The Parrott has been explored to a depth of 125 feet, and a good vein developed. In the upper zone the copper is in the oxydized form, while in depth peacock ore, remarkably free of gangue, predominates.

A smelting furnace, consisting of a stack furnace, with fan-blowers, &c., was erected to work the copper from these lodes. Five tons of black copper were run out and shipped east for refining. The proprietors state that, at present prices of fuel, labor, &c., they can produce black copper for $40 per ton.

The Nowlan mill, located at Cable City, was erected in the winter of 1857. It has twenty stamps of 472 pounds each, distributed in 4 batteries, and 2 arrastras. The motive power is a 40 horse-power engine, geared to raise the stamps 80 times per minute 7 inches high. The cost of erection was $48,000 in all. The mill reduces 42 to 54 tons of ore in 24 hours, and consumes 3 cords of wood. Cost of reduction is reported at $5, currency. The entire amount of ore reduced is 9,200 tons, all from the Atlantic Cable lode, which yielded $172,000 in gold coin. The mill was erected under a contract with the proprietors of the Atlantic Cable Lode to work 10,000 tens of ore from that lode, at $11 per ton in gold.

Atlantic Cable lode.-This magnificent mine was discovered in June, 1862. From the workings up to date it seems to be a chimney of auriferous quartz in a dyke of limestone. The ore is of a more or less deep red color, on account of a heavy percentage of iron, and very friable. The body of ore strikes nearly north and south, and the ore chimney dips under the limestone at an angle of 18 degrees. A perpendicular shaft was sunk 140 feet deep and a stope level run 246 feet in length. Nearly 10,000 tons were raised in a little over one year, yielding $172,000 in gold. The system of mining pursued is perhaps without parallel for its wasteful costliness and reckless disregard for danger. As the body of ore gradually dipped away, it was followed in its track instead of being attacked by means of shafts and levels. This necessitated frequent rehandling, and made it extremely difficult to secure the workings against caving. Some of the ore was rehandled 14 times. Add to this the extravagant cost of milling, $11 per ton, great expenses incurred to keep down the water, and the consequence was easily to be foreseen. Finally the mine caved, the proprietors failed, and the mill stopped. In the hands of persons supplied with sufficient capital to work it upon moderate principles of economy, the Atlantic Cable will undoubtedly resume its former productiveness with more favorable results to its proprietors.

Miners and Mechanic's Tunnel.-In the vicinity of the Atlantic Cable lode an extensive tunnel is being cut by a hard-working joint stock company, who deserve success. This company was organized over two years ago, and the shareholders, all poor men, proceeded immediately with their work. Two shifts per day have been engaged most of the time ever since in driving ahead the tunnel, while the balance of the company would engage in other work to supply funds. Eight hundred and forty feet in length have thus been excavated. By far the greatest part was through earth and loose rock, but the last 150 feet had to be blasted through solid granite, which seems to constitute the center of the hill. A thousand feet ahead of them they expect to tap the Atlantic Cable lode. Several mineral-bearing quartz seams have been passed in the tunnel; none of them, however, have been rich enough to pay for working.

Deer Lodge County ditches.-The following is a list compiled from the

assessor's, Mr. J. R. Elwell's, returns, and comprises all those ditches

In addition to the above, many ditches were built by miners for private se, costing in the aggregate probably $100,000 more.

The appended table of valuation is taken from the New Northwest: Comparative table of valuations and taxes, Deer Lodge County.

CHAPTER XLIII.

LEWIS AND CLARKE COUNTY.

Lewis and Clarke (formerly Edgerton) County occupies the geogra phical center of the settled portion of the Territory. Its boundaries are defined by the Sun River in the north, the Missouri River (flowing here from south to north) in the east, the divide of the main range of the Rocky Mountains in the west, and in the south by a spur of the same shooting out towards the northwest. These lines inclose a belt about thirty-five miles wide and one hundred miles long, parallel with the Missouri River.

The northwestern part of the county is a continuation of the Grand Couteau de Missouri, a high level plateau, sandy and arid in nature, and offering little inducement for settlement, except in the valleys of the streams by which it is intersected. The northwestern section, formed by the head-waters of Dearborn and Sun Rivers, is reported to be extremely rugged and inaccessible.

The southern half of the county is a basin between the main and belt range, divided up into a number of beautiful valleys by low intersecting foot-hills. Prominent among this system are Prickly Pear, Ten Mile. Seven Mile, Missouri, and Dearborn Valleys, all of which are excellently adapted for agriculture and stock-raising. The necessary water for irrigation is taken from the streams, and a large number of acres annually yield a bountiful harvest of all the hardier cereals.

Surrounding and in close proximity to these agricultural lands are found the principal gold deposits in lodes and placers.

Here, as elsewhere, the Rocky Mountains scarcely merit their distinetive adjective-rocky. They are remarkable for the gentleness of their acclivity and the absence of rugged, projecting peaks. Not only on the sloping sides, but even at the very summit, with rare exceptions, their granitic kernel is covered by a mantle of soil supporting a luxuriant vegetation of bunch-grass or interminable forests of pine, fir, and spruce. Indeed, few important chains are less rocky and barren of soil.

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.

The geological structure of the county seems to be comparatively simple; at the same time the necessary data for fixing the exact boundaries of the various formations are not yet sufficiently numerous and complete.

The backbone of the main range and projecting spurs consists of primitive rocks, among which, coarse-grained granite predominates, with syenite, gneiss, and occasional dikes of trap and peaks of porphyry as accessories. A trap dike parallel with the most important belt of gold-bearing lodes is particularly interesting, on account of the intimate relations it seems to bear to these lodes.

