping usually in the more rugged and inaccessible parts of the mountains. The beaver, otter, martin, foxes, fishers, and other fur-bearing animals that drew the trapper into this region in the early day, have nearly all disappeared, and now rarely fall a prey to the hunter. About the sinks and lakes geese, ducks, cranes, and pelicans are, at certain seasons of the year, plentiful. These, with the sage hen, raven, an occasional eagle, and a sprinkling of small birds, comprise all there is to represent the feathered race in the country. Reptiles are also scarce, and are mostly confined to a few horned toads, spotted lizards, and snakes, of which the only venomous kind is the rattlesnake. WESI OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 321 SE aTION V. SOCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS. In all these departments Nevada has made rapid and gratifying progress. Her population is distinguished for industry, order, and a ready obedience to lawful authority. Already nearly 30 church edifices have been erected in the State, at a cost ranging from $2,000 to $40,000 each, and an aggregate expense of about $300,000. These represent the leading Christian denominations, and are in some cases spacious and handsome buildings. Numerous well conducted schools have been established under an enlightened educational systerm, for the support of which liberal provision has been made by the State. There is also a number of academies, seminaries, and high schools sustained by private patronage. Capacious halls for literary, social, and benevolent purposes have been erected in all the large towns, several of which are supplied with gas and water works and commodious buildings for municipal uses. Besides many minor industrial establishments, several large foundries and machine shops have been erected in the vicinity of Virginia, and one, also of considerable capacity, at Austin, near the centre of the State. A salt mill, an acid factory, and a tannery and pottery speak of the diversified pursuits now obtaining a foothold, and a wellpatronized press, issuing five daily and as many weekly journals, indicate the intelligence and enlightenment of the people. Of the agricultural capacities and products of tihe country so much has been said elsewhere in this report that they need only be glanced at in a summary way in this connection. The entire amount of land, arable and grazing, enclosed in the State may be roughly estimated at 150,000 acres, of which one-quarter at least is planted to glain, giving an average yield of about 20 bushels to 1. Nearly every cereal grown in the most favored regions elsewhere can, with proper care, be successfully grown here. Even the more delicate fruits common in the temperate zones, such as pears, peaches, and grapes, can be raised in Nevada if the soil and site be judiciously selected and their culture properly attended to, while in the matter of vegetables, except the more tender kind, no country can produce them with greater facility or of better quality if the requisite attention be paid to their culture. Besides the vegetables and grain raised in this State, large quantities of butter and cheese are annually produced, and these commodities are very justly esteemed for their excellent flavor. Taken in the aggregate, the amount of stock kept in the State is quite large; the neat cattle number between 11,000 and 12,000, and the horses and mules kept for farming purposes and draft about 6,000, besides between 3,000 and 4,000 sheep and about the same number of swine. The ranges of mountain pasturage found in many parts of the State, with an almnost ufniversal absence of weeds, b'urs, and wild animals to injure the wool and endanger the lives of the flook, should recommend this country to wool growers and& sheep herders abroad. The tuld lands furnish a good field for raising swine.. These animals thrive -well on the root of that nush, even without other food. It is estimated that there were 75,000 tons of hay cut and 6,000 tons of graih, raiscd in the State the present year, besides sufficient vegetables for home co'n sumption. There are three flour mills one in operation and two in course of erection; 24 saw-mills, driving 35 saws, and having a capacity to cut daily fionm 5,000 to 20,000 feet of lumber each, or an aggregate of 180,000 feet. "The most of these mills are propelled by steam. Their cost ranges from $5,000 to $15,000; total cost, about $175,000. The number of quartz mills and reduetion works in this State, including such as are in course of erection, having their machinery and material on the ground, with the prospect of an early completion; may be set down at 160. The most of these mills are driven by steam, the whole carrying an aggregate of about 1,300 stamps. The individual cost of theseestablishments varies from $3,000 to $950,000, the cost of the greater part rang21 322 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ing from $40,000 to $60,000 each, though quite a number have cost $100,000, and several much larger sums. At the present time nearly all of these establishments are in constant and profitable operation. None of those completed and in condition to do good work are idle. About 60 miles of ditching, the most of it of large capacity, has been constructed in the State for the purpose of conducting water to points where required for the use of mills or for domestic wants, besides a large amount of work expended on other projects of this kind but partially completed and a multitude of smaller ditches dug for irrigating purposes. Over 1,000 miles of toll-road, some portions of it very costly, has been built, either for subserving local necessities and wholly within the State, or for the purpose of improving thoroughfares over the Sierra, or connecting those with points in the interior. The sums expended on account of these improvements amount in the aggregate to scarcely less than a million of dollars S E C T I O NV I. DOUGLAS COUNTY. This county, named after the late Stephen A. Douglas, is situate centrally on the western border of the State, having Ormsby and Lyon counties on the north, Esmeralda on the east, and California on the west and south. It has an area of about 1,500 square miles, forming in this respect the fourth county in the State, though it contains more valuable timberland than any other, except Washoe, as well as a geater quantity of good agricultural land in proportion to its size. In 1861 it contained a population of 1,057; the present population is about 2,000. The western part of this county is covered by the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the eastern by the Pine Nut range, Carson valley, embracing about 200 square miles lying between them. About one-third of this valley consists of good farming and meadow lands; the remainder consists of gravelly and sandy sage barrens, the most of it incapable of producing good grain crops, even with the aid of careful culture and irrigation. There are in this valley several thousand acres of tul6 land, which by diking and drainage might beconverted into valuable pasture and hay lands. With the exception of about 2,000 acres of arable land lying in Jack's valley, one mile northwest of Carson, nearly all the tillable soil in this county is embraced within the limits of the latter, or the mountain ravines tributary to it. Outside of these, Douglas county possesses a generally rugged surface and a barren soil, the latter incapable, except where covered with forests, of producing anything beyond its native growth, the artemesia, and a scanty crop of bunch grass. Much of the soil on the hills and mountains would grow fair crops of grain could it be irrigated, but for this there are, unfortunately, but limited facilities. Carson river, flowing centrally through the valley, together with the numerous streams coming down from the Sierra, afford, to a certain extent, means for irrigation and for the propulsion of machinery. To the latter use a sufficiency of it has been diverted for driving the machinery of six saw mills and one flour mill, without more than partially appropriating the power that could be obtained. These mills, including also a steam mill situated in the western part of the country, cost in tlhe aggregate about $40,000, and have a united capacity for cutting 50,000 feet of lumber per day. The timber lands, from which a good article of lumber can be made, amount to between 60,000 and 70,000 acres within the limits of the county. This timber is situate on the Sierra Nevada. The Pine Nut range contains only scattered groves of pimonr the greater portion of it is destitute of even this. There are no quartz mills in this county. As yet no productive mines have been developed within its boundaries. Agriculture, hay making,. and stock ranching constitute the WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 323 principal pursuits of its inhabitants; the number of work horses and mules contained in it being estimated at 800; the neat cattle at 1,800, and the swine at 400. Much poultry is also kept by the farmers, and considerable qjantities of butter and cheese are made annually. The amount of hay cut here in 1866 reached 15,000 tons; the grain raised was estimated at 570 tons. Thirty thousanda acres of land have been enclosed, of which between 6,000 and 7,000 are under cultivation. Douglas is well supplied with wagon roads.. The extensive valley occupying its centre, and the numerous mountain passes leading out of it, favor their construction. Genoa, the county seat and only town in the county of considerable size, contains about 400 inhabitants. Besides a brick school-house and two churches, it contains a handsome court-house erected at a cost of $20,000. The value of taxable property in the country is estimated at $600,000. There are numerous hot springs situate in and along the margin of Carson valley, but none of them are of a magnitude or possessed of other features requiring special notice. While, as observed, no mines have been developed to a productive state in this county, it is believed to contain somrae valuable cupriferous, if not also argentiferous, lodes, upon some of which a large amount of exploratory labor htas been expended. Commencing in 1859, several mining districts have since been laid out in the county, the earlier with a view to operations onl silver-bearing lodes; one or two, more recently erected in the eastern part of the county, for the purpose of securing and working the copper veins existing at that point. These latter districts, and one or two others, are all that still maintain their organization. The rest, created under excitement and insufficint exploration, have long since been abandoned. For filler information touching these cupriferous lodes the article on copper may be consulted. The Eagle district, situate on the Pine Nut range in the southern part of the county, contains a number of quartz veins, some of them displaying prominent outcrops. In the work of exploring two of these ledges, the Peck and the Mammoth, a thousand feet of tunneling has been run. Operations, commenced in 1860, were continuously prosecuted for four or five years thereafter, and although the ledge has been penetrated in these claims at a considerable depth, no paying body of ore has been developed. It is said the work,'for some time suspended, is to be resumed. Already about $100,000 hlave been expended upon these two claims, from neither of which has any amount of millable ore been extracted. Adjoining Douglas on the south are situate Markleyvilie, Mogul, Monitor, Silver Mountain, and several other less important districts, all silver-producing and lying east of the Sierra, though in Alpine county, California. They are located on the head-waters of Carson river, distant from 20 to 40 miles from Genoa. In the vicinity of the latter place is a district bearing the same name and stretching along the base of the Sierra, in which a good many claims were located about six years ago. Here afterwards a large amount of work was done and money expended, but with no very determinate results. The outlay at this point, divided among some ten or twelve companies, could scarcely have been less than $200,000, over 3,000 linear feet of tunnelling having been excavated, besides other work done. For the past year or two operations have been suspended, and, as is generally supposed, with no prospect of an early resumption. Could a heavy body of moderately rich ore be found at this spot it could hardly fail to impart value to these mines, owing to the cheapness with which it could be worked by reason of their proximnity to wood and water. The prospect, however, of reaching even this result is not encouraging. In a range of low hills at the north end of' Carson valley some small veins of gold and silver-bearing quartz were found about a year ago. Upon these several shafts have been sunk, and in the limited operations conducted at this place is to be found nearly all the wvork now being done upon mines within the lounds of this county. 324 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SECTION VII. ORMSBY COUNTY. This county which adjoins Douglas on the north, takes its name from William Ormsby, an early settler on the eastern slope and one of the founders of Carson City. Though of small dimensions, devoid of productive mines, and containing but a moderate amount of arable land, its central and otherwise eligible situation, extensive pineries, and ample water power have built up within it important industries, rendering the population among the most thrifty in the State. Carson City is the capital of the State, and has been selected for the site of the United States branch mint. The% census report of 1861 showed the county to contain 2,076 inhabitants, a number now increased to about 2,500, of whom two-thirds perhaps reside in Carson City, and a sixth in Empire, a milling hamlet, situate on the liver three miles east of Carson. A large proportion of the inhabitants are engaged in teaming, lumbering, and cutting fire-wood. Three-fourths of the county is covered with mountains. The Sierra occupies the western and the Pine Nut range the eastern parts. These mountains are here timbered as in D)ouglas county, and the broad and sandy plain, fertile only in its western part, known as Eagle valley, lies between them. Across from south to north runs the Carson river, affording good water-power and an easy channel for floating down sawlogs and fuel from the forbests about the head-waters of this stream. The quantity of these materials thus brought down to Empire amounts to 5,000,000 feet lumber and 5,000 cords of wood annually. The streams issuing from the Sierra also supply a considerable amount of propulsive power, besides furnishing Carson City with water for domestic uses, and the arable land about it, of which there are several thousand acres, with means for ir'rigation, nearly the whole of this wrtter having thus been utilized. A considerable amount of lumber is made inl this county. The forests of pine and fir with water power in their midst, and the proximity of the Comstock mines, insure a constant market and supply many advantages for carrying on the business. The wood lands consist of about 20,000 acres of large timber, situate in the Sierra, and 2,000 or 3,000 acres of scattered pifion fit only for fuel. About 2,000,000 feet of lumber and 14,000 cords of wood are annually cut within the limits of the countvy, besides that floated dowin the Carson., There are three saw-mills in the county built at an aggregate cost of $30,000; daily capacity 40,000 feet. About 6,000 acres of land are under fence, of which 200 are sown to grain and 100 planted with vegetables. Last year 200 tons of hay were cut and 180 tons of grain raised, 25 of wheat, 50 of oats, and 105 of barley, the average yield being nearly 40 bushels per acre. This is about the proportion in which these several kinds of grain are raised throughout the State, though this yield is much above the average. The county contains 430 horses and mules, 700 head of neat cattle, 200 of which are milch cows and 450 work oxen, 250 sheep, and 500 swine. A tannery and acid works at Carson City, with sandstone quarries near by, together with lime and charcoal burning, and the several pursuits already mentioned, give to this county a more varied industry than is common elsewhere in the State. The acid works have engaged in the manufacture of sulphuric acid; an article employed in the beneficiating of silver ore, with fair prospects of success. About 2;000 pounds of sulphur, procured from the beds in Humboldt county, are consumed here weekly. The sandstone quarries yield a good article of building material. It is easily gotten out and is readily shaped by the chisel when first quarried, but hardens on exposure to the atmosphere. The United States branch mint is constructed of this stone, as are also the penitentiary, county buildings, used for State purposes, and many of the better class of edifices in Carson City. Near the town are two large hot springs, one of which has been handsomely improved for bathing purposes. Five miles to the northeast is a bed of white marble, very WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 325 pure and easily wrought. Granular limestone is found at several places. Copper, iron, and coal are among the mineral products of Ormsby, as elsewhere related. There are eight quartz mills in this county, five driven by water and three by water and steam) the whole carrying 175 stamps and costing $450,000. They are all kept running on ores from the Comstock vein. The Mexican, one of the largest of the number, has been engaged for some time past in woi'king over the sulphurets which for several years had been accumulating in the coinpany's reservoir. Although numerous mining districts have been laid off in this county, some as early as 1859, and a large amount of work done on a few of the ledges located, no mineral deposits of value have been reached, nor has much attention been paid to the business of mining for the past few years. In the Eagle district, the earliest erected, lying along the base of the Sierra west of Carson City, several lodes were located in 1859, some of which having been extensively prospected the following year by means of shafts and tunnels, and not turning oft according to expectation, the whole was abandoned. The next season a fitful interest was awakened in regard to supposed valuable discoveries made on the bald hills southwest of the town, which having led to the locating of many claims in that neighborhood, eventuated, soon after, in their total abandonment, since A'which time nothing further has been done either towards locating or working mines in the district. The samne year the Clear Creek district was the scene of much excitement and activity. Extensive mining grounds were taken up and prospecting operations initiated. Here a number of long tunnels were afterwards driven and deep shafts sunk, but none of them availed to reach ore deposits of a remunerative kind, and the district, under an absence of population and an entire cessation of labor for several years, is considered practically abandoned. In the Sullivan district, east of Carson river organized in 1860, there were many locations made and much desultory worj done during that and the following year; and although some of the lodes proved highly auriferous in spots, they failed, so far as penetrated, in the matter of persistence and regularity. Another drawback upon the success of these mines was at that time experienced in the absence of mills for working the ores, which were, therefore, unavailable, compelling claimholders who were without means to suspend work, leaving the F:oblenm as to'the character and value of these lodes still unsolved. The ores in most of these districts carry considerable copper, and in some cases a notable percentage of free gold. Washings for the latter metal have been found remunerative ht.several localities in the county. At a spot three miles west of Carson sluicing operations were for some time carried on, having been in progress until recently. Although no regular vein was found, the surface earth gave fair returns in free gold. SECTION VIII. WASHOE COUNTY. This'county takes its name from the tribe of aborigines who formerly inhabited this part of the State. It lies north of Ormsby; its western portion covers a large and well timbered section of the Sierra, and its central a chain of fertile valleys, of which Washoe, Pleasant, Steamboat, Truckee and Long are the principal. With the exception of these valleys, which contain about 150,000 acres of farming and grass lands and the timber lands mentioned, nearly the entire county consists of sage plains, rugged hills and mountains. The most of it is arid, barren, and unfit for cultivation, the only vegetable growth found upon it being a sparse crop of bunch grass, and in a few spots groves of scrubby 326 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES pine. The valleys, however, are extremely fertile, and with careful cultivation and irrigation are made to produce hay, grain and vegetables. Considerable quantities of butter and cheese are also made. At the south end of Washoe valley is situated a shallow lake five miles long and two wide, the surplus waters of which run through a slough and are made to do service in driving several quartz mills at Washoe City, a few miles below. The numerous streams falling firom the Sierra are also employed for propelling quartz and saw mills located along them. Pleasant valley, a small but fertile basin, lies two miles north of Washoe. Steamboat valley, the site ofthe hot springs elsewhere described, lies three miles north of Pleasant valley. It contains some good land, opening eight miles below the hot springs into the Truckee meadows, a tract embracing several thousand acres of partly arable and grass lands. The population of this county numbers about 3,000. It contains several small towns, of which Ophir, situate near the mill and reduction works of the Ophir Company, has 500, and Washoe City, the county seat, three miles further north, 800. Franktown, Galena, Crystal Peak, and Glendale-the latter two on the Truckee-are small agricultural and mining hamlets containing from 100 to 200 inhabitants each. While the wealth of the county consists largely of its agricultural resources, the business of lumbering and quartz milling is also extensively engaged in. The annual product of hay amounts to about 7,000 tons, and of grain to 1,500 tons. There are 800 horses and mules and 1,000 head of neat cattle in the county, nearly half of the latter being milch cows; sheep and swine numnber about 500 each. There are 20,000 acres of land enclosed, of which 4,000 are under cultivation. There are 15 saw-mills, most of them driven by steam power; the whole cut about 1,300,000 feet of lumber per month, besides lath and shingles, for making which several of them have machines attached. In addition to this, 400,000 feet of hewn timber and large quantities of cord wood are cut for the Virginia market. Although this county, like Douglas and Ormsby, is without productive mines, there are ten quartz mills within its limits, several of which are large and first-class in their appointments. The Ophir Comparwy's mill carries 72 stamps and cost half a million of dollars. Dall's mill at Franktown, burnt last spring but since rebuilt, carries 60 stamps and cost a quarter of a million. Most of these mills are propelled by steam; several emrlploy both steam and water. They carry, in the aggregate, 281 stamps, and cost $1,420,000. With the exception of the English Company's mill on the Truckee, built in advance of mining developments, all these establishments are now running on Comstock ores, and generally with remunerative results. The amiount of taxable property in the county, in 1861, was $1,140,000; in 1863, $2,527,500, and is now believed to be at least $3,000,000. There have been 30 miles of canal built for conducting water to mills and other enterprises of this kind projected, some of which may be carried out. Although abounding in metalliferous lodes and mineral deposits of different kinds, the county is still without ore-yielding, mines, a circumstane attributable in the case of gold and silver-bearing lodes, partially to the barrenness of the latter in their upper portions, and in part to the superficial and ill-directed character of prospecting labors. Of the deposits of copper and coal, mention las been made elsewhere. A number of mining districts have at various times been formed, some of them as early as 1859, the year of the silver discovery. In the spring of 1860 the Argentine district, lying in the range of mountains east of Washoe valley, was erectecld; and although the ledges there have periodically since been the subjects of sanguine expectation, the ore procured from them has done little towards meeting the expenses incurred in their partial development. Scarcely any work has been done in the district for the last three years, and the lodes can hardly be said to possess any present value. The histo'ry of this, the first district formed, will serve to illustrate that of all others subsequently erected, in every one of which the high hopes at one time entertained failed of final realiza WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 327 tion. Of the many claims located throughout the county nearly all may be considered abandoned, nor is it probable that work will ever be resumed on more than a few of themn. The quartz veins, though of fair size, are generally hard and vitreous, the country rock being mostly metamorphic slate and granite. The ores are usually impregnated with compounds of iron and copper, carrying also, in some cases, a small percentage of sulphuretted silver, with particles of native metal and a sprinkling of free gold. So much of the latter has been found in the earth at several points as to afford fair surface digging for a short time. In the Wisconsin district, at the south end of Washoe valley, several companies made wages for a period of some months, sluice-washing the auriferous ground at that place. The Galena district, as its namne implies, abounds in the sulphuret of lead, which here occurs in the shape of an argentiferous galena. The metal extracted from it assays about $200 per ton in silver. The vein matter carries from 20 to 60 per cent. of metallic lead. Between the walls of the veins and the gangue rests a thin stratum of arsenical pyrites, so placed, however, as to render their mechanical separation easy. Upon several of these lodes work has been done. The Alford has been explored by means of a tunnel several hundred fcot long and an inclin3 shaft sunk at its terminus. Various attempts have been made to reduce this ore by smelting, none of which have met with entire success. The principal lode having lately passed into the hands of a company possessed of ample means and the requisite skill, better results, it is believed, will be reached through the efforts now about to be made for smelting it on a large scale. The Silver Peak district, besides the beds of lignite there fotund, contains a number of metalliferous lodes, some of which prospect well in the precious metals. The facilities (enjoyed through the forests and water power at that place will secure the working of low grade ores with profit, if only the quantity be large and easily procured. A lot of ore taken from the Truckee Ophir, a large ledge and the only one yet much opened, was found to yield by mill process at the rate of $30 per ton in gold and silver. A toxywn has been laid out near these mines which, as it is within two miles of the Truckee river and the Central Pacific railroad, and surrounded with forests, has the promise of growth. Several saw-mills in the vicinity already find market for all the lumber they can make, and, with the railroad completed, quantities of this article will probably be manufactured at this point. SECTION IX. STOREY COUNTY. This county, named in honor of Captain Storey, who lost his life in the Indian fight near Pyramid lake, in the spring of 1860, is not only of limited extent but extremely barren, containing a smaller amount of good land, less timber, and fewer streams than any other in the State. It is, in fact, without agricultural, lumbering, or even milling resources, except in the latter case where some have been supplied by steam. The only pasturage is that afforded by the bunchgrass-short-lived and scanty at best, since there is little of it except on the mountains, and when once eaten off does not readily grow up again the same season. Originally there was a sparse growth of pition on the hills about Virginia, but it is now nearly all cut away, leaving both the town and the mills dependent on outside localities for fuel. Nearly all the northern and western part of the county, embracing fully tlree-fourths of its area, lies on thie hligh and barren chain of mountains known as the Washoe range, and which, commencing near Carson City, extends to the Truckee river, forming a sort of spur or off-shoot of the main Sierra. Situated along the eastern slope of this range, about half 328 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES way up its side, and running parallel with its longitudinal axis, is the Comstock lode, with Virginia City built immediately over it, and Gold Hill, half a mile further south, a little below the line of its strike.* The eastern part of the county is composed of the desolate sage barren stretching from the Carson north to the Truckee river-a treeless, arid and sandy waste, alike destitute of vegetable and animal life. Storey, like all its sister counties, has been the theatre of numerous mining excitements, leading to the creation and sudden peopling of new districts to be almost as suddenly abandoned and soon after forgotten. In this manner at least a dozen districts have first and last been formed, scarcely any of which continue to maintain their organization or are recognized as having a legal existence. Still there are a number of districts in the county besides those of Virginia and Gold Hill that continue to be recognized as valid, and ill some of which, as the American Flat and Flowery, there is much wnork being done, and in a few instances with satisfactory results or good prospects of ultimate success. The amount of land enclosed by fence does not exceed 5,000 acres in the county, of which 1,000, perhaps, are under cultivation, a good share of it being planted with vegetables, which in a few choice localities are found to do well. Some attempts at raising fruit in a small way have also been attended with success. About 100 tons of hay are cut yearly in the county, but as yet no grain has been raised. Storey contains about 1,000 head of work-horses and mules 500 neat cattle-one-half of them milch cows-100 sheep and 400 swine. An immense number of beef cattle, sheep and hogs are slaughtered here annually, the most of which are driven in from California. For its size there is a great extent of costly toll road in this county, several hundred thousand dollars having been laid oLut in this class of improvements, hiome of which return large revenues to the owners. The assessable property in the county amounted for 1866 to $6,343,353, the estimate for the present year being about $7,000,000. Storey county contains 63 quartz mills carrying 665 stamps, all, except two or three of small capacity, driven by steam, the aggregate cost of the whole being $3,500,000. The population, which in 1861 reached 4,500, is now estimated at 12,000. SECTION X. LYON COUNTY. Lyon county, named after General Lyon, who fell in Missouri during the late rebellion, bears a strong resemblance in its general features to Storey, except that it contains a considerable tract of pifion on the Pine Nut range, occupying the eastern part of the county, and a belt of good land situate along the Carson river running through the centre. A multitude of ledges have been located in the various mining districts formed from time to time within the limits of this county, the money expended upon which has amounted in the aggregate to millions of dollars; yet, with the ixception of the Daney mine and some small lodes along Gold cafon, nothing affording a steady supply of pay ore has been developed in the county, though there are unqu.estionably many lodes that a more persistent mode of exploration might have brought to a paying point. The only districts in the county that continue to maintain an organization are the Devil's Gate, the earliest formed, the Blue Sulphur Spring, Brown's Indian Spring, and Palmyra, in none of which has much active mining been carried on for the past three years. Of the coal deposits situated in the Pine Nut mountains a description will be found in the article treating of that mineral. In the absence of productive mines, milling, teaming and wood-chopping have become the leading pursuits of the inhabitants, *See Section XVI, on the Comstock lode. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 329 very little attention being paid to agriculture, as, indeed, there is but little arable land in the county. The hay cut amounts to about 1,000 tons annually; the grain raised to 100 tons; a good many vegetables of fine quality being also raised. Lyon contains 500 horses and mules, 200 head of neat cattle, 100 sheep, and 150 swine. About 5,000 acres of land is fenced in, of which 1,500 is under cultivation. The inhabitants, numbering 1,650 in 1861, are now estimated at 2,500. There are 41 quartz mills in the county-13 driven by water, 22 by steam, and six by water and steam-the whole carrying 600 stamps and costing $1,500,000. The only considerable towns in the county are Silver City in Gold calion, and Dayton on Carson river, each containing about 1,200 inhabitants. SECTION XI. ROOP COUNTY. This county, occupying a long and narrow strip of territory in the northwestern part of the State, is named after Isaac N. Roop, an early settler in Honey Lake Valley, and at one time governor of the Provisional Territory of Nevada. It was at firstcalled Lake, having been changed to Roop in 1862. The county has never been organized, but is attached to Washoe for judicial and political purposes. At the time it was first erected, in 1861, it was supposed to embrace within its limits Honey Lake valley, the only settlement in it. The adjustment of the boundary line between Nevada and California, in 1863, having thrown this yalley into the latter, left this county almost without population. The settlement since then of Surprise Valley, in the extreme northwestern part of the State, has brought within the boundaries of Roop a population of several hundred, a number which is likely soon to be further augmented, as the county is reputed to be rich in mineral wealth, and there are known to be considerable tracts of good land in the northern part still open for occupation. This region, including also the northern and western parts of Humboldt county, has for a long time been infested by a vicious race of Indians, whose presence has tended greatly to retard its exploration and settlement; but as these savages are now pretty well subdued, the country is likely in a short time to become more thoroughly prospected and its value for mining and aggricultural purposes more fully ascertained.. The greater portion of it is undoubtedly very barren and forbidding, consisting for the most part of rough, arid, and timberless mountains, or equally dry and sterile plains. All accounts, however, agree in representing Surprise valley as being extensive and fertile, and one of the finest districts, both for stock-raising and grain growing, in, the State. This valley, a portion of which lies in California, is 50 miles long and from 10 to 15 broad. It extends north and south; contains three lakes which cover nearly one half its area. It is walled in on the west by a lofty spur of the Sierra Nevada, having a range of low rolling hills on the east. The mountains on the west are well timbered with white and yellow pine, and along their lower slopes with cedar. The arable land lies along the base of this range and between it and the lakes, having a gentle declivity towards the latter, and is covered at all seasons of the year with a luxuriant growth of blue-joint, clover, timothy and rye grass, some of which is six and seven feet high, and standing so close that in places four tons of hay can be cut to the acre. Across this alluvial belt, which is several miles wide, course every few miles streams of pure cold water, affording propulsive power and the facilities for irrigation. The lmand is light, warm, and easily cultivated, and produces with Jlittle trouble prolific crops of grain. The planting of 1866 yielded an average of 50 bushels of wheat and nearly 60 of barley to the acre. The grain is clean.and heavy. This year the crops, under more 330 RESOURCES OF. STATES AND TERRITORIES extensive planting, have been equally good. Vegetables can be grown with very little care. The climate of this valley is mild and healthlful. Very little snow falls in winter, and sickness amongst the inhabitants is of rare occurrence. Stock require neither shelter nor fodder in the winter, but are able to keep fat the year round on the native grasses. There are at the present time about 10,000 head of cattle, and 3,000 horses grazing here, many of which having been driven in from California for the purpose of being recruited, will, as soon as they become fat, be taken away. The population numbers about 250, and is constantly increasing, as the settlers feel safe under the military protection now extended to them, against further Indian depredations. Along the base of the mountain on the west side of the valley are a multitude of warm springs, some of them remarkable for,their depth and volume. Free gold has been fobund in small quantities on several streams in this part of the country, and there is reason for believing that both vein mining and surface digging will yet be carried on here with profit. With a mining population to consume the products of the farmer, this region could scarcely fail to fill up rapidly with a hardy and prosperous people. S:1,CTION XII. HUMBOLDT COUNTY. This county, named after the principal river running through it, ranks among the larger counties of the State. Its western half is covered with sandy deserts low ranges of monutains, isolated hills, and extensive alkali fiats, converted in the wet season into mud lakes. The northern and eastern portions consist of lofty chains of mountains, broken towards the northeast into irregular mrasses, and running in the southeast in narrow parallel ranges separated by valleys of a similar conformation. Taken as a whole the region is dry, desolate, and but illy supplied with grss and water. Timber is also very scarce in most parts of this county, there being none fit for lumber. The only trees found here arethe pision and a scrubby species of juniper, the latter of little value even for fuel. The quantity of agricultural land isalso comparatively small, being confined mostly tothe valleys of the Humboldt river and of Weniessa, Umashaw, and Weatherlow creeks, with some isolated spots of good soil in the larger valleys and at the entrance to the mountain casions. Bunch grass is found near'ly everywhere except on the alkali fiats and arid. deserts, though in many places it is much scattered and far from abundant. High basaltic table lands cut by fissure-like chasms, constitute a feature in the northwestern part of the county. In many of these depressions, which have precipitous sides varying from 200 to 1,000 feet high, are small alkali lakes, the beds of which become perfectly white on drying up in summer, firom the depositions of magliesia, salt, and soda'left behind. To the south of this region occur in their greatest extent the mud lakes peculiar to the geography of Nevada, in the midst of which is situated the Black Rock mining district, the Pueblo and Vicksburg districts, the only ones in this part of the State, lying further north and very near the Oregon line. Humboldt county contained, August, 1861, about 400 inhabitants. The present population is estimated at between 1,200 and 1,300, not so niany by one-half as it was four years ago, a falling off due to the great disadvantanges under which the mines here have to be opened rather than to the poverty of the mines themselves. Among these disadvantages the lack of timber, and in some localities of even wood for fuel, and the cost of freights stand foremost. When the Pacific railroad, striking through the very heart of the Humboldt mining region, shall have been completed, thereby obviating in some measure these difficulties, this WEST OF TIlE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 331 section must receive an impulse that will awaken the energies of the inhabitants and restorethe confidence once felt in the district. It is estimated that there are 200,000 acres of arable land in the county, much of which is now a natural meadow, being covered with a coarse species of grass, and all of which could, with irrigation, be made to produce crops of grain or the cultivated grasses. Without artificial moisture but little of the soil is capable of maturing either g'ain or vegetables, though with its aid both can be grown. There is nearly everywhere pasturage enough both winter and summer for a small amount of stock, or for a large amount if the latter be sufficiently scattered. The stock is estimated at 500 head of horses and mules, 400 head of neat cattle, 200 sheep, and 300 swine. There are 15,000 acres of land enclosed, 4,000 under cultivation; 3,000 tons of hay are cut, and 17000 tons of grain raised annually, the most of them in Humboldt and Paradlise valleys, the latter embracing between 20,000 and 30,000 acres of well-watered aud fertile farming land. Here a number of settlers have located during the past three years, nearly all of whom are doing a thrifty business raising grain and vegetables, or in cutting hay for the Humboldt and Owyhee markets, or for supplying the military post established in the valley. The yield of the cereals here is prolific, both grain and vegetables being grown without much trouble. Even the wild rye on being cultivated produces a large and plump berry. The barley sown on sod freshly turned up yielded last year at the rate of 23 bushels to one, and of 1,100 acres of barley, and 1,300 of wheat gTown in the valley the present year, the yield has been equally good. Barley delivered on the farms sells at the rate of about $2 50 per bushel, and wheat at about the same, though the price of the latter will, now probably depreciate, as a flour mill is about being erected in the valley. The quantity of grain raised here in 1866 amounted to 33,000 bushels, the crop the present season being still larger. So green does the grass remain, and so genial is the climate in this valley, that good hay can be made in the month of December. The principal towns in the county are Unionville, the county seat, with a population of 400, Star city, 300, and IHumboldt city, 100; besides which there are several mining hamlets numbering from 40 to 60 inhabitants. Some of these towns contain a number of fine buildings, which being erected at a time when labor and material were very expensive, have cost large sums. The most'noteworthy improvement in the county is the Humboldt canal, designed to take water from the river and introduce it into or near the mines, and now in course of construction. This work is more than half finished, and will, when completed, be 80 miles long, 15 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, carrying water sufficient to drive at least 600 stamps. It will cost, construction of dam included, a little over $1,000 per mile. The route of this canal lies near many of the best mines in the county, and must, when these come to be developed, prove a very valuable and important property in a country having so little fuel for generating steam power. Already this work has been rendered to some extent available for the propulsion of machiniery. There are 12 quartz mills in the county, two of them provided with furnaces for smelting the ores, the wvhole number carrying 112 stamps and costing $400,000. Of these mills, nine are propelled by steam and three by water. The power for driving one of these mills recently constructed is obtained by dammling up the outlet of Humboldt lake, by which mneans a sufficient force is generated for carrying a large number of stamps, and which it is intended shall be applied to that purpose should the ores of the Desert district, on which the present mill is to be run, prove remunerating. Many of the ores in this region are so mixed with lead, antimony, copper, and other refractory agents as to require smelting, for which purpose several establishments have already been erected and are in operation. Two of these, the one situated at Etna, and the other at Oreana, on the Humboldt river, have, after many difficulties, succeeded to such an extent that the business is now rermnunerative, the shipments of bullion from them amounting to $3,000 per week. 332 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The crude metal miurned out by smelting consists of lead, silver, and antimony, which is then passed through calcining and refining furnaces, whereby the silver is liberated from the, base metals, coming out from'9- 9 5 to -? —- fine. Much of the crude metal is sent away, as it will not pay for refining here where the expenses are so Ligh. The cost of smelting and refining ore at these establishmnents is $50 per ton, about double the cost of reduction here by ordinary mill process. The price of wood delivered at the mills varies from $6 to $14 per cord, depending on localities. The extraction of the ores costs about $10 per ton; hauling to mill from $3 to $8, according to distance. Some of the lodes in this region carry in the outcrop chiefly gold, while others contain only silver or both of these metals mixed. Many of the smaller ledges are rich in free gold, and are worked as gold mines. This is especially the case in the Ore Fino. Sierra, and other districts in the mountains, designated as the Foist Range east. WVhile some of the lodes in this county are large, well walled and symetrical, carrying all the features of regular fissure veins, others are narrow and broken and marked by irregular distributions of ore. An immense amount of work has been dlone in this part of the country, but there has been too little concentration of labor and much of it has been lost. Some of the tunnels have a length varying from 500 to 2,000 feet, showing that a great deal of persistent work has been done. Yet only in a few cases have these excavations reached the lodes for which they were driven, so that not much practical benefit has been reaped from their construction. Besides these tunnels a great number of shafts have been sunk, being the niore common method of prospecting claims here. These shafts vary in depth from a few feet to several hundred, some of them being carried down on and following the inclination of the vein. 3Most of the comnpanies have in this manner been able to bring small lots of pay ore to the surface, while others, drifting upon thin lodes, have raised considerable quantities. The ore is usually of high grade, yielding by mill process from $40 to $200 per ton, and in some cases much more. That taken from the Sheba mine several years since, yielded from $200 to $500 per ton, the average being $140. With so large a number of veins some of them carrying a good body of high grade ores and displaying evidence of permanency, this can hardly fail to become in the course of a few years a productive mining district. Prior to 1867 the annual shipments of bullion from Humboldt scarcely exceeded $200,000, whereas the amount will be nearly double that sum for the present year, with the prospect of a larger increase hereafter. Much prospecting as well as exploratory labor is now being done in different parts of the county, and generally with encouraging results. Capital is being invested more freely than for several years past, a number of new mills are being put up and others projected, while population that had for some time been falling off is again on the increase. In the northwestern part of the counlty adjacent to a fertile and well-watered valley, is situated the Pueblo district, with the Vicksburg district a short distance further south. There are good mines here, but the remoteness of the locality, and the hostile disposition of the Indians there have retarded their development as well as prevented the settlement of the country. The only mill ever erected in Pueblo was burnt by the savages, who at the same time murdered two of the early settlers of the district and wounded others. With the adoption of more vigorous measures for the prevention of these outrages there is a probability that operations, for several years nearly suspended, will be resumed at both Vitcksburg and Pueblo. This valley, in its general features, resembles Surprise valley, already described, only that it is more extensive, though not so much settled. The Black Rock mines are situated in the western part of the county, some 40 miles soutle of the Vicksburg district. The region about there is sterile in the extreme, being almost without any arable or meadow land, and very deficient in wood, grass, and water. But'that the mines at this place are extensive and valuable is'now beyond disputes though for a long time the peculiar appearance of WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 333 the ore, in the absence of developments and working tests rendered this a matter of considerable doubt. Recent crushings of ore, claimed to represent average masses in these mines, have tended to dispel doubts of their richness, if indeed they may not be said to have established for them a high value. The deposits here lie in huge masses rather than arranged in ore channels walled in the ordinary way, and should they be found persistent in depth, must prove valuable, notwithstanding the remoteness of their locality and their unfavorable surroundings. -SECTION XIII. CHURCHILL COUNTY. This county took its name from Fort Chulrchill, the first military post ever established in this region, so called after an officer in the United States army. The entire western half, except near the waters of the Carson, is a sandy sage barren, the most of it an absolute desert, over which are scattered low ranges of black basaltic hills. Across the central and eastern portions run in a north and south direction three high ranges of mountains, the Silver Hill the most westerly, Clan Alpine the centre, and the See-da-yalh or Look-out chain on the east, each separated from the other by a broad and generally barren valley. The county contains in proportion to its size but little good land, the amount fit for haycutting br grain-raising not being over 50,000 acres in an area of nearly 6,000 square miles. This good land is nearly all found along the Carson river, or about the lake, slough and sink formed by its waters, the greater portion consisting of natural meadows, kept for cutting hay. On the mountains there is a scanty growth of bunch grass; elsewhere almnost none at all. The mountains also contain all the wood there is in the county, and nearly all the water except that supplied by Carson river. About 2,500 tons of hay are cut, and 300 tons of grain, with as many vegetables, are raised annually. There are 400 horses and mules in the county, and 600 cattle, one-half of them work oxen. The population numbers about 400, of whom 150 are residents of La Plata, the county seat. Besides its auriferous veins, Churchill contains a variety of minerals and metals, its western portion, owing to its great depression, being a vast receptacle of the various salts distilled from the drainage of more than half the State. The sink of the Carson may be considered the grand central basin of all northern and western Nevada; hlence, about it we find deposited those alkaline, saline, and sulphurous substances with which most of the waters of this State are impregnated. From the waters of two small lakes situated in the great desert plain west of Carson sink, the carbonate of soda is so abundantly deposited that tons of the article could easily be collected quite pure. One of these, on drying up, which it does every summer, leaves a thick incrustation of this salt behind. Sulphur and the chloride of soda are also plentiful; and two of the principal salt beds in the State are in the western part of this county. Hot springs occur at several places with many tumuli and other signs of extinct thermals. In the article on sinks and sloughs will be found some remarks on these hydrographical features of Churchill county. Some 10 or 12 mining districts have at different periods been laid out within the bounds of this county. Silver Hill, situated in the mountains of the same name, and organized in 1860, contains some large lodes heavily charged with auriferous and argentiferous galena, a number of which llave been prospected. Considerable work has been done in the district. Its inconvenient situations however, joined with. a scarcity of water, as well as a prospective scarcity of wood, has served to defeat all efforts for getting in mills or otherwise bringing the ledges to a productive state. Very little work has been 334 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES done here for the past three years, and latterly there have been but few inhabitants in the district. Desert district is located in the northwestern corner of the county on what is known as the Forty-Mile desert. It is an arid dreary timberless plain, being without even a sufficiency of water for culinary uses. The lodes are small and blind, but rich in free gold, which occurs in a gangue, composed principally of red oxide of iron, easily reduced; and if there were only the ordinary facilities for working these mines they might prove very remunerative. A five-stamp mill was built near them four years ago, and though operated for a time with success has since remained idle, the difficulty of getting wood and water supplies proving too great. A mill has been built lately at the outlet of Hum-boldt for working these ores, and though distant some 14 miles from the mines, the enterprise may turn out profitable, and as there is a considerable amoun.t of propulsive power at that point, these lodes may yet be worked extensively. In the Mountain Wall district, situate on the eastern slope of the Silver Hill range, a great many veins were located some five years ago. The surface indications being good, considerable work was afterwards done upon them. But the lodes were found to be faulty and uncertain, which led to the abandonment of most of them. Experts are of opinion that deeper exploration would reach permanent bodies of pay ore in these mines. Three years ago the Silver Wave Company completed at La Plata a 20-stamp mill, at a cost of $125,000. They had, however, failed to prove their mine in advance, and it having failed to furnish sufficient pay ore, the mill after running for a short time was obliged to stop, and has been idle ever since. About the same time another company, supplied as in the case above, with eastern funds, erected at Averill, a.few miles from La Plata, a 20stamp mill, at a cost of $150,000, and although this has not as yet accomplished much in the way of taking out bullion, they are developing their mines with a prospect of obtaining sufficient pay ore to start the mill and keep it running. It is by no means certain that similar persistence on the part of the Silver Wave Company in opening their ledge would not be attended with good results. With the exception of the work doing by the Averill Company there are but few mining operations now in progress in the district. The history of operations in the Mountain Well district is so like that of those in Clan Alpine, 30 miles farther east, that it is unnecessary to go into details of the latter, where also, after but a superficial examination of the mines, a 10-stamp mill was two years ago put up to run a few days, and then remain idle. Yet there are unquestionably good mines in this district, besides plenty of wood and water to insure a cheap reduction of the ores. Of the several other districts in this county nothing is required to be said other than that many of them show encouraging signs of pay ore, though but little work has been done, and most of them are but poorly supplied with wood and water. SECTION XIV. ESMERALDA COUNTY. This county, named after the principal mining district in it, occupies the southwestern portion of the State. In its general features the country does not differ materially from most of that already described, except that the mountains contain a greater extent of pifion forests than those of Humboldt, Roop, or Churchill. The proportion of agricultural land, however, is scarcely greater than in those counties, if so great as in Humboldt. The mineral productions of Esmeralda are varied and abundant, the veins of gold, silver and copper being numerous, often large, and scattered over a vast region. The number of mining districts laid out in the county, first and last, is so large that it would require consider WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 335 able space to repeat their names. The first discovery of silver lodes was made near Aurora, in the summer of 1860; immediately after which a large population Was drawn to that vicinity, and for several years mining operations were carried on with activity. Mills were erected, and a town built up which at one time contained 3,000 inhabitants. The prices of real estate advanced to extravagant figures, and mining properties were bought and sold at rates out of all proportion to their real value. In the mean time the titles to many of the leading mining claims became involved in litigation, whereby work was for the time being suspended, and capitalists deterred from further investments. The mills~ left without sufficient supplies of ore, ceased, first to payr dividends, then expenses, and finally closed up altogether. Suffering under these conjoint disasters, business fell off, the population left, stocks depreciated, and the Esmeralda mines were practically abandoned just at a time when, by proper caution and good management, they might have been rendered permanently remunerative. This occurred nearly four years ago, and although matters have been slightly improving about Aurora, the great mining centre of the county,.for a year or more past, they are not yet restored to their former prosperous condition. The population of the county, which in the summer of 1861 numbered about 3,000 souls, had twp years after increased to more than 4,000. At present it does not exceed 2,500. The principal part of the farming and hay lands are situated on the forks of Walker river. The following figures indicate something of the agricultural resources and products of this county: 500 horses and mules, 1,000 head of neat cattle, 300 sheep, 400 swine, 3,000 tons of hay cut, and 600 tons grain, besides a large quantity of vegetables raised, annually. There are 15,000 acres of land under fence, of which 5,000 are cultivated. The first quartz mill was erected at Aurora in 1861, since which time 15 others have been built in the county-10 at that place, one in the Columbus district, two at Silver Peak, one at Pine Creek, and one at Red Mountain. Besides these there are several in the Bodie and other districts adjacent, generally spoken of as being in Esmneralda, though really in California. These mills carry 200 stamps, all told, and will have cost, when that' now in process of building at Silver Creek is completed, about $600,000. The most of those at Aurora having been put up ih 1862-'63, when labor and material were high, cost considerably more than similar establishments would at present. After the building of the first mill at that place the shipments of bullion from the county steadily increased for several years, until they reached nearly $1,000,000 for 1864. From this time they fell off heavily for two years, but are now again on the increase, and there is reason to believe they will be steadily augmented for years to come. In addition to the troubles already mentioned, the millmen at Aurora experienced the further difficulty of having in some cases a rather refractory class of ores to deal with; many of the ledges, also, which had prospected fairly in the croppings, failed to yield any large bodies of ore at greater depths. In some cases the exposed portion of the ledges here, and even the quartz boulders, of which there were many lying loose on the strface of the ground, were found to be heavily charged with the sulphuret of silver. Much free gold was also found in several of the veins andoccasionally in the earth adjacent, all of which leading to the belief that an abundance of pay ore could be easily and certainly obtained, a number of large and costly mills were erected in advance of mining developments, many of them to meet with subsequent embarrassment and often to remain idle for want of ore. This district also suffered severely from excessive speculation in mining stocks and properties, mlluch of it brought about through very questionable agencies and modes of procedure, the odium of which, extending beyond the guilty instruments, attached to the mines themselves, thus discouraging the work of exploration and bringing them into disrepute. Within the past two years parties conversant with the geology of the mineral veins in this district, and well posted.as to previous operations, satisfied that the principal cause of failure was to be found 336 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES in the superficial and insufficient character of the explorations before carlried on,, have commenced a series of deep prospecting shafts on a number of the more promising ledges at Aurora, with a view to prosecuting them to determinate results. In several cases these operations have already been crowned with complete or partial success, in one, at least, that of the Juniata, a vein well charged with pay ore having been developed at no great depth beneath the surface, a circumstance that, besides encouraging those engaged in siamilar works to porsevere, will be likely to lead to the initiation of other enterprises directed to the accomplishment of the same end. Stimulated by these results, business has begun to improve in Aurora, and mining enterprise has everywhere received a wholesome impetus throughout the county. Some of these prospecting shafts are already down several hundred feet, and, being supplied with efficient hoisting works and directed by parties of experience and energy, are progressing favorably. The ore in this district is a sulphuret of silver, much of it carrying a percentage of gold, either free or in combination with other metals and minerals. Taken as a mass, it is of high grade, yielding from one-thlrd to one-half more bullion than that from the mines about Virginia City and Gold Hill. Most of the ore raised at Aurora yields by mill process from $40 to $70 per ton, $50 being perhaps a fair average; while the cost of reduction is, or nmight be, less than at thlose places, wood being considerably cheaper. The only trouble seems to be the insufficiency of the ore supply, and this, as above stated, may be considered in a fair way of being overcome. Wood costs, delivered at the mills in Aurora, about $6 per cord-a little less iin most of the outside districts in the county-a price that cannot be materially advanced for some years to come, owing to the abundance of pinon in the vicinity of the principal mines. In the proximity of the latter to good agricultural districts a further guarantee is 11had againsf exorbitant demands for grain and many other staples of subsistence. The only towns in Esmeralda county of any size are Aurora and Pine Grove, the former, the county seat, containing a population of about 1,500, and the latter of about 300. There are two saw-mills in the county capable of cutting about 10,000 feet of lumber per day, and a large extent of toll-roads, some portions of which have been built at heavy expense. Lying in a northerly and easterly direction from Aurora, and distant from 10 to 30 miles, are several mining districts, all of which, having had their day of popularity, generally resting on misapprehension or a hasty inspection of their claims, are now nearly depopulated. Of these the Walker River, Lake, Cornell, Desert, East Esrmeralda, Masonic, and Van Horn form the most notable examples. In some of these are promising veins, and in nearly all much work has been done, yet generally without such decisive results as to secure capital for the erection of mills or to warrant continued operations. In the Wilson district, situated in the Tollock mountains, 40 miles north of Aurora, were discovered in the summer of 1866 a number of auriferous lodes, several of which, having since been partially developed, are likely to prove valuable. Here, within the present year, a considerable town-Pine Grove-has been built up, a number of arrastras driven by steam and a 10-stamp steam quartz mill have been erected, and another mill of larger size partially completed. The lodes are of fair average size, some of them large, from 10 to 20 feet thick, and as a general thing show signs of permanency. So far as opened they display regular walls and linings, with other evidences of true fissure veins. The exploratory works consist of shafts and tunnels, some of the latter nearly 1,000 feet long and several of the shafts over 100 feet deep. From these excavations and firom open cuts on the lodes a quantity of ore-bearing quartz has been extracted, a portion of which has been crushed with good results, the greater part being still retained awaiting better facilities for reduction. The gangue consists of an ochreous quartz, much of it easily pulverized from partial decomposition. The yield of the ores so far reduced has run from $30 to $90 per ton, worked by simple settling tub and blanket process. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 337 The gold is generally diffused throughout the veinstone and is extremnely pure, being 917 fine and worth within a fraction of $19 per ounce. There is sufficient water near the mines for the use of several large steam mills, Walker river, eight miles distant, to which there is a good road with a descending grade, also supplying a large propulsive power. The mountains throughout the district are covered with forests of pislon, rendering the supply of fuel at cheap rates certain for some years. These mines are accessible over good wagon roads from California, and in the vicinity of a productive agricultural district, with fine timber lands but 40 miles distant, conditions that must tend greatly to facilitate their development. In the Washington district, 20 miles south of Pine Grove, a number of argentiferous veins, carrying also copper, galena, and antimony, were discovered in the early part of the present year, some of which have since been prospected. A 10-stamp steam mill for the reduction of the ores has lately been put up in the district, where there are now about 150 men at work on the mines. The lodes are of good size, and carry ore which, from the limited tests made, it is thought will yield well by mill process. The situation of this district and thle supply of wood and water are much the'same as of the Wilson district. A good deal of ore is now out lying on the dumps awaiting means of reduction. Bunch grass is abundant throughout all this region, and as the climate is mild, but little snow falling in the winter except on the higher mountains, stock keep in good condition the year throughl without fodder. Ranging from 30 to 50 miles in a southeast direction from Aurora, and lying partly in California, are the Hot Spring, the Blind Spring, and the Montgomery districts, discovered in 1861, since which time a considerable amount of ore has been extracted from somne of the lodes, though but few well-planned or persistent efforts appear to have been made looking to a systematic development of the mines. Some of this ore has been sent to San Francisco for sale or reduction; a small quantity has been beneficiated at the mines, while a large amount remains onl the dump piles undisposed of. A difficulty with many of the lodes in these districts is the want of well-defined ore channels, the deposits occurring more in the shape of pockets or bonanzas than of regular strata, and hence deficient in continuity and persistence in depth. These bunches, however, are frequently large, and being easily broken out, can usually be mined with a remarkable prospect of profit. Most of the ore here is an- argentiferous galena, the large percentage of base and refractory metals it contains, of which manganese, antimony, and copper are the principal, rendering smelting necessary, not more than 30 per cent. of the fire assay being saved by ordinary modes of reduction. Some, however, is rich in silver, yielding, where thoroughly treated, from $300 to $500 per ton, selected lots turning out a great deal more. Two small mills and a number of smelting furnaces have been put up, which, considering their limited capacity, have made a fair turn-out of bullion. These districts are moderately well supplied with wood, grass, and water, Montgomery, containing an abundance of pinton; and the opinion may be expressed that with the aid of capital and skilled labor a thrifty mining business may yet be established. Columbus district, situate about 50 miles east of Aurora, and the same distance southeast of Walker lake, is another of the more noted mining centres of Esmeralda county, at least so far as the possession of numerous lodes is concerned. The developments have not been extensive. Adjacent to this are several other districts, the most of which have been too little explored to justify notice, though all contain metalliferous veins of either the precious or useful metals and often of both. But little work, however, has been performed in any of them, and they are mostly deficient in wood and water, which latter is also the case in the Columbus district. Here, however, a number of the veins have been partially prospected and working tests made of the ores, which have genevally yielded good returns. The ledges are mostly in the hands of men of small means while the remoteness of the district has prevented it friom being visited 22 338 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES by strangers and perhaps from attracting the attention it deserves. Certain it is the lodes are of fair dimensions, some of them very strong and marked by regular walls and well-stocked ore-channels. The top ore consists largely of chlorides mixed with sulphurets, often exhibiting a little free gold and native silver; the accompanying metals are copper and lead. Various crushings of small lots, some of which it is claimed were not closely worked, have given proceeds ranging from $50 to $200 per ton, a good result considering the quantity of ore of this class that can easily be obtained; so that the prospect is not unfavorable. The country here is rugged and generally barren, consisting of high hills and mountains, interspersed with sandy plains and salt beds. The mountains are scan'ed with volcanic outflows and masses of basalt, intermingled with trachytic rock and dikes of trap, indicating a period of great upheavals and disturbance of the earth's crust. Along the flanks of the volcanic breaks portions of the original metamorphic and stratified rocks are found traversed and seamed in many cases by the metallic bearing veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron. The elevated portions of this district consist of a northeasterly extension of the White Mountain range, which a short distance to the southwest rises to a height of 10,000 feet, their t'ops and northern slopes being covered a good portion of the year with snow. A small town containing some 200 inhabitants has been settled near the principal mines, distant from which about eight miles are forests of piiion. There is but little wood in the immediate vicinity. A number of extensive salt deposits exist in the district, from which this article can be obtained quite pure and at small cost. One of these salt beds is estimated to cover an area of 30 square miles. Hay and other agricultural products can be procured from Fish Lake valley, a fertile farming district 20 miles southeast of the mines, at which place several hundred tons of hay were cut, and considerable quantities of grain and vegetables were raised the present year. While springs and streams are scarce, water can be found in many places by digging to a moderate depth, though it is often slightly brackish. A four-stamp steam mill has recently been put up in this district and is now operating with satisfactory results. Another and larger mill is about being erected, creating a probability that the business of mining, long dormant, will soon be prosecuted with energy. The Silver Peak district lies about 90 miles a little south of east from Auora, the great salt bed of this region, covering over 40 square miles, bordering it on the east, and the Red Mountain district on the west. The lodes in these districts, taken in connection with the vast improvements contemplated and in progress, a portion of them completed, render this a promising and important mining locality. The metalliferous lodes are numerous, and, as shown by wNorking tests, well charged with the precious metals. Thlose in the Silver Peak district are for the most part argentiferons, while the Red Mountain veins are chiefly gold-bearing. All the valuable lodes, so far as discovered in these two districts, are now owned by the Great Salt Basin Mining and Milling Company, who are proceeding to develop them with skill and energy. The first discovery and location of mineral lodes in this region was made at Red Mountain in 1863, which having been followed up the next year by the erection there of a small three-stamp mill, the value of the auriferous veins at that place was soon established. The same year, (1864,) the Silver Peak mines were discovered, and here a 10-stanmp mill was built in the fall of 1865, which after running for a short timne with moderate success suspended for repairs, but never after resumed operations, the owners having disposed of it inll common with their mining properties to a company of eastern capitalists, the same who are now proceeding to work the mines on a liberal and extended scale. The present property of this company in these districts consists of about a hundred different lodes, some of them of good size and supposed value, a 10-stamp mill, intended to reduce ores without roasting, as practiced at Gold Hill and Virginia, or for testing them and ascertaining the best methods for their reduction, a three-stamp mill, operating on the auriferous ores at. Red. Mountain, and a 1.000 acre tract of pi'lon forests WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAJNS. 339 lying adjacent thereto and embracing the best lands of this kind in the country, together with numerous improvements in the. shape of slhops, corrals, stables, offices, storehouses, and buildings for workmen. On the margin of the Great Salt bed, adjacent to their principal mines, and a large spring of fresh water, a site has been secured for a mill and all attendant uses. On this spot a first-class mill is now being erected, most of the lumber, machinery, and other material being on the ground. This establishment, which it is intended shall be complete in all its appointments, will start with 20 stamps at first, to which others will probably be added, the intention being that 60 stamps shall be running there before next summer. Among the improvements projected by this company is a system of railways, embracing a main trunk running to the centre of their principal claims, to be extended to the most distant in Red mountain and having branches ramifying throughout both districts. This railway will terminate at their principal mill, and over it all their ores will be transported, dispensing with the niecessity for team-hauling almost entirely, and thereby effecting a great economy in current expenses. As justly remarked by Mr. J. E. Clayton, a wellknown engineer, after a careful examination, the property of this company constitutes a favorable combination of available resources and local facilities. With their plans carried out they will probably be table to mine and reduce their ores at a profit. In the quantity of average grade ores and easy transportation to their mills-the prime agents of cheap reduction, water, salt, and fuel close at hand, and a good agricultural district, Fish Lake valley, not far distant-are supplied some of the necessary requisites of a promising mining enterprise. Experience thus far had encourages the hope that these investments will prove remunerative. SECTION XV. LINCOLN COUNTY. This county, named after the late President Lincoln, was erected from Nye county by act of the State legislature at its last session. Its boundaries are as follows: beginning at the Red Bluff springs about 15 miles east of the Reville district, and running thence east to the State line, which it follows to the south boundary of the line separating it firom Arizona, along which it runs west until it reaches a point due south of Red Bluff and thence north to the latter place. It occupies the extreme southeastern corner of the State, and does not differ materially in its physical features and natural productions from the adjacent portions of Nye county, elsewhere described. The country is corrugated, like that farther north and west, by alternating ranges of mountains and valleys, the former lofty and covered with a sparse growth of bunch grass, with numerous small streams of water and patches of pifon and occasionally larger timber, while the latter contains a number of fertile spots on which hay can be cut from the native grasses and good crops of grain raised with the aid of irrigation. The county seat has for the present been fixed at Hico, the principal settlement. The county is now fully organized, having a full set of officials and constituting the ninth judicial district of the State. The first discovery of silverbearing lodes in this region was made about three years ago, since which tilme a population of several hundred has been gathered there, though as yet no great amount of work has been done. Many of the mountain ranges are found to contain metalliferous veins of greater or less magnitude and value, but the most valuable so far as discovered, and the only ones yet at all developed, are situate in the Pahranagat district, in the eastern part of the county, in. a high 340 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES range known as Quartz mountain, its altitude being about 11,000 feet.