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.