became alarmed for their safety, and started out to look for them.
Their search was unrewarded, as no trace of the missing men could be
found anywhere. No Indians were seen. The half-dozen came and went as
usual, but to all questions they returned the most unsatisfactory and
non-committal answers.
[Sidenote: MURDER OF THE EXPLORERS.]
One day a hunter found the remains of the two men. Wild beasts
had devoured the bodies, but their weapons and scraps of clothing
remained, and sufficed for their identification. In each skull
there was a deep indentation, caused, undoubtedly, by a tomahawk in
the hands of an Indian. But further than this the circumstances of
their deaths were never known. After the discovery of the bodies,
the Indians did not visit the settlement as often as before, and it
was universally supposed that they committed the murder, or, at all
events, knew to whom it should have been attributed.
Years afterwards a rich vein of lead ore was found two or three miles
from the valley to which the Indian led the first explorer. There was
a small cave, so carefully concealed by brushwood that it was only
revealed by accident. There were indications that it had been visited
by Indians, and that quantities of the ore had been carried away. All
around the sides and roof of the cavern there were blocks of rich ore,
and the discoverers made a comfortable fortune out of the deposit. It
was supposed to be the cave whence the Indians obtained their supply,
but whether so or not was never positively known.
In the bluff at Dubuque, lead mining was carried on in two ways—first,
by entering the caverns and veins from the foot of the bluff; and,
secondly, by sinking shafts from the surface. The shafts were not
very deep, so that no elaborate machinery was required for hoisting
purposes, a common windlass or a whim, worked by horse power, being
all that was required. Where the mining was pushed from the foot
of the bluff, levels were driven in until a cavern or seam was
reached, and very often the seams in the bluff were taken as the
starting-point. The lead was not found in continuous veins, like coal
and iron, but in separate masses, that had little connection with
each other, though frequently the chambers or caves communicated.
Consequently a mine might be soon exhausted, and then the shaft or
level would be abandoned, as it was no longer lucrative. The hills
back of Dubuque, at the time of my visit, were full of abandoned
shafts, and it was dangerous to walk there at night, as many of the
shafts were entirely unprotected by fences or railings. Several
accidents have occurred by persons falling into these shafts; and I
was told that on one occasion two lovers, who were taking an afternoon
promenade there, walked into a shaft, and were killed by the fall.
While the business of Dubuque was in the height of its prosperity,
about 1857, some enterprising men constructed a shot tower on the low
ground near the Mississippi River. It is well known that shot for
ordinary hunting purposes is made by pouring melted lead through a
sieve, where it can have a fall of a hundred feet or more. In falling
it assumes a spherical shape, and at the same time is cooled and
hardened. To save it from injury it is received in a tank of water.
Afterwards it is polished and brightened by being rolled in plumbago
and certain other substances, and is then ready for the bags in which
it is offered for sale in the sporting stores.
[Sidenote: AN EDITOR’S DISCOVERY.]
Now, the shot tower costs considerable money, and in order to be
profitable, the work of making shot must pay the interest of the cost
of the tower, besides the wages of everybody concerned. The editor of
a newspaper at Dubuque was one day rambling among the abandoned shafts
back of the town, and endeavoring to hit upon some plan for making
them once more useful.
Suddenly an idea occurred to him, and he hastened to lay it before a
friend who was interested in the shot tower.
[Sidenote: A SURPRISING DISCOVERY.]
“Here is my idea,” said the editor. “The melted lead must fall from a
certain height, and you have spent fifteen thousand dollars to build
a tower to give that height to the dropping lead. Now, it makes no
difference where the fall is; and why could you not get it in one of
these abandoned shafts, which would cost nothing? And besides, you
save the expense of hoisting the lead to the top of the tower. I can
start a shot company that will undersell you in spite of all you could
do.”
The tower man stood a full minute in a brown study. When he had
collected his thoughts, he said,—
“I think you are right, and wonder nobody ever thought of it before.
But don’t say a word about it for the present. The St. Louis Shot
Company is now negotiating for our tower; it wants to have a monopoly
of all the shot business on the river, and we shall sell out. When
we have sold out, and have the money in our hands, you can start
your theory, and anybody that wants to try it can do so. If you say
anything now, you may spoil the whole arrangement.”