The lower foot-hills and valleys are made up of limestone, both magnesian and argillaceous, slate and sometimes sandstones. Where they approach the granite they are frequently metamorphosed and considerably disturbed. No fossils have been found in these sedimentary strata. and no definite opinion as to their place in the geological series can be formed. Since the discovery, at several points, of lignite similar to the lignite of the plains, it is perhaps not unreasonable to conclude that the strata of the valleys at least are equivalent formations to those underlying the plains of Colorado and Wyoming, and hence of comparatively recent origin. The explorations necessary in placer mining have thor

oughly developed the drift and alluvial formations. Along the flanks of the main range and its spurs, deep gulches and ravines have been cut out by erosive action continued through countless ages, carrying off the lighter and more destructible substances, and depositing in their place in a more concentrated form the precious material of the quartz lodes above. This action is frequently very evident, the gulches being rich to the point crossed by the lodes, and barren above. The characteristics of the gravel and alluvium, their relative depth, width, and extent, are of course as varied as the amount of gold which they contain and which makes them so valuable. Fossil teeth, tusks, ribs, &c., are frequently found in the auriferous gravel. Last Chance has been particularly prolific in well-preserved specimens. One of the finest specimens lately obtained is a tooth of the Elephas primogenius, measuring sixteen inches and weighing twelve pounds, with a part of the jawbone attached. But little is done towards preserving these interesting relics of the past.

POPULATION AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.

Although the smallest, Lewis and Clarke is one of the most populous, wealthy, and flourishing counties in the Territory. At the last election 2,585 votes were cast, from which the population may be inferred to be probably about 10,000 souls.

Helena, the principal town and county seat, is situated very near the southern border in Last Chance Gulch. She owes her rapid rise to rich placer and lode deposits in her immediate neighborhood, and her steady progress, rather unexampled in the history of mining camps, to her peculiarly favorable and central location. The first cabin was erected in the winter of 1864. On the 29th of April, 1869, one-third of the town was destroyed by fire, but a few months sufficed to replace the former frame tenements by substantial stone and brick edifices. In the selection of the site the same error so usual to mining towns has been committed. Although much better locations abound, the business part of the town has gradually been built up in the gulch itself, thus interfering with the exhaustion of the placers, and giving rise to much vexatious litigation between miners and lot owners. Among the industrial establishments more particularly referring to the mining interest, is the foundery and machine shop of Mr. Hendrie, erected in 1867. This establishment contains one cupola furnace, two forges, trip-hammer, three lathes, molding room, &c., and all other appointments necessary for the repair of quartz mills, and is of the utmost importance in a country so far distant from the industrial centers of the East and West.

The county contains one flouring mill with three run of stones, and ten saw-mills with a capacity of cutting daily 120,000 feet of lumber. Seven of the saw-mills are propelled by steam.

The gratifying industrial progress of the county will appear from the following table obtained from official sources:

Table showing the number of acres cultivated, value of improvements, total valuation of property, &c., in Lewis and Clarke County.

PLACER MINES.

The known and productive placers of Lewis and Clarke are chiefly confined to the southern half of the county. They occupy an area of about twenty-five miles square. Within this limit nearly all the gulches and foot-hills are known to be auriferous. Some of the gulches have been merely prospected for want of facilities to work them, others have been exhausted, but the majority promise to continue their past productiveness for many years to come.

Last Chance Inlet.-This gulch, containing the most important and productive placer in the county, was discovered in July 1864, and has yielded steadily since that time.

Its two forks, Oro Fino and Grizzly Gulches, head in a spur of the main range, pursuing thence a parallel and northerly course for four miles; they unite about half a mile above the town of Helena and form Last Chance proper. A short distance beyond the junction, the inclosing" foot-hills come to an abrupt termination and the bed of Last Chance assumes a width of from 400 to 800 feet for a distance of three miles, until it loses its identity in the basin of Ten Mile and Prickly Pear.

The forks Oro Fino and Grizzly are narrow, deep ravines, with the bed rock from 10 to 49 feet deep. Too much water in the drifts and too little for washing have much retarded the working of the claims and a good deal of ground remains to be worked, especially in Oro Fino Gulch. The upper part of Last Chance bears the same characteristics. Extensive drains are necessary to free the claims from the natural gulch water.

In the central and lower part of the main gulch the layer of alluvium is very shallow, and the claims, with the exception of the deep diggings, are easily and quickly worked out. The extreme lower end, where the gulch debouches into the valley, has all the characteristics of bar dig. gings. It is now almost entirely worked by Chinese who have acquired title by purchase from former owners or by taking up abandoned ground. They produce a considerable amount of gold, but the individual results are not known.

System of mining.-The nature of the ground does not permit the application of hydraulics, without the preparatory construction of a bedrock flume. In the shallow claims the pay dirt is shoveled directly into the sluice boxes, and where stripping is not feasible it is hoisted by windlasses. It is estimated that the tailings contain at least $1,500,000 which could be saved by proper appliances. To obtain these and to facilitate the working of the balance of the ground, a bed-rock flume through Last Chance Gulch has been projected, but the death of the projector, Colonel Truett, has delayed the immediate execution of his plans. Á careful examination and survey have demonstrated its entire feasibility. In the lower claims, where the gold consists of minute scales, quicksilver is used in the sluice boxes. The gold obtained varies from .904 to .915 in fineness.

Production. The lowest estimate of the production of Last Chance Gulch, up to 1869, places it at $6,500,000. The yield of the main guleh and forks for the present season will be about $700,000. The gulch itselt affords a small amount of water, but it is owing principally to an excellent system of ditches, utilizing the water of Ten Mile Creek, that this indispensable article was less scarce here than in the majority of the mining camps throughout the Territory.

Ancient Channel. The claims of Taylor, Thompson & Co., Holloway & Lutke, and Getchell, 800 feet in length in Last Chance Gulch, about