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above the river, bars and hills are found that would pay largely with water for hydraulics and flumes. Some of these hills and bars have been drifted and worked in rockers, and good returns made in that manner; but as the gold is not confined to the bed-rock, but found in all the dirt, in some locations 20 to 60 feet deep, no very profitable work can be done without an abundance of water and flumes. There is also every reason to believe that the bed of the river is rich for at least twelve miles in this cañon. To open and work the bed of the stream, large flumes and derricks would be. required to operate successfully.

But few miners have, singly or in the aggregate, money to invest in carrying on an enterprise of this character; and before they would consolidate themselves for an enterprise of this or any other kind requiring heavy outlay, they must first exhaust the more easily accessible placers, on the same principle precisely that the shallow placers were nearly or quite worked out before the hills were opened in California, The hills and bars in the cañon can never be worked until the Malheur and Burnt River Ditch Company convey water to work them. A number of low-line ditches are taken out and in course of construction on Burnt River below Express Ranch. These low-lino ditches are principally built by the miners, small in size, not high enough for hydraulic mining, and seldom exceed from one to three miles in length. However, there is a ditch company incorporated, with a large capital stock, in Chicago, Mr. W. P. Richmond, president; Mr. McHenry, secretary; and Mr. Donnell, superintendent. Their object is to construct one or more large ditch from the vicinity of Express Ranch, or mouth of the cañon just named above the ranch, and convey the water down over the bars and foot-hills for sale and to mine their own land. This company would have a line of ditch that would command a large tract of valuable land for hydraulic and ground-sluicing, and their line of ditches would, or can be, extended to cover good mining land to Snake River, say forty miles.

Mr. C. W. Durkee, of Express Ranch, has also commenced a line of ditch out of Burnt River, that would be some 200 feet higher on the hills than Mr. Richmond's line of ditch. Both ditches would be nearly the same length, command the same country, with this exception, Mr. Durkee's being highest on the mountain, would command a large tract of mining land lying between the two ditches. Towering high on the mountain, above all these lines of ditches, will come in time a branch ditch from the Shasta Pass, owned by the Malheur and Burnt River Ditch and Mining Company, that will lie on the mountain-side a thousand feet higher than any other ditch can ever go; and yet high above this line lie Sutherland's mines, where, with snow-water in the spring for from four to six weeks, men make what would be in the older States good pay for a year's labor. Higher still is the far-famed Mormon Basin, situated on the summit of the mountain and near the center of all the camps named. Few camps have been found richer than Mormon Basin. I am reliably informed that one thousand buckets of dirt have yielded as high as one thousand dollars in rocking. As the supply of water in the basin is very limited, the mining population has seldom exceeded from three to five hundred persons.

There are a number of small ditches on South Powder River, which enable from three to five hundred Chinamen to make a living at mining. Messrs. McCrary, Tracy, Ingraham, and others own a number of small ditches on Rock Creek and North Powder. Some of them are five miles long. They command an extensive hydraulic and groundsluicing district, that pays from $2 to $10 per day to the man, with good water priviledges. In the foot-hills near Pocahontas a number of good claims have been found, One piece found last summer was worth $247. Saluon the gold being very coarse. Creek, in same district, is opened in several places, and found good. Distant about thirty miles north of Burnt River country lies what are called the Eagle Creek mines, in Union County. The range and character of gold is the same as in the Burnt River country. The Eagle Creek mines have been worked with rockers for some years, and a very large amount of money taken from them in that way; now there is a ditch under construction to supply the wants of that country. The following, from the Bedrock Democrat of Baker City, gives the latest information on the subject of these mines:

"EAGLE CREEK AND ITS PROSPECTS.-For some time past we have heard it rumored that the construction of a large ditch in what is known as the Eagle Creek country was contemplated. We are now able to state that the waters of Eagle Creek have been secured, and that C. M. Foster, United States surveyor of mining lands in Eastern Oregon, has run trial-lines, and surveyed and staked out over sixteen miles of the main line of the ditch. It will be about twenty-two miles in length, and is intended to have a capacity large enough, with the aid of reservoirs, to run and sell 3,000 inches of water in the Shanghai, Rooster, and Powder River Slope mining districts. Work on the ditch will be commenced as early as April; if the weather permits, in March next. Mr. George Carter is now looking for a good site on which to cut the flume lumber, and intends to be ready for operations by the 1st of April, the amount of lumber being about 300,000 feet. It is the intention of those engaged in the enterprise to have a ditch completed and conveying water between the 1st of August and September. The

principal part of the work on the ditch will be let to two Chinamen, one of Baker City and the other of Auburn, who will put on between two and three hundred Chinamen, and finish the ditch, with ease, by the time the flumes can be built. The projectors of the work, we are assured, have perfected the financial arrangements, and will safely carry the enterprise through to completion.

