2. CHAPTER II.

Up: Contents Previous: 1. CHAPTER I. Next: 3. APPENDIX A. REPORT OF DANIEL W. LOCKWOOD, FIRST LIEUTENANT OF ENGINEERS.

I shall endeavor in this chapter to give the general results upon the subjects mentioned in the letter of instructions from the Chief of Engineers; and, with this in view, shall divide them into heads, as follows: 1st, astronomical; 2d, topographical; 3d, physico geographical; 4th, meteorological; 5th, geological; 6th, department of natural history, &c.

2.1. ASTRONOMICAL.

The great want in the mapping of the western portion of our territory has been the accurate establishment of astronomical positions. The plan adopted this season has been to secure, at the most proper and available intervals of the perimeter of the area surveyed, the main astronomical stations. During this season these have been to a certain extent accessory to, and governed by, the movements of the parties of the expedition. The locations are as follows: Carlin and Battle Mountain, Nevada, on Central Pacific Railroad, Austin, Nevada; Camp Independence, California; Saint George, Utah; and Prescott, Arizona Territory. Including those determined in 1869, there have been established for main stations, under my supervision, eleven points, in the interior of our western territory. In nine of these cases, the longitude has been determined by telegraph. All have been solidly marked with stone monuments, and are available for future reference.

The principal observer, Mr. E. P. Austin, presents a hasty report, submitted herewith, and marked Appendix C, giving a general notion of the character of the work, and the prospective value of the results. Another of the observers, Mr. Marvine, who also at times has had his attention directed to matters of geology, could, if present during the time of arranging the material for a preliminary report, bear more particular testimony regarding the results at Saint George, Utah, and at Prescott, Arizona Territory. His observations, however, when reduced by the computer, will be presented in proper form in the final report.

In order to comprehend fully the character of the value of this astronomical work, the full report will give, in addition to the reductions of our own observers, those of Messrs. Eastman and Wheeler, respectively, of the United States Naval Observatory, at Washington, and that of the United States Lake Survey, at Detroit.

At the intermediate astronomical stations, the observations have been taken with sextants giving a check more particularly upon the latitudes.

The majority of the stations were confined to the two main lines of the survey, and the character of the work varies in no remarkable particular from that ordinarily performed in the Pacific Railroad surveys. Data from these observations will be properly grouped in tables for future reference.

2.2. TOPOGRAPHICAL.

The plan pursued has been to attach one topographer to each of the main and side parties, who was assisted by one observer taking odometer readings, and another person to read the barometer for relative and absolute altitude of the station.

In the frame-work of the map are the main astronomical points, the intermediate astronomical points coming in at the ends of the daily marches, while between each two of these latter the topographer takes as many stations as may be needed to satisfy him in regard to the details.

The base line is then the meandered line, measured by the odometer, checked by astronomical positions and angular bearings from prominent mountain peaks.


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The portable transits employed, having a telescope of considerable focal power, give quite accurate readings for the bearings, and a skillful topographer, after a little practice, varies but slightly in his latitudes and departures from those given by the astronomical positions. The aneroid readings give data for a general profile of the routes and the heights of the stations, and after these observations are reduced by comparing with the cistern barometer, give a series of results of surprising relative accuracy.

In the vicinity of the rendezvous camps more time was available, and more minute surveys carried out. The contours of the areas, covered by mineral development in two mining districts, were taken.

The method of moving in two lines, flanked at least by one side party adjacent to each, has worked very successfully, and in a great measure accounts for the very extensive results obtained topographically. The difficulty of keeping these parties supplied, and in a state of active co-operation, calls for very constant, strenuous exertions, however, on the part of the officer in charge.

As a certain allotment of funds and material had been made for one season's work to cover a certain area, it became necessary, in order to consummate the results expected, to work with much celerity and little or no intermission, and the force at my disposal were constantly pressed with labors that gave them little if any rest, and no recreation from the commencement to the end of the season. It is with no little satisfaction that I can bear testimony to the willingness of the civilian assistants and employés, with scarce an exception, to make any and all exertions, or undergo such privations as were required of them.

In gaining topographical information, special attention was given to the determination of the perimeter line of the watersheds of the exterior and interior basins; to the relative portions of mountain and valley; to the size and extent of the arable, mineral, and desert sections; of the distribution of springs, streams, timber, &c., all of which are to appear in the final map or maps.

The areas inhabited by the Indian tribes are also to be marked out, and the varieties of observations afford material for the construction of a number of maps.

The possible location for routes by rail, or common roads, along lines sensibly north and south, have been carefully studied, and to this end the expedition has followed out and made use of the system employed in the earlier surveys for a railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean; more accuracy having been obtained because of the superior character of the astronomical stations, and the improvement in field instruments now used.

The large field traversed while upon various trips since 1868, up to that of the present season, has rendered me conversant with a considerable section of country over which, in the final topographical map, a more systematic nomenclature can be adopted.

Among those portions prosecuted more in detail, and presenting novel and interesting results is the survey of the Colorado, partly hydrographic in its nature, and which adds unique information to the topographical knowledge of our continent.

The general tendency of projecting too much has been felt in this undertaking, and must always follow as the experience of any one who estimates for a scheme of exploration, no matter how little or how greatly elaborate among those sections of our western territory still Unmapped, where the physical obstacles are so varied and difficult.

2.3. PHYSICO-GEOGRAPHICAL.

The operations of the past season have been conducted in a great measure in and around the Great American Desert.

Go where you will in your journey westward, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean,


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you must cross its barren and uninviting plains, valleys, or mountains. Its configuration is varied, as are many of its local characteristics; in width ranging from seventy-five to two hundred and fifty miles, but nowhere narrowing so that an east and west line can be prolonged entirely through arable sections.

The elevations of this great area vary, from the depression in Death Valley, below the level of the sea, to mountain valleys, from six to seven thousand feet in altitude, surrounded by rugged and often desolate ranges, whose summits tower to heights of eleven and twelve thousand feet.

The general trend of these mountain chains from the fortieth to the thirty-fifth parallel is sensibly north and south, with spurs and ridges that bear for the general part to the northwest and southeast, the eastern slopes of the main ridges being by far the most gentle.

Passing into Arizona, the continuity of the characteristic trend of the Cordillera system is somewhat broken in that area occupying so large a portion of Northeastern Arizona, that will be named upon the maps as the Colorado Plateau. Upon the summit of this grand plateau one encounters the rolling and broken mesa formation through which have obtruded at many points volcanic mountain peaks, that lift their black sides far in the horizon.

