CHAPTER XXXVIII.

IDAHO COUNTY.

Warren's camp. This district is situate on the headwaters of the Salmon River, in Idaho County. The placer mines have this year paid little more than expenses, owing to the drought and the high rate of wages paid. Chinese labor has not yet been used to any considerable extent, but it is the intention of mine owners to employ this class largely during the coming season. The yield of Warren's and the smaller neighboring camps from July, 1868, to July, 1869, has been about $550,000; the yield from January 1, 1869, to January 1, 1870, is about $420,000, $35,000 of which has been extracted from the quartz mines and beneficiated in mills and arrastras. The latter amount shows a considerable increase over last year, when the yield of the quartz mines was only $12,000.

The principal ledges in the camp are the Rescue, (gold,) the Bullion, (silver,) the Martinace, (silver,) the Keystone, (gold and silver,) the Charity, (gold,) the Sampson, (gold,) the Hic Jacet, (gold and silver.) and the Not, (gold and silver.) About $13,000 have been extracted from the Rescue. The main shaft on this vein is 120 feet deep. The vein matter in the bottom is 3 feet wide, and contains a pay streak of 18 inches. About 22 men are employed in the mine; the owners are Johnson, Sherwin & Co.

The Martinace has two shafts 60 feet apart, one 60 and the other 50 feet deep. The vein is from 3 to 4 feet wide and the pay streak, from 3 to 9 inches wide, runs along the foot-wall. The ore assays very high; selected specimens have yielded as much as from $700 to $8,000 per ton. It is owned by R. Hurley and others, but not worked at present, as the owners are without capital to erect reduction works.

The Keystone is opened by a shaft and tunnel. It has only been worked for gold and produced very good ores, averaging $75 per tou. Owned by Bemis & Sanderson.

The Charity, owned by J. Munsey and others, is not worked at present. It has produced ores yielding $40 per ton and the owners intend to start work again soon.

The Sampson is owned by Johnson & Hutton. It is opened by a shaft 40 feet deep, and levels 160 feet in length have been run. The vein carries 2 feet of good ore, averaging $35 per ton. The richest ore has been found in the bottom of the shaft.

The Bullion, owned by Crane & Co., appears to be a good ledge but is not worked at present for want of reduction works.

The Hic Jacet ledge seems to be very much broken up, probably in consequence of a slide. Five tons of assorted ore, shipped to San Fran cisco from this mine, yielded $170 per ton. Owned by Leland.

The Not is owned by W. P. Not. The ledge carries gold along one wall and rich silver ore along the other. It has only been worked for gold so far, the ore averaging $42 per ton; the silver ore assays from $80 to $300 per ton.

The Scot has not been properly opened as yet; its owners, Hutton & Co., have had some ore worked, however, which averaged $90 per ton. The principal difficulty with all these mines is the great scarcity of capital. The owners cannot afford to open their mines properly, be cause they cannot work without immediate returns. Therefore they can work their veins only in such places where quick returns are certain, and those which require outlay of capital cannot be worked at all. The

enormous wages paid so far, $5 per day, are also in the way of speedy development. But these circumstances embody also the reason that all those quartz mines which are actually worked in the district pay more than expenses.

The mineral in this camp seems to be deposited in two different belts, running nearly east and west; the northern ore carries mostly gold, the southern one silver ores. The average fineness of the gold found in the first-named is about .720; the fineness of that mined south of the silver belt is only .610, so that the price of the gold from the whole district varies $2 50 in value.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

BOISE COUNTY-NORTHERN IDAHO.

The renowned placers of the Boise basin in the county of that uame, were first discovered in 1862, and have ever since taken the lead of all the diggings in the Territory in the production of placer gold. Like all the extensive placers in Idaho they have suffered severely from drought during the last year. The principal ones are those in the neighborhood of Idaho City, Placerville, Centerville, and Pioneer City. The aggregate production of these mines during 1869 has probably paid little more than expenses.

Some vein mining has been carried on in the county during the year, and the first smelting works in the Territory have been erected in the neighborhood of Pioneer City, to smelt the ores of the Duncan and Justitia ledges, which carry silver-bearing galenas. I have been unable to learn whether the undertaking has been a success.

From the placers in the northern part of Idaho I have only returns of production from Oro Fino, in Shoshone county. This district, once very prosperous, has now only a small population, and the diggings are mostly worked out. Production from July, 1868, to July, 1869, $400,000, of a fineness varying from .780 to .820. Florence, in Nez Percé County. $200,000. Fineness, .660 to .705.

Production during the same time,

Elk City, northern part of Nez Percé County. Production, $210,000. Fineness .840 to .865.

Clear Water Station, on the river of same name. Production, $150,000. Fineness, .820 to .870.

Snake and Salmon Rivers, (bar mining.) Production of both, $120,000. The gold found in the Snake River bars is from .820 to .830 fine; that from the Salmon River, .825 to .860.

Considerable excitement was aroused during last summer by the discovery of rich placers on Loon Creek, Oro Grande district. Loon Creek is a tributary of the Middle Salmon River, distant one hundred miles from Leesburg, and nearly due south of that place. The distance from old Fort Lemhi is one hundred and twenty miles, and the trail leads in a southwestern direction over an exceedingly rugged country. A wagon road is said to be nearly impracticable, and everything necessary for the camp had to be packed by mules so far. The bed rock is a blue quartzy slate, and the principal pay streak is lying imme- . diately on it and only a few inches thick. The gold is very coarse, of a dark color, and occurs rather "spotted."