"Messrs. Bowen & Cranston, of this place, are going over to select a place for a store, which will probably form a nucleus for a town in that section of the country. They will take a number one selected stock, full and complete in every department required in a new mining country. Both having had large experience as pioneer merchants of Auburn, Idaho, and Clark's Creek, they are certainly well qualified for such an undertaking. They design being ready for trade, in the new location, by or before the 1st of next April. C. M. Foster has surveyed a number of mineral land claims in that country, under the United States mineral land act-the size of them all the way from ten to eighty acres. Quite a number of claims, from ten to forty acres, have been located by some of our pioneer miners from Auburn-among them are George Slocum, D. Moore, C. E. Smith, and Judge White. The Eagle Creek country, through portions of which this ditch will be constructed, is known to be very rich in auriferous deposits; it is also extensive. In gulch, creek, flat, and hill are paying gold mines, and all now wanted is a good supply of water. When that is secured, the Eagle Creek country will be second to none for mining purposes; and it will be equal to any camp in Oregon. It is well known here who are the projectors of this enterprise; but as Portland and ⚫ eastern parties desire an interest, the matter of incorporation will be postponed, but the work will be prosecuted without delay at the time specified. The Eagle Creek enterprise and mines are in Union County, and are destined to add largely to the wealth and population of that county. Union and Baker are the richest counties in Oregon in mineral resources."

W. H. Packwood and Alexander Stewart are the projectors of this enterprise. The cost of the ditch will be not less than $100,000, with reservoirs. They have a neverfailing stream of water from 1,500 to 2,000 inches (miner's measure) as a source of supply. After building about eleven miles, their sales of water will amount to from $50 to $100 daily. They can sell all their water from two to five times and realize from 30 to 40 cents per inch, and it is not unreasonable to believe from what is known of the extent and character of the country that this line of ditch will repay the entire outlay in dividends in one year from its completion. A town named Sparta has been laid off in that vicinity, and buildings are being erected for stores, etc., at this time, and numbers are preparing to build.

From the article in the Democrat, you will see that miners are locating mining lands in this district under the United States mineral land act. This is the first land ever located in Oregon in that way, so far as we can learn. All mining lands have been owned by squatter, or possessory title character heretofore. In consequence of the manner of holding under the old style, men have been very reserved in the matter of even taking up, or investing money in mining lands, unless actually prepared to occupy and work the same. Representation is ever a prominent feature in the mines, and if a man has invested thousands of dollars in land and fails to represent it properly, he forfeits all title if any one should step in and represent the land.

Representing varies in different localities. Some camps require $25 in labor in the year on or for each claim owned, water or no water. Some require representing each year about the time water is expected; and if no water can be obtained for mining, notices are to be renewed on boundaries, and claims laid by. All claims require representation by actual labor on an average one day in seven when water can be obtained. Now, under such circumstances it is not a cause for surprise that outside land-or land on which water can only be obtained at great expense-should remain unlocated or investments made to bring it into market when the title to it could only be of a possessory character, entailing through representation each year, for each claim owned, from three to four times the Government price for same. This United States law will create a revolution in title, and by doing that representation as now prac ticed will cease. While it is true that this law may induce larger investments in mining lands than heretofore-in some cases to the injury of the poor man-it is believed by many (aside from being a source of revenue to the Government) that an absolute security of title will induce investments of capital to improve, bring water, erect hydraulics, construct flumes, etc., on a large portion of our mineral lands that poor men could not now or hereafter operate. Should such be the result, as we are inclined to believe that it will be, it will even, while making the rich richer, benefit the laboring man and the country more than under the present practice, as then thousands can be employed in fields created solely by the aid of capital.