Through the middle of the Territory the ranges, formed of the more primitive rocks, steer on in their course, and are met, as it were, by other ranges that, converging in direction, follow onward in their deliberate advance, massing in the Sierra Madres of Mexico.

The present map submitted will give somewhat of a general view of these more prominent features.

Physical geography details, always having more direct reference to the vertical lines of a survey, have been sought after, and the wants of the case attended to so far as possible. The positive and relative altitudes of a multitude of points have been secured.

Profiles along many lines of the basins, both exterior and interior, can be produced; the configurations of the mountains, valleys, rivers, creeks, and springs, in their general relation, have been noted. The character and supposed extent of the great Colorado Plateau, the peculiar features of which have, for the first time, been delineated, were partially studied and need but one more expedition to complete.

Examinations while ascending the famous cañon of the Colorado chronicle, in memoriam, additions to those data, gradually being collated, referring to the beginning of the creation of the world; and while watching the gloomy sides of these grand walls, listening to the confused mutterings of the restless waters, whose continual flow through geologic years have so seldom awakened a sound beyond their own echoes, comes the thought that the time necessary for the creation, full development, and extinction of one single animal race, falls into insignificance in comparison with the eras that may have passed while this erosive agent of nature was stealing slowly down to its present bed.

The exploration has determined the existence and limits of several basins, completely inclosed, without drainage to the ocean and outside either of the Great Salt Lake or Humboldt Basins, principally found in Nevada, to the east of the Sierras and north of latidude 35° 30° of these the Death Valley Basin is characteristic.

The face of the country, especially in those locations where the primitive rocks are superimposed unconformably, by volcanic material belonging to the older series, is rapidly changing by denudations; the constant action of these degradations being to decrease the declivities of the mountains, carrying the débris far out into the valleys, the disintegration constantly furnishing earthy material for new series of plants from age to age.

Along very many areas in Nevada and Arizona quite extensive forests fringe the high mountains


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and plateaus. The grand Colorado Plateau, so immense in size, is, over a great share of its surface, covered with pine forests and parks.

The greater portion of the area examined in Southeastern California was of the most barren and desolate nature, the bare and brown rocks seldom being relieved by any sort of vegetation.

Piñon pine and a stunted growth of mountain cedar abound in frequent localities in Nevada- The pine found after crossing the Colorado is similar in character to what is known as the short-leaved southern pine. Fir and hemlock are noted along the slopes of the high mountains; mesquite, mountain mahogany, and cactus in the valleys.

The view from Humphrey's Peak, on the San Francisco Mountains, is along a magnificent and extended horizon to the northeast, east, and southeast, limited by the plateau formation with its mesa bluffs of various colors, on the west by the ranges along the Colorado, and on the south and southwest by the Black Hills and Mazatzal, while in this direction, also, the grand peaks of the White Mountain Range tower in the horizon. At our feet lay the upturned mouths of numerous craters, upon the sides of which, in many cases, heavy timber is growing, undisturbed by those volcanic bursts which, in their efforts to reach an equilibrium, carried high in air the ground now under our feet, and raised that lofty pile upon which we were standing, which served a long time as a vent for those interior fires, and then became forever silent, leaving what we now see-the bed of an immense extinct crater.

It will be with the greatest interest that the future observer carries his studies among the lofty peaks, the broken mesas, and astonishing cañons of this great Colorado Plateau, which in its geographical area covers spaces aggregating, possibly, 60,000 square miles, and distributed in four political divisions, viz: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

2.4. METEOROLOGICAL.

These observations comprise the usual full series, taken with the latest and most improved instruments.

At the rendezvous camps hourly observations were taken for the purpose of computing approximate tables of the horary corrections at various altitudes through the mountain regions. In addition, frequent observations for the correction of the aneroids and with a view to obtaining a reference scale.

At all camps the usual tri-daily barometric, &c., observations were taken, while at each one of the minor topographical stations the aneroid barometer was read.

The two hospital stewards who were the observers assisted at the hourly stations. The computations are now being made, and the results will appear in sheets giving the general meteorological record, the comparisons of the aneroids and the hourly series, with plottings of the approximate horary curves.

The results of this season, comprised with those of 1869, add considerably to the meteorological data of this region. The working-up of these results is at present in the hands of Lieutenant Lockwood, and, proving favorable as now expected, will contribute a little to the want that can only be supplied by establishing a comprehensive system of permanent meteorological stations, (for minute and careful observations,) at high altitudes, throughout the entire western interior.

2.5. GEOLOGICAL.

Investigations in this department were committed to the care of G. K. Gilbert, who was assisted a portion of the time by A. R. Marvine, after the completion of astronomical work at Saint George, Utah, and at desultory intervals by C. A. Ogden.


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I shall present herewith, marked Appendix D, the report of Mr. Gilbert, which will speak for itself, and sustains the high character entertained regarding his labors and abilities. Mr. Marvine is at present engaged in placing the results of his examinations in the form of a report.

2.6. NATURAL HISTORY.

Dr. Walter J. Hoffman, in charge, was assisted by two collectors, besides the volunteer aid of certain other members of the expedition, to whom credit will be given in due time.

The collections of coleoptera and botanical specimens have been large and comprehensive; in many other branches the scarcity of the material and rapidity of the movements prevented more complete and careful collections.

By authority of the Engineer Department, and through the kindness of Professor S. F. Baird, these collections will be at once sent to the Smithsonian Institution, under whose directions the examination of specimens will be conducted.

2.7. MINERALOGY.

This department has been in the hands of Dr. Walter J. Hoffman, while various members have contributed silver-ore specimens. A report on this subject is being compiled by this gentleman.

In this connection let me say that an attempt is being made to gather a very large collection, fully representing the silver ores of the Pacific coast, by large and characteristic specimens, collected in duplicate, and deposited in the national museums of the Smithsonian and West Point. The nucleus already collected gives promise of good results.

2.8. MAGNETIC OBSERVATIONS.

There have been observations for declination and dip; for the former a field theodolite, simply, was used; for the latter a dip circle, procured from the United States Coast Survey, which was, however, lost in the Grand Cañon of the Colorado, among many other very valuable and useful articles. The record of the observations up to this time was preserved.