* The geographical position of this district is nearly in 37~ 37' north latitude, and 112~ west longitude. The principal mineral deposits are found in a belt about five miles long and two wide, stretching across the foot-hills and spurs of the mountain. This belt contains several distinct systems of lodes, all bearing the features of true fissure veins, having smooth and, in places, striated walls with clay linings. They are of medium size, many of them cropping boldly and traceable for a good distance. The country rock is principally a metamorplhic limestone, the stratification greatly disturbed. The ores on the surface are associated with copper and argentiferous galena, and show by assay a percentage of silver varying from $50 to $2,500 per ton. The vein stonlle is quartz and calspar, carrying iron, zinc, and manganese, rendering reduction somewhat troublesome, and necessitating roasting as a general thing, or a resort to smelting where the sulphuret of lead prevails. After roasting the ores are tractabIe, rendering amalgamation easy and giving bullion from 800 to 900 fine, there being but little gold present. Some of the copper ore here assays as high as 50 per cent. of metal, making it probable that it will yet be of economic value when better facilities for its transportation elsewhere are extended to this region. The veins are for the most part well situated for extraction of their contents, with available ores accessible from the start. The mountains adjacent to these mines are tolerably well stocked with pifion and juniper, but water is not abundant, in consequence of which all reduction works will probably, for the present at least, be located in Pahranagat valley, 12 miles east of the mines, where the mountain benches afford good mill sites, with plenty of water issuing from several sprifigs. Thirty miles east of Pahranagat are found groves of timber suitable for maklting a fair article of lumber. Many of the ranges further west also contain similar trees, a species of white pine, with some fir. The climate of this region is milder than its geographical position and elevation-over 7,000 feet-would indicate, the atmosphere being tempered by the warm current of air from the Gulf of California, flowing up the valley of the Colorado. Pahranagat valley, which is 35 miles long nortlih and south, and 10 wide, contains about 20,000 acres of natural meadow land, or of soil that can be rendered arable by irrigation. Most of this will grow crops of grain and vegetables, thL.at cultivated there the present year having yielded largely. Until the population becomes numerous, enough of hay, grain, and vegteables can be grown.to meet local demands; afterwards supplies can be drawn from the Mormon settlements not far distant to the southeast, and from which grain is now broutght and sold in the valley, at six cents per pound; flour at 10 cents, and beef at 15 cents. iico is but ]135 miles from Callville, at the so-called head of navigation on the Colorado river; thlat is, as the wagon road now runs, which can probably 1)be reduced to 100 miles rendering it possibe that goods and machinery may yet reach this region through that channel. There is now one five-stamp mill completed, with two others of larger capacity underway, in this district. The first not having facilities for roasting the ores, failed in the earlier efforts. Furnaces lhaving been built with which also the new mills are to be supplied, no further trouble in saving the metal is apprehended, and there is now a fair prospect that the more extended operations about to be initiated will prove remunerative to the pioneers of this distant region. ee section oneastern Nevada, Pahranagat district. ~%ec section on eastern N~evada, Pahranagat district. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 341 SECTION XYI. THE COMSTOCK LODE. The mining interest in Storey county centres almost exclusively in the Comstock lode. Not that it is the only silver-bearing-]ode in the district, but the others which are worked yield so small a proportion of the bullion produced as almost to be overshadowed by their great neighbor. The Comstock lode may be called the "mother vein" of the district, but both to the east and the west of it lie veins which mua become at no distant day valuable property. Of these the New Brunswick lode, on which are located the St. John, Occidental, and other mines, is worthy of most attention, not only from its steady yield of bullion, but on account of its peculiar veinstone. The usual gangue in the Comstock lode is quartz; in the New Brunswick it is almost entirely carbonate of lime, an analysis of the rock showing the following composition: Gold-. 001.6 ~'5 02 Gold......................................................... 00 1 9 85 Silver.............. I0250 10 98 Peroxide of iron................................................ 1.6370 Peroxide of manganese............................... 2500 Alumina.......................................7750 Carbonate of lime............................ 83.7240 Sulphur........................................................0050 Chlorine...................................................... Traces. Silica......................................................... 13.2500 Loss........................................................ 3324 100. 0000 16 00 This analysis shows less than the usual amount of; the precious metal, the mine at present yielding about 30 tons of ore daily, of an.average value of about $25. In the southexn part of Gold Hill are many small veins or deposits of decomposed quartz and lime, yielding gold worth about $410 an ounce;, these veins are worked chiefly by private individuals on a small scale, and furnish employment~ for several arrastras in Gold cafion.. But, as before stated the mining. interest centres. chiefly in the Comstock lode.. In the preliminary report a large amount of information was furnished rela, tive to the general features of this district and its mining resources. To avoid repetition the remarks in the present report will be confined mainly to the condi. tion of the lode at this time. In. order to preserve continuity, however, it will be necessary to go over some of the ground already traversed.. For concise description the subject is divided into separate headings. CHARACTER OF THE COMSTOCK LoDE.-The Comstock lode runs along the eastern slope of the'Washoe mountains, at the foot of AMoult D'avidsonlits loftiest summit. Its outcrop is not by any means continuous, consisting of.parallel belts of quartz, extending from east to west, in some places nearly 1,000 feet, which show themselves chiefly on the tops of the spurs, running down from the main ridge. The western of. these quartz seans, being of a hard crystalline texture, forl the most prominent outcrops, but experience has shown them to be of less value than.the eastern bodies, which from their different composition have been more easily disintegrated, and are often covered up by the debris from the higher and steeper portion of the mountain. LENGTH OF LODEs.-The vein has been more or less thoroughly explored, (see table of mines in preliminary report, pages 72 and 73,) and its continuity established by underground workings for a length of about three and a half miles, though the productive portion forms but a small proportion of the whole, as balrren spots of great extent intervene between the bonanzas or ore bodies. STRIKE OF LoDE.-Its "strike" or course, as shown bythe exposure of the west wall, in numerous places, is nearly magnetic north and south, (north 16~ E. by true'meridian.) 342' RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ENCLOSING RocKs.-But little if any doubt now remains that the Comstock is a true fissure vein. The enclosing rock on the east throughout its entire length as far as known is "propylite," a species of porphyry, varying much in its appearance at different points, as the crystallization is coarser or finer, and decomporition more or less advanced. The country rocks on the west vary considerably. On the slopes of Mount Davidson and Mount Butler it is sienite; north of this propylite occurs on both sides; while in southern Gold Hill various metamorphic rocks occur on the western side. WEST WALL.-The west wall of the lode is separated from the country rock by a well defined clay selvage, and maintains a remarkaby uniform dip of about 3~ or 40~ to the eastward at the surface, gradually increasing to about 45~ which it maintains to the lowest depths hitherto explored. The east wall near the surface has a false dip to the westward, gradually becoming vertical, and at.a depth of 400 or 500 feet turns to the eastward, and continues down more or less parallel with the west wall. Owing to the flat dip of the lode this eastern or hanging wall is less clearly marked than the western or foot wall, fiequently dropping down on or near the foot wall. When this is the case, another clay is usually found to the eastward, and this structure will probably continue for an indefinite depth. Developments appear to show it to be most frequent where the walls of the lode approach each other rapidly. WIDTH OF LoDE.-The jaws of the fissure at the surface, as before stated, are from 500 to 1,000 feet apart, gradually approaching each other in depth until the fissure is reduced to an average width of 150 feet. This is not maintained, however, with any regularity. Thue west wall maintains a tolerably straight course, though confoirming to some extent to the general direction of the mountain range; but the eastern clays are full of sinuosities, which produce in the vein a series of swells and nips. In Virginia these are very strongly marked, the nips usually occurring where the lode intersects a ravine, and the swells corresponding to the prOminent spurs of the mountain. One of the best illustrations of this structure occurs in the ground owned by the Savage, Hale and Noreross, and ChohiarPotosi Mining Companies. At the north line of the Savage mine the clays, includihg what is generally termed the vein, are probably about 10'0 feet apart. Going southward they diverge to a width of 500 feet or upwards, again contracting tv the southward, rapidly at first, and then more gradually, until, at a point in the Chollar-Potosi mine 1,900 feet south of the starting point, the vein matter included between the same clays is not more than 20 feet in thickness, and consists principally of an irregulair clayey mass, caused by the uinion of several seamns of clay, which show themselves in the vein to the northward. This great swell of the eastern clay unites the clay bounding two subordinate swells, spanning at the -same time what was supposed to be a nip of the vein, and recent developments render it probable that clays will yet be found to the east of apparent contractions of the lode, uniting the swells which bound them to the north and south. The importance of thoroughly understanding this feature of the lode will become apparent when the difficulties of exploring the Comstock lode conme under considertition. FILLING OF THE VEIN.-It must not be supposed, however, that the whole of this immense fissure is filled with valuable ore. Near the surface the aggregate thickness of the quartz seams is in many places not more than five-sixths of the total width of the lode. There are points where developments show upwards of 150 feet of quartz, occu'rring between the clays without any intermixture of foreign matter, but when this is the case the mineral is distributed through the whole mass too sparingly to make it valuable at the present time. Considerinyg the vein as a whole, it is safe to say that at least two-thirds of it are filled with immense "horses" or masses of country rock, chiefly detached from the hanging wall, between which are found the belts of metalliferous quartz. These masses of country rock are frequently of such great length and WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 343 thickness as to have formed one of the strongest arguments in favor of the theory that there was not merely one lode, but a belt of lodes running along the foot of Mount Davidson. They are usually bounded by clay selvages, uniting and dividing, both in the length of the lode and vertically, producing a complicated network of clay seams throughout its entire length, which materially interferes with its drainage. Other portions of the lode are filled with a brecciated mass of porphyry quartz and clay, which, from the rounded character of the enclosed pebbles, gives evidence of the intense dynamic action of the vein.,BONANZAS, oR ORE BoDIES.-The ore bodies lie chiefly in the swells of the vein, usually forming in their upper portion, at or near the eastern clays, and, as their position is more vertical than the dip of the lode, they gradually drop down on the west wall, leaving room to the eastward for the formation of new bodies. In Virginia their form is usually that of lenticular masses, with their longer axes in the direction of the lode, dipping at the same time to the southward. In Gold Hill the ore occurs in sheets, lying more or less parallel to the east wall, the change from one structure to the other occurring in the Chollar-Potosi mine. The bonanza in the Ophir-Mexican mines was about 200 feet in length and 330 in depth, attaining a maximum thickness of about 45 feet, and tapering above and below to two or three feet. The Gould and Curry bonanza was nearly 650 feet long, over 500 feet in depth, and about one hundred feet wide at its greatest expansion. The immense deposit of ore in the Savage and Hale & Norcross mines first showed at a depth of about 500 feet. It partakes of the crescent shape of the east clay, which it follows closely, varying in width from 10 to 50 feet. It is known to extend to a depth of over 250 feet, and will probably continue as much lower. Its total length is upwards of 800 feet. In the Chollar mine a large lenticular mass of red ore, 200 feet long, 300 deep, and about 25 wide, has been developed. In the Potosi the ore lies in a sheet near the eastern clay. OREs.-The ores of the Comstock consist chiefly of vitreous silver ore, stephanite, native silver, and argentiferous galena, imbedded in a quartz gangue. Beside these, ruby silver, horn silver, and polybasite occur in small quantities; also, native gold, iron and copper pyrites and zinc blend. These a1 usually occur in an amorphous condition, good crystallized specimens being remarkably rare. In the Kentuck mine (Gold Hill) carbonate of lime occurs in the gangue, and in the deep workings in Virginia sulphate of lime is an abundant mineral. The Fairview mine formerly produced fine crystals of the latter. DEVELOPMENTS ON THE COMSTOCx LoDE.-The structure of the lode, as shown by the underground works, has already been spoken of. The true dip of the lode was not understood for some time after its discovery. The false dip of the east wall at the surface induced a belief that the vein would pitch to the westward, and, consequently, the first working shafts were located accordingly. The majority of these, at least in Virginia, reached the west wall at depths varying from 450 to 600 feet, and owing to the intensely hard nature of the western country rock had to be abandoned as far as deeper explorations were concerned; the cost of sinking and drifting back into the vein, the constant repair required by shafts located in the vein, and the necessity of more powerful machinery as great depth was attained, all tending to this result. The principal companies mining on the Comstock, in Virginia and North Gold Hill, have accordingly erected new hoisting works, about 1,000 feet east of the old shafts, on ground not likely to settle to any serious extent, and in these shafts the following depths have been attained: Gould & Cmary................................................. 850 Savage.................................................... 670 Hale & Norcross..................................... 500 Chollar Potosi................ 830 Empire-Imperial (Gold Hill)................................ 920 344 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES These shafts are, or will be, furnished with machinery of the finest description, capable of working to depths ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 feet. In Southern Gold Hill the original shaft of the Belcher Company has been canred down to a depth of 850 feet. While many of the originally discovered bonanzas have been worked out, depreciating the value of the mines where they occurred, as in the case of the Ophir and Gould & Curry, the comparatively recent discovery of the SavageNorcross bonanza gives good foundation for believing that they will again become productive. This deposit was not found until the Hale & Norcross Company had been at work for nearly five years, and had attained a depth of 700 feet. Their location covered what was supposed to be a nip of the vein, and having exlhausted all other means, as a last resource, the supposed east wall was pierced and a drift run to the eastward from the 700 feet level, with but little encouragement until, at 360 feet east of what had hitherto been considered the east wall, this magnificent discovery was made. The body of ore has been followed up 200 feet, and lying so far from the west wall, will, judging by analogy, continue down for a great depth. This discovery made valuable 800 feet of ground, which up to that time had produced nothing, though lying between the valuable deposits in the Gould & Curry and Chollar-Potosi mines. Nearly 1,500 feet of ground between the Gould & Curry works and the Ophir mine is to-day in the former condition of this ground, having been prospected only to a depth of about 350 feet, and found to contain nothing, or merely ores of too small a value to pay for extraction. MIuch other ground which has been examined, chiefly in the neighborhood of the west wall, should be prospected to the east, experience clearly showing that all valuable ore bodies originate on that side -of the fissure. The bodies of quartz forming on the west wall are uniformly barren, or of very inferior quality. The development of the vein has been greatly retarded by various causes Among these the most prominent have been the fear of causing litigation by prospecting to the eastward and making discoveries which were certain to be claimed by some of the innumerable locations made in early times, and the fact that almost all mining stocks are here owned only temporarily for speculative purposes. In the first respect a happier era is dawning. Repeated litigation has only tended to show conclusively that the many parallel outcrops of quartz, each of which was located by a different company, unite in depth or disappear entirely, and the titles to the principal mines are now nearly free from further dispute. As far as the latter cause is concerned, the trouble will probably continue for many years. To thoroughly understand any arbitrary section of ground a knowledge of the adjoining property is almost indispensable. This is frequently attainable only to a limited extent. It too often happens that the true condition and structure of a mine is concealed, lest the information should affect the schemes of those who are operating in its stocks. A combination of mining superin-tendents and the establishment of a general office, where maps of the various Emines could be consulted by those desiring information, would prove prejudicial',,to mining-stock speculators, but would tend greatly to check the useless expenditure of money, and materially increase the legitimate profits of our mining enterprises, by enabling superintendents to lay out their work with judgment and greater certainty than is at present the case. MODE OFr MINING ON THE COMSTOcK.-SHAFTS. —Mining on the Comstock is carried on almnost exclusively through perpendicular shafts, explorations having penetrated below the deepest adits, which are now used almost exclusively as drains, to avoid the necessity of hoisting the water to the surface. The original shafts were much less substantial than those now in use, being merely lined with planks about three inches thick, the compartments being two or three in number and about four and a half feet square. The principal shafts now in use are fine specimens of mining engineering. The Clrtis shaft of the Savage Company WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 345 has four compartments, three of them, for hoisting, being five feet square and the fourth, which is occupied by the hoisting machinery, five feet by six. The Bonner shaft of the Gould & Curry Company and the Chollar-Potosi and Empire-Imperial shafts are similar in their character, while the Hale & Norcross shaft, being intended for the exploration of much less ground, has only three compartments. The mode of construction in all these shafts is similar, cribs of 12-inch timbers being inserted every five feet, supported by vertical posts of the same size. This cribbing is covered on the outside by lagging of three or fourinch planks. Wooden guides are then inserted down each side of the compartments for the purpose of retaining the platform cages, used for ascent from and descent into the mine, in their places. For some years iron guides were much in use, but.have now been superseded almost entirely by wood, as less liable to accident. The cost of sinking these shafts varies, of course, with the nature of the ground encountered. The Bonner shaft was put down to the depth of 525k feet, at an average cost of $100 78 per foot, including such a proportion of the total cost of pmhping and hoisting as was chargeable to this account. The following table shows the amount expended for each department of the work. It is made up for a depth of 692k feet, and shows that the last 67 feet of the shaft cost considerably more in proportion than the upper portions, as it raised the average cost per foot to $109 36. Cost of sinking the Bonner shaft. Paid for excavation............-........................................... $22, 324 50 Lumber 5, 4.0 05 Timber.................................................................. 9, 670 67 Framing timbers....................................................... 3, 518 00 Placing timbers.... 1,570 50 Carmen.......................................... 3,530 00 Lowering pumps, &c., &c............... 4,683 75 Picks and drills-...................................................... 2,041 50 Powder and fuze........................................................ 291 00 Candles.................................... 1,054 30 Other materials.................................... 1,777 13 Cost of running machinery, keeping pumps in order, pitmen, &c................ 19,;817 00 75,738 40 TUN-'ELS AND DDRIFTS.-From these shafts drifts are run to the vein, generally about 100 feet apart vertically; but it seldom happens that the levels in any one mine correspond with those in the mines adjoining. This arises fromrn the mines being worked entirely independent of each other. But few of these tunnels will stand without protection. The main working drifts are usually timbered every five feet, the timbers varying fiom eight to twelve inches square, according to thle nature of the ground to be sustained. In many places, even 12-inch timbers cannot resist the immense pressure brought upon them by the slacking and expansion of the material through which the drifts are run, immediately on its exposure to the atmosphere. It is not uncommon to see timbers completely crushed, notwithstanding the utmost precautions, in six months after they have been placed in the mine. Main working drifts, after timbering, are usually about six feet high in the clear, three and a half to four feet wide at the top, and somewhat more in the bottom. Temporary prospecting drifts are much smaller in size, and generally left untimbered, if practicable, till they develop something of value. In each drift is laid a wooden track shod with iron, on which the material extracted from the mine is run out to the shaft in dumping cars, holding from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds. To avoid repeated handling of the ore or waste, the same cars are hoisted on the cage to the surface, and their contents there distributed to the proper places. The following tables will give some idea of the cost of this branch of mining: Cost of tunnelling in the Gould 4 Curry mine, labor, materials, Tc. 400 FEET LEVEL. X ~ ~~~q E a 0 f t E al 1 m: 2i 11 - l atX P. t~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t 0'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~ I 0..00. I...... N 39 $13 00 $767 00 $146 83 $9 12 $50 40 $42 on $13 77 $2 2 50 $18 60 $27 00 $12 72 $1 109.94........ 46 13 0 598 00 98 72 6 84 37 80 31 50 10 39 19 00 15 0 21 60 9 54 848 44........ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 O0 1 5 05 0 t 6 095484.... 47 13 00 611 00 118 25 7 14 39 48 32 9 0 13 80 24 30 9 o 897 07.........~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~ 80 0 4 30. 9 80 870 7....... 47 1300 61,1700 1182 714 398 30 160 288 130 2430 980 8907 90 13 00 1 170 00 220 24 13 68 75 50 63 00 2028 4075 21t 90 28 35 19 80 1, 673 50........ 157 10 64 1,661 00 308 04 18 84 122 46 110 50 41 68 67 00 31 20 89 70 62 80 2,513 22........ 204 10 54 2,151 00 402 21 24 60 110 70 143 50 55 70 8600 4440 11839 8200 3,21850.163 1067 1,739 00 297 55 18 20 92 53 113 75 48 84 9800 3000 9103 6500 2, 593 9).. 132 11 47 1,515 00 241 72 14 78 70 20 92 50 3545 5900 43 87 7293 5280 2,19825....... 40 13 00 525 00 74 55 4 80 24 00 28 00 168 1900 2137 22 44 16 00 745 84..... - ------.-1. _ 4....... - 938........... 10,73700 1,908 11 118 00 62307 657 65 248 39 440 05 240 19 495 74 330 46 15,798 66 $16 84..! I...... z 200 FEET LEVEL. _................. 30 $8 00 -$240 00 $73 41 $4 56 $25 20 $21 00 $7 25 $1000 1065 $13 50 $6 36 $411 93....... 60 10 00 600 00 146 83 9 12 67 20 4200 1402 1500 16 00 2430 1272 947 19.81 11 00 891 00 198 51 12 31 68 04 56 00 18 61 1950 2130 2430 1696 1 326 53.. 101 11 00 1,11 50 244 72 15 20 84 00 66 00 23 20 3575 2400 2430 2200 1 65067. 66 10 00' 66000 159 06 9 88 54 60 45 50 14 98 34 00 18 60 26 32 14 30 1,037 24........ 171 12 05 2, 061 00 241 50 98 16 76 20 87 50 3086 3800 3600 7560 2860 2,77292 120 12 75 1,532 00 306 42 151 29 53 30 210 00 18 82 44 00 18 00 68 64 35 00 2,437 47...... 101 11 79 1,191- 00 222 00 63 00 43 20 5600 2095 4150 1710 4620 3200 1'73 95... 209 11 64 2,433 00 468 83 15 68 79 80 9800 4546 102 00 3960 7854 5600 3,416 91.. 215 11 64 2,504 00 420 19 55 44 104 22 77 25 5057 7500 3637 10658 13 10 3,442 73 1.. 264 732 1,93400 512 31 70 50 142 50 175 00 73 50 111 00 6000 140 25 10000 3 31906...... 47 16 49' 775 00 126 82 44 35 9 0320 521 37 00 750 26 26............ l 064 04...... 1465...-..... 15,932 50 3,12060 549 49 807 26 967 15 322 93 562 75 305 12 654 80 33704 1 3,559 64 $16 08 WEST OP THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 347 SToPING is universally conducted by opening a level below the body of ore to be extracted, and working upward on the vein. On the Cominstock, the openings made in mining the ore are so large that a complicated system of timbering is requisite to replace the material extracted. A rectangular system of timbers is usually adopted, the posts being about seven feet in length, 12 inches square, and placed about five feet apart from centre to centre. These are retained in their places by "caps" and "sills," and further to secure the mine each floor, as far as practicable, is filled up with waste material as soon as it is worked out. In early days too little attention was paid to this last precaution, resulting in extensive " caves" or giving way of the ground from the superincumbent pressure. If a body of ore is entirely extracted the result is not serious; but should any' remain untouched, the cost and difficulty of securing it after a "cave" has occurred in its vicinity is usually greatly increased from the broken and shattered condition of the ground. The quantity of timber used in these stopes is immense, as will be seen by the details of the annual consumption on a future page. Any means which would diminish its price would be a great gain to the entire community. PnosPEcTING for new ore bodies forms a serious item in the cost of mining on the Comstock. When the great and irregular width of the vein, the irregular distribution of the ore bodies, the uncertainty of their occurrence, and our imperfect knowledge of the structure of the vein are taken into consideration, the difliculty of laying out prospecting Works to the best advantage becomes apparent. Immense sums of money are spent annually in this kind of work, which must be taken entirely from the pockets of the shareholders whena mine is unproductive. If only moderately productive the entire revenue may be consumed in looking for more valuable bodies of ore; at the same time, the certainty of being richly rewarded for years of waiting if they are found, induces the continuation of work on mines which have not yielded a dollar for years. They are known on the main fissure of the Coinmstock to be surrounded by good property, and may become valuable at any moment. The Hale and Norcross mine is a good illustration. The following extract is taken from the annual report of the president of the company, for 1866: Heretofore the entire expense of opening themine, erecting machinery, &c., had to be borne from money collected by assessments, until they aggregated the sum of $350,000, equal to $875 per foot. For the year just ended the trustees have been enabled to returnto the stockholders, in dividends, the sum of $490,000, equal to $1,225 per foot, or. in oneyear to repay the assessments collected in five years, with the handsome sum of $350 per foot in addition, besides carrying over the large surplus in cash of $133,288 99, equal to a further sum of $333 22 per foot, making altogether the handsome profit, in one year, of $1,558 22 per foot, or 155 per cent. on the par value of the stock. In this connection the advantages of a community of knowledge and interest among the mining superintendents would be of immense value, the experience of all becoming available by each, thus reducing the cost of explorations by showing in what portion of the different mines deposits of ore are most likely to be found, and thus directing attention more particularly to them. Every dollar spent on an unproductive mine is so much taken out of the aggregate net profits of the mining interest, and every dollar which can be saved would be equal to the same amount distributed in dividends. But because a mine on the Comstock is unproductive to-day, is no reason why it should be abandoned. Tlie only point to be considered is how it may be developed in the most economical manmner, and the plan suggested above appear~ to afford a solution of the difficulty. The inefficient character of the results obtained by many comrnpanies working on the Comstock lode, when compared with the money expended, is well known to persons familiar with our mines, and can only be remedied by some such organization. 348 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Number of engines on the lode. Hoisting. Pumping. Hoisting ad pumping. Name of mine. 5 I _ Allen................................................ 1 30 Nsierra Nevada............................. 1 60 1 200............. Ophir Mexican...................................... 2 30 1 200..... Sides...........................................................................:.... 50 Gould & Curry....................................... 2 60 1 150............ Savage, old shaft....................................... 1 60................... — 3' i"....... Savage, new shaft.....................................3 60 1 250............ Hale & Norcross, old shaft.1.....................e 1... 1... 60 1 150.................. Sale & Norcro, n ew shaft................................... PotIde &.orross, o s............................. 1 20 Chollar Potosi......1 Bullion.............................................. 1 60 1 60......... Exchequer......................................... 1 60 Alpha...... I............................................................................................ 1 60 Imperial....................................................................................... 1 30) E~mpire........................................................................................ 2 30 Eclipse............................................................. Plato & Bowers............................ 10 ] Consolidated......................................... 20 Challenge...1 33 Chollar oo......................................... Confidence............................................ 23 Yellow Jacket, old shaft.................. 1 60?....................... Yellow Jacket, new shaft................... 2 60 1 100?...... Kentuck........................................................ 1 Crown Point........ 40 40.......................................... Belcher............................................. 1 60 1 40 Seg. Belher................................................ 2 30 overman............................................ 1 40 1 60....... North Americian............................................... 1 3 Total.22.......... 11............ 16...... Plt&.................................. / * Donkey engine. These engines were almost universally, in early times, attached to friction hoisting gear, but the increase of depth attained has almost banished this mode of operation, the great weight of the rope and cart rendering it unsafe. Flat wire ropes have almost entirely'superseded the hemp ropes originally employed. For hoisting ore cages are employed in all instances, buckets being used only for sinking in the shafts. These cages are fitted with a variety of appliances to insure safety in case of accident to the ropes or hoisting machinery. i PumPs.-The largest pumps in use are 14 inches in diameter; the greater number, however, range from 10 to 12 inches. The amount of water to contend with varies greatly in different mines, being, as a whole, more abundant in the north end of the lode. The Ophir Mexican pump throws about 300 gallons per minute, and must be run steadily to keep the mine free of water. The Bullion mine, about one mile to the southward, is comparatively dry, and in most cases a few hours' pumping daily is sufficient to rid it of water. * Small pumping machinery would generally be sufficient was there not always a risk of tapping bodies of water dammed up by the clay seams in the vein already spoken of. These reservoirs generally yield a large volume when first struck, but rapidly diminish to a small stream. The machinery must be adequate, however, to the duty imposed upon it at such times, otherwise serious detention and damage may be the result. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS..49 AMOUNT OF ORE RAISED FROM THE MIINES.-The amount of ore raised from the mines on the Comstock lode may be put down at the present time at about 1,500 tons daily, and the total amount raised since the commencement of operations at about 2,000,000 tons. The following table, compiled by S. H. Marlette, the surveyor general of Nevada, from i'eturns made to the assessor, for the year 1866, shows the number of tons produced quarterly by the several mines which yielded more than $20 per ton. Some mines, owning mills of their own, work rock yielding as low as $15 per ton, but no record of this becomes public, and is very difficult to obtain, chiefly owing to disinclination on the part of owners of unincorporated mines to make their operations public. The table also shows the yield of the ore per ton.'YIELD OF ORE PER TON.-From information furnished by the superintendents of the following mines, the yield per ton appears to beSavage miine-30,250 tons produced in the last six months of 1866, yielded an average of $42 93 per ton. Hale and Noreross mine-16,836 tons produced in the same time, yielded an average of $50 33 per ton. Gould and Curry mine-62,425 tons produced in 1866, yielded an average of $28 64 per ton. The following table shows the number of tons of ore, worth more than $20 per ton, produced quarterly by mines on the Comstock lode, names of the mines, and yield of some of the ores: ORE PRODUCT OF MINE.* ORE SOLD. Companies. Firstquarter. Second quarter. TtThird quarter. alFourth quarter. First quarter. Second quarter. Third quarter. Fourth quarter.. Total. 0 Tons. Perton. Tons. Perton. Tons. Perton. Tons. Perton. Tons TPre. TonsPrer. T oPrice pr Tons. Price pr. Tone Price pr. Pricepr Tons. Per tn u.Pro, Petton. ton. ton. T ton s. Utah. Allen...................... Sierra Nevada..... Union.N.............. Ophir.1, 596 $44 91 4,562$ $28 28 1, 878 $27 10 430 $26 94 8,.466$-..........'.......::..'.................:...... Mexican.............. 100 30 00 676 37 79................ 776................ 35 $2 85................ 0 Central............... California................ Central No. 2...... Kinney................... White &Murphy.... Sides................ Best & Belcher....... Gould & Curry...... 1547 32 64 11,897 37 60 15,'100 25 00 13,883 23 00 54,427.'.'.,.'.......:'::.:..::::::::.:........ Savage............... 7,224 50 23 6,042 45 84 9, 197 46 61 [16.038 40 67 38,521 289 $3 00........ Hale & Norcross. —---- 2,658 26 17$ 5,796 38 34 7,974 49 16 8,457.1 53 12 24,885.1............. i................................ Chollar-Potosi.....8, 144 24 66 10,553$ 23 87 7, 811$ 24 09 9,164$ 22 51 35, 653$ 1, 189$ 4 79 791$ 4 33...................1,980$,:Bullion............... A pple & Bates........................~~~~~~~791 4 3........................................................................:Exchequer...... - Alpha................ 1.. Apple & Bates..... Emperial. 6,059 23 54..............43 55 76 231 8,353 29 39026 339 Eclipse............... 1,617$ 24 67 960 21 17 2,830 20 85 4,180 20 87 9,587$ 1,309] 9 69$ 1,229$ 10 00'..:. 2,5381 Trench............... 1,6924$ 25 25................................................................................................... - - Bowers'.............. 1,415 20 IS................................................ 1,415............................................... Piute. 920$ 21.82.3,056.204....., 96.... J. D. Winters & Co......................... 3,598 26 55............ 3,598 1,2 05 5 63 362.9...... 532 $4 15....2,099.91 Consolidated 21 feet... 1,.797 21 86$[ 2,660 23 88 3,100 22 12$1 2,848 21 87$ 10,405 976 6 59$.976 Gold Hill Q. M.& M. Co. 712 28 25 1,849 21 55 1,079 31 16 734 29 84 4,374 937 4 64[.93........7.......... Challenge..................... 854$- 27 26................................. 854.................................8............... Confidence.1,362 22 27 2,126 26 22.8.....................,488 496 5 00 784 7 33.................. Burke, Hamilton & Co.',05 ~-"'1.i,~ we, -'',.,7 — 2, 6o,'8 =9 "35,2 ~'23.985 - ------ ------- ----....... 1, 8)' 0 Yellow Jacket1.........10, 27 07 78, 570$....................... Kentuck 1,043 42 49 2.526.2 31 50 6. 350$ 37 551 7,656 26 89 17, 575.82. Crown Point.......... 8,133 44 06 8,368$ 40 23 6, 956 33 64$ 10,737 36 15 34,194............................. 2 50 1,142 $2 50 1,471 Belcher............. Segregatedhr. Beicher...::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,::::262$:::::::24:::::00.::::::... Overman (.)..........'..... Baltimore American (?............... WEST. OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 351 COST OF MINING PER ToN.-The following items are from official sources Savage mine-average cost per ton of the last six months of 1866. Officials............................................................ $0 39 Extracting ore -...................................... 3 00 Prospecting......................... —------—..... 65 Accessory work............................................................. 1 64 Improvements.........................-.................................... 2 04 Incidental expenses............... —.1......................... 1 10 Total cost per ton................................................... 8 82 Gould and Curry mine-average cost per ton for the 12 months ending November 302 1866. Officials................................................ $0 21 Prospecting and dead work.................-............................ 2 11 Extracting................................................................. 3 10 Accessory. 1 82 Improvements. —---------------- ---—..- 62 Total cost per ton...................................-........... 7 86 Hale and Norcross mine-average cost per ton for the 12 months ending March 20, 1867. Managerial........................................ $0 31.7 Hoisting. 2 38. 7 Mlining. 4 79 Hoisting.....................................a................... 2 38:7 Mining.............................................................. 4 79 Improvements.. —------------------------—... —----------— 65.9 Incidentals..................................... 92.9 Total cost per ton..................................................... 9 08.2 These results show a marked improvement on previous years, and enable lower grade ores to be workedmore profitablythan was formerly the case. Some portion of the diminution in cost is due to the lower price of material, but by far the greater part to more efficient management and systematization of labor. '352 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tabular list of mills crushing ore from mines Names, Owners. Location..0 STOREY COUNTY. Atlas............... aggin & Tevis...........Lower Gold ill.1861 $35, 000 $21,000 Atwood's........... George Atwood.........-. Flowery (Six Mile Creek).... 35, 000 19, 550 Bay State.......... Bay State Mill Co.......... American Flat.............. 40, 000 24, 000 Bowers'............ L. S. Bowers.............. Crown Point Ravine, (G.H.).. 1C0, 000 15, 400 Central............. J. B. Dickenson........... Virginia......................, 23, 000 Crown Point (1). CrownPointG.&S. M. Co. CrownPointRavine,(G.H.).. 1862 40, 000 20, COO Comet (1). New York&NevadaM. Co. Gold Hill.. 40, 000 -- Douglas (1)......... C. S. Wheeler............. LowerGold Hill............1862 40, 000 1 2(, 000 Eclipse..Elipso M. & M. Co........ Gold Hill.................... 50, 000 35, 000 Empire State....... Wm. Sharon, Agent. Seven Mile Cahon........... 35, 000 8, 800 Empire No. I (1)... W. S. Hobart............. Virginia.....................860 75, 000 12, 000 Empire No. 2 (1).... Empire M. & Al. Co........ Lower Gold Hill.............1860 80, 000 26, 500 Geld Hill........... Gold Hill Q. Al. & M. Co... Gold Hill.....1860 30, 0C0 25, 000 Gould & Curry..Gould & Curry M. Co...... Seven Mile Caion........... 380, 000 305, 000 Hoosier State.. Clark & Hearst............ Virginia.....................1862 40, 000 14,730 Imperial..Imperial S. M. Co.. Lower Gold Hill.1860 75, 000 40, 000 Land's........... Charles Land.............. Seven Mile Cation............ 60, 000 15, 000 Mariposa........... J. V. MeCurdy.do.20, 000 10,100 Marysville (1)... O'Neale, Rule & Glasier... Lower Gold R:11................... 50, 600 12, 000 Ogden............... 0. S. Carvill............... Virginia.. 50, 000 24, 000 Pacific.. Sharon & Co.............. Lower Gold Hill.............1863 75, 000 45, 600 Petaluma (1)....... Greely Bros......................do.................. 30, 000 12, 500 Piute............... M. Livingston....................do. 1863 80, 000 47, 000 Rhode Island....... Crown Point G. & S. M. Co. Gold Hill...................1862 300, C00 48, U00 Rigby's (1)......... Rigby & Co.............. American Flat.............. 25,000 10, 100 Rogers's (S). Rogers S.N'. Co......... Seven Mile Caion............ 1662 23, Coo 10, 400 Sapphire.......... W. S. Hobart.............. Lower Gold Bill.1861 60, 000 23, 000 Simcooc.......... A. Bassett & Co........... Seven Mile Cation............ 35, 000 15, tOO Stevenson's (1)..C. C. Stevenson........... Gold Hill............ 1860 15, C00 5, 000 Succor (1).......... O'Neale, Rule & Co.. Lower Gold Hill.. 50, 060 22, 500 Summit............ Mason, Carville &WWright..[ Virginia....................."(1) 50, 000 20,525 Union.............. Wm. Kidd................. Gold till..................... 1861 25, 000 10, 000 Winfield..........L. A. Booth............... Seven Mile Cation........... 80, 000 19, 000 Total.....33..................................2, 000, C00 9513, 705 LYON COUNTY. Bacon.............. Lowe & Fair.............. Silver City.............. 1863 085,....... Birdsall&Carpenter Birdsall & Carpenter....... Dayton.... 1865 (1)110,000....... Cole & Co. Cole &................. Jolmntown................... 1864 10, 000....... Confidence......... Confidence M. Co.......... Silver City.................. 1861 35, 000..... — Dayton No. I....... Winters, Rilstell & Co. Dayton..................... 1861 50, C....... Dayton No. 2 (1). do. do.do..................... 1864 40, 000. Daney............. Dancy M. & M. Co........ 3 miles from Dayton.... 1863 70,000........ Eagle........................................... Silver City..................[1864. Eastern Slope....... Stevenson, Winters & Co... Below Silver City........... 1862 60 000. Eureka............ Wheeler, Hurd & Dunker.. Carson River, near Dayton... 1861 100, 000....... Excelsior........ John Briggs............... Johntown................... 1861 25, 000. Franklin........... Win. Sharon, agent........ Carson River, near Dayton... 1861 50,000 --—.... Gold Cation Reduc- Win. Sharon, agent........ Silver City..................1861 40, 000. tion Works. Golden E agle.......O'Neale, Rule & Co........ Carson River, near Dayton... 1861. Illinois............. Win. Sharon, agent..............do..........do. 1864 30, 000........ Imperial (Rock Pt). Imperial M. Co..................do..........do........ 1861 250,000. Island.............. O'Neale, Rule & Co.. do...... do. 1862 40, 000. Monitor......H...... tirschman & Co........... Gold Cation, near Dayton.... 1865 6, 000....... Ophir (New)........ Ophir S. M. Co............ Carson River................ 864 75, 000 Phoenix No. 1 (1)... Hentsch and Berton........ Below Silver City........... 1861 40, 000....... Pioneer (I)......... Sheldon & Hickok......... Silver City.................. 1861 40, 000....... Sacramento (1)..Hunt, Woodruff & Co...... Johntown................... 1861 50, 000...... San Francisco...... Charles Schad.Carson River, near Dayton... 1860 40, 000 -.-...... Swansea.. V......... Sharon, agent.......... Johntown................... 1862 60, 0- -. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 353 on the Comstock lode during' the year 1866. STAMPS. WHEELS. WATER, WOOD. I~~~~~~~ Motive power.,] o a.. Kind.' 0, ~i a 00 Steam.' a36 15. 600..............................4.............. 4 $13 do.................... 16......................................4..........1.......... 41....do.................... 203060 0........................................ 4 14.... do.................... I~ _~ 0.............................................do.......... 25 1 0-700 9 70........................................ 5 1....d~o.297041.............. "16......................................1........../1.......... 4 1 _.o............ do65 7..............................4 N _.do.......... 3 5 8 500 9 70....................5.................... 14.... do. 16.............. 5 6 1 6 91.......... 15....do. 6 16 650 980.............................. 14...4 Io 7............... 4 10800 8 78....................8...........4......... 3 14' do.................... 15......................................0.................... 4 4....do............... 20 8 750 9 70................................. 3....... 14 do.............. 6 600 8....6 14 ~~~~~~6 6098........................ 0........... _5 -' —-- ~~~~~~~~~~I...d.......... 0 6 ~ /0..................../........../..../....... S I1...... do(1)12............... do............... 19/.-.......... 7....4.................................. 80 30 650 10.............8....................... 144 do...........................................3.............1....4............do.............. 0 20 650 1 70.....................1................... 3 14............... (1)150 25 650 10 80....................8.................... 6 14........... 10.................................4. -...do.................... o0................,....................................... 5 z...... 3..... 45 16 750 980.................... 16... 5................................(2)8.500 6..........2114............................................' 0.............0........................................... 6'I 4 2...... 2 625 7......7.6.................... 4....o... 40 14 10 60....................2.................... 1. 14.... do.............. 1..5.s..o..o......................................... $..................... Steam............. 60 2.0 720 10 75................8 $1 IV, ater................... 30 613 9 85 Overshot.................... 1 Steam.. 20 5 480 9..........................2 L".....o...... 35 (1)12 900.................5 W~ater............ 20 600 10 75 2-centraldischarge 51 12 1, 500 1 841 Steam......... 60 15 800 10 75......5 8.....do... 45 15 550o.6 Water............ 5 400......Overshot...... 37.... 100 1. Steam........ 60 12 1, 100 10 50...................... 6 11 Water............ 20 650...... Turbine..............2, 500 3. Steam.. 40 10 650....... 21 Water... 0 600........Central discharge................ 500 2 Steam............. 30 15 700 9 75o.,.... 6 6. 12)... 4 0o.................10 850............................3.................... 3.......3 24........................................................... 10 Steam and water... 50 56 16-1 8' 80 2-Overshot.....11, 141 3,600 61~ 10 -do........ 25 10 720.....Central discharge. 2 4.5.... 1, 800 4. Water............. 5 450.32 32,200....... _ do............. 40 24 650. / 9 Turbine.......... 1 50 14......1 I / 10 Steam............ 45 16 650...............................6.........do.............. 45 15 700................................................. 6 Steam............./'"5o'1 ]L~/ 8oo /~~/?~/...................6.................................. _do.........." 40 12........ 5 Steam and water 30 10 650. Central discharge.. 10....1,10 3,Steam.4 190.... 5....."4' o 2team............. 40 700 9.75....................3..................... 23~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i"l"~~.. 354 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tabular list of mills crushing orefrom mines on the Names. Owners. Location.. "'~~~~~~- m' _, ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 a.0 U LYON COUNTY.-Con. Trench............. Joseph Trench............ Silver City.................. 1861 $75, 000........ Weston's (1)......- Win. Weston.............. Johntown................... 162 35, 000...... Weston's (1)........W. Wm.eston.................... do..................... 1862 8, 000..... Total........ 27................................................................ 1, 424, 000....... 25 mills......... ORM5SBY COUNTY. Brunswick......-. Williams & Sharon........ 1 mile below Empire......... 1863 $50, 000........ Carson.............- W. Sharon, agent.......... 3 miles west of Carson....... 1862 25, 000........ Merrimac (1)....... Rice & Yerring ton........1. 1 mile below Empire........ 1862 100, 000........ Mexican (1)........ Alsop & Co............... Empire.-.............. 186-2 300, 000........santiago...........- Santiago M. Co......... 4 miles below Empire, on 1862 100, 000........ Carson river. Sierra.............. Beach & Harrington....... 3 miles west of Carson............. 25, 000........ Vivian............. P. Frothinghan........... 3- miles below Empire....... 1860 75, 000....... Yellow Jacket...... Yellow Jacket M. Co...... Empire...................... 1864 150, 000...... Total....... 8................................................ 825, 000........ WVASHOE COUNTY. Atchison........... Savage Co................ Washoe..................... 1862 $75, 000........ Buckeye........... Lambert & Co................... do..................... 1863 60, 000.... Manhattan (1)...... New York & Nevada Co......... do..................... 1863 100, 000....... Minnesota...... Savage M. Co................... do........................... 75, 000........ Napa. —-J — --- James Hill & Co........... Galena................. 34, 000 New York & Washoe New York & Washoe Co... Washoe.................... 1863 100, 000....... Ophir Reduction Ophir M. Co............... Franktown............ 1862 150,000........ Works (1.) Temelec........... Baldwin & Bonner......... Washoe.................... 1865 60, 000...... * Washoe Valley Re- J. H. Dall................. Franktown.................. 1863 140, 000..... duction Works. Total........ 9............................7.................................... 794, 000........ WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 355 Comstock lode during the year 1866-Continued. STAMPS. WHEELS. WATER. WOOD. Motive power. 4 n..8.0 ~ Kind. - H ": 0 0 ~ ) -... i Steam............. 30 20 600 6............ _..do............. 40 15 550 9 80.................................. 4~ 1 Water.............1...... 0 250 9 70 Overshot.......... 40 42 o80 11 424........................... 29 -.. 29......................................................................... 395.................................................................... Water................... 8 1, 000 10 80 Central discharge............ 21...... I 7i....do................... 10....................................................... 1 6....do................... 20.......................................................... 2 7jSteam and water......44..... 4 i7 Water................... 24.................. 2 —Central discharge....... i 7..-.do............. 8.... 1 6 Steam and water......... 16 650 10 80 Central discharge.. 7 14..... 9 Water................... 40.......................................................... 1 71.......................... 170. Steam.............. 20..........6................ Steam and water......... 24. —-------- -------- -------------------- ---------- ----------- 6. Steam 16.......................................................... 6 team and wter......... 20.......... Steam................... 4.8 - -.do.........~.......... 72.................................i.......... i.......... 20 Steam and water.5.6..... Steam and water......... i15........................................................... 6....... do............. 300 60.................. Breast............ 60.......... 20........................... 261.......................................................... 82.. 356 ~RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tabular list of mills crushing ore from mines on the C; Names. Owners. Location. ~' -3 8 0 aW STOREY COUNTY. Atlas.............- Iaggin & Tevis........... Lower Gold Hill -. - 1861 25 1- 11 Atwood's.......... George Atwood............ Flowery (Six Mile Creek)-.......... 20 4...... Bay State-......Bay State Mill-Co -.....American Flat —.......... 35 2 --- Bowers' L.S. Bowers.............. Crown Point Ravine, (G. H)........ 25' 12 Central - J. B. Dickenson Virginia.................... —......- 12...... Crown Point (I). -.Crown Point G. & S. M. Co Crown Point Ravine, (G. H).. 1862 8 0 6 Comet (............- New York & Nevada M. Co. Gold Hill...................20 0 13 1)ouglas (1).-....C. S. Wheeler............. Lower Gold Hill - 1. /862 16 1: 13 Etlipse ------------ Eclipse M. & M. Co........ Gold Hill....... 25 0 15 Empire State....... Win. Sharon, agent........ Seven Mile Caion............-...... 15 3...... Empire No. 1 (1).W. S. IHobart............. Virginia..................... 1860.301 1j 16 Empire INo. 2 (1) Empire M. & M. Co........ Lower Gold Hill.............1860 15 Gold Hill- Gold 1-Jill Q. Il. & M. Co -.. Gold Hill....................186 17 14 Gould & Curry... God & Crry M. Co- Seven Mile Caon.........1...... Hoosier State... Clark & Hearst............ Virginia..................... 1862 13 J 12 Imperial........... Imperial S. M. Co.......... Lower Gold Hill............. 1860 30 [ [30 Land's............ Charles Land.............. Seven Mile Canon.................. 30 33 Mariposa........... J. V. McCurdy..................do........................... 15 2...... Marysville (1)...... O'Neale, Rule & Glasier.... Lower Gold Hill............. 1...... 8 1....... Ogden............0. S. Carvill............... Virginia........................... 20 1+ 4...... Pacific............. Sharon & Co.............. Lower'old Hill............. 1863 50 1- I 8 Petaluma (1)....... Greely Bros.......do........................... 12 1 9 Piute.............. M. Livingston... -...... do.....................1863 40 1~I 14 Rhode Island....... Crown Point G. & S. M. Co. Gold Hill 1862 50 / 1 5 Rigby's (1)......... Rigby & Co............... American Flat.................... 12 2 —..... Rogers' (1). —-----— Rogers S. M. Co........... Seven Mile Cation............ 1862 12 l ~/...... Sapphire..........W. S. Hobart.............. Lower Gold l.............G H - 1861 28 1 I7 Sincooc........... A. Bassett & Co........... Seven Mile Cation.................. 5 3...... Stevenson'sO). C. C. Stevenson........... Gold 1ill.................... 1860 5. 5 Succor (1)......... O'Neale, Rule & Co....... Lower Gold Hill................... 26 21. Suinmnit............Mason, Carville & Wright.. Virginia...........(1 35 1 20 Union........Wmn. Kidd.........Gold Hill.......... 1861 14 8 Winfield..........L. A. Booth............... Seven Mile Cation............ 30 3 Total......33.............................................................3846 481 -263 19 mills. LYON COUNTY. Bacon............. Lowe & Fair.............. Silver City............. 1863 30 3 18 Birdsall& Carpenter Birdsall & Carpenter....... Dayton............... 1865 75 7S 721 Cole &Co.......... Cole & Co................. Johntown.. 1864 5 5 5 Confidence........ Confidence M. Co. Silver City............. 1861 14 /2 9 Dayton No. 1..... Winters, Kiistell & Co..... Dayton............... 1861 20 7 10 Dayton No. 2 (1).... do.........do...............do............... 1864 30 7 15 Daney............. Daney M. & M. Co......... 3 miles from Dayton......... 1863 20 61 10 Eagle.......................................... Silver City.................. 1864 11. 3 2 Eastern Slope...... Stevenson, Winters & Co. - Below Silver City............ 1862 20 31 it Eureka........... Wheeler, Hurd & Dunker. - Carson River, near Dayton.. 1861 22 611 t Excelsior.......... John Briggs............... Johntown.............. 1863 18 5 9 Franklin........... Win. Sharon, agent........ Carson River, near Dayton.. 1861 16 8 11 Gold Cation Refine- Win. Sharon, agent. Silver City..................1861 25 3 13 lion Works. Golden Eagle...... N Neale, Rule & Co........ Carson River, near Dayton.. 1861 18 7 13 Illinois............. —Win. Sharon, agent...... do..... do1864 18 7 10 Imperial (Rock Pt.). Imperial M. Co.do..........do... 18... i$61 90 7 48 Island............. O'Neale, Rule &Co do.......d..do......... 1862 19 7 it) Monitor............ Hirschman & Co........... Gold Caiion. near Dayton.... 1865 3 7 3 Ophir (New)....... Ophir S. M. Co............ Carson River............ 1864 40 71 13 Phoenix No. 1 (1)...- Hentsch & Berton.......... Below Silver City............ 1861 I20 31 10 Pioneer (1)......... Sheldon & Hickok......... Silver City 1861 23 21 12 Sacramento (1)..... Hunt, Woodruff & Co...... Johntown...................1861 18 5 12 San Francisco...... Charles Schad Ci.e, Carson H... 186 Swansea........... W. Sharon, agent.......... Johntown................... 1862 20 41 I14 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 357 Comstock lode during the year 1866-Continued. PANS. 0 - ~~~~~~~~'-0 $1 75 1 250..................... 4.........o... 5 o............'.......0...... 250.................. 1 4"1 8............ 7....I........ 1 40 75 M 10o........,2 30......................... 1........ 700 0~~~~~~~ T ~~~~~~~~~~~~...... 75 6 8.......... - - - - - - -.......... 25 0,~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~::::::i:,,.oo...... 35 ~ ~ ~0.......................................... o 0.0. 0' 0.:::.....lo 00...... o. 4.............. () 2........................ 700 $175 $00 8 4...... 150 6 o o........(... 25"0 Z:::.1.7..~..1,0 75 () 5 100...(2) 30...................... 4......................... 475.............(1)...100.(2). 49. (2) 41................. 3 670 7500 200 6 8.....1. 320 75 350............6 700 8..7'.........1.. 41 300...... 49.. 00. (1)~~~.... 20.... 2... *2.............. 2........... 7500 1 75 3 00............*900 875 300......12...6.. 1,00 1'00' 00....... 12....'..00 75 300 74...... (2) 13.......... 2. 1, 50.... 150 2.......... 6....................().. 6.100 75...........2.500 2......10 175 40......5... (1)5...2 1,305 1(10.7. 150.....18..3... 300 1'00 30......1.2 "'.::::......... 6.. 1 1,20 70 400...(2) 1 4 2.1 130 150..00......5..4..400 12 0 20 56.. 2 1(1) 185.................... 1, 00 7o~1 (~..3) (1>......i.,o5 50 2...... 11.. 1 00 300........ 17.. 2....... 4..0...... 4 0 100 2 4.....':..1..400........... 4. (B) 1-1.1,000. - 5,380.... 27... 305.... 91.. 93.... 9 10 17.... 4. 8... 26,820 200....17......................................4 2..........00 3005...... $5...................2... (2 10... 5.... (B).... 1..1. 1,900 300......... 2......................2........ 1 175......... 5 3..... 50 3250.............. 0.........6... (2 2 3 2.1'I..... 510 f 3500.......... 1............ I............8 4 3.... 8500 325.... $5............ 2 —-- ----------...503 2 500...:...... 2..............4 0o 1 50................... 6.....(1) 1...... 5500 325.....() 7......... 10......2 (1) 7.B)()1 1...,1400 3 00........ 18.........................1........530 425.......... 5....... 2 2......... 2..................... 75'. 450.................. ( 7........ 6................. 9600 350...2....1...O 3 0..............2.......500 30O0. (1)27..) 14. 1 75 (B)(21 1+04 00 300.8........ 2-..................................... 3..00................ 650 0ow.. 8 t.4. 3001-. 1 o0 275~~~~~~~~~~~~51eo (1) /.3..... 600o 4 ilb,0 e ot.05 osprmnh coe 15, 186...(f) ~ ~ tow2,0 tn.... 358 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Tabular list of mills fromn mines crushing ore on the Names Owners. Location. c LYON COUNTY.-Con.. n 2 Trench............ Joseph Trench............. Silver City.................. 1861 30 2[ 15 Weston's (1) -.Win. Weston.............. Johntown................... 1862 25 4 15 Weston's (1)....... Wm. Weston.........-.....,,,... do,, 1862 7 4 4 Total.... 27... -........................-3............1...... 4 315 4 - 637J%3............ ORI-ISBY COUNTY. Brunsw4ck......... Williams & Sharon.........I mile below Empire......... 1863 20 9} 10 Carson............. W. Sharon, agent.......... 3 miles west of Carson....... 1862 11 18...... MIerrimac (1)....... Rice & Yerringtonl......... 1' mile below Empire........ 1862 30 9..... Mexican (1)........ Alsop & Co................ Empire............... 1862 45 9..... Santiago........... Santiago M. Co...........- 4 miles below Empire, on 1862 45 8...... Carson river. Sierra............. Beach & Harrington....... 3 miles west of Calrson9........... 9 18 Vivian..........P. Frothingham............ 3. miles below Empire....... 860 30 9 9 Yellow Jacket- Yellow Jacket M. Co-....... Empire-...................... 11864 90 8[. Potal. 8 -.................................. 280.. WVASHOE COUNTY. Atchison........... Savage Co................. Washoe..................... 1862 30 14...... Buckeye........... Lambert & Co................... do........-..... 1863 20 14..... Manhattan (1)...... New York & Nevada Co......... do.................... 1863 45 13......:Minnesota --------- Savage M. Co.............-......do..................... 30 14 Napa.............. James Hill & Co-............ Galena............................ 15 14...... NevwYork&Washoe New York & Washoe Co -. Washoe..................... 1863 45 14...... Ophir Reduction Ophir M. Co............... Franktown............... 1862 33 16 43 Works (1.? Temelec........ Baldwin & Bonner......... Washoe.................... 1865 30 14...... *Washoe ValleyRe- J. H. I)all................. Franktown............ 1863 60............ Auction Works. Total..................... Total..9:,..................:,,,,,............0. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 3b9 CGomstock lode during the year 1866.-Continued. PANS. -4. $1 75................................................................................,.. So0 2............................... 9........................ 700 2 00.......................................................................................... 200..-.d. 70.....76 51. 70 49 24 69 27 3 1.............................. 61. —--- ---- 64 26.............. 4 00.............................8............ 8 4............... 1 600.......................................................................................................................... 4 15...... 1 (1) 6 10.., 350,.'..................................... *....................... 12i60'.............................'1]4 4.9,,; 1...... (B) 1 1...... -,, 100............:.:.'......................................................::....... 3 75........................... 8..........- 4 1 (1) 1T 756........................................ 30 15 2.......... 2 2,300...............4..... 4 37 6 9 38 13 2 3..........1. _= 1. _ _ __...._200.......................,..................................... 1...... 700....8..................................................... 8................... 1, 30 ~...... ~1.......................... 16 1....., 000.................................................. b..................................................................... 1 6 8......... 1 1, 300....................................................................................... 3 50.................................. 1........................ 0.............................................................. m....... 48........... 22 33................. o 6.. (2) 2 1', 725 48. 22 33 5 5 2. *By wet process 1,000, and dry 260 tons. tfFull capacity 750 tons. *Wet, 1,050; dry, 675 tons. 360 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES NOTES ON MILLS. STOREY COUNTY. Bowers (1)-Paid this for 5 months only; has been idle four months; new running, with own water; (2) 5-foot pans. Central (1)-To Virginia and Gold Hill Water Companies; also, pays $ — to Ophir Comipany. (2)-Hepburn and Peterson's, working 500 tons per month wet; four furnaces and six barrels, working 170 tons dry. Crown Point (1)-Just dismantled; engineused to drain mine. Comet (1)-Been idle for seven months; just started again. Do,glas (1)-10-inch cylinder, 30-inch stroke, 26 plain pans. Empire No. I (1)-Increasing stamps to 21; capacity to be 40 tons per day; to employ 16 men, 27 Wakelee pans. Emnpire No. 2 (1)-Concentrators and two stamps for breaking. Empire State ( l)-4-foot pans. Gold Hill (1 )-6-foot tubs. Hoosier State (1)-With steam chambers. Land's (B)-Throughout the table designates Blake's breakers. Mariposa (1)-Also oie prospecting stamp; (2) large. -larysville (1) —30 5-foot plain pans. Pacific (1)-Large. Petaluma (1)-Stamps being increased to 16; capacity to 26 tons per day; men to 11; wood to five cords; adding eight improved Wheeler pans, four settlers and one agitator. Pinte (1)-8-foot settlers. Rhode Island (1)-18-inch cylinder; (2) 7-foot pans. Rigby's (1)-One extra pan and settler for tailings and one barrel. Rogers's (1)-Not running for four months. Saphire (1 )-Wheeler. Simcooc (1)-Improved. Stevenson (1)-8,-inch cylinder; (2) Howland's rotary battery; can crush seven tons and amalgamate five tons per day; (3) small. Succor (l)-24 Wakelee fiat-bottomed pans. Summit (1)-Burnt and rebuilt in 1863; (2) small pan and settler. LYON COUNTY. Birdsall (1)-Mill, $110,000; ditch, $40,000; total, $150,000. Carpenter (2)-Large-sized Wheeler. Dayton No. 1 (1)-Four of these for prospecting; (2) S-foot settlers; (3) Knox. Dayton No. 2 (1)-Two roasting furnaces. Eastern Slope (1)-Large. Eureka (])-Break 80 tons per day. G. C. Reduction Works (1)-5-foot pans. Imperial Rock Pt. (1)-7-foot tubs and settlers; (2) breaker, large size. Phcenix No. 1 (1)-Eight tubs and Wheeler pans. Pioneer (1)-15 tubs and Wheeler pans. Sacramento (1)-12 7-foot iron pans. Swansea (1)-6-foot tubs and one prospecting battery and pan, Trench (1)-16 fiat 7-foot pans, one excelsior and two Wheeler and Randall pans. Weston's (Steam)-(1)-Worked but about 1,000 tons of Comstock ore this year; hauling about $3 per ton. Weston's (Water)- (1)-Six flat-bottomed pans; has run but little this year for want of water ORMSBY COUNTY. Merrimac (1) —Also, one prospecting battery and pan; (2) large. Mexican (1) —Four furnaces and 10 barrels. DTivian (1 )-Hanscom's. WASHOE COUNTY. Manhattan (1)-16 panls. Ophir (1)-Working but 36 stamps-Freiberg process-nine furnaces. Reduction Wtorks-24 amalgamating barrels. Temelec (])-Large.' Washoe Valley (1)-Wheeler 12-feet breast; full capacity about 300 horse-power. Reduction Works-40 stamps used for Freiberg process, and 20 for wet; eight furnaces and 2 0 barrels for dry process; four Wheeler and Randall's pans for wet; four more Varney pans to be introduced; (2) Blake's improved saw. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 361 PROCESS OF REDUCTION.-The ores from the Comstock lode are probably the most docile silver ores found in Nevada, and the process used for their reduction is of the simplest kind. After crushing by the stamps, the large boulders being first reduced to a moderate size by hand labor or by Blake's patent crushers, the mnaterial as it passes from the battery is collected and settled ill tanks to avoid as much as possible the risk of fine particles passing off with the superfluous water. In spite of all precautions much loss is sustained from this source, experience showing that the most impalpable of the slum is the richest in proportion. Out of 40,432 tons of ore worked at the Gould & Curry mill 4,431 tons were lost in this manner. From the tanks the crushed ore is passed to the iron grinding pallns, a description of which will be found in preliminary report, pages 76 and 77. The charges vary from 500 to 1,500 pounds, according to the chlaracter and capacity of the pans used. In these pans the ore is ground from four to six hours, being in that time reduced to an almost impalpable powder. The mode of treatment varies considerably, some mill men using a variety of chemicals, such as sulphate of iron, nmuriatic and sulphuric acids, &c., while others dispense with thein almost entirely. Their object is to assist the reduction of the silver in combination, but much uncertainty exists as to their beneficial operation. Each charge is invariably mixed with a considerable amount of salt, varying withl -the richness of the ore. Towards the encl of the process the quicksilver is usually aclded, the mullers of the pans being at the same time slightly raised to prevent the grinding, or "flouri'ng " of the mercury. After a sufficient timne has elapsed to allow a thorough amalgamation, the pulp is thinned by the addition of water, and revolved in such a way as to allow the amalgam to settle to the bottom. For economy of time, this is usually accomplished in large vats called " se~tlers," especially adapted for that purpose. The refuse matter is then drawn off and treated by various methods of concentration, to be spoken of afterwards. This process is used only for second and third class ore, it being found better to employ the Freiburg process for first-class ores. The Central mill in Virginia, and the Washoe reduction works and Ophir mill in WTashoe valley are the only ones adapted to this method, the amount of ore requiring this treatment being but a small percentage of the entire product of the lode. Some mill men amalgamate in the battery while the ore is being crushed, but the practice is not by any means universal. In fact, the treatment of ores is in a great measure empirical, but little attention being given in Nevada to analytical chemistry, and the adaptation of the working processes to the results developed. In this connection the following assays or rather analyses of Comstock ores may be found of interest: Ophir mine-a first-class ore and metal produced therefrom by the Freiburg process, by George Attwood. Gangue..... —....-................................-. -.. 63. 380. 00 Silver.-..... —----— i. —. 786 41.51 Gold.... —..-...-....-........................059 1. 58 Lead....................................................... —......... 4.151 39.01 Antimony..............................087. 00 Zinc................................................................ 14.455.56 Sulphur............................................................ 7.919.00 Copper.............................................................. 1.596 17.04 Iron................................................. 5. 463.17 99. 896 99. 87......... 362 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Ore from California mine, Virginia. No. 1 made in London; No. 2 at Swansea. No. 1. No.2. Silica.-...-..... —---------—............,......,... 67.5 65. 783 Sulphur.......................................................... 8.75 11.35 Copper..-...C........................................... 1.30 1.31 Iron...................... 2.2.......................................5.28 Gold........059.57 Zinc................................. 12.85 11.307 Lead..............................................................75.145 Loss..............................................................25 Lead."'5. 75 6. 145 Loss..25 100.00 100.00 Yellow Jacket ores, second-class; by W. F. Rickard, F. C. S. White. Brown. Mixed. Gold......................005=$30 03.001= $7 52.002=$10 04 Silver.......1........-........150= 62 83. 050= 21 99.157= 65 98 Iron....................575 2.800 1.230 Lead............................. Traces. Traces. Traces. Copper............................ Traces. Traces. Traces. Sulphur.................693.160.457 Lime............. Traces..000 Traces. Silica...... ——.-98. 310 96.560 97.850 Loss...............267.429.304 100.000 $92 86 100.000 $29 51 100.000 $76 02 The difference in the composition of these ores is worthy of notice. The Ophir and California mines are situated in the northern part of the explored portion of the lode, where a much larger percentage of base metal is encountered than elsewhere. These ores are evidently unsuited to the simple process just described. The analysis of Yellow Jacket ores presents a fair sample of the general composition of second and third-class rock from the Comstock mines. It will be seen at a glance that the amount of base metal present is extremely small, the ore consisting almost entirely of sulphuret of silver and iron and native metals. COST OF REDUCTION.-The following details taken from the published reports of mining companies show a material diminution firom the cost in former years, due in great measure to improvements in machinery, systematization of labor, and increased knowledge of the method of reduction: Savage mine, average for 12 months ending July 1, 1867........................ $14 04 Savage mine, for the previous year............................................ 16 74 Hale & Noreross mine, average for 12 months ending March, ]867............... 14 26 Gould & Curry mine, average for 12 months ending November, 1866............. 13 30 The following table, fiom the report of the Gould & CurrTy Company, will show the relative proportion of the various items. It will be noticed that the total cost per ton is less than the average given above. This arises friom the fact that the company had ores worked at custom mills, the cost of which was greater than at their own mill as given below:.. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 363 Cost per ton in detail of ore reduced at the Gould & Curry mill. ~ 0 0 A-+. i5Z - 4i'4 Foreman, watchmen, and laborers....$ 71.33....................... $0 71. 33:Driving power....................... 0 58. 88 $3 97. 84..................... $0 12. 49 4 61.21 Breaking ore........................ 0...................... 0 03. 33 0 44. 65 Batteries........................... 0.....98[...........' 10. 39P 0 97. 22 Amalgamating....................... 0 76. 81 0 04. 65 0 59. 36 $~ 43. 50 $0 27. 06 $0 86. 59 0 10. 96 3 08.96 Repairs.............................. 0 84.10........................................ 0 69. 41 1 53. 41 Hauling............................................... 0 90 0 90 Totals. ----------------------- 3 90. 42 4 02. 49 0 80. 21 0 43. 50 0 27. 06 0 86. 59 1 96. 48 12 26. 78 I Great as has been the decrease in the price of reducing ores since the commencement of operations in Virginia, the construction of a railroad into Virginia from any point on the Truckee river (where fuel is abundant) would result in a still further reduction. In this connection attention is called to the following figures from the last report of the State surveyor general: STOREY COUNTY. The table contains a list of 33 mills, all steam, estimated to have cost $2,000,000, with an assessed value for 32 of $953,705, say, for the 33, $970,000, containing 607 stamps, with a crushing capacity of 846 tons per day, nearly 1.4 tons per stamp, consuming 180! cords of a weod per day, average cost about $14 per cord; total, $2,527, or nearly 83 per ton, and about $4 15 per stamp. Twenty-four mills pay the Virginia & Gold Hill Water Company $5,280 per month for water; add water tax, $130 per month; total, $5,410, cost of water per month for 24 mills, which contain 399 stamps, with a crushing capacity of 562 tons, or 14,612 tons per month of 26 days. Cost per ton of ore worked for water, 37 cents, of 52 cents per stamp. Aggregate distance of 33 mills from the mines about 48/ miles; average distance about Liz mile, (for custom mills the distance is estimated, with one or two exceptions, from the divide between Virginia and Gold Hill;) and the average cost of hauling is about $11 per ton, ranging from 70 cents to $2. 846 tons per day for 26 days would equal21,996 tons, at $3 for wood............................................. $65, 988 00 *2],966 tons, at 37 cents for water. - -......................$0.... 8, ]27 42 21,966 tons, at $11 for hauling........................................... 7, 457 50 Total per m on th for wood, water and hauling....................... 101, 572 92 ora $4 62 per ton. LYON COUNTY. Total mills, 27. Steam, 16; water, 8; steam and water, 3. Estimated cost of 15 steam, 7 water, 3 steam and water mills-$1,464,000. The 27 mills contain 424 stamps, from which deduct 4 usc for prospecting, and te hac e 420 stamps, with a crushing capacity of 641~ tons per day; from which deduct 1 mill with 10 stamps, capacity 7 tons, which has run but little during the year; also 1 mill with 15 stamps, capacity 25 tons, which has crushed but about 1,000 tons during the year of Comstock ore; and we have 25 mills with 395 stamps, with a capacity of 619 tons per day, or 1.57 tons per stamp; using 1 00 cords of wood per day, costing about $10 per cord. Total, $1,000: equal to $1 61 per ton, or $2 53 per stamp. The aggregate distance of 25 mills from the mines is about 135 milesu average distance 5.4 miles, and average cost for hauling about $2 75, ranging from $1 50 to $4 25. 25 mills employ 3 t5 men, or one man for 1.97 tons. 619~ tons per day for 26 days equal 16,107 tons; add for Weston'st steam mill 93 tons per monthly average; total per month, 16,200 tons. 16,200 tons, at $2 75 per ton for hauling..............p....o 5...... I..... $44,550 00 16,200 tons, at $2 61 per ton for wood..................................... 26, 082 00 T otal per month for wood and hauling............................... 70,632 00 or $4 36 per ton. 364 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES ORMSBY COUNTY Six water, and two steam and water mills. Estimated cost, $825,000; with 170 stamps crushing capacity, 280 tons per day, or 1.65 tons per stamp; aggregate distance from mines, 80 miles; average distance, 10 miles; average cost for hauling, say $4 per ton; 11,- cord of wood at, say. $8 per cord, $94, or 33~ cents per ton, or 55 cents per stamp. 280 tons per day for 26 days equal6,780 tons, at $4 for hauling.................................................. $27,120 6,780 tons, at 33- cents for wood2. 2,260 (;,80ton, t 3-Ecents for wrood.......=.........................................2,20t Total per month for wood and hauling.................................. 29,380 or $4 33 per ton. WASHOE COUNTY. Five steam, and four steam and water mills; estimated cost, $794,000; containing 261 stamps; crushing capacity, 308 tons per day, or 1.18 tons per stamp, consuming about 82. cords of wood at, say, $5 per cord; total, $410, or $11 per ton, or $1 57 per stamp. Average distance of mills firom mines, say 14 miles, and average cost of hauling $4 50 per ton. 308 tons per day for 26 days equal8,008 tons, at $4 50 per ton for hauling..............................$....... 36, 036 00 8,008 tons, at $1~ per ton for wood................................. 10, 677 33 Total per month for wood and hauling.-............. 46,713 33 or $5 83 per ton. From these tables it appears when wood is worth in Virginia $14 per cord, the cost of this item per ton of ore reduced is about $3. Any railroad could put wood down at the same mills for $9 per cord, with great advantage to the conmpany. This would be a saving of 85 per cord, or about S1 07 per ton. Slaking this alteration in the details of Storey county rmills, the cost of reduction per ton for the items of wood, water and hauling, the total would be $3 55 per ton, or 81 cents less than the most favorable average results at mills working Comstock ores, or $2 02 less than the most unfavorable. Competent judges estimate that by taking these ores to the Truckee river the total cost of reduction per ton would not e:iceerl about $9 or $10. PERCENTAGE OF YIELD AND Loss.-Experience has shown that for the orclinary ores of the Comstocl, 65 per cent. of the assay value of the ore is about the proportion w'liich can be extracted by the process in use, and custom mills are required to retiurn at least that proportion. Careful assays are made daily of the ore as it is raised from the mine, it being customary to take a handful of ore from each car load as it is brought to the surface, and place it in a box placed near the shaft for the purpose. Several times during the day the contents of this sample box are thoroughly mixed and several assays made of them; the average of which will show very nearly the quality of ore being raised at any particular time. In some cases the value of the ore is ascertained by sampling the contents of each wagon load as it leaves the mine, in the manner just described. ])urin g the process of reduction, assays are taken of the pulp as it leaves the batteries, which of course from the intimate admixture of the ore will be more reliable, but if amalgamation for free metal in the batteries is adopted, as at some mills, the millnmn oan gain but little idea of what he is doing, as the quantity of metal saved in the batteries is an unknown item, to be ascertained only when a thorough clean up is made. To avoid unnecessary detention from this source, which requires a stoppage of all machinery, this is not done much oftener than *about every two weeks. The following tables are valuable in this connection. The statistics from the Hale and Norcross mine maty be taken as a fair illustration of the average results, of milling operations in this section. It will be noticed that the percentage of gold lost is small compared with the silver, showing the former metal to be present chiefly in an uncombined form. The table suggests some important questions. It shows that we are losing annually about 35 per WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 365,cent. of the value of the ore mined from the Comstock. The yield of bullion last year was in round numbers, say, $15,000,000, which would show the loss to have been about $8,000,000. The enormous extent of this loss is well understood, but so far no feasible means of lessening it without diminishing the net profits on the result have been suggested, or-at-least shown to be practicable. Exceptional lots of ore will work nearer to the assay value, but only in rare instances. How small a percentage of the metal which escapes the mill is saved by future operations will appear under the next heading. The great difficulty to contendl with lies in the cost of labor and fuel. The average yield of all ores worked at the present time does not probably exceed $35 per ton, equivalent to a loss of $18 90 per ton, supposing $35 to represent 65 per cent. of the assay value of the ores. If by using the Freiburg process we saved 80 per cent., the average yield per ton would be 843 12, or an advance of $8 1.2, which would not cover the additional cost of labor and fuel. The price charged for treatment by the Freiburg process in this district is $45 per ton, with a guarantee of only SO per cent. Its non-applicability to low grade ores is at once apparent, the cost of reductioi being greater than the average yield of the ores.'To make it available, it is evident that the additional 15 per cent. of the assay value saved must cover the increased cost of reduction, which is, say, $31, so that it will prove valuable only lvwhen tlhe ores are worth $200 per ton and upwards. In practice a lower grade than tliat may be adopted, it being found by experience that the percentage of loss in working ores by the net process increases with the greater value of the mineral. Under these circumstances we must look rather to improvements on the present modes of treating the'tailings" from the mill by concentration or otherwise. HALE AND NORCROSS MINE. Table showing the assay value of the ore extracted during twelve months operations, also the yield and loss per ton, the percentage of yield and loss, and t/e entire results. Assay value of ores. Yield. Loss. ~~~Ore..... CZ a 0 CaC uw~~~~~ H P~; H P; 5z H Tons. Lbs. First six monthsGold.................... $24 39 $306, 582 90 $20 92 85. 8 $263, 043 90 $3 46 14. 2 $43, 539 00 Silver.......................... 40 79 512,895 43 21 30 12.2 267, 64 61 19 50 47.8 245,130 78 Total.............. 12, 571 1, 950 65 18 819, 478 33 42 42 64. 7 530, 808 551 22 96 3'. 3288, 669 78 Second six monthsGold.................... 29 18 468, 734 00 24 90 85. 3 400,016 18 4 28 14.6 68, 717 82 Silver.................51 64 829, 524 11 26 42 51. 2 424,:395 67 25 22 48. 8 405,128 44 Total....... 1.... 06. 16 4 30.80 82 1,298, 258 11 51 32 63. 5 824, 411 851 29 50136. 5 473, 846 26 Total for 12 monthsGold................... 27 0-7 775, 316 90 23 15 85. 5 663, 060 08 3 9214. 5 112, 256 82 Silver............. 46 88 1, 342, 419 54 24 17 51. 6 692,160 32 22 7148.4 650, 259 22 Total.28, 635 1, 980 73 95 2, 117, 736 44 47 32 63. 9 1,355, 220 40 26 63 36.1 762, 516 04 NOTE.-This table is copied from records on file in the-office of the company. The original, prepared by Mr. Thompson, was marked out to six places of decimals for the cents. The omission of these will account for its apparent trifling discrepancies. 36 6 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES GOULD AND CURRY IhNE.-Table showing the average value of the ore reduced during the year ending November 30, 1866, the yield at the mill and the loss per ton. (G. & C. annual report for 1866:) Average assay per ton.-.$...................................- $43 95 Average yield per ton, 75 per cent.................................... 33 02 Average loss per ton, 25 per cent................................ 10 93 Total value of ore as per assay........................................ $1,582,247 43 Bullion produced: Gold.. —-----------—. —----—.. —-.$363, 803 92 Sildver.................................................. 825,277 85 Sl~ver..-8'25,2I77 85 1,189,081 77 Total loss, about 25 per cent...........-................. 393, 165 66 NOTE.-This table does not show the entire yield of the mine for the year, large quantities of ore being reduced at "custom mills." The statement refers only to ores reduced at the large mill owned by the Gould and Curry Mining company. CONCENTRuATION.-Concentration is employed only in the treatment of the "tailings," or sands from which all the metal has been extracted which could be saved in the mill. The tailings are usually turned into the nearest watercourse, (mnany mills being so situated as to have no facilities for the construction of reservoirs,) and the right to use them rented to other parties. Many plans have been suggested for their concentration, but the one in general use is extremely simple. It consists merely in passing the sands through shallow sluice boxes, the bottoms of which are covered with thick blankets. The fall of these sluices is considerTa.ble to prevent packing of the sands, but the stream of water is regulated so as to cover the blankets with a thin sheet only. In this way the heavy metalliferous particles are retained in passing over the rough surface of the blankets, the lighter sandcls passing off in the water. After a sluice box has been running several hours, the water is turned off, the blankets washed in a tank of water, and returned to their places. This constitutes the entire treatment. When the tank is nearly full of tailings, it is emptied and the resulting mass considerably increased in value by the elimination of waste sands, is ground and amalgamatedC in the manner already described. Latterly this has become quite an extensive branch of our mining business, and is said to yield a good return on the capital employed. The following items are taken from the report of the surveyor general for 1866: Details of blanket washings in Six-mile cafoonfor 1866 and 1867. Number of mills discharging tailings into the caion, 12. Probable number of tons worked during the year 1866, 100,000. Estimated value of tailings saved and worked in 1866, $72,000. Saving per ton of ore worked, 72 cents. Length of sluices, 22,000 feet. Cost of sluices, $20,000. Estimated value of tailings saved and worked in 1867, $164,000. Saving per ton of ore worked in 1867, $1 64. Average value of tailing saved per ton, $20. These items show ofnly a portion of the operations. The total value of all tailings saved in this manner was probably about $200,000 for 1866, which will be doubled for 1867. These figures can only be considered approximations, but they serve to show how small a percentage of the gross loss is saved by these means, and how large a field is yet open for improvement. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 367 SECTION XVII. YIELD OF THE MINES, NET PROFITS, ETC. The following tables, taken from the circular of the San Francisco StOck and LExchange Board, will be found of interest in this connection: Table of the products of some of the princi al mines in Virginia and GoM lIill; also showing dividends paid and assessments levied on the same during the year 1866. Company. Bullion produced. Dividends. Assessments. Lady Bryan............................................................................. $15, 000 Daney...............................................................-.. 26, 000 Sierra Nevada......................................5.................................... 55, 500 Ophir............................................... $450, 000................. 184,800 Gould & Curry..................................... 1, 605, Q28 $252, 000 Savage.............................................. 1,805, 800 360, 000 -Ilale & Norcross..................................... 1, 199, 768 350, 030...... Chollar-Potosi....................................... 848, 750.............................. Bullion................................................................................. 175, 000 Exchequer........................;.................................................... 3'2,000 Alpha................................................................................... 144, 560 Imperial............................................ 910, 187 176, 000.............. Empire.............................................. 486, 778 32, 400.............. Bacon.................................................................. 18,000 Confidence.......................................... 303, 920...78, 010 Yellow Jacket....................................... 9,310, 000 390, 000 110, 000 Crown Point..1,313, 357 234, 000............. Belcher.................................................................................. 143, 520 Overman................................... 27,953...... 208, 000 Baltimore American.......13.0 Baltim re Am rican..................................'""-..................... 3 0 Total........................................ 11, 261, 741 1, 794, 400 1, 273,380'Production of bullion by Storey county during the year ending December 31, 1866. January............................................................ $ 816,430 43 February........................................................... 971,643 46 March.............................................................. 1,061,577 65 April............................................................... l,052,759 89 May............................................................... 1,145,293 41 June................................................................ 1,244,297 54 July............................................................... 1,198,741 56 August............................................................. 1,420,902 35 September.......................................................... 1,169,391 46 October............................................................ 1,409,290 00 November.......................................................... 1,327,985 00 December............................................ 1,348,828 80 Total.....- - 14,167,071 55 In United States currency this represents a value-of $18,072,934, on which federal taxes were paid as follows: From January to July, inclusive, q-P of one per cent. on $9,402,062....... $56,412 37 From August to December, inclusive, j of one per cent. on $8,670;872 43, 354 36 Total tax...... 99,766 73 368 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Prodction of bullion in Storey county for the first seven months of 1867. January......-$1,330,832 80 February........................................................... 1,233,811 63 March.............................................................. 979,786 78 April-.............................................................. 1,567,4'27 60 MIay............................................................... 1,784,724 25 June. 1,594,794 22 Total.......................... -............................... 8,501,377 28 July. 1,613,559 75 Total.......................................................... 10,114,937 03 NOTE.-The month of March was characterized by the most severe snow-storm which has yet been experienced in Virginia. The roads were nearly impassable for two weeks-to such an extent, indeed, that firewood rose from $16 to $45 per cord, and was scarcely obtainable even at that price. The mills situated at some distance from the mines were entirely cut oft from new supplies of ore, and reduced only such reserve as had been accumulated; hence the marked diminution in the monthly production of bullion. Table:f assessments levied on Comstock mines during the first six months of 1867. Company. 1st quarter. 2d quarter. Baltimore American......................................................... $5, 200.............. elcher............................................................... 28, 080 $15, 6C0 Bullion............-...................................... 25, 000 50, 000 California..................................................................o.............. 3 o, 660 Confidence................................................................. 39, 000 1,300 Ophir................................................................o..... 84, O0.............. Overman................................................................... 32, 000.............. Sides......-................................................................ 1,500 14. (00 Sierra Nevada.............................................................. 12, 000 42, 000 226, 780 153, 500 226, 780 Total for six months. 380, 280 Dividends of leading claims on the Comstock lode. SECOND QUARTEr IN 1867. Company. April. May. June. Total, Savage....................... $80, 000 $120, 000 $160, COO $360, 000 Hale & Norcross....................................... 50, 000 50, 000 50, 000 150, O00 Imperial............................................... 60, 000 60, 000 40, 000 160, 000 Yellow Jacket........... 60, 000 90, 000 150, 000 Chollar-Potosi............................................... 70, 000 70, 000 140, 000 Kentuck -.. - 40, 000 60, 000 100, 000 Crown Point.. 48, 000 48, 000.... 96, 000 Gold ill Q. M. & M.Co —............................. 5, 000 5, 000 5, 000 15,000 Empire Mill and Mining Co........................,200............ 7, 200 Gould & Curry................................................... --- Total........................................... 243, 000 460,200 475, 000 1,, 200 First quarter 1867............................... 790, 000 Total since Janary, 1867.................................. 968,200 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 369 Dividends of the leading claims on the Comstoc7 lode-Continued. SECOND QUARTER OF 1866. Savage-..,,,,,, Hale & Norcross................................ $20, 000 $20, 000 $20, 000 $60, 000 Imperial....................................................... 40,000............ 40, 000 Yellow Jacket............................ Chollar-Potosi......................................................................................... Kentuck.............................................................................................. Crown Point --- --------- 48, 000 48, 000 48, 000 144, 000 Gold Hill Q. M. & M. Co................................................. Empire Mill and Mining Co....-................... -.................. Gould & Curry......................................... 6, 000............. 96, 000 9, 00 Total....................................... 164,000 108, 000 164, 000 436,000 First quarter 1866.................................. —..... 90, 000 Total since January, 1866..................._............................. -526, 000 The aggregate yield of the Comstock lode since its opening has been so fully spoken of in the preliminary report, that I shall here confine myself chiefly to a comparison of the operations of 1866 with the first six months of the present year. Although the first table does not show the entire yield of the mines for 1866, which reached, as shown elsewhere, the sum of $14,167, 071, it will answer as.a basis for an inquiry into the actual profits of mining enterprises in this district for the year, inasmuch as mines owned by private companies, the returns of which are not madepublic, are generally worked only while they prove profitable, or at any rate yield sufficient bullion to cover the actual expenses of their development. By striking out of the assessment table the items relative to the Lady Brian and Daney mines, which are not on the Comstock lode, we have the following result: Dividends paid during 1866............................................ $1,794,400 00 Assessments paid during 1866........................... 1, 232, 380 00 Net profit for the year 1866-. 562, 020 00 Equal to about five per cent. of the gross yield of the mines under consideration. The table shows, however, that out of the 11 mines producing bullion, only seven realized sufficient over working expenses to warrant them in distributing the surplus to the stockholders in the form of dividends. These dividends show the net profits of the seven mines for the year 1866 to be the following percentage of the gross yield. Gould and Curry 15.5, Savage 20, Hale and Norcross 29, Imperial 19, Enipire 6.5, Yellow Jacket 9, and Crown Point 17. The first six months of 1867 show a very marked improvement on41866; for there is not only an actual decrease in the amount of assessments levied, but an increase in the number of dividend-paying mines, a very great advance on the production of bullion, and a really gratifying improvement in the percentage of profit on the gross operations. From the tables it will be seen that during this period dividends were distributed to the amount of $1,968,200, from which deduct the assessments of $380,280, and there remains $1,587,920 as the net profit on $7,064,653, or about 22 per cent., against five per cent. for the year 1866. This result is due to many causes, among which may be mentioned freedom from litigation, final settlement of conflicting interests, reduced cost of milling, and small expenditures for necessary outside improvements. In 1866 the latter item was unusually heavy. To such causes as these may we look for the improved financial condition of mining interests on the Comstock lode. The actual profits on the capital invested in our mines is a difficult question to approach, suTrrounded as it is by so many uncertain and fluctuating conditions, 24 370 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES and has probably been spoken of in the preliminary reportl as fully as the information at command will allow. The San Francisco Bulletin gives the following figures showing the aggregate gain in the market value of 15 of our leading mines during the past year: Company. July 1, 1866. January 1,1867. July 1,1867. Alpha................................................... $249, 600 $150, 000 $493, 200 Belcher................................................. 172, 640 137,280 457, 600 Bullion-....................................-........142, 500.. 72, 500 82, 500 Chollar-Potosi......................................... 540, 400 585, 200 1, 260, 000 Confidence.-.......................................... 99, 840 96, 080 99, 840 Crown Point............................................. 570, 000 750, 000 1, 086, 000 Empire Mill............................................. -168, 000 240, 000 224, 400 Gould & Curry.....-...................................... 840, 000 804, 000 846, 000 Hale & Norcross....................................... 600, 000 1, 000, 000 1,240, 000 Imperial-.............................. 412, 000 528, 000 1, 040, 000 Ophir....-................................ 308, 000 198, 800 532, 000 Overman................................................ 76, 800 64, 000 736, 000 Savage ------- 720, 000 1, 672, 000 3, 640, 000 Sierra Nevada.......................................... 6, 000 9, 000 25, 500 Yellow Jacket............................................ 834, 000 1,488, 000 1, 923, 000 Total.............................................. 5, 739, 780 7, 794, 860 13, 683, 040 Using the valuation for Juliy 1, 1867, the dividends paid during the first six months of 1867 (deducting assessments) would show a profit on the gross operations at the rate of rather more than 23 per cent. per annum for this period. The majority of our mining stocks are held, however, for purely speculative purposes, and fluctuate in value so- greatly and incessantly that such a calculation is of little value, most stockholders depending for their profits on sudden rises in the value of their property, caused by favorable developments or skilful "manipulation," rather than on the dividends paid out of the product of the mines. These have been looked upon too much in the light of means by which to "bull" stocks, and too little thought has been bestowed by stockholders on the means by which they have been obtained. Instances are not wanting where they have been paid out of borrowed capital, and in many cases they have been made only by working the mine in a ruinous manner. Many thousand tons of rock have been worked dulring the past year, which ought never to have been taken from the mines until such time as it could be worked more cheaply than at present. Had the stockholders of the mining companies looked to the actual profits of mining enterprises for their remuneration, they would have extended to railroad matters a helping hand, and could have been realizing to-day on low-grade ores a profit of $10 or $12 per ton, instead of $4 or $5. The fear of temporarily reducing the value of their mining stocks by granting such assistance has always stood in the way. The absolute necessity, however, of better modes of transportation has at length been realized, and before the expiration of another year we shall have the means of greatly reducing the cost of mining and milling operations at our command, and so increasing the amount of our legitimate profits. THE COSTS AND LOSSES IN SILVER MINING.-There are few facts connected with the development of the mineral resources of the country that deserve more immediate attention than the costs and losses which attend gold and silver miining. The following tables, compiled with the greatest care, exhibit details connected with the subject of silver mining in a form more convenient for reference than an elaborately written treatise. The accounts of the mine named have been selected for compiling these tables because they were more convenient and correct than any others at our command, and because this mine affords a fair sample of a iveil-managed enterprise in Nevada. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 371 Similar tables have not been prepared for gold mining, because the books of no gold mining company afford the necessary data for their compilation. Table No. I is a complete balance sheet of this company's operations for six months, exhibiting every detail of its expenditure for that period, divided under appropriate heads. This table explains the numerous expenses attending silver mining, the excessive cost of material and labor, and the large proportion of non-productive work necessary to be done in developing a mine. Table No. 2 shows the proportions of the precious metals saved and lost; gives the names of the various mills at which the ore was worked. This portion of the subject is very suggestive, as exhibiting the fact that some of these mills return a larger per cent. of metal than others. This table also exhibits the varying proportions of gold and silver in the bullion saved by the various mills, which appear to be influenced by the processes used for its extraction. This important feature in the table would have been more valuable had the books of the company shown the depths and localities from whence the ore reduced had been extracted. It is suggestive also to mark that the loss of metal, according to assay, foots up $471,155 17, while the total quantity saved only amounts to $816,979 62, out of $1,288,132 79. Of 32 lots sent to mill, only two returned over 70 per cent. of the fire assay value; this, too, in one of the best managed companies, and when the mills are boasting of the improvements in their machinery and processes. What must have been the waste during the early days of silver mining, before the present incomplete experience had been attained? That the present enormous waste of the precious metals by custom and company's mills might be avoided, is clearly demonstrated by the success of the companies which re-work the tailings thrown away by these mills. In the vicinity of Virginia City there are several miles of flumes, all lined with blankets, which require hundreds of men to change every few houm-s. The tailings thus collected yield a larger profit, according to the cost of their production, than the' ores worked in the mills. Nearly one-third of the bullion shipped from Storey county, Nevada, is obtained from the waste of the mills collected in these flumes. Table No. 3 shows the total product of this mine for a year; exhibits the percentum of metal to the ore; the costs of production and reduction. It is hoped these tables will be carefully studied, as they contain much valuable information conveniently arranged for reference. TABLE No. 1. Detailed statement of the cost of production of 29,4041 30 tons of ore during the year ending March 1, 1867, by the Hale and Norcross Silver Mining Companyof Nevada. MANAGERIAL. SALARIES-Continued. SALARIES. Materials consumed; Stationery........................... $434 60, Officers: Superintendent..................... $4, 753 28 Total........................ 511 35 clerk-2 277 48 Team expenses: Clerk.............................. 2,277 48 T a xess _er__..,H torse-hire...... —................ $120 00 Hay and grain...................... 229 90 Total.......................... 7, 030 76 orse shoeing229 0 horse shoeing-...................... 26 75 Repairing buggy....................'25 00 Office expenses: $520 otal.... 401 65 Telegrams - -- - iS 50 ~~Personal property: Petty cash..16.25.1.Stove -2 $ 25 New~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~~~~1spapers.......................... 12 25 ]Papering........................ 19 80 stv - -------------- 12 5 18 towels - 12 00 Repairing clock..................... 10 00 1 banner........................... $120 00 Express charges -3 —--------- - 25 70 -e - -3 sp~~~~~~~~~~~~1hresc res................................350 00 Miscellaneous...................... 3 50 1 hr. robes 560 00 I buggy and robes...................500 Total.......................... 43 55 2 horse blankets 17 00 Total.......................... 1, 243 94 Materials consumed: 5t cords of wood.................... $74 75 Total managerial............... $9, 331 25 2 brooms........................... 2 00 372 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Detailed statement of the cost of production, L~c.-Continued. SUMMARY. ENGINE DEPARTMENT. Salaries................................. $7, 030 76 Materials consumed: Office expenses. 143 55 1,916- cords wood.................. $26, 770 16 Materials- -------------------------—.. 511 35 93 gallons lard oil................... 295 95 Team expenses........................ 401 65 103 pounds rubber packing......... 179 13 Personal property...................... 1, 243 94 31 pounds hemp packing............ 14 75 316 pounds soap and soda........... 55 95 Total-...............I.......... 9, 331 25 38 gallons oil and turps.-............. 8 25 - ---—:. 6 pounds sponges................... 20 73 HOISTING. I gallon varnish -.8 00 HOISTING DEPARTMENT. Materials consumed: Total............ -............. 27, 355 9'2 2,665 pounds tallow................. $296 78 44 pounds machine oil............... 11 00 Auxiliary: 36 pounds sulphur.................. 18 00 Water, 1 year...................... $2, 767 50 60 pounds spun yarn................ 24 00 Hardware........................... 701 03 133 pounds white lead............... 35 25 171 fies............................ 117 00 98 yards duck..................... 131 35 19 brooms -------------------------- 20 00 Total.......................... 3, 585 53 Rope and freight.................... 2,053 69 Hardware.......................... 1,119 00 Pump: Foundry bill, pump, &c............. $1., 565 96 Total.......................... 3, 707 07 77 feet pipe......................... 462 00 Lights: 362k pounds pump leather........... 130 87 300 gallons coal oil.................. $366 75 2 hides............................. 8 00 13 dozen chimneys.................. 63 29 12 reflectors......................... 48 87 Total.......................... 2, 166 83 17 dozen wicks..................... 14 26 8 gross matches..................... 19 40 Repairs: Mason work........................ $101 05 Total-......................... 512 57 Mlachine work...................... 940 63 Freight............................ 238 30 Cars, cages, &c.: Foundry bill....................... 1, 437 25 1,828 pounds iron for cars........... $227 50 Boiler work......................... 862 80 247 pounds nuts.................... 60 68'653 bolts........................... 187 76 Total.......................... 3, 580 03 52 gross screws....... 138 27 3,303 pounds iron for cages.......... 462 42 Labor: 811 pounds steel for cages........... 150 33 Engineers, 756~ days. $4, 673 00 1,020 bushels charcoal............... 386 60 Wood passer, 365 days.............. 1, 460 00 2,046 pounds stone coal............. 132 11 Pumpman, 365 days................ 2,190 00 61 pounds borax.................... 27 80 Total........................ 8, 33 00 Total.......................... 1,723 47 Personal property: 9 yards matting-...................... $13 50 SUMMARY. 15lamps........................... 86 00 24 fire-buckets...................... 17 00 Hoisting department: 1 clock............................. 25 00 Materials consumed................. $3, 707 07 1 set stocks and dies................. 15 00 Lights.-....... 52 57 Cars, cages, &c..................... 1,723 47' Total.......................... 156 50 Personal property.................. 156 50 Labor: Labor.............................. 16,486 00 Brakeman, 1,415-1 days.............. $6,186 00 Outside works...........'........... 2,602 33 Blacksmith, 665 days................ 2, 810 00 Carman, 7301 days.................. 3,176 00 Total.......................... 25,187 94 Pitman, 1,078~ days................. 4, 314 00 Total.......................... 16, 486 00 Oatside works: Engine department: 7,500 feet timber.................... $910 00 Materials consumed................. $27,355 92 17 shovels..........-................ 34 00 Auxiliary expenses................. 3, 585 53 12 pick handles.................... 5 50 Pump................2..........., 166 83 2 sledges........................... $10 00 Repairs............................ 3, 580 03 Laborers, 5851 days................ 2, 342 83 Labor.............................. 8,323 00 Total........................... 2,602 33 Total.......................... 45,011 31 Total hoisting department...... $25,187 94 Total hoisting.................. 70,199 25 ~WEST OF..T.THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 373 Detailed statement of the cost of production, 3c.-Continued. MINING. PROSPECTING AND DEAD WORK. Prospecting. Materials consumed. Labor. ~~~~~~~. n n Location. Fee run Tibr Lagn. Mies Crets. Name of drift. 0 l 8 8 ~~ ~~ ~~a 8 ca 8 400 foot........... 450...... 10,770 $368 45 1,257 $25] 40................ 105 00 535 foot...........I 865...... 20,760 726 60 2,422 484 40 1,038 $4,152 00 41 205 00.......... Do............. 211 5,060 177 10 591 118 20 252 1,008 00 10 50 00....... 700 foot............ 980...... 47,040 1, 646 40 3,920 784 00 1,152 4, 608 00 94 470 00.......... Do.................... 261 6,265 219 27 728 145 60 312 1,248 00 12 60 00..... —... Incline............ 125...... 37. 500 1,312 50 352 62 20 420 1,680 00 85 425 00. 780 foot378... 9, 000 315 00 1, 050 210 00 30 120 00 18 90 00....... Totals. 2, 798 472 136,3954, 765.32 10, 320 2, 055 80 3, 204 12.816 00. 281 1405 001$21 042 12 DEAD WORK. Materials consumed. Labor. Work done. Timber. Lagging. Miners. Carpenters. Character. Location. j 0 a Retimbering.........Vein 10, 000 $350 00 1, 1701 $234 00 125 $500 00 26 $156 00 $156 00 Repairing.......... 700 foot 5, 000 175 00 830 166 00 53 212 00.. 400 00 Do.............Incline.... 6, 200 217 00.108 432 00. Do............. 535 foot 3,600 126 00... 50 200 00. 868 00 Filling in...........Vein..... 480 1, 920 00 3, 264 00 Totals.24,...... 8001 868 00 2, 00 4000 863, 264 00 26 156 00...... Total.............. so4- ss 0. 40 00o ~ 8 1z/-.6-i~PROSPECTING-ADDITIONAL EXPENSES. PROSPECTING-Continued. Contracts: Materials consumed: Contracts: 268 boxes candles................... $1, 474 00 87 gallons lubricating oil............. 189 20 Contractor. Location. Fet Amount. run. 1,070 bushels charcoal......... 353 26 rn 8 kegs powder...................... 49'00 875 feet fuze........................ 25 50 E. D. Owens..... 400 feetlevel. 430 $2, 952 00 5 sets car wheels.................... 162 50 E. D. Owens..... 700 feet level. 40 192 00 186 pick handles.................... 116 2 T.Cassins........ 780 feet level. 20 140 00 36 sledge handles.................... 18 00 E. D. Owens. 780 feet level. 371 2, 230 00 Total..........................2, 387 71 Total..................'6 5, 514 00 Tools 57 shovels.$114 0(1 Summary of prospecting: 57 soves.................... $114 00 9 edges................45 00 Miners, 3,204 days.................. $12, 816 00 9 sledges............................. 45 00 Cazets 8dy. - 1,450 25 picks, old.14 00 ~~~~Carnenters, 281 days..........1405 00 2~. picks, old.............14 00 Camn 8 as.....,...:...,.. 280 pounds steel for picks 00 Camen, 9............ 3, 924 00 Blacksmiths, 285 days........... 1, 710 00 Total.......................... 253 00 Timber, 136,395 feet........... 4,765 32 Lagging, 10,320pieces............. 2, 055 80 Additionalmaterials................. 2,387 71 Labor: Additional tools, &c................. 25'200 Carmen, 981 days. $3, 924 00 Adtoa ol,&.2 0 Blacksmiths, 285 days............... I, 710 00 T~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~otal..........................56 2 Total.5.634.00.Total.2.9, 567 23 --- Summary of dead work: Auxiliary: Miners, 816 days.................... $3, 264 00 3 casks............................. $10 50 Carpenters, 26 days................. 156 00 12 rubber coats..................... 108 00 Timber, 24,800 feet................. 868 00 Ice..... —........................... 131 90 Lagging, 2,000 pieces................ 400 00 Total....................2...... 50 40 Total.......................... 4, 688 00 374 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Detailed statement of the cost of production, 4c.-Continued. PROSPECTING-Continued. FAIR SHAFT-Continued. Contracts: Materials consumed: 861 feet running.................... $5, 514 00 1 gallon boiled oil................... $2 50 1 quire emery paper 1 50 Total prospecting and dead work. $39, 769 23 1,750 bricks, &c..................... 42 00 43~ pounds packing 48 06 30 pounds white lead................ 7 00 EXTRACTING ORES. Chalk and line...................... 3 00 Stationery.......................... 23 00 Materials consumed: 511,813 feet timber................. $14, 330 76 Total.......................... 4, 638 39 536 boxes candles................... 2, 969 87 621 kegs nails ---------- ------------- 908 92 Materials on hand: 81 gallons lubricating oil............. 179 60 8 windows......................... $44 00 1,121 bushels charcoal................ 398 25 102 bolts............................ 39 66 5,820 pounds iron tacks.............. 727 50 12 coach screws..................... 3 84 4,600 pounds turntable.............. 529 00 30 tool handles...................... 15 50 3,113~ pounds cars.................. 367 15 20 feet belting...................... 19 20 40 gross screws..................... 90 00 3 brooms........................... 3 00 10 sets car wheels................... 300 00 7 pairs hinges....................... 13 15 2 sets incline wheels................. 130 00 8 locks and latches.................. 8 50 7 broo m.s- 7 00 Rope............................... 947 73 482 pieces pipe and joints............ 189 88 Total.......................... 20, 938 05 1 iron tuyere........................ 8 50 Tools, &c.: Total.......................... 1,293 31 115 shovels......................... $175 30 16 sledges.......................... 91 13 Engine adjuncts: 16 axes ----------------------------- 33 50 2 reels.............................. $258 00 19 saws -75 75 I pump............................ 135 00 16 hoes............................. 16 21 Boxes, collars, &c................... 59 70 7 wheelbarrows...................... 62 50 1 valve............................. 9 00 454 tool handles. -276 50 6 flanges, &c........................ 7 25 470 pounds steel for picks............ 120 00 8 cocks............................. 32 00 1 steam stop............-.......... 3 50 Total-........................ 850 89 1 oil cup........................... 10 00 Labor: Total........................... 534 45 Miners, 14,938k days................ $59, 852 00 Head miners, 614 days 3, 625 50 Labor: Carmen, 1,963 days ----------------- 7, 852 00 Foreman, 36 days................... $216 00 Carpenters, 838 days................ 4, 463 50 Machinist, 16k days................. 99 00 Blacksmiths, 326 days 1,357 00:Masons, 6 days....................... 34 59 Foreman, 365 days.................. 2, 2-29 00 Blacksmiths, 54 days................ 272 00 - Carpenters, 264~ days............... 1, 330 75 Total.......................... 79, 379 00 Mies~2dy........... 380 Total-79,379 00 ~~~~~Miners, 82 days-328 00 ___________ Laborers, 3671 days................. 1,471 00 Summary extracting ore: Materials........................... $20, 938 05 Total.. 3, 751 25 Tools.............................. 850 89 Labor... 79, 379 00 Contractor............................ $300 00 Total.......................... 101,167 94 Materials used: 1 grindstone........................ $37 12 Mining recapitulation: I shaft hook. 30 00 Extracting ore......................$101,167 94 1 set bellows, &c.................... 100 00 Prospecting........................ 29, 567 23 7 wheelbarrows..................... 102 00 Contracts. 5, 514 00 2 sets car wheels -60 00 Deadwork......................... 4, 688 00 I hoisting cask...................... 8 00 - can. 1 25 Total.......................... 140, 937 17 3 lanterns......................... 6 50 -- 14 pieces furniture.................. 60 25 IMPROVEMENTS. Total.......................... 405 12 FAIR SHAFT. Real estate: Tools, &c.: 16 lots and expenses-................. $1, 970 50 20 shovels $40 00 1 stable............. -..:............. 70 00 33 picks.............. 122 50 I tract and expenses............... 2, 258 50 4 sledges........................... 17 00 Closing F street...................... 100 00 4 axes-.............................. 1* 25 Moving dwelling-.................... 85 00 14 durable tools.................... 53 88 2 saws.............................. 11 25 Total.......................... 4,484 00 25 files............................. 17 75 l paint brush....................... 2 50 Materials consumed: 53 assorted brushes.................. 20 00 127,015 feet timber.................. $3, 806 46 186 pounds steel.................... -46 50 15k kegs nails....................... 208 50 11 gross screws..................... 31 55 Total.. 341 63 1 cord wood......................... 14 00 I box candles....................... 5 50 Incidental expenses: 112 bushels charcoal................. 40 32 Hauling............................ $107 50 2,811 pounds iron - 327 90 Advertising......................... 4 00 &01k pounds nuts, &c'.......;".';.. 47 60 3 kegs powder- --................... 21 00 Total-.111 50 300 feet fuse........................ 8 50 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 375 Detailed statement of the cost of production, 4-c.-Continued. FAIR SHAFT-Continued. CLASSIFICATION —Continued. Summary: Tools: Real estate......................... $4, 484 00 3 shovels................. $6 00 Materials consumed................. 4, 638 39 2 brooms................. 2 00 Materials on hand....................1,293 31 3 brushes................ 4 25 Engine adjuncts..................... 534 35 Incidental expenses: Labor.............................. 3,751 35 Assaying................. 2,306 00 Contractor......................... 00 00 $2, 496 50 Materials used............... 405 12 Tools, &c........................... 341 63 Total weighing and sampling........ 4, 262 58 Incidental expenses............ IIL 50 Auxiliary expenses: Total.......................... 15,859 65 Surveying........................... $500 00 Hauling............................ 134 25 MISCELLANEOUS. Premium on coin.................... 2,012 01 Assaying bullion $8, 827 69 Real estate: Less clips................. 605 90 Superintendent's residence........... $1, 050 00 - 8, 221 79 Repairing ditto..................... 271 04 Total.......................... 10, 868 05 Total.......................... 1, 321 04 Taxes: Ore house: Federal bullion..................... $7, 239 83 22,700 feet timber............. $794 50 State bullion....................... 2,189 70 19,000 shingles...................... 167 00 City bullion........................ 203 20 6 kegs nails......................... 84 00 State and county property.......... 1, 023 62 830 pounds iron chutes.............. 91 30 City property-.....-................. 346 43 Total..........................it368 - ~~~Federal license-...........7 50 Total.....~~~ 1,1]36 80 Labor: - Total.......................... 11, 010 28 Carpenters, 45 days................ $225 00 Blacksmiths, 19 days................ 114 00 Contingent expenses: Laborers, 20 days................... 80 00 Law expenses, fees, &c............. $250 00 - -.. Maps............................... 55 00 Total.......................... 419 00 Miscellaneous....................... 51 80 Seales: Subscriptions........................ 250 00 6,000 feet timber.................... $168 00 Medical attendance................. 133 00 1,240 pounds iron................... 130 60 Gratuity to Mrs. Farge.............. 387 00 ~ of a keg spikes. 4 00 Brandy and whiskey................ 53 50 2 gross screws...................... 20 00 24 coach screws..................... 7 20 Total-1, 180 30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Total..........................398 Smay T'otal. 329 80 Summary: Labor: Weighing and sampling............. $4, 262 58 Carpenters, 15 days.$75 00 Auxiliary expenses 10, 868 05 Blacksmiths, 8 days................. 48 00 Taxes.............................. 11,010 28 Laborers, 24 days................... 96 00 Contingent expenses 1,180 30 Total.......................... 219 00 Total relative expenses........ 27, 321 21 Expenses: Freight.. $71 01 TOTALS. Sundries........................... 20 00 RECAPITULATION. Total..................... 91 01 Managerial cost........................ $9, 331 25 Summary of improvements: Hoisting expenses: Fair shaft.......................... $15, 859 65 Hoisting department......$25, 187 94 Real estate......................... 1, 321 04 Engine................... 45, 011 31 Ore house 1, 555 80 70,199 25 Scales.............................. 639 81 Mining expenses: Prospecting............... 29, 081 23 Total improvements............ 19, 376 30 Contracts................. 5, 514 00 - 34, 595 23 RELATIVE. Dead work.................. 4,688 00 Extracting ore -. 101,167 94 CLASSIFICATION. - 105, 855 94 Weighing: Improvements-cost: Scale cards............... $99 00 Fair shaft, total expenses-. 15, 859 65 Regulating scales --------- 7 50 Real estate purchased..... 1,321 04 Cash paid for weighing-. 3 36 Ore house and scales...... 2,195 61 Overman, 396 days........ 1, 608 00 - 19, 376 30 Macadamizing............ 96 00 - _ Relative expenses: Total. 1,813 86 Weighing and sampling.... 4,262 58 By receipt for weighing... 47 28 Auxiliary expenses ------- 10, 868 05 $1,766 08 Taxes................... 11, 010 28 Sampling: Contingent expenses...... 1,180 30 10 cords wood............ 130 00 - - 27, 321 21 6 yards oil cloth........... 9 00 Twine, paper, &c......... 34 25 Total cost of production. - 266, 679 18 24 sample bags............ 5 00 TABLE No. 2. Comparative tabular statement of thze production, loss from assay value, per centum, and proportion of the bullion saved from 15,639 tons of ore by the Htale 4f Norcross Company. Assay value. Amount produced. Date of work- Mills at which reduced. Quantity reduced..... ing. Gold.' Silver. ] Ores. Gold. Silver. Bullion. 1866. Tons. Pounds. September. - - Weston's.'370 975 $10,059 91 $17,604084 $27,664 75 $8,224 70 $9,6064 89 $17, 289 598' Brunswick-.............................. 630 925 16, 929'90 ~ 27, 73'2 3 1 46, 722 21 15, 016.32 15, 871 71 30, 888 03 [ M ariposa- 155 995 4, 545 98 7, 955 54 12, 501 52 3, 758 92 3,198 17 6,957 09 U1 C. Land's -... 839 905 27, 956 48 42, 974 88 70, 931 36 21,987 01 26, 224 66 48,211 67 Summit -------------------------------------------- 750 1 24, 543 70 40, 899 93 65,443 63 21,178 30. 22, 981 99 44,160 29 October...... C. Land's -.... 1, 003 555 35, 357 41 65, 464 99 100, 822 40 33,487 50 34, 261 75 67, 749 25 Summit 625 8 22, 370 96 38, 955 95 61,326 91 19, 882 96 19, 083 13 38, 966 09, Brunswick........................................... 554 67 14, 666 12 25, 266 11 39, 932 23 14, 075 34 12,306 21 26,381 65 Rigley & Co. 404 13 10, 405 26 18, 261 09 28, 666 35 9, 041 94 8, 950 67 17,992 61 November Eureka No. 1 239 535 6, 048 79 9, 577 94 15, 626 73 5, 765 42 4,389 92 10,155 34 Eureka No. 2 506 59 16, 713 31 29, 369 64 46, 082 95 14,440 32 13,377 23 27,817 55 Summit 201 33 9, 621 05 12, 779 83 22, 400 88 7,280 09 6, 224 37 13, 504 46 C. Land's 1, 042 47 36, 695 42 63, 472 48 100,167 90 29, 493 24 32, 616 44 62,109 68 Brunswick-..608 235 14, 292 34i 26, 031 28 40, 323 62 13, 819 42 11, 605 97 25, 425 39 RigIey & Co 505 775 16, 527 22 28, 710 24 45, 237 46 14, 660 51 13, 361 95 28, 022 46 December..' Rigley & Co....................................... 123 14 3, 612 61 6,134 98 9, 747 59 3, 859 29 3,165 57 7, 024 86 Brunswick........................................ 496 435 13, 998 58 24,078 39 38, 076 97 11,298 90 11,427 20 22, 726 10 C. Land's.......................................... 1,118 22 33,447 03 57,029 54 90,476 57 25,821 81 29,719 81 55,541 62 infield's- 1, 027 215 30,127 00 53, 657 76 83, 784 76 21, 073 22 24, 769 61 45, 842 83 j 1867.i! January. Winfield's......................................... 155 45 5, 782 19. 10, 465 49 16, 247 68 5, 577 80 4, 950 73 10, 528 53 Brunswick........................................ 509 365 16, 470 58 28,833 24 45, 303 82 13, 691 17 12, 881 21 26, 572 38 - C. Land's ------------------------------------------ 969 605.30, 084 36 52, 923 44 12, 684 94 26, 807 50 26, 727 22 53, 532 72 H-]'Union............................................. 112 76 2, 875 54 5, 260 40 20, 951 48 2,139 43 1, 667 27 3, 806 70 0 Ophir... I 36 415 3,908 24 8,776 24 8,135 17 2,637 40 5,493 99 8, 131 39 ~ February.... Brunswick......................................... 7 6, 982 07 13, 969 10 60, 671 48 6, 976 06 7, 853 23 14, 829 29 C. Land's.970 1 19,896 26 40, 775 22 10, 819 20 18, 010 31 22, 465 45 40, 475 76 Eureka No. I..................................... 202 455 3, 493 73 7, 325 47 9, 918 89 3, 464 28 3, 840 57 7, 304 85 Union............................................. 144 188 3,212 55 6, 706 34 17, 687 89 2, 545 18 2, 575 93 5,121 11 Ophir.............................................. 42 325 5, 859 61 11,828 28 37, 359 18 3, 018 20 6, 423 32 9, 423 52 Bacon's.-617 258 12, 358 51 25, 000 67 83, 007 80 11,679 11 14, 643 79 26, 322 90 New York......................................... 240 13 4, 541 56 9,389 30 13, 930 86 4, 506 85 5,211 77 9,718 62 Woodward's....................................... 100 68 1, 745 87 3, 731 74 5, 477 61 1, 941 49 2, 501 90 4, 443 39 Total.. 15, 639 36 465,190 14 822, 942 65 1, 288,132 79 397,157 99 419, 819 63 816, 977 62 TABLE No. 2.-Comparative tabular statement of tIe production, loss from assay value,' c,-Oontinued. Amount lost. Percentage extracted. Excess of production. Date of work- Mills at which reduced. Quantity reing. ilsawhcreud.duced. " "'.... Gold. Silver. Ores. Gold. Silver. Bullion. Gold over Silverover......___...._ silver. gold. 1866. Tons. Pounds. September... Weston's.370 975 $1, 835 21 $8, 539 95 $10,375 16 $0 81.75719 $0 51.491 $0 C2. 49682..$840 19 Brunswick.630 925 1, 973 58 13, 860 60 15, 834 18 88. 384 53.382 66.11 855 39 Mariposa........................... 155 995 787 06 4, 757 37 5, 544 43 82. 6867 40. 2 55. 65 $560 75 C. Land's......................... 839 905 5, 969 47 16, 750 22 22, 719 69 78. 647 61. 02323 67. 969471.. 4,237 65 Summit. 750 1 3, 365 40 17, 917 94 21,283 34 86.28813 56.19078 67.47836 -1,803 69 October...... C. Land's..1,003 555 1,869 91 31,203 24 33, 073 15 94. 7114 52.336 67. 19663.. 774 25 Summit. 625 8 2, 488 00 19, 872 82 22,360 82 88.87844 48.98643 63.53832 779 83. Brunswick........................ 554 67 590 78 12, 959 90 13, 550 68 95. 971804 48.70369 66. 0658 1, 769 13. November. igley & Co................ 404 13 1, 363 32 9, 310 42 10, 673 74 86. 89778 49. 014982 62. 765612 91 21.......... November Eureka No. 1............. 239 535 283 37 5,188 02 5, 471 39 95.3153 45. 83365 64. 987 1,375 50 Eureka No. 2............. 506 59 2, 272 99 15, 992 41 18,'265 40 84.4001206 45.547817 60.3640826 1,06301 Summit.....:.......... 201 33 2, 340 96 6, 555 46 8, 896 42 75. 668352 48. 704638 60.2853995 1,05572 -. C. Land's..1, 042 47 7, 202 18 30, 856 04 38, 058 22 80. 373109 51.386743 62. 055826............3 1220 Brunswick........................ 608 235 472 92 14, 425 31 14, 898 23 96. 6910947 44. 584707 63. 533419 2, 213 45.......... Rigley & Co...................... 505 775 1, 866 71 15, 348 29 17, 215 00 88. 373109 46. 540716 61. 945255 1, 298 56.......... December.... ligley & Co...................... 123 14......... 2, 969 41 2, 722 73 1 06. 828304 51. 598702 72. 676598 693 72.Brunswick.496 435 2, 699 68 12, 651 19 15, 350 87 80. 714615 47. 583226 59. 884635............3,898 00 C. Land's.1,118 22 7, 625 22 27, 309 73 34, 934 95 77.20210135 52.113102 61. 387848.3,69639 Winfield's., 027 215 9, 053 78 28, 888 15 37, 941 93 69. 9479537 46.162214 54. 7149983 267 07.......... 1867. January. Winfield's........................ 155 45 204 39 5, 514 76 5, 719 15 96. 4652 47. 3053 64. 800205 809 96. Brunswick..509 365 2, 779 41 15, 952 03 18, 731 44 83.125 44.675 58. 65373 78 28. C. Land's. 969 605 3,278 86 26, 196 22 29, 475 08 89.101 50.50167 64. 4919239 472 16. Union............................ 112 76 736 11 3,593 13 4,329 24 74. 401 31.694 46. 7887..2,856 59 Z Opbi............................. 36 415 1, 270 84 3,282 25 4, 553 09 67. 483 62. 6007 64.105............ 877 17 February. Brunswick........................ 353 7 6 01 6,115 87 6, 121 88 99. 91392 56. 21858 70.978025..4, 455 14 C. Land's........................ 970 1 1, 885 95 18,.309 77 20,195 72 90.52107 55.09584 66. 713..376 29 Eureka No. 1..................... 202 455 29 45 3, 484 90 3, 514 35 99.15706 52. 42763 67. 51747 30 75 C/I Union............................ 144 188 667 37 4,130 41 4, 797.78 79.22616 38.41034 51. 63..3,387 12 Ophir. - 42 325 2, 841 41 5, 422 96 8, 264 37 51. 508547 54. 15259 53. 276676............ 2,964 68 Bacon's.617 258 679 40 10, 356 88 11, 036 28 94. 5025735 58.57359 70.459 704 92 New York.240 13 34 71 4, 177 53 4, 212 24 99. 2357 55.50754 69.76324.. 128 30 Woodworth's................... 100 68.. 1, 229 84 1,034 22 1 11.2104729 67.0438 81.1191138 560 41 Total............. 68, 474 45 403, 123 02 471, 155 17..........12,908 49 35, 570 -13 O..1 TABLE No. 3. - cc Table showing product of the Hale and Norcross,silver mine during the year ending March, 1867...... Quantity worked. Assay values. Yield. Loss. Ore produced... Ore produced Tons. Lbs. Tons. _ Lbs. - _ _ anl l l | ] Period. Tons. Lbs. Ore. Per ton. Amount. Per ton. Per cent. Bullion. Per ton. Per cent. Amount.: Period. Tons. Ibs. Ore. Per ton. Amount. 1 ton. Produced from Gold.- $24 36. 621617 $306, 582 90 $20 92.303715 $0 85.7986208 $263, 043 90$3 46. 317902 $0 14. 2013792 $43, 539 00 335 and 700 ft. Silver. 40 79. 672689 512, 895 43 2129.853503 52.20648 267, 764 65 19 49.819181 47. 79352 245,130 78 levels, lstclass. 78 1, 486...... I- - - - Ordinary..... 28, 727 1, 650 28, 806 1,130 Total. 65 18.294301 819,478 33 42 22.157218 64.773958 530, 808 5522 95.137083 35. 226042 288,669 78 From 780 feet _. —._ - __ _ level, 1st class.............. 595 700 lsthalfyear 12, 57] 1, 950. Total ore............... 29,401 1,830 Gold.. 29 17.913112 468, 734 00 24 90.138237 85. 339698 400, 01 6 18 4 27. 774875 14. 660302 68, 717 82 Silver. 51 63. 865385 829,524 11 26 41.9085 51.161342 424, 395 67 25 21. 962535 48. 838658 405,128 44 Delivered to - - - - - mills and re- Total. 80 81.778497 1,298,258 11 5132.041087 63.501383 824,411 8529 49.737410 36.498617 473,846 26 duced, lst class. 78 1, 480............. _____ H Ordinary......28,152 990. Sold to mills, ordinary...... 404 1, 510 28, 635 1, 980 2d half year 16, 064 30 Gold.. 20 07. 491167 775, 316 90 23 15.47811 85. 5211695 663, 060 08 3 92. 013057 14. 4788305112, 256 82 On hand................. 765 1, 850 Silver 46 87. 875432 1, 342, 419 54 24 17.09932 51. 560656 692,160 3222 70. 77611 48.439344 650,289 22 At mills..... 207 1,190......'... - _ In ore house... 558 660 765 1,850 Total... 28,635 1, 980 Total. 73 95.3665992,117, 736 44 47 32.57743 63. 9938178 1, 355, 220 40 26 62. 78916 36. 0061822i762, 516 04 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~... MEMORANDA.' Amount of reduction.................. $434, 770 68 Reclamations.............................................................................. 27,866 25 Net cost of reduction................................................................. 406, 904 43 Per cent of reclamations....................................................................013158506 Net cost of reduction, per ton................._,,,,......... $14 00 Bullion product of the principal mines on the Comstock lode. DURING THE YEAR 1867. Company. January. February. March. April. May. June. July. August. September. October. Novemb'r. December. Total. Hale & Norcross $102, 571 72 $117, 639 44 $79,144 02 $76, 462 58 $150, 826 68 $117, 728 23 $133, 906 17 $124, 664 69 $71, 950 24 $49,980 22'$57,655 81 $14,767 65 $1,097,297 45 Savage........... 250, 000 00 270, 000 00 150, 000 00 337, 000 00 40., 000 00 370, 493 96 375,000 00 359,644 37 360,295 29 352, 066 00310,681 00 193,919 50 3,737,100 12 Crown Point ------ 140, 000 00 129, 850 00 64, 541 58 63, 971 00 82, 000 00 77, 550 00 120, 043 00 54, 291 85 49, 000 00 42, 071 23 52, 299 30 47,100 00 920, 717 96 Yellow Jacket - 156, 200 37 117, 488 97 108, 913 85 222, 075 44 278, 684 63 195,913 65 160, 000 00 159,000 00 130,000 00 100, 000 03 60,000 00 50 000 00 1, 729,276 91 Gould& Curry...- 66, 423 00 45,165 41 52, 878 47 63,130 19 74,862 68 44, 446 46- - 30, 043 11 75, 842 74 65, 474 86 90,235 69 6,117 90 614, 620 51 Chollar-Potosi..... 80,000 00 100, 000 00 86,000 00 245, 094 06 334, 289 17 345,000 00 311,681 17 35, 000 00 252,000 00 253,866'89164,976 67145,977 46 2,668,885 36 Empire M. & M. Co. 38,153 00 26, 787 00 23, 081 00 22, 884 66 21, 933 00 21,500 00 ~6,312 32 22,333 80 18, 689 40 20, 571 43 18, 757 48 17,604 0 278,6 ~6, 31 32 2, 33380 18,689 4 20, 71 43 8, 75 48 1, 60408 278, 607 17 - Imperial.......... 115, 948 67 116, 200 00 90, 431 96 95,162 91 94, 000 00 107, 000 00 99, 627 54 89, 280 00 97,980 00 68,897 94 63,395 48 68, 571 00 1, 106,495 50 Confidence........ 24, 006 10 11,411 86 8, 052 71 18,202 78 12, 000 00 14,00000 16,527 52 12,304 17 11,31011 13,54771 68650.1.42, 049 46 Ophir, (aggregate).6,575 12 34171,3011, 54716850812 0094 Ophir (aggregate).................................... I.................................. —.,......................... 4180 Kentuck.......... 43, 674 71 70, 095 42 58, 572 85 108, 953 53 132, 333 88 130255 1 125, 767 31 104, 215 35 101, 000 00- 102,-326 65 65, 250 16 98, 296 57 1, 140, 741 94 Gold Hill Q. M. & H M. Co........ 5,400 00 9, 600 00 7, 300 00 10,000 00 10, 866 62 12, 500 00 10, 250 5 7 9, 771 52 3, 259 04 10, 995 79 12,182 26 4, 273 62 106,399 42 Overman, (agg'ate) ______19,181 Over an, agglte)...............................................................................- I.......................................................... 192, 318 17. Total. 1, 022, 377 57 1, 014, 238 10 728, 916 44 1, 262, 937 09 1, 599, 796 66, 436, 387 81 1, 379, 1 1, 306, 548 86 1,171, 326 82 1, 079, 798 72894 120 35 646, 627 78 13, 738, 617 97 DURING THE YEAR 1866. Company. January. February. March. April., May. June. July. August. September. October. November. December. Total. Hale & Norcross.............. $51, 540 03$64, 059 33 $62, 027 18 $55,942 46 $104,247 33$125,073 00 $119,447 38 $153,666 63 $152,363 74 $167,034 89 $131,135 41 $1,186,543 38 Hz Savage........... $140, 000 00 150, 000 00 110, 000 00 66, 553 70 115, 000 00 130, 000 00 140, 000 00 162,478 00 145, 000 00 210 000 00 231,000 00 214,847 39 1,814,879 09 Crowu Point.... 52, 327 14 155, 461 63 148, 552 35 115, 102 11 110, 514 82 109, 601 05 36, 557 00 80,451 10 116, 573 76 111, 150 17 91, 326 00 184, 854 00 1, 312, 471 13 ~Yellow Jacket. ~ 111, 794 13 85, 000 00 96, 519 65 84, 827 28 13.0,366 24 292,1274 00 281,706 00 379, 699 92 292,566 78 180, 288 67 202, 090 27 160,000 00 297, 27,132 94 Gould & Curry 133, 153 95 152, 964 76 174,096 46 142,472 28 150, 804 21 146, 640 49 125, 000 00 134,395 23 117,821 35 114,321 67 124, 683 61 108, 427 00 1, 624,781 01 Chollar-Potosi.... 43,200 00 59, 745 00 85,950 00 87, 338 00 90, 359 00 74, 862 00 71, 641 00 65,0682 00 50367 00 58,962 00 60, 645 00 100,000 00 848,751 00 Empire M. & M. Co. 38,191 82 36, 000 00 27, 697 00 29, 542 49 34, 363 04 34,482 75 28,440 76 31,8520 25 41813 15 342, 000 00 45, 00 00 33,6240 12 422,291 38 Imperial.......... 81,891 21 74, 823 60 48, 223 90 91, 533 61 67, 755 89 62,240 90 65,408 16 75,840 52 78,459 87 99,476 87 83, 687 17 81, 045 67 910,387 37 Confidence........ 19,474 12 10,141 19 12,474 01 17, 624 09 15,869 42 20, 869 47 46,19674 29,696 58 37,059 56 41,563 72 27,975 69 25, 987 12 304, 931 71 Ophir, (aggregate) - 51, 523 04 27, 478 51 49, 604 45 84,340 81 81, 593 57 25, 665 89 19, 582 60 27, 684 56 20,683 22 22,1586 24 6, 729 19....... 417, 472 08 Kenar-otocsi..........571, 506 79 Gold Hill Q. M.' & M. Co. — -- - --- -- - - -- -- - --- Overman, (agg0ate - - 2 7- - 8, 950 00 87, 338 00 90, 359 00 74, 8 6 2 00 Total. —------- 671,555 41 803, 160 72817, 177 15781, 361 55 852, 568 65 1,000, 883 88 939, 605 26 1, 106, 895 54 1,0054, 011 32 65~~~~~~~~~~, 03,7308 16 7, 040 171 828, 03 8 9, 536 71 11, 6738 1078 380 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES BULLION PRODUCT OF THE COMSTOCcx LODE.-The foregoing tables, from the Commercial Herald and Market Review, show the bullion product of the leading claims on the Comstock lode during the year 1867, as compared with 1866. The bullion product of the Yellow Jacket claim has been estimated for the last six months of 1867. The total product of the Comstock lode for the year ending December 31, 1867, is estimated by the most reliable authorities at $17,500,000. It is estimated that other districts in Nevada have yielded during the same period $2,500,000, making the total product of Nevada for the calendar year 1S67, $20,000,000. The average percentage of gold and silver is shown in table 2, on the workings of the Hale and Noreross, being about 66 per cent. silver, and 34 per cent. gold. In the outside districts the proportion of gold is considerably less. ASSAY OFFICES, &c.-There are four assay offices in Virginia and three in Gold Hill; some few of the mining companies assay their own bullion. The amalgam is usually retorted at the mill and delivered to the assayer in the form of "crude bullion." After melting and refining it is assayed by the ordinary process of cupellation with lead, the accuracy of these assays being checked from time to time by the humid method. The: charge on bullion for transportation to San Francisco is one per cent., and on coin from San Francisco to Virginia one and one-eighth per cent., the latter being somewhat the highest, to cover the extra risks of loss and robbery. STAGE ROUTES CENTRING AT OR PASSING THROUGH VIRGINIA CITY. ROUTE No. 1. Virginia to Sacramento, via the Central Pacific Raitroad, with which it connects at Cisco depot. Two coaches daily each way. Fare, including railroad charges, from Virginia to Sacramento, $20; from Sacramento to Virginia, $25. This route crosses the Sierra by the Donner Lake Pass, the one selected by the C. P. R. R. The fall of snow during the winter is very heavy, and sleighs run from the terminus of the railroad to within 30 miles of Virginia. During the winter of 1866 and 1867 they ran for a short time into Virginia without changing. ROUTE No. 2. Virginia to Sacramento, via Placerville and the Sacramento Valley raitroad, passing through Gold Hill, Silver City, Empire, Carson, and Genoa, connecting with the railroad at Shingle Springs. One coach daily each way. This route crosses the Sierras at the south end of Lake Tahoe. Snow on the summits of the mountains heavy. During the severest portion of the winter sleighs run fiom the summit nearly down to Carson valley. Before the construction of the Central Pacific railroad, nearly the entire freighting business between California and Nevada passed over this route. At the present time the Donner Lake road takes probably three-fourths and will gradually secure the balance as the railroad approaches Virginia. ROUTrE No. 3. Overland route, from the Atlantic to the Pacific States, passes through Virginia, one coach arriving and departing daily. Passengers complete the journey to Sacramento by either of the two previously mentioned routes. Fare to.Austin from Virginia, about $15; to Salt Lake, $70; to the eastern rail road terminus, $100. ROUTE No. 4. Virginia to Carson, passing through Gold Hil]l., Silver City, and Empire, one coach each way daily. ROUTE No. 5. Virginia to Dayton, passing through Gold Hil and Silver City, one coach each way daily. ROUrTE No. 6. Virginia to Washoe and Ophir, one coach each way daily. ROUTE No. 7. Virginia to Idaho Territory, passing through the Humboldt county settlements, one coach each way every other day. TIhis line connects with the stages on route No. 1, at Humter's crossing of the Truckee river, about 24 miles from Virginia. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 381 ROUTE NO. 8. Fastfreight, via D)onner Lake and the C. P. BR. B., one coach each way daily. Brings perishable freight to Nevada, carrying passengers only from Nevada to California, the amount of return freight being small. ROUTE NO. 9. Fastfreight, via Placerville and the Sacramento Valley railroad, details the same as route No. 8. ROUTE No. 10. Fast freight to Belmont, in Central Nevada, via Austin, one coach each way weekly. Carries fireight and passengers both ways. ROUTE NO. 11. Fastfreight to Belnont, one coach twice a week each way, carrying passengers and freight. STAGE LINES CENTRING AT CARSON CITY. ROUTE No. 1. Carson to Dayton, via Empire, one coach each way daily. ROUTE No. 2. Carson to Washoe, via Franktown and Ophir, one coach. each way daily. - ROUTE NO. 3. Carson to Aurora, via Genoa and WVellington's station, one coach each way every other day. The mines at Pinegrove lie a few miles to the east of Wellington's. At Genoa this route connects with stages for Silver mountain and Markleeville, and at Aurora with stages for Blind Springs, Fort Independence, Kearsarge, and Owen's River valley. The majority of these routes have been established for several years, and, as will be seen by the following table of postal routes, usually receive government aid, in the form of subsidies for carrying the United States mails. But few of them, especially those operating between distant settlements and through thinly settled countries, could exist without such assistance. Though suffering less severely fiom Indian depredations on this side of the Rocky mountains than on the eastern slope, these lines of travel, in some instances, absolutely require the presence of soldiers to make them safe modes of communication.! SECTION XVIII. VIRGINIA AND ADJACENT DISTRICTS-FACILITIES FOR OBTAINING FUEL. CoAL.-No coal deposits which are likely to prove of permanent value have been found in the neighborhood of Virginia. Considerable prospecting has been done in the neighborhood of El Dorado calion, a few miles from Dayton, where inferior lignite is found associated with triassic (?) limestones and shales, and at Crystal Peak, on the Truckee river, near the California State line, where lustrous black lignite is found in small quantities, in recent geological deposits. In the Palmyra mountains, a few miles from Como, a small vein of lignite is also found, but none of these localities can be relied upon for a supply sufficient to warrant an outlay of capital Many other points'have been located as coal lands, without any foundation whatever, the deceptive appearance of some metamorphic or igneous rocks having misled persons ignorant of geological formations into costly and useless expenditure of time and money.* The entire district is dependent on wood for fuel. When the mines on the Comstock lode were first discovered, the surrounding mountains were covered with a scanty growth of scrubby pines, (known as the pinon or pinenut,) and a variety ofjuniper, generally called cedar. This supply has been entirely exhausted, the nearest remaining timber of these kinds coming to the market firom the mountains east and south of Dayton, and north of Virginia, both localities about 12 miles distant from the place of consumption. Even at these points the amount easily accessible is rapidly diminishing. The rugged character of the mountains compels * See article on coal deposits of Nevada, section 2, page 312. 382 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES fhe lumbermen to pack the wood on mules, frequently two or three miles to places which are accessible to wagons. This and tile distance from market make the price high, ranging from $14 to $16 per cord. The pition is considered the most valuable firewood, being,a hard, resinous, fine-grained variety, growing from 10 to 30 feet in height, and commands about $2 per cord more than the cedar. The whole district will ere long be entirely dependent on the practically inexhaustible forests of the Sierra Nevadas. Even now large quantities of firewood are brought from this source, though the fuel is considered inferior to the piiion. There are many mills working ore from the Comstock mines located at the foot of the Sierras, and the teams hauling ore to these points bring return loads of firewood or lumber. Large quantities are floated down the Carson river yearly, a distance of 60 to 100 hundred miles from the forests at the head waters of the river to Empire City, in Eagle valley, and are shipped from that point to the mines and mills. The vicinity of Carson, Washoe valley and Galena also yield an abundant supply, but a wagon freight of 12 to 18 miles keeps the price at about the figures mentioned. CONSUMPTION OF FIREWOOD AND LUM BER.-The following table shows approximately the daily consumption of firewood in the district: Cords. By hoisting works on mines...................-................. —-------—......... 70 By mills crushing ores -...................................... 378 For domestic use............................................................. 120 Total.......................... 568 The average cost of this firewood will be about $10 per cord or $5,680 per day, giving a yearly total of over $2,000,000. Of this sum at least 60 per cent. is paid for hauling to the place of consumption. The consumption of lumber and mining timbers in the district will reach somewhere near 25,000,000 feet, (board measure,) of which about 17,900,000 feet are used in and around the mines on the Comstock lode. The total annual value of this branch of business will not fall far short of $800,000 ter annum. OTHER MINERAL DEPOSITS.-The mining district under consideration may be called exclusively a silver region, its other mineral deposits being relatively of small value. GOLD occurs in small quantities in many of the ravines along the foot hills of t~he Sierras, and Gold canon was worked as a placer mine before the discovery of silver; but both of these operations have been discontinued for some years. COPPER ORES are found in many localities, both east and west of Carson,but the difficulty of making copper mining remunerative in Nevada, with the existing high rates of labor, transportation, and supplies have prevented their development. IRON ORES are abundant in the mountains southwest of American Flat, and about four miles south of Virginia, but they are unfavorably situated for working,.and not likely to be of value. LEAD ORES containing a considerable percentage of silver occur frequently in the neighborhood of Galena, in Washoe county. The mines have been opened'to some extent, passing into the hands of several different parties, who have failed to work them profitably, though admirably situated as regards both water power for concentration and fuel for smelting. The galena is associated with considetable quantities of mispickel, which renders careful sorting essential to the production of good marketable lead, but the manner of the association is such that no difficulty need arise on this account. PLUMBAGO of inferior quality is found extensively in the mountains east of the Carson river, a few miles from Empire, but has never been utilized. It also occurs between Virginia and Washoe, in the Washoe mountains, and at one time was used in the manufacture of crucibles. SULPHUR occurs at the Steamboat Springs, condensed in the earth from the rising vapors, but not in any large quantity. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 383 LIMESTONE of fine quality iS plenty in the mountains east and south of Virginia. NUMBER OF MINING LOCATIONS CLAIMED AND OPENED.