The yearly gold product of our mines cannot have been less than from one to one and one-half million dollars from 1863 to 1870. The gold has been, we may say, the sole product of labor. The number of miners has varied from one to three thousand, averaging for several years about fifteen hundred. The average mining season has not been three months per year. With the amount of water that can be obtained by means

of the ditches now contemplated, our mining population and gold product should be from three to five times greater than heretofore.

So far we have no more than cracked the shell of our mines, the core and heart still lying in the hills and old river-channels, and we have only been slowly but surely developing this fact. In the Blue Mountains, on the head of Grande Ronde River, good land has been found, and indications of extensive hill-mines. Good copper and coal have been found in Union and Baker Counties, on Snake River. T. J. Carter, W. H. Packwood, and Isaac and John Garrison expended several thousand dollars in prospecting for coal on Snake River. Sufficient work was done to show the existence of good coal deposits of a bituminous character; but as there was no demand except for blacksmiths' use, it would not pay them to continue work.

Our quartz interests are in their infancy. So far the Rockyfellow lode has been worked more than any other vein or lode in Baker or Union Counties. This lode has been worked for the past five years, paying, we are informed, well and regularly. The present owners, Messrs. Brown & Virtue, are down about 400 feet, have a well-defined jode from 20 to 30 inches wide. The quartz yields them from $40 to $60 per ton. The gold is worth $19 50 per ounce. The owners have a ten-stamp mill at Baker City; obtain their power to drive the mill from a ditch from Powder River. The lode is situated about seven miles from Baker, on the divide between Powder and Burnt Rivers. This lode has yielded thousands of tons of good rock, and from present indications is inexhaustible, and the mine probably contains wealth sufficient to pay for working for ages to come. E. M. White, at Auburn, is down over 110 feet on what there is every reason to believe is a true vein. The vein is almost perpendicular, with well-defined wall-rock. The rock contains fine gold. The vein is from 6 to 30 inches wide, and improves as they go down. Mr. White intends soon commencing a tunnel, calculated to tap the lode about 200 feet below the surface. He has taken out in sinking his shaft, almost beyond doubt, quartz sufficient to pay for erecting a mill, which he intends doing this summer. The rock has been worked in an arrastra, and yielded nearly $90 per ton. Quite a number of other ledges have been found in the same vicinity. Up on South Powder a number of fine ledges have been found.

Near Pocahontas a ten-stamp mill is now being erected by Messrs. Olds & McMurran, and is to do custom-work. Water, for milling, and wood, for steam, are abundant, and cheap living can be had, as Pocahontas is situated in the edge of one of the best farming districts in Eastern Oregon. Quartz is abundant in the foot-hills and mountains back of Pocahontas. Many lodes are partially opened. Some have been worked with an arrastra, some with hand-mortars, and the results are extremely favorable. In fact, the rock was so well known that I understand that Messrs. Olds & McMurran have more than rock sufficient engaged for crushing from responsible parties to pay the entire cost of erecting a mill. The Young America is about 4 feet. A tunnel is being run to strike it deep down in the hill. The Gunboat is near 2 feet wide 30 feet down, and the rock is, without doubt, extremely rich. On Salmon Creek, in same vicinity, a ledge has been found recently that 12 feet down is nearly 4 feet wide, and from which we have seen as rich rock as we ever saw from California. In Rye Valley a large number of ledges have been found in which silver predominates; so far no capital has been invested to develop them. At Hagern, Union County, a small mill is owned by George Carter and others, in connection with a number of ledges. On one ledge they are down about 130 feet with a tunnel. The vein is, in places, as much as 30 inches wide; rock is abundant; all the rock pays for milling, and in some places he has found rock that milled about $500 per ton. There are a large number of ledges found in that county that prospect well.