The editor promised to wait, and kept his promise. The Dubuque tower
was bought by the St. Louis Company, which congratulated itself on
having a monopoly of the shot business at Dubuque. But very soon the
editor advanced his theory; somebody put it in practice, and found it
was entirely correct. Abandoned shafts were occupied by shot-makers,
and found to answer the purpose exactly, and the business of the tower
came to an end. “Why did not somebody think of this before?” is a
question that is often asked whenever a new and simple invention is
brought to the attention of the public.
When the mines were operated at the base of the cliff by means of
levels, and the chambers were stripped of their lead ore, the owners
found themselves in possession of magnificent cellars, that could
be used for storage purposes. As time rolled on, and Dubuque grew
into importance, many Germans went there to live. The German is fond
of beer, and wherever you find Germans in goodly numbers, there you
will find the care-dispelling lager and the appetizing pretzel.
Breweries rose and flourished at Dubuque, and the fame of the beer
that flowed from them extended even to the mouth of the Mississippi.
The abandoned caves of the lead workers were well suited to the wants
of the brewers, as they made excellent cellars for storing the beer
between the time of its manufacture and of its sale. They were of an
even temperature throughout the year, and the temperature was exactly
suited to the Teutonic beverage.
[Sidenote: BANQUET IN A BEER CELLAR.]
On several occasions the brewers gave entertainments in their
cellars, and set the tables for their guests between the rows of beer
casks. The guests were converted into casks of beer by the time the
entertainments ended, and occasionally they needed assistance to find
their way out to the open air. There is a novelty about an underground
banquet, especially when you find your legs giving way beneath your
weight, and you are led to believe that the earth above will come down
at an inopportune moment, and crush you as flat as a sheet of paper,
without giving you time to send word to your friends.
In our rambles about the bluffs, Mr. Pettit told me of an adventurous
inhabitant of Dubuque who used to alternate regularly between wealth
and poverty every few months. He was a lead miner, who spent most of
his time in discovering fresh deposits of the valuable ore. When he
found a deposit, he was rich, and lived at a rapid rate until the
money obtained from it was gone. Then, without a dollar to call his
own, and frequently burdened with debts he could not pay, he would
shoulder his pick and start on a tour among the hills, where he
hoped to find the material with which his fortune could be restored.
Sometimes he would hunt for weeks without finding anything; and just
as he had determined to abandon the search, and hire out as a laborer,
he would find what he wanted. One of his adventures was narrated to me
in his own words, which I will give as nearly as I can remember them.
“Once I was dead broke,” said he, “and owed a good deal of money. My
creditors were pressing, but they knew I hadn’t the first cent to pay
with, and so they didn’t press very hard. I hunted around a long time,
but not a bit of ore could I find, and I seriously thought of going to
the river and making cat-fish bait of myself, so as to get out of my
misery.
[Sidenote: AN EXCITING MOMENT.]
“One day I got in among the chambers in the bluffs, and in one of
them I found a small hole, which I thought might possibly lead to
something rich. I enlarged it, and got through into a new chamber
where there were blocks of lead; and then I knew there was more of it
close by. These chambers often lie one above another, and there was
evidently one just above where I stood. A blow or two of my pick in
the ceiling above would open it, and when it was opened, there was a
fortune ready for me.
“Well, no, it wasn’t a sure fortune. This business has its drawbacks,
and sometimes there is a serious drawback in a place like that. Most
of these chambers are dry, but now and then they are full of water,
and sometimes you will find a dry chamber under one that is full.
There I stood, wondering what to do. I was never more puzzled in my
life.
“The hole where I entered was small and long. It was a hard place to
get through, and it took time. The place was low; in fact, I couldn’t
stand erect without butting my head. If I tapped the ceiling, and the
chamber above was full of water, I should be drowned like a rat in a
cage. One blow would loosen the whole bottom, and the water would come
down like Niagara.
“If I went out and tried to enlarge the entrance before tapping the
ceiling, some other fellow might get in there and take possession. If
he opened the chamber before I did, he would be the owner, and I could
not lay any claim on account of discovery.