-The number of mining claims recorded on the books of the mining recorders of Virginia and Gold Hill does not fall far short of 5,000. If to these are added other claims throughout the district under consideration, the number will not fall far short of 8,000. When we compare this number with the claims on which work is being done at the present time, (probably not. more than 50) we- begin to realize the character of the wild mining fever which raged here from 1860 to 1863. It must not be supposed, however, that all claims at present lying untouched are worthless. Many of them developed ore, but too low in quality to pay a profit at the time they were abandoned. Still all the claims which may at any time in the future become valuable will not exceed a few hundred, a vast proportion of the 8,000 locations having no foundation whatever, and many of which could scarcely be pointed out even by the locators themselves. COST OF MATERIALS. The following table may be taken as a fair illustration. The few articles used in the mines not occurring in this table are added at the end, the average price being derived from the same source: Materials consumed at the Gould &. Curry mill during the year ending November 30, 1866. Articles. Quantity. Cost. Average price. Wood, cords -------------------- -------------------- 11,442 $168, 830 00 $14 72 Lumber, feet ------------------- -------------------- 172, 857 3,125 00 (per M) 42 40 Shingles........................................... 21, 500 185 00 8 60f Charcoal, bushels ------------------ ----------------- 5, 848 1,659 00 28 Iron, pounds........................................, 639 1, 698 00 131 Gas pipe, pounds.-. 450 258 00 57i Castings, pounds - 395,099 33, 880 00 8i Rivets, nuts, &c., pounds............................ 853 175 00 20 Steel, pounds....................................... 1,253 315 00 25 Copper, pounds.................................... 178 142 00 80 Babbit metal, pounds............................... 262 120 00 46 Nails, pounds.....................................-. 3, 832 417 00 11 Zinc, pounds — 172 42 00 25 Turpentine, gallons................................. 25 72 00 3 00 Belting, pounds.................................... 2, 888 2, 192 00............ Packing, pounds.................................... 494 497 00 1 00 Rope, pounds...................................... 393 96 00 25 Hose, pounds 136 97 00.................... Sulphate of copper, pounds......................... 87, 353 17, 588 00 20 Salt, pounds........................................ 345, 668 10, 943 00 3 Lard oil, gallons.................................... 1,360 2, 487 CO 1 83 Kerosene oil, gallons................................ 985 1, 615 00 1 64 Linseed oil, gallons................................. 40 99 03 2 47 Quicksilver, flasks.................................. 675 35, 013 00 51 89 Cut bolts, pounds................................... 923 214 00 23 Screens, pounds.................................... 743 633 00 1 to.75 Candles, pounds.................................... 2,980 819 00 27i Axes and handles.. —. 71 67 00.............. Picks.............................................. 42 20 00 50 Shovels............................................ 239 231 00 1 39 Feed, sacks............................-... -........ 487 2,087 00 Hay, bales......................................... 196 1,120 00.................... Axle grease........................................ 116 58 00 50 Copper rivets, pounds............................... 280 280 00 I 00 Tallow, pounds -1. 0, 863 1, 361 00 12i Alcohol, gallons.................................... 15 60 00 4 00 Brooms............................. -.............. 189 147 00 77 Oakum, pounds.................................... 126 46 00 32 Sledge handles..........................-.......... 157 77 00 50 Lamp chimneys.................................... 531 174 00 32 Roes- -76 71 00 1 00 White and red lead --- 1, 241 242 00 20 Blankets........................................... 43 347 00 8 00 Leather.......................................... 575 246 00 42, Stone coal... 9, 751 714 00 (per ton)..150 00 W ater............................................................. 6, 835 00................... Sundries -—......................................................... 3, 833 00... ---------- Mining timbers.$......................................$28 to $30 per M feet. Hay- ---------------- -$37 50 per ton. Barley- 4 per pound 381 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES POPULATION OF TowNs.-In the absence of census tables it is extremely difficult to give accurate information on this head. The population of the different towns may be estimated at about the following figures, which will probably be found rather over than under the mark: -- Virginia, Gold Hill and Silver City... 12, 000 Carson,......-...................................... 1, 000 W ashoe................................................. 1,000 Dayton.........-.................... 1, 000. Empire. —.-............ 500 The entire district under consideration.......................... 20, 000 Of this number about 1,500 are employed directly in the mines, and about 1,200 in the various mills, the remainder, whether engaged in farming, lumbering or in trade, being more or less dependent on the mining interest for their support. Were it not for its mining attractions, the district would in all probability have remained the desert it was in 1859, before the discovery of the Comnstock. Previous to that time it supported only a scanty population, who made a livelihood out of the annual emigration over the plains. PRICE OF LABomR. —Miners receive from $3 50 to $4 per diem, and blacksmiths, carpenters, brakemen ahd engineers, from $5 to $8. Mill hands earn from $3 to $5, according to the responsibility of their positions. MoDE AND COST OF LIVING.-The following list of prices current for articles of domestic consumption is taken from the daily papers: Flour, per 100 pounds.-....$6 00 a$6 50 Salt, 3-pound sacks......... $0 25 California bacon.............. 25 a 27 Whiskey, Monongahela.... 5 00 a$6 00 California hams.......-... 28 a 30 Whiskey, Bourbon......... 4 00 a 6 00 Eastern bacon.......... 20 a 25 Whiskey, quart bottles.... 1 25 a 1 50 Eastern hams..........-. 20 a 25 Coaloil, per gallon.......... 1 20 a 1 50 Butter, ranch............- - 42-a 50 Eggs, per dozen... 62+ Butter, eastern firkin......... 40 a 50 Egg s, per box 50 dozen...... 50 Green coffee, per pound, Rio... 35 Mackerel, per kit........... 5 00 Green coffee, per pound, Java. 40 Mackerel, per barrel........ 18 00 a20 00 Coffee, Chartres, I lb. papers.- 50 Trout, Lake Tahoe......... 20 a 25 Cheese, new California, per lb.. 25 a 37A Codfish, per pound... 2 0 a 25 Candles, per pound-........ 30 a 37j Salmon, salt, per pound 20 a 25 Corn-meal, per pound... 10 Salmon, smoked, perpound. 20 a 25 Lard, California, per pound.. 25 a 30 Salmon, fresh, per pound.. 25 a 374 Crushed sugar, per pound. 19 a 25 Herrings, fresh, per pound. 25 Brown sugar, per pound... 16 a 20 Herrings, salt, per pound.... 25 Powdered'sugar, per pound... 25 Potatoes, per pound........ 2a 3 Golden sirup, per gallon...... 1 50 a 2 00 Potatoes, sweet, per pound. 12~a 16 Tea, black, Comet, per pound. 1 12 a 1 35 Cabbage,- per pound... 7 a 8 Tea, green, Comet, per pound. 1 25 a 1 50 Green peas, per pound..... 12 Tea, Japanese, per pound.... I1 00 a 1 25 Asparagus, per pound.. 20 a 25 Plug tobacco............ 85 a 1 50 Onions, per pound.. 6 a 10 Salt, 10-pound sacks......... 75 Beets, perpound........... 4 a 5 Salt, 5-pound sacks.......... 50 Turnips, per pound......... 4 a 5 Even in the towns a large proportion of the population board at restaurants or hotels, at rates varying from $8 to $12per week. Mlany mills are so situated that they are compelled to keep a boarding-house for the men employed, in which case they are usually paid so much a month including their board. This system is the inevitable result'of the unsettled disposition of much of our population, who, in spite of oft-repeated warnings, are yet ready to believe that every new mining camp discovered is better than the one in which they are located, and rush to it accordingly, in the hope of making the "big strike" which shall bring them wealth and comfort in a day, instead of winning them by the old well-tried rule of patient industry and perseverance. There are many signs, however, of improvement in this respect; but the number of those who have come to look upo'n Nevada as a permanent home are very few,. ndeed.' House servants receive from $30 to $40 a month. Many Chinamen are employed in this capacity at about the same wages. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.:385 The great majority of private residences in this district are built of wood. BENEFITS OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD AND ITS BRANCHES.-The Central Pacific railroad at the nearest point will be about 20 miles distant from Virginia. Even were there no railroad connection between the two points, we should yet feel the advantage of this great thoroughfare, in more rapid and certain coinmunmication with the seaboard, and in reduced rates of freight. But its benefits are likely to be largely increased by the construction of a line from Virginia to a point on the Truckee river, about 26 miles east of the State line. This line has been carefully surveyed, its chief features being enumerated in the following abstract: Length of road from the Savage mine in Virginia to the Truckee river and Central Pacific railroad, 20 miles. Total length of road, 22 miles. Total elevation to be overcome, 1,996 feet. Average grade per mile, 115 — 4 feet. Heaviest grade per mile, 180 feet. Minimum curve, radius, 300 feet. Percentage of straight line, 65. Total estimated cost, including equipment, &c., $1,105,743. Total estimated revenue per annum, $1,368,320. Probable net profits, 60 per cent. of gross revenue. This line follows a hillside grade along the Washoe mountains to a point 1; miles north of Virginia, where it descends into Long valley, and follows the waters of that valley to the Truckee river. These flow through smooth valleys, occasionally interrupted by deep gorges bounded on either side by lofty precipitoUs bluffs of trachyte or basalt; but in all cases the bottom of the caflon is comparatively smooth, and wide enough to admit of the construction of a good road without being compelled to adopt a hillside grade, except in one instance, for about 11 miles. Owing to these ciicumstanees, a good road can be built for a very moderate outlay, though the route lies through very rough and broken mountains. A preliminary reconnoissance of this route was made early this spring, and the detailed location has just been completed with very flattering prospects. The importance of the early completion of this road to the mining interest of this district is almost beyond calculation. Its effects will be felt in the reduced price of freight on general merchandise, in the reduced cost of firewood and lumber, and in the possibility of working ores at present valueless from their too poor quality. At the present time about 30,000 tons of general merchandise are brought from California to Nevada annually for consumption in this district, at a cost Tor transportation of about $1,800,000. Through railroad communication with Sacramento will result in a saving of upwards of $900,000 per annum, of which about 10 per cent. or $90,000 may be credited to the Virginia and Truckee railroad. The road will also make the pine forests of the Sierra Nevadas easily accessible from Virginia, and from this source both lumber and firewood can be supplied to Virginia and Gold Hill at a reduction of fully 35 per cent. on present rates. The following details of the probable business of the road are from the report of the chief engineer, J. E. James. The figures show the present actual consumption in the localities where the opening of railroad communication with the Truckee river and the Central Pacific railroad would affect their price: According to the estimate of parties likely to bewell informed, firewood can be delivered at the Truckee terminus of the road at $3 or $3 50 per cord. They propose to cut this firewood in the Sierras and float it down the Truckee river.'Logs are at present furnished to Eastman's saw-mill (only a few miles higher up the river) from this source, showing the plan to be feasible, and furnishing data on which to base an estimate. Supposing, however, that these estimates are too low, and that the price at the terminus is $5 per cord, your company can supply the entire demand of Virginia, Gold Hill and Silver City at $10 per cord. In Virginia and Gold Hill this would be $4 per cord less than ruling rates to large consumers, 386 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES and $6 or $7 less than is usually paid by private families, and would certainly control the entire business, shown by the accompanying tables to be as follows: F'or mills as per schedule, daily...................................... 223 cords. For mines as per schedule, daily......................................... 72 " For domestic use.'..........................-..... 60 " Total. —........................................... 355 " The present price of timber and lumber for mining purposes ranges from $28 to $30 per 1,000 feet, board measure. In the report of the county assessor to the surveyor general of the State, for 1866, the cost of delivering logs and manufacturing them into lumber at Russell & Crowe's mill, at Empire City, is given at $12 per 1,000 feet, which is probably not far from a correct estimate. These logs are floated down the Carson river a distance of from 60 to 100 miles, from the forests of Alpine county, California Lumber can be manufactured on the Truckee at rates equally favorable, thus enabling your company to place it in the market at a price not exceeding $21 per 1,000 feet. The following condensed statement shows nearly the present annual consumption: Required by mines...............-......................... 17, 910,100 feet. Required by mills........... 920,,000 " Required for other purposes................... 5, 000, 000 " Total.... 23,830, 100 " We have then the following result per annum: Saving on 127,800 cords of wood, at $5.........................$639, 000 Saving on 23,800,000 feet lumber, at $7 per 1,000................ 166, 600 Saving on 30,000 tons merchandise............................ 90, 000 895, 600 equal to $1 50 on every ton of ore raised from the mines. We again quote from the report of the chief engineer: The facilities afforded by the Truckee river will doubtless create an immense business in the transportation of low-grade ores to that river for reduction by water-power. Competent judges. estimate that rock yielding $12 per ton can be reduced with profit both to mine and mill by taking advantage of its capabilities. All persons at all familiar with our mines are aware of the vast amount of low-grade ores now standing in the Comstock mines. We believe that 1,000 tons of this class of ore would be extracted daily in a short period after the completion of the road, but allowing for the gradual growth of the traffic, have based our estimate on 500 tons daily for the first year of operations. On a basis of 500 tons daily, there would be firom this source alone an increase on the annual production of bullion as follows: 180,000 tons, averaging $15 per ton, $2,700,000 or, supposing the quantity to be increasel to 1 000 tons the amount would be $5,400,000. This bullion can be secured to circulation in no other way. Neither will the advantages cease at this point. The ability to work $15 ores to advantage will immediately enable many mines at present lying idle to resulme operations, and very materially lessen the annual assessment list. Neither can it be doubted that the reduced cost of working will gradually cause the removal of other mills to the Truckee. If all the ores were worked at that point the saving to the community would amount to upwards of $1,000,000 per annum, equal to nearly seven per cent. on the gross yield per annum of the Comstock lode. The minimnm cost of mining ores has probably been reached; we rmust, therefore, look to improvements in the mode and cost of reduction, as an offset to the increased expenditure necessary to deeper mining operations, if -ve wouldl keep our net profits at their present position. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 387 SECTION XIX. THE SUTRO TUNNEL. One of the most important enterprises connected with the mining interests of the Pacific coast is the proposed Sutro tunnel, briefly referred to in preliminary report. The magnitude of the work, its bearing upon the future yield of the mines located upon the Comstock lode, and its probable influence in demonstrating the continuity of mineral lodes in depth, in other parts of our territory, where the conditions may be similar, have been set forth in various reports upon the subject. The Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco, a body composed of highly intelligent men, some time since appointed a committee to make a report upon the proposed tunnel, as being a work beneficial to the mechanical interests of the coast. The following extracts are taken from the report, which is quite an elaborate document: YIELD OF BULLION.-These mines have now a world-wide reputation; the yield of the precious metals from the Comstock lode far exceeds that of any other locality. The annual produce for the past five years has been in round numbers as follows: 1862......................................................................................... $4, 000, 000 1863...................................................................................... 12, 000, 00o0 1864....................................................................................... 16, 000, 00oo0 1865.......................................................................................... 15000, 000, o 1866....................................................................... 16, 00o, 00o0 Total produce in five years......................................................... $63, 000, 000 The total annual production of silver in the world in 1854 is stated by Professor Whitney at $47,443,200. The bullion obtained from the Comstock lode in 1866 is, therefore, equal to more than one-third in value of all the silver produced in 1854. Mexico, in its most flourishing days, from 1795 to 1810, produced an annual average of $24,000,000 from several thousand mines. After 1810, when the revolution took place, the yield of the mines fell in some years.to as low a fgure as $4,500,000, but the average from 1810 to 1825 shows $10,000,000. At the present time the entire product of Mexico does not exceed that of the Comstock lode. The celebrated mines of Potosi averaged about $4,000,000 per annum for 300 years; those on the Veta Madre (mother vein) of Guanajuato about $3,000,000 for an equal period, and the mines of the Real del Monte Company, on the Biscanya vein in Mexico, over $400,000 for the last 110 years, or a total of $44,000,000, a less amount than has been'obtained from the Comstock lode in the last three years. PROFITS O MINING.-The immense yield of bullion from the Comstock lode will lead one to suppose that the profits realized by the owners have been proportional to the yield, but this'has not been the case. It is true that the value of bullion obtained by some companies has greatly exceeded the current expenses, as, for example, the Gould and Curry; the net profits of which amount to over $3,000,000. But some obher companies have expended large sums of money and realized little, and some nothing at all. We have no accurate figures for the earlier years, but comparing the dividends with the assessments levied, we find that the aggregate produce of the mines has been swallowed up by expenses. In 1865 the dividends paid amount to $1,900,000, and the assessments levied to $1,950,000, or $50,000 more than the dividends. In -1866 the dividends paid were $1,794,400; theassessmentslevied, $1,232,380. Dividends over assessments, $62,020. In the first years of operations on the Comstock lode, the expenditures for machinery, which had to be transported from California across the Sierra Nevada mountains, for the erection of costly reduction works, and for other permanent improvements, together with the extravagant prices paid for reducing ores in a very imperfect manner, absorbed nearly the whole produce. Latterly, the only increase of expense has been in mining operations; as greater depths were reached a large amount of prospecting or dead work had to be done, and additions made to the pumping and hoisting machinery, almost counterbalancing the reduction in the cost of crushing the ore, of labor, and of freight, and we consequently find that the aggregate profits of the mines at the end of the last year bear but a small ratio to the production. The cost of labor and of reducing ores will gradually diminish from year to year, and on the completion of the Central Pacific railroad from Sacramento to the valley of the Truckee river, which will certainly be effected in the year 1868, the price of transportation from San Francisco to the mines will not be more than one-third of the average rates heretofore paid. But we do not believethat any reduction of expenses on these items which can be made will be sufficient to meet the increased cost of working the mines, after a few years, when greater depths are 388 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES attained, if the present system of pumping out the water, and of raising the ore and refuse through shafts to the surface, is continued. In the late report of R. H. Stretch, esq,, State mineralogist of Nevada, we find it stated that 47 steam engines are now in operation on the Comstock lode, which answer all the present requirements, but every addition to the depth demands additional power, correspondent augmentation of capital invested in machinery, and a larger annual demand for fuel. The little wood there was originally in the vicinity of Virginia City was long since exhausted; it has now to be obtained almost exclusively from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and as the nearer timber is destroyed, it must be hauled a greater distance and at an increased price. If we take into consideration the cost of machinery, of annual additions and repairs, and of consumption of fuel, wages of employ6s, delays caused by breaking of pumps, expense of explorations, obstacles in securing good ventilation and increase of heat with the depth, and the financial result of past years, we are forced to the conclusion that the mode now adopted of working these mines cannot long be prosecuted with profit to the owners. The result of similar operations in other countries, as furnished by Humboldt, Ward, St. Clair Duport, and other writers, conveys an instructive - lesson to persons interested in mining enterprises. These authorities agree that mining from the surface must always prove suicidal to the interests of the owners- when the position of the mines will allow the construction of adits or tunnels, which will drain the water, ventilate the mines, and diminish the cost of removing the -ore and valueless matetial. Humboldt, in his "Assay Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne," published in 1803, in refer. ence to the Veta Madre of Guanajuato, a lode much resembling the Comstock, exclaims: "It is, indeed, strange that mines of such richness have no tunnels for draining, when the neighboring ravines of Cata and Marfil. and the plains of Tumascatio, which are below the level of the lowest works of the Valenciana mine, would seem to invite the miner to commence works which would serve for drainage, and at the same time afford facilities for transporting materials to the smelting and amalgamation works." A gentleman of intelligence, whom Humboldt questioned in regard to this want of wisdom, replied "that the excavation of a general tunnel would be a work very expensive, and perhaps impossible, on account of the want of union among the proprietors of the different mines. THE VALENCIANA MINE.. —Upon this lode is located the celebrated Valenciana mine, which, according to Humboldt, was first opened by Obregon, a young Spaniard, who, withcut means, commenced prospecting on a part of the vein which up to that time had been unproductive. After undergoing many privations, he at last struck an immense body of ore, from which alone was extracted, from the 1st of January, 1787, to the 11th of June, 1791, the sum of $14,764,492 of silver, out of 134,988 tons of ore. Sefior Obregon, afterwards known as the Count of Valenciana, became the richest man in Mexico, and probably in the world, at that time. As greater depths were attained, the increase of expense became such that the mine ceased to yield a profit, and before the breaking out of the revolution in 1810, it was allowed to fill with earth and water. In 1825, this mine, together with many others, fell into the hands of a wealthy English company, who expended 21 months in draining it of water, but the expenses of mining and pumping were so great that after some years the lower works were again abandoned. THE ENGLISH REAL DEL MONTE COMPANY.-The most remarkable and disastrous experience made by any foreign company in Mexico has been that of the English Real del Monte Company. They became, in the year 1823, the possessors of the Biscanya and several other veins, the former having been worked for many years, and having yielded large amounts of silver, prior to 1749. At that date an intelligent miner, named Bustamente, concluded to run an adit, or tunnel, in order to effect their drainage. He labored long and patiently, and was supplied with means by Don Pedro Terreros, who continued the work after the decease of Bustamente. In 1759 the vein was reached, after running a tunnel 9,000 feet in length, cutting the vein at a depthof 600 feet beneath the surface, and exposing to view an immense body of ore. Terreros, in the 12 succeeding years. drew from his mines a clear profit of $6,000,000; he obtained the title of Count of Regla by the munificence of his donations to the Court of Madrid; he presented Charles III with two ships of the line, (one of 112 guns, constructed at Havana of the most costly material,) and accommodated him besides with a loan of $1,000,000, no part of which has been repaid. His successor, the second count, continued the working of the mines, but not with equal profit, for the upper portions of the vein being worked out, he was compelled to go below the adit, and the water encountered required 1,200 horses to pump it out, at an annual expenditure of $250,000. After struggling for many years, and after a depth of 324 feet under the adit had been reached, the work was abandoned, and the mine allowed to fill with water. It was in this state when the English Real del Monte Company toolk possession; they expected, by substituting powerful.steam machinery for the horse whims which had been employed by the Mexicans, to make the mines again profitable. The result, however, was very disastrous, for in the 23 years they held the mines the expenditures were $15,381,633; while the total yield was $10,481,475, showing a loss of nearly $5,000,000. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 389 They first erected two steam engines of 36-inch cylinders each, which freed the mine from water to a depth of 324 feet under the adit; at this point another one was required and erected" of 54-inch cylinder, by which the working was carried to'724 feet under the adit; but here again the engines were overpowered, and still another engine of 75-inch cylinder was erected. Mr. John-Buchan, the superintendent of the mine, in one of his reports, made in 1852, says: " After the mine had reached a depth of 710 feet under the adit (1,310 feet below the surface) the difficulties of drainage had so increased, both from augmented quantity of water and the greater height to raise it to the point of discharge, that three powerful steam engines could barely stem the coming waters of the mine. "With the increased difficulty of drainage, seeing three bunches of ore worked out, and a debtof $5,000,000 still outstanding, it is not surprising that the energy and perseverance of the English adventurers were at last exhausted. "Had the company prosecuted a projected deeper drain tunnel, it would have secured the continued prosperity of the mines for many years to come. It will be remembered that the first.Count of Regla distinguished himself and made the fortune of his family by driving the present adit; the second count reached down 324 feet below it, being the limit to which the mines could be worked with profit by horse power drainage. The English company, by the powerful aid of steam machinery, carried down the workings to 720 feet below the adit; but here we find another limit to profitable working, as the deeper excavations of the Biscanya vein are again abandoned to fill with water. "A deeper adit, which had to be driven a distance of 13,500 feet, had been commenced by the second count. The English company unfortunately adopted the more speedy plan, as it was supposed, of employing steam engines, instead of the slower but surer plan of driving home the deep adit, which could have been done with. the investment of but little more capital than that expended in applying steam engines, and would no doubt have given a very different turn to the fortune of that company." Mr. W. P. Robertson thus relates the financial history of this company: "'The LondonReal del Monte Company commenced working on a magnificent scale; then, under the influence of a panic, suddenly deserted, in the most critical time, their judicious and indefatigable agent at the mine, and the result has been unmitigated ruin. The mania in London at the time (1823 to 1825) was so strong and so general that no expenditure was for a moment grudged. People thought they were laying out tens to receive back thousands, so they paid up their tens with surprising alacrity. The management in London of many of the new companies under the reaction was miserably bad, and in the end many of the shareholders were completely ruined and retired to cottages, there to abandon forever their' Chateaux en Espagne.' "In 1825, the late Mr. Kinder, the enthusiastic leader of the Real del Monte Company, was offered $8,000 for each of his:30 shares of $500 paid up in that concern; he refused to sell, that is, he would not take $240,000 for what had cost him $15,000. The reaction set in, and down went all shares. In 1845-'46, those of Real del Monte were to be had at $12 50 each; that is, Mr. Kinder's 30 shares, which in 1825 were worth $240,000, had gradually. dwindled down to $375! The company was all but bankrupt; no more assessments were listened to; and the debts could not be paid with unsalable engines, though they kept up the steam, nor yet with stones, although silver was in them. The shares have since gone to nil; no one will have them fenced in, as they are with unknown responsibilities and debts. In vain did their new, active, intelligent, and enterprising, though prudent manager and agent, Mr. Buchan, write to the shareholders to take heart and not to throw away their property. They had been panic-stricken in the first instance, they had got sick of the business in the second, and in this last and most helpless fit, they entered into negotiations for the sale of the property to a Mexican company. A bargain was struck, and the perpetual lease of Real del Moute, with everything on it, passed from the hands of the Real del Monte bondholders for an old song. The entire sum paid was $130,000, for a business on which $7,000,000 had first and last been expended; and even of the mite to be recovered, threefourths were not to go into the hands of the bondholders at all, but to be appropriated in Real del Monte itself in the liquidation of sums still due to the servants of the old company. What a winding up! Shares once worth $8,000 each. now not worth:30 cents! and the actual movable property on the estate, in houses, workshopls, machinery, crushing establishment, timber, wood, iron implements, utensils, steam engines, horses, horned cattle, mules, and many valuable miscellaneous materials, must be worth altogether some millions of dollars. The house of Regla alone cost a million and a half, and now is valued at a million of dollars-all gone for $130,000. "Thus did Real del Monte pass from the Counts of Regla in Mexico, and thus has it passed from the luckless shareholders in London-the first paying the penalty of personal extravagance, the other an equally severe one of wild speculation and injudicious management. It is now in wiser hands than theirs, and prosperity dawns again on this almost national establishment or colony." This history of the Real del Monte mine teaches a valuable lesson, confirmed by the result of almost every similar enterprise in Mexico.. They show that after a certain depth has been reached and no drain tunnels constructed, the mines have been abandoned and the proprietors ruined., 390 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES St. Clair Duport, who published a work on the mines of Mexico in 1843, gives a general sketch of mining operations, which is a perfect representation of recent experience in California and Nevada. He says: "Opening a mine by accident, somebody discovers, guided by the croppings elevated above the soil, quartz containing some metal. He exposes some pieces to white heat, and if he discovers thereon globules, or pearls of silver, he takes up the claim. The discoverer now seeks partners with capital to work this claim, as generally the means of one man are not sufficient for such an enterprise. At first they generally seek to extract the ore by following down on the vein, and open a number of shafts along its course; but in the same ratio as these shafts increase in depth the water increases too; galleries and new shafts become necessary, and finally, as is generally the case when the largest portion of the yield has been expended in such operations, particularly in mines which are not extraordinarily rich in minerals, the work has to stop on account of bad air and abundance of water, the improvements being of no further use. "The owners now look for new partners; if the vein presents probabilities of richness at a greater depth, persons can be found who, for a portion of the stock, generally for half, advance the necessary means, which is to be repaid out of the first yield of the mine. " After the water has been removed, and the shafts and galleries are made, and really rich ore is found, then commences the good time of the mine. Arrived at a depth where silver generally is abundant, and when the expenses to bring the water, and ore to the Surface are not too great, mining is a good paying business; that is what is called in the nminer's language'la bonanza.' This time is hoped for with ardent desire, not only by the owners of the mine and the miners employed, but also by the entire neighborhood. In this case labor, and all necessary articles for mining, are in demand, and well paid for; the money earned with ease is spent freely, and everybody in the whole mining region having any claims is full of hopes to strike it equally rich. The buildings for the reduction of ores are now erected, and' very often in a style altogether too costly for their use. Next, underground works are constructed to facilitate the hoisting of ore and water. In case the mines in' bonanza' belong to private individuals, these wbrks are executed on a substantial basis, with a view of usefulness for the future. But in most cases, when a mine is divided amongst a number of shareholders, they present such a diversity of ideas that they often cannot agree upon anything at all, except to extract the most money from their mine in the shortest time possible, without even looking ahead for a few months. For this reason we cannot find one single wellworked gallery in such mines. The richest ore is torn from the mine, and less rich ore remains untouched to be taken out when'la bonanza' ceases. It is difficult to understand' why in times of prosperity a small portion of the yield is not spent to make new developments. ABANDONMENT OF THE MINE.-" The pay streak once traversed, and the increased depth rendering the price of extraction too considerable, the'bonanza' ceases. The less rich ore left in the mine is now taken out, and one of the greatest expenses being the keeping down of the water, the lower qualities of ore are abandoned. "The reserved middle class of ores will pay expenses to explore the mine for a while, but the time arrives when a day's work, or the value of a pound of ore, ceases to pay, and the mine is thereafter entirely abandoned." The author of the above description of mining operations in Mexico, written 25 years ago, could not have given a more truthful account of operations in'the Comstock lode had he spent the last six or seven years in Virginia City. Our mining companies have been pursuing exactly the same course, and have followed in the footsteps of their Mexican predecessors. Ruin of theowners and abandonment of the mines has been the result there; ruin and abandonment must follow upon the suicidal course pursued here. MINING IN EUROPE.-If we turn to Europe, however, we find that mining is carried on with intelligence, economy, and with a view to permanency. In England but few mines are located at any: considerable elevation above sea level, and deep drainage by adits is.impossible. But each mine has its adit, however small its depth may be beneath the surface, and in stating the depth of shafts in England they are given from the adit downwards; what is above the adit is not counted at all. The most remarkable work of this kind in Great Britain is the great adit in Cornwall, of which an English writer says:"The advantages of working mines by adits are well shown at the United mines, near Redruth, where an adit has been driven, commencing only a few feet above the sea level, which, with its branches, has a length of from 30 to 40 miles, and a depth under the mines of from 180 to 4201 feet. By means of this work a saving in the consumption of coal is effected amounting to 24,000 tons. per annum. ~ This magnificent undertaking was completed in 1768." MINES IN GERMANY. —The mines in Germany present by far the finest field for studying mining operations reduced to a: science. There mining schools and learned professors have for years prepared young men, who were to be placed in charge of mines, with a thorough knowledge of all the varied branches required of mining engineers. It is owing quite as much to intelligent management as to the low rates of wages that mines are profitably worked in Germany which would be considered valueless in California or Nevada. There we see the most complete systems of drainage and ventilation, and mines placed beyond the i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 3:91 usual contingencies of such enterprises, yielding nearly uniform dividends, and regarded by capitalists as good security for investment. THE FRIEBERG DISTRICT.-A few years since it was proposed to drain the Frieberg mining district by an adit-leve! of the extraordinary length of 24 miles, which would cut the vein at a mean depth of 2,000 feet. This plan was vigorously supported by Von Beust and other eminent mining engineers, and received the sanction of tae Saxon government. This gigantic work has not yet been commenced, but a deep adit is now being driven, which will drain the mines 400 feet below the present deepest natural drainage, and will have a length of a. little over eight miles. It is eight feet wide, nearly 10 feet high, and rises in the whole distance 12 feet 6 inches. In the Harz district some mines have attained an immense depth. The mine of Andreasberg has a depth of 2,450 feet, being one of the deepest mines in the world: adits have been there for centuries, the largest of which was completed three years ago. THE ERNST AUGUST TUNNEL.-We make the following condensed extract from a report made by Dr. Geissler concerning this great work, called the Ernst August tunnel, after the late King of Hanover: "On the 22d of June, 1864, a drain tunnel was completed which may be called the great. est work of the kind ever executed. To explain its objects and importance it will be necessary to give the following details: "The mines of the Harz were about to be abandoned, or, more properly speaking, about to be drowned out by water beyond redemption. In the course of time the explorations in those mines went. deeper and deeper, until they reached a depth of 2,000 feet. While the higher situated galleries ceased to yield pay ore in sufficient quantity, the exceedingly rich ores discovered in the lowest levels could not be reached on account of great bodies of water, which pumps and engines could' not master, and the lower levels had to be, for the time being, abandoned, " There have been drain tunnels in the Harz for a long time, which were used as canals for the transportation of ores. Already at the commencement of the 16th century mechanical means to remove the water from the mines were insufficient, and drain tunnels were constructed at that early period. The first tunnel was commenced in 1525, another in 1548, one. in 1551, and still another in 1573. By aid of these tunnels mining was continued in those districts for 200 years, but about the middle of the last century it became difficult again to master the water. "In 1799 another deep tunnel-haying a length, including galleries, of 57,000 feet, or nearly 11 miles-was completed. But this also, afterwards. was considered insufficient for future purposes, for notwithstanding additional engines might have been used for a while, their dimensions and cost in mines which had reached such an enormous depth would have been very great. And, after all, the surest and cheapest way for water to be removed is by its natural flow; the engines have enough to do in pumping the water up to the Ernst August tunne. as that gives the deepest natural-drainage which can ever be obtained. DESCRIPTION OF TUNNEL.-" In 1850, after careful surveys and due consideration, the construction of the Ernst August Tunnel was resolved upon; it was to commence at Gittelde, a little town at the foot of the Harz mountains, and it was estimated that 22 years would be required for its completion, but it only took a little over half that titne, for it was entirely completed in 12 years and 11 mouths. Nine shafts had been sunk, from which 8l galleries or drifts were run, and one from the mouth, so that the work progressed from 19 different points. The connections were made with such perfection that they could not be recognized after they were completed. "This tunnel has a uniform fall of 5 -ao- inches to each 630 feet, or I in 1,400; its height is eight feet three inches; its width, five'eet six inches, and its shape that of an egg. The, water has a sufficient depth to allow the use of long flat-boats, for the transportation of ore. A part of the water-course is covered over, to be used as a sidewalk for the miners." NECESSITY OF A TUNNEL TO THE COMSTOCK LODE.-We have thus far reviewed the results of mining experience where drain tunnels have not been, and where they have been constructed, and the conclusion your committee arrives at is, that a deep drain tunnel to the Comstock lode will not only greatly facilitate mining operations, but is an absolute necessity;. the socner it is constructed the more benefit will be derived therefrom, and without it nothing is more certain than the abandonment of those mines before the lapse of many years. The necessity of the tunnel having been sufficiently demonstrated, it remains to show that the ore which will probably be obtained from these mines will justify the cost of construction. The first question to be examined is, Whether the ore in the Comstock lode extends to an unlimited depth. This question has been so ably handled by Baron Richthofen, an eminent geologist of the highest European reputation, that we content ourselves by giving somne extracts from a letter written by him upon this subject, in February, 1865, and published in one of the pamphlets issued by the Sutro Tunnel Company. For a more detailed account of the geology of the Washoe country we refer to his able report, to be seen on the tables of this institute. CONTINUITY OF THE COMSTOCK LODE.-The learned Baronsays: "The value of a deep tunnel will, of course, chiefly depend upon the question whether these mines will ever be worked to coasiderable depth; that is, whether the Comstock vein will extend far down, and 392 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES whether it will retain its metalliferous character in depth. Both questions will have to be decided from the study of the structure and nature of the Comstock vein, and from compar. ing the results with the observations at such mines in other countries which have already been worked to great depth. My experience on the Comstock vein is based on close and repeated examinations of nearly all the mines on its course. I believe I concur with almost everybody who has had equal experience about them, in the opinion that it is a true fissure vein, of extraordinary length,, and extending downwards much further than any mining works will ever be able to be carried on. It would be too lengthy to enumerate the various reasons which lead most positively to this conclusion. It is now assumed almost universally as a fact, and the number of those who consider it as a gash vein, or a system of gash veins, is fast diminishing. "As to the downward continuance of the ore-bearing character, every instance goes to show that the average yield in precious metals remains about the same at every depth. Some mines had accumulations of ore near the surface, (Ophir, Mexican, Gold Hill;) in. others they commenced very near under the surface, (Gould and Curry, Potosi, Yellow Jacket, Belcher; ) at others, again, considerable work had to be done before bodies of ore of any amount were struck, (Chol]ar, the southern part of Gold Hill, Uncle Sam, and others;) and some which had no ore heretofore, appear to have good prospects to find it soon. The fact that some rich bodies of ore, which were found near the surface, gave out at a depth of a few hundred feet, induced the common belief that the Comstock vein was becoming poorer in its lower parts. But the explorations of the last few months have entirely defeated this opinion. On the contrary, the enormous amount of bullion which is being produced by the mines at present may almost appear to prove that the vein is improving in depth. But this conclusion is probably equally fallacious, as it must be borne in mind that many mines have been developed at different levels and ore is being extracted from several of those. Hoisting works and the mode of extracting the ore have also been improved, and of course help to increase the daily produce. This average equality of the produce of the vein at different levels is not only true for the amount of ore extracted but also for its yield. The rich body of ore in the Ophir and Mexican mines formns the only exception to this rule, as none of equal average percentage in silver and gold has been found again. Even the relative proportion of gold and silver in thb ore has not undergone any material change, though the bullion, on account of the more imperfect process of reduction, contained at first proportionally more gold than at present. "There is no reason to doubt that the equality of average produce and yield throughout the entire length of the vein will continue downward to any depth; besides the very obvious theoretical conclusion that vast amounts of silver could not be carried into the fissure from the overlying or enclosing rocks, but naturally had to rise from unknown depths, through the channel of the fissure itself, to be deposited in it where the conditions for srublimation or precipitation were given in its open space; experience in other countries by no means shows of a regular decrease or increase in yield as of common occurrence, though either of them may happen. More commonly, the produce of true fissure veins in precious metals has been found to be about constant." The Baron wrote the above over two years ago; the explorations made since that time in the Hale and Norcross and other mines, strongly confirm the views expressed by him. Nearly all writers who have specially studied the question'of the continuance of mineral veins in depth have arrived at the same conclusion. We will give an extract upon this subject from all eminent French writer, M., Burat. He says: "In all countries where isolated veins are worked, a large number of them have been abandoned and taken up again; abandoned because accidents or barren streaks rendered the'w6rking burdensome, and afterwards taken up again, when they have, by the aid of capital, been made productive mines. The same veins have been declared to be rich or exhausted for these reasons at different times; exhausted always when the owners were discouraged, and rich after the execution of further works had pierced the barren places. These are the facts of which we will relate several examples, and by which we intend to prove that each reworking of a vein after an abandonment more or less long, bears witness of the continuity of mineral veins in depth." Burat and other prominent writers recite numerous instances of this kind, but we cannot give place to them in this report. THE SUTRO TUNNEL. The proposed tunnel begins 3. miles below Dayton, between Corral and Webber canions. The distance from the mouth of the tunnel to the Savage Works is a little over four miles, but as the Comstock lode dips to the east, it will be cut in'20,1'78 feet. It will pass through the different ledges in Silver Star and other districts nearly at right angles. Allowing a grade of one inch in 100 feet, or four and four-tenths feet per mile, it will be 1,922 feet below the floor of the Savage Works. The topography of the country is admirably adapted for sinking shafts, four of which are proposed to be put down. They will not only supply the tunnel with fresh air, but will greatly expedite work, as drifts can be run each way after reaching the grade of the tunnel. The distance of the first shaft from the mouth of the tunnel is 4,070 feet; depth, 443 feet; second shaft from first, 5,150 feet; depth, 980 feet;. third shaft from WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 393 second, 4,060 feet; depth,,436 feet; fourth shaft from third, 4,654 feet-; depth, 1,360 feet; from fourth shaft to Comstock lode, 2,244 feet; depth, 1,942 feet. These are convenient distances for working and ventilation. The mouth is about one and a half mile from Carson river, and 150 feet above high-water mark. There is a gradual descent for about one-third of a mile, in which a fall of 100 feet is obtained, giving sufficient area for dumping and mill sites. The vertical section of the tunnel through rock not requiring any support is a circle of 12 feet diameter, with offsets 3. feet from the bottom, about one foot w-ide, which support the superstructure of the railroad track to be used for removing ore and debris from the mine. The space under the superstructure is for drawing the water from the lode. Where timber' supports are required to sustain the adjacent rock, the top is level, and 10 feet wide, clear of the framing; height eight feet to the bottom of the timbers supporting the-railroad, where it is 12 feet wide in the clear. Below this there is a triangular space, three feet seven inches in depth, forming the water way. The estimates of the cost of construction have been very ably discussed in a lengthy report by R. G.' Carlyle, esq., covering some 200'pages of manuscript, and illustrated by numerous well-executed diagrams. Mr. Carlyle has resided some years in Virginia City, when he was the engineer of the Gould and Curry Company, and appears to be thoroughly familiar with everything connected with mining in that country. The minuteness with which.he goes into the details of the proposed work, the elaborate calculations into which he enters, and the scrupulous manner in which he weighs his conclusions, entitle his report to careful consideration. It is impossible for us to give more than a condensed abstract of the results he has obtained. The basis of his calculations is the experience of himself and others in mining near Virginia City, and the statements of Baron' Richthofen in regard to the character of the material encountered. in the construction of the tunnel. The Baron says: "The facilities of excavating the tunnel would depend mainly upon the quality of the rock through whichit will pass. It is a remarkably fortunate incident that the route selected by Mr. Sutro not only gives the. greatest depth, is the shortest, has the best facilities for'working shafts, but promises also in this respect to be the most advantageous. The first 6,000 or 7,000 feet will be: through trachyte and trachytic breccia, which in a broad semicircular belt of prominent hills, swing from Dayton by the Sugarloaf to Washoe valley. Trachytic breccia may easily be worked by the pick, yet is ordinarily solid and dry enough to require no timbering. An idea of its excellent qualities for tunnelling may be formed from the fact that in Hungary Wine cellars hundreds of feet in length are with preference excavated in this kind of rock. The solid trachyte is an excellent blasting rock. Its superior qualities have caused its general use in Washoe for building material; it wgas as such applied in the construction of the solid masonry of Gould and Curry mill. With the use of the drilling machine of Mount Cenis, speedy work will be made in this rock. The next 2,500 feet will, to all probability, exhibit a great variety of rock, some of which will be ratherhard. The following 10,000 feet to the cutting of the vein- will most likely consist of the same material as is traversed by the numerous tunnels which lead at present to the Comstock vein. This rock (trachytic. greenstone) would offer some obstacles if it were in an undecomposed state. But from the general nature of its decomposition, which evidently was performed from below by ascending steams and vapors during a time of volcanic action, we believe we are justified in the conclusion that it will be found for the entire length of 10,000) feet of the same rotten nature as in the shallow tunnels at present in existence, and it may have to be timbered the whole distance." Mr. Carlyle speaks as follows in regard to his experience with the two principal kinds of rock to be encountered: " While I was in the employ of the Gould and Curry as their chief engineer, we used solid trachyte for building purposes, taken from a quarry on the side of the Sugarloaf mountain. I had, therefore, considerable opportunity of learning the particular characteristics of the stone.: It is not porous, but'is very close in its nature, has very few seams, no grains or special tendency to fracture in any particular direction. It is rather soft, and, in consequence, is easily drilled to any desired shape. The rock drills well and blasts freely, as it does not seem to have much cohesion on account of its many component parts. The rock does not airslack; on the contrary, it grows harder by exposure." This rock is extensively used for building purposes; all the stone buildings in the town of Dayton are constructed of it. His experience in working greenstone porphyry he gives as follows: "This class of rock is traversed by several tunnels to the Comstock lode, all of which were easily worked, and they had to be supported by timber. The Gould and Curry lower tunnel is the only exception to this, as it passed through'1,4.00'-feet of undecomposed rock, which was-not difficult to' work on account of its favorable stratification; powder was used but to a small extent, and this for the purpose only of shaking the mass. The remaining 800 feet to the lode had to be timbered, as the rock would not support itself. The whole length of this tunnel, 2,200 feet, was run from one working point in 486 working days, or 16 months; the work, however, was distributed over a period of two years, as it did not progress steadily. The average daily progress was nearly five feet." 394 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Mr. Carlyle-estimates that 10,535 lineal feet of tunnel will be through solid rock, and 9,643 through decomposed rock requiring timbering, Shaft No. 1 is 7~ feet by 13 feet, and shafts Nos. 2, 3, and 4 are 7} feet by 14 feet, outside of planking. They are timbered and planked from top to bottom, and divided into twocompartments-one for pumping out the water, and the other for raising the excavated material. Preliminary tunnels are driven from the bottom of these shafts in both directions till they meet. These tunnels are in solid rock, five feet in width and seven feet high, the top being a semicircle.- In rock requiring timbering they are of a box-shape, four feet wide on top, five feet on bottom, and six feet four inches inside of the timbering, with a channel below for drainage. TIME REQUIRED TO. FINISH TUNNEL. —" The time required to sink the different shafts on the Sutro tunnel, and make connections of the drifts from the same, I estimate as fol-d lows, on the basis that four feet can be sunk per day on the shafts, and five feet made on the drifts: " Connection from drift No. 1 in 462 working days. " Connection from drift No. 2 in 693 working days. " Connection from drift No. 3 in 708 working days. " Connection from drift No. 4 in 815 working days. " Since all these shafts would be progressing at the same time, the connections from shafts Nos. 1, 2, and 3 will be made before those of No. 4, and the whole time, therefore, required to finish a preliminary tunnel to the Comstock lode would be 815 days. "The enlargement of this preliminary tunnel will progress from the mouth from time to time as the connections are made, and will be completed up to a point midway between shafts three and four by the time the last connection is finished. From that point 4,618 feet would still remain to be enlarged, which would occupy 116 days. The total time, therefore, required to complete the Sutro tunnel to the Comstock lode would be 931 days, or two years, six months, and 21 days." The committee would remark in regard to the removal of the rock for 4,618 feet, that estimating the sectional area at nine yards, the amount is only 13,854 cubic yards, on which, as the cut can be worked all along the top and at the two ends, sufficient number of men can be employed to remove it in the time indicated. Mr. Carlyle then cites numerous instances of shafts sunk by different companies, and tunnels driven to the Comstock lode, which prove that his estimate of four feet per day in sinking shafts, and five feet in driving tunnels, whenever. prosecuted with energy, is confirmed by experience. making due allow ance for their size and other circumstances, which in some cases have retarded work. Your committee are of the opinion that, with proper energy, a sufficiency of capital, and provided no extraordinary obstacles are encountered, the tunnel might be finished in the time stated, but it is so well known that delays are met with in works of this kind, from causes impossible to anticipate, that it is probable that an additional time of least one year may be occupied. It is safe to say that, making all due allowance for contingencies, the tunnel can. be completed in from three and a half to four years. SECTION XX. EASTERN NEVADA.'The eastern Nevada mining region, as the term is used, is understood to include that part of Nevada constituting the counties of Lander, Nye, and Lincoln; being considerably more than half the State; or embracing an area of three and a half degrees of longitude and seven of latitude, if we include the portion of territory taken from Arizona and added to this State by an act of the 39th Congress; making an aggregate of about 60,000 square miles, or an area equal to the entire State of New York, with several of the lesser New England States added. This great region, at the beginning of the present decade, was almost entirely unknown to the world, as it was unoccupied and unexplored, save one or two routes travelled by the emigrant from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific coast. It had been crossed along the line of the Humboldt river, and upon the more direct route, part of which is now the road taken by the great overland mail. Fremont and other explorers had also crossed by different routes, but they had regarded it as a sterile waste, and without looking for minerals or what might give value to the country, sought only for routes or passes by which they could most expe WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 395 ditiously leave it. So little was learned from these explorations that until within a few years past the country had been marked upon the maps as an unexplored region, generally destitute of vegetation and water, and 4sparsely occupied by a homeless, wandering, and degraded race of Indians. The desolation and sterility, not only of this particular region, but of all the country lying between the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada, had become so generally acknowledged, that the wish had been expressed that these ranges of mountains might come together, and this great region be obliterated from the surface of the earth. The general appearance of the country throughout the " great basin" indicates that a partial elimination has taken place, as, topographically it presents the appear-ance of having once been a vast plain, which being pressed by the two great mountain ranges bordering on the east and west, broke or wrinkled the surface into parallel ridges and valleys whose axial lines quite regularly extend north and south. These corrugations are a prominent characteristic of the country south of the Humboldt river, and north of the 36th parallel of latitude. A peculiar feature of this sectiojn is, that it has no outlet to the sea, but its streams, which, though generally small, are quite numerous, flow from the mountains to the valleys, sometimes for a considerable distance in the valleys, and then are lost in the sand. The mountains, which rise precipitously, are from a few hundred to 5,000 feet above the subjacent plain, and as the general elevation of the plains is about 5,000 feet above the sea, the most lofty peaks attain an altitude above tide-water of 10,000 feet. These hills and mountains are usually covered with scanty patches of pine, cedar, and mahogany trees, furnishing excellent fuel, but generally valueless for building material, although theza are localities where there are groves of pine, from which a fair quality of lumber is manufactured. These hills and valleys, if forbidding in their general aspect, and apparently barren, produce a most excellent and nutricious species of bunch grass, and constitute a very superior grazing country; while in the many caflons of the mountains, and in all the large valleys, are tracts of land of an exceedingly productive character. The lands susceptible of profitable tillage amount in the. aggregate to a considerable area, and are capable of furnishing most of the products of the farm grown in temperate climates. The grasses, grain, and vegetables are of good quality. Agriculture and manufactures can be conducted on a limited scale, and will be great assistants to the chief resource of the countrymining. The mineral-bearing veins of eastern Nevada were first made known in 1862, at the time when attention was called to the subject by the developments made upon the "' Comstock ledge," and from. which near $75,000,000 of silver have been taken. The history. of this discovery says: Early in the month of May, 1862, William H. Talcott, an attache of the stage station at Jacobs's Springs, a post on the transcontinental stage route, while hauling wood from the hillside, now within the limits of the city of Austin, discovered a vein of metal-bearing quartz,: and carried a small quantity with him to the station. The rock proving to contain silver, the ledge was located as a mining claim, and named the Pony, as the discoverer had formerly been a rider of the pony express. On the 10th day of May, 1862, a mining district was formed, including an area 75 miles in length east and west, and 20 miles north and south, ani named the Reese river mining district. A code of laws was adopted after the custom of miners, and William M. Talcott, the discoverer, elected recorder, and the claims already discovered were recorded. The extent of the district east and west is nominally 75 miles, but really it only extends from the western base of the mountain to the summit, about three miles. This was the inauguration of the Reese river mining region. Its name is derived from a small stream called- Reese river, flowing from south to north through the valley which borders the western base of the mountains. The extreme length of Reese river is about 150 miles, when it empties into the Humboldt, but the water usually sinks and is lost before reaching the latter stream. The valley averages about five miles in width, and contains some good.agricultural 396 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES land. The mountain range in which the silver was found received the name of "'Toiyabee," an Indian word, meaning a range of hills. This range is of about the same length as the river, and is from 5 to 15 miles broad through its base, and rises above the subjacent valley from 1,000 to 5,000 feet. It is geologically composed of primitive rocks, of which granite or gneiss and slate are the principal, with quartzite, limestone, serpentine, porphyry, and others as occasional varieties. In all are found veins of quartz-bearing gold, silver, copper, lead, antimony, and other metals. In its general character, appearance, and formation it resembles the numerous other ridges running parallel to it through the country, and from 10 to 30 miles distant from each other, separated by valleys generally containing a proportion of tolerable soil, yet unoccupied and irreclaimed. The discovery of silver being made known, the news spread rapidly and the people flocked to the locality. Situated on the line of the overland stage and telegraph, it was convenient to reach. The site for a large town was surveyed, and Austin was built; now incorporated as a city, with its mayor and board of aldermen, city officers, police, a city hall, a daily newspaper, saloons and stores, a national bank, private banks and assay offices, costly churches, publio'and private schools, public halls and lecture rooms, comfortable private dwellings, gasworks for lighting the city, water-works and pipes supplying the houses, sewered streets, stages running in all directions, and the telegraph connecting it with all parts of the world-in fact, possessing the usual features of a city. Referring again to the history of Austin in the directory of the city, the writer says: " Centrally in the State of Nevada is the young and happy city of Austin. Should. its locality be sought for on the map of America, it will be found where is usually marked the vacancy of the Iunexplored regions,' in latitude 30~ 29' 30", and in longitude west from Washington 40~ 4', or 117~ 5' west fiom Greenwich, England, being almost precisely in the geographical centre of Nevada." This centre is conveniently reached from the east or west, and without hardslhip or, danger. The great trans-continental highway runs through it with a daily stage, mail, and express. Two other stages, running between Austin and the Pacific carry passengers and freight at very low rates. By daily stage the journey from San Francisco to Austin is performed in four days, at the cost of $50. By the other stages the time is greater by one or more days; the cost is from $15 to $30. The road is good, and freight wagons bearing 10,000 to 15,000 pounds weight are taken over it. The distance to San Francisco is 473 miles, of which more than half is travelled by steamboat and railroad. From the east the traveller leaves the Missouri river by the cars-of the Union Pacific railroad or its branches. After the present year (1.867) the cars will quickly and easily bear him 600 miles westward over the great plains, and thence by stage 900 miles through Bridger Pass by Salt Lake to Austin, requiing about 10 clays of travel. Great bodies of immigrants cross annually with their own conveyances, subsisting their animals upon the native grasses, or, as may be done at the present time, purchasing forage which is produced at the settlements along the road. This mode of travel greatly lessens the expense, but requires from 40 to 60 days for the journey. - The laws and customs of Nevada, which are recognized by the government of the United States, permit miners upon the discovery of metal-bearing lodes in an unoccupied locality to organize a mining district, designate its bounds, pass a code of laws regulating the location and tenure of mining property, and choose a recorder of locations. These districts are usually from 10 to 20 miles square, though governed by the physical features of tIhe country and the contiguity of other districts. REESE RIVER DISTRICT-HOW CLAIMS ARE AcQUIRED.m-Reese River district, Lander county, was the first organized, and has given its name to the surrounding country. Its:mineral belt comprises an area on the western slope of tlie Toiyabee mountains, about two miles in width and seven in length. Tne dimensi'ons were formerly greater, but the area mentioned comprises what WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 397 is now considered as the district. - Upon organization a code of laws was adopted regulating the size and manner of location of mining claims. The law as first passed accorded to the locators of a vein the ground and all the mineral it contained for a width of 200 feet on each side of the vein located. In a few months large additions were made to the population, and the law was amended so as to restrict ownership to the lode or vein actually discovered and located, with the privilege of occupying the surface necessary for working the mine. The mining laws of other districts in eastern Nevada do not differ materially from those of Reese river. The laws of Congress acknowledge the validity of these rules and permit miners to go upon the public -lands and take possession of the mines, promising no interference.- These laws explain themselves. The ground is public and open to all the world. Any man can go upon it, and by finding a vein of gold, or silver, or any other ore can make it his own, and is assured and protected in his title. In no other country is such a privilege given. A country stored with wealth invites the people of all the earth to come and take possession and become independent land-owners and miners. Within the limits of the district -over 6,000 locations have been made, but this does not indicate the number of distinct silver-bearing veins known to exist. There are many hundreds of known value. These veins are in the granite rock, and are from six inches to three feet in thickness. They generally lie parallel to each other, with a strike northwest and southeast and a dip to the northeast. A movement of the rock has at some places been made, and these ledges are broken or have " faults" and the angle of their dip is not so great. MODE OF WORtING.-The veins are usually explored by means of an inclined shaft commencing where the ore appears at the surface, and following down with the dip of the ledge. When, after thus sinking a distance sufficient to render certain the existence and character of the vein, it is thought desirable to open it as a mine, and to work it conveniently, a perpendicular shaft is sunk at a point some distance from the outcrop, as the ground permits, calculating to pierce the vein at a depth of 100 feet or more beneath the surface. These shafts are of different dimensions, the best being about 5 by 15 feet. The cost of sinking such a shaft and securely timbering it is about $60 per foot of depth. DESCRIPTION OF ORES. —A belt of silver-bearing veins runs from Aarshall calion, in the southern part of the district. northerly to the Amador district, a distance of about six miles. This belt is about half a mile in width. In it are a great number of parallel veins similar in character and generally rich. The different localities are designated as follows, commencing at the south: Miguel cafron,l Marshall's canion, Union hill, Central hill, Lander hill, Emigrant cation, Telegraph canlon, Yankee Blade, and New York ravine, the northern line of the district separating it from Amador. Each of these localities is locally known' for its particular mines in the more advanced stages of development. Those of the district most systematically opened are the Great Eastern, Timoke, Oregon, North Star, Florida, Magnolia, Savage, Diana, Troy, Buel North Star, Providencia, Kaleseed, and some others on Lander hill, in the city of Austin, and within an area of a few hundred yards square.''These are veins, the gangue being quartz, of 10 inches to two feet in width, of highly concentrated ore, easily and cheaply mined. On Central hill are the North River, IIubbard, Naiad Queen, Penobscot, and others, which are well developed and hlave produced a considerable amount of bullion. On Union hill are the Whitlatch Uniol, Camargo, Silver Chamberl, and Tuscarora, from which bullion has been taken. At Yankee Blade and in the vicinity are the Confidence, Maggie, Ontario, Yankee Blade, Whitlatch Yankee Blade, Miami, Chase, Metacoln, Midas, Green Emigrant, Vineyard, Vedder, and Selavonia, most developed and of the best promise, while many others are located, partially developedl, and regarded as valuable. A catalogue of the locations made in the district, or ani opinion regarding them, would be useless; many have been abandoned after some slight 398 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES dev6lopments. The general character of the ore tlhroughout the district is the same in the sanme relative positions. At the surface, and to the depth of 50 to 70 feet, where water is found, the vein matter is loose and friable, has a dirty or earth-stained~ appearance, and the silver is found in the form of a chloride ore, presenting a dark or straw-colored appearance. When the water is reached the vein matter shows the white, clear quartz, and the ore, then usually an antimonial sulphuret, is quite black, and, contrasted with the white quartz, presents a beautiful appearance. Its value is readily ascertained by one experienced in observing it. The ore taken from below, where the water has long existed in the earth, often contains beautiful crystals of silver. From these mines are obtained specimens which adorn the cabinets of the mineralogists, the lovers of the beautiful and unique, and the curiosity hunter. The limits of this report do not permit a full description of the varieties of ores, nor the discussion of the formations of the veins. It will suftice to notice the manner of their development,s and to show their value. In the district, as has been said, are more than 6,000 locations of mines of 500 to 2,000 feet each. Probably 1,000 of these have been so far developed as to prove that they possess a value; )iut of this number only a few are at present mined. A description of a few of the most noted on Lander hill will give an insight into the character of all and an idea of the extent of operations to be undertaken in the future. THE NORTH STAR, belonging to the Manhattan Company, was located in 1862. In its first stages of development it was opened by an incline, which exposed chloride of silver ore, and was mined with some profit. At a greater depth the ore was a, sulphuret. Subsequently a perpendicular shaft was sunk, piercing the vein at the depth of 200 feet, and with powerful steam hoisting machinery the mine is still worked with profit. The vein is encased in granite, is generally about 14 inches in width, and is mined without the aid of powder. In February last, of some hundreds of tons mined and reduced at the mill of the company, the average product was $240 per ton of 2,000 pounds. The Jworkings of the quarter ending June 30 show 507 tons, and a product of $149 40 per ton. The ore found in this mine, as in all the others in the district when below the line of permanent water, is commonly denominated a sulphuret, although it comprises several varieties of ore containing sulphur.'THE OrREGON is a parallel vein within a few hundred feet of the North Star, belongs to the same company, is worked by the aid of the same machinery, and in a11 respects resembles it. THE GREAT EASTERN is opened by a perpendicular shaft, and is advantageously worked. In one month, to the labor of 30 men it produced 137 tons of ore, which returned of bullion an average of $346 77 per ton, or an aggregate of 647,507 50. The vein is from 10 to 30 inches in thickness, averaging perhaps 18 inches. The gangue is a clear white quartz, and the ore, which constitutes a large percentage of the vein, is an antimonial sulphuret, or, as locally termed, a ruby silver, from its dark red or ruby color. The mine was first opened by an incline following the inclination of the ledge, which dipped at an angle of about 300 from a horizontal, to the depth of 250 feet, developing much good ore, although the vein was very narrow. For the better opening of the mine a pelpellndicular shaft was sulnk at a distance of 400 feet northeast of the croppings, which pierced the ledge at a depth of 300 feet. At this depth it was found of greater size and value than in the incline. It is unfortunate that at the date of this report the workings should be in barren rock. A depth of 350 feet has beenr reached, and extensive explorations have been made without finding ore of the quality which heretofore made its workings so profitable. The mine is worked through the vertical shaft before spoken of, which is divided into compartments to create a current of air, that passes down one compartment and up fanother, affording excellent ventilation. At the greatest depth (350 feet) the rEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 399 temperature is 60~ Fahrenheit.