As I said before, no capital has been invested in Baker and Union Counties for the purpose of developing mining interests, except the amount named from Portland. Our placer and hill mines and quartz are of such a character as to require capital and labor united to develop them properly. When developed, as they will be sooner or later, they will be found to contain unbounded mineral wealth, and to be as certain, safe, and reliable counties for good paying returns on investments of that character, as can be found from Colorado to the Pacific coast. The population of Union and Baker Counties has probably never exceeded 12,000 persons, and has not, we think, been less than 8,000 since 1862. The climate of the country is healthy, equal to any part of the Pacific coast. Both counties have extensive farming land and grazing country almost unequaled, and in fact not surpassed, in Oregon or California. Both counties have been wholly dependent on Portland for merchandise, but the completion of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads has given Portland competitors for our trade in the enterprising merchants of Chicago.

Last fall a Chicago merchant shipped a fair stock of merchandise to Eldorado, and we learn he is so well satisfied with his venture that next spring he will ship a large stock to Eldorado via Kelton and Boise City. This competition will be of great benefit to the people of Baker and Union Counties. Portland having had a monopoly of our trade, we have been taxed as high, and higher on an average, for merchandise than the same sold in Idaho, from one to three hundred miles farther inland than we were

from Portland. We trust our Senators and Representatives may induce Congress to pass a bill for a railroad to connect the Columbia River and Central Pacific or Union Railroads, such as to insure its early building. Such a road would naturally and necessarily run very near the center of both counties, and would, by giving means of transportation for our products, lead to the settlement of millions of acres of land valuable for farming and grazing purposes. With such road completed, we do not know of any part of the Pacific coast that would offer better inducements to the emigrant for permanent homes than in these two counties. Nor do we believe that, with railroad facilities, any two counties in the great basin from the Rocky Mountains to the Sierras or Cascades offer to the capitalist mining investments of a more permanent character, on which certain, safe, and speedy returns can be expected. From 1862 to 1871 our imports have been paid in gold from our mines; with increased facilities for transportation we could pay in wool, flour, bacon, butter, cheese, beef, and many other articles of produce that now depend solely on the mines for a market. The gold yield should not be one million, but from three to five million dollars yearly from these two counties, and from agricultural and grazing products a like sum. The same may be said of Umatilla and Wasco Counties as to health, grazing, and farming, but their mineral resources are limited. These five counties-Baker, Union, Grant, Umatilla, and Wascoembrace what is known as Eastern Oregon, an area of country equal in extent to many of our largest States.

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CHAPTER IV.

IDAHO.

This Territory manifests a considerable decrease in its product of gold and silver, as may be seen from the following detailed estimate for the calendar year 1870, kindly prepared for me by Mr. W. A. Atlee, agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., at Boise City. Mr. Atlee has taken great pains in the preparation of this table, corresponding with all the express agents of the Territory, and perfecting his estimates slowly and laboriously. His position, experience, and intimate acquaintance with the field entitle his work to confidence.*

In this list, the production is arranged according to points of shipment.

Walla-Walla.

Umatilla...

Loon Creek, Dead Wood, Snake River, and other diggings

Total...

$184, 428 249, 839 250,000

2,000, 584

332, 101 842, 935 350,000 702, 613 57,500 600,000 280, 000 150,000

6, 000, 000

Walla-Walla, Wallula, and Umatilla are outside the boundaries of the Territory; but a great portion of the Idaho treasure finds an outlet through these places to Portland. The bullion from these points, together with that from Lewiston, making altogether some $1,790,000, is included in the express and private shipments from Portland.

The decline in the production of Idaho is due to the exhaustion of the creek and gulch claims of the older placer-mining districts of the Boise Basin. The greater portion of these claims have been turned over to Chinamen, who are content with small earnings, and who will maintain, no doubt, for many years to come, a moderately productive industry in these abandoned fields. Many experienced miners express the opinion This that the ground in creeks and gulches which has been worked over already has since accumulated a second crop, as it were, of gold. is doubtless true of certain peculiarly situated localities; but such a rapid regeneration of mining ground cannot be predicated on a large scale. As Mr. Atlee remarks, however, in a letter to me on this subject, many patches of auriferous earth and gravel, rich in gold, were passed over undisturbed by the early miners; millions of cubic yards of sur

It will be observed that the estimate of $8,000,000 for 1869, credited to Mr. Atlee, on page 234 of my last report, was reduced by me to $7,000,000. Certain items in that estimate were assumed, and I therefore took the liberty of altering the total. The present estimate is carried out in greater detail; and I accept it as the best possible,