“I thought it all over. I thought of my poverty and the fortune that
lay before me. I thought of the chance of death if the cave was full
of water. I threw down my pick, and almost determined to go away, and
not take the risk. Then I looked at my ragged clothes, and remembered
that they were all I had, and that I hadn’t money enough to buy a
breakfast. Then I stooped and grasped the pick, and took a firm hold
of the handle.
“‘Here goes,’ I said, ‘for one thing or the other.’ I set my teeth,
swung the pick, and tapped the ceiling above me.
[Sidenote: A FORTUNE AT ONE BLOW.]
“The water came down; I dropped to the floor, and felt that I was
lost. I must have fainted, for the next thing I remember, my candle,
which was only half burned when I struck the blow, was nearly
consumed, and I was lying there soaked in a small pool that surrounded
me.
“I rose, rubbed my eyes, and looked around, and then I saw how it was.
There had been a few buckets of water in the chamber above, where
there might have been hogsheads. I was alive and safe, and the chamber
was opened.
“I lighted another candle, and went to work enlarging the hole I had
made. In a little while I was able to climb through it; and there, all
around me, lay blocks of rich ore; and I felt that I was no longer the
poor vagabond I had been a few hours before. But I don’t think I would
go through that excitement again for all the lead mines that ever were
known.”
XLII.
MINING IN THE BLACK HILLS. THE WONDERFUL MINE UNDER LAKE SUPERIOR.
FIRST REPORTS OF GOLD IN THE BLACK HILLS—DISCOVERY OF PLACER
DEPOSITS—THEIR EXTENT AND RICHNESS—DEADWOOD AND RAPID CREEK—SAD
FATE OF AN EARLY EXPLORING PARTY—VALUABLE QUARTZ VEINS—MODE
OF REACHING THE COUNTRY—OTHER RESOURCES OF THE BLACK HILLS
REGION—BRILLIANT PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE—A REMARKABLE MINE
UNDER LAKE SUPERIOR—CURIOSITIES OF SILVER ISLET—WORKING UNDER
DIFFICULTIES—ORES OF UNEXAMPLED RICHNESS—MINING ADVENTURES UNDER
THE LAKE—NEW ROUTE TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.
When the frontier newspapers first began publishing their exciting
reports of rich gold discoveries in the Black Hills, some of their
editors doubted its existence there in paying quantities. Gen.
Custer had reported gold discoveries, but the scientific gentlemen
accompanying his expedition had denied finding it in deposits of a
remunerating richness. Doubt and uncertainty shadowed the prospect
until the development of the rich claims of Deadwood and Whitewood
gulches, and the encouraging indications found on Rapid Spring and
French Creek, in the spring of 1876. But the richness and extent of
the Black Hills gold mines may now be considered demonstrated. A
great deal of money has already been realized from them, and as yet
they have not been even thoroughly prospected. The fact that the
Black Hills had so long been unexplored and unsettled by white men is
not altogether attributable, as has been popularly supposed, to the
strength and hostility of the Sioux Indians, who roamed over, and are
still dangerously powerful to the west of that region. The principal
reasons are that they were not immediately on the moving lines of
transcontinental emigration, and that the country had no definite
knowledge of their wealth in soil and mine, while the natural
resources of other sections of the far West were advertised far and
wide. That the Black Hills have been taken possession of by white men
in the face of both government opposition and Indian hostilities,
proves the correctness of this assumption.
Gold was discovered there by white men years before the lamented
Custer entered the country at the head of an army. And it would
undoubtedly have been settled and developed immediately after, had
not these unknown first discoverers all been massacred by Indians,
and therefore the reports of their discoveries were never published.
Near Rapid Creek, and on Whitewood and Deadwood Creeks, old “prospect
holes” have been found. There is an old shaft on a gold-bearing
quartz vein which crosses Deadwood Gulch, and the trees near by
bear the marks of bullets and arrows, whose appearance proves that
they were made years ago. In one of the Deadwood claims old rusty
nails were found, and on another there was an old pile of tailings.
Of the conclusion arrived at from these evidences there can be no
reasonable doubt: the unfortunate white men who sank the shaft on
the gold vein were seized and tied to the missile-scarred trees and
riddled with arrows and bullets. Those who excavated the old “prospect
holes” likewise fell victims to the Sioux, and not one of these first
discoverers was left to report the fate of the others.
