Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1889)
400 WEST SHORE. THE CRACKER CREEK MINES. The Cracker creek mines are situuted thirty-five miles west o( Baker City in Eautern Oregon. The leading properties are the Eureka & Excelsior consolidated, owned by a St. Louis syndicate, and the Columbia mine, owned by the Cable Iiroi, Baker county. The Eureka & Excelsior, two full claims, is opened by a series of tunnels 300 to 000 feet long run on the vein, and opening an ore "schute " of two to eight feet thick and nearly 1,000 feet long. The ore runs from $8 to $500 per ton, gold wii h an average of about $50. The company has put in a new twenty-stamp mill just below the lower tunnel dump, this year. The Columbia is the first south extension of the Eureka A ExceMor on the Fruit Creek side of the divide. It has been under bond until recenMy to eastern patties who during the past year, have expended $-10,000 in development work and made of it a very handsome mine, in the judgment of many mining men, quite equal to the Euroka & ExceMur, if not Mipeii.ff to it, with big faces of high-grade ore exhibited In many place on the ledge. One car load of the ore taken from the tmface at the npjwr works netted the owners $2 200 In Denver. The sale under the bond failed to "go," it is said, because the middle men were asking too high a figure above the bond. Two or three miles west of Cracker creek is the Cable Cove group of mines in. hiding some eight or ten claims all having more or less development work done on them. The California and Gray Eaale are the best developed, the former being open ed by a series of five tunml driven in on the vein for dis tances varying from 50 to 250 feet, and everywhere showing a continuous "schuto" of ore of from two Inches to two feet in a strong, well defined fissure vein from four to eight feet wide The ore runs from $20 to $900 in gold and silver, the two meluls being of about equal value. The Gray Eagle vein is opened by a tunnel 813 feet long on the vein which is from sixteen to twenty-four feet wide with the ore "schute" varying from six inches to six feet thick. Tills ledge is titrable on the surface through the whole length of the claim, 1,500 feet, and wher ever oned by open cuU the ore is exposed. The average grade of the ore is claimed to be $40, the assays varying from $12 to $SMper ton, chiefly gold. J'ngirom The Winchester, Silver War, Imperial, Miner, Ingersoll and Dead Shot, constitute the other claims which naturally belonu In the group, and all of which present good ore showings for the amount of work done. Timber for all purposes is abund ant and the water powers are numerous and good. This group of claims, it is believed possesses siilllcient merrit to make a groat mining camp, but, like all other mining properties will require capital to bring It to the front. They are owne'd by (a M Bros., Cable Bros., Burdett, Murphy, Downing, Young and Huntington, and have never been under bond. THE WORLD'S OREATE8T MININO CAMP, Butte City, Montana, has grown to be the greatest minim, camp In lb, world. The mineral yield of last year placed It In the pad. as It u ai.l M,,i,.n. i .. . ' . , . , 7 - "m",u sier slates and territories in mineral production. Montana's output of iold and silver In ltUH was $24,018,000. That gav, her first place by $2 000 000. And then the copper product was add J her contributions to three three itema of the wealth of the country reached $40,500,000. Thl. year, It Is estimated that thTnei ..ate will .how a yield of $50,000,000 in gold, alive, and cop per. More than half of Montana's mineral output last veir came from Butte. The development has been recent and marvelously rapid. Five years ago "th. Leadvllle of Montana- was a very appropriate title, for Butte then was turnine out $0,000,000 a year. But now, with a twelvemonths' showing $24,000,000, the claim to be "the richest camp in the world" must be conceded. Eight thousand tons a day is domiusmI output of ore for the Butte mines. Nine silver mills with their 475 stamps have a capacity of 700 tons a day. 'then there are four smelters. But most notable of all are the Ana conda works with their capacity for treating 3,000 tons of ore daily. In this But'e district, four miles wide by six miles long, there are four clearly defined classes of mines. The first ciaes oi ore yiems silver only. Another clas produces copper only. The third class is a combination of gold and silver, and the fourth class is copper bearing silver. But more remarkable than this close association of ledges of different metals is the freak by which a ledge will change from one nutal to another More than one mine of Butte has been opened and developed for silver, but after years of working has turned to copper. The camp of Butte is spread out on easy Mopes of the mountains. Tiiere are mines above it and mines below it. Fiom the ttreeta in the heart of the city one may see in any direction shaft houses, dumps, stamp mills or smelters. The psy rolls of the mines and works at Butta disburse $07.0,000 a month. The gambling houses, which occupy the choicest businefil cations in the principal street, are obliged to run til day Sun day to keep their money in circulation. Ev n then it is im possible to reduce the surplus, and the banks of the amp carry deposits aggregating $3,500,000. THE STILLAGUAMISH VALLEY. The Stillaguamish river flows through Snohomish county, Washington, from the Cascade mountains to the sound. Like all streams on the west side of the sound it flows through a valley of ich alluvial soil. The first settler located therein 1804. Since then settlements have been made, as at Florence, Norman, Stillaguamish, Sloman, Glendale and Allen. At these point j the country is more thickly si tiled up and the roads or trails lead off to the homes of the hardy pioneers. The land is generally held in 100 acre claims, though in some cases it is cut up Into smaller tracts and thus becomes more easily cleared and brought under cultivation. What farming Is done, as a general thing, is on a small scale, and there are I few ranches that have more than thirty acres cleared and in seed. On the river banks, however, there is considerable good land either in fruit or hay, the average yield of the latter be ing four, five and six tons to the acre. One farmer harvested this year over seventy tons of hay from a thirteen acre patch. He also sold $'J0O worth of stock, and $1,000 in fruit from hardly 100 trees. Another farm near Florence consists of 500 seres, about 250 of which are sown in oats. During 18S9 10, 000 sacks of oats were harvested from this place, which at two and three-fourths bushels to the sack made the enormous total of 27,500 bushel, or 110 bushels to the acre. Upon this pi were kept forty head of cattle and over 100 tons ol bay were cut in addition to the oate. Farming, timber and mineral lands are very cheap in comparison to other points in Western Washington. There si ill remain large tracts of government Ind yet to be surveyed and entered. Following the forks of the river to the mountains a rich and undevetywd mineral country is struck which will some day surprise even those who re most sanguine as to its future. Vast deposits of coal uA ron are known to exist; the precious nietals have also been found, and In a recent week fifteen silver claims were said to have been taken up. Much of the land here is unsurveyed d it is confidently hoped and expected that the general gov ernment will take steps looking to its speedy location and entry.