2.9. PHOTOGRAPHS.

In the hands of Mr. O'Sullivan, well known in connection with his labors on the Fortieth Parallel Survey and Darien Expedition, a little less than three hundred negatives have been produced, illustrating the general appearance of the country, the mining districts, certain geological views, and a full and characteristic representation of that very grand and peculiar scenery, found only among the cañons of the Colorado; a more unique series has hardly been produced in this country.

To add more testimony illustrative of the character and general appearance of the areas traversed, various sketches have been made along the line of the routes, and among the cañons of the Colorado.

2.10. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION.

The close of the present century bids fair to be the era, above all others, of increased rail communication. The great necessity for, and interest evinced in, pushing routes through to the Pacific has been accomplished; one line is complete; three others are projected, and will, without doubt, be built. The east and west lines, then, are secured. Now, it seems that north and south lines are needed to communicate with these east and west lines, to be adjuncts to their usefulness in the tendency to develop the mineral resources of this portion of our territory.


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There should be three roads running south from the Central Pacific Railroad and between the Sierras and Wahsatch Mountains, situated as follows:

The first, already projected, bears southerly from Salt Lake to the Colorado River, to cross near the foot of the Grand Cañon.

The second to leave the railroad, pass through Washoe, and thence along immediately east of the Sierras.

A third leaving the railroad in a central position, and crossing the Colorado River at the mouth of the Virgin. Let these be narrow-gauge roads if you will, but the country needs them to carry supplies and material to its mines, and to bring ore and bullion from them.

From the reports of Messrs. Lockwood and Lyle, I am led to believe that a new mail and wagon route may be constructed from Saint George, Utah, to Prescott, Arizona Territory. Granting this, it could at the present time be occupied as a mail-route, and upon building the wagon-road, troops could then be moved from north to south in our western interior without the heavy expense of first transporting them to the seaboard. This route will be through Salt Lake City, on a stage-road to Saint George, thence, by a road to be constructed at little expense, to Prescott, Arizona Territory.

In the future, and after the proper development of the mines that have been and are still being discovered in the vicinity of the Colorado River, the means of communication on this river will be both increased and strengthened.

This exploration has determined that navigation in suitable crafts can be carried much higher than has been supposed. A little healthy competition, in case there was traffic enough to warrant it, would soon lessen the prices from San Francisco to Mohave from $80 per ton, at present demanded, as I understand, from the citizens.

However, I am pleased to learn that the present navigation company are offering liberal inducements to parties desiring to ship ores by their route, on the return trip to San Francisco.

Steamers at present navigate as high as Camp Mohave, four hundred and twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river; they have often carried cargoes to El Dorado Cañon, fifty-nine miles higher. One steamer succeeded in reaching Callville, about ninety-five miles from Mohave, without material difficulty. It is concluded, should the necessity present itself, that navigation by steam-power may be carried to the foot of the Grand Cañon, or fifty-seven miles beyond Callville. The relation of the power of the engine to the size and draught of the steamer should be changed for navigating above Mohave, increasing motive-power and decreasing draught and size. Possibly the barges should be decreased in tonnage from one hundred and fifty to one hundred tons. Each steamer should be fitted with a steam-capstan, and at certain points ring-bolts should be fastened in the rocks above the heads of the rapids, for cordelling purposes.

I would like especially to mention my indebtedness to Captain J. A. Mellon, of the steamer Cocopah, for certain sensible information on this subject.

Let us suppose that we can navigate as far as the foot of the Grand Cañon; the question naturally comes up, what necessity, present or prospective, calls for this? I will answer, so far as my observation leads to a conclusion, that the wants of the present century will ask for no line of transportation to ascend the river higher than Cottonwood Island, which point might be made the depot for traffic to interior mining localities in Nevada and Arizona; (see map.)

But to return to the east and west lines, now in process of construction; it seems certain, from the increased evidence adduced, from the nature of the travel and transportation along that single line already constructed, that the time is not greatly in the future that, if we expect to gather transcontinental shipments, some one road, reliable at all seasons of the year, must be completed;


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and the experience which my present travels has afforded pledges opinion in favor of the line lately surveyed in the vicinity of the thirty-fifth parallel.

2.11. INDIANS.

The experience of this season has given considerable further opportunity for studying the Indian character, their habits of life, geographical distribution, &c. This experience has in no way produced a sympathy with that class of well-intentioned but illy-informed citizens who claim that the Indians are a much-abused race.

My several trips of the past four years have allowed full opportunity for immediate observation on this subject; therefore, in a subsequent report, I propose to present my views at greater length.

The areas inhabited by, and known as the country of, the Shoshones, Pah-Utes, Chemehuevis, Utes, Mohaves, Seviches, Hualapais, Apache-Mohaves, Cosninas, Apache, (Tontos, Pinals, Coyoteros and Arivapas,) &c., have been pretty accurately determined, and will be mapped out. It was with no little surprise that, upon examining the best sources of information, viz, that obtained through Army officers, it was found that the actual number of the Apache warriors, who could take the field, would not exceed fifteen hundred. Major John Green, of the First United States Cavalry, who has had considerable experience among them, positively asserted that they could not muster twelve hundred men from all the tribes, including the White Mountain Indians, many of whom have been upon reservations since 1868.

All the tribes, without exception, belong to that wild, roving breed known as ‘‘"Mountain Indians."’’ Their lawless and migratory life has carried them beyond the notion of anything like order, even among their own people.

It may not be uninteresting, at this particular period, when there are so many diverse opinions, or rather theories, extant regarding the position or supposed condition of the hostile Indians in the Southwest, to acquaint the War Department, through the medium of this report, with the influence that the Indians, as we found them, have had as a help or as a hinderance to the objects of this exploration, so that at subsequent periods, when other parties shall have in hand the duties of surveying out remote, inaccessible, and inhospitable regions, they may have the benefit of the experience.

The general plan of moving in two lines, and receiving the co-operation of small side parties, cannot but work admirably in any scheme of geographical exploration. Let us see how much friendly Indians can be of service.

We will premise that it is incompatible to divide up into four or five parties in a hostile country without calling on the military posts for greater escorts than could be reasonably expected from them; therefore, as in the present case, it was found necessary to move in two parties only, while engaged in those parts of Arizona known as the habitation of the hostile Apache. This fact explains the principal hinderance. It is almost impossible to obtain white guides who have any accurate knowledge of regions sensibly new, while hardly any nook or corner can be found not well known to the Indian; hence in the selection of suitable camping-places, and as assistants to a natural guide, or to a white man who shall exercise judgment as to the movements of the command, their services can be made very valuable. The entire expedition, composed of officers, soldiers, and civilians averaged from eighty to one hundred and ten, being divided into parties varying from five to fifty.

