They levied and collected assessments to the amount of $875 per foot, making a total for the company of $350,000 invested before any return began to come in. In February, 1866, 1,261 tons were taken out, and the amount has since steadily increased. September yielded 2,152 tons, and the eight months from February to September, inclusive, 16,986 tons, which produced $736,394 32 in bullion; an average of $43 35 per ton. 41.-THE IMPERIAL MINE. The total receipts of the Imperial Mining Company, from the beginning of its operations to the 31st of May, 1866, were $259,133 80, including $50,000 of assessments. The dividends paid amounted to $527,500. The following are certain figures for the years ending May 31, 1865, and May 31, 1866 : The bullion for 1866 was worth $2 02 per ounce on average, the fineness in gold being .039 and in silver .942. The cost of reducing 11,404 tons of ore at the Gold Hill mill was $8 66 per ton, and at the Rock Point mill, (where 23,227 tons were reduced,) $10 15 per ton. 42.-THE EMPIRE MINE, The following are extracts from a report made by Benjamin Lilliman on the Empire mine on the 2d of December, 1864: "Up to this time (November 30) this company have crushed, since their organization on March 7, 1863, about 25,000 tons (of 2,000 pounds) of ores in their own and other mills, and have received from it, for the same period, in bullion, one million forty-three thousand seven hundred and twenty dollars and forty-eight cents ($1,043,720 43,) as appears by the bullion receipts which I have examined. The actual value received by the company in working their ores has been, therefore, $40 76 per ton of 2,000 pounds. The amount lost in tailings it is impossible to fix, but we are justified, from the general experience of the mills working on the Comstock ores, in assuming the loss to be at least one-third of the total value extracted." "There has never been an assessment on the mine, nor was there any capital stock paid in. The nominal capital was one million of dollars. But the mine has paid for every. thing, besides paying its fortunate owners $308,000 above all costs and charges.', "If from the balance of.... * * * * $731, 720 48 526, 720 48" There remains for the presumed cost of mining and milling... The president of the company, in his report for the year ending November 30, 1865, says: "The receipts of the year, from all sources, amount to the sum of $543,081 79, and the total disbursements to $525,129 79, of which $120,000 have been paid in dividends to stockholders." * "At the mine, during the * * * year, the main shaft has been sunk 133 feet, and drifts run, at various levels 965 feet, consuming 554,500 feet of timber." During the year 20,500 tons were extracted from the Empire mine, and the bullion produced amounted to $485,542 49, including $185,452 30 in gold and $298,929 96 in silver. The bullion was worth $2 021 per ounce; weighed 240,812.20 troy ounces before melting, and 239,707.95 ounces after melting. 43.-PRODUCTIVE MINES OF REESE RIVER. The following statement of the amount of bullion produced by the mines of Lander county, Nevada, during the quarter ending September 30, 1866, is taken from a report by the county assessor: 44.-YIELD OF VARIOUS SILVER DISTRICTS. The total annual yield of Lander county, Nevada, (or, as it is often called, Reese River region,) is about $900,000, and the yield of the Owyhee district in silver is about $1,500,000; so that this latter is next to Virginia City among the silver producing districts of the United States, and it has the resources to increase its production greatly within a few years. The yield of Esmeralda was nearly $1,000,000 in 1863, but it is now not $100,000, and the Humboldt district does not produce more than $50,000. 45.-IMPROVEMENTS IN SILVER MINING. Although the silver mining at the Comstock lode is not in a satisfactory condition, it is at least progressive, and there is a certainty of steady improvement. for a long time. So far as the extraction of the ore is concerned, there is nothing better anywhere. The pumping and hoisting are done by machinery of unsurpassed excellence. A machine has been invented for lowering men with safety into the mine, and another for framing the timbers to be used in supporting the sides and roofs of drifts. It is in the reduction department that the chief defect exists. For a long time most of the ore was sent to custom mills, and as they were paid a certain sum per ton, it was their interest to reduce as much as possible without special regard to the thoroughness. For years this was the only method of obtaining any return from most mines; and besides, it was in accordance with the custom of the silver miners of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, where for centuries the mines and the reduction works have, belonged to distinct classes. * But in time it became evident that the most productive mines must have reduction works of their own, and now they are provided with magnificent mills, in which the processes of pulverization and amalgamation are carefully studied by many careful and competent men; and they will undoubtedly make valuable contributions to the metallurgy of silver within a few years. Although the expenditures in the large silver mines are immense, they are not extravagant. The general financial affairs are very carefully studied and strictly managed. The operations are so extensive, the amount of material consumed. is so great, and labor is so high, no small sums of money suffice. The completion of the railroad from Sacramento to Virginia City will reduce the cost of wood, and of various other important supplies, nearly or quite fifty per cent. and will be followed by consequent reduction in the price of labor; and the completion of the Sutro tunnel will reduce the cost of draining and ventilating the mines and of extracting the ore. The railroad may be in running order within a year; the tunnel will not be finished for several years at least. SECTION 4. RESOURCES OF NEVADA, OREGON, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, UTAH, MONTANA, AND IDAHO. 