* The altitude of the surface is about 6,000 feet above the sea. The mine is easily drained, discharging 20,000 gallons daily. The water is raised in a bucket by a steam engine of 50-horse power, which also does the work of'hoisting the ore and waste rock from the mine,, which amounts to 60 tons per diem. The cost of transporting the ore to the mill and milling is as agreed upon. If the entire amount of.'bullion produced or the "clean-up" is returned, the charge is $65 per ton; but if the miller agrees to return 80 per centum of the assay value of the ore, the charge is $45 per ton. THE FLORIDA vein presents many characteristics of the Great Eastern, is in size about the same, and furnishes the same quality of ore. It is owned by the New York and Austin Silver Mining Company, and is mined under the superintend-ence of Mir. Edwin A. Sherman, a skilful mining engineer. The claim is S00 feet in length, and is situated near the centre of the belt passing through Lander hill. Its strike follows the general direction of veins through the hill, being northwest and southeast, its dip being 29~ from a horizontal plane. Its development under the present management commencel August 18, 1866. It is opened by an inclined shaft following the vein, and ha~ now reached -a depth of 350 feet. From this incline three levels are running; the first at a depth of 150 feet, which has extended to the northwest 65 feet, and above which for a width of 30 feet the ore is mined out. Through this mining the average width of the vein is' 10 inches. The second level is 50 feet below the first, and between the two all the ore has been mined. This level extends to the southeast a distance of 230 feet, and the ore has been taken out for a width of 30 feet above the level along 100 feet of it. The average width of the vein through this working was eight inches. A third level is run at a depth of 300 feet, which has reached a length of about 30 feet on each side of the incline. Along this level the vein has a thickness of 16 inches. The -amount of levels rut in the past year aggregate 760 lineal feet, making 32,000 cubic feet of rock removed from the avenues alone in the development of the mine, and' about 18,000 more have been removed in the excavations necessary in taking'out the ore, making an aggregate of 50,000 cubic feet of country rock actually removed from the mine, or a small fiaction over 4,000 tons. The number of tons of ore taken from the mine in this time is 317, 28 of which have not been worked. E'rom the ore worked, 288 tons and 1,679 pounds, there has been produced& $74,823 82, or an average of $259 per ton of 2,000 pounds. The actual cost of working this mine to poduce the above sum has been $65,740 21, leaving a net profit of $9,083 61. The expenses include officers, rent, taxes, &c., &c. To the profits should be added the value of the levels run to be used in the further operations of mining, which, at a reasonable estimate, should be $15,000; also a property above ground on the mine worth $5,000 more. The above statement is for the 10 months ending June 30, 1867. Since then machinery has been'erected for hoisting, of the value of $10,000, and about $5,000 worth of ore taken outt and hauled to the mill ready for crushing; so that thus far it may be fairly stated that the mine has paid the expense of its development, including the cost of machinery, &c., with a value of not less than $30,000 above ground, and the value of work performed for future benefit. THE SHERMAN SHA:FT. —On the 7th day of February last was commenced the Sherihan shaft by the superintendent of the Florida mine, in honor of whom it is named. This shaft it is designed to sink to the depth of 1,000 feet,' and as much deeper as it shall be found practicable to go. Its dimensions are 5 by 15 feet; it is timbered or lined with plank three inches in thickness, and by the same character of planking is divided into three compartments. Up to July 28 X depth of 175 feet had been reached, all of which is substantially timbered. Water was reached at a depth of 145 feet. The cost of sinking the shaft to the present time has averaged $61 per foot, including all expenses. * At 1st of August the' temperature at the surface is 820,' 400 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES THEI BunNs SHAFT is projected by the same engineer, is for the same companyv, and is of the same plan and dimensions, and is named in honor of B. J. Burns, local editor of the Daily Reese River Reveille. It i's situated on the crest of Lander hill, as is the Sherman shaft; is, at its starting point, 150 feet lower, and about one-fourth of a mile northwest of the latter. It has reached a depth of 80 feet, (July 28,) and has cost about the same per foot as the Sherman shaft. These two shafts are the enterprises of the New York and Austin Silver Mining Company, and are designed for working the Florida, Semanthe, Rubicon, Saratoga, and other ledges belonging to the company, and such other blind or non-cropping ledges as may be discovered in sinking; but more especially for the penetration of the basin which is supposed to lie below the crust in which the numerous and parallel fissure veins are found. To continue these shafts to a great depth, heavy and powerful steam machinery of not less than 200-horse power will be required on each, and deep levels must be run connecting the two shafts.- The' machinery for the Sherman shaft has already been contracted for, and will be placed on the mine by the 1st of October of the present year. These shafts are important and most promising enterprises, and, if carried out as designed, will prove the wealth of Lander hill at a great depth. It is expected they will be completed in about three years. THE MAGNOLIA is a location upon the same vein as the Florida, joining that claim on the northwest, and of course in many respects it bears the same characteristics. The vein is explored to the depth of about 250 feet, and bodies of good ore have been developed. This mine is locally distinguished for the high grade of ore that has been taken from it near the surface. Its greater depths are but little developed. THE TIMoKE.-Lying between the Great Eastern and the mines of the Manhattan Company is the Timoke, a small mine,'but one that has been profitably worked under the superintendence of W. F. Leon, for a company residing in Boston, Massachusetts. The vein is from one to two feet in thickness, and in general character is the same as the others of Lander hill. PLYMOUTH SILVER MINING COMPANxY.-The Plymouth Silver Mining Company is organized under the laws of the State of New York. It owns the Kaleseed, Parent, Zimmernan, and Jacob mines on Lander hill, lying in close proximity to each other and parallel, so that they may be well opened and worked by one perpendicular shaft. Such a shaft is in course of construction under the superintendence of Charles C. Lane. It is the intention to sink this shaft 400 feet, 108 of which has already been reached, (August 1.) No very extensive mining has been done upon these veins, only sufficient to give proof of their value and to encourage thorough opening. A few tons of ore from the Kaleseed lode was lately reduced and showed a value for first-class ore of $1,763 02 per ton, and the second- class a value of $280 53 per ton. This ore was taken from a depth of 25 feet from the surface. The veins are quite small, seldom exceeding a foot in width, but the high grade of ore which characterizes these and other veins of the neighborhood has made their working profitable. THE SAVAGE AND OTHER MINEs.-The Savage, Morgan and Muncy, Diana, Providencia, Whitlatch, Union, Troy, Buel North Star, and many others in the neighborhood, have been extensively mined and at times have been productive. A description of each, where all are so much alike, would be exceedingly tedious. It may be remarked that those mentioned, as well'as others, are within an area of a few hundred yards,square, and that in the district are several miles of area of equally good ground, judging from the slight developments made upon the surface, and where undoubtedly as good mines could be opened as those mentioned. In the great mining enterprises of Virginia and Gold Hill in western -Nevada, where in the last six years near $70,000,000 have been taken from the mines, there exists but one grand lode, the Comstock, which is divided through WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 40'-: its length into a great number of claims, or, mines, many of which return largely to their owners, while some return nothing. This has been the most productive vein in the world. In the Reese River district such a gigantic lode has not been found, but there extends a belt some six minles in length and half a mile in width, in which are innumerable small veins, such as here described, of highly concentrated ore, easily and cheaply mined. From a few mines upon this belt there. were produced in the last month $109,221 87. There appears to be room for many times the present mining operations, with the same proportion of production, yet the:resulting figures are so great that one scarcely ventures to make the calculation. An increase based upon the full development of all the mines of known value would amount to several millions of dollars monthly, from an area not exceeding fifteen square miles, the- utmost capacity of the. district. Upon a close examination of the ground the conviction is irresistible that' there will be a greatly increased production within a few years. A full development of- the district awaits the coming of the railroad, with capital, labor, and cheap subsistence.* THE MTILLS.-An enumeration of the mills- in eastern Nevada, and their capa-; city, would give a wrong impression and seem incongruous in calculating the production of bullion, without some explanation. It must be understood that i.t' requires more to constitute a mill than a set of stamps placed in battery, with an engine to work them, and pans to- amalgamate; or furnaces to roast the ore. The building requires to be well and substantially constructed; all its successive parts to be systematically arranged; the power full and sufficient; and then energetic, economical, and scientific management. Mllany mills hlave been built without due consideration'as to wbat was required, and some upon experimental. plans which were not successful. These have been failures, and now stand idle, and should not be counted in the list; "Mr. J. P. Kimble, in an interesting communication to the American Bureau of Mines, of New York; says: " The interests of the Reese river district are rapidly advancing under the improved-treatment of its ores of all varieties, and more especially the utilization of those of lower grade,: which at first were generally discarded. Formerly only very rich ores would bear the cost. of milling and amalgamating, so greatly was this augmented by the incomplete extraction. of silver, as well as by their supply far below the capacity of the extensive mills, whichA therefore could not steadily be kept in operation. Dry crushing and roasting preparatory to} amalgamation have effected something towards the utilization not only of the more refractory; -antimoniated ores, but also those of medium grade and the richer tailings. In the mills of Reese river the standard of yield is as hig'h as from 80 to 85 per cent. of the absolute value: of the ores in silver, attained at a cost which has gradually, fallen from $75 to from $40 to& $50 per ton. The mills of Storey county using.(Comstock ores produce not more than 65. per cent. of their value, though enabled to work ores yielding as low as $15. Thus there is entailed upon the Comstock lode an annual loss of $7,000,000; upwards of $9,000,000 this. year, (1867.) The one thing needful above all in Nevada is the adoption of means; according to the varying circumstances and resources of different localities, to concentrate oyes of low grade, and, what is practically the same, the tailings or residue obtained in the dressing of ores of better class. This is an object of far greater moment at present than the discovery, of mining ground in. addition to what is already far in excess of available capital to develop. The greater bulk of Reese river ores are at present valueless for want of cheap dressing and; concentration. In the deposits of that district as well as in the Comstock lode, first-class. ores in heavy bodies are of unfrequent occurrence. The average yield per ton of all Gouldl & Curry ores reduced was nearlythree times as rich in 1863 ($80 07) as in. 1866, ($28,) and in 1.860'($156; 62) was nearly twice/ as rich as in 1863. That of other leading mines on, the Comstock lode does not at present exceed $40 per ton, while in a majority of' cases it falls below $30. The books of the assessor for Lander county show. 46 -mines, mainly in the Reese river district, to have produced more or less bullion during the quarter ending December 31, 1866. The largest production of ore was by the Savage Consolidated mine, being: 451 tons of an average yield of $103 25. The Great Eastern gave'287tons, averaging $217 94. Of these 44 mines, two, producing lightly, yielded about $400 per ton of ore; three between: $300 and $400;' five between $200 and $300; 18 between $100 and $200; 18 below — 100'"'.26 40)2 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The mills of all classes now standing, the power, stamps, and districts, are as follows: Name of mill. District. Power. N. of stamps. MIanhattan................................ Reese River..-... Steam n. 20 Boston d....o.......................................... do........ 10 Silver Hill.....-...................................do. 5 Califonia....................................................... do............... do...... ] Long Island...................................................... do...do..... 5 Keystone-....................................................................... do.20..... Midas.do............................................do..- do 15 Mletacom...........................................................-do................ do....... 10 Ware... do —............. d...... 5 Butte..-do........................................................ do...... 8 Empire and Silver State................... do...... do....... 10 Parrott......................................... Big Creek..........do...... 16 Phelps........................................................... do.............. Watr 5 Pioneer......................................................,Str..k 1( Knickerbocker-d-................................................do......... 2 Rigby.................................................. San Antonio.........do...... 4 Pioneer.do1................0.......................................do.... 10 Martin's...................... Silver Peak........ 10 Stirling.... Bunker Hill.. Wat..... 20 Murphy.................................................... Twin River........ Steam - -- 20 La Plata.................................. North Twin River............ 10 Buel's........................................................ Philadelphia....... o...... 10 Gould's...,.......................... Hot Creek....................e -*10 Rutland...................................................... Reveille.............do.....- 5 Social..-........................ Gold Caton.........do...... 5 I-ope....-................................ do..............do 5 Pioneer................... Pahranagat........ do..- 5 Valley..d..............do ). ] Crescent...................................................... do............ do...... 5 Cez-co.........rtez....................... 13 Light. Other mills have been constructed and removed or dismantled, which have bern mentioned in other reports but do not appear in this. The above are either in operation or in condition to be put in operation, although the arrangements of some are such that they are run at too great expense to be profitable, or cannot compete with others in doing custom work. The majority are standing still. Mills are in course of construction as follows: One of 20 stamps at Smoky Yalley district; one of 10 at Hot Creek; one of 40 and one of 20 at Philadelphia; one of 20 at Pahranagat; one of 5 at Bunker Hill; one of 20 at Newark; one of 20 at Egoan, (Gold cainon;) and others are in contemplation. THE KEYSTONE MILL, at Austin, may be taken as a sample of its class, from its arrangement, construction, and cost. It was built in 1865, by Mr. A. L. Page, its chief owner and manager, with several additional buildings, as residence of:superintendent, stables, blacksmith shop and store-house, all of brick, at a total cost of $91,800. The mill is divided into four rooms or divisions: 1st, boiler:and engine room; 2d, battery room; 3d, furnace room; and 4th, amalgamating room. The first three occupy the front, and the last is in the rear of the battery room. Their dimensions are as follows: engine room;;45 feet deep by 25 front; battery room, 45 by 35; furnace room, 50 by 140; and the amalgamating room, -45 by 35; making a total frontage of 200 feet with a depth of 90 feet. The engine is of 60 horse-power. There are 20 stamps of 750 pounds each, drop eight inches and 78 times each minute. There are eight reverberatory furnaces with hearths 11 by 13 feet; 14 pans or tubs, five feet in diameter; six settlers, six feet in diameter; with retorts, smelting furnaces, &c. The total amount of freight hauled from California for this mill, as machinery, lumber, and material for building, was 140 tons, at a cost for freight of nine cents per pound from San Francisco. (The price is now six cents.) The cost of the machinery in San Francisco was $185000, and the total cost, as stated, $91,800. It crushes WEST OF THE ROCKY IMOUNTAINS. 403 dry, roasts and amalgamates, producing bars of bullion at a cost to the mill of.$25 per ton. For custom work it charges $45 per ton and agrees to return 80 per cent. of the assayed value of the ore. Twenty tons of ore can be reduced in each 24 hours. Four cords of wood are used per day in making steamll for the engine and for heating the pulp in the pans, and eight cords for the roasting furnaces. Wood usually costs $7 per cord. Salt, of which a considerable quantitS is used in chloridizing the ore, is furnished from the large fields in dififrent parts of the State, at from $30 to $40 per ton. About 200 pounds of quicksilver is used at each charge of a pan, but varying with the amount of silver in the ore. The quicksilver costs 60 to 75 cents per pound; about one per cent. of it is lost. The wages paid are, for amalgamator, $10 per day; first engineer, $8; second engineer, $6; fireman, $6; blacksmith, $7; carpenter, $6; pan attenilants, roasters, and battery feeders, $4 each. The expenses attending the production are: first, mining the ore, exceedingly variable; second, hauling to the mill; third, the State tax of 1 per cent. upon ore after deducting $40 per ton; fourth, cost of milling, $45 per ton; fifth, internal revenue tax on bullion of A of one per cent.; melting and assaying one per cent., and transportation to San Francisco three and a half per cent., making a total tax of six and a half per cent., besides the cost of mining, hauling, and milling. To these are to be added the income tax, the many stamps used on receipts, certificates, checks, &c., incident to the constant handling and exchalmge of valuable property, the customs and internal revenue tax levied on machinery, raw and manufactured material, of which the miner is a destructive consumer. Thus it will be observed how disproportionate are the taxes imposed upon the miner, compared to other occupations; the tax being both upon what he produces and vhalt he consumes, while he is without the protection given to others. A tax on iron, may be added by the miner to the price of the iron, but a tax on silver is never returned, and the silver miner pays the two taxes. All taxes are paid in currency, but estimates are also made in currency when taxes are so paid. The business throughout the State, with the exception of the district of Pabranagat, is carried on in coin, estimated at par, and all expressions of money used in this report mean in coin, unless currency is expressly mentioned. OFFICIAL RETURNS.-A law of the State of Nevada levying a tax upon the products of mines compels the county assessor of each county to collect from the mills and mines quarterly statements of the amount of ore mined and reduced, and the average production per ton for the quarter of bullion obtained. This statement is given under oath, and the amounts produced are estimated in coin. The assay value of the ore is from 20 to 40 per cent. higher than the amounts given in these reports, these being only the amounts obtained from the working, a portion always being -lost. The reports are for Lander county, but large quantities of ore are brought to Austin from districts in Nye county, and are included in the returns. These, in the returns for the quarter ending September 30, 1866, are marked thus: Pililadelphia,I Danville,t and Northumberland.4 The returns for one year furnished, taken from the assessor's report, as published, in the Daily Reese River Reveille. 404 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Quarter ending September 30, 1866. Name of mine. Tons. Pounds. Average per ton. Great Eastern................................................................ 412 659 $176 82 Great~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ Esen412 /659 [$176 82 Fortuna.................................................................... 23.......... 85 71 North River-..........................................1 39 536 217 56 Troy ------— 2 1, —— 000 —-- --------- — 8 —2 —------------------ --- Tra ond...................................................................... 1, 400 [2 832 87 Blind Ledge ---- - - --- ------------------- ---- - - ------------- 2 1, 968 128 64 Diemanthd.................................................................... 2 [ 17 Oth elloe........................................................ 1,13 93 6 15 Semanthe-2 774 2 76 97 Othello.-'5 1,135 [ 3(1 53 Idora.... 12..37.212.6.....2.............................,237 22 6 Highbridge * -.................................... 17 -195 36 Eastern Oregon......................-.....1............................... 1 ----- 86 46 Foster -...................... —- 26 1,212 48 47 LaPlata.................................................................... 882 71 60 Chase and Zent.............................................................. 4 1, 000 362 04 Canada. 1,500 132 90 El Dorado* -..2................................. 568 294 5 Magnolia-.................................................................... 1,1 25993 Washington.-........................................................... 4 88 187 45 Vanderbilt2.................................................................. 2 1, 670 115 46 Morgan & Muncey-1.................................... 7 631 107 75 Diana-1 503..18..0..4................................ 503 180 40 Riebey & lusseyt-7 612 201 75 Richy &Itu sey+...........:............................................... 6 ~ [ 217 Detroit-................. 4 1,800 116 18 Camargo..-39-0..... 7.............................................. 90 77 Timoke-2 253.....6..... 9........2........................... 53 167 92 Green & Oder -.................................................... 1 600 178 43 Dover- 450..................................... 450 161 64 Isabella-1...9 5031 40 18 Harding & Dickman.......................... 1 1,233 87 19 Providential.-7...1.............................................,9 000 39 04 Cortez Giant6................................................................ 0227 0 Tran sGlansl nia* 3................................................19 330 161 00 Folsom.................................................................. 5 1016 Folsom-5 1, 019 166 00 Savage Consolidated, No. 1..-....................160 —-........ 15683 Savage Consolidated, No. 2..-............................................... 230 74 06 Quarter endilng December 31, 1866. Name of mine. Tons. Pounds. Average per ton. Amsterdam..........................................................1 250........ Amsterdam-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I1 2 950 [$168 75 Buel North Star ----------------------- - ----- ----- ---!. 4 1,920 3P6 57 CaNraro.................................................. 12 973 116 57 Camargo.................................................................... [ 4 1973 8 116 57 Chase..-........................4........Sd.. Diana.. ——.. —-...... —---.......................::::::::::::::143 1,909 9118 Enterprise (White Pine district).............................................. 1..- - 111 53 East Oregon4 77...9................................................ 4 7 137 65 Empire State7 61......................................7 619 99 22 Ensign.1 667 66 25 Fortuneteller ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 416 177 28 Florida —--------------------- -- - -13 1,900 21"5 60 Fenian Star...................................................................... 7 1,6359 Fentan Star-7. 5 542~4 Foatuna-1, —— 59 -— 30 —33 —------ ------ ------- -- -------- --------- 30 33 Farrel...................................................................... 3 1,453 71 12 Great Eastern-22...87...1............................. 87- --- 217 94 Idor ---------------- ----—.- -------------- - - 22 1,695 220 42 J. It. Murphy-................................................................ 1 100 251 18 Joseph Cole-.. ——. —-...... —........ —--—.. —---—.. —.... —-—. —-.-.,350 27 85 Jacob Bradley.. —-. —-........-. —--—. —-... —-.-. -.... —.... —-- - --—... — -—.- 1:16 80 Keystone —.. —-... —..-.-.- -...-........ -.-. —..-................................ Keystone-2 310 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~194 66 Kihock ----—. —. —.1... —.. —--------. —-—.. -—......... —----------- I - - 197 27 Zaidee ---—. —-.. —.. —.................................... —----- 728 100 61 Lodi -- ------ ---- - --------- - --- -— 32 54 Livermore --------....... —--—....3............... —-—.................3.... 157 79 Mount Tenabo Company (Cortez)............................... —.-.... --- --- 2Morgan & Muncey —-.. —.... —---------... —...-........ —-—. —. —..- -—. - 4 626 25 69 Magnolia.............................................................. 6 1, 671 238 23 Metacom.................................................................... 26- -100 99 Mlanhattan Company —............................... 69 288 83 90 Mlay & Davis. —-------- ---- --- 136 80 North River.. —13..1.92.........................41.19... 56 03 Owen & Perkins —3........................... 1,700 46 16 Providential-.............................................................. 64 844 54 91 Pinney, Rev................................................ 600 51 73 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 40O Quarter ending December 31, 1866-Continued. Name of mine. Tons. Pounds. Aerg per ton. Patten —..............-..................................... 2 824 $200 43 Itemington..1, 500 1,9 63 Snvage Consolidated-..................... 451- -........ 103 2 Silver Queen...............................................................-. 14 1,913 8 28 Surprise -1 -716..................................... 117 66 Semanthe.-...............................2............. 2 150 332 5 Timoke.........................79 1, 138 148 41 Taylor & Passmore, (Cortez) -...-.........................-............ 5 982 160 43 Tannehill, (Eureka). —3................. 3', 338 106 35 Victoria4 1,..1..7 9.....20.............................. 1,176 91 20 Washington. —............................-...................... 12 67 479 52 W hitlatch................................................................... i8 546 105 97 Zimmerman..........................................................-........ 5 1, 278 71 75 The above table embraces 47 mines, which have yielded more or less bullion during the quarter, and with few exceptions the ore reduced is of a good grade, sufficiently so to admit its being worked here remuneratively. It will be observed that a number of mines, which were included in the previous quarters of the year, do not appear in the present list, as well as that several mines appear for the first time. According to the assessor's returns there are in Lander county, and mainly in the Reese River district, about 75 mines which have produced bullion during the past year. As we have remarked, the ore worked is generally of a high grade, as the average yield per ton will show. A considerable number of the mines embraced in the quarterly lists were subjected only to testing operations, and the general result must be deemed encouraging. In the case of the Savage mine, the average yield of the ore is less than in several quarters preceding, but is still high, being $103 25 per ton. The yield of the Washington, Chase, Buel North Star, Great Eastern, Semanthe, Magnolia, Florida, Timoke, Idora, Metacom, Taylor, and Passmore, &c., is excellent, and as most of them are pretty well developed, they may be fairly classed henceforth among the producing and paying mines of the Reese River district. Quarter ending.Miarch 31, 1867. Names. Tons. Pounds. Average per ton. Black Ledge..............5.... -.............. —--—.....-..5 —........... 569 $210 32 Buel North Star, lst c!ass...................................31 422 182 56 Buel North Star, 2d class.. ——..... -—......-................36............. 16 1 i61 51 52 Cortez, no name given...................................... 47 1, 678 238 69 Dolerhide.... —. ——..3-.' --- --- 1, 735 239 90 Diana....................................................................... -9 71 9430[ Dia~na. —-.~.-.~...~. —-. —.-. —-~..3.,, 195 717 94 30 Florida --------—......... —-—....................... 101 1,394 351 96 Farrell Co... — - - - -- - -------—. —--------- 12 981 204 67 Fenian Star... 3...36-44 —------------------------------- 3........ 6 4 Fuller...........4 —-...... —------------—.. —-------------.......... 349 34 Great Eastern................................................................ 137 669 345 93 Glasser................................................................- 2 700 200 75 Idora. ------------ —.. 1 - -.......... 192 58 Kelly and Ensign —- ---—..3''81{' —--- 129 18 Leggett...........5 1,121 50 62 Lady Frankin ---------— I.. —------------------ --------—.-.~~ --------------- I...... 134 48 Livermorea...........................4 738 267 54 Livermore..........................................:......................... 13 1738' 371 82 M agnolia View..................................................... Magnolia...13 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, 536 371 82 Mountain View. —-------- -. —-. —---------—.. —--- 1 153 78 Miller & Co -....1.. 1, 836 234 45 North Star (Manhattan Company)...384 360 141 37 North Sar (Manattan Cmpa-Dy......................................... 384 / 360 141 37 Morganu & Muncey.'28 782 103 36 Miller....................1.. —.-............ 634 76 36 Montauk.................................................................... 1 1,295 144 CO MNartine... 900....................... 88'0 Niagara..3 148 oca8 Patriot..................................................................... 1 467 64 08 Richmond.................................................................. 5 657 53 73 Red Bluff..................................................... 650 55......01.. Stranger~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. -..-..~I..... ~.. —-.~.~...~ -. —-. —---- Stranger.................................................................... 3 1, 635 48 00 Semanthe... —------- -. — 7 254 132 88 Swaney...........1........................ 1,895 52005 Story................................................................. 3 1, 700 204 98 406 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Quarter ending ]iarch 31, 1867 —Continued. Names. Tons.l Pounds. Average per ton. SavageConsolidated...d 2...... T.. 290.- d. 77 Silver Lead.. —-.. —.... —... —----—...... —--- —...-..... —-.. " 3 1,492 88 46 Timoke................................................... 100 1,04 276 5 Vineyard................................................................... 5 1, 392 66 0 Vady-ne ----------- -----------------------— 1 —-9 —-- ----- — 3 Vandne...... -. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -..............................-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. 193 3 Washington. —.......................................... 4 1, 561 312 37 Yankee Blade, no name given............................................... 1 427 250 04 MV. C. Blake......................................... 1, 628 76 08 On comparing this table with that of the preceding quarter a marked improvement will be observed in the average yield of the ore produced by several of the leading mines, as well as in their increased production. For instance, the Florida produced during the last quartei 101 tons of ore, which gave an average yield of $351 96 per ton, against 13 tons yielding an average of $255 60 the previous quarter; the Diana, 195 tons which averaged $94 30, against 143 tons which averaged $91 18; the Great Eastern, 137 tons which averaged $345 93, against 287 tons which averaged $217 94; the Magnolia, 13 tons which averaged $371 82, against 6 tons which averaged $338 23; the North Star of the Manhattan Company, 384 tons which averaged $141 37, against 69 tons which averaged $83 90; the Timoke, 100 tons which averaged $276 59, against 79 tons which averaged $148 41; and the Savage, 290 tons which averaged $62 77, against 451 tons which averaged $101, 25. The falling off in the quantity and quality of the ore from the Savage is remarkable, but we believe the explanation is that only a small proportion of the ore reduced was extracted from the mine during the last quarter, but that the great bulk of it was taken from their dump pile. On the other hland, the improvement in the production of ore from the North Star of the Manhattan Coupany, and its increased average yield of bullion, is more remarkable. Perhaps the most striking increase, both as regards the product of ore and its yield of silver, is presented by the Florida, the exhibit for the two quarters being-December 31, 1866, 13 tons, averaging,,255 60; March 31, 1867, 101 tons, averaging $351 96. A number of the mines embraced in the present returns are strangers in previous lists; indeed, there is reason to believe that several of them are not the names of mines, but of the persons who delivered ore to the mills for reduction. Two lots are returned from "Yankee Blade," not from the mines bearing that title-both of which belong to companies and are lying idle-but from that part of the Reese Aiver district. One large lot of 47 tons of high grade ore is returned from " Cortez;" we presume it was brought from the Cortez district, but from what particular mine-whether from the St. Louis, Taylor and Passmore, or Nonesuch-is not mentioned in the quarterly statement of the assessor. This loose and inaccurate method of making the return is in direct violation of the statute, and defeats one of its principal objects. Every mill, or arrastra, or reduction works of any character, is required by the law to keep an accurate list of the name of every mine from which ore. was delivered, and to furnish a sworn statement of the same to the assessor. Of course, in a district having the numberless locations of Reese river, a person bringing ore to mill may easily impose a fictitious name on the superintendent; but the name of the mine should be required in every instance, and no such unmeaning entries as "Yankee Blade," "Cortez," &c., should be allowed to appear in the statement. Quarter ending Jule 30, 1867. per ton. Amigo.............................................................. 20 $56 19 Black Ledge-2..... 96....... 9................................. 20 936 104 09 Buel North Star..-.................... —............................. — 127 331 163 63 Bonner Ledge.............................................................. 2 882 324 45 Carter and Drake......................................................... 3 1, 295 77 55 Cuba-........... 2 1, 095 114 13 Chase........................................................... 359 314 81 Craycroft and Brown....................................................... 2 222 49 47 Diana.3....1..3......0...................................... 37 936 1'3 60 Elkhorn.. —.............- 1 1, 145 535 -4 L Empire State.......................... 6 740 10 L 38 Faller.......,................................................................... 74 L 67 Fuller. 13 1, 300 74L 67 Florida, (New York and Austin Company)...-............... -. 173 385 206 10 Farrell and Hixon........................................................ 5 825 266 77 WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 407 Quarter ending Jume 30, 1867-Contincud. Name of mine. Tons. Pounds. Aerage per toso, Great Eastern.........................1, 235 $70 91 General ochrane............................................................ 20 232 72 General Siegel............................................................... 2 1, 412 222 36 Guadelnpe............................................................4 1,30 i55 4 Livermore.3......4............................ 173 20 1 84 La Plata................................................................................ Liberty....................................... 3 1, 55 50 3 3 Magnolia....-..-..-..-.-. ------------— I 53 394 121) 213 Moses Scramlin.................................................. L 955 50 88 Montauk 1.................................................................... ], 49 I50 70 North Star, (Manhattan Company)........................................... 07 1, 557 149 40 North River................................................................. 19 1,.5;3 211 l39 Oleander................................................................... 2 354 113 40 Oregon, (Dollarhide)......................................................... 1 120 253 89 Patton and Monroe................................................... 1 9.. i 43 14 Perkins.................................................................. 3 3 963 214 44 Quintero................................................................... I 90 63 61 IRough and Ready'..................................................... 2 100 123 90 St. Louis, (Cortez district)...................................2...... 12 ], 215 252 53 Storey................................................... 1 170 253 79 State of New York 7........................................................... 130 165 26 Semanthe, (New York and Austln Company)....5.4.........3............. 9 5.1 94 14 Silver Cord.............................................. 1 1,000 313 (i5 St. Louis...-...............................1....5.... 7:) 7i3 Silver Parlor.-...................-..................... 4 1,290 77 24 Social andl Steptoe, (Egan)................................................... 150.......... 90 00 Troy, (N. Y. S. M. Company).-........................................ 38 498 87 06 Tinoke -...................................................................... 96 1, 460 241 4 Virginia.................. 2 930 208 2L Viacya dI.............................................................. ] 24 20 57,WAashington..............3. 1............................................... 3 1, 695 447 69 Wall and Isabella............................................................ 14 1, 56 137 07 WVllitlatch Union.................................... I 500 306 78,V'hitlatch No. 2. 9........................................................ 1, 458 1.87 18 Young America, (Mount Hope).......1........ 1.58 80 61 The whole number of tons of ore reduced during the quarter was 1,438, which produced the sum of $'232,335 57. The average yield of 1,438 tons was $161 56 per ton —a result that maifitains the character of Lander hill, from which it was chiefly obtained, for yielding a high grade of ore. On comparing the present table with that of the previous quarter, notable fluctuations and uniformitv will be observed. For instance, the North Star miLe of the Manhattan Company produced during the last quarter 506 tons of ore, which averaged $149 40 per ton, against 3S4 tons, averaging $141 37 per ton, in the former quarter; the Florida produced 173 tons, which averaged $206 10 per ton, against 101 tons, averaging $351 96, of the former quarter; the Buel North Star produced 127 tons, which averaged $163 63 per ton, against 31 tons of first-class ore, averaging $182 56, and 16 tons of secondclass ore, averaging $51 52 per ton, of the former quarter; the Timnoke produced 97 tons, which averaged $241 49 per ton, against 100 tons, averaging $276 59 per ton, of the former quarter; the Fuller produced 14 tons, which averaged $741 67 per ton, against 4 tons, averaging $349 34 per ton, of the former quarter; and the Diana produced 37 tons, which averaged $103 60 per ton, against 195 tons, averaging $94 30 per ton, of the former quarter. The most marked fluctuation is that of the Great Eastern, which produced during the last quarter only 34 tons, which averaged $70 91 per ton, against 137 tons, with the remarkable average of $345 93, for the quarter 6nding 31st of March. Considerable exploration has been carried on in the Great lastern during the last three months, the result of wrhich has not been made public. Several mines, which produced bullion in the former quarter, are not included in the tbove table; and others again, which were not mentioned then, appear in the present return. The most noticeable of' the latter is the Gilligan mine of the Social and Stentoe Company, in Egan canion, whicll appears in the present table with the good product of 150 tons, averaging $90 per ton, which is scarcely 60 per cent. of the silver contailned in its peculiar ore. The returns of the last quarter are generally encouragingf. Following the organization of Reese River district, iwere in the. same year discovered and organized those of Simpson's Plrk, adcjoining it on the south, and further south that of Big Creek; north -was Mount Hope and Grass Valley; southeast were Smoky Valley and Santa Fd, and northwest was Ravenswood. These nearly surrounded Austin, and were froIl five to fifteen miles distant. All but Rtavenswood were in the r'_oi~vabee mountains; and the fact that large veins of silver-bearing quartz were found outside of this district gave an impetus 408 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES to prospecting$ and the mountains in their entire lengt1h were explored and districts formed throughout before the termination of the year 1863. AMADOR? DISTRICT.-Inmmediately north, in Lander county, was formed the district of Amnador, where the veins and croppings created a great excitement, and a populous and busy village was built in a few weeks' time. This appeared the most promising of the districts during tile fall of 1863, but many of the ledges not proving~, from the depth to which they were explored, as rich as their croppings promised(, the district is not so favorably regarded as formerly. The A-mador Lec~qe has been explored by an incline to the depth of 200 feet and upwards. It dips to the northeast, at an angle of about 15 dlegees. During this exploration miuch good ore was taken out, and its owners express confidence that Wilen the reduction of ores becomes simplified and cheapened the mine can be worked at a profit. There are many veins like the Amador, which await the same events for their development. The Chase JMilznc.-In the southern part of the district is the Chase mine, which has the ap)pearance of being rich. It is but slightly developed, yet shows quantities of ore of an almost pure sulphuret of silver. Operations have been suspended on it for several months, but it has lately passed into the hands of an eastern colmpany, and work will be prosecuted on it hereafter. Other YMines.-In the vicinity of the Chase are veins, some of which give assurance of value. The want of capital, and the lack of knowledge of. mining engineering, have been obstacles in the way of development of many mines in this district supposed to be rich. MOUNT HOPE, CUMBERLA:ND COLU: BUS, M{OUNT VERNON, INDIAN, AND W.ALL STREET DISTRICTS.-As before said, the year 1863 was distinguished for explorations, but prospecting was then chiefly confined to the Toiyabee range,. and to those randges cast and west, next parallel. In the Toiyabee to the north of Austin and Amador, and in Lander county, were oiganized the districts of iSount Hope, Cumberland, Columbus, Mount Vernon, Indian, and Wall Street, extending as far as 35 miles north, being continuous and including both sides of the niountain. I'he mines of these districts are almost entirely undevelopedl, their croppings alone being known. From these croppings some rock has been taken froom which enconuraging results have been obtained, but this vast area, probably well stored with silver, is neglected and comparatively unknown, awaiting the coming of the capitalist and a denser population. It offers favorable conditions for working'milies as it includes one of the higllest peaks of the Toiyabee mountains- Mount HIope- -hich attains an altitude of about 10,000 feet above the sea, in the deep c alonS of which run a number of streams capable of furnishing water-power for driving machinery. Its sides are covered with groves of pine, ancld where its streams debouche into the plains at its base are tracts of good agricultural lands. In the valleys which slkirt its foot are some farms; but its mineral nwea;lth lies entirely neglected. One district has been noticed by an experienced mining engineer, Bir. J. JH. Boalt, who, after as close an examination of the ledges as theii slight development would allow, reported that they were true fissure veins, of size from 4 to 15 feet in width, and of ulmistakable value. Several of thle veins were cut transversely, and the ore taken for trial; and it was proved that they contained silver in paying quantities; the assays showing a value of $100 and upwards to the ton. Trhis is the only reliable examination imade of the ledctes oif the district. Superficial as it is, it presents some proof of thei value of a neglected district, and an indication that the great extent of country which this mountain embraces bears in its bosom the same precious veins which labor has proved to exist in other parts of the T'oiTabee range. COILTEZ DISTRICT.-The Cortez district, Lander county, comprises the northenl terminus of the range east of the Toiyabee, and includes the lofty peak of tMount Tenabo. It is 65 miles north, by 15~ east of Austin. It was organized in 1863, and operations were instituted on a number of small veins in the northern WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 409 part of the district. In 1864 a mill was constructed which attempted the reduction of the ores; but from the incompleteness of the mill, and the inexperience of the managers, the workings were not successful, and as a consequence disappointment ensued, and the district was long neglected. Subsequently, discoveries were made of mineral existing in a mammoth vein or broad stratum of quartzite which coursed through Mount Tenabo, and these bodies of mineral having proved valuable, attention is again attracted to the district. The following description of this mountain and the stratum or vein which bears the mineral, is from the Reveille, of January 4, 1867: Thisvein is embedded in the bosom of Mount Tenabo, a peak 11,500 feet above the level of the sea, and upwards of 5,000 feet above the surrounding valleys. Its base, up its side to the vein, is covered with a scrubby pine; while its summit, and 1,500 feet below is overglown with grass and shrubs. The scarred and rugged mountain looks eternal. Some 3,000 feet above its base a vein of silver-bearing quartz cuts its face obliquely, burying itself in the mountain at one end, and penetrating into the valley at the other, after stretching out in palpable view to the length of 18,650 feet. Its width is 400 feet. This vein, or perhaps more properly stratum, of the mountain formation bears beds of ore, the extent of which is only conjecture. The workings at various mills have proved encouraging. The vein is encased in crystalline limestone. Twenty locations have been made, with the following names and dimensions: Commencing at its greatest point of altitude is the Chieftain, Genesee county, 1,400 feet; Murphy Company, 800 feet; Gill Company, 890 feet; Taylor and Passmore, 800 feet; De Witt Company, 450 feet; St. Louis Company; 2,000 feet; Meacham and Brothers, 400 feet; Niagara, 400 feet; Savage Company, 400 feet; Nebraska Company, 1,200 feet; Cortez Giant, Mount Tenabo Company, 4,000 feet; Elmore Company, 200 feet; Russell Company, 600 feet; Continental Company, 1,000 feet; Argentine Company, 1,000 feet; Empire Company, 800 feet; Conu and Brothers, 400 feet; Traverse Company, 400 feet; and the Anna Burr Company, 2,000 feet. The latter claim is somewhat broken, and at its termination the vein penetrates the earth and is lost altogether. The vein disappears also at the upper boundary of the Chieftain. It has been opened at several points along its course, in every case disclosing mineral. The Gill, Taylor and Passmore, and St. Louis locations, near the upper end of the vein, have been worked, the two latter considerably: the Cortez Giant, which lies near the centre of the vein, is the most fully developed, and has yielded a considerable amount of bullion this season. Some work has also been done on the Continental, situated towards the lower end of the vein, with about the same results as in the bther cases specified. Of this vein there is little exact knowledge, but that it stands out upon the mountain face, a large, palpable fact. It will probably be developed. And when that day arrives we believe the Nevada Giant will be regarded as among the remarkable veins of tlhe world. VTWe Conztinental.-There are but few claims upon this vein developed to any great extent. Upon the Continental, explorations have been conducted under the superintendency of D. T. Elmore, which have shown a lode about 3'00 feet in width, containing three strata of ore of from five to eight feet in thickness. These have been mined to some extent, and the ore reduced at the mills at Austin, with a result of about $150 per ton. This is owned by a Maryland company, which, being assured of the value of the property, has thought best to await the coming of the railrodcl, that operations may be carried on cheaply, and the greatest profit secured. The trans-continentalrail road will pass within a few miles of these mines. When completed to this point it will cheapen material of consumption by the lesseningl of freight, and the time of its completion is so near that none can doubt the propriety of waiting for it. Thle Cortez Gianzt. —The BMount Tenabo Mining Company, a Sai Francisco organization, was formerly called the Cortez Company, and its operations have been previously noticed. It possesses a claim calledithe Cortez Giant, of 4,000 feet in length, upon the Nevada Giant ledge, and has prosecuted mining, upon it to some extent. It has lately been under the charge of H. J. Hall, but is at present superintended by H. H. Day. A main shaft has been sunk, which has now a depth of 214 feet, partly planked, and divided into two compartments. From the shaft several levels have been run; the second from a depth of 121 feet, which has explored the vein for a length of 217 feet, finding a stratum of ore of eight feet in thickness, worth flom $65 to $100 per ton. The shaft passed through the ore following the dip of the ledge at at depth of 171 feet. From the greatest depth a third level has been started, which it is expected will find ore 410 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES as good as that developed above. Steam hoisting works are expected to be completed within two months, when work will be prosecuted to greater advantage than at present. A mill of 15 stamps belongs to the company, and is usually employed in working the ores of this mine. In this property the vein assumes its greatest proportions. Its croppings tower many hundred feet in the air, in wild and rugged grandeur. Viewed from a distance, as it skirts the brow of the mountain, this curious line of croppings presents the appearance of a huge balustrade to some colossal architectural structure, with the round and treeless summit of 3Mount Tenabo, 11,000 feet above the sea, rising gently and gracefully, as the crowning dome above. The St. Louis.-North of the Cortez Giant is the St. Louis, owned chiefly by A. L. Page and Simeon Wenban. In the claim is a body of silver ore from which selected lots have been transported to Austin, producing from $200 to 8300 per ton. Work is now progressing, and an incline in the body of ore, some 50 or 60 feet in depth, gives promise that the mine -will prove remunerative. Taylor and Passmore, Gill, &c.-The Taylor and Passmore, Gill, and a few other locations have been slightly developed, and good ore obtained. Upon no others than those mentioned has sufficient work been done to demonstrate any value in the property. In the northern part of the district are some small veins encased in granite, which in time may prove valuable. Among these are the Berlin, Wenban, Veatch, and a few others, upon which work has been done, and ore of a favorable character obtained. There is no mining doing upon them at present. There is some grazing and agricultural land in the neighborhood. The district is pleasantly situated. No grander scenery is furnished by the Nwild mountains of the interior, nor of the Pacific coast. From the high peak may be seen nearly all Nevada, with its ranges of mountains, its isolated hills, brocl valleys, and desert plains. The Indians called it " Tenabo, which we translate to "look out;" and it is really a lookout mountain. Looking westward firom the summit in a clear day, the white peaks of the Sierra lNevada are seen stretching along the eastern boundary of California, and many a hill, bearing silver, gold, and copper, lie between. Northward, but 25 miles distant, drawn athwart the vision, is the long and winding line of the Humboldt river and its valley of meadow or sandy plain. Eastward successions of hills and valleys meet the eye. In the other direction the dim atmosphere of Smoky Valley limits the sight, but glimpses of the summit of Mount Hope, Bunker Hill, and other peaks of the Toiyabee range which pierce the clouds, trace the line for 150 miles to the south. The district is attractive both for its scenery and its resources. NEWAXmr DISTrICT.-Newark district, Lander county, was organized in October, 1866. It lies on the eastern slope of the Diamond range of mountains, about 85 miles east of Austin. Its geological formation is of slate and limestone, the latter carrving a great abundance of fossil shells. Deep chasms are cut in the mountain side which exhibit the character of the rocks. One of these chasms or cations is called the Minnehaha. With its towering rocks, sparkling stream, and luxuriant verdure it offers to the eye a scene of rare beauty. Another is the Chihuahua canon, w.here the rocks seem burst in twain by some great convulsion, and stand in perpendicular walls, towering to the height of a thousand feet. This deep fissure exposes veins of silver-bearing quartz, varying from 2 to 20 feet in width. The ore exposed is an antimonial sulphuret, and is supposed to be valuable. A number of the veins have already been tested by workings at the mills in Austin and good returns obtained. A mill, the property of the Centenary company, is now in course of construction in the district, which it is hoped will soon add its product of bullion to the silver current of eastern Nevada. The ledges of the Centenary company best known are the Lincoln and the Chihucahua. Upon the Chihuahua tunnels have been run which exposed the ledge in several places, favorably developing the property. The district is as yet but WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 411 little known. Like many others in its neighborhood, it invites capital and labor. Now a wide and an almost unoccupied wilderness, it offers many advantages to. the miner and the agriculturist. These occupations, being the basis of wealth, will attract in their train other branches of trade and industry. The mountain is partially covered with pine and mahogany, furnishing lumber and fuel. At the base, and between it and the White Pine range to the east, is a broad valley where farms can be secured. The small streams which run from the mountains, on either side, will supply water for irrigation and mining; the neighboring hills will furnish a market for agricultural products. Within the valley' are salt springs, and acres of land are covered with this useful article, a demand for which is created in the reduction of silver ores. A visitor to this district about the time of its organization writes: "The future of our State is encouraging. The good time may be delayed, but it will come. Where there is a foundation for prosperity, there need be no apprehensions for the future. The foundation lies broad and deep in Nevada; the rest is the work of time and man." WrITE PINE DISTRICT.-The District of White Pine was organized in the autumn of 1865, and received its name from the species of wood growing upon the mountain. That portion of the range bearing the name of White Pine is about two degrees in length, is lofty, and generally covered with pine. It has not been much explored for mines, except in the district now mentioned. Here a number of veins have been located which are represented to be valuable.'The'district is about 90 miles east of Austin, and is in Lander county. A company called the AMonte Christo commenced in July last the development of a property, but the progress made, or the results obtained, have not been ascertained. DIAMOND DISTRICT.-Diamond district, also in Lander county, lies upon the western slope of Diamond mountains, and is 80 miles east, by a few degrees north, of Austin. It has been organized about three years, and some work has been done in exploring and demonstrating the value of the ledges, of which a great number are located. Ore has been taken to Austin for reduction, which, returning $150 and upwards to the ton, gave proof of value of the veins. They are yet the property of the discoverers, who for want of means were unable to erect the machinery necessary for their development, and, consequently, have in the Atlantic States and in Europe sought the aid of capital..rEUREKrA DISTRICT. -The Eureka district, Lander county, was organized in 1864, and lies 60 miles almost directly east of Austin.'l'The geological formation is limestone, with veins or bodies of metal-bearing quartz. The chief characteristic of the ore is an argentiferous galena, which might be reduced by smelting. Several tons sent to the mills in Austin yielded from $150 to $450 per ton. These results are encouraging. As some of the veins are owned by men of wealth in New York, it is expected that measures will be taken for their development. The district is in the -midst of a good agricultural and grazing country, and offers inducements to those wishing a free and independent home. EGAN OR GOLD CA$NON DISTRICT.-Gold Cafion district, Lander county, better known as Egan Canaon, is one of the farthest east of Nevada, being 165 miles fiom Austin. It was organized in 1863, and native gold showing plainly in the quartz of some of the veins first discovered, gave it the name of Gold Caion. It lies upon the great trans-continental highway where passes daily the overland mail stage, and is connected with the world by two lines of telegraph. A small mill erected in the year 1864, by Mr. John O'Dougherty, met with success. It is again in operation, reducing ore which'returns about $150 to the ton. A mill of increased capacity is in process of construction which it is expected will add to the product of bullion. It is favorably located for accessibility, and the abundance of wood and water give it some advantage. KINSLEY DISTRICT.-The Kinsley district, Lander county, is distinguished for its massive lodes of copper-bearing ore. It is in the Antelope range of moun 412 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES tains near the eastern border of the State, 45 miles northeast of Egan and 200 miles from Austin. The lodes are large, and ore is represented as being upon the surface which shows'by assay from 35 to 50 per cent. of copper, and form $860 to $100 per ton in silver. The district is but little known; its distance from the centre of population and a market render the copper mines valueless for the present. The Pacific railroad now in course of construction is expected to pass through this neighborhood, when the ores may be transported to market. The Kinsley may then become a valuable mining district. YREKA DISTrICT.-Yreka district, Lander county, is about 75 miles northeast of Austin. Reports of silver-bearing veins have been made; but it is allnost entirely undeveloped, and its value is unknown. It is surrounded by a good agricultural and grazing country. BATTLE IMIOUNTAIN DISTRICT.-Battle Miountain is a copper-bearing hill, situated about 70 miles north of Austin and is probably in Humboldt county. In 1866 it was formed into a mining district bearing that name. It is an igneous formation, and through the eruptive rocks are veins of quartz associated with red oxide of copper. The ore is brilliantly red and very beantifu. The district borders upon the valley of the Humboldt river, which will soon be traversed by the great Pacific railroad, when its ores will find a market. The district derives its name from the range of hills or mountains containing the cupriferous veins. In these hills a battle was fought in the summer of 1857 between some Indians and a government expedition under the superintendence of John Kirk, engraged in the survey of a road bearing the name of the Fort Kearney wagon roadl, Pacific division. It is a low range of hills of about 12 miles in length by five in breadth, fronting on Reese River valley on the east, and terminating in the valley of the Humboldt on the north. At the southern end is Copper cafion, where the Troy and other copper veins are found; and at the northern end is Long caflon, where the Trojan, President, Mayflower, Blue Bell, Capitol, Henrietta, Fanny, Morning Star, and others lie. There are but few companies formed for operating in Battle Mountail district. The principal are the Emerson and the Austin companies. These are unincorporated. The Eimverson Company.-The Emerson Company is composed of General W. S. Rosecrans, G. W. Emerson, William Plumhof, and others. The company owns the'Morning Star, Henrietta, Surprise, Fanny, President, Trojan and Capitol ledges, and extensions on some others. Upon those named,'-the location upon each is from 1,400 to 1,600 feet, and the veins are from 10 to 30 feet in width. All are developed to the extent of a cut of from 5 to 10 feet in depth crossing the vein from side to side. By this means the width of each vein has been ascertained, and the character of the ore shown. The gangue is quartz and spar intermixed with nodules and numerous veins of red oxide of copper. These veins are of various thicknesses, from a narrow filament to several inches through, and run irregularly through the mass of the vein. They contain native copper; also considerable silver. The mass of the rock will require crushing and concentrating for profitable mining and exportation. This set of mines is at the northern end of Battle mountain, in the neighborhood of Long cailon. The surveyed route of the Pacific railroad passes about two and a half miles north fiom the locations, and as this great road is expected to be completed to this point before the close of another year it enhances the prospective value of the property. Th'e Azstin Conmpang. — The Austin Company owns the Troy, 3Mayflo-wer, Blue Bell, and other veins in the district, some of which are at Copper caiion and others at Long cation. The developments on the Troy consist of an excavation some 12 feet in width and about 15 feet in depth, showing the size and character of the vein. It is estimated that one-fourth of the vein is composed of red oxide of copper having 40 per cent. of metal. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 413 Upon other claims some work has been done, the general aim being merely to hold possession of the property, awaiting thle construction of the railroad. RAYENSWOOD DISTRICT.-Ravenswood, Lander county, situated but 15 miles northwest from Austin, was one of the earliest districts organized in the Reese River country, having been formed in the first year of the discovery of silver here. It is in the same range as Battle mountain, though the latter is almost separated by a low' depression, yet it is the northern terminus of the Shoshone mountains. The veins of Ravenswood, which were located for silver, being found rich only in copper, disappointed the locators, and as a consequence the district has been abandoned.'It contains veins which assay as high as 40 to 50 per cent. of copper, and contains silver and gold. The district is well situated for economical working, bordering on the valley of the Reese river, and is tolerably well supplied with timber. Like many others it awaits the corning of the railroad, cheap transportation and subsistence. BIG CREEr DISTRICT.-The Big Creek district, Lander county, was the second organized in the Toiyabee mountains, and it seemed likely at one time to eclipse everything else. A village was built, with post, express and telegraph offices connecting with Austin, with schools, courts, stores and mills, and its prosperity and stability seemed beyond a doubt. Veins were found appearing full of metal, but upon filrther trial their value consisted in copper, which was not profitable to work, and interest in the district died away. Now no attention is paid to the mines. It is situated on the western slope of the Toiyabee mountains, twelve miles south of Austin. The creek is a small mountain stream, affording sites for water or steam-power mills. It flows through a deep calion, along which are some good farms and gardens. If'the district has not proved remunerative to the miner, it has furnished pleasant homes for the husbandman. WASHINGTON DISTRICT.-South of Austin 28 miles, in Nye county, and on the western slope of the Toiyabee, is Washington district, organized in 1863, then and the subsequent year the scene of busy operations. The mineral is an argentiferous galena, abundant in quantity. None who have examined the mines with attention can hesitate to decide that they possess value. The veins are from 4 to 16 feet in width, and regular in their formation. Attempts have been made to reduce the ores, but owing to want of skill on the part of the operators they have not been successful. A great number of veins were located, a pretty village was built, and hopes of prosperity were entertained, but the district following the usual course has become almost deserted. Its mineral resources, however, may yet be advantageously developed. MAnIv-YSVILLE DISTRICT. —South of Washington about 15 miles, in Nye county, is Marysville district, organized in the same year and possessing many similar characteristics. Numerous claims were here located, and great expectations were once entertained. It is now entirely deserted except by a few farmers who cultivate the soil of the valleys, irrigating it by the streams which run down from the mountain. The district is well watered and timbered, anrd offers advantages to the settler. TEE TTOYA:BEE MOUNTAINS. —On the eastern slope of the Toiyabee, and south of Austin, were organized during the summer of 1863 a number of districts, covering that side of -I;the mountain almost continuously for a distance of 75 miles. Throughout its southern extent the mountain rises from the valley of Reese river on the west and Smoky valley on the east, and attains an altitude of 2,000 to 5,000 feet above them. From valley to valley through the base of the mountain the distance is from 7 to 10 miles. From its high peaks and through its deeply chasmed sides run many streams of water affording good sites for mills. SMOKY VALLEY DISTRICT.-Of the numerous districts organized on the eastern slope of the mountain that of Smoky Valley was among the first. It is in Lander county, 12 miles south of Austin, and includes what were once the busy little hamlets of Geneva and Clinton. Through it run in deep canlons Birch and 41-4 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Willow creeks and several smaller rivulets, all of which are lost in the valley. There have been many locations of mines made in the district, but they have been generally neglected until the present year. Latterly labor has been prosecuted upon the Smoky Valley ledge, which has developed, at the depth of 200 feet, a lode or series of veins 50 feet in thickness, of which about 20 feet contain pay streaks of ore. Average specimens assay $60 to $150 per ton. The upper part of the lode has proved quite barren, but the results obtained from below give encouragement to the miners. In this district the lodes are generally large, and exhibit themselves in some instances for miles in length upon the surface. They are situated conveniently for mining, and the district possesses advantiges of wood, water, and arable land for carrying on cheaply extensive operations. SANTA FE DISTRICT.-South of Smoky Valley district, in the same county, is that of Santa ]6y, 1S miles from Austin. It is composed of high peaks, precipitous ridges, and deep, rocky cai-ons. The bare rocks of the ridges and cailons expose to view the white ledges of quartz in great numbers. A feature in the mineralogy of' the district is the presence of gold in considerable quantities in some of the veins. Notwithstanding the undoubted value of the veins, however, in both gold and silver, no successful mining has yet been carried on. BUNKER- IHILL AND SUMMIT DISTRICTS.-Bunker Hill and Summit districts, Lander county, occupy both sides of Big Smoky creek, and are 20 miles south of Austin. Ore paying from fifty to some hundreds of dollars per ton has been mined; but the veins have been found broken and irregular, and but little success has attended mining operations. This is generally attributed to improper management, and lack of scientific knowledge of the business of mining and the reduction of ores. The stream is one of the largest flowing out of this mountain range, and affords water-power sufficient, for a number of extensive mills. Some failures have retarded progress in what appears a superior district. This cannot long continue, for where nature has done so much by offering valuable minerals, building material, and inexpensive power, a pleasant climate and a rich soil, man will sooner or later take advantage of it and reap the reward. BLUE SPRINGS DISTRICT.-Blue Springs district, in Nye county, 30 miles south of Austin, is so named from a number of deep springs or ponds which lie in the valley at the foot of the mountains. It contains veins of quartz of large size, reputed to be rich in silver, but developments upon them are so slight that their value is not really known. SMOKY VALLEY SALT FIELD. —Near Blue Springs, in the great Smoky valley, is an extensive field of 2,000 acres of salt lands, fiom which is obtained most of the salt used in Eastern Nevada both for domestic purposes and the reduction of ores. Upon this salt field, as upon some others with which the State abounds, the salt rises as an efflorescence, half an inch or more in thickness, upon the surface of the gc'ound, from which it is gathered. A slight rain drives the salt beneath the surface, but under the influence of the sun it soon reappears. Hundreds of tons are obtained from this field annually, and the supply coming from deep springs seems to be inexhaustible. It is furnished for the use of the mills at from $30 to $50 per ton. When it is known that salt in large quantities is essential to the reduction of silver ores, the beneficence of a Divine Providence in furnishing it in such vast deposits and at convenient localities throughout the country can be appreciated. NORTH TIrN RIVER DIsTRICT.-Forty miles south of Austin, in Nye county, is the North Twin River district. Although this region was examined and mlany claims located early in the settlement of the count ry, it was not considered of importance until recently, when work upon some of the veins has proved them to be of large size and great value. Deep canons, with running streams, open to the plain, offering access to the mines and sites for reduction mills. Thae La Plata Miining Conpacny, owning mines ir this district, is organized WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 415 under the laws of Pennsylvania. Its chief stockholders are residents of lteadtng. This company owns the Twin Ophirs, the William Bigler, and othet veins situated in Park caion. Some of the veins are large, and have shown bodies of good pay ore. Work upon one of the Twin Ophirs has developed a chimney or mass of ore of a very singular character, being chiefly iron and resembling steel, but containing from $70 to $10 per ton in silver. A mill is in course of construction, which, in a few months, will probably add something to the stream of bullion already beginning to flow from the districts bordering the Smoky valley. It is mainly built of stone, with furnaces and chimney stack of brick. These materials are conveniently obtained in the neighborhood. It will contain 10 stamps of about 700 pounds each, crushing the rock dry and in a condition for roasting. The property of the company is managed by G. B. Montgomery. The Buc7keye Mizing Company is a New York company, and, under the superintendence of Mr. Stephen Kidd, is developing the Buckeye mine, situated in Summit canon. The vein was discovered and located in 1865. The claim consists of 1,400 feet of the lode running north from the cation. The vein is encased in limestone, and, although it sometimes narrows down to a mere clay seam in the rock, it appears to be a true fissure vein. Its general width is five feet, occasionally reaching to seven. It has been developed by an incline following the dip of the ledge, which is westerly 65~, to the depth of 100 feet, and by different levels several hundred feet north and south. From these excavations a quantity of ore has been taken which has yielded, at the Austin mills, $106 per ton. The company has located, under the laws of Nevada, 800 acres of woodland, mill-sites, &c. Neither lands nor mines are entered under any law of Congress, nor are any lands or mines throughout this region. The lands are unsurveyed, and there is no land office in eastern Nevada. The laws of the United States give permission to occupy the mines subject to the local rules of miners. Survey and purchase appears to them a useless expense, serviceable only to the surveyors and land officers. In Summit caiion are other claims, as the Scottish Chief, which is an extension of the Buckeye south of the cailon. This has been but slightly developed, having a shaft 40 feet in depth; its real worth is therefore known only from the greater explorations on the Buckeye:. A short distance to the southwest is the Canada vein. This appears on the surface to be about nine feet in width, but the explorations upon it are not sufficient, it being encased in limestone, to determine its extent and character. From the surface several tons of ore have been taken, which give promise of worth. TWIN RIVER DISTRICT.