The west shore., August 01, 1885, Page 236, Image 10

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THE WEST SHORE.
It contain six matting furnaces, and produces a matte
which assays from 1 1,200 to tl,500 in silver and 50 per
cent copier, and which is sent to Denver for soparatioa
Tlie value of tiio auuunl output of the Colorado works
has been $1,000,000 per annum since 1882. The capacity
of the plant is being increased yearly. W. A. Clark, of
Butte, is one of the heaviest owners in the enterprise.
Bell This is a two-stack smelter, which has been in
constant operation for the pant year, drawing its ore sup
ply from the Boll mine, one of the richest in the district,
as its product, like that of the Colusa, carries silver with
the copper. Boll matte assays 50 per cent copper and
t50 in silver.
Clirk't Coluia. On this property a concentrator and
smoltar, having a capacity of 100 tons, have been lately
erected, and are in active and successful operation. The
mine has a productive capacity of 200 tons a day, and
could produce more if the hoister machinery wore larger.
The mine is 400 foot doep, and shows in the stapes of the
300-foot level a forty-foot or body.
Other great oopper mines of the district are the
Mountain View, COO foot doep; Clear Grit, 300 foot;
Ramsdall Parrot, 300 foot; Gsgnon, 600 feet
In conclusion it may be said that Butte is the most
productive and jwrmanout mining camp in the world.
The ledges are regulnr in dip and strike the ore bodies
from throe to sixty feet wido, with well dofinod walls, in
granite formation, and its machinery, mills and smelters
the best that money can buy. The camp is destined to
have a population of 20,000 before the close of another
yr.
WESTERN MONTANA.
THE main divido of the Rocky Mountains separates
Western Montana into two parts. To the north and
west lie the counties of Missoula and Deer Lodge, and to
the south aud east Silver Bow, Beaverhead, Madison and
Jefferson. Through the very heart of this region, aiid
touching all the counties named except Missoula and
Jefferson, V the Utah & Northern, a narrow gauge
division of the Union Pacifio, running north from Ogden
through Northern Utah, Eastern Idaho and Western
Montana to connection with the Northern Pacifio at
Garrison, in Doer Lodge Couuty. The Oregon Short
Line, the branch by which the Union Paoifio teaches
Portland, leaves the main line at Granger, Wyoming, and
runs westerly across Southern Idaho. This line is
crossed by the Utah A Northern at Pocatallo, on the Port
Neuf River, and only a few miles east of Snake River.
These routes rendor Western MouUna accessible by the
Utah A Northern from every portion of the United
States, vis,: From all Eastern poiute by the Union Pacific
to Ogdeu, or by the main line to Granger aud Oregon
Short Line to Pocatello; from California by the Central
Pacific to Ogdwn; from Oregon aud Washington by the
Oregou Short Line to Pocatello, oouuection being made
with the Utah A Northern at both Ogden and Pocatallo.
Tim industries of Western Montana art three-M.l,
embracing agrioulture, stock raising and mining, the last
being the leading feature, especially in Silver Bow
County, of which, with Butte City, the great mining
metropolis of Montana, a more particular description is
given in the preceding article. The agricultural resources
of this region are entitled to far more consideration than
they have received in the past. As is usually the case,
the allurements of mining have drawn the attention of
the people from the more commonplace pursuits of agri
culture, leaving, therefore, a better opening than is to be
found in many other places for those who wisely choose
the certain prosperity which follows industry and thrift
intelligently applied to the soil, to the excitements and
uncertainties of the mines. The interdependence of
mining and agriculture, where both exist in proximity, as
they do in this region, renders the arable tracts especially
valuable. The mines look to the farms for support, and
the latter find in the former a good cosh market To be
sure,' much of this region is not so immediately contigu
ous to mines now being extensively worked as to render
farms especially valuable, yet new mining localities are
constantly springing up, and as the whole area is mineral
bearing, it would be folly to assert that any particular
section would not in the near future contain one of these
thriving mining centres. Aside from this, the increasing
population, the springing up of towns and industries, the
extension of transportation facilities, and the general
success of cattle, horse and sheep raising, to which this
section is peculiarly adapted, render Western Montana
worthy the careful attention of the intending settler.
Briefly the status of this region may be defined by coun
ties as follows:
Beaverhead County, which ranks third as a mineral
producer, contains the richest veins of silver-bearing ore
in the Territory. The leading mining camps are Glen
dale, where the Hecla Consolidated Company is operating
on a large soale, Argenta, Bannock City and Blue Wing.
Dillon, the county seat is on the line of the Utah &
Northern, and contains a population of 1,500. It is a
most important business centre, and supplies the region
lying on both sides of the road for many miles. It is the
distributing point for Beaverhead Bnd Madison counties,
ss well as many localities inldaho. Through the county
flow the Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers, which unite to
form the Jefferson, one of the triple parent of the great
Missouri Along these streamB and their principal trib
utaries are to be found many thousand acres of pasture
and farming land still open to settlement Timber is
abundant on the mountain slopes, and the whole region
is well watered with never-failing streams. The valley
of the Big Hole, the largest in the county, is a vast ex
panse suitable for agriculture, and its contiguous cattle
ranges furnish excellent grazing for cattle and sheep.
The total assessment of the county for 1884 was $4,500,000.
Madison County lies east of Beaverhead, and is one
of the oldest mining regions in Montana. Alder Gulch,
which in the four years following its discovery in 18C3
yielded upward, of $30,000,000, is still being worked.
On Alder Creek is situated Virginia City, the former
capital of the Territory and the present seat of justice of