The little parties are really the ones that accomplish the most actual work. In Nevada, to each one of these little parties an Indian could be attached, and oftentimes two, who, in view of a small remuneration and plenty of food, served both as guide and laborer, thereby causing a positive


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benefit, and, in all cases, relieving that apprehension of danger which all parties in a new country must experience, and which, to many, is more uncomfortable than danger itself.

From among the Pah-Utes, in the Spring Mountain Range, often as many as seven or eight guides and messengers were employed at one time. These Indians have been considered friendly for some years, but frequently prospectors, in parties of two, going out into the mountains, never return. They have, however, a wonderful regard for a superior force.

The semi-hostile Indians, as the Seviches, south of the Colorado, and the renegade Hualapais, found bordering the country of the Apache-Mohaves, can be made useful to a certain extent by a party of respectable size. No squad less than five in number should at present trust themselves among them.

From the friendly Indians the ranchmen and miners get more or less assistance in and around their farms, working in the mines and as messengers; in this way they greatly facilitate the early development in this section.

Now, how is all this changed, when one comes into the hostile Apache country! A party with a proper guard may travel for weeks and never see an Indian, except here and there, outside of range, and then generally more wild than a deer.

In conducting examinations, a single member even of the professional corps must be provided with a guard before it is safe for him to pass the brow of a hill in front of camp.

By dint of great perseverance, a semi-friendly Indian may be impressed into the service of guiding a party into a hostile country, but there is no certainty that he will be true to his trust.

This hasty sketch gives some notion of the disadvantages of conducting an exploration over a country occupied by hostile Indians; the subject needs only to be suggested to call attention to the fact that every essential detail is, of a necessity, greatly contracted.

The well-beaten Apache trails from Arizona to Sonora attest the fact of the lines long followed in raids upon the Mexican ranches and stock.

The legend exists among the Apaches that they were once a concentrated and powerful race, far surpassing in strength the Navajoes, with whom they had frequent encounters. Their horses, cattle, and sheep were plenty; their crops large; their chiefs came from a line of hereditary princes. Finally, dissensions arising, the cupidity of certain upstart chieftains caused troublous times, the dividing into separate bands, and a general war among themselves resulting. The end came in complete desolation and poverty. This continued nearly up to the time of the acquisition of the territory by the United States, when, against a common enemy, the white man, they banded together for defense. The secret of their great terror to the whites is their lawless and roving life, giving celerity to their movements, with great powers of endurance. The common experience in settling questions with such tribes, and the only one that has proven successful, is to thoroughly whip them, after which they never make any determined resistance.

The Indians of Arizona have never been made to feel that they had any master beyond their own will for a wild and Bohemian life. No continuous concentration of force has been directed to their rancherias and villages, there to meet and teach them that they must give up their habits of violence and murder, or submit to the inevitable fate of destruction.

Let the Indian policy of this Government be what it may, the Indian question in Arizona will never be settled until the campaigns of an energetic officer shall thoroughly whip and subdue them. Let this be done, and they are then as amenable as the Shoshones of Nevada or the Hualapais of Northwestern Arizona.

The tribes encountered during the present season will be denominated, respectively, as friendly, semi-friendly, and hostile. In the first we must place the Shoshones, Pah-Utes, Chemehuevis, Utes,


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Mohaves, and possibly the Hualapais, as they are now nearly all on a reservation, and no longer consider it policy to hold out against the whites. In the second, Seviches, Apache-Mohaves, Cosninas, and Apache-Coyoteros. Among those undoubtedly hostile are the Apaches, known as Tontos, Pinals, and Arivapas. Other Apache tribes, as the Mescaleros, Bonitos, and those governed by Cachise, were outside the limits embraced in the present exploration.

In this connection it seems almost impossible not to revert to that source of disaster to three members of the expedition, who were victims in the Wickenburgh stage massacre, for which I most thoroughly believe the Indians are responsible. Considerable trouble was taken in investigating this case through the agency of parties sent to the locality, and the weight of evidence convicts the Indians, and possibly those, too, who were drawing their food and supplies from the Government. From a careful study of the case, I am led to believe that the Indians in the vicinity of the Date Creek reservation, as in fact those in various other localities in Arizona, gathered courage from the fact that a peace commissioner had lately been in their midst, and hence thought with the greater impunity to commit this deed of violence with which their innate character had so much natural sympathy. Here were three men who had mastered all the toils and hardships of a severe campaign, who started homeward pleased with the thought of dangers escaped and duties well performed, who, after passing what was supposed to be unsafe ground, fell victims to an Indian ambuscade. One of these, a young man just entering upon his career, with years of promise before him, one drop of whose blood the whole Apache race could not expiate, parted with his life; and forgetting all else, in the records of humanity, this life, as well as that of the others, should be charged to the Indians.

Wherever opportunity afforded, conciliatory talks were held with the Indians, and the result was advantageous in the case of the Pah-Utes and Mohaves. The former tribe, assisted by the Chemehuevis, who are an allied race, had been at war for five years with the Mohaves; the cause of this difficulty was sought out, advice given, and during the river trip the captain of the Mohaves, who accompanied us, had a meeting with one of the Pah-Ute captains, through whom an amicable adjustment was arranged.

The ruins of the famous Aztec tribes, a name so rhythmical in legend, were met in many localities. Their status can be referred to as little better than-if indeed quite as good as-those Pueblo Indians, among whom we now have evidences remaining in the Zunis and Moquis besides other local tribes on the Rio Grande, however great their numbers might have been. They were doubtless driven from their accustomed habitations by the Apaches coming from the southward, and forced to seek for shelter those caves occupied by them as fortifications, finally becoming extinct, as must every race in the presence and in the line of progress of that race superior both in numbers and intelligence.

2.12. SITES FOR MILITARY POSTS.

These refer to positions for occupation and for operations. The selection for the sites of temporary or permanent military posts generally originates with the general commanding either the division or department, and their basis is determined by his peculiar ideas of the necessity therefor.

Scouting parties ordinarily discover a sufficient number of places, in advance of the pushing forward of troops into a new, hostile Indian country, and their reports go on record at the headquarters; therefore the results on this subject will be shown simply in marking upon the final map those points that can be conveniently occupied for military posts or scouting camps.