-The Twin River district, Nye county, is 50 miles south of Austin, on the eastern slope of the Toiyabee range, and is at present regarded as one of the most important districts south of Austin. It receives its name from two pretty streams on the southern border, which, flowing through deep and rugged canons, enter the valley near each other, and continuing parallel for some miles sink in the plain. The characteristics of the district are its ruggedness, high and precipitous mountains, deep canons, and its geological formation being granite and slate, while the districts north of it are of limestone. rT'he principal mines are situated in Ophir caion. These were discovered in 1863 by S. Boulerond and a party of Frenchmen, who located several veins, but did not publish to the world their discovery nor do much towards developing their property. The year following the cation was entered by George H. Willard and others, ledges located, a district formed, and laws made. From that date the district has been somewhat noted. In enteringsthe cation from Smoky valley, one feels almost forbidden to advance, so towering and precipitous are the rocks on either side, which appear to close the narrow pass; but winding along at the base of the cliffs is now a well-constructed road. Following this a mile or more the narrow gorge of granite is passed and a cailon of more gently sloping sides, a slate formation, is reached. The granite is generally barren of soil, but upon 416 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the summits of the ridges a few low and dwarfed piTon trees are found, wllich are cut for fuel and with great labor brought to the brink of the precipice and tumbled into the carion below, whence it is hauled to its place of consumption. Fuel is difficult to obtain, and costs about $10 per cord. At the present date a mill is in operation, and a village called Toiyabee, of 300 inhabitants, has been built. The Ophir.-The first vein noticed in passing up the caion is the' Oplir. This was discovered and claimed by S. Boulerond and Company in 1863, and is still owned by the same parties. It is a large vein, showing chiefly white quartz, but deposits of good ore have been found in it. The claim consists of 2,400 feet along the ledge. A shaft has been sunk to the depth of 60 feet, from which a small quantity of ore was obtained, worth at the rate of $500 per ton. The developments upon the mine are very slight. The Orlphee, Central Favorite, and numerous other claims have been slightly developed, but have not yet been productive. The Miurphy is the only developed and productive mine in this neighborhood, and its success has given celebrity to the district. It was located by G. H. Willard, John Murphy, Jo. Patty, and others, in 1864, and is 1,000 feet in length. Its course is north and south, dipping to the east at an angle of 46~, and the lode is about 20 feet in thickness. It has been developed by an incline 130 feet in depth, from which levels have been run and ore extracted, worth about $130 per ton. It appears from the working that the ore is not continuous throughout the vein, but exists in chimneys of one to seven feet in thickness, and from 100 to 150 feet broad, with nearly a corresponding interval of barren rock. These chimneys are inclined, having a' dip to the north of about 30~. Although much valuable ore has been extracted, a map of the mine, showing its whole size and the excavations made, indicate that but a small portion is touched. There are 41 men employed in the mine, working eight hours each, at $4 per day, and keeping up the labor without intermission. The miners are usually natives of Cornwall, England. The hoisting of water and ore is done by steam power. flThe $Hmrp2hy 3Hill, belonging to the Twin River Mining Company, is a substantial structure of stone, having 20 stamps and corresponding machinery, driven by an engine of 95 horse-power. The ore is brought from the mine, a few hundred feet distant, in cars. The first process is to pass it through a Blake's rock breaker, which will in a few hours break sufficient rock into filagments of less than a cubic inch in size to supply the stamps for 24 hours. This effects a saving of $2 per ton in the cost of crushing the ore. From the breaker the ore is placed upon a large pan or dryer, which is heated by the gases passing from the roasting furnaces to the smoke-stack, and is thoroughly dried. It is then ready for the stamps. Of these there are 20, weighing 850 pounds each, and they crush 16 tons per day fine enough to pass through a No. 60 screen, or a screen with 3,600 holes to the square inch. Falling from the screens into a tight bin, it is removed into cars standing on a track passing over the tops of the roasting furnaces, and is thus transported to the furnaces, of which there are eight, capable of roasting 16 tons in 24 hours. Seven to nine hundred pounds of ore mixed with a certain quantity of salt, according to the composition of the ore, varying from eight to fifteen per cent., constitutes a charge, and this is roasted from five to seven hours, being constantly stirred. It is then taken to the amalgamating room, in which are six pans taking one ton of the roasted pulp, now mixed with water, at a charge. Here the silver, which in the furnaces was changed from its native condition to a chloride, is again changed to metallic silver, and is amalgamated with quicksilver. The pulp is agitated and ground by revolvinig iron mullers for about six hours, when it is drawn off into settlers, of which there are six, where more water is added, and, after several hours' agitation, the quicksilver bearing the silver is drawn off, the pulp allowed to run to waste, and the silver taken out. This, after being strained and pressed in WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 417 leather bags, exhausting the quicksilver as far as possible, is placed in a close retort, and the remaining quicksilver expelled by heat. The crude bullion remaining is then taken to the smelting room, where it is melted and run into ingots, ready for the assayer and for commerce. The establishment is very complete, and presents an imposing appearance. The officers of the company having charge and carrying on the works, are R. B. Canfield, general agent; H. MI. Grant, bookkeeper; H. Richards, mining superintendent; Charles V. Baesler, assayer; and Alonzo Monroe, engineer. In working the mill at full capacity, 41, men are required. Besides those in the mine and mill are blacksmiths, ore assorters, and wood choppers, making 100 men employed. In one month 417 tons of ore were milled, producing $36,865. The assay of the ore was over $100 per ton. At the present date the mill is working to its full capacity, and better results than formerly are obtained. The McDonald mine.-The Murphy and McDonald are locations upon the same lode, the first extending from the caflon northwardly and the latter south of it. It is anticipated that they are of equal value, although the McDonald is undeveloped. Preparations are making, under the superintendence of John H. Boalt, for a New York company to commence explorations and developing the mine. These mines constitute the basis of support to a busy and prosperous little village, called Toiyabee City, of about 390 inhabitants. This place is connected with Austin by a tri-weekly stage, carrying the United States mail once a week. The distance is 55 miles, and the time of passage about nine hours. From the valley to the town is about two and a half miles along the caion, and through this distance a road has been constructed at a cost of about $6,000. The work has been very heavy, and under the circumstances a good road is constructed, although its grade at some places is as great as 10~. The road continues through this cation over the summit of the Toiyabee mountain, and forms a convenient avenue for summer travel, but the passage is generally impeded by snow during the winter.* ~ The books of the county assessor, according to the Silver Bend Reporter, give the following returns of bullion and yield per ton of the mines of Nye county for the quarter ending September 30, made under oath. The amounts are for coin: Name. Tons. Gross. Aount per ton. Twin River Company........................................800 $107, 544 00 $143 43 Murphy Mine........................................................... Belmont Company........................................... 736 856 88 39 Transylvania,.I ~.,~..~...-..~.~~ —...-., ) 736 28, 856 88 39 33 Transylvania, I......................................................... Belmront Company.................... Transylvani 2..................................21 837 06.............. 39 86 Following are the returns of small lots of ore from this county, worked at mills in the vicinity of Austin, and forwarded by the assessor of Lander county. We merely give the number of pounds of ore worked and the gross product: Pounds. Gross yield. Indian Jim, Hot Creek district.................................... 1,915 $90 80 Old Dominion........ do......................................... 3,630 206 24 Gazelle............... do.......- -..................... 11,314 753 30 Desert Queen, Reveille distriot....-.....-..................... 3, 083 474 86 Wild Rose..........do. 2,277 149 69 North America...... do..-.........-.............-............. 1,172 68 75 Manhattan..........do..................... 2,639 292 01 Lord Byron. do........,................... 2,254 106 85 Button....... — do.......-.....-.......................... 600 8 84 Regan..............do......................................... 2,792 30 68 Lexington........ do........................ 2,764 235 00 Peta, Union district..., 971 68 46 Holman, Union district........................................... 2, 031 295 34 The books of the county assessor show the following annual product of two of the leading mines of Nye county: From October 1 to December 31, 1866, the Buel mill (now the Bel27 418 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SOUTH TWIN RIVERi, HOT SPRINGS, EL DORADO, AND PEAVINE DISTRI(CTS.The districts of South Twin River, Hot Springs, El Dorado, and Peavine, all in Nye county, continue in the order in which they ame named to near where the mountain, which we have traced for 150 miles, falls away into the plain. Although but slightly explored, the opinion is expressed that the mines in the southern part of the Toiyabee range will equal those of other parts, and that this extensive country offers an inviting field to the explorer and the capitalist.'SMOKY VALLEY.-The great Smoky valley, traversed by Fremont in 1845, who mapped Big Smoky creek and Twin rivers, is worthy of special mention. Illn the centre of it are found remarkable springs of boiling water, throwing a large and constant stream, in which meat and vegetables are readily cooked, and tea and coffee quickly prepared for use. The basin of the spring is from 20 to 30 feet in diameter, and the fountain of boiling water rises in the centre, a constant column ascending by its subterranean force several feet above the surface. There are several smaller springs in the neighborhood, one of which furnishes cold water. The soil about them is fertile, and the climate pleasant and healthy. The fields of salt in the northern part of the valley have already been mentioned. Throughout it are found good agricultural lands. The climate is more agreeable than generally prevails in Nevada, without extremes of heat or cold. Snow seldom falls and frosts are never severe, although there are localities where frosts have occurred as early as September, sufficient to blight certain species of vegetation. The valley continues, although slight elevations divide it into different basins, into the desert upon the southern borders of the State. In it are other vast fields of salt, and beds of sulphur, alum, and soda, and bordering upon it are the mountains of San Antonio and Silver Peak. These are isolated and singular in their formation, and appear as if thrown into position by some violent convulsion of nature. The mining districts of this region are among the most important of the State. SAN ANTONIO DISTRICT, comprising the mountain of that name, is situated about 20 miles southeast of the southern terminus of the Toiyabee mountains, and about 90 miles from Austin. Several companies are engaged in mining here with some success, and ore is extracted which returns from reduction an average of $200 per ton. The Liberty minae, owned by George Seitz, has been continuously worked during the present year. It is, so far, the most extensively worked mine in the mont Company's) reduced 904 tons of ore, producing bullion of the value of $52,712 24, being an average per ton of $58 31; the three months following-January, February, and March, 1867-554 tons and a fraction were reduced, yielding $33,041 39, or.$59 64 per ton; the next quarter, 125 tons, 1,339 pounds, producing $6,903 02, $54 93 per ton; and 676 tons, 1,010 pounds, which produced $26,439 77, or $39 08 per ton. The amounts added to the production of the quarter ending on the 30th of September, of 736 tons, yielding $28,856 88$39 33 per ton, and 21 tons, yielding $837 06-$39 86 per ton, swells the total product of this mine for the past year to $148,790 36 in coin. The aggregate number of tons of ore worked is a fraction over 3,917-averaging very nearly $650 per ton. It was reduced in a 10-stamp mill, at best but an inferior one, by the wet crushing process, by which it is not claimed that more than about 65 per cent. of the silver is saved. In connection with the fact that the mine from which the ore was obtained is practically inexhaustible, and can be made to furnish almost any amount of ore, the above figures will furnish a basis upon which to estimate its great value. Dearing the same period, the Murphy mine, of the Twin River Company, situated in Ophir cafnon, as is shown by the books of the assessor, has yielded as follows: first quarter —626 tons, averaging $132 49 per ton, $83,007 96; second quarter1,16~ tons, averaging $84 18 per ton, $97,775 08; third quarter-804_ tons, averaging $92 94 per ton; $74,863 17; fourth quarter-800 tons, averaging $134 43 per ton, $107,544, making a total of $363,1906 21 in coin in a twelvemonth. The aggregate quantity of ore worked is 3,393i tons, and the average yield per ton a fraction over $107. We are informed that the Murphy mine is now in a condition to supply ore for another mill of equal capacity as the one in use, a number of levels having already been run which disclose hundreds of feet in length along the vein, and for a depth of near 200 feet a compact mass of solid ore eome 10 or. 12 feet thick. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 419 district, antd bids fair to be remunerative. A depth of 200 feet has been reached and no water obtained. The mountain is dry, barren, and broken. A few miles to the northwest are the Indian springs, where two small quartz mills have been constructed. As more vigorous work is now prosecuted upon the mines of this district than formerly; they will probably soon take the rank in public esteem to which their value entitles them. SILVER PEAK, RED MOUNTAIN, PALMETTO, LIDA, AND EDMONTON DISTRICTS.-The districts of Silver Peak, Red Mountain, Palmetto, Lida, ald Edmonton comprise the southwestern part of the territory which has been prospected by people who have made Austin their base of operations. Silver Peak and Red Mountain are contiguous, lying about 150 miles south by west from Austin. Silver Peak is a small, precipitous mountain, through which, lying at a low angle, cuts the Vanderbilt vein, cropping on all sides. The value of this vein has been very highly estimated. Other good veins exist in the district. In the valley skirting the eastern base of the mountain is an extensive salt field, covering an area of 30 square miles, and capable of furnishing an unlimited supply of salt. The Red Mountain district, a few miles east of Silver Peak, is distinguished for its production of gold. Great Salt Basin Cornpany.-The mines of these two districts are chiefly owned by a single company, the Great Salt Basin G. & S. M. Company, organized by S. B. Martin and John W. Ilarker. They have already a mill of 10 stamps, which has produced considerable bullion. The company is about to erect two other mills of greatly increased capacity. Mining is to be carried on systematically. The superintendent is Mr. J. E. Clayton, a competent mining engineer, and the nominal capital $3,000,000. The company owns many mines in these districts, the principal of which are the Vanderbilt, Pocatillo, and Sisson. The bullion obtained at the mill from the Vanderbilt ore is worth $2 per ounce, while that of Red Mountain is chiefly gold. The developments in Palmetto district have proved several of the veins to be large and valuable. Gold-bearing quartz is also found, which indicates an abundance of that metal. The district derives its name from a species of date tree, which was mistaken by the discoverers for the palmetto. COLUMBUS, VOLCANO, CLARENDON, PARADISE, PILOT, MAM0MOTH, UNION, AND NORTH UNION DISTRICTS.-These districts are generally classed as belonging to eastern Nevada or Reese river, although they are in the western half of the State. Each has peculiarities, which to describe in detail would be beyond the limits of this report. Clarendon district contains silver-bearing veins, the character of the ore being the same as that of Silver Bend, southeast of Austin. It has a pleasant village of about 80 inhabitants, with families, a school, and church society, indications of the respectability and good order of the community. Volcano district is peculiar in its formation, and is supposed to possess quicksilver and coal mines, as well as gold, copper, and silver, but is most familiarly known from its fossils, which are rare and beautiful. Paradise district receives its name from its pleasant location, and its abundant wood, water, and vegetation.'These are situated from 90 to 150 miles southwest of Austin. MZammoth district is situated 65 miles southwest of Austin, and its condition is promising. The Mount Vernon Company are prosecuting an extensive system of works, which will develop the mines and prove the value of the district. The Hamilton Gold and Silver Mining Company have several excellent mines in this district, but they are not yet developed to any considerable extent. Union district lies on the western slope of the Shoshone mountains, the first range west of Reese river, and is about 55 miles southwesterly from Austin. 420 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES It contains ledges of undoubted value and facilities for the reduction of ore, such as an abundance of wood and water. The district was early brought into notice, yet its progress has been slow and its production of bullion slight. It is interesting from the beauty and abundance of geodes, valuable to the jeweller and lapidary, found in it. Chalcedory, agate, jasper, and other precious stones also abound. North Union district is almost entirely undeveloped, but is favorably regarded by those who are acquainted with its mines and resources. NEW PASS DISTRICT lies almost directly west of Austin, 25 miles distant. It has been organized two years and is yet undeveloped. Mineralogists and engineers have given it a partial examination and have pronounced favorable opinions respecting its resources. The predominant metal is gold. The veins are numerous and well situated for mining. We may now turn to that portion of Nevada southeast from Austin. This until within the past year was to the general public a terra incognita, and believed to be, as:it was represented upon the maps, an inhospitable desert, treeless and -verdureless, and barely subsisting the few miserable Indians who wandered over its barren plains. But the prospector at last ventured upon its exploration, and the results have been unexpectedly important. A country of vast extent has been unveiled to the world; the rocks seamed with veins of silver, and the valleys abounding in valuable grasses. Not repelling the explorer, it invited him on, until at last the chorography of the country has been made known. The western slope of the mountain bordering Smoky valley on the east had been slightly explored, and the districts of Jefferson, Manhattan and Santa Clara formed. Under the general belief prevailing that silver-bearing ledges found elsewhere than in the Toiyabee were exceptional, little attention was paid to the discoveries reported to have been made in these districts until subsequent to the discovery of the ledges of Silver Bend. Since then more attention has been paid to them, and they are now found to be of some importance. Little, however, has been done towards the development of any mine in them. SILVEPR BEND.-A section of country southeast of Austin bears the general name of Silver Bend. It was first entered by prospectors at an early day in the settlement of eastern Nevada, but no discoveries of mineral were made until October, 1865, when ledges cropping out in massive proportions and showing silver-bearing ore were found. But little work was done, or attention paid to these, until May, 1866, when Dr. William Geller, now general agent of the Combination S. MI. Company of New York, was attracted by the statement, and paid the locality a visit. He was at once convinced of its worth, and purchased the interest of the locators of the Highbridge ledge, being 3,000 feet in length, for the sum of $24,000 in currency. Soon afterwards work was commenced under the superintendence of L. B. Moore, who is now carrying on the company's operations. Mr. D.- E. Buel and others subsequently visited the district, and reports of its wealth were published in the Reese River Reveille, with descriptions of the mines and surrounding country. From that time it began to attract attention from all parts of the State. People gathered in the vicinity; the terra incognita of the southeast was explored and many districts organized. The town of 13elmont was built, which is now a flourishing village and the shire town of Nve county. The following particulars of the mines have been obtained chiefly friom Mr. J. E. Moloney of Belmont. He says of the PHILADELPHIA IDISTRICT.-This district, erroneouslv called " Silver Bend," is situated about 85 miles south by east from Austin, on the eastern slope of the Smoky range of mountains, in the county of Nye. The principal mines, as yet developed, are situated down towards the eastern base of the mountain, near Monitor valley. It was organized in 1865 with laws similar to those of Reese River district. The facilities for building are good, the preferred material being stone, but brick of a fine quality is made in the neighborhood. Fire-wood exists in such WEST OF.; THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 421 abundance that mills are furnished with fuel at the rate of $4 50 per cord. Timber suitable for purposes of building exists in the surrounding hills, and several saw-mills find profitable employment and a good market for their products. The better quality of lumber, however, is brought from the Sierra Nevada, near 250 miles distant. A more convenient source of supply would be the White Pine range of mountains, lying about 75 miles to the east. There a species of fir tree grows from which an excellent quality of lumber could be obtained. Elsewhere throughout the State, with slight exceptions, the forests are of pifion, cedar or juniper, mountain mahogany and cottonwood, with a few other varieties, all of a dwarfish character, and although excellent for fuel, make very poor lumber. It, however, answers many purposes, and in the district and neighborhood are five saw-mills engaged in its manufacture. Water is found in quantities sufficient to supply the demand, through the medium of natural springs, some of which furnish considerable streams of water. Already water has been obtained in mines and wells, and there can be no doubt that deep mining will supply an abundance of the element for a large population and an unlimited amount of steam machinery. The geological formation is of slate, with a stratification running north and south and dipping to the east at a high angle, and the veins follow the stratification. A large number of veins have been discovered and located, the principal of which are the Transylvania, Highbridge, E1 Dorado, and Achilles. In the district is the village of Belmont, the shire town of Nye county. It is situated in or about the centre of the mineral belt, on a flat through which flows a stream of water. At this point a spur of mountains branches off from the Smoky range and trends to the southeast, dividing the valley into two partsthat on the north called Monitor, and that on the south called Ralston valley. In this spur, and east of the town, are the principal mines of the district. T'he site opens out southward into Ralston valley, presenting a fine view of the country south, anrd the range of mountains in which are the districts of Manhattan, Argentoro and others. Though this place is scarcely a year old, it presents the appearance of a well-established centre of trade, having substantial stone and brick fire-proof buildings, and many good frame ones. A weekly mail route is established from Austin to this place, and is extended on to Pahranagat. Between Belmont and Austin the mail is carried in a four-horse stage, which runs tri-weekly, and carries Wells, Fargo & Company's express every trip. The express, therefore, does the chief letter-carrying, its superior convenience entirely eclipsing the weekly mail. A weekly newspaper, the "Silver Bend Reporter," is published, and is evidence of the enlightened state of society peopling this distant frontier. Banks, assay offices, schools, &c., are established, with other institutions and business that go to make up a flourishing town. The Conmbination Gold and Silver Mining Co2mpany, already spoken of, is a New York oroanization, owning mines and other property in different parts of eastern Nevada. In Philadelphia district it has a claim of 3,000 feet upon the Transylvania ledge, which is so developed as to leave no doubt of its worth. This is the most northerly portion of the vein yet developed. An incline has been sunk on the ledge to a depth of 170 feet, where it shows a width of 22 feet inside of casings, with a large body of ore. It is estimated that the vein will average by the wet process of working, $150 per ton. This seenls a very high estimate and needs the corroboration of thorough trial. The vein is p)irced by two tunnels at a depth of 120 feet, and separated by a distance of 700 feet, from the termini of which levels have been run north and southtl, in all about 800 feet, thus to some extent p1roving the ledge and preparing it for mining. The company have in course of construction a mill of 40-stamp capacity. It is rapidly approaching completion, and will soon be in operation. For tile better working of the mine a perpendicular shaft is sunk, which will pierce the ledge t a deptll of 600 feet. The sinking is now in progress. 422 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Belmont Silver MXining Company is composed of Messrs. J. A. McDonald, J. W. Gashwiler and S. M. Buck. The mining property lies south of the Combination Company's and joins it, being on the same ledge. It was formerly known as Buel's Highbridge, having been owned and developed by Mr. D. E. Buel. This gentleman, when attention was first drawn to the district, purchased the location, 300 feet, for the sum of $9,000. This was in June, 1866, and he immediately commenced the erection of a 10-stamp mill, putting it into operation on the 1st of September following. The mill was prepared only for wet crushing, or working ores without roasting, and was expected to save only 60 per cent. of the silver contained in the ore. It was very incomplete, having for some months only the machinery standing, without roof or enclosing building; yet in about seven months it turned out upwards of $100,000 in bullion. The ores worked were chiefly from or near the surface. Since it has gone into the possession of its present owners, extensive developments have been undertaken under the direction of S. MI. Buck, civil and mining engineer. The results are said to be satisfactory. At the present time the company is constructing a 20-stamp mill which they hope to have in operation before the close of the year. The same parties are also owners of a claim of 400 feet, known as the Wood & Buel mine, on the Transylvania No. 1, a parallel vein to the Transylvania No. 2, or Hiighbridge, and 100 feet from it. There is some difference of opinion respecting these veins-whether they are really two distinct veins, or one a break from the other. Their parallel course and great similarity of gangue and ore impress many with the belief that explorations will prove them to be but one lode. Upon the claim last mentioned some work has been done, and a depth of 75 feet attained on it, where it is found to be fiom six to ten feet in width. The ore taken out has been reduced tit the mill, and is said to have produced from $70 to $100 per ton. A less return is given in the report published by the assessor. T'ie iJlcAleer Comnpany is a company formed in Frederick City, Maryland, and has been previously mentioned as the Continental, owning property in the Cortez district. its mining property was the location of Moore and Martin, and comprises 153 feet on the great Transylvania vein; next south of; the Wood and Buel location. Since it has been the property of the McAleer Company it has been under the management of ID. T. Elmore, who has prosecuted work on the mine to'the depth of 140 feet, at which depth the vein is from 6 to 10 feet in width, nearly the entire body being ore estimated to be worth from $60 to $130 per ton. Developments are still going on in preparation for a mill of 20 stamp capacity, now in course of construction, and which it is expected will be in ope-'ration this year. The mine, though less in length of vein than the others, is none the less valuable in proportion, and like the others is well situated for workling. Thle Silver Bend Coompany owns the next location south on the vein, and is locally known as the Childs and Canfield. The claim extends 2,000 feet along the vein, and the developments show it to be similar in size and quality of ore to the others previously mentioned. An incline shaft has been sunk to the depth of 115 feet, and a level run 150 feet along the vein, proving it permanent and valuable throughout. At a point 800 feet south of the incline mentioned another was sunk to the depth of 105 feet, and levels run north and south, from which 1Q0 tons of ore worked at the Belmont mill (wet process) yielded $91 per ton. These mines are a.ll on one ledge, and produce good ores. Most writers stop when the mines of the Transyvlvania are described, not thinking that others are worthy of note, but an examination reveals the fact that others of a promising character exist. The El Doraclo lies about 1,000 feet west of the Transylvania, and parallel to it. This vein was discovered in the early settlement of the place. It is now owned by Leon, Mullen, Singleterry, and Brown. An incline shaft has been sunk upon it to a depth of 70 feet, developing a vein 8 to 10 feet in width, from which pay ore is obtained. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 423 The Independence and Arizona lie north of the El Dorado, and are supposed to be on the same vein. They are not much developed, but being on the El Dorado vein are esteemed valuable. North of Belmont one mile is the Silver Champion, which has produced some good ore. It has lately been purchased by T. F. White for an eastern company,. and work will probably be commenced upon it soon. Adjoining this is the Silver Queen, upon which developments are progressing. Northeast of Belmont is the Silver Cord, Magnolia, and other veins, and southeast, near the Silver Bend Company's mine, is the Achilles. These have been worked to some extent and give evidence of value. West of Belmont is what is termed the "Spanish Belt," where numerous ledges are found. There are other veins and claims than those mentioned which may prove of value, and many which doubtless deserve the name'of "wild-cat." OFFICIAL RETURNS. —The official returns of Nye county have been published for the quarter ending June 30, 1867. The following list contains the names of the mines, the amount worked, and the average rate per ton: Name of mine. Tons. Lbs. verag per ton. Murpy, (Twin river)................................................. 805 1, 000 $92 94 Transylvania, (Silver Bend Company)................................... 100 632 66 20 Transylvania No. 1, (Belmont Company).................................. 676 1,110 39 08 Transylvania No. 3, (Belmont Company).................................. 125 1, 330 54 9'3 Liberty, (San Antonio).................................................. 100........ 208 00 Teutonia, (Milk Springs).................................................1 46 56 23 Westfield, (Reveille)..................................................... 1, 679 408 00 J. Ritter, (Reveille)............................. 1, 320 101 73 Adriatic, (Reveille).......................................................... 940 102' 32 Cornucopia, (Reveille)............................. 1, 620 611 37 Wild Irishman, (Union).................................................. 2 296 262 89 Canada; (North Twin river)............................ 1, 748 367 76 During the quarter a considerable amount of ore from Nye county was reduced at the mills of Austin, and not mentioned in the above returns. The mills working were the kMurphy, at Twin river, 20 stamps; the Belmont, at Belmont, 10 stamps; the Rigby, at San Antonio, four stamps; and the Rutland, at Reveille, five stamps. The last reduced very little ore. NORTHUMBERLAND DISTRICT.-Sixty miles southeast of Austin is the district of Northumberland, which from recent developments shows evidences of value, and is attracting some attention. It lies on the eastern slope of the Smoky range, and on both sides of the pass through which goes the road leading from Austin to Belmont. The district was organized in June, 1866, and a number of ledges located, few of which were tested. Those now most developed are the Northumberland and Lady Cummings. From these 20 or more tons of ore have been taken and reduced at the mills of Austin, and from $70 to $150 per ton have been obtained. Ore of this quality is reported to be abundant. DANTVILLE DISTRICT lies on the eastern slope of the Monitor range, being the next east of the Smoky range. Between the two lies Monitor valley, similai' in its appearance and general characteristics to the Smoky valley and others in the eastern part of the State. The district lies directly east of Northumberland, and 80 miles distant from Austin. It was organized in the summer of 1866, and many ledges located. Of these the Vanderbilt and Silveropolis lhave furnished ores which, assaying largely, have given some notoriety to the district. From first-class ores of the Vanderbilt assays have been obtained ranging from $800 to $1,700 per ton, and from the Silveropolis as high as $300 and $400 per ton. The assayer remarks that the ores are unusually free from base metals.* It must be observed that these assays afford no reliable indication of the value of a vein. Generally, the ores are selected. There is ore in every district and almost every mine from which high assays can be obtained;,but $1,000 or $10,000 ore may exist in a worthless mine.-J. R. B. 424 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The veins at the outcrop are from 20 inches to 12 feet in width. The developments are slight, and none appear to be in progress at the present time. The district is represented to be well supplied with wood and water. HERCUL]ES' GATE DISTRICT is situated east of and about 150 miles distant from Austin, in the Egan range of mountains. It receives its name from a deep chasm cutting the mountain in two, and through which Major Simpson passed with his exploring expedition in 1859. Silver-bearing veins of good character are reported as existing, but the mineral resources of the district are little known. Bordering on the great Steptoe valley, with numerous streams furnishing power for mills and manufacturing and water for irrigation, it presents features of attraction and value aside from its mines. Copper ore is found in small irregular veins running through the lime-rock or marble in some portions of the district. HOT CREEK. -The district of Hot Creek is situated about 100 miles southeast from Austin, in Nye county. It was organized in February, 1866, and is of the usual dimensions, 20 miles square. It receives its name from a great natural curiosity, being a stream of hot water of several hundred inches in measurement, and running for several miles in a deep chasm through the mountains. The stream rises from the ground in a large boiling spring at the western base of the Hot Creek range of mountains, and runs eastward through a narrow pass and sinks in a tule marsh in the valley east of the mountain. For several hundred yards the water retains a high degree of heat, but being supplied by numerous cold springs its temperature is reduced. The water is pure, and is used for culinary purposes. The heat furnished by nature is highly appreciated by those dwelling on its banks. There is in the valleys flanking the mountains a considerable amount of agricultural land, and experiments in cultivation have been made with some success. The chasm, which in places is but a few rods wide, offers facilities for a road through the mountain. A town has been laid out in the district, and is occupied by about 100 people. The geological formation is of limestone, slate, and porphyry, all containing silver-bea'ing quartz. The limestone appears chiefly on the surface. The mountain rises about 1,500 feet above the level of the valleys, and being very precipitous, offers good opportunities for opening mines by tunnelling. The mining claims of chief notoriety located in the district are the Indian Jim, 1,500 feet; Merrimac, 1,500 fRet; Old Dominion, 1,400 feet; Gazelle, 1,200 feet; and the Old Joe, Keystone, Hot Creek. and Silver Glance. Old Dominion Company.-Upon the Indian Jim and Merrimac some developments have been made. These and the Old Dominion are the property of the Old Dominion Company, formed under the laws of Pennsylvania. The company is prosecuting work on their mines, and constructing a mill of 20 stamp capacity. Upon the Merlimsrac a shaft has been sunk to a depth of 40 feet, and from this a drift is run which, on the 1st of August, had penetrated the vein a distance of six feet, showing a body of ore estimated to be worth from $100 to $300 per ton. From cuts through the vein at the surface, it is found to be 40 feet in thickness.* It runs north and south, crossing the Hot Creek cafion; that part north of the caflon being the Indian Jim location, and that south the Merrimac. The shaft proves that the limestone, covering the surface has only a depth of 30 feet, and is underlaid by slate and porphyry. The Consolidation Company is a New York organization, and owns veins throughout various parts of eastern Nevada, but the scenes of its principal operations are in Hot Creek district. Here it owns a number of veins of some promise, though they have not been remunerative. The company has built a 10-stamp mill, called the MIanchester. Each stamp is but 250 pounds weight. The mill has not been run successfully and is now idle. The chief mine of the company *It should be understood that veins of this width donot contain pay ore all the way through. Generally, the ore runs in streaks or is found in pockets. The thickness of a vein, therefore, cannot of itself be regarded as infixliable evidence of value.-J. R. B. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 425 is the Keystgne. Upon the vein a shaft was sunk 33 feet in depth, when, after passing a bodly of pay ore, the walls came together and the ledge was lost. But slight excavations have been made to recover it, and all work of the company has ceased for the present. There are several other veins in the district belonging to the same company, upon which work has been done, but while the prospects were encouraging, there were no profitable results. The district has advantages of wood, which can be procured at $5 per cord; fine water, a pleasant climate, and is surrounded by good agricultural land. These, with the silver-bearing veins, will probably, at no distant day, bring it into notice. REVFEILLE DISTRIcT.- During the summer of 1866 explorations through the southeastern part of the State were carried on extensively, and many discoveries of im portance were made. This region of country had previously been regarded as an inhospitable desert, and was entered with great caution. The impression of its sterility was found to be erroneous, and it is now ascertained that north of the 38th parallel, that part of Nevada. at least, contains but little country that can with propriety be called a desert. In August, 1866, a party composed of AM. D. Fairchild, A. Monroe, and W. O. Arnold, discovered an extraordinary outcrop of silver-bearing veins upon the eastern slope of a range next east of the Hot Creek mountains, and about 135 miles southeast of Austin. They immediately proceeded to organize a mining district to which they gave the name of Reveille, in compliment to the Reveille newspaper, Austin. They adopted the mining law of the State, and under it claims were recorded and held. The most promising claims located are the Crescent, August, Mediterranean, Atlantic, National, Antartic, Fisherman, and Adriatic. Many others are located. The last two named are situated on the western slope of the mountain, while the others are on the eastern side. The rock'formation is chiefly limestone, and the metalbearing quartz appears in veins or vast beds in the crust and extending above the surface. These appear of various widths from 20 to upwards of 100 feet. The excavations upon them have not determined their depth, nor whether they are true fissure veins or detached beds. Being in limestone, and appearing in such masses at the surface, has given rise to questions as to their true character. From the August, Crescent, Fisherman, Adriatic, and others, some ore hlas been taken and reduced at the mills at Austin, producing $150 and upwards to the ton. The outcropping masses of this district are distinguished for the amount of silver they contain. There is but little water in the neighborhood of the mines, but to the west, from seven to ten miles, upon the opposite side of the valley separating the Reveille from the Hot Creek range, are streams affording water for reduction mills should deep mining fail to obtain water for the purpose close at hand. Upon one of these streams the Rutland mill of five stamps has been erected, but as it was prepared only for wet crushing, or from want of efficient management and metallurgical skill, it has not been successful. EMPIRE DISTRICT.-Joining Hot Creek district on the south, and about eight miles distant from that singular stream, is Empire district. This was organized in 1866, shortly after that of Hot Creek. It is represented as containing valuable ledges. Ore from them reduced at Austin has yielded as high as $400 per ton. Specimens of great richness are often exhibited, showing chloride, sulphuret, and native silver. The true ciaracter and real worth of the district has not been demonstrated. MILK SPRNGS DISTRICT is in the Hot Creek range of mountains, and south of Empire. It receives its name from the peculiar appearance of the water arising from a large spring, which, although to the taste pure, ms of a milky color. Numerous veins lave been located, and some good ore has been obtained. But little work has been done in the district, and its true char.cter cannot be stated. Some of the veins are regarded as of value by persons qualified to judge. MOREY DISTRICT.-The mineral veins of Morey district were noticed in 1865, by 426 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES T. J. Barnes, who penetrated the southeastern country. This gentleman made extensive explorations, and with others organized several districts. Accounts of these were reported at the time in the Reese River Reveille, but they led to no general occupation of the country, nor to the development of any mines. The year fbllowing Morey district was reorganized, and labor upon some of the veins is now progressing with fair prospects. It is situated about 100 miles east and a little south of Austin, on a spur of mountain running east from the Hot Creek range. It is as yet but little known. PA iRANAGAT DISTICT lies in the southeastern part of Nevada, near the 38th parallel of latitude, and about 115~ west from Greenwich. Its distance from Austin is estimated at 180 miles. The mines were first discovered in March, 1865, by T. C. W. Sayles, John H. Ely, David Sanderson, Samuel S. Strut, William McClusky, and Ira Hatch, Indian interpreter. These parties were from Utah, and were guided to the locality by an Indian. A district was formed and many ledges located.* The name given it was the name borne by the Indians living in an extensive valley lying at the foot of the mountain beauring the mineral; the word " pah" meaning water, and "ranagat" any vegetable, as melon, squash, or pumpkin, growing onil vines. It is indicative of the agricultural value of the section. The mountain bearing the mineral was named MIount Irish, in honor of Mr. Irish, the United States Indian agent for the Territory of Utah. The place where the discoverers encamped, being at a spring of water in the valley, was called by the Indians Hiko, meaning white man, and the village now at that place, and county seat of Lincoln county, bears that name. The chief physical features of the district are, Mount Irish, a lofty peak attaining: Messrs. Adelberg and Raymond, metallurgists and mining engineers, of New York, in a report on the character of certain silver ores from the Pahranagat district, say: The silver ores from Pahranagat district, the value of which, as determined by 22 assays made for F. Prentice, esq., of New York, will be found in our certificates, present, with but one exception, a single typical class of argentiferous rock, viz: polybasite, of great richness. This mineral contains a somewhat variable proportion of silver, although it has a distinct habitus and chemical character. It is a sulphuret of arsenic (or antimony) and silver, with the formula 9 Ag S + As S3; but a portion of the silver may be represented by copper, and the arsenic by antimony, so that the gerneral formula may-be given thus: 9 (Cu S. Ag S) + (S C S3 As S3.) The percentage of silver, according to careful analyses made in Europe, varies from 64 to 72 per cent., and even more. Pahranagat district, aside from its well-known veins of argentiferous galena, one of which is represented in the specimens submitted to us, seems to carry in its silver lodes principally polybasite. This mineral must be looked upon, therefore, as the characteristic ore of the district, and the principal basis of that silver production, which is rapidly springing up in that rich locality. This mineralogical feature distinguishes Pahranagat from other centres of silver production, such as the Washoe. and Reese River districts; and will determine for it a peculiar metallurgical process for the treatment of its ores. We cannot undertake, without a more extended examination, to describe in detail such a process; and content ourselves on this occasion with the following brief opinion: 1. In the case of ores of such quality as the samples marked Hampden, Saturn, Mars, Williams, Moscow, Comanche, Vesuvius, Leonidas, London, Pittsburg, Cliff, Hamburg, Judson, Steuben, Inca, and Mazeppa, we do not see any objection to the use of the wellknown process of chloritic roasting and subsequent amalgamation, as carried on in and around Austin; although it is obvious, that only a careful roasting of long duration will convert these ores into a form of chlorides for amalgamation. 2. On the other hand, such exceedingly rich ores as those marked Braganza, Exenica, Gibraltar, and Manchester, would best be beneficiated by the smelting process, the choice of which is indicated by their very character, and the use of which is especially feasible in Pah: ranagat, inasmuch as the galena veins of that district furnish the very material upon which that process is founded. Another most favorable circumstance is the existence of coal beds in the neighborhood. Although these coal beds, like others of the western coast, belong. no doubt, to the tertiary formation, they will still be of great value to the mining industry of the country, especially as they occur within four miles of the lode. 3. In conclusion we desire to say, that most of the specimens submitted to us are obviously from near the surface; and, judging from the analogy between the mineralogical characteristics of the poorer and the ticher ores, we regard it as most probable that future developments in depth will prove all these lodes to carry rich polybasite, which could unquestionably be more thoroughly and easily treated by smelting than by amalgamation. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 427 an elevation of 11,000 feet above the sea, with other hills and peaks constituting a range of mountains; the Pahranagat valley, of some 30 miles in length and about 12 in width, a portion of which is agricultural land; and its large and singular springs. The mountain, as described by Mr. R. H. Stretch, State'mineralogist of Nevada, "is a mass of white porphyritic rock, the flanks consisting of a blackish limestone (abounding in fragments of crinoids and corals) overlying slates and capped with a heavy body of quartzite. On Silver hill and Sanderson mountain, the outcroppings of the lodes are in limestone. On the western slope of the range, crystalline eruptive rocks are abundant." The trend of the mountain range is north and south, and the strike of the veins is generally northeast and southwest, with a slight dip to the southeast, or -stand nearly vertical. There have been upwards of 1,000 locations made, the principal of which are the Illinois, List, Crescent, Bay State, New Hampshire, Eclipse, Utah, Ulric Dahlgren, and Victoria. Many others are worthy of mention, but their developments are slight, and the catalogue would be useless. The valley of Pahranagat lies at an elevation estimated at from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea, but, for so great an altitude the climate is comparatively warm and pleasant. This is accounted for by its being in a measure open to the valley of the Colorado and the warm region of the south. Very slight snow-storms are experienced in winter, and frosts are not severe. Springs and streams afford water for irrigating a large area, which, with the good soil and mild climate, will enable it to furnish such products of the farm, garden, and field as a mining population may require. The springs, of which there are three, Hikio, Logan, and Ash, are natural curiosities, from the amounts of water they pour fort!l, being from 1,000 to 2,000 inches, and the peculiarity of their high temperature, which is from 65~ to 750 Fahrenheit. In the neighborhood of each of these are farming settlements, and at Hiko and Logan are small villages. Tile total number of inhabitants in the district is now about 300. There are several families residing in the valley, but no schools are yet established. This section having been first occupied by people from Utah and the east, where United States legaltender notes is the currency, this currency is adopted here, and in that differs from other portions of the State. Early in the present year a mill of five-stamlp capacity was erected by W. II. Raymond, and put in operation; but either from inexperience or bad management it proved a failure, and is not operating now. Another mill of five stamps, to work the ores of the List lode, has been constructed and is more successful, although very incomplete. A 10-stamp mill is * The Mining and Scientific Press, of San Francisco, California, of December, 1865, makes the following allusion to the Pahranagat mines: We have had placed upon our table some very fine specimens of silver ore from an entirely new mining district, lately discovered about 100 miles easterly of Mono lake, and at least 75 miles distant from any already existing district. It has been named the Pahranagat Lake district, the Indian name of the lake and valley near which the mines are located. The discovery was made in March last, by Messrs. J. Ely, W. McClosky, S. S. Shutt, and three others. The location, as ascertained by running out a line from a known point, is in latitude 37~ 34' north, and 1150 29' west, which places it in the southeast corner of the State of Nevada. The ore from this newly discovered region is mainly silver-bearing, and judging from samples of the croppings before us, the mines must prove rich in depth. Assays have been made by Mr. G. Kiistel from five different samples of ore, taken from as many different lodes, three of which present marked peculiarities, and duplicates of all of which are before us. We append the assays, with a description of each sample: No. 1. Principally carbonate of lead and antimony, yielded at the rate of $867 10, in silver, to the ton of ore. No. 2. Carbonate of lead, copper, and antimony, $282 25 in silver. No. 3. Carbonate of lead and copper, with argentiferous g;ay copper ore and copper silver glance, $1,036 75 in silver. No. 4. A specimen presenting same characteristics as No. 3 yielded at the rate of $263')0 to the ton. No. 5. Another specimen similar to No. 3 yielded at the rate of $337 30 to the ton. The two last each presented traces of gold. 428 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES now in course of construction upon the plan of the best mills at Austin. Its architect and builder is Benjaimin Evans, whose experience gives hopes of success. Several attempts have been made to smelt the ores, some of which bear considerable quantities of galena, but so far they have proved failures. It is probable these failures are the consequence of want of knowledge of the composition and inexperience in the reduction of the ores. Trhey have retarded the development of the district, and depleted the pockets of the miners. A remarkable mounthain of salt exists about 70 miles south of the mines.* It is reported to be about five mliles in length and 600 feet in height. The boly of salt is of unknown depth. It is chemically pure and crystalline, and does not deliquesce on exposure to the atmosphere. Like rock, it requires blasting firom the mine, whence it is taken in large blocks as transparent as glass. This would afford an abundant supply to the world could it be cheaply mined and transported, but it now stands in the wilderness, an object for the admiration of the curious, atnd the inspection of the scientific. The salt to be used in beneciating the ores, or for domestic purposes, is more easily obtained from the fields in White Pine valley, where it is gathered ready for the table or the mill. This salt field is about 60 miles north of the mines on Mount Irish, and froml it salt can be delivered at the mills at Pabranagat at a cost of $40 in coin per ton. The district receives its machinery and most of its supplies from San Francisco. The different routes from that city are by sea around Cape St. Lucas and up the Gulf of California, thence in small steamers up the Colorado river about 600 miles to Callville,t thence by land about 175 miles; or by sea to San Pedro, thence by land via Los Angeles 475 miles; or'by Sacramento, the Central Pacific railroad, and Austin. The total distance by the latter route is 650 miles, and fieight is taken through at the rate of $200 in coin per ton. The preference is now given to the land route via the railroad. _Tl Illinois Mine.-The Illinois lode is situated high up on the eastern * Dr. O. H. Conger, assayer and metallurgist, says in a report on the resources of this district: " Timber is very abundant in the mountains of this region, particularly in those in which the mines are situated. The water-power is also almost unlimited along the valley streams. Coupled with these great natural advantages, which are indispensable, are immense deposits of salt and the silicate of alumina, and the latter is in the immediate vicinity of the mines. The outcroppings of it over a very largeextent of country, which are apparent, prove it absolutely inexhaustible. Its capability of withstanding any degree of heat, to the state of incandescence, is most remarkable. It possesses the property also of hardening by heating, so that in a very short period it becomes almost adamantine. Another very desirable property, as a furnace material, is in its scarcely perceptible expansion and contraction under the most intense degree of heat or cold. Its constituents appear to be, from a hasty test made, silica, alumina, magnesia, and asbestus, the two first minerals greatly predominating, and solme strata indicating silica and alumina only. In appearance it resembles chalk, and is as easily carved into any desirable shape. The strata vary in thickness from four inches to six feet. " These varying thicknesses enable blocks of it to be obtained of any desired size, so that the floors or hearths of reverbaratory and cupelling furnaces, as also pieces entire for the arches can be obtained whole. This will greatly lessen the expense in the construction of the iurnaces in this district, which are required for the proper working of the ores, and also they can be much more strongly and perfectly built than with the usual fire brick. Already it is being carried to different parts of the country for refractory purposes. Mountains of limpid salt, boldly project through the floor of the valley, and in many places from 100 to 200 feet in height and thickness, so that blocks of a ton in weight or more are easily obtained. One remarkable feature about it is, that it is perfectly pure, containing not a trace of anything but the two elements chlorine and sodium. I believe there is but one other place on the globe where it exists in such a state of purity in workable quantities, and that is Cracow, Poland. This is but another evidence of the state of purity in which the force of nature has left her mineral deposits in this interesting portion of the continent. Native silver is common in many of- tire lodes of this distgict on the outcropping ore. "Copper ore, of the sub-oxide and gray varielies, 80 per cent. metal, and also iron ore of equal richness, are abundant." t Callville has been reached with great difficulty by one small steamer; but the navigation of the Colorado to that point can scarcely be considered practicable for commercial purposes, in its present condition.-J. R. B. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 429 slope of the mountain, and is cut through by a deep caiion, giving an opportunity to examine the vein, and to open it by tunnels at a great depth. It crops out boldly, showing an apparent width of from 15 to 20 feet. The vein has been opened at several places, and found to be valuable. The Illinois, Indiana, Webster, and other veins of good repute, are the property of WV. H. Raymond & Co., of New York. The Indiazna, on Peters's mountain, has been tapped by a tunnel of 125 feet, at a depth of 120 feet below the croppings, showing a pay streak of 6 feet in a vein of 10 feet between the walls. The Webster, on Raymond mountain, has been struck by a vertical shaft 100 fNet below the croppings, with a pay streak of about 10 feet. The Alameda Company. —This is a New York organization, and owns the List and other mines. The List is a location of 400 feet in length upon a vein which extends through several similar locations. In the claim of the Alameda Company it is most developed, and shows a width of from 5 to 10 feet, bearing two strata of ore, respectively 6 and 18 inches in width. Several tons of this ore have been taken to Austin for reduction, and produced at the rate of $100 per ton, and a number of tons worked at the Crescent mill, near the vein, yielded $80 per ton. The developments consist in an incline 23 feet, and a shaft 50 feet in depth, from the bottom of which a tunnel has been run, but it has not as yet penetrated the vein. Winm. Fleming is the superintendent. The wages paid for first-class miners in this district are $6 per day in currency. nMr. Islin, Captainl Dahlgrlen and others, are about to commence operations on mines of which they are owners or agents. The district bids fair, with its mineral-bearing ledges and agricultural resources, to become one of importance. It is connected with Austin by a weekly mail, and the road between the two places is naturally good, and has been well improved, so it is easily, safely, and pleasantly passed by heavy freight wagons and travellers. It lies on a practicable route for a railroad from the Central Pacific, at several points on the Humboldt river, to the Colorado at the head of navigation, or to the crossing of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, should such a road be constructed. COLORADo DISTRICT.-A recent act of Congress annexed a portion of Arizona to Nevada, and in the section transferred is Colorado district, or the mining region of El Dorado cation. This is on the banks of the Colorado river, andl as yet has had but little intercourse with the original Nevada. It may not be regarded as within the limits of this report to give a description of this district, but as a step-child of Nevada, it is proper to recognize its existence. It was organized in 1861, and a large number of claims located bearing gold, silver, and copper. NortiZern Mines. —In July of the present year, a party composed of IMessrs. McCan, Beard, Heath, and others left Austin on an exploring tour to the ranges of mountains north of the Humboldt river. There had been -uxluors of discoveries of gold-bearing veins and placers in those ranges, and also in the Goose Creek mountains, dividing the waters of the Humboldt and Owyhee from Salt Lake. This part of the country was infested with hostile Indians, and it was regarded as dangerous to penetrate it. For that reason it had remained unexplored, yet its very dangers were inviting to the venturesome prospector, whose imagination gave the wild country wealth in proportion to the hardships and dangers attending its occupation. This party of explorers, consisting of eight men, passed the Humboldt river, and going north on about the 117th meridian, crossed a range of mountains, made up chiefly of detached hills or buttes running easterly and westerly, and when upon the northern slope, about 60 miles from the river, discovered gold in placers and in situm. TuscARoRA DISTRICT. —Upon making the discoveries of gold, the prospectors organized a mining district, to which they gave the name of Tuscarora. A small stream running through it northwardly was named McCan. Along this stream for about three miles gold in small quantities was found to exist. It appears very much 430 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES diffused through the soil from the sul-face to the depth reached, which did not exceed five feet. Several ledges, or what are supposed to be ledges, were found, showing gold. The party returning to Austin with specimens reported their discoveries, and as is usual upon such occasions an excitement was created, and 100 or more men, well armed for defence against the Indians, and prepared for prospecting, immediately proceeded to the new mining region. A large area of country has already been explored, and mines found in various localities. At the present time the real value of the discoveries is unknown, as but little labor has been expended upon either the gold-bearing veins or in washing the soil. The creek does not furnish water in sufficient quantities for extensive and rapid washing, and therefore unless very rich deposits are found, it is not probable any laIre fortunes will be realized. It is estimated, however from the prospects obtained that from $10 to $20 per diem may be made per man, for a score or more of men. Should the specimens of gold-bearing quartz found be any criterion of the value of the veins at great depths, they are rich indeed. The geography of the region is but little known, and it cannot be stated at present whether the waters drain to the Owyhee sink in a basin of their own, or flow to some branch of the Humboldt. A short period will determine all such doubts. The country is described as well adapted for grazing, producing an abundance of grass of a very nutricious character. There are many valleys of large size capable of cultivation, and which, when the treacherous savage is exterminated or subdued, and the miners fill the hills, will furnish pleasant homes to settlers. About 40 miles east of Tuscarora, and on the southern slope of the range, ledges bearing both silver and gold have been discovered. These discoveries were lately made. No district has yet been formed. The locality is about 50 miles north of Gravelly Ford, on the Humboldt river. T. J. Tennant and party, the discoverers, brought specimens of the ore to Austin, where they were assayed, and showed value. The rock is granite, the veins of quartz running north and south. This is represented as a good farming and grazing country, with grass, covering the hills like a meadow. Game, as deer, antelope, hare, and several varieties of grouse, the chief of which is the sage hen, abounds in great plenty. This new region, which has so long been closed against the pioneer, promises to become an important and wealthy portion of the State. The following classification of the minerals which characterize the veins of Eastern Nevada is prepared by Charles A. Stetefeldt, esq., assayer and metallurgist, of Austin. CATALOGUE OF MINERALS. REESE RIvER DISTRICT.e*Eastern part of Lander Hill and iCentral Hill.Pyrargyrie, proustite, polybasite, and stephanite predominant; tetrahedrite seldom;few sulphurets of base metals. Centralipart of Lander Hill and Union Hill.-Tetrahedrite predominant; pyrites of iron and copper, galena and blende; few polybasite and stephanite. l/estern _part of Lander Hill and Union Hill. —Argentiferous galena, pyrites *MINERALS OF REESE RIVER DISTRICT, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO DANA'S SYSTEM. BY EUGENE N. RIOTTE, M. E. 1. NATIVE ELEMENTS: Native gold, native silver, native copper. II. SULPHURETS ARSENURETS, ETC.: I. Binary compounds. 1. Stibnite, antimonglance. 2. Silverglanze; erubescite, variegated copper ore; galena, blende, copper glance, stromeierite, pyrites, lucopgrites, molyadenite. II. Double binary compounds. Chalcopyrite, pyrargyrite, proustite, fetrahedrite, polybasite, stephanite, fireblende. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 431 of iron and copper, blende predominant; few tetrahedrite. In most veins above water level, horn silver predominant. Twir RIVER DISTRICT.-Ophir Caion.-Species of tetrahedrite containing gold and silver predominant; native silver; blende, pyrites of iron and copper. Summoit GCa/w.-Argentiferous galena predonlinant; native silver, silver glance; blende, pyrites of iron. NORTH TwrN RIVER DISTRICT.-Park Caion. —Mixture of pyrites of iron, pyrites of copper, blende, argentiferous galena, spathic iron, native silver, pyrargirite, and quartz. ~ REVEILLE DISTRICT.-Argentiferous sulphuret of copper predominant; silver glance, sulphuret of antimony. Croppings contain much horn silver. PHILADELPHIA AND COLUMBUS DISTRICTS.-Stetefeldtite (new mineral) predominant; galena; pyrites of copper. Croppings contain much horn silver. EUREKA DISTRICT. —Argentiferous galena predominant; stetefeldtite. EMPIRE DISTRICT.-Stetefeldtite predominant. UNION DISTRICT.-Stromeyerite predominant; native gold and silver; silver glance; horn silver. WASHINGTON DISTRICT.-Argentiferous galena predominant; native silver; pyrite of iron and copper, blende. SUMMIT AND BIG CREEK DISTRICT. —Argentiferous galena predominant; pyrites of iron and copper, blende, sulphuret of antimony. SMOKY VALLEY DISTRICT.-Argentiferous sulphuret of copper, argentiferous galena, blende, pyrites of iron and copper. BUNKER HILL DISTRICT.-Native gold and silver, argentiferous sulphuret of copper, pyrites of.iron and copper, galena. SANTA FE DISTRIC'r.-Native gold; pyrites of iron, copper glance. Lore 3Iountain.-Native gold; pyrites of iron and copper. NEW PASS DISTRICT. —Native gold; argentiferous galena, pyrites of copper and copper glance. BULLION PRODUCT. —The actual amount of silver bullion shipped from Austin to Virginia and San Francisco for the 12 months ending August 1, 1867, is $1,455,273 60, the greater portion being in the last five months of the present year. This is ascertained from the way-bills of the express and stage companies. SECTION XXI. THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH. The subject of trans-continental telegraphic communication has attracted general attention during the past few years, and almost every intelligent person has acquired some knowledge respecting it. I am induced to believe, however, that much may still be learned from the practical experiences of operators along the route. The magnitude of the enterprise, the benefits resulting fron it both to III. FLOURIDS, CHLORIDS, BROMIDS, TODIDS: I. Binary compounds. Common salt, kerargyrite, bromyrite, todyrite.(?) IV. OXYGEN COMPOUNDS: I. Ozyde binary compounds. Red copper, magnetic iron ore, hematite, housnanite, pyrolusite, isilomelan, wad, quarz, opal. II. Salts double binary compounds: Pyroxene; rhodonite, silicate of manganese; hornblende, muscovite, feldspar, oligoclas and orthoclas, tourmalie, chrysocolla; hubnerite, tungstate of manganese; barytes, gypsum, cyanosite, copperas, glauber salts, apatete, nitre, calcite, carbonate of manganese, chalybite, spathic iron ore, cerusite, trona, malachite, asurite, titanito, tungstatc of lead. 432 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES the commnercialiworld and the mining community, and the difficulties encountered in carrying it into effect are not yet fully appreciated. The first practical movement toward the construction of the overland telegraph was made by California.* The Placerville and Humboldt Telegraph Company was organized in 1858, and the first pole of the line from Placerville across the Sierra Nevada mountains was erected on the 4th of July of that year. During the autumn of the same year the line had reached Genoa-then in Utah Territory, now in the State of Nevada-and by the spring of 1859 it had reached Carson, from which point a branch was extended to Virginia City soon after the discovery of the silver mines. This much of the line was constructed entirely by private enterprise. Neither State nor general government afforded any assistance, though repeated application was made to both. Disagreements between Messrs. Broderick and Gwin, senators of the United States from California, prevented the passage through Congress of a bill introduced by the former in May, 1858, for the construction of a trans-continental line between the Atlantic and Pacific States. In April, 1859, the legislature passed an act pledging the State to give $6,000 a year to the telegraph line that should make the first connection with an eastern line, and $4,000 a year to the next. Two companies were encouraged to enter the list-one via Salt Lake city and the other via Los Angeles and the Butterfield stage route through Arizona and Texas. The dissensions already referred to in Congress retarded the adoption of any of the measures proposed on the Atlantic side, until the 16th of June, 1860, when an act was passed directing the Secretary of the Treasury to.advertise for sealed proposals to be received for 60 days after the passage of said act for the use by the government of a line or lines of telegraph to be constructed within two years from July 31, 1-860, fiom some point on the west line of issouri, by any route the contractor might select, to San Francisco, for a period of 10 years, and to award the contract to -the lowest bidder, provided he did not require more than $40,000 a year. Permission was granted to the successful bidder to use for ten years such public lands of the United States as might be necessary for the rioght of way and for the purpose of establishing stations for repairs, not exceeding at any one station one quarter-section, and not to exceed one in 15 miles on the whole average of the distance. No pre-emnption right to the land was granted. The contract was not to be madeuntil the line was in actual operation. Certain reservations were also made establishing for the government a priority of use of the line, free from charge until at the ordinary charges for private messages the sum of $40,000 was reached, after which the excess was to be certified to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury. Four bids were made in accordance with the proposals advertised by the Secretary of the Treasury, ranging from $40,000 to;25,000, three of which were,subsequently withdrawn. The highest bid was that made by Mr. Hiram Sibley, which was accepted. The parties represented by Mir. Sibley met at Rochester, New Yorlk, and concluded upon a series of propositions, which they submitted to the Pacific companies through the agency of Mr. J. H. Wade and Major Bee. The consolidation was effected in March, 1861, between all the companies on the Pacific coast, by the purchase by the California State Telegraph Company of all the lines belonging to other companies; The California State Telegraph Company was the oldest telegraph company on the Pacific coast, with a capital of $1,250,000, of which Mr. Horace W. Carpentier, of California, was president, and Mr. J. Mora Moss vice-president.'From data published a few years since in the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 433 The Overland Telegraph Company was then incorporated promptly by the owners of the California State Telegraph Company, also with a capital of $1,250,000, and under the game board of officers. On the 1st of January, 1862, the California State Telegraph and the Overland Telegraph Company consolidated under the name of the California State Telegraph Company, with a capital of $2,500,000. Thus all the lines in California and the overland line to Salt Lake City came into the possession and under the direction of this company. The eastern end from Salt Lake City to Omaha belonged to the Pacific Telegraph Company. Mr. Edward Creighton, a gentleman of great energy and experience, was the constructor of the line from Omaha to Salt Lake City. He performed the duties of his position with perfect success under obstacles of a most formidable character. The California division of the line was reconstructed from Placerville to Fort Churchill, and theice continued to Salt Lake City under the general supervision of Mr. Carpentier, who personally visited all parts of the route and gave the enterprise his earnest attention. Mr. James Gamble, superintendent of the State Telegraph Company, a gentleman thoroughly familiar with the details of the telegraph system, who had the advantage of experience in the construction of every line built in California by the State Telegraph Company, had the special supervision of the whole work, and much is due to his experience, energy, and skill. Mr. James Street superintended that part of the work between Ruby valley and Salt Lake City, one of the most difficult sections on the route. MTr. J. AM. Hubbard superintended the construction of the section from Carson to Ruby valley. On the 27th of May, 1861, Mir. Gamble, as general superintendent of the line, started a train of 30 wagons from Sacramento, loaded with wire, insulators, provisions, &c., with three or four hundred head of oxen, horses, and mules; and, although it was considered late in the season, there was no stoppage on account of storms or bad roads. The snows had begun to melt in the Sierra Nevadas; the mountain streams were swollen into fearfill torrents; the roads were cut up into ruts and mudholes, many of which were almost impassable; and forage was exceedingly scarce and dear. Some of the wagons were'upset, many of the animals foundered in the mud, but the train went on regardless of every obstacle. On the 24th of June the first pole was set on the line from Fort Churchill to Salt Lake, and on the 24th day of October the connection with the city of the saints was completed. History presents no record of such a stupendous work accomplished in so short a time. Five hundred and seventy miles of telegraph line, built through a dreary desert where wood and water were the exceptions, within the brief space of four months! Surely if the Americans are boastful in their speech, their acts are remarkable.. Men who build telegraphs across continents, regardless of seasons, deserts, or savage races, have a right to speak well of themselves. The number of poles to the mile is from 25 to 30, depending upon the character of the country; the average length is about 22 feet; and the kinds of timber chiefly used redwood, pine, cedar, and tamarack. It is customary to sink the poles from three to four feet in the ground, according to the nature of the,soil. In soft or marshy ground they require to be braced. Ordinarily they last, about two or three years, much depending on the climate and durability of the wood. The best woods used on the California section are said to be the redwood and cedar. Nearly one-third of the poles bad to be hauled from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Austin and beyond, extending to a distance of more than 300 miles, at a cost of four to six cents a pound for freight. But this was the least of the 28 434 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES difficulties encountered. Water is exceedingly scarce in these sage deserts, and it often happened that both men and animals suffered fearfully from thirst. It was a constant battle almost every step of the way against the most formidable natural obstacles-alkali deserts, scarcity of water, lack of timber for poles.and feed for the animals, rugged mountains and difficult passes. In some places the sand was so soft and shifting as to afford scarcely a foothold for the poles; in others the ground was so hard and rocky that foundations had to be drilled out or built around them with stones. During the progress of the work despatches continued to be regularly transmitted from California to the outer end of the line, where they were copied and forwarded by pony express to the approaching end of the eastern division, and vice versa, so that scarcely a day was lost in the use of the telegraph on either side. Constant communication was also kept up between the operators at the various stations along the line and the office of the company at San Francisco, who were daily advised of the progress of the work. Poles of sufficient size and strength were very difficult to obtain on other portions of the route. The cost of transportation was the most expensive item. In the vicinity of Salt lake this difficulty was in part obviated by the adroit management of Mr. Street, who had special charge of that section. It was very generally supposed that Brigham Young, the president of the Mormons, was hostile to the building of the line through the Mormon- settlements. Mr. Street was well aware that without his co-operation the difficulties incident to the undertaking would, at least, be greatly augmented. He adopted the policy, therefore, of conciliating the great leader of the latter-day saints-whether by pleasant words or byrmore substantial tokens of esteem is still a mooted question. His interviews with Brigham on the subject were highly amicable, and I have heard them graphi-cally described. Among other things, it is reported that Brigham expressed surprise at being regarded as an enemy of this important and beneficial enterprise. " Why should we be opposed to a telegraph line?" said lie; "we have nothing to fear from it, and everything to gain. It is to our interest, as well as yours, to have the means of communicating with the outer world. Our religion cannot suffer from it, and it will certainly be advantageous to our industrial interests." Whether this be true or not, it is certain he gave his hearty co-operation to the enterprise, ordered out men and teams, and cordially assisted in the construction of the line from Salt Lalke City to Deep creek, a distanca of 174 miles. The first through message transmitted over the line, from Salt lake to San Francisco, is interesting in the above connection: GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, October 24-7 p. m. To Hon. H. W. CARPENTIER, President of the Overland Telegraph: DEAR SIR: I am very much obliged to you for your kindness, manifested through Mr. Street, in giving me the privilege of first message to California. May success ever attend the enterprise. The success of Mr. Street in completing his end of the line, under many unfavorable circumstances, in so short a time. is beyond our most sanguine anticipations. Join your wire with the Russian empire and we will converse with Europe. Your friend, BRIGHAM YOUNG. This was in answer to a despatch from Mr. Carpentier, as follows: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, Octcber 24, 1861. To Hon. BRIGHAM YOUNG, Great Salt Lake City: That which was so long a hope is now a reality. The trans-continental telegraph is now completed. May it prove a bond of perpetual union and friendship between the people of Utah and the people of California. H. W. CARPENTIER. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. - 435 This was the first through message from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. The first through message from the Atlantic States contained the following melancholy announcement: GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, October 24-7 p. m. To H. W. CARPENTIER: Colonel Baker was killed in the battle of the 21st, while in the act of cheering on his command. Intense excitement and mourning in Philadelphia over his death. STREET. The line was stai-ted from St. Joseph, west, under the supervision of Mr. Creighton, in the summer of 1860. It was built as far as Fort Kearney, via Omaha, that fall, following the north fork of the Platte river. The contract, however, was not made until March, 1861. During the summer and fall the work was vigorously pushed forward by Mr. Creighton and chis subordinates. It reached Salt Lake City on the 19th of October, 1861, just five days prior to the completion of the California branch. Thus, in the language of Mlr. Carpentier, "that which was so long a hope became a reality;" thus were the people of the Atlantic united to their fr'iends and fellow-countrymen of the Pacific by an electric bond that annihilated time and space. Cong1ratulations followed from every State of the Union and from every civiliz'ed nation of the world. It was the great achievement'of the 19th century. W- 7ithin a few days after the completion of the line, the secessionists in Missouri tore it down in several places, and for a while messages were sent east via Hannibal, Missouri, connecting with Quincy, Illinois. Subsequently a change was made by which a connnection was formed between Omaha and Chicago, through Iowa. From San Francisco to Chicago the distance is about 2,700 miles by the route taken; to New York little short of 4,000 miles. This is the longest circuit on the American continent, perhaps in the world. For practical purposes it is necessary to repeat at Salt Lake City, Omaha, and Chicago. AMessages either way are rewritten and repeated at Salt Lake City, where an accurate account is kept between the Atlantic and California offices. Direct communication between San Francisco and New York has frequently taken place, but this can only be donie under very favorable circumstancesy when there- is little or no electrical disturbance. New York and San Francisco held direct communication with each other for the first time on Thursday, November 6, 1862. On that memorable day the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were united in the iron bond of matrimony, from which it is to be hoped they will never be divorced. The distance is so great, however, and the line subject to so many electrical disturbances that no battery can be made sufficiently powerful to overcome all the obstacles in the way of direct communication. For practical purposes messages have to be repeated at the stations designated for, that purpose. The battery force required for the working of the overland telegraph is small compared with that required in the Atlantic States. This isin part owing to the rarification of the atmosphere, and the prevailing absence of moisture and atmospheric electricity; also, in part, to the absence of trees, which in timbered countries are apt to come in contact with the line and affect the insulation. At Salt Lake City 50 cups of main battery are used for two wires, one extending east to the repeating station at Fort Laramie, 500 miles, and the other west to Carson, 600 miles. Experienced operators inform me that it requires double that amount of battery to work the same length of line on any other part of the American continent.' For every space of 30 to 50 miles between Omaha and San Francisco there 436 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES is an office or repair station, where men are kept for the purpose of protecting and repairing the line. These men are provided with wires, implements, provisions, &c., and hold themselves in readiness to start out at a moment's -notice to any point within their range. The expedition with which poles are reset and brealksin the wire repaired isalmost incredible. An ordinary break seldom detains despatches more than a few hours. So skilled do some of the operators become in the art of telegraphing that they are enabled to read by the mere sense of touch or sight applied to the wire or the instrument. Mr. Shaffner relates instances in which operators have read messages by applying to their tongue, a small wire attached to the main line. Still more remarkable is the fact that a person near by can discover what is passing by watching the vibrations or electric throbs on the tongue of another. The communication is imperfect, however, and would scarcely be reliable beyond the simplest monosyllables. Breaks in the line are sometimes very difficult to find. An example is given by 1Mr. Shaffner where there was a break between two stations. The line was carefully examined all the way through. Apparently it was perfect, yet there was no communication. By testing ifrom each station it was discovered that the break was within a space of a few hundred yards. The wire was then carefully examined, when it was found that a silk cord had been substituted by some designing person so closely resembling the wire that to the eye it presented no perceptible difference. As an, illustration of the wonderful delicacy of the ear acquired by the operators, I must not omit to mention one or two facts connected with the working of the instruments. In large offices where many instruments are at work, an ordinary visitor almost imagines himself in some extensive clock, establishment. There is a perfect medley of ticks, as unintelligible to him as would be a bag of shot rained down over the floor. Yet an operator who has left his seat to say a word to a fiiend in some other part of the room suddenly starts back, saying o"I am called." Among a thousand ticks his particular tick has struck upon the tympanum of his ear. One cannot but think of the final call which, sooner or later, will be sent down from heaven to each one of us among millions of busy souls, and yet be intelligible as this earthly call is to the operator in a telegraph office. It should also be mentioned, as a characteristic illustration, that operators have an individuality of style or manner as distinctly marked as the differences in chirography. For example, a message is being received at the office in San Francisco from the office in Carson. The superintendent standing by, asks " Who is that at the instrument at Carson?" The operator replies, "' Jones is at it now. Thompson was at it a few minutes ago." Presently he adds, "Smith has it now." How does he know all this? Neither Jones, nor Smith, nor Thompson has mentioned his name or said a lword on his own account, and yet the fact of each change is perfectly clear to the operator at San Francisco. He knows the style of each man. One makes long dashes and quick dots; another runs a race between dots and dashes; the third is sharp, clear, and methodical. Each has his individual characteristics, which have become as familiar as the tones or modulations of his voice to the ear, or his handwriting or face to the eye. The language of sounds is even considered less liable to error in many offices than that of written signs, and has been of late very generally adopted. East, of the Rocky mountains, the poles are often burnt for miles by prairie fires. The Indians on their hunting expeditions are in the,habit of firing the dry grass for the purpose. of driving their game. Once started, the flamnes sweep over the country for hundreds of miles. Emigrant parties camping by the roadside leave their fires burning with little regard to consequences, and many a mile of line has been destroyed through the thoughtlessness of travellers, who, after lighting their pipes, throw the burning match into a bunch of dry grass, if possible, WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 437 since it presents a peculiar attraction. The passion for destruction is inherent in man; and it may be laid down as an axiom, applicable to all races of the earth, that where there is a chance of doing mischief fiee from the restraining influences of law, by the burning of a prairie or a.forest, human nature is not proof against the temptation. The Indians differ from the whites only in this, that' being an ignorant race, they usually have some object to gain in thus destroying the vegetation. - During the summer months, the region of country bordering on the Platte river is subject to terrific thunder-storms, which sweep over the plains with irresistible force. The earth becomes saturated with heavy rains, and the poles being loosened in their foundations, are blown down for miles. Scarcely a dlay passes, in the early palt of summer, without a severe storm on some part of the line between the Rocky mountains and the borders of Missouri.. The instruments are " burned " by lightning, or the poles swept to the earth, and the insulation. destroyed or obstructed. It is extremely difficult to work through the entire length of the line during the prevalence of these storms-many times impracticable for several days. This source of annoyance cannot be overcome by any means known under the present system of telegraphing. In the dry deserts of the Great Basin, both east and west of Salt Lake, the wire has been known to work for miles without interruption, while partially imbedded in the sand. The heat of the sun absorbs all moisture from the sand and renders it a non-conductor. We thus find a very peculiar combination of obstacles-especially on the eastern division. In the nonth of June, for example, the weather at Salt Lake may be clear and warm, while the Waschita mountains, lying to the east, are covered with snow. It may be raining heavily at Fort Bridger, snowing at South Pass, clear at Fort Laramie, storming and raining along the Platte, and so on to Chicago. But it is worthy of note that when the lightning is so terrific at one station as to cause the operators to leave their instruments in alarm, the operators on either side are firequently able to -continue their communications, the electric current passing entirely through the storm without any material interruption. Salt Lake communicated with stations far east of the Rocky mountains, when at South Pass the operators were effectually cut off. In the vicinity of South Pass the operators are sometimes "snowed in "' for months at a time. All communication with the outer world, save by telegraph, is completely cut off: A more isolated life than these poor fellows lead can scarcely be conceived. Around them as far as the eye can reach the mountains and plains are covered with snow. All traces of human life are obliterated. The station-houses are covered up, high over the roofs, and it is only by cutting a way out and keeeping it clear that the occupants save themselves fronm being buried alive. One of these stations is situated within a short distance of a point to which travellers in future ages will probably make pilgrimages, as the Makhometans now do to Mecca. It is the heart of the North American continent, from which flow the great arteries of conmmerce. Within a distance of 200 yards lie the sources of the Missouri aaid the Colorado. Here is the true line of division between the Atlantic and the Pacific slopes. On the one side an insignificant spring bursts from the earth. Gathering contributions from every cailon and ravine as it flows, it forms in time the Sweetwater river, which, after a long and turbulent career, empties into the Platte, the great river of the plains. From the Platte the Missouri takes up the current and rolls it onward till it swells inte the majestic torrent of the Mississippi. The Gulf of Mexico receives the tribute. Up north, into the Arctic regions flows the Gulf Stream, which in turn pays tribute to the shores of Norway and Iceland. vWho knows but the Indian deity of the Rocky mountains holds converse with the old Scandinavian god Thor, sending him letters of bunch-grass and drift-wood, while in return he t 438 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES receives, from the winds, or through the flood-gates of heaven ashes from the Jokuls of Iceland? The idea is not altogether without fouidation, but cannot in our present state of knowledge be turned to any useful telegraphic purpose. On the other side, 200 yards distant, rise the Pacific springs, which form the source of the Green river. From Green river swells the great Colorado, the Red river of the desert; which, after a long and thirsty. career throughl burning sands and cheerless wastes, cutting in twain the grim mountains of the Black cainon, receives in its bosom the Gila, or Swiftwaters of Arizona. Freighted with the red and golden sands of a great interior wilderness, where the Apache and the Navajo and kindred tribes of wild men still roam, it sweeps onward till lost in the seething waters of the Gulf of California. What a magnificent point of observation for the prophetic eye of a poet. Looking to the east or to the west the new world, with its various races of inhabitants, its scenery, its commerce, its future, lies before him. Starting at this little group of springs, he could write a thousand volumes and leave " ample room and verge enough" for a thousand more, on the great future of this vast continent, where no pent up Utica contracts our powers." But the operators are generally practical men. In seasons of great severity they sometimes run short of food, and then they have a hard time. It becomes a simple question of life or death; starvation starino them in the face, and nothing around them but cheerless wastes of snow. To such perfection, however, lhave the company reached their system of operations at the present day, that instances of prolonged suffering rarely occur. The stations are supplied with abundant provisions for the Wrinter, and with all the apparatus necessary for repairing the line. It is only in cases of Indian depredations or some casualty against which no human ingenuity can provide, that the employes can suffer for the means of subsistence. As a rule they are comfortably lodged in stockades or block-houses, well armed with rifles aud revolvers, provided with horses for travelling to and fro along the line; and a wagon at each repair station to carry poles, wire, and implements, so that they are not so badly off as might be supposed. Isolation from the society of their fellow-beings is the most unpleasant feature in their calling; but even that has its advantages. They have abundant time for study and resiection, and can save a good part of their wages. ~On the approach to the summit of the Sierra Nevada; it becomes necessary to increase the number of stations in consequence of the frequent interruptions to vhi'ch the line is subject from falling timber, snow-storms and other causes. During the winter and spring months the storms are often so violent as to break doown the poles for miles; and when the snows melt, floods and freshets are a prolific source of trouble. Even the dery season gives battle in the shape of extensive fires which sometimes rage through the forest, for weeks at a time, consuming all before them. In addition to these natural obstacles, which are formidable enough in themselves, the cupidity of man is too often cast in the balance against legitimate enterprise. Many apparent accidents to the line have been ingeniously contrived by speculators in Washoe stocks, for the purpose of gaining some dishonest advantage. Fortunately the sagacity and energy of thie Telegraph Company have nearly precluded the possibility of cutting off communication for a sufficient length of time to afford facilities of this kind. It is. their interest as well as their duty to preserve uninterrupted communication for the benefit of the public at large. With this view, stations are established at intervals of 8 or 10 miles all across the Sierras. One or two men are place& at each of these stations, with horses ready to go out at any time on either side In winter, during severe snow-storms, these horses are saddled ready for use, so that the employes whose duty it is to repair the line can proceed to the break without delay. When the difficulty is too great to be immediately remedied by connection of the wires, the despatches are carried to the first station beyond, and there repeated for transmission to their point of destination. It sometimes hap WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 439 pens, during seasons of extraordinary severity, that the line is broken down 20 or 30 times in a single day and at as many different points. This is a busy time for the operators. They must be constantly on the alert, availing themselves of every possible resource that ingenuity can devise. It is not merely a mechanical office, as many suppose. Not only must the operator be skilled in the ordinary details of his profession, but he must have se head to devise, and the hand to execute in the various unforeseen difficulties which are constantly occurring. He must be able to act as well as direct-to repair by extraordinary where ordinarv means are not at hand. With such men feats are performed almost every day during the winter of which the public have but little conception. A citizen of San Francisco telegraphs to his correspondent in Virginia City. In six hours, let us say, he receives a response. "How is this," he exclaims, " allowing full time each way for transmission, delivery, and probable delay, I should have had this answer at least four hours ago?" He is dissatisfied with the tardiness of electricity, or the operators, or both. He does not know, and probably would not believe it if told, that his message passed through ten or a dozen breaks on the line; that it was carried over several gaps on horseback, through raging floods, or blinding snow-storms; that dangers were encountered and hardships experienced in its transmission from which most men would shrink, unless they found their compensation in something beyond a monthly salary. The falling of trees across the line is a source of great inconvenience in densely wooded countries. Although the wire is not always broken, the insulation is apt to be destroyed or affected, and thus communication cut off or rendered imperfect. Where the poles are ffar apart and the wires slaclk, several trees may lie across the line within a distance of eight or ten miles and still not break the wire. In these cases it becomes as tense as a piano string and gives forth a musical answer to the slightest vibration. The repairer usually exercises his discretion in adopting one of the two alternatives left, either t6 cut the wire or the tree. Mr. Shaffner mentions the case of an employd-an Irishman, it is presumedwho stood over the wire while he cut a tree that lay across it. Relieved of the pressure that bore it down, the wire suddenly righted'itself, tossing the man about. 10 feet in the air. His astonishment may be imagined, but scarcely described. The construction of the overland telegraph, under difficulties so numerous and so formidable, was one of the great triumphs of the present age. When we consider the vast extent of desert country traversed, the scarcity of material, the vicissitudes of the climate, and the hostile character of the Indian tribes inhabiting the wild regions through which it was necessary to pass, the consummation of this enterprise is an event of which the American people may be justly proud. No achievement of ancient or modern times surpasses it in the magnitude of the interests involved both to commerce and to civilization. It was the first grand praecticable demonstration of the feasibility of a system by which the remotest parts of the earth may be brought into direct and insta.ntaneous communication, and thus the bonds of sympathy'and interest strengthened between the'various races of mankind. In anticipation of the difficulties likely to arise between the Company and the public without an explicit understanding of the relations existing between them, Mr. Carpentier, while acting as president, devoted special' attention' to the formation of a code of laws and regulations by which they should be mutually governed and the interests of each protected. Among the laws devised by him and passed by the legislature of California, the most important, and that which most intimately concerns the public, is the act of April 18, 1862. This act introduces a new feature in the business of telegraphing, a feature not only novel in'its conception and application, but of incalculable importance to the civilized world-the legalization of messages transmitted by telegraph in their relation to instruments and acts of law. 440 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Appropriate provision is made to secure the public against dishonesty and fraud on the part of the operators and other employes. Penalties are imposed for divulging the contents of messages, changing the sense or meaning, knowingly sending false or forged messages, appropriating information to private uses, wilfully neglecting to send messages, or postponing or sending them out of order. Also, against fraud by any person whatsoever who may open seals of messages addressed to any other person, read despatches by means of any machine or contrivance, bribe telegraph operators to divulge the contents of messages, damage the line, or otherwise attempt to cut off communication. But the great feature of the law k that contracts by telegraph are deemed to be contracts in writing, and the signatures thereto are valid in law. Notice by telegraph is actual notice. Power of attorney or other instrument in writing, duly acknowledged and certified so as to be entitled to record, may, together with certificate of acknowledgment, be sent by telegraph, and the telegraphic copy or duplicate has prima facie the same effect in all respects as the original. Checks, due bills, promissory notes, bills of exchange, and all orders and agreements for payment or delivery of money or other thing of value may be made or drawn by telegraph, with full force and effect as if written. Persons indicted on oath for, or accused of, any public offence,. may be arrested and imprisoned upon warrant issued by any competent officer, properly indorsed and directed to such officer as may be legally authorized to make the arrest. VWrits or orders in civil suits or proceedings may also be transmitted in the same way. All these provisions are carefully guarded so as to avoid any infringement upon individual rights, while they tend materially to promote-the public convenience and welfare. A novel feature in this law is that the marriage ceremony may be performed without regard to distance. Upon the passage of this important act by the California legislature, Mir. Carpentier proceeded to secure the passage of similar acts in the neighboring States and Territories. On the 17th of October, 1862, the legislature of Oregon passed an act embracing substantially the provisions of the law of California; this was followed by a similar act of the territorial assembly of Utah, passed January 16, 1863. As the State of California, always in the lead, was the first to make a practicable movement towards the construction of the Pacific railroad, the overland mail route, and the overland telegraph, so it has been the first to introduce this imporant feature in the laws governing the telegraph system. None of the Atlantic States, I believe, have yet adopted it, but they will doubtless come to it in time. A very general misapprehension prevails in the Atlantic States in reference to the frequent errors and interruptions which have attended the working of the overland telegraph since it went into operation. The inconvenience to which the public have been subjected has been patiently borne, until patience has almost ceased to be a virtue. The facts of the case are that east of Salt lake, within the past four years, Indian disturbances have been a prolific source of trouble. The stations have been attacked, the line broken down, the operators murdered, and all communication cut off, day after day, week after week, yet California is compelled to bear a share-of the blame. Without attempting to cast any censure upon the eastern division, which doubtless has done all in its power to prevent these interruptions, it has been the good fortune of the California divison, with the exception of a single outbreak at Ruby valley in 1864, to have had no difficulty with the Indians. A marked difference exists between the character of the Indian tribes east and west of Salt lake. The Arrapahoes, Navajos, Apaches, and Sioux are powerful, mischievous, and warlike; the Shoshones, Bannocks, Pi-Utes, and other western tribes are pbor and less able to cope with the whites. I refer to the fact as showing a prolific cause of failure on the eastern side to which the western division is not subject. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 441' In reference to the operations of the division between Salt Lake City and San Francisco, there is not, I believe, a line of equal length in any part of the world upon which so few errors or interruptions have occurred. The system of checks adopted is so rigid that it is scarcely possible for an error to pass through the office at San Francisco. When there is doubt in regard to a word the operator causes it to be repeated from the Salt Lake office; if still the same and evidently an error, he causes it to be repeated back from the office in the Atlantic States where it originated. In the vast number of messages transmitted between Salt lake and San Francisco nearly every error that occurred has been traced back to the other side. The greatest trouble hitherto in the working of the California division has been experienced in the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is now almost entirely obviated. The company have constructed four separate and distinct lines from Sacramento to Carson: one by the Dutch Flat route and three via Placerville, each of which is in full operation. It is scarcely possible for any comlbination of circumstances to result in the interruption of communication upon all these lines at the same time. A new and substantial line has been built between San Francisco and Omaha, following the travelled stage route, making the second line. across the continent. This was commenced as an opposition line by the United States Telegraph Company, but after completion between San Francisco and Salt lake, was purchased. and finished from Salt lake to Omaha by the Western Union Telegralph Company. The Western Union Telegraph 0Company, having purchased a controlling interest in the California Overland Telegraph Company lines, in June last took a lease of the lines of that company, and all are now worked under the name of the former company as their Pacific division. The lines of this division constitute all the wires west of Salt lake, from Los Angeles to a point in British Columbia 750 miles north of Newv Westminster, on Frazer river. This extends to near the boundary line of our Russian possessions. A new line has been constructed by the Western Union Company from Salt Lake to Helena, in Montana, via Virginia City, Montana, between 500 and 600 miles in length. Brigham Young has built a line some' 400 miles in length, connecting the northern and southern settlements of the Mormons in Utah. Telegraphic Connections-Table of distances. Miles..Miles. San Francisco to San Mateo.......... 20 Marysville to Oriville................. 28 San Mateo to Redwood............... 8 Oriville to Chico.............. 26 Redwood to Santa Clara.......21.....'1Chico to Tehatna.................... 26 Santa Clara to San Jos............ —-----—.. 3 Tehama to Red Bluffs..... 12 San Jos6 to Centreville.............. 16'Red Bluffs to Shasta................. 40 Centreville to San Leandro........... 18 Shasta to Trinity Centre.... 45 San Leandro to Oakland............. 8 Trinity Centre to Callahans.. 25 Oakland to Martinez..................24 Callahans to Rough and Ready. 11 Martinez to Benicia.................. 4 Rough and Ready to Fort Jones. —. 11 Benicia to Suisun.................... 22 Fort Jones to Yreka.................. 18 Suisun to Sacramento.. 45 Yreka to Mountain House..-. - 40 Sacramento td Nicolaus... 26 Mountain House to Jacksonville --—. 22 Nicolaus to Marysville................ 16 Jacksonville to Grave Creek —.. 34 Marysville to Timbuctoo............. 17 Grave Creek to Caionville.. —-- ---- 34 Timbuctoo to Grass Valley.-..'.. 19 Cationville to Roseburg......... 27 Grass Valley to Nevada.............. 4 Roseburg to Oakland, O..0.... 18 Nevada to North San Juan... 18 Oakland to Eugene City...... 58 North San Juan to Camptonville...... 8 Eugene City to Corvallis:.. 40 Camptonville to Forest City.......... 26 Corvallis to Albany -. -............. 10 Forest City to Downieville............8 Albany to Salem............. 24 442 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Table of distances-Continued. Miles. Miles Salem to Oregon City................ 38 Nevada to Dutch Flat.-............. 16 Oregon City to Portland.............. 13 Dutch Flat to Donnor Lake - - 40 Portland to Vancouvers -......... 7 Donnor Lake to Steamboat Springs. —. 46 Vancouvers to Monticello.......... 40 Steamboat.to Virginia................. 12 Monticello to Drews.................. 30 Drews to Olympia................... 52 Petaluma to Santa Rosa.............. 1]7 Olympia to Steilacoom............... 22 Santa Rosa to Healdsburg............ 15 Steilacoom to Seattle................. 60 Seattle to Pt. Elliot.35 Benicia to Vallejo.................... 7 Pt. Elliot to Tulalup................ 17 Vallejo to Napa...................... 16 Tualalup to Swinomish............... 35 Napa to Caistoga.................... 26 Swinomish to Sehome..... 37 Sehome to Semiahnoa................ 28 Sacramento to Auburn............... 36 Semiahnoa to New Westminster....... - 25 Auburn to Coloma................... 14 Coloma to Placerville................ 9 Sacramento to Folsom................ 22 Folsom to Latrobe................... 17 Coloma to Georgetown............... 9 Latrobe to Shingle Springs............ 8 Georgetown to Todd's Valley......... 8 Shingle Springs to E1l Dorado.... 5 Todd's Valley to Forest Hill.- 3 El Dorado to Placerville.............. 6 Forest Hill to Yankee Jim's..- -....... 3 Placerville to Sportsman's Hall........ 12 Yankee Jim's to Iowa Hill............ 10 Sportsman's to Sugar Loaf............ 22 Iowa Hill to Dutch Flat -... 10 Sugar Loaf to Strawberry............ 12 Strawberry to Yanks................. 13 San Andreas to Copperopolis.......... 15 -Yank's Station to Fridays -........... 12 Fridays to Genoa. — 1.............. ]2 Folsom to Latrobe................... 14 Genoa to Carson.................... 16 tatrobe to Drytown. 14 Carson to Dayton................ Drytown to Sutter's Creek............ 5 Dayton to Silver City................ 5 Suntter's Creek to Jackson. 3 Jackson to Mokolumne Hill..- -. 5 Virginia to Williamsburg............. 131 Mokolumne Hill to San A ndreas....... 9 Williamsburg to Unionville........... 14 San Andreas to Murphy's...- 16 Unionville to Star City............... 12 Murphy's to Columbia................ 12 Columbia to Sonora.................. 7 Yank's Station to Glenbrook.......... 17 Glenbrook to Carson................. 14 San Jos6 to Gilroy................- - 30 Carson to Ophir......1.............. ] 3 Gilroy to San Juan, S..........;..... 12 Ophir to Washoe....... 3 Sau Juan, S., to Kingston............ 130 Washoe to Virginia..................12 Kingston to Visalia.................. 25 Visalia to Fort Tejon..-.............. 125 Genoa to Wellington's................ 40 Fort Tejon to Los Angeles............ 110 Wellington's to Aurora.- -.............. 50 San Juan, south, to WVatsonville.- - Genoa to Markleeville.............. 24 1 Watsonville to Santa Cruz -............. Markleeville to Monitor... —----—. 7 I Santa Cruz to Monterey-.............. Monitor to Silver Mountain........... 7 OVERLAND. San Jos6 to Warm Springs............ 14 Warm Springs to Stockton............ 56 Carson to Dayton -................-.. 13 Stockton to Sacramento..... 45 Dayton to Fort Churchill............. 22 Fort Churchill to West Gate......... 69 San Francisco to Fort Point.......... 5 West Gate to Austin................ 69 Fort Point to San Rafael............. 21 Austin to Grubb's Wells.............. 51 San Rafael to Petaluma.24 Grubb's Wells to Ruby Valley -- 62 Petaluma to Sonoma................. 2 Ruby Valley to Egan 42 Sonomna to Napa..................... 12 Egan to Deep Creekl.................74 Napa to Suisun..................... 20 Deep Creek to Fish Springs-........... 52 Fish Springs to Fort Crittenden 99 Sacramento to Newcastle............. 32 Fort Crittenden to Salt Lake.......... 42 Newcastle to Auburn.. 4 Auburn to Colfax-................,.. 19 Swinomish to Fidalgo island.......... 15 Colfax to Grass Valley............... 11 Fidalgo island to San Juan island 12 Grass Valley to Nevada.............. 4 San Juan island to Victoria, V. I...... 20 -WEST OF THE TROCKY MOUNTANS. 443 ARIZONA. SECTION I,. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. To be understood and appreciated, Arizona must be taken as a whole. Those who know it only as "the Gadsden purchase," those who have no knowledge of more than the Colorado river district, or who are only familiar with the central and northern regions, cannot form a correct idea of its resources and capabilities. The general lines of the Territory are thus defined in the organic act approved February 24, 1863: All that.part of the present Territory of New Mexico situate west of a line running due south from the point where the southwest corner of the Territory of Colorado joins the northern boundary of the Territory of New Mexico to the southern boundary line of said Territory of New Mexico. In other words, all of New Mexico, as formerly existing, between the 109th degree of longitude and the California line, embracing 120,912 square miles, or 77,383,680 acres, a district three times as large as the State of New York. The mountain ranges are a prolongation of those which, southward in Sonora, Chihuahua, and Durango, have yielded large quantities of the precious ore, and which, northward in Nevada, are attracting the attention of the world with their wealth. The general direction of the mountains and quartz veins is northwest andl southeast, and there are numerous parallel ranges which form long valleys in the same direction. The Territory is divided into many mining districts, but as these are liable to be changed at any time, the mineral regions will be defined under three grand natural divisions, viz: " Southern Arizona," " The Colorado River," and "Central Arizona," referring within these districts to the various streams upon which, or near to which, the placers or lodes are located, as affording the most definite description for permanent reference that can be given. SECTION II. SOUTHERN ARIZONA. This part of Arizona, known as the Gadsden purchase, was the earliest occupied by the Americans, and is still the best known. Until the beginning of the war it was the favorite overland mail route to the Pacific, and it is still considered the easiest stage route across the continent. Its mountains are nearly all mineral-bearing, and silver lodes near to the Sonora line have been to some extent worked. The principal towns of southern Arizona are Tucson, on the line of the overland mail route, and Tubac, 52 miles south. Both have long been in existence, and are situated upon the Santa Cruz river, which, rising in Sonora, runs nearly directly north until it reaches the Gila liver, near the Maricopa wells. The distances from Tubac, which may be considered in the heart of the mineral region 4-.f southern Arizona, are, by the usually travelled roads, as follows: San Francisco, 1,074 miles; San Diego, 510 miles; Fort Yuma, 330 miles; El Paso, 389 miles; St. Louis, 1,770 miles. Towns in Sonora, Mexico- Santa Cruz, 54 miles; Magdalena, 51 miles; Altar, 95 miles; Hermossillo, capital of Sonora, 229 miles; Guaymas, port of entry of Sonora, 329 miles; Libertad, on the Gulf of California, 180 miles. 444 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES The ores of silver found in southern Arizona are argentiferous galena, nativ6 silver, auriferous sulphuret of silver, black sulphuret of silver, sulphate of silver, sulphate of iron combined. The gangue is usually quartz or feldspar. The ores of copper are usually the sulphurets, principally gray. Nearly all the silver and copper lodes show traces of gold, and placers have been found at many points, but have not proved sufficiently extensive to attract much attention. While, owing to Indian disturbances and the consequent high prices, and other serious impediments to mining operations, most of the lodes in southern Arizona are now temporarily abandoned, no one familiar with them doubts that some of them are valuable, and must eventually be worked with profit. THE COLORADO MINE. —This mine, otherwise known as the Heintzelman, (in honor of General Heintzelman, United States army, who was among the first of the American owners,) is situated on the south side of the Cerro Colorado mountain, about 22 miles west of Tubac by way of Sopori, and eight miles north of Arivaca. The lode runs nearly north and south, and may average 22 inches in thickness. It is about 2,000 feet in length, and is distinct and separate from the porphyry rock on both sides. Mr. Sam. F. Butterworth, who, on behalf of the owners in New York, examined the mine in the winter of 1863-'64, reported as follows: The principal ore in the depth is silver-copper glance-containing an average of six per tzent. of silver; this is accompanied by argentiferous gray copper ore, which averages two per cent. of silver. These minerals are very unequally distributed through the quartz; their presence in greater or less quantity determines the value of the ore; at the present level they constitute about seven per cent. of the ore fit for reduction, making its value about $120 per ton; at a higher level the ore contained fully 30 per cent. of these minerals. Guido Kiistel, who reported upon the property at the same time, says: The main shaft, 6 feet by 12, well timbered, and furnished with substantial ladders, is placed on the east side of the lode, which pitching east, changes the inclination in the deph, so that the shaft, which was calculated to strike the lode at 160 feet below the surface, may not reach it before 400 or 500 feet depth. The distance from the sheaft to the vein, below the present work, is less than 30 feet. There are other shafts, and some tunnelling and drifting, and the depth of actual working is about 120 feet. Mr. Kiistel further says: The characteristic feature of this mine is the rich ore which shows everywhere. The principal ore in the depth is silver-copper glance, containing from'2 to 10 per cent. of silver, accompanied by argentiferous gray-copper ore, with from one to three per cent. of silver. On the more or less abundant appearance of these two minerals in the quartz, the richness of the -ore chiefly depends. * The distribution in the quartz is very unequal, sometimes in small particles, and sometimes more massive. This last, representing the first class, when selected was formerly obtained; about. 30 per cent. of the whole mass of ore is fit for reduction; but at the present level only five to eight per cent., so that over the average of the ore cannot be estimated much over $100 per ton. This estimation refers to the vicinity of the main shaft for about 200 feet in length. North and south of this part, the quartz prevails, making the ore poorer. Near the Cerro Colorado mine, and upon the same property, are other promising lodes. Mir. Kiistel refers to one of them: In Arivaca, a few hundred yards east from the lead mine, a quartz lode, " Mina Blanca," is found, (discovered long ago,) in which rich silver ore occurs. This vein was opened only about nine feet deep, and never further prospected. Mr. Higgings is informed of this mine. It is very probable that more good veins will be discovered yet in the neighborhood of the Colorado mine, such as do not crop out. Till now not much attention has been paid to this kind of prospecting. The best mines in Santa Rita are those lately discovered, of which no outcropping was to be seen. This was also the case with the Heintzelman lode. Regarding wood, water, and the process for working the ores, he says: For about 20 miles round Cerro Colorado there is very little wood, but sufficient to supply a limited steam engine for hoisting the ore. Water is also scarce. The shaft at 100 feet depth gave as much water as was reuirequ for about 100 men and animals. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 445 If the same quality of ore be found deeper in the Colorado mine, and this doubtless will be thb case, the amalgamation in pans by way of roasting cannot be recommended on account of the copper which would enter the amalgam to from 600 to 800 per cent. The smelting of the first-class ore cannot be introduced for want of lead ores. The richest ore was melted formerly with from 200 to 300 per cent. of lead ore. It was procured from the lead mine in Arivaca. This mine, however, did not yield as much ore as required. Some lead ore was obtained from the Patagonia mine, under conditions that 85 per cefit. of the silver contained in the lead ore had to be returned to the Patagonia mine free of cost. In regard to the scarcity of wood or fuel generally, whatever location may be selected, it appears that for the Colorado ores and circumstances, two methods of reduction should be adopted: First, amalgamation in barrels; and second, amalgamation by patio. The followinlg is a report made to the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company regarding the Cerro Colorado mine in 1861, by Colonel Talcott: Report showing the quantity and value of silver ore yielded by th7e Hei'ntzelman mine, how disposed of, and where tlhat on hand is situated on the 1st of July, 1860. Pounds;. Sold and taken by purchasers to Sonora —. ——. —-- -. —-............. 3,880 Sent by the company to San Francisco.................................. 44, 037 Sent by the company to Cincinnati 1................... 1, 400 Smelted by the company................................................ 18, 991 Reduced by amalgamation at the Arivaca works of the company............ 586, 700 Total sold and reduced.. 655, 008 Remaining at Cerro Colorado............................................ 129, 500 On hand at Arivaca..................................................... 443, 700 Total ore on hand.................................................. 573, 200 Total product of the mine -1............................. ],228, 208 The 655, 008 pounds sold and reduced yielded the company................. $45, 010 28 Allow for ore on hand $90 per ton........................................ 25, 794 00 Value of ore raised...................................................... 70, 804 28 General Heintzelman stated in a letter from the mine, dated 1858, that all the ore smelted to that date yielded $920 per ton. Herman Ehrenberg, civil and mining engineer, wrote from Tubac in 1859 that 75 tons smelted or reduced in various ways yielded $41,180 in silver, or an average of $549 per ton. The Arivaca ranch, upon which the Cerro Colorado mine is situated, comprises 17,000 acres, and was famous in the days of the Jesuit missions. It is thus described in the report of the engineer who first surveyed it: The Arivaca has much beautiful meadow land, fine pasture on the low surrounding hills for thousands of cattle; live oak grows in the gulches. mesquite on the hills, and on the lower ends of the streams it is thickly lined for five or six miles with groves of cottonwood, ash, walnut, and other useful woods for farming and mining purposes, in sufficient quantities to answer all demands. On and near the ranch a number of silver lodes have been taken up. Upon the Euriquetta some expensive machinery was erected several years since,*but like that upon the Heintzelman mine it is now idle. The lodes are probably too small to be profitably worked until mining can be conducted at less expense. SANTA RITA MINES.-These mines are located in the Santa Rita mountains, some 10 miles east of Tubac, and 50 miles south of Tucson. Mr. Wrightson, agent of the company owning most of them, thus referred to their characteristics in a report made in 1859: The ores of the Santa Rita mines are suited to both smelting and amalgamation. The smelting ores are those in which there is a large admixture of lead or very rich sulphuret of silver and copper. The amalgamation ores are those where the salts of silver and copper predominate. 446 RESOURCES OF. STATES AND TERRITORIES'The Crystal and the Ercarnacion mines yield smelting ores. The Bustillo, the Cazador,'the Ojero. and the Fuller mines yield ores which by assortment can be treated by both processes. I he Salero yields amalgamation ore. Raphael Pumpelly, mining engineer, made an elaborate report in 1861, from which the following extracts are taken: The veins of the southern spur of the Santa Rita occur in a feldspathic porphyry, characterized by the absence of quartz, and presence of hornblende. They are not isolated occurrences, but, as is usual with true fissure veins, appear in groups. Indeed, the entire range of hills, from the point of the Salero mountain to the Santa Rita peak, is an extensive network of lodes. They differ but little in the character of their outcrops, usually more or less porous quartz, blackened with oxide of manganese, or reddened with that of iron. Frequently green, blue, and yellow colorings betray the decomposition products of our argentiferous' fahl ores. There is no reason for doubting that the great mass of these are silverleads, while at the same time there is the weighty argument of analogy in favor of such a supposition. The different leads present a remarkable uniformity of character. Having nearly all the same general direction, they also possess the same combination of minerals. Many of.them have been prospected by small shafts, but there are hundreds apparently equally good that remain intact. GILA OR OJERA VEIN. —Direction north 690 east, south 71~ west; inclination 810. More work has been accomplished on this than on any other belonging to the company. The old Ojero and the Gila shafts, two frontons at the latter, and a small prospecting shaft, have been opened on it. In the beginning of 1860 good ore was discovered in the outcrop, and on excavating. a rich deposit of galena and fahl ore was found. THE SALERO has a different direction from any known vein of the district. Its course being about north 350 east, its continuation northeast must intersect that of the Gila. It is well defined, and presents every indication of a good vein. It possesses a shaft 69 feet deep, admirably equipped, and timbered in a very substantial manner. TIIE CRYSTAL has a direction of north 850 east, and is one of the best defined leads that have been opened upon. A shaft 34 feet deep and'24 feet of fronton have been accomplished. The ore is abundant, and being almost massive sulphuret of lead, will be of great value in smelting. It is associated with copper pyrites and zinc blende. Although the last named mineral is an unwished for ingredient, occasioning much trouble in the furnaces, still this difficulty can be to a great extent overcome by a careful separation. The low yield of silver in the crystal undoubtedly arises from the absence of argentiferous fahl ores, but I do not doubt that these will make their appearance, and with them an increase in the amount of silver. Should the ore continue.as abundant as it is at present, or should there be an increase in the lead ores of other mines, it is probable that the reduction works would yield an excess of lead and litharge over the amount needed for their own use. THtE BUENAVENT'rURA is one of the most interesting leads belonging to the company. A remarkable characteristic of this lead is the great facility with which the silver in its minerals can be extracted. Of this the following experiments will give an idea. A trial was made in the patio, and from what I can learn, from about 400 pounds of average ore, 20 ounces of silver were obtained. From another made on good ore, (10 pounds,) 1. 5 ounce was the result, being at the rate of 336 ounces to the ton. The ores of the Santa Rita mines fall into two classes, lead ores and fahl ores, considering them mineralogically; or into three, when classified according to the metallurgical process best suited to them in this country..1. Smelting ores; galena and such fahl ores as are too rich in silver to be subjected to other processes. 2. Refractory amalgamation ores, containing a certain percentage of lead, and requiring to be roasted before reduction, whether this be accomplished in the patio, the barrel, or the salt process. S. Ores containing rich fahl ore, native silver, sulphuret of silver, and other simple or complex salts of this metal, with little or no lead, needing no roasting for the patio, and no magistral, or but very little. Under the first'two heads come the products of all the mines excepting those of the Buenaventura and Mascasa, which fall almost entirely into the last division. l'early all of the ores will require a mechanical preparation before they can be submitted to the different processes. The more massive lead and fahl ores, with a small percentage of quartz, need simply a separation by hand. The amalgamation ores require crushing and grinding, and the majority of the smelting ores demand both crushing and washing to free them from useless gangue. The old ranch of Tomacacori, two and a half miles south of Tubac, is claimed by the'company owning most of the Santa Rita mines. It was. the seat of a Jesuit mission, and the ruins of a splendid church edifice are still to be seen upon it. Water for working the mines is found at this ranch on the Santa Cruz, and at one or two points on the Sonoita. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 447 SoPonr.-The raiich of Sopori, a noted property, lies south of the mission of San Xavier del Bac, nine miles south of Tucson, where is a costly church edifice erected nearly a hundred years since, and remarkable for its architectural svmmetry and beauty. The Sopori ranch, through which the Santa Cruz river ruas, has been thus described: Besides the bottom lands on the estate, which are partially wooded, a large portion is covered with a dense forest, chiefly mesquit or locust, (Algarobia grandulosa,) while along the margin of the river are found cottonwood, sycamore, ash, and walnut trees; but the mesquit is the timber par czcellence, on account of the many uses to which it may be applied. In the mountains, on the extreme eastern portion ot the estate, is pine timber. Between the timber lands and the mountains'are large tracts of grazing lands, unsurpassed in the Territory for their excellence. The arable portions, before referred to, though limited, are udapted to the cultivation of wheat, corn, barley, and other cereals; and to the fruits and vegetables of the southern States. On the grazing lands innumerable herds of horned cattle, horses, mules, and sheep were formerly raised, when the great haciendas' and mnissions were in a flourishing state. THE SOPORI SILVER MINE, upon the ran1ch named, bluas been somclewhat developed by a New Elgland company. In 1S59, FrederiCk Br.litcke;, geologist arid mining engineer, made the annexed reply to a lettetr ofk inq-uiry In answer to your inquiries about the mine and ranch of Sopori, in the Territory of Arizona, I have to say, that I amn familiar with said mine and ranch, from a three years' residence in the vicinity as chief engineer of the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, at Cerro Colorado. I have made several assays of the ore from the Sopori mine and found them to yield from 10 to 15 mares per cargo. The ore can be treated successfully by amalgamation, with the barrel process. The mine is well located, being near wood, water, and grass, the three necessary elements to its successful development. There is a small quantity of agricultural land in the vicinity, and an immense range of excellent pasturage. On the Santa Cruz river, near by, great forests of mesquit timber pre - vail. The roads are the best natural roads in the world. There may be other mines in the vicinity of Sopori. I have examined some-outcrops in the vicinity, which proved to be argentiferous galena. Gold has been washed in this vicinity during the rainy season, and is to be found in the Tenajas mountains. Pine timber for building purposes can be obtained from the Santa Rita mountains, on the, east of the Santa Cruz valley. Sopori is one of the best locations in Arizona for mining, trading, fanning, and stock raising. MOWRY M!NES.-This well-knomn mining property has perhaps been more continuously and successfully worked than any upon the Sonora border. Some $200,000 is said to have been expended in the purchase of the property, the erec-tion of reduction works, houses for laborers, and everything gnecessary for an extensive and permanent establishment, including steam engine and mill. The district is finely timbered and watered, and proverbially healthful. Twenty-five tons of the ore were sent to Europe in 1862. The result, (says Ar. Mowry,) was an offer of;50 sterling per ton for the ore as it ran, properly cleaned. Some bars of lead and silver from the reduction works sold in England at $200 per ton, and many have been reduced at the mines, in an'English cupel furnace, to supply silver for the payment of clurent expenses.* F. Biertu, metallurgist and mining engineer, wrote a report upon these mines in February, 1861, fronm which the following extracts are taken: Instead of finding, as I expected, barren mountains, as at Washoe and Mono, I gazed on beautiful landscapes and a country covered with trees of different kinds, with fertile lands perfectly watered. True it is that the nearest neighbors, the Apaches, are far from being even equal to the Patagonians; but this, it seemed to me, could not be a reason for giving to such a beautiful spot, which in spring must be covered with flowers, so savage a name., The property, containing about 500 acres of land, is situated 10 miles from parallel 32~ 20'', All the reports made upon this' mine are, in my opinion,, to some extent exaggerated. I visited it in 1864, and found that the average of ores ranged at $35 to $40 per ton. The lode-averages about four feet in thickness. The mine has never paid expenses, but might be made profitable under judicious and economical management.-J. R. B. 448 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES north latitude, which forms the limit between Arizona and Mexico, 20 miles from Fort Buchanan, 14 from the town of Santa Cruz, in Sonora, and at an elevation of 6,160 feet from the level of the sea; and a good road, 280 miles in length, and which, with a little repair, might be made excellent, places it in direct communication with Guaymas. By this route freight fiom San Francisco to the mine does not go beyond five cents per pound. The mine is situated on the last hills forming the eastern slope of the Sierra de Santa Cruz, and is bounded on the northeast by extensive plains covered by the mesquit and oak trees, which reach the line of Sonora, whose elevated mountains rise in the horizon. Between these plains and the mine is to be seen the Sierra Espuela, called also Wachuka mountains. The road leading to the mine from Fort Buchanan crosses a range of hills and mountains completely covered with oak, pine, sycamore, poplar, willow, and hazlenut. The land and the hills around the mine are covered with green oak, cedar, pine, and manzanitas.'The whole country abounds with rabbits, quails, and wild turkeys. It is not a rare occurrence to meet droves of deer and antelope, numbering from 25 to 30. The principal lode of the Patagonia mine is composed principally of argentiferous galena, and runs south 850 east. Its thickness, which increases as it dips in the earth —now 83 feet in depth-is of about three feet. Three small veins, excessively rich, cross each other in the main vein, all running in different directions. The size of these small veins varies from 10 to 19 inches. Other veins, whose outcroppings are visible on the top of the hill, and which run in a parallel direction at a great distance, will, according to all probabilities, be met with as the working of the mine proceeds. The galena of the principal vein contains a small quantity of copper and arsenic. It seemed to me that I detected appearances of zinc, but I had no means to ascertain the fact. An assay of the different ores has given results varying from $80 to $706 in silver per ton, and up to 62 per cent. of lead. Their reduction is of the utmost facility. Guido Kiistel sent the following condensed report upon the Mowry mine from San Francisco to New York by telegraph, in'April, 1864: The lode, which is over 14 feet wide, runs east and west, between limestone and granitelike porphyry. It consists of sulphurets and carbonates of lead in manganese, often pure, containing iron, frequently in large chambers. Its great advantage is the presence of iron, manganese, lime, and lead, so that the necessary fluxes' are in the ore in abundance. The greatest depth worked is 180 feet. There are four galleries. The present style of furnaces and system of purification are more like waste than rational working. Nevertheless, these furnaces paid all expenses, with 120 men employed. The present expense of working six tons per day is $15 per ton. There are many thousand tons of rock out in front of the main shaft, half of which is fit for melting after very simple concentration. Wood is abundant. Live oak costs $1 75 a cord. Witlh furnaces four feet square and ten feet high, and with proper treatment, more silver at less expense could be extracted. The best ore produces $350, the poorest $50 per ton. But, even reckoning mining and reduction at $20 per ton, facts and calculations show that the net profits of one day's work of 20 tons will be $1,280. A statement from MIr. Mowry, later in 1864, says the lode has Much increased in width and richness at the great depth of over 200 feet. The vein often spreads out into chambers of pure ore of great size, no gangue appearing between the'side walls. Two peons have taken out 10 tons of rich ore in one day's work. OLIVE MINE. —Half a mile west of the Mowry mines is the Olive lode, of argentiferous galena. Three' shafts of 30 feet each have been sunk in it, and the lode shows a width of 14 inches. The ore worked to this time has given from $50 to $100 per ton. SAN ANTONIO MINE.-This mine is distant about six miles southwest of the Mowry mines. It was discovered in 1862, and has been worked to some extent. Its ores are described as carbonates and sulphides of lead, the' latter occmrring in segregations. The veins in which these ores are found is composed of decomposed garnet, followed along some portions of its line of strike by limestone, bounded by a country formation of feldspathic and granetic porphyry. This vein varies on the surface from a few feet to 12 or 14 feet in width. The Empire, the Eagle, the French, and the La Esperanza silver lodes, in the salme vicinity, have been sufficiently opened to demonstrate the existence of argentiferous galena in quantities and of a grade that may eventually pay. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 449 THE. GtUALOTA lode, four miles west of the M1dwry mines, is a lode varying from one to six feet in width on the surface. At the bottom of a shaft of 60 feet there is a vein of metal three feet wide. The ore is chiefly suilphurets of silver, and there are traces of gold. THrE FRESNAL lodes are about 60 miles west of Tubac, in the Baboquivori range. The country is very rough and broken. At places wood, water, and grass may be had, though generally scarce. The ores are sulphurets of -silver, and argentiferous galena, black and brownish ores. The chief lode, called the Prieta or Ajax, has bold croppings, and is at places 10 feet in width. The lode has been traced for six miles. Twenty tons of the surface ore, reduced by the Patio process, gave $30 to the ton the poorest, and $45 the best. The size of this vein, (although it is not so rich as others already discovered,) with some facilities for working, will probably make it valuable. Three other veins have been worked in the Fresnal- district, (so called from an old town now a.bandoned,) viz: the Colorado, and two not definitely named. Ore from the Colorado yielded $75 to the ton.'rTHE CABABI MINES are in a district some 75 miles northwest of Tubac, in the Cababi mountaims. The veins are not large, but are moderately rich. The ores are of silver in sulphurets, (amalgamating,) and have thus far been reduced by the Patio process only. The Picacho mine, sometimes called the Padreas mine, has a vein about three feet in width. It has been worked for many years, and the average yield of the ores has been about'$80. It is eWimated that the present owner has extracted $50,000. Mexican labor only has beceen used. Trhe Tajo, the Providencia, the Tiger, the Cobriza, the Cokespa, and the Bahia mines,'in the immediate vicinity of the Picacho, are well spoken of: Some 50 tons of the Cobriza ore, (selected,) sent to Europe via Guaymas, and reduced by the best process, brought $550 per ton in silver and copper. Eijiht tons of selected ore from the Picacho, sent at the same time, yielded $1,200 to the ton. Mir. Pumpelly says of the Cababi lodes: The veins which I observed occur in a quartyiferous porphyry and in an amygdaloid rock. This latter has a brown compact base, containing numerous acicular crystals of triclinic feldspar, and calcareous spar in impregnations and small threads. Cavities, some filled with quartz and others with delessite, are frequent. A great number of veins of quartz and barytes occur in these two formations, the latter seeming to prefer the amygdaloid rock. One vein of barytes, containing a "bonanza" of sulphuret of silver, was found and worked by the Mexicans, and several specimens of heavy spar associated with silver glance from various localities were shown me. The Fresnal and Cababi mines are in the country of the Papago Indians, a branch of the Pimas, who have always been friendly to the whites. Hence operations upon the mines have not necessarily been interrupted. Mexican and Indian labor may be had at from $15 to $30 per month, and provisions may be *brought from Sonora at low. rates, flour seldom costing over four cents per pound. While water is scarce, there is sufficient for mining, and in the shafts of the Picacho lode there is now so much that pumps are needed. At Quijota, west of Cababi, are gold placers (dry washings) long worked by the Papalgoes, and now worked by them and at times by Mexicans, with considerable profit. Large, pieces of fine gold have been extracted, and the gold generally is coarse. SIERtRITI MINEs.-These mines are in the Sierriti mountains, about 30 miles northwest of Tubac. They are of argentiferous galena. Work has been done upon the Benton, Belcher, and other lodes. There is an old gold placer at the west end of the mountains, long worked by Mexicans. In the vicinity is an abundance of water and oak timber, and some gold placers worked before the discovery of gold in California. AJo MINES.-These copper mines, sometimes called the Arizona mines, are situated northwest of the Cababi mines about 60 miles, and 40 miles south of the Gila river. The ores are principally of red oxide, malachite of copper, and 29 450 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES gray sulphurets. A number of veins have been opened, and the mines were steadily worked for three years. The ore was carried to Fort Yuma and thence shipped to San Francisco, to Swansea, and to Boston. A shipment of 30 tons of the red oxide ore sent to Swansea sold for $360 per ton, and is said to have.been the richest copper ore of the class ever received there. Work was suspended upon these mines chiefly because of the lack of water on the desert road to Fort Yuma. SANTA ROSA MINES.-About 50 miles west of Tucson, near the road from Cababi to Maricopa Wells, are some copper lodes, with indications similar to those of the Ajo mines. APACHE PASS.-South of this well-known pass, on the overland mail route to ]New Mexico, a number of lodes have been located by soldiers and others, but little work has been done. MINEs NEAR TUcsON.-In the vicinity of Tucson lodes are not so numerous as about Tubac and the Sonora llne, but a number have been taken up. LEE'S MINE, 12 miles due west from the town, shows a vein two and a half feet wide, of silver sulphurets and galena. Some of the ore worked in an arrastra has given a return of $150 per ton, and considerable work has been done upon the mine. Five hundred pounds of ore lately smelted yielded 90 ounces of silver. LA PAR MINE, near Lee's mine,, is of a similar character and has a shaft of about 100 feet.'About 25 tons of the ore have been smelted. SPANGLER MINE, some six or eight miles southwest of Tucson, is a copper lode upon which some work has been done. VICTORIA LODE is about 16 miles southwest from Tucson. Ten tons of the ore (copper) were lately taken out, and a part of the same has been shipped to San Francisco via Guaymas for a working test. The vein is some 10 feet in width. Four tests of the ore in small quantities have returned a yield of 45, 71k, 724, and 743 per cent. SAN PEDRO LoDES.-The district of the San Pedro river is chiefly noted for its fine agricultural lands, but several promising lodes have been found in it. It lies east from Tucson some 25 miles. Mr. Pumpelly describes the ores as tetrahedite and massive copper glance, containing copper pyrites, with quartz and barytes for gangue from the San Pedro vein, and galena with iron pyrites from the St. Paul vein. The San Pedro river furnishes an abundance of water for all purposes. At the Canion d'Oro, on one of the roads from Tucson to the San Pedro, are gold placers which are occasionally worked, and seldom without affording fair wages. There are evidences of work done upon them in years past. M\ARICOIA LODE. —This lode, sometimes called Grav's mine, situated about 70 miles north of Tucson and four miles south of the Gila river, is considered one of the best copper deposits in southern Arizona. 3lr. Gray thus described the vein in a general report, made in 1860: The formation of the district is primitive, chiefly granite and sienite, with metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, and injected dikes of trap and quartz, The lode was traced and measured 1,600 feet, having a width of from 8 to 12 feet plainly marked by its walls and.out-cropping ore. The veinstone is quartz4 with seams of argentiferous copper ore, at the surface a few inches wide, but which at six feet down appear nearly solid, covering the greater part of the lode. The copper glance and gray ore predominate, though at top the carbonates and silicates were intermixed. A branch vein shows itself near the place of greatest development. Here it traverses an elongated hill, intersecting it lengthwise, and protruding above the surface from one end of the hill to the other, a distance of 700 feet. The hill is 60 to 125 feet higher than the valleys and ravines surrounding it, and slopes for half' a mile in the direction of the lode to the west, when the ground descends northward towards the Gila at a rate of 250 feet to-the mile. The course of the lode is very regular, north 8410 east, or 54~ north of true east, and 5~~ south of true west. The dip is to the north, and about 75c from the horizon, very nearly vertical as far as could be observed WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 451 I he elevation of the Maricopa mine, determined by me with a fine cistern barometer, is 3,378 feet above the level of' the sea, and 1,497 feet higher than our camp established on the Gila river six miles off, selected as a good site for smelting works. W. R. Hopkins, civil engineer, in connection with the same report, speaks as follows: * * ~ We have traced the copper lode by distinct pieces of heavy ore for 1,600 feet, about east and west; also, three other veins. The lode appears to be from 8 to 12 feet wide on the surface. The shaft we have commenced is on the main lode, and on a hill that rises from 60 to 100 feet above the surrounding gulleys. It is now seven feet square and six feet deep. The ore is increasing in richness, and the veins widening. The vein containing the copper glance, specimens of which you will receive, is now 20 inches wide, and occupies the south side of the lode. Next to this comes gray and green ores and the red oxide of copper. The lode is now occupied with the ore, so that nearly all that is thrown out goes into the pile to be smelted. The dip of the lode is now slightly to the north, and we suppose that it will run into another lode 25 feet north of it, and form a wider bed of ore than we now find. We would express to you our confidence in the extreme richness of the mine, both from our own observation and the opinion of experienced miners throughout this section of country. We find the water-power on the river abundant. Mesquit is in sufficient quantities to furnish charcoal, which is of the best quality. Frederick Brunckow, assayer and mining engineer, made a report in January, 1860, upon some selected specimens from this mine, from which this extract is taken: The specimens consisted of the outcrop ore of a powerful vein, and bear the unmistakable signs of a true vein. * As commonly by all outcrop ore, so here carbonates and silicates make their appearance, while the main body of the vein, to some extent below the surface probably, will consist in general of gray sulphuret of copper and other ores which already in large quantities appear upon the surface.' I divided the ores into different classes, and assayed them accordingly. 1. Fahl ore, (Tennantit,) mixed with carbonate, contained to the ton 50 per cent. copper and 104 ounces silver. 2. Gray sulphuret containing to the ton 60 per cent. copper and 93 ounces of silver. 3. Silicate of copper containing 20 to 25 per cent. copper, and 20 to 25 ounces of silver to the ton. 4. Carbonate of copper containing 25 to 50 per cent. copper and only a trace of silver; as carbonates and silicates are secondary formation, a large yield of silver could not be expected. The ore of this vein would be the cheapest and quickest way to reduce in a blast furnace, and run into copper ingots, which could be shipped, and afterwards be stripped of their silver. Iron crushers for breaking the ore, as well as the necessary blast, could be driven by waterpower, of which there is at the Rio Gilo any abundance. GENERPmAL REMARKS ON SOUTHERN ARIZONA.