1. Historical sketch of Nevada.-2. Geography and products of Nevada.-3. Mines and mineral resources of Nevada.-4. Mining property, &c.-5. General view of the mines of Nevada, Oregon, Washington Territory, Utah, Montana, and Idaho. 1. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NEVADA. Boundaries.-The State of Nevada, erected from the former Territory of Nevada, extends easterly and westerly from the 37th to the 43d meridian west from Washington, and from the 42d degree of north latitude to Arizona, having Oregon and Idaho on the north, Utah on the east, Arizona on the south, and * H. G. Ward, in his book on Mexico, speaks there of the reduction works in the leading mining districts of that country: "The haciendas are mostly close to Guanajuato, and though now in ruins, their number and extent attest both the former importance of the mines and the opulence of the rescatadores (amalgamators,) by whom these extensive buildingswere raised. Few or none of them possessed a sufficiency of water to work their machinery, for which purpose mules were employed, and 14,000 of these animals were in daily use (to work the arrastras and tread the ores in the patio) before the revolution. The rescatadores purchased their ores at the mouths of the shafts, relying entirely on their own powers of estimating by the eye the value of the montones (heaps) exposed for sale in such a manner as not to make a disadvantageous bargain. In this science they attained great perfection; for more fortunes were made in Guanajuato by amalgamation works than by miners themselves; while the extent to which the system was carried afforded to the successful adventurer the means of realizing instantly almost to any amount. During the great bonausa (rich yield) of the Valenciana mine, sales were effected to the amount of $80,000 in one day; and it is to this facility in obtaining supplies that the rapid progress of the works in that mine, after its first discovery, may be ascribed. Had it been necessary to erect private amalgamation works in order to turn his new born riches to account, many years must have elapsed before the first Count Valenciana could have derived any advantage from his labors; for when fortune began to smile upon them, the man who was destined in a few years to rank as one of the richest individuals in the world did not possess a single dollar." California on the southwest and west; comprising within its limits an area of 80,239 square miles. This region was a portion of the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, belonging previous to its transfer to the "department of Alta California." Prior to its acquisition by our government it was inhabited only by the aboriginal races, there being no settlements of civilized people, not even a mission, within its borders. At the time of the discovery of silver in 1859, ten years after its first settlement by the whites, it contained less than one thousand inhabitants, which number, two years later, had increased to nearly 17,000, as appears by the census returns taken in August, 1861; the estimated population of the State being at present between thirty-five and forty thousand, at which number it has remained nearly stationary for the past three years. The aboriginal races.-' -These consist of three or four principal nations, divided into many small communities or families, sparsely scattered over the entire country. These nations are the Washoes, inhabiting a succession of small valleys along the western border of the State, the Pah-Utahs occupying the balance and greater portion of the western; while the third division, the Shoshones—hold the eastern part of the State. Some have considered, and perhaps properly, the Pannocks, a race dwelling in the northern and northeastern portions of the State, as a distinct nation. With the exception of the last namèd, these Indians, though often at variance among themselves, are naturally peaceful and inoffensive, being distinguished less for their warlike propensities than a good natured indifference as to what is going on around them. They have never manifested any great degree of hostility towards the whites, nor seriously objected to the latter entering and settling in their country, their opposition generally extending no further than an occasional protest against the destruction of their pine orchards, upon the fruits of which they are largely dependent for their subsistence. The Washoes, though the least numerous of these tribes, have always been remarked for their honesty and friendliness towards strangers. These Indians, though somewhat nomadic in their habits, have their favorite places of abode, these being generally along the rivers or about the sinks and lakes where fish and wild fowl are to be obtained. These localities usually form their winter homes, much of their time during the summer and autumn being spent in the mountains, where alone is found the pinon, a species of scrubby pine, the nut of which forms with them a staple article of food. These people cultivate no land, depending entirely on the natural products of the country for a livelihood, and as these are not numerous or abundant they sometimes suffer from want. They build no houses, scarcely even a wigwam; a