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2.13. INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE.

The climatology of the Pacific coast, although a subject of great importance and interest, yet, for the want of systematic data, remains in a very vague condition.

So far as the climatic oscillations now in progress are concerned, the general observations of so hasty an exploration can bear no great testimony. Beyond the geological examinations that notice the translation of alluvial material by direct atmospheric influences, our investigations were confined more directly to the quite complete series of meteorological observations. At the present time these are not in shape to be analyzed.

The principal portion of our time was spent in the great basin of the Colorado, and among some of the outlying or rather interior basins to the northwest. At present, throughout this area, arable sections are scarce, and but few of these have been entered by the settlers. Little by little, however, the desert edges will be reclaimed by irrigation, and reference has only to be made to that narrow strip of mountain valleys in the western portion of Utah, now inhabited by the Mormons, to show what the hand of industry and necessity may do in reclaiming arid lands and bringing them under cultivation. I cannot but believe that many of the mountain valleys in Nevada and Arizona will at no distant date become peopled, as are now many of those from Salt Lake to the southward.

It is generally admitted that large amounts of the aqueous vapors from the oceans rise to the higher currents of the atmosphere and are there carried, by rapid rates of motion, through long and wide intervals. The great atmospheric gulf stream of the middle and southwestern Pacific Ocean impinges with its humid strata along the entire Pacific coast. A portion in the higher currents, from local surroundings, reaches its maximum of condensation while passing over the coast range, while the remainder progresses onward until it is caught by the Sierras, where it deposits in the form of rain or snow.

The upper portion of the great interior basin beyond lies exterior to this influence. The broad Tulare Valley of California in between the Sierras and the coast, if it could rise up and catch this moisture, would become the scene of a luxurious vegetation, whereas now the changes from the very wet to the very dry season, annually, are strongly marked.

Let us suppose, however, that from the irrigating power that can be secured from the streams that rise in the Sierras, and have their primal source from these same humid currents of the upper air, 5,000,000 of acres could be brought under cultivation, with fields of corn and wheat, groves of fruit and forest trees, and varieties of vegetation, will it not be reasonable to conclude that, during this interval, the local surrounding climate will undergo slow changes, so that the atmosphere charged with humidity from this immense evaporation will bring about its own deposits of rain, thereby causing a temporary vacuum, as it were, into which would fall portions of the moisture, at that time in passage in the higher regions? Such a theory is not yet supported by known and pronounced facts; it may not be uninteresting to consider it in advance as among those changes to climate that the industries of man are producing. This same surcharged upper stratum that strikes the coast farther to the southward, follows the bed of the Colorado for a long distance, and the effects from it branch farther out as the approach is made to the higher ranges of mountains, situated in the northeastern portion of that basin.

In this direction, the Sierras having lost their specific character, and breaking over toward the coast range, do not impose a barrier, and none is met until the Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains are reached, in whose higher altitudes it is understood that the humidity, that has had its origin at the surface of the sea, is felt, and can be noticed by the more delicate meteorological instruments.


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Extreme ranges of temperature have been encountered along the route, ranging from 8° F. as the maximum cold, to 109° F. at midnight, for the greatest heat. Difference of wet and dry bulb readings, give a range from 5° F. to 45° F. The equability of temperature and regularity of the winds and rains of most of the valleys south of 38° latitude and until Southern Arizona is reached, combine to render the climate a very healthy and agreeable one.

2.14. AGRICULTURAL AND GRAZING LANDS.

As before stated, the arable lands of Nevada are very small in relative amount; contrasting Nevada with Arizona, the latter has the advantage in relative proportions, as will be shown by the statistical map to be constructed.

Nevada cannot claim to be an agricultural section, but most of the local wants for the mining inhabitants could be supplied from home production. In Arizona, in and around Prescott, along the valley of the upper Gila, Salt and Verde Rivers, south of Tucson, along the Santa Cruz River and Sonoita Creek, there is an area capable of sustaining quite an agricultural population; some of the finest soil that I have ever seen has lately been broken up along the Gila, and around the settlement called Florence.

In the matter of natural facilities for grazing large herds of stock, Arizona ranks Nevada; in the number of mining districts Nevada leads far in the advance. As far as the probable amount of bullion from the two, at a time twenty years from now, is concerned, it is hard to say. It is believed that after the Indian difficulty is settled, and railroads are brought into Arizona, that districts already examined will be worked profitably, and stimulus given to further and more careful prospecting. When the Indians have become peaceable, the valleys and rolling foot-hills will afford the most excellent pasturage for very large herds of stock, with their covering of bunch and gramma grasses. At the present time, stock not herded by a respectable force is not safe in any portion of Arizona, except at certain localities along the Lower Gila and Colorado, and in the Hualapais country, or northwestern part of the Territory.

It is safe, also, to say that the time is close at hand when these areas will become great grazinggrounds, for, in the onward march of population, the stock-ranches skirting the tributaries to the west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers must give way to the settler who wishes to till the soil, and the value per acre gradually gets beyond where it becomes profitable to use it for stock-raising purposes. Thus, year by year, droves of horses, cattle, and sheep are being driven more and more toward the far West; valleys in Nevada that in 1869 were uninhabited were heard to have been filled up subsequently with stock during the interval, and within two years every available stock-range in the State will have been appropriated.

Very little game is found in and around the more desert portions of Nevada and Arizona; in fact it may be said that there is a zone of comparatively no game, whether large or small, limited on the west by the Sierras, on the cast by the Wahsatch Mountains, north by 40°, and south by 35° 30° north latitude.

In Northeastern and Eastern Arizona many herds of deer and antelope were seen; bear, of the brown or cinnamon and grizzly varieties, and wild turkey. A certain strip, commencing on the eastern part and continuing south into Arizona, is also frequented by many species of game.

Coal, of economic value, lay but at one portion of our route, so far as had been discovered, and that was at the northwestern end of the White Mountains. Many carboniferous strata appear, but the coal-beds are wanting.

In and around Death Valley, among the cañons of the Colorado, and at very many mining districts, granite and various volcanic rocks, offering a good variety of building material, were noted.


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2.15. MINES.