[Sidenote: THE BLACK HILLS.]
The Black Hills are an isolated mass of elevations, about 120 miles in
extent from northwest to southwest, with an average width of 50 miles;
their area being not less than 6,000 square miles. They are so called
from the somber aspect they present from a distant view, caused by the
vast evergreen forests of pine with which they are generally clothed.
According to the latitudinal lines they are about 60 miles north and
a little over 800 miles west of the city of Chicago, and are situated
between the two forks of the Cheyenne river, which surround them so
completely that both these streams have their origin in the same
locality, and their headwaters interlock. The north current is usually
called the Belle Fourche, or beautiful Fork.
The Hills are reached by railroad to Sioux City and Yankton, or to
Bismarck, on the upper Missouri, or to Cheyenne and other towns on
the Union Pacific. They embrace all that is grand and beautiful in
nature—cloud-piercing peaks, snow-crowned nine months out of the
twelve; deep down cañons, gloomy and savage, with dense forests and
craggy walls of slate, granite, or limestone; fairy fountains and
crystal streams, and richly flowered plateaus and glades.
The highest peaks are from 5,600 to 8,000 feet high; not so great
altitudes as are found among the perpetually snow-capped mountains of
the Big Horn further west, but they appear as lofty when measured by
the eye in comparison with the surrounding elevations.
[Sidenote: THE FIRST MINERS.]
As soon as the Custer expedition of 1874, which gave to the world
its first authentic knowledge of the existence of gold in the Black
Hills, had returned to Fort Lincoln, a party of adventurers organized
at Sioux City and went thither. It consisted of twenty-eight men
and one woman. They camped on French Creek, in the southern part
of the Hills, where Custer City now stands, and erected stockades.
They found encouraging gold prospects, but were soon forced to
return from lack of supplies. The “gold fever” continued to spread,
however, and soon got under such headway all along the frontiers
that government opposition was of little avail. Hundreds flocked
to the new El Dorado, their objective point being the stockades on
the French Creek. In the spring of 1875 these pioneers organized
themselves into a town company, and the site of Custer City was
staked off into building lots, being at first christened Stonewall.
The number rapidly increased, so that by the last of December, 1875,
a provisional government was organized, and a few laws, simple in
form, but comprehensive in their scope, were adopted, their execution
being entrusted to a marshal and justice of the peace. Emigration
continued to increase, the new comers first satisfying themselves that
gold really existed on French Creek, and next securing a town lot and
erecting a building thereon.
Soon a house of some kind was constructed on nearly all the lots
contained in the town site of 640 acres, the hopeful owners believing
they had a San Francisco in embryo. Notwithstanding that danger
from hostile Indians existed everywhere, even in the very suburbs
of the town, prospectors pushed their enterprise in all directions,
and soon the auriferous deposits of Spring and Rapid Creeks, to the
northward, were covered with miners’ claims and embraced in mining
districts. During the winter of 1875-6, Deadwood and Whitewood gulches
were reached 70 miles north of Custer City, and were also claimed
throughout their extent.
[Sidenote: THE MINES.]
One claim in the former, No. 1 below discovery, was offered in
February of 1876, for a sack of flour and corresponding amount of
bacon, and a few months later had produced gold to the amount of
$250,000. The number of mines in the Hills on the first of July, 1876,
was estimated at 6,500, about half of which were settled in and about
Deadwood City. Crook City, 10 miles below Deadwood, at the mouth of
Whitewood, contained about 500 inhabitants; Hill City, on Spring
Creek, had 150 houses and less than a score of inhabitants; and the
mountains were pretty generally filled with prospectors.
An old placer miner, upon his first view of French Creek, would
shrug his shoulders and say, “This don’t suit me.” The creek has
a low, sluggish flow, the fall being very slight, and the natural
advantages for mining are very bad. But there are millions in the
auriferous deposits of French Creek, and the gold is the purest ever
found on the American continent, the mint returns showing it to be
worth $24 an ounce. The deposits are so flat, and the water supply so
limited, that these diggings are not likely to be a successful field
for the labor of the poor man. They can only be handled by company
organizations controlling considerable capital. Steam hydraulics have
been suggested; they would undoubtedly be successful on the adjacent
hills and some of the higher bars, could an adequate supply of water
be obtained.