-The foregoing reference to the principal mining localities in southern Arizona will show that the country is pre-eminently mineral bearing. In most places there is a tolerable supply of mnesquit timber, but water is scarce. The grazing is generally excellent. A great need of southern Arizona is a port upon the Gulf of California, and it has long been the ardent hope of the people that either Guaymas or Libertad would be secured. WVhile the roads are for the most part good, the distance from Fort Yuma, the nearest American port at present, is so great as to involve large expense in the transportation of machinery and such supplies as are not produced in the country. Enough has been done to show that some of the lodes, if not remarkably rich, are sufficiently so to pay well when they can be worked at a reasonable outlay, and as the Apaches are overcome, and the agricultural lands are safely cultivated, mining operations will probably be renewed. It is a well-authenticated fact that until the uprising of the Apaches, (about 1780,) many of the silver mines of that part of northern Sonora, now constituting southern Arizona, were worked with remunnerative results. Should a railroad from the Rio Grande, or from the Gulf of California, be extended over any one of the easy routes to southern Arizona, the country would be made an attractive mineral region, and would soon be well populated. The principal streams are the Santa Cruz, the Sonoita, the San Pedro, and the Gila. 452 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES SECTION III. COLORADO RIVER. The valley of this great river, " the iMississippi of the Pacific," may justly be considered one of the natural divisions of Arizona. Ascending the river from its mouth it is a distance of 150 miles to Fort Yuma, where the mineral district mav be said to begin. Opposite to the fort, on the Arizona side, is the town of Arizona City. The Gila road to Tucson, and across the Territory to New Mexico, begins at this place, and the supplies for the military of southern Arizona are forwarded from here, comling from San Francisco via the Gulf of California. Up the Gila, some 20 miles from the Colorado, gold placers were discovered in 1858, and catsed some excitement. A traveller passing at that time says lihe saw $20 washed out of eight shovelsfull of dirt, and this in the rudest manner by an unpracticed hand. The diggings are in the sand-hills half a mile or more fiom the river, too far to carry water by hand, and as by dry washing but $1 or $2 a. day can be made, they are now for the most part abandoned. Occasionally a strike is made by Indians or Mexicans, and $20 to $30 secured in a clay. Old residents of the Colorado and Gila mining districts give it as their opinion that swith water conducted to the placers they would pay well. A company organized in 1866 for this purpose sent some machinery to Gila City, but subsequently gave up the enterprise. The first mining district of note on the Colorado is some 40 miles above Arizona City by the fiver, and known as the Eureka district. The ores are chiefly argentiferous galena, containing from 20 to 30 per cent. of silver. There is also a show of gold. The lodes are in the mountain ranges, and situated at from 1 to 20 miles east from the river banks. They may be reached by trails. Generally travel is difficult in that region, owing to the rugged nature of the country. Blut few of the lodes taken up in the first excitement (1862) have been developed. Of those upon which work has been performed the Buena Vista promises well. The width of the lode in the main shaft (which is 60 feet deep) is about five feet. Some of the ore. submitted to a working test gave a yield of $60 in silver to the ton. The Bronze, the 3Margarita, and the Vernon lodes yield ore of the same class and value. The country rock is granite and slate; the silver veins are in pink and white quartz. Copper indications are numerous, and it is supposed that deposits of that ore exist here as well as further up the river. SILVER DISTRICT, on the Colorado, north of the Eureka, has some welldefined veins capped with what the miners call "dry bonee' containing considerable zinc. The district has been but little prospected. Most of the lodes located are from. three to four miles from the river. Upon one a shaft was sunk to the depth of 25 feet before reaching metal, when a good quality of silver and lead ore was discovered.:CASTLE DorME, 50 miles above Arizona City, is a well-known mining district, ~so called from an isolated mountain bearing a close resemblance to a dome. The lodes are in a range of mountains from 15 to 30 miles back of the river, but, as'in the Eureka district, they are not very easy of access, and water is exceedingly -scarce. A number of lodes have been claimed, and several companies organ~ized in San Francisco for their development. TI'hose opened are friom a, foot to five feet in width, and well defined. Professor Blake states that the ores of Castle Dome are malgentiferous galena, in.a vein-stone of fluor spar, and that they contain 30 to 40 ounces of silver to the ton. MIr. Sage, one of the principal owners in this district, furnishes an estimate of what he:believes the true value of the ores to be in San Francisco, and what the expens'e will be:provided the mines can be made to produce regularly a large quantity of ore: WEST OF THIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 453 Price of 60 per cent. ores per ton........................................... $50 00 Castle Dome ores are 75 ounces of lead....................................... 12 50 Add 75 ounces of silver per ton..................................... 75 00 Giving for value of ton of ore in silver and lead............................... 137 50 Deduct freight to San Francisco................................ $15 00 Deduct carting to the river.......................................... 10 00 Deduct mining and sacking....... 10 00 - 35 00 Leaving a profit per ton of -.................. 102 50 Mr. Gird, another owner, values the ores at 60 per cent. worth $40 in silver to the ton; makingThe value of a ton of ore...................................................... $90 00 IIe allows for mining and sacking................................... $12 00 Carting to the Colorado river —... —. -... 15 00 Freight thence to San Francisco..................................... 18 00 45 00 Leaving a profit per ton of............................................ 45 00 The bottoms and ravines furnish cottonwood, mesquit, and ironwood, but not in sufficient quantities to supply fuel for reduction works upon a large scale, and hence, as most of the Colorado river ores are such as require a smelting process, it will probably be found most profitable to ship them to San.Francisco. Lately a price has been offered in that city for lead ores from the Eureka and Castle Dome districts which is sufficient to warrant their shipment even at the present rates of transportation. In the WE AVERP DISTRICT, next above the Castle Dome district, the silver lodes are much of the same character. Those of copper are quite promising. Of these the Colorado has a fair reputation. It is thus described by Mr. Herman Ehrenberg, a good authority: This mine is located on the east bank of the Colorado river, in the Territory of Arizona, nine miles south of La Paz, and about eight miles east from the river. The outcroppings are very heavy, end may be traced for a mile by bands or isolated outbreaks of quartz matter stained with carbonates, intermixed with copper-glance. The Colorado appears more like a mighty interstratified deposit of gneiss and metamorphic slates in which it occurs, forced to the surface by an eruptive mass of rock that breaks forth west of the croppings. Future developments may prove this appearance to be deceptive, and that at a greater depth the vein will have a greater dip, becoming more vertical, and, in place of following the stratification, break through them like a true fissure vein. It is immaterial, however, to which class of mineral deposits the Colorado belongs. If an interstratified deposit, or nearly horizontal vein, its great extent and width on the surface and the rich ores it contains speak extremely favorable for its becoming a lasting and extremely valuable mineral deposit. Many a great copper deposit, like those of Talhua and Mansfield, which have been worked for centuries, with immense success, are of a similar description, differing, perhaps, in the formation which encloses them being younger and less disturbed by eruptive forces. The ore already taken out may be divided into three qualities-the first should yield from 40 to 70 per cent. in copper, carrying with it a large quantity of silver; the next grade will give from 30 to 50 per cent. in copper alone; the third grade contains free gold ranging from $30 t6 $100 per ton. A shipment of the Colorado ore was made to Richardson & Company, Swansea. Their return, dated January 17, 1867, gives a yield of 303 per cent. in copper, with 68 ounces of silver to the ton. They say they are ready to pay c50: sterling per ton for such ore. The next district is that about the town of La Paz, and bears the same name. It was first explored in the Colorado gold excitement of 1862, and, indeedl little was known of the mineral resources of the Colorado valley until that year.. Mr. A. McKey, member of the territorial legislature from La Paz, has furnished the annexed account of the discovery of the placers which caused the upbuilding of La Paz, now a place of considerable importance, and a favorite shipping point 454 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES for goods for Central Arizona; Prescott, the capital of the Territory, being at s distance of less than 200 miles in the interior, and Wickenburg at a distance of but a little more than 100, over remarkably good roads: Captain Pauline Weaver, and others, in the month of January, 1862, were trapping on the Colorado river, and at times would stray off into the mountains for the purpose of prospecting for gold. They had discovered what was then named and is still called " El Arollo de la Tenaja," which is about two niiles north from El Campo Ferr,, and about seven miles east from La Paz. In this gulch they had discovered gold in small quantities, and had taken two or three dollars' worth out, which Captain Weaver kept in a goose-quill. Soon after this discovery Weaver visited Fort Yuma and exhibited what gold he had. This evidence of the existence of a commodity so much sought for in this country convinced others that gold might be found in quantities by hunting for it. Don Jos6 M. Redondo having heard of the discovery, at once set out to visit the newly found "El Dorado " in company with several others. I-le arrived a few days afterward at the camp of Captain Weaver, who pointed out to him and his party the particular gulch from which he had taken the gold. After a short examination of this place the party set out in different directions to discover, if possible, something which would pay to work, and the extent of the placers. Within less than a mile from Weaver's camp, south, Redondo took a pan of dirt to prospect, and when he had dry-washed it, to the astonishment of himself and the party with him, he found'that l!e had one " chispa" which weighed two ounces and one dollar, besides other small pieces. Others of his party found good prospects, but none of the company had come for anything more than to ascertain the truth or falsity of the reported glad tidings, and therefore were not prepared to remain and work for want of the necessary provisions and tools, but were compelled to return to La Laguna, a settlement some twenty miles above Fort Yuma, on the Arizona side of the Colorado. After their arrival at La Laguna, and report of what they had discovered, a party of 40 persons prepared to visit the new mines. After their arrival in the placers, about the middle of February, 186'2, discoveries were made almost daily, until it was known that every gulch and ravine for twenty miles east and south was rich with gold. Ferra Camp, Campo en Medio, American Camp, Los Chollos, La Plomosa, and many other smaller places, all had their rich diggings, but the discovery made by Juan Forrit, of the Ferr, gulch, was, without doubt, the most valuable of any. Very soon the knowledge of these discoveries spread to Sonora and California, and people began to pour in from all points, and continued to come until they probably numbered fifteen hundred. This population was maintained to a greater or less extent until the spring of 1864, when the apparent exhaustion of the placers and the extreme high prices for provisions caused large numbers to leave. The discovery of the Weaver and Walker's diggings, in the year 1863, drew away many of the miners from these placers. Of the yield of these placers, anything like an approximation to the average daily amount of what was taken out per man would only be guess-work. Hundreds of dollars per day to the man was common, and now and again a thousand or more per day. Don Juan FerrA took one nugget from his claim which weighed 47 ounces and six dollars. Another party found a " chispa weighing 27 ounces, and another one of 26 ounces. Many others found pieces of from one or two ounces up to 20, and yet it is contended that the greater proportion of the larger nuggets were never shown for fear of some evil spirits, who infested the mines at the time. It is the opinion of those most conversant with the first working of these placers that much the greater proportion of the gold taken out was in nuggets weighing from one dollar up to the size of the' chispas " above named. I have often heard it said of those days that "not even a Papago Indian would work for less than $10 per day." As has been seen from the above, the gold was large, and generally clear of foreign substances. The largest piece (above mentioned) did not contain an apparent atom of quartz or any other base matter. The gold from the different camps varied a trifle in its worth at the mint in San Francisco, and brought from $17 50 to $19 50 per ounce. But all that was sold or taken here went for from $16 to $17 per ounce. Since the year 1864 until the present, there have been at various times many men at work in these placers, numbering in the winter months hundreds, but in the summer months not exceeding 75 or 100; and all seem to do sufficiently well not to be willing to work for the wages of the country, which are and have been foi some time from $30 to $65 Der month and found. No inconsiderable amount of gold comes in from these placers now weekly, and only a few days ago I saw, myself, a nugget which weighed $40, clear and pure from any foreign substance. Some parties have lately come into these diggings with what is called concentrators or dry washers, which they have been working for a few weeks, and in conversation with Mr. Finlkler (an owner of one of these machines) he told me that he could make $20 per day where he was at work, and pay three dollars per day for his hands, and that he only required four to work the machine. Should these machines prove a success these placers will soon be peopled again with industrious, prosperous miners. Of the total amount of gold taken from these mines, I am as much at a loss to say what it has been as I was to name the Prverage daily wages of the first years, and as I might greatly differ from those who were among the first in these mines, I do not feel justified in setting up an opinion as against them; I shall, therefore, give the substance of the several opinions which I have obtained from those who WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 455 were the pioneers of these placers. I have failed to find any one of them whose opinion is that less than $1,000,000 were taken from these diggings within the first year, and in all probabiibty as much was taken out within the following years. As might be supposed, the richness of these placers suggested the existence of valuable quartz lodes in the vicinity, and prospecting began in 1863. The result was the location of a number of gold, silver and copper veins within an area of 30 miles about La Paz. Of these several have been opened, and the' ores well tested. CONSTANTIA MINE.-A gold mine 12 miles east of La Paz has a shaft of 75 feet, and some 20 tons of the ore worked by arrastras yielded $30 to $50 per ton. The vein is five feet wide in a granite formation and regular. The Lats Posas is a similar vein. CONQUEST MINE. —This is a gold mine, otherwise known as the Ravena mine. It is situated east of La Paz, some six miles, and has been well prospected. A number of shafts and tunnels have been opened, and the vein is found to be well defined and promising. The width is from 3 to 20 feet. Some silver is found in the ore which is free from sulphurets. Gangs of men are now employed, as they have been for several years, in preparing this mine for working upon a large scale, and its owner, Mr. Ravena, is confident that he has a valuable property.He has already, it is said, been offered $100,000. CRUC MINE.-This lode is also of gold-bearing quartz, with a mixture of galena in the ore. A shaft 50 feet deep has been sunk. PICACHO MAINE.-At a point some 30 miles east from La Paz, on the road to Wickenburg, a number of silver-bearing lodes were opened in 1863 and 1864. Mauch work was done upon the Picacho, and about 300 tons of ore were extracted from the shafts and tunnels, which amounted to some 600 feet in extent. For some cause or other the ore was not worked. The ore is of argentiferous galena, and the vein shows a width of about three feet five inches. PEACH BLOOM, MINE.-A shaft of 80 feet has been sunk upon the lode which adjoins the Picacho, and is of a similar class. The HuGHES, the AMERICAN PIONEER, the SCOTTY, and the SALAZAN silver lodes in the same vicinity are generally of the same class, but for various reasons have not vet been much worked. Good pay ore in carbonates and chlorides has been taken from the latter, but no permanent vein yet found. The APACHE CHIEF copper lode, near the foregoing, is one of the most remarkable in Arizona, and at one time attracted considerable-attention in San Francisco. The ore is found in deposits rather than in a regular vein, but the location is too far from navigation to make mining profitable at present. The country about La Paz is barren of wood saving mesquit and ironwood in the gulches and ravines, and waterm is not abundant, although it might possibly be had at any point between La Paz and Wickenburg by sinking artesian wells. A company holding a charter for a toll road to Wickenburg and Prescott have proposed to sink several such, but have as yet taken no action. Ascending the Colorado towards Williams Fork, the mountains, nearly all show signs of metal-bearing. Perhaps the most striking and extensive group of copper veins yet discovered is in the Harcuvar chain of mountains, at a distance of 35 miles east of the river, and 55 miles northeast of La Paz, and a little north of the La Paz and Wickenburg road, before referred to. Herman Ehrenberg, who was among the first to examine the lodes upon the Colorado, as he was those in southern Arizona, and who was noted for his cautious language, made a lengthy report upon the IHarcuvar district, of which the annexed is a synopsis: The group embraces 18 lodes, making an aggregate of 51,200 lineal feet. Shafts have been sunk which demonstrate that they are not oelfy large but permanent veins. The rocks of the country are granite gneiss, fractured at right angles to the plain or arrangement of stratification. The fissures are nearly per 456 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES pendicular, and vary in width from 5 to 15 feet. The vein mass consists of calcareous spar, tinctured green by the mixture of talc in small quantities It is distinctly separated from the connecting rock by a narrow selvage of a ferruginous substance, colored by hydrated oxide of iron. The sheets of ore are compact and continuous, the mass of the gangue being found near one of the walls, both of the true walls of the different cuts having been reached in only a few instances. The several cuts show the same general bold iron-stained croppings; the same broad fissures, the same surface ores, similar dip, and nearly parallel bearing or strike. On the CUNXINGIrAM lode the shaft has been sunk to the depth of 107 feet. The metallic part of this vein varies in width from four to six feet, the width gradually increasing with the depth. The ore in sinking assumes an undecomposed and characteristic appearance, i. o. sulphurets and pyrites. The vein has a dip of nearly 80~ north-northeast, bearing or striking northwest, and is singularly regular, being traceable a long distance on the surface. The Q UA-SHA-QUA-MAE, another of the leads embraced in the group, has been sunk upon to the depth of 48 feet; it is a much larger vein than the Cunningham and has yielded some good ore. All the other leads have been opened by small shafts or cuts, and nearly all show the same bold croppings, similar dip and strike, and the same general character of ores. It is unquestionably one of the most promising groups of copper mines in Arizona. Assorted ores taken from these leads have been shipped to Swansea, and worked 374 per cent. Assays made range from 30 to 70 per cent. These high-grade ores can be easily mined. WILLIAMS FoRzx. —Some 70 miles north of La Paz, Williams Fork, or, as it was originally named, "Bill Williams Fork," after a well known trapper and explorer, enters the Colorado from the east. It is the first tributary worthy of note north of the Gila, and has its rise in the mountain ranges between Wickenburg and Prescott; the streams known as Kirkland creek and Date creek being its head-waters. The Williams Fork district is now the best known copper region in Arizona. The country for a number of miles on each side of the creek abounds in scattered croppings and masses or bunches of copper ore. It is contended by some that there are several clearly defined copper lodes. A recent writer thus refers to their characteristics: The containing rock is of trapean character, and geologically speaking, comparatively recent, probably belonging to the early tertiary or eocene era. These copper veins are, from' the present state of knowledge and observatLon, supposed to be composed entirely of fissure veins, or infiltrated deposits from the general impregnation of the containing rock, their materials having made their way by plutonic forces through the trapean rocks, and their accompanying formations. The theory of the formation of this district is against a synclinal plutonic base, unlike the California middle copper belt, because the whole of the containing rock is the same. Its geognostic position, however, is, as far as authoritative geology is concerned, sufficiently true of a real vein formation. But one of the best evidences of the value of the copper deposits of that district is that they are massive, solid, and regular, so far as developed, whilst in the deposits the least infiltration is impregnated with carbonates. The outside gossan is usually of specular or magnetic iron, which is invariably found adjacent on the surface. Such is the character of the richest copper mines the world over. The Planet Company was organized in California in 1864; the company owns five claims as follows: Planet, 2,700 feet; Ashley, 2,100 feet; Wash, 2,100 feet; Sentinel, 2,100 feet; and Mountain Chief, 1,800 feet. To this time no work has been done upon the Sentinel and Mountain Chief more than that required by the laws of the district, in order to hold them. The Ashley claim has been so far developed as to show evidences of a ledge of copper ore about 600 feet in length. Several cuts have been made developing indications of an average thickness in the ledge of about 10 feet. The character of the ore is malachite, assay 30 per 2cent. copper. Only about 25 tons have been mined from this claim. The Wash WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 457 claim is the wash separating the Ashley and Planet claims. The Planet claim has been worked since the spring of 1865, and about 800 tons of ore have been taken out. The ore is of gray and red oxide, average assay 40 per cent. It has been sold in San Francisco at an average of $100 per ton. The mines are located 12 miles from the Colorado, and within a quarter of a mile of Williams Fork. The cost of transporting ore to San Francisco was at first $60 per ton. It is now $28 per ton, and will probably soon be but $18 or $20. If the company could erect a warehouse at the mouth of the Colorado, and. store the ore there until a cargo for a large vessel accumulated, it could be shipped from the mines to Boston or Swansea, at a total cost of not more than $25 per ton. Then 30 per cent. ore; of which there is a quantity in both the Ashley and Planet claims, could be profitably worked. Several otlher companies are engaged in working copper lodes at Williams Fork. Mr. Thompson, a practical and enterprising miner, superintendent of the Great Central Company, has erected furnaces for smelting the ore taken from the Eliza mine, and although he has had many obstacles to contend with, his experiment has not proved altogether unsuccessful. The Eliza is but 1,000 feet distant from the Planet It is thought by some to be upon the same vein, but this has not yet been demonstrated. According to a late report the company have two small furnaces running, turning out copper from 91 to 96 per cent. fine, which is being shipped to San Francisco. A large lot of this copper has been sold for 15 cents per pound, $300 per ton. The cost of delivering such copper is but a little over $100 per ton. The ores of this mine are oxides and carbonates, very little or no iron or sulphur being present; hence the company is able to turn out at one smelting a very good article of copper. Some of this copper has been used by the brass foundries of San Francisco, who have pronounced it a very fair article for many commrercial purposes, just as it comes from the furnace. Within less than two months they will have a larger furnace in operation, which they think will be able to turn out from three to five tons of copper per day. The company own two parallel ledges of 3,000 feet each. Only one ledge has as yet been developed to any considerable extent. Upon this an incline hlas been sunk to the depth of 100 feet, at which point there are some indications of sulphurets coming in. At the depth of about 50 feet drifts have been run eaclh way from the shaft about 100 feet, all the way in good ore; vein varying from five to seven feet thick. The shaft is also connected with the surface by a tunnel, through which the ore will be taken out. The outcrop of the vein has been stripped quite a distance, developing good ore all the way. The superintendent estimates that he has 5,000 tons of ore opened to sight, which will average a yield of 25 per cent. He has lately taken out some ore yielding 74 per cent. MINERAL HILL, a locality near the Planet mine, has several of these so-called lodes, supposed to be valuable. The Springfield Company are now taking ore from the Orion; a furnace has been erected by Mr. Knowles. At Empire Flat, 10 miles south of Williams Fork, and three miles from the steamboat landing on the Colorado, the Challenge mine has been worked for more than a year, and about 500 tons of fair shipping mineral secured. The Kangaroo, the Bridal, and other copper veins promise well, and ore lately worked by an arrastra from a gold lode in this vicinity gave a return of $85 to the ton. From Williams Forlk to Fort Mohave, by the Colorado, is a distance of about 70 miles. Just about the fort, which was established long prior to the organization of the Territory, there are no lodes, but in the mountain ranges east, and north and east of Hardyville, a town nine miles higher up the rivet, are some districts already noted for their gold and silver mines. THrE: SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT is situated some 12 miles from Hardyville, in a northeasterly direction. A stream called Silver creek run.tmhrough the dis 458 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES trict fiom north to south. The features of the district, which is some 20 miles long and 10 miles wide, are thus given by a recent writer: The bold outcrop of quartz lodes stretching from east to west may be seen for a long distance. Conspicuous among these ledges is the Moss lode on the north, the Skinner and Parsons on the south. The aspect of these ledges is singularly wild and rugged, deviating seldom more than 40 or 50 from the east and west magnetic equators. There is another set of lodes much less numerous than the first, whose general direction is northwest and southeast, or more exactly north 200 west. These lodes,'if prolonged, must obviously intersect some of the east and west lodes. They differ not only in their course and direction, but in their mineralogical construction. The first class, the east and west, are quartz lodes, characterized by the presence of feldspar and flourspar as the associate minerals. The second set of lodes may be called calcareous, being composed to a great extent of magnesian carbonate of lime, or dolomite. In some instances these have quartz linings and polished walls. The Virginia, Olive Oatman, and Buffalo are conspicuous examples of the calcareous lodes. A third class of lodes is observed in the San Francisco district, whose direction is northeast and southwest. This class is very small, not including more than three or four, named the Pricle of Mexico, Trimuverate, Wright, and Morning Star. In general the lodes in the San Francisco district are remarkably vertical, rarely deviating more than 300 from the perpendicular, and their outcroppings are commonly very strong and well marked, forming in case of the upper lodes conspicuous features in the topography of the country. The rocks of this district are exclusively porphyritic or volcanic. The porphyry consists for the most part of the feldspathic variety. The crystals of feldspar are implanted in a violet-colored mass, yielding, like most of the porphyries at Virginia City, at Esmeralda, Bcdie, and in the Mojave desert, to atmospheric influences, crumbling into incoherent masses, or breaking away into acute and fantastic cliffs. The gigantic quartz lodes, known as the Moss and the Skinner, contain imbedded in their mass, especially at their surface, fragments of scoriaceous lavas, and present in general a burned and roasted appearance. On the Organ canon of the Mojave there are extinct cones of volcanoes, whose streams of lava may be traced for eight or ten miles, standing with vertical basaltic walls 100 or 200 feet above the plain, capped with scoria, whose surface still speaks of the sluggish nature of the once molten mass. The attention of the mineralogical observer is arrested by the similarity of the lodes in this region as compared with those of other districts, by the general absence of metallic sulphurets, and the carious or porous character so common in the outcroppings of quartz in most auriferous regions, and not unlike those seen in some portions of Nevada. This character of outcroppings of the quartz lodes in the San Francisco district is common to most outcroppings in the porphyritic or plutonic rocks of other mining districts in Arizona, as in the districts of El Dorado cation and the Wauba Yuma. Of the contents of the lodes the same writer has the following: The Moss, Skinner, and in general the larger lodes of the district, are characterized by the presence of an abundance of white feldspar, forming sometimes the mass of the vein; the quartz existing then as a subordinate vein in the feldsparic and porphyritic gangue. The mineral most characteristic of the east and west lodes in the San Francisco district, next to the quartz and feldspar, which form the great mass of the lodes, is flourspar, a mineral frequently seen elsewhere in the world as an associate in silver-bearing lodes-as, for example, in Frieburg in Saxony-but which is of rare occurrence in this country in a similar association. This mineral is found abundantly in the Skinner lode, the Dayton, the Knickerbocker, and the Quackenbush, and has been observed in the Moss and several others. It is associated in them with free gold, horn silver sometimes in dodecahedra crystals and iron gossary. The outcroppings of the Moss lode form a most conspicuous feature in the landscape, seen standing up in bold crests from a long distance. This lode stretches in a continuous line for more than a mile, and is claimed for double that distance. It is distant north of Silver creek about two miles; its course is about west 50 north, nearly at right angles from the liver, from which it is distant about five miles. On the surface the outcrop shows a width of about 50 feet, rising to the height of from 50 to 100 feet above the arroya, sinking at intervals to the surface; its height above the Colorado river is about 1.500 feet. It has a southerly dip of 140 to 20~ away from the vertical. The vein material is composed of whitish compact feldspar and quartz porphyry, intersected by veins of dense red, often marbled quartz, rich in fiee gold. Included in this vast mass are numerous sets of feldspar, horustone, and quartz veins, also masses of gray porphyry, tufaceous and vesicular lava. The hanging wall of the Moss lode is an ash-gray, feldspathic porphyry, often intersected by thread-veinis of quartz and hornstone, barren of metallic sulphurets, showing at the sur face no clay wMll, or fluccan, separating it from the vein. The absence of this character of permanent and well-defined lodes at the surface of the Moss ledge is in analogy with the character of miany veints in Nevada, which, however, at a moderate depth acquire this feature, as the Allen, shaft shows to be the fact for the south or hanging wall of the Moss WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 459 lode. The entire outcrop of this lode has a burnt-up, dried and hardened aspect, but is proven to be quite superficial by very moderate explorations. The bullion obtained from this vein contains silver enough to give it a pale, yellow color; the gold appears in beautiful polished scales, the flat surface often embossed with crystalline lines. The precious metal is sometimes imbedded in a compact red jaspery quartz, presenting, when cut and polished, beautiful graphic goldstone. This rich gold-bearing mass of ferruginous quartz form the outcrop of this gigantic vein only at isolated points. These physical features bear great. resemblance to that portion of the Comstock vein, which is still seen at Gold Hill, south of Virginia City,. where similar rich deposits of low-grade gold were formed in the quartz outcrop, giving name to the town which hlas since sprung into such wonderful activity as the result of the development of the mines which have opened upon this remarkable silver vein. Assays of samples of the Moss vein show a value varying from $170 to several thousand dollars per ton of 2,000 pounds. Of the other lodes in this district, the Skinner, on the south side of Silver creek, is one of the most conspicuous, and, like the Moss, show bold outline of outcrop. This lode shows drusy quartz, both compact and cellular, and ferruginous with numerous cavities, out of which flourspar has been decomposed. Small traces of sulphide are seen at the surface, which is stained by black oxide of maganese, making portions of the outcrop quite black. This vein varies from 50 to 150 feet in thickness. Its walls are ash-colored, feldspathic porphyry, in places beautifully polished on the line of dip 700 north. The vein appears to be without a lining of clay, but like that which is so commonly seen in the outcrops of Nevada, that it is no proof of the absence of this important characteristic of a true vein at a moderate depth, assays of ores from this vein prove the presence of silver to the respective values of $25, $74, and $83 to the ton of 2,000 pounds. The Parsons, Hurst, and Leland are other gigantic lodes, south of the Skinner. The smaller lodes of this district seem to promise quicker returns for a less expenditure of money, such as the Caledonia and Dayton, a few hundred feet south of the Moss lode, and the Quackenbush and Knickerbocker, some distance south of the Skinner and Parsons. These veins are from three to ten feet in thickness, well defined, and showing at the surface all the characters of true metalliferous veins. Samples from these outcrops yielded in a mill from $40 to $250 per ton. Mir. A. E. Davis, of EHardyville, has furnished some notes descriptive of the MIoss, Parsons, and several other lodes in the San Francisco district, which axe given with a slight condensation: The Mloss Lode was among the first discovered in this district, and is perhaps the best known. The vein is well defined for a distance of two miles. The rock is dark colored and iron stained, the country rock is porphyry, the hanging wall smooth and hard. Some remarkable specimens of gold ore have been taken from this lode. In blasting, in some instances, pieces have been torn ott yellow with gold, and the face of the lode has shown streaks of the precious metal. It is not surprising that the owners have held their claims as high as $300 per foot. The gold is of a bright color, and usually found in layers as thin as paper, which makes it more showy than abundant; the lode, however, promises well. There are several shafts, and recently a tunnel 300 feet in length has pierced the vein at a depth of 150 feet, where the vein is wide, and considerable gold was f6und, but fine and scattered. The tunnel enters the vein at rigllt angles, and after reaching it follows it west for 300 feet, where a shaft descends from the surface. All the rock taken out bears gold, and the vein, from a width of five feet at the surface, increases at the greatest depth reached. A 10-stamp mill was erected at Hardyville a few months since and about 250 tons of the ore have been worked, but the result is not announced. The cost of mining is $5 per tonll; of hauling to the mill the same. The Parsons Lode.-Tllis lode runs east and west, and can be traced by neat wall of croppings for a distance of two and a half miles. The vein rock is chiefly a gray qluartz, accompanied by fiourspar. The country rock is blue and birds-eye porphyry. The lode is fromn 5 to 12 feet in width. Thllee are several claims upon it, those best known being the Southern Cross and Queen of the Pacific. Upon the latter a tunnel of 210 feet in length, along the lode, has been cut. Crossing, or: rather running into, the Parsons lode at nearly right angles is a lode known as the Michigan. The vein is about three, feet thick, and a few tons 460 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of the surface ore worked in an arrastra gave a yield of $70 to the ton in gold; the tailings since worlked yielded $80 to the ton in silver. What is now known as the Southern Cross, or hIardy mine, is a location of 1,800 feet on the Parsons lode and of 1,600 feet on the Michigan lode.'lihe Parsons is prcbably the mother lode of the vicinity. Beginning at the eastern terminus of the Hardy location, at a large wash, the lode takes its course west over an eminence, say 400 feet higher than at the starting point, and this in a distance of about 1,000 feet. The lode is favorably situated for tunnelling, and several tunnels are already well advanced. A shaft between the two principal tunnels is now down some 80 feet, following the vein; it will need to be 200 feet deep in order to reach the depth of the tunnels. The shaft is five and a half feet wide, but it does not occupy the whole vein.. One hundred tons of the ore taken during the past sunummer from: this shaft and from other cuts, and workled in the Moss mill, gave a return of $18 to the ton, while the assays of the pulp from the battery gave about $35 to the ton. This experiment is not considered, owing to a want of proper facilities in the mill, an accurate test of what the ore will produce under proper working. The owner of the claim, MIr. Hardy, is pushing the tunnels and shafts forward, and is confident'that lhe Las a good mine. HI-e has already expended $40,000 in opening it, and will soon erect a mill at Hardvville. The Leland Lode, in this district, runs east and west, andl is about five feet in width. The rock bears gold and silver, the former predominating. The gold is fine and evenly diffused through the rock. A tunnel 150 feet in length strikes the lode at the depth of 50 feet, where the quartz is as good as at the surface. The M1itchell Lode runs east and west, with a slight cip to the north; has good walls, and the vein is from three to six feet in width, of quartz and flourspar. A vein of quartz of a bluish color, varying in width from. one to two anld a half feet, runs the whole traceable length of the lode, and prospects well in gold. For my own satisfaction (says Mr. Davis) I took from this vein 10 pounds of quartz, a fair sample, and pulverized it in a hand mortar, when, washing it in a pan, it yielded at the rate of $150 per ton in gold. But little work has been performed upon the lode, owing to a want of means and to Indian troubles.'THE SACRAMENITO DISTr ICT.-Next to the San Francisco, tile Sacramento is the best known of the districts adjacent to Fort Mohave and Hardyville. It is some 30 miles northeast of the latter plaee, and abounds in veins, several of which have been opened. This district is tolerably well watered, having thlree or four small running streams and a number of springs. The water is, with the exception of two or three springs, of an excellent character. Pine and cedar timber are abundant, and the whole district is rich in nutritious grasses, and arable lands are near at hand. The mines are chiefly of argentiferous galena, and show well in gold and silver. There are also some copper veins showing free gold. A corresponcdent has furnished the following list: NATc-tune Lodc. —This lode shows a vein seven feet wide, with walls of slate ancl granite. A shaft has been sunk to the depth of 150 feet. The ore shows both gold and silver. Silver Jlill Lode, argentiferous galena; a shaft 100 feet deep; vein four feet wide. Alcran's Lode, gold and silver; shaft 65 feet deep; vein three feet wide..31ohave Chief Lode, gold and silver; shaft 45 feet; vein six feet wide. Antietam Lode, copper; shaft 40 feet; vein three feet wide, two feet of which is ore yielding friom 40 to 80 per cent. There are also rich traces of gold andcl silver. BlJue Bell Lode, gold and silver; shaft 24 feet; vein two feet wide. Darby Lode, gold and silver shaft 26 feet; vein two feet wide. Daniel Webster Lode, gold and silver; two shafts 20 feet each; vein three feet wide. WEST OF THIE ROCKY IOUNTAINS. 461 Atlanta Lode, argentiferous galena; shaft 22 feet; vein three feet wide. UnDion Lode, argentiferous galena; shaft 13 feet; vein eight feet wide, showing a mass of mineral. THE WAUBA YUMA DISTRICT is upon the road to Prescott, and some 50 miles from the Colorado. Here (says a writer describing the district) seems to be an entire change in the geological formation; the porphyritic and volcanic rocks giving a place to metamorphic schists, gneiss, and granitic rocks abounding with numerous veins of quartz, and is accompanied by a corresponding change in the character and direction of the mineral veins. Near the western margin of the Wauba Yuma district occurs a considerable vein of auriferous quartz, accompanied by ores of copper and sulphurets of iron. It is located in a high granitic mountain; it is called the " Pride of the Pines," and appears to be about 10 feet in width, possessing promising characteristics common to the auriferous lodes of the Sierra Nevada, and has the. same northwest and southeast direction. Enormous dikes or roofs of quartz, and of course quartz ore, feldspathic granite, cut through the reddish gneissoid granite which forms the basemnent rock over a large partof the Wauba Yuma district. Upon these gigantic quartz ledges no exploration has been made, nor is there evidence of much metallic value in them. There is some timber in this district, chiefly pine, oak, and walnut, and it is well supplied with water and grass. The Pride of the Pines lode has a shaft 36 feet in depth, and shows a vein three feet wide, in which there is considerable free gold and some traces of silver. The Bezn Franklin lode has a shaft 22 feet deep, and shows a vein four feet wide., with gold and silver. The El Bonito, McAnneny, Florcnce, f cClellan, ll~ountain Lily, Rubicon, and WTilliam.21~. Lent locles in this district are well spoken of, and a company has been formed in New York to develop them. El Dorado cazon, upon the west bank of the Colorado, some 40 miles north of lartdyville,'is the centre of.a silver district, in which a number of lodes have been located and several of them worked. Two mills were erected several years since. The TclJtticup lode is seven feet wide, well defined, and yields good ore. Four hundred tons crushed averaged $70 to the ton. Thie Queen City, Indian Queen, and other lodes have a good reputation. This part of Arizona has, by a vote of'Congress, been set off to the State of Nevada, but its inhabitants protest against the changle, and the legislature of Arizona has unanimously memorialized Congress to reconsider its vote. GrrNERAL REMARKS ON TEE COLORADO RIVER COUNTRY.-Although not well known until long after southern Arizona had been explored, and not yet fully prospectced, the valley of the great Colorado is entitled to some considerationi as a mining region. The temperature is much like that of southern Arizona, and the region is about as well wooded and watered. The timber is chiefly mesquite and iron wood, and found in the ravines and gulches. There is, also, considerable cottonwood along the Colorado and its tributaries, and for mining use and fuel the drift-wood annually swept down the Colorado furnishes an acceptable Supply. The agricultural lands of the Colorado region are less extensive than those of southern Arizona, but where they are found they are mellow and fertile. The Yuma, Mohave, and Chimahueva Indians, friendly tribes, cultivate them with success, and gardens laid out near La Paz, Arizona City, Mohave, and HIardyville by the white settlers have produced abundantly. The broad plains lying between La Paz and Weaver and Wickenburg only need water to be made productive, and this it is thought can be supplied by artesian wells. There are various opinions regarding the navigation of the Colorado. Small steamers have for some years delivered freight at La Paz and. Hardyville, and many persons consider the latter place the practical head of -navigoation, but of late several trips have been made to Callville, and it is asserted that the river is navigable to that point. The difficulties and delays are serious obstacles, but it is thought they mayv be overcome. Callville is some 600 miles from the mouth 462 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES of the Colorado, and the roads to Salt Lake City, a distance of about 400 miles, are easy and safe. It is believed that the river may be improved so as to render navigation to Callville practicable in a commercial point of view, especially when boats such as are used upon the upper Missouri, and upon the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, are introduced. In the event of success, trade will be made one of large profit, not only securing the transportation of great quantities of silver and copper ores, but of supplies for all of Arizona north of the Gila, for Utah, and for parts of Montana. The merchants of San Francisco, conceding the importance of the river as a channel of trade, have lately held several meetings to encourage navigation, and to call general attention to the practicability of the same. At a meeting of the merchants of San Francisco held September 27, 18677 G. W. Gilmore, esq., submitted the following report of observations upon the Colorado river, chiefly made during the trip of the steamer Esmeralda, Captain Rogers, in November, 1866: PORT ISABEL TO FORT YUMA.-For the whole of this distance the river runs through an open country, presenting on either side wide stretches of bottom lands, covered with vegetation and abundantly supplied with timber, mostly cottonwood, willow and mesquite. The Indians who live along the river cultivate the land to some extent, producing good crops of Indian corn, squashes, melons, beans, tomatoes, and other vegetables. Occasionally a little barley and wheat are planted, which always appear to yield well. About 60 miles above Port Isabel, tule lands commence, extending along the river on either side for a distance of 20 or 25 miles, and back from the river to a great width-on the west shore said to be in places 20 or 30 miles in width. These tule lands are dry enough for cultivation, and hold out promise of great fertility. Above the tules the land is again higher, like that below, covered with vegetation and trees, and more or less cultivated by the Indians up to Fort Yuma. For the whole of these 175 miles the river has a very crooked and winding course, averaging in width probably half a mile; and this average width, it may be here remarked, it retains for the entire distance up to Callville, varied from time to time by bars and bends, or by its passage through mountain canions and rocky obstructions. The tide ebbs and flows for 30 or 35 miles above Port Isabel in ordinary stages of the river, and for this distance on the flood tide salt water is found. At the rise of water the river will perhaps, on the average between Fort Yuma and the mouth, be five to six feet above low water level-the rise lessening towards Port Isabel. The channel, sometimes on one shore, sometimes on the other, has a width varying from one-eighth to one-third of a mile, and a depth of from four and a half to eight feet. 0The only obstructions of note in the entire distance to Fort Yuma are two sand-bars, which at times have not over two feet of water upon them, and are frequently, in low stages of water, consequently troublesome. It often happens that these bars are washed away and changed suddenly by the current. In one instance, during a single night, a bar with but two feet of water upon it disappeared, and 10 feet of water were found next day in its place. FonRI YUMA TO LA PAZ.-The river continues very crooked, having about the same average width and depth of channel. There are perhaps three bars which may be called bad ill low water, though these are frequently cut away by the current so as to have plenty of water upon them. At high stages of water great changes take place in the channel. The banks are of lightcolored _adobe soil; they were in some places during last season's unusually high water cut away1~-a mile directly into the land, changing the course of the river to that extent, but leaving a new channel quite equal to the old. This cutting occurs at bends of the river in the bottom lands, which, as-below Fort Yurna, are covered with vegetation and timber; the trees of the varieties already named are suitable for fuel, and are of very rapid growth. It is found that upon new lands formed by the cuttings of the river cottonwood, willow, and mesquite trees will be produced in three years large enough to cut for fuel. Fertile bottom lands extend with little interruption along the banks of the river from Fort Yuma to the Barriers-the first rapids onthe river, situated about half-way to La Paz. Here a range of broken mountains approaches the river on either side, and its channel passes between high rocks, which contract it and give it a current more rapid and difficult to make head against than any other rapid on the river excepting the Roaring rapids. At the Barriers there are two channels. The one used at low water is about 100 feet wide at that stage, the current flowing through smooth, deep, and very rapid. The rapids are short, probably 500 yards, more or!kss. The other channel, used when the river is up, is wider and easier. After passing the Biriers, the mesa, an elevated gravelly plateau, generally barren, nearly up to the river in many places, breaking the bottom lands, and forming the banks for spaces sometimes of half a mile, at others of two or three miles along its course. Occasionally the mesa will form one shore of the river for a mile or two, while on the other will be a fine open bot WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 463 tom. This mesa, where it strikes the river, is usually 20 to 30 feet above the water. It is never overflowed, and during the mosquito season the Indians live upon it to avoid those insects, which are exceedingly troublesome upon the lower lands. All the way from Fort Yuma to La Paz the mesa can be seen from the river in the distance, bordering the bottom lands, though at times it seems to be 15 or 20 miles distant. The bottom lands prevail throughout the distance of 175 miles, probably covering two-thirds of the way. They are similar to those below Fort Yuma, as before mentioned, and are to some extent inhabited and cultivated by the Indians, whose villages are occasionally seen along the river shore. Trees are quite abundant for most of the distance, and plenty of fuel to be had. Fuel cut by the Indians is not very good, as they usually take only dead trees or driftwood, instead of cutting live trees and piling the wood to dry. Driftwood upon the lower river is mostly of the lighter woods that grow there; while upon the upper waters it is of wood having good substance for fuel. Above the Barriers is the well-known rancho of William Rhodes, extending 16 miles along the east bank of the river. The land is cultivated to a small extent, and sustains large numbers of cattle which thrive remarkably well. LA PAZ TO MOIHAVE CANON.-The character of the river is a little changed in these 100 miles. It has a width of from one-eighth to one-third of a mile, and a depth ranging froim four and a half to eight feet, with occasional bars having, say, 30 inches of water upons them. It is much less crooked than below. There is generally a good wide channel with a pretty rapid current, and occasionally a short bend which, at high water, will cause a powerful eddy, a little dangerous for a steamboat of insufficient power. There is, however, no broken water, and no dangerous rocks are to be found. The valley described in the last section extends, with little change of character, up to Mohave canion. About 30 miles above La Paz the Chimahueva mountains approach to within, a couple of miles of the shores of the river, with a fine open country lying about their base. In these mountains are copper mines which promise to become very productive whenever work upon them, now suspended, shall be resumed. After passing Williams Fork, situated about 80 miles above La Paz, there is a distance of 18 or 20 miles to Mohave caion, through which the river passes, cutting its way for eight or nine miles through a high range of mountains; flowing partly between immense precipices of rock, rising nearly perpendicular from its sides, and partly between masses of broken rocks and mountains. The channel, however, is of good width and depth, free from dangerous rocks, and with deep water close up to the rocky shores, against which a steamboat's guards will touch while the hull is in clear water, free fiom projecting points of rock. This feature is constantly to be observed upon the Colorado in places where it passes between shores of rock, and is a most favorable circumstance for steamboat navigation, MOrIJAE CARON TO HARDYVILLE.-Above the cation the valley again presents itself, differing little in character until reaching Fort Mohave, about 30 miles above. For this distance the bottom lands prevail, bordered in the distance by the mesa, which occasionally comes up and skirts the river for short distances and then again recedes, leaving long, wide stretches of low lands covered with vegetation, and producing the same timber as that found lower down the river. Upon the east side of the river a few Mohave Indiaus are scattered; on the west, a small number of the Chimahuevt tribe. There is a great deal of fine farming land lying between the cation and the fort, some of which is already occupied by Americans. Here was located the Philadelphia rancho, occupying several miles along the east side of the river. Of this rancho a large part has been washed away and lost by the cutting out of the river during the past two seasons. After passing Fort Mohave the shores change. Low mesas, producing a little vegetation, form the banks upon both sides of the river, except when occasionally broken by small bottoms of good land, some of them occupied by a few Indians. Scarcely any timber is seen upon the river from the fort up to Cottonwood island. What little formerly grew upon this part of the river has been mostly cut off. For the 60 miles from Mohave cafion to Hardyville there is nothing serious to impede navigation. The river is much straighter than in the lower parts, and has no sharp bends and no bad bars. In some places a strong current is encountered, but there is nothing to stop a steamboat. The average width of the river continues about half a mile. The channel in width and depth is about the same as that described in the lower part of the river. HARDYVILLE TO COTTONWOOD ISLAND. —The shores continue of low mesas on each side. There is very little timber to be seen. Here and there is a small opening of arable land, breaking the line of the mesa. A few Indians of the Mohave and Chimahueva tribes are found upon the banks. The country generally presents a poor and barren aspect, but in a few places upon the small bottoms farms might be cultivated. A triflig amount of firewood can yet be had upon this portion of the river., For this distance the river may be said to be quite straight. Its bends are long and easy, and it offers every facility for navigation. The few bars found have sufficient water upon them even at low stages. Some places are to be passed where there is a quick current, but there is no obstruction to navigation until the head of Cottonwood island is reached. At this place there is a sand-bar upon which the depth of water frequently changes, and which is said might sometimes in low water prove troublesome. When the Esmeralda crossed it 464 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES there were five feet of water upon it, and that at a low stage of the river. The river continues about half a mile in average width, and the channel about the same in depth and width as in the lower river-ranging say from four and one-half to eight feet deep in most planes. Cottonwood island, about 10 miles long by an average of about three miles wide, is a fine, level island, fertile and covered with grass, and having considerable timber. Claims are said to have been located upon the land, but it is yet unoccupied. On the main land on both sides of the river opposite Cottonwood island are fine bottom lands, with good grass. A large quantity of driftwood of superior kind for fuel, composed mainly of pitch-pine and cedar, every year lodges at the head and along the sides of the island-sufficient, perhaps, alone, if taken care of;, to furnish the fuel for years to steamboats passing on the Callville route. An immense quantity of this wood was upon the island, estimated at several thousand cords. The entire head of the island seemed to be formed of trunks of trees and sand washed in between them. The driftwood consists of trees, much broken up, of various sizes, not usually exceeding. 14 inches in diameter. COTTONWOOD ISLAND TO CALLVILLE.-In these 60 miles are found the following points of interest: Round island, four miles above Cottonwood island. El Dorado canion, five or six miles above Round island........................ 10 miles. The cave, five miles from E1 Dorado cation.................................. 15 i" eRoaring rapids, two or three miles above the cave............................ 18 " [Explorers' rock is six miles above Roaring rapids.' Black cation, 20 miles above Roaring rapids.................................. 38' Callville, 20 or 22 miles above Black caton................................ 60 " From Cottonwood island to Round island, (four miles,) there is nothing serious to impede navigation. The channel is good, though occasionally some "strong water" is met with. At the point where El Dorado cation empties into the Colorado, (five miles above Round island,) mountains and high broken lands commence, and continue to border the river until the Black canion is passed, a distance of probably 28 or 30 miles. From Round island to El1 Dorado cation, (five or six miles,) the channel continues good, and without obstruction, except occasional " swift places" of no great moment. After passing El Dorado cation, and until Roaring rapids are reached, (a distance of about eight miles,) the channel continues good, with smooth water, but a quicker curient. No impediment is found here that could be at all serious in any stage of the water until arrival at the famous Roaring rapids. These rapids are caused by bars, composed of rock, gravel, and boulders, which make out obliquely from each side of the river toward the centre. The current striking these bars is deflected with a strong swell or roll from each bank towards the middle of the channel. These swells cause the water to break where they meet, and the water has then a straight rapid shoot down the contracted channel in the middle of the river. With the lead no bottom could be found in the rapids. The water appeared very deep, probably as much as 30 feet. The rapid water may be altogether 500 yards in extent, but of this the great obstruction is found in only 200 to 300 feet; there the straight rapid shoot above described is located. In these 200 to 300 feet the descent of the water is plainly perceptible to the eye. By the use of a water-level it was found to fall in the neighborhood of four feet in the distance named. There is a rock here standing about five feet out of water, which is probably covered when the river is high, but is easily avoided, and in fact it would be difficult to run upon it, as the swell and the course of the current would set a boat away fiom it. To pass the 200 to 300 feet of rapid broken water described, the Esmeralda placed a ringbolt in the rocks above, (the only ring-bolt used on the trip,) and ran a line 800 feet in length to it. This line was taken to the steam capstan on the single purchase, and the steamboat was run up the 800 feet to the ring-bolt in seven minutes easily, and without apparent strain. For perhaps three-fourths of the 800 feet the steamboat slowly backed her wheel to keep her head right. After running the Esmeralda up, the line was taken to the loaded barge, which was hauled up in about 30 minutes, using the three-fold purchase upon the capstan. At this time the river was at a low stage, probably nearly as low as it usually gets. From Roaring rapids to Black cation, (about 20 miles,) there are a number of rapids. Of these only three are of any consequence, and in them the water scarcely breaks at all. At the rapids the shores were always rocky, but there was ample width in the channel to clear all rocks, which were generally above water. Explorers' rock, situated in- this portion of the river, is near mid-channel, and is seldom or never seen above water. Its position, however, is well known, and there is little danger from it, as there is about 100 feot of clear channelway on either side of it, and the river runs with a still slow current. Black cation, from its entrance to its termination, is from 8 to 10 miles in length. In the cation the river has an average width of perhaps 200 feet. It is here a still deep stream, flowing smoothly, but not very rapidly, between bold rocks, which, for a large part of the way, rise in precipitous walls to an immense height above the water. The channel is free from rocks from shore to shore. and has no sudden or short turns. The Esmeralda towed WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 465 the barge through the cation, not running a line more than once or twice. and that only to save fuel. Leaving Black canion, the country again becomes open, with occasional bottom lands and grass on either side, up to Vegas Wash, six or eight miles distant. The river resumes its average width of about half a mile; it runs with smooth water, but a strong current, to make head against which the Esmeralda constantly run lines. The lines were, however, only used to economize fuel, which must have been freely used to propel the boat against the quick current. Only the single capstan was used.. No bars or rapids were found between Black cation and Vegas Wash. The channel was in width and depth about equal to that of the lower river. A small tribe of Indians live along the banks of the river. From Vegas Wash to Callville, (12 to 15 miles,) the Colorado has a smooth slack current, and plenty of water. The country along the river is mostly mesa and sand, but with considerable land that seemed fit for cultivation. A few Indians are living upon this section. There is searcely any timber growing from Black cation to Callville, (what was seen was willow and mesquite,) but a little drift-wood lodges along the banks for the whole distance. Besides what the Esmeralda used, she left about enough of this drift-wood for one more trip up. Nothing was seen of the Colorado above Callville. Information obtained showed that a steamboat might possibly be taken up, with difficulty, to a point 30 miles higher, but that there, owing to the crooks in the river, she would be but eight miles distant in a straight line by land from Callville. Mr. Smith, the Mormon agent, stated that three men, at different times, and each ignorant of the other's proceedings, had been sent by Brigham Young from Salt Lake, to examine the river and adjacent country; and that each had separately reported that Callville must be the head of navigation. THE CAVE.-Two or three miles below Roaring rapids, and in sight of them, the river at a bend strikes the face of a steep rocky mountain. The action of the water has here scooped or hollowed out a very remarkable cave, about 70 feet in width at its entrance, extending directly into the rock for about 200 feet, and having a height of perhaps 50 or 60 feet. The current setting into and out of this cave carries in and deposits sufficient drift-wood to keep it full to extreme high.water mark. When the Esmeralda stopped here for wood it was found piled in to the height of 20 feet above the then stage of water, filling the cave to about that height for nearly the whole extent. It is supposed that if the cave were cleared out every year, it would be filled afresh by the season's drift. If this be so, it will be readily understood how valuable'the cave may become to a steamboat line to Callville. There are high grounds near by upon which the wood, when taken out, could be safely piled. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON THE RIVER, &c.-The average current of the Colorado at ordinary low stages, where no contraction or special obstruction exists, may be about three and a half miles per hour. At h.goh water it is of course more r apid. Against such a current the Esmeralda, when under way, towing a loaded barge, would make about 40 miles per day from point to point, running only during daylight. When regular navigation is established boats will undoubtedly run day and night, except that when reaching any difficult place at night it may be necessary to wait for daylight, to pass. At least this will be the case for the greater part of the passage to Callville, say from Port Isabel to El1 Dorado cation, distance about 350 miles. Whenever steamboats get to running frequently and regularly, the constant stirring of the sand upon the bars will, it is believed, keep them washing away, so that a good depth of water may always be found upon them. A steamboat for the Callville trade should have an 18-inch cylinder, draw not over 20 inches, and be not over 140 feet in length, with a large stern wheel. A boat like this would go from Point Isabel to Callville, with a barge in tow csrrying 200 tons of goods, in 14 days, running only by daylight, at almost any stage of the river. When boats of this description are placed upon the river, the trips will be made with the same regularity and certainty as on the rivers of California. Up to this time there has never been a suitable boat on the Colorado. All are deficient in power and size, and some draw too much water. The Indians living along the whole length of the river are friendly and peaceable. Rough estimate of distances. Poit Isabel to Fort Yuma............................................... 175 miles. Fort Yuma to La Paz, 175 miles.......................................... 350 " La Paz to Williams Fork, 80 miles...................................... 430 " Williams Fork to AMohave caton, 18 miles.................................. 450 " Mohave caton to Hardyville, 60 miles.................................... 510 " Ilardyville to Cottonwood island, 30 miles................................. 540 " Cottonwood island to Callville, 60 miles.................................. 600 OTHER STATEMENTS.-At the same public meeting, R. G. Sneath, esq., of San Francisco, said he believed that freight could be put down at Callville for four cents per pound, and tbat a chance was now offered to supply 125,000 to 130,000 people with the necessaries of life, and they ought to take advantage of it. In answer to question put by the chairman, he said that he believed that it would take from 30 to 60 days to run a cargo through to Callville. It would have to be transhipped at the mouth of the river, and it might be well to transfer it again to a powerful boat below the rapids. 30 466 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Captain Rogers said, as far as his knowledge went, there was no particular tropble in navi gating the river. There was a scarcity of wood for 50 miles below Callville, but the Mormons told him that there was a mountain at the back of that place where there was plenty of wood, which could be obtained at reasonable rates, say about $7 per cord. Wood could be procured the whole length of the river for from $3 to $4 per cord, and by cutting it themselves, for us. He thought that when proper arrangements were perfected the trip could be made inside of' 5 days. The expense of running a steamer was less there than here; it did not cost nearly so much on the Colorado as on the Sacramento river. Labor and wood were cheaper there. They pay $50 per month to men on the Sacramento, and on the Colorado only $25; they pay $6 per cord for wood on the former river, and only $3 on the latter. Captain Rogers, in answer to' questions, said that the currents were stronger and not so regular, on the Colorado, than on the Sacramento, but there was deeper water on the former. There were no. sand-bars to speak of above Fort Mohave, and the river was not practically more difficult to navigate than the waters of the upper Missouri. He had no doubt in the world that it would prove the best paying institution on the coast; it would certainly pay better than the Sacramento river.* SECTION IV. CENTRAL ARIZONA. It was not until 1862 and 1863 that an attempt nwas made thoroughly to explore Central Arizona. Whipple and Beale had crossed by the 35th parallel; Aubry and Leroui had seen something of the Salt and Verde rivers, the chief northern tributaries of the Gila; but no one had attempted more than a hurried passage through the country, although all believed it to be rich in the precious ores. Late in 1862, or early in 1863, Powel or Pauline Weaver, a noted mountain man, who had crossed Arizona by the Gila as early as 1832, was attracted by the placers at La Paz to look for others in the interior of the country, and started with a party of men for exploration. He found what have since been known as the Weaver diggings, near Antelope Hill and the town of Weaver, some sixty miles south of the present town of Prescott. About the same time Joseph Walker, another well-known and veteran pioneer, arrived at Pima Villages with a party of gold hunters, and determined to go north -t see what the unexplored country, from which the Indians had often brought fabulous reports, really containede in the way of precious metals. This party discovered and ascended the Hassyampa, one of the main streams of Central Arizona, which has its rise about ten miles southeast of the town 6f Prescott, and runs nearly South until it sinks in the desert some twelve miles below the town of Wickenburg. Part of the Walker party went to the Weaver diggings, where on the top of Antelope Hill, in a most remarkable position, Mr. Snelling discovered a * Although the description given of the Colorado river in the above report is substantially correct so far as relates to its general features, the difficulties of its navigation are considerably underrated. It should be borne in mind that these representations are made by parties interested in getting up a.scheme to secure the Utah trade. So far from the depth of water being greater on the Colorado than on the Sacramento, my own experience from Fort Mojave to Fort Yuma, and all the testimony I have been enabled to gather on the subject, furnish direct proof to the contrary. The depth at the ordinary low stage on the Colorado is not more than two and a half feet on the bars. In January, 1865, the Cocopah, under command of Captain Robinson, one of the most experienced -pilots on the river,-was nearly two months making the trip from Fort Yuma to Fort Mojave, and the draught of this boat was-not over 24 inches. She was compelled to transfer all herfreight to barges after passing La Paz; On the return trip from Fort Mojave to Fort Yuma, without any freight whatever, she took nine days to make a distance of less than 300 miles down stream. The great difficulty arises from the constant shifting of the channels, caused by the caving of banks, deposits of sand in new places, and'consequent-changes in the- direction of the current. It is a peculiarity of the river that any improvement made in the way of dams, wings, or weirs must, from its very nature, be of temporary benefit. The natural laws which govern this stream are constantly in operation. New caves in the alluvial banks throw the current'out 6f the existing channels; and even where this cannot occur, there are always new deposits of sand made at their lower extremity, thus creating new obstacles. The Roaring Rapids form an almost insuperable barrier to navigation beyond that point, but it would be less difficult to make a permanent improvement there, wh~ere the banks are rocky, than in the long stretches of the river below, where the banks are composed of sand. It certainly requires something more than the unsupported statement of an interested party, however reliable, to justify the assertion thatthe Colorado is superior to the Sacramento as-a navigable stream, or that it can ever compete with the latter river in the extent or value of its trade. There is neither the population nor the natural facilities to justify such a conclusion. Small steamers may possibly be constructed to navigate the Colorado to greater advantage than those now in use, but I am clearly of opinion that no extensive trade will euer be carried on with Salt Lake City by the way of Callvil-le.-J. R. B. WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 467 large quantity of gold, much of it in pieces of unusual size. One nugget weigh. ing a half pound was taken out. Much of the mineral was dug out with comr mon jack-knives, and one man is said to have taken out $4,000 in a single day. It is the common impression that if water could be had at the top of the mountain much of the soil would pay very richly. A large amount of work has been done, and a great deal of money taken out along the creek at the foot of the mountain, where the mining town of Weaver is located. The Walker party gradually ascended to Hassyampa, finding gold at nearly every point, and in the winter of 1863 and 1864 taking possession.of the Lynx or Walker Creek diggings, (ten miles east of Prescott,) from which it is estimated that little, if any, less than a half million of dollars have been taken. They also gathered much gold on Big Bug creek, four miles east of Lynx creek. As the placers were pretty well worked the miners began to look for quartz veins, and found no lack of them. All along the iassyampa, upon the Agua Frio, a parallel stream of considerable size, upon Lynx creek, Big Bug, Turkey creek, and indeed upon nearly all the streams of Central Arizona lodes of gold, silver, and copper were found. In the excitement a great many were named and recorded which have no value. GENERAL VIEW OF THE PRESCOTT REGION OF COuNTRY.*- There are three elevated ranges of mountains preserving an approximate parallelism and trending in general north and south. Between them are wide meridianal depressions, occupied by grass plains. The eastern range is called the Tounto Plateau, and is composed of horizontal strata of lime and sandstone, resting upon the surface of a broken granite system. The surface or summit of the chain is quite evenly level, a plateau of fifteen miles wide and over a hundred long covered with pines. West of this and separated from it by the Tonto or Prescott plains, lies the Sierra Prieta; a continuous elevated ridge of about 60 miles in length. Westward again is the Skull mountain chain, a less important formation. These will be described separately. The broad valleys between the two first ranges open northward and connect with the great Val de China, which lies beyond, bounded on the northeast by escarped mural edge of the great Plateau or Colorado Mesa, and on the west by the mass of the Aztec mountains. This extended valley or plain system is all connected, and the entire drainage empties around the northern end of the Tonto mountains into the west branch of the Rio Verde. The valley lying west of the Sierra Prieta drains the Williams fork. THE TONTO PLATEArU.-This singular table range is unlike most chains in Arizona. It is, in fact, a part of the grand Mesa; its summit being on the exact level of the plateau, and only separated from it on the east by the deeply crowded canon of the Rio Verde. This stream has' cut down a valley of about 3,000 feet deep, and thus isolated the Tonto range, leaving it as an outlying strip of plateau, having the aspect from the country on either side of a true range. The excavation of vast valleys on its western side have left a high escarpment of its strata on that flank. Along its base, where the erosim has cut deepest, granite cones of the underlying system are laid bare, curiously varying the general aspect. The exact limit of this table in its southern extension is not yet known, but like the Sierra Prieta it must finally sink under the low plains of the Rio Salado