This subject, which above all others merits the most attention of any one of the practical and immediately remunerative interests belonging to the field of this exploration, had not a prominent place in the letter of instructions. However, my experience on the western slope at other times than during the present season has thrown me much among the mines and miners, and I believe it is to be the one subject which, if studied practically, can be more benefited by honest industry in examination and intelligence in description than any other that refers either to the commercial or industrial pursuits of the Pacific coast. At the present time I am laboring under two great difficulties. First, many of the valuable detailed notes collected during the past four years, and appearing as memoranda in certain books that were inadvertently taken on the Colorado, were lost at the bottom of that river; and second, very many other later and duplicated notes are now en route; therefore memory has measurably to satisfy the claims that attach to this important subject.

The total number of mining districts within the area covered by the exploration was ninety-two, of which eighty-six were visited by some member or members of the expedition; of these fifty-seven are in Nevada, eighteen in California, seventeen in Arizona. In connection with those entered in 1869, my immediate attention has been called to more than one hundred districts, mostly of the silver-bearing ores. The location and size of all these appear on the map, and from it a great deal of valuable information regarding the practicability of reaching these districts, with a view to any mining operation, can be obtained.

Personal examinations were made in the mining districts by Lieutenants Lockwood and Lyle, Dr. Hoffman, and Civilian Assistant Gilbert, all of whom present memorandum reports. In some cases a topographical party alone visited the district. In order to facilitate the amount of information to be gained from the necessarily hasty examinations of many districts, lists of questions, forty-five in number, a copy of which is attached to show the character of the information that was obtained, were prepared, so as to be filled out while in the district. It will be attempted to duplicate as much as possible of the information to be gained hereafter, from the recorders or residents of the district, to replace that lost in the Colorado.

LIST OF QUESTIONS.

In view of the present condition of the data in this matter, it seems proper to confine this report to circumstances concerning the locality of the various districts, the general character of the ores, the nature of the inclosing and country rock, the prospect of permanency in the veins, &c., and close the subject with a few suggestions and recommendations. Mr. Gilbert alone presents geological notes.

2.16. DISTRICTS IN NEVADA.

These will be mentioned sensibly in their order from north to south. Many of these districts are not new, having their place in reports already made and published, but, coming within the


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lines of the routes traversed, were always entered when opportunity occurred, with a view to record any change in the condition of the mining industry at the date of our visit.

The reports to which the above reference is made are those of the United States Commissioner of Mining Statistics, Vol. III of the Fortieth Parallel Geological Survey, and those of the State mineralogist of Nevada.

2.17. BULL RUN DISTRICT, NEVADA.

White Rock City, the principal location in this district, and the only one that is now active, is eighty-nine miles north from Carlin, on the Central Pacific Railroad. The connecting wagon-road, which is of fair quality, follows Maggie's Creek and Independence Valley. The Bull Run Range has a north and south trend, and forms the eastern limit of the broad valley of the Owyhee. At the point in question it consists chiefly of (1) a bluish-gray, bastard limestone, somewhat altered, checked by frequent veins of calcite running at all angles; (2) gray, impure quartzite, passing on the one hand into argillaceous schist, and on the other into impure sandstone, resting against (3) a gray, homogeneous, syenitic granite. The granite is seen along the western foot of the range, and in ascending to the divide one crosses the edges of the stratified beds, which rest against it, and dip at 30° to 60° to the east. A system of fissure veins substantially conforming to the dip and trend of the strata, traverses all the metamorphic beds, and even the granite, but is metalliferous only in the former. The metal mined is silver, and its principal associate is lead. So far as wrought, the veins have afforded chiefly oxidized ores, but some sulphides have been found, though the water-line has not yet been reached. There are no mills, and the ore is packed on mules to Cope district for reduction.

The principal mines in operation are the Central Pacific, Porter, and Town Treasure. The number of men employed is small, and the entire population does not exceed fifteen; the mines are comprised in an area two miles north and south by one mile east and west. There are no stage or freight lines. The best available building material is timber, with which White Rock Cañon is well supplied. Water for mill use is at hand, and at the cañon of Bull Run Creek, a few miles farther south, is an available mill-site, with water-power.* *

A hurried personal visit was made to this locality, not so much, however, to examine the mines as to cross the divide of the waters of the Humboldt and Columbia Basins, and gain a look along the valley of the Owyhee, which observation alone paid for a long ride of nearly two hundred miles. The heavy snow on the mountains had not disappeared, and evidently the miners were waiting for the opening of the spring in order to commence vigorous work. Samples of ore, both chloride and sulphide, looked very promising, so far as this alone could show. The majority of the ores require roasting, and hence that heavy weight of expense per ton must act here, as it has so often in other regions, as an incubus to speedy developments. These mines had been opened but little at this date; however, it has since been understood that arrangements have been completed to bring in machinery, and, if the ore developments have kept pace, good test evidence will already have been furnished of what may be expected of this mining camp.

Poor placers have been found in the little basin to the eastward of the main range, but they have been abandoned as unprofitable. Similar placers, it is understood, have been slightly worked in the neighborhood of the mines at Cope district.

2.18. COPE DISTRICT, NEVADA.† From notes furnished by Mr. F. R. Simonton.

Discovered in 1869. Worked continuously since that interval. From Mountain City, the only mining camp in the district, to Elko, via the stage-road, the distance is ninety miles.

The ores are principally sulphurets. Fuel for roasting is abundant, at convenient places. Mining labor costs here $4.50 per day. There have been two large mills erected here, extracting some bullion.

The principal mines worked in June, 1871, are as follows: Mountain City, Pride of the West, Argenta, Excelsior, Independent, U. S. Grant, Eldorado, Crescent, Idaho, Nevada, Emmett, and Saint Nicholas. A study of names on the recorder's books of the many mining districts furnishes much of an index to the character of the miners and prospectors, who often place no little stress and pride upon the names selected with so much solicitude. Number of residents, about


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four hundred and fifty; one freight and one stage line to Elko. The country roads are good in this vicinity. The Shoshone Indians inhabit this locality, catching many salmon for themselves and the miners during the season. One of the forks of the head-waters of the Owyhee traverses this district. It is believed that many of the late developments do not favor the idea of permanency, although the present stage of the opening of the mines is not sufficiently advanced to warrant a definite conclusion.

Notes from J. W. Drew, late United States Army, give an altitude of 5,800 feet to the camp; also, average of temperatures, maximum and minimum, as occurring in July and December, former 84°, 21 F., latter 20°, 45 F. Snow liable to fall any time between November 1 and April 30.