The French Creek deposits are very extensive, the main gulch being
miles in length, and having some promising tributaries, and they will
give employment to several thousand men, when fully opened.
The quartz interests about Custer City are important. Many
gold-bearing ledges have been discovered, some of which are being
developed as vigorously as the limited means of their owners will
permit. The mica deposits are worthy of note. Blocks of pure mica are
obtained, which will shelve off in unfractured plates of from six to
twelve inches square; it is found in inexhaustible quantities, and is
pronounced of good commercial quality, being worth from four to six
dollars a pound in the markets. This may become an important source of
wealth.
[Sidenote: THE DEPOSITS.]
The Spring Creek deposits are 18 miles north of Custer, on the road to
Deadwood. In their topography and geological formation, they look much
more favorable for gold than French Creek district, being nearer and
more directly connected with the eruptive portions of the Hills. Rich
deposits are found in Creek Hill gulch, and bar ground, and they are
extensive enough to give thousands employment. But the Spring Creek
deposits, like those of French, demand capital for their development.
The creek ground lies more advantageously to be worked than that
about Custer, but it is so very deep that much money must be expended
in preliminary work before pay can be realized, and water can only
be brought over the hills and higher bars by means of a great deal
of costly fluming. Capitalists are now directing their attention
to Spring Creek district, and, no doubt, several millions will be
realized from it within a few years. The Spring Creek quartz interests
are also important. Many very promising veins have been located, and
crossing Spring Creek there is a quartz belt which is said to be
1,000 feet wide and over 30 miles long. Here, as along French Creek,
there is an abundance of the finest wood for timbering shafts, fuel,
building, etc. The formations are granite and slate, with lime often
capping through the primitive rocks.
[Sidenote: RAPID CREEK.]
Fifteen miles north of Spring Creek, following the Deadwood road from
Custer, we reach Rapid Creek, just half way between Deadwood City and
Custer, and in the very center of the Black Hills gold region. It is
one of the most beautiful of the mountain streams, its water being as
clear as crystal and delightfully cool in the hottest weather. It has
an average width of about twelve feet, an average depth of fifteen
inches, and is the only stream in the eastern part of the Hills
which flows continuously the year through. It was on this stream, as
credibly reported, that the Indians found and presented to Father De
Smet many years ago a gold nugget worth several dollars, the Father
being camped there with the Indians at the time. Here we have what the
old miner would call “the regular old-fashioned gold wash.” In the
pebbly bed of Rapid a great deal of water-worn quartz is found, and
the contiguous hills, gulches, and bars prospect richly, as a rule. It
is generally believed that Rapid Creek will prove the most productive
portion of the Black Hills. When the necessary fluming shall have been
made to cover this rich, high ground with water, so that a system of
hydraulics can be carried, the yield must be enormous.
The Rapid diggings are many miles in extent, and will give employment,
when fully developed, to many miners. Some very promising gold-bearing
quartz veins have been discovered in Rapid Creek district, and silver
discoveries have lately been reported from there.
I am indebted for much of my information concerning the Black Hills to
Mr. H. N. Maguire, who has made a careful examination of the country.
He is very enthusiastic about its future prospects, and in summing up
the resources of the region, he says:
“I may be over-sanguine, but I believe all those vast regions drained
by the southern tributaries of the Yellowstone, or the major portion
of them, comprise the richest mineral fields on the continent—gold,
silver, copper, iron, and coal; and perhaps platinum, quicksilver, and
other metals. They have all the other natural elements of imperial
wealth and expansion: good soil, illimitable pasturage, health-giving
climate, and a temperature delightful in summer, and very endurable in
winter. Now that the Indians are about whipped into submission, I have
no doubt emigration will pour thither in unprecedented numbers, soon
resulting in an unbroken chain of industries, from the corn fields of
Dakota to the stock ranges of the Yellowstone. The farmer and miner
will sustain each other, while both will need and will be able to
generously remunerate the artisan and tradesman. Honest industry in
every field can not fail to be crowned with success.”
When perusing the estimates of the gold-yield of the Black Hills, we
come to the conclusion that the total yield has been, for the year
1876, about $2,000,000.