Another rich district is reported to have been discovered about sev enty miles northeast of Loon Creek, and still another between Warren's Camp and the Salmon River, about ten miles from the former place. No particulars have been received.

These three discoveries nearly depopulated some of the more southern counties, especially Boise, and attracted a large number from Montana. According to the latest news, however, the excitement has somewhat abated.

SECTION V.-MONTANA.

CHAPTER XL.

GENERAL REMARKS.

Not quite seven years have elapsed since the Territory of Montana was first organized as a distinct political organization. The discovery of gold on Gold Creek in 1862, and particularly that of the Grasshopper Diggings in the fall of the same year, first set in motion the tide of immigration toward the region embraced in this title. The progress of the Territory during the short period of her existence is only equalled by that of California after the days of 1849. The wonderful gold deposits developed by the early pioneers, while adding largely to the world's stock of precious metals, have carried population, industry, wealth, and civilization to a country before unknown beyond the meagre accounts of adventurers, trappers, and explorers. The discoveries of Gold Creek, Bannack, Alder, Last Chance, and Confederate, form the principal eras in the history of her settlement. Their exploitation seems to travel in a circle. Gold Creek, almost immediately deserted for Bannack, is today the most promising and productive gold field. A second and more careful examination developed paying placers remarkable for richness and extent. Bannack, after a short but extraordinary yield, in turn forsaken for Alder, is again yielding largely, owing to the introduction of hydraulics, and when she has passed her zenith of productiveness it is fair to expect that the Capital ditch will be completed, insuring a second golden harvest from the famous Alder Gulch.

No former year opened with greater promise of increased productiveness than the last. Work in the placers had been in a measure Systematized: the necessary drains for deep diggings constructed and the system of ditches considerably extended. Owing to an unparalleled drouth and the consequent scarcity of water, these great expectations were not realized. A large number of claims depending upon natural water had to be laid over entirely, and in those supplied from larger streams by means of ditches, the quantity was entirely inadequate to the wants of the miners.

SYSTEMS OF MINING.

In placer claims the system of mining pursued is of course dictated by the nature of the deposit-stripping, where the gravel is only covered by a thin layer of soil; and drifting, where the amount of subjacent alluvium is too great to be removed economically. In the separation of the gold from the gravel every method has its representative. The primitive pan, rocker, and long tom have nearly passed out of existence, and where the confirmation of the ground will permit, hydraulic washings and bed-rock flumes are being rapidly introduced.

Vein mining is too much in its infancy to present any remarkable features. With a few notable exceptions work has not advanced beyond shafts, tunnels, and short levels. The shafts are usually made to follow the dip of the vein. The ore and rock are hoisted by cars and buckets. In five mines steam is the motive power; in the balance the work is

done by horse-whims and windlasses. The system of sloping is usually adopted more with reference to immediate returns than final economie results. In one instance, at least, this short-sighted policy was carried to an extent which would have disgraced even Mexican ignorance and avidity, resulting in the temporary destruction of the mine and the financial ruin of its owners.

Of late more prudence is exercised and some attention paid toward establishing ore reserves.

In blasting nitro-glycerine has lately been introduced, but the term of probation is as yet too short to speak advisedly of results.

PROCESSES.

The stamp-mills, by which the reduction of the gold quartz is per formed, are nearly all of the California pattern, differing, however, widely in the results which they achieve.

The stamps are usually arranged in batteries of five each. Their weight ranges from 500 to 700 pounds; and they are geared to drop from 50 to 80 times per minute.

Practical mill men have pretty generally arrived at the conclusion that a short, quick drop is most effectual. It keeps the finer material in the batteries in constant motion, permitting it to escape as soon as it is fine enough to pass through the screen on the copper plates without wasting power in further reduction unnecessarily. A few mills are furnished with pans, but in the majority the accessory machinery consists of one or two arrastras to rework the blanket tailings. For freegold quartz, copper plates and arrastras have been found sufficient to obtain good results. Deeper stopings, with an increased percentage of sulphurets, will undoubtedly necessitate more complicated machinery and processes.

PAN PROCESS.

The only pan process for silver ore was used in the James Stuart mill at Flint Creek. For this purpose the mill (10-stamp) is provided with six Wheeler pans and two concentrators. No very definite process was adopted, as the amount of salt chemicals was constantly being changed to suit the varying character of the ore. From sixty to seventy per cent. of the silver in the ore was saved.

DIRECT-ACTING STEAM STAMPS.

A mill of this character was erected near Unionville. If successful and serviceable, its compactness and comparative cheapness would have made it particularly valuable in Montana, and the results which could be obtained with it were awaited with considerable interest. Unfortunately the mill, after a short trial run, was very suddenly destroyed by fire. According to general opinion the mill was a failure. Whether this result was the consequence of inherent faults in the mechanism or imperfect erection, is difficult to determine.

SMELTING.

Furnaces for the reduction of silver and copper ores have been erected at Mill Creek, Argenta, Bannack, Jefferson, and Butler. Detailed statistics of their operations will be given in the appropriate places. Upon the whole, their construction has met with but partial success. In this