2.19. LONE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, NEVADA.

Situated in a rather isolated comb-shaped range, this district lies to the east of the head of Maggie Creek, and about forty-five miles from Carlin, on the Central Pacific Railroad; it is more approachable, however, from Elko, Nevada, via the stage-road to Cope district. The district was only visited by a topographical party. Very little work has been done on the mines, and but little prospecting even, in this locality. The majority of the ledges are noted as occurring on the eastern slope of the mountains. Some later prospects have been found on the western side, carrying argentiferous galena and carbonate ores, well charged with iron as both coloring and matrix matter. The specimens gathered from mines on the eastern side show galena and poor sulphuret ore, carrying considerable carbonate of copper. There is evidently a field for intelligent prospecting in this vicinity.

2.20. TUSCARORA DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. L. Gilbert.

The Tuscarora placer mines are on the southward slope of hills of rhyolite, facing Independence Valley, and are fifty-six miles by road, north from Carlin Station. The dirt is derived from subjacent rock, and covers it to but a small depth in the gulches-5 to 10 feet. The gold has the same origin, and can be obtained in small quantity from the parent rock. Some spots showed so much as to induce the erection of a ten-stamp mill; but the amount extracted was not remunerative, and the mill is idle; there are no veins. The dirt is washed in sluices, with water brought two to six miles, the supply availing hut three or four months. The gold is combined with silver, and brings $12 to $13 per ounce. The diggings occupy a belt one-half mile by two miles. Most of the miners are Chinamen, working in companies Population about one hundred and twenty-five. There is no timber convenient.

2.21. RAILROAD DISTRICT, NEVADA.

This district, situated south of Carlin, on the Central Pacific Railroad, and at a distance of twenty-one miles, was visited by a topographical party. Specimens collected. The notes are wanting. The district was established in June, 1870. The ores are very base, and should be more properly termed copper ores. They, however, carry average assays of silver, and in consequence of their proximity to the railroad, with which they are now connected by three good mountain roads, some, at least, of these properties will be profitably worked.

2.22. MINERAL HILL DISTRICT, NEVADA.

Discovered in June, 1869. It has been worked nearly continuously since that time.

A stage-line connects with Palisades on Central Pacific Railroad about thirty-one miles distant. The ledges are principally on the northwestern side of a conical-shaped hill, being an outlier to the west from the main mountains; direction of the mineral veins, northwest and southeast. The development that had taken place at the time of our visit did not show the best of indications for the presence of a permanent vein, but gave more the appearance of pockets in limestone, which exhaust, bringing up in their downward course upon the country rock. However, it is understood


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that at the White Pine district, after exhausting these basins, frequently others are found by sinking directly or following some mineral thread or discoloration. The ores belong to the base metal order, abounding in sulphurets of silver and lead and carbonate of copper. In order to extract an economic percentage, the roasting process has to be applied. The gross production up to June 1, 1871, or in two years, was $600,000; number of tons, 3,300; cost of mining the ore, per ton, $5; cost of milling the ore, including roasting, per ton, $30; mining and milling labor per diem, $4. There is one 15-stamp mill with a Stedefeldt furnace erected here at a total cost of $80,000; its capacity is 22 tons in twenty-four hours.

The principal mines worked are the Austin, Mary Ann, Rim Rock, Grant, Star of the West, Vallejo, and Pogonip; upon these mines, with the exception of the Austin, about $80,000 have been expended; returns $450,000; upon the Austin about $50,000 expended, returns so far $150,000. Number of inhabitants, four hundred and fifty nearly. One stage and a variety of freight-lines connect with the railroad. Cost of freight, 1 cent per pound. Stage fare, $8. The cost of a 10-stamp mill at this locality, with a Stedefeldt furnace, is estimated at $65,000, estimating $13,000 for the furnace; both this and the total amount being liberal estimates. The whole area covered by mineral croppings will hardly exceed one mile square. There is at present no indication of reaching a water-level. A species of natural fire-stone, valuable for the lining of the furnace, is found not far distant. Water is obtained in limited quantities in a cañon to the north and east, along which the little mining town has been built. Wood is not plenty in the immediate vicinity, though large tracts are in view upon the sides of the mountains to the north and east. The Shoshones inhabit this region, and work to a limited extent for the miners. The country roads in this vicinity are solid. When the local tariffs on the railroad and the price of labor diminish, many items that affect the cost of the extraction of the bullion at this comparatively accessible district will be cheapened. This district was visited by one of the members of the fortieth parallel geological survey. Many new developments have been made since that time.

2.23. DIAMOND DISTRICT, NEVADA. (Visited by a topographical party. Results from a few scattering notes.)

Situated on the western slope of the Diamond Range, north and west from Diamond Station, on the old overland stage-road. Diamond City is the name of the little camp. The Mammoth mine has been well opened by a shaft, now more than 75 feet. The elevation at the month of this shaft is 7,740 feet. The ore is principally argentiferous galena, giving assays as high as $270 per ton, and carrying 72 per cent. of lead. Veins run north and south, crossing an east and west stratified rock, about one and one-half miles in width. A smelting-furnace, soon to be in operation, was being built. The original locators, having wasted some money in improvements, abandoned afterward their claims. The principal locations are the Champion, Hidden Treasure, Patriot, Curtis, and Keller. The location of these mines in regard to the railroad and the high percentage of silver, ought to establish profitable enterprises in this district if the mines are systematically worked.

2.24. RACINE DISTRICT, NEVADA. (From scattering notes by a topographical party.)

Situated about forty-five miles from Elko, on the western slope of the Humboldt Range, and east of Dutchman's Station on the White Pine stage-road. All the appurtenances for a mining camp are here abundant. Very little development made, and this only upon two mines-the Uncle Sam and De Witt. Elevation of mines, 7,440 feet; specimens show several varieties of base silver


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ores, and are all from the croppings. A little legitimate prospecting may find surface indications to warrant the investment of a certain amount of capital to determine the character of this area of mineral land.