few sage brush or willows put up to break the force of the wind, affording them, even in winter, ample protection. Few of them own horses, fire-arms, or other property of value, the whole race being distinguished for extreme poverty. Formerly they dressed in the skins of wild animals, as many of them still do, the skins of the hare being chiefly used for this purpose. Latterly they are becoming addicted to a more civilized but scarcely improved style of dress, clothing themselves with the cast-off garments of the whites. The women are by nature modest and chaste, and, as among most savages, have to perform the greater part of the labor necessary to their own sustenance as well as that of the men. Taken as a whole, these cannot be considered a bad race of Indians, exhibiting few of the savage and murderous traits that distinguish the tribes further in the interior ; and though shiftless and indolent they are not averse to work where favorable opportunities offer. Many of them are now employed by the whites, being found very useful in various kinds of unskilled labor. Two reservations have been set apart in the State for the use of these Indians; but as yet no thorough and systematic measures have been adopted for retaining them at these places or for instructing them in the arts of civilized life, nor is it likely that much will be accomplished towards that end through the agency of these reservations. Since } their intercourse with the whites these people have become demoralized, and the increase of physical maladies among those of them thus exposed has already sensibly diminished their numbers. First settlements by the whites.-The first settlements within the limits of this State were made in 1848 by the Mormons, some of whom, in passing back and forth between California and Salt Lake, observing the excellence of the land, located in Carson and Washoe valleys. The following year they were joined by a few adventurers, who, attracted by the gold discoveries in California, had made the journey overland, but stopped on finding here the object for which they had set out. From this time the population gradually increased, until, in the summer of 1859, it had been swelled to the number already stated, notwithstanding most of the Mormons had meantime left, having, by a mandate of the church, been ordered to repair to Salt Lake. Up to this period the crossing of the Sierra Nevada, in the absence of wagon roads or even tolerable trails, was an arduous task; yet quite a good many came over from California, bringing provisions to exchange for the famished stock of the immigrants, and finding here good pasturage, some remained and finally became permanent settlers. Meanwhile a few were drawn from that State by the gold diggings or a mere love of adventure, a few also being added by the overland immigration, thus making up a population so considerable in a country difficult of access and otherwise possessing so few attractions. The gold discovery. This event occurred, as above intimated, in the summer of 1849, being the result of examinations made by a party just arrived on their way to California across the plains. The first gold found was at a point near Carson river where the emigrant road crosses Gold cañon, and where the town of Dayton now stands. This cañon is a deep ravine coming down from the high range of mountains six miles to the west, and along the eastern slope of which the Comstock, the great silver-bearing lode of Nevada, is located. The head branches of this ravine cut the Comstock lode at a number of points, the deepest of these cuts being at Gold Hill. A portion of this lode is distinguished for its auriferous character. The particles of gold having been released from the masses of quartz at this place by the process of disintegration, were subsequently washed down the cañon and deposited in its bed and along its banks, the finer portions being carried still further down and left upon the bar at its mouth; hence the origin of these placer mines. That this is the primary source of these deposits is apparent, not more from the nature of the case than the character of the dust, which is so far alloyed with silver as to be worth only from $10 to $12 per ounce, corresponding in this particular with the gold obtained by crushing the surface rock at Gold Hill. The pay realized in these diggings for the first few years was very good, averaging nearly an ounce a day to the hand; but it finally declined (until in the fall of 1859, when they were mostly given up) to less than a third of that amount. The number of men engaged here in gold washing varied from 20 to 100; a majority of them, towards the last, being Chinamen, who continued working in a small way for a year or two after the diggings had been abandoned by the whites. The total amount of gold dust gathered from these placers is estimated at between three and four hundred thousand dollars. Some rate it much higher, affecting to believe that the Chinese took out larger sums than they reported. At no other place, except Gold cañon, have placer mines of any extent or value been found as yet in the State of Nevada. In Síx Mile cañon, a ravine running parallel to and a short distance below Gold cañon, some trifling deposits were found, the following up of which led to the discovery of the Comstock ledge. Some surface mines, of narrow extent but considerable richness, were also found in 1857 near Mono lake, then supposed to be within the limits of Nevada Territory, but afterwards ascertained to be in California. For several years these paid fair and in some instances large wages, and a town of over a thousand inhabitants sprung up at |