2.25. EUREKA DISTRICT, NEVADA.

This district lies on the stage-road from Palisades, on Central Pacific Railroad, to Hamilton, White Pine County, seventy-nine miles distant from the former station. The mines Were first discovered in 1868, worked for a period, and then partially abandoned, after which, in the spring of 1870, developments were going on in full vigor. Seven furnaces were in operation, the most successful one at this time being that of the Eureka Consolidated Company. The mineral croppings of this region are strewn over a considerable space, with but little regularity of form. The lead-bearing ores predominate, while on the western slopes of the rolling mountains that face toward the southern end of Diamond Valley, milling ores are found, of both sulphide and chloride of silver, in limestone, however, and having no remarkable appearance of permanence. The ore that produces the best results from the smelting has a brownish, decomposed look, carrying much carbonaceous matter, and oftentimes not lead enough to facilitate the smelting process. The ore-beds defined seem to have a dip to the northeast of about 30°, following wavy beds quite similar to what has been noticed in disturbed coal basins. The principal mines worked are those of the Eureka Consolidated Company, embracing one entire hill, joined at the southeast by properties of the Phœnix and Jackson Companies, the latter idle. Outside from these the Bull Whacker, Otto, Empire, and Lexington mines were visited, and samples of milling ores were taken from the Star of the West and General Lee. Various freight lines deliver stores for 1 cent per pound from railroad. The area covered by mines is most irregular in shape, but will approximate to eleven square miles. A volcanic granite quarry to the east of the town furnishes a fine quality of building material. Wood for charcoal is abundant among the hills, bordering a radius of eight to ten miles. No records on hand at present give the annual production of bullion. The amount from the Ely Consolidated, running five furnaces, has often reached, if not exceeded, $175,000 per month. The present price for freight on bullion is $10 per ton, to the railroad. Several freight lines compete. The town of Eureka is a very lively and smoky one; several hotels, one church, one bank, and one school-house are found here. The Richmond furnace is the only one that has a refinery attached.

2.26. SIERRA OR SECRET CAñON DISTRICT, NEVADA. (Notes from a topographical party.)

Situated south and east from Eureka, about twelve miles distant. Rich cropping found and several mines worked with great success. From the Geddis mines, Nos. 3 and 4, ore taken from a shaft over 70 feet in depth has milled an average of $225-rich bodies bringing out results very much superior to this. The Calico mine has a shaft of 75 feet, showing average milling ore of $100. Shafts have also been sunk to good depths on the Bertram, and Geddis Nos. 1 and 2, Secret Valley, Stockton, and some others. The district, though small and comparatively new, has an air of good promise.

The cost of the various items pertaining to mining industry varies but little if any from that at Eureka, near at hand.

2.27. PINTO DISTRICT, NEVADA. (Notes from a topographical party.)

This little mining camp is situated at the entrance to a wide cañon on the eastern slope of the Diamond Range, among the foot-hills of which the mines are located, lying in a southeasterly direction,


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and not far from Eureka. Specimens obtained were from the Maryland mine; others forwarded from this district have not been received for examination, but are taken from the Mountain Chief, Michigan, Uncle Sam, Duquette, Cole & Johnson, and Our Own, No. 2, mines. The ores are chlorides and sulphurets of silver, with galena interspersed; a part can be smelted; it is maintained that others can be worked by the wet or free process; course of veins northeast and southwest.

Water is scarce, and at a distance from the mines. Wood for fuel purposes plenty. The several expenses of mining industry vary but slightly from those obtained in Eureka.

2.28. MOREY DISTRICT, NEVADA.

The mines of this district are north of Hot Creek, the camp itself lying to the south of Eureka, a distance of seventy-five miles, and south and west from Hamilton, at a distance of sixty-one miles. The ledges are arranged in a parallel system of thin fissures, found in the foot-hills, whose trend is south 55° west magnetic, and which form a portion of the eastern slope of the Hot Creek Range. The mines are found on either side of these hills, nearly uniform in direction, converging slightly to the main peak of the contiguous ridge; these foot-hills break off to the northeast from the main range. General trend of the mountains north and south. The country rock is somewhat disturbed, and much débris from the peaks to the southwest covers the surface. Bearing of lodes south 55° west; country rock is an ancient volcanic rock, probably propylite, with later introduced volcanic dikes. The veins have an average dip of 60°. No vein has been found to exhaust either in horizontal or vertical working. Some veins are perpendicular. Plenty of nut-pine and cedar for fuel and timbering in adjoining hills; fine building-stone in cañon one and a half miles to the south; three springs of fine water in the district. The ores are all high grades, associated with manganese, and require roasting. The Stedefeldt process has been found to give a high percentage at Austin. Average cost of mining per ton, $25; price of mining and milling labor, $4. As yet there is no mill, although the developments justly merit one.

Principal mines worked: Magnolia, Bay State, Cedar, and American Eagle. Total amount of bullion for nine months ending June 30, 1871, $27,500, giving an average of $315 per ton. Freight to Austin, 3½ cents; to Eureka this might be reduced to 2 cents. The cost of a 10-stamp mill and Stedefeldt furnace is estimated at $45,000; this is a low estimate. The ore from these mines has been transported to Austin at a great expense and there worked; meanwhile the district has been self-supporting to the Morey Company, they being the only ones who have done much work. In their case, however, it has been conducted on a very small scale. The total number of feet owned by them is 20,400; this embraces the greater share of the district, which is quite small. The matrix material of the veins is soft. The introduction of Chinese labor succeeded satisfactorily at this point while it was tried by Mr. D. S. Ogden, the superintendent, and was only discontinued at the time it was concluded to lessen operations.

This labor ought to be introduced to a certain limited extent among the mines of the interior, where cheap labor is so much needed. By arranging them in small gangs, placing over each an intelligent and vigilant foreman, the work can be equally as well done. They also succeed well as assorters of ore. The veins are from 3½ to 5 feet thick, showing a pay-streak from 6 to 22 inches, and giving assays from $75 to $525. Work was being pushed ahead on the Cedar and Magnolia at the date of our visit, and from the latter the most flattering results obtained at the end of the tunnel, 155 feet. Ore from a pay-streak from 18 inches to 2½ feet was continuously averaging from $150 to $200 per ton, and often reaching as high as $600.

The Bay State, Mount Airy, American Eagle, and Black Hawk are all good mines. The average milling results, after little assorting, average from $395 to $552 per ton. Quite thorough examinations


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were made here, and the impressions produced were exceedingly favorable; indeed, there are few localities yet encountered where there is a more favorable opportunity for the judicious expenditure of capital.

2.29. WHITE PINE DISTRICT, NEVADA.

No examinations made here since 1869, subsequent to which visit there was a great lull in mining matters; latterly, however, the prospects have greatly revived; mines have been found to descend where alone pockets were expected; capital has been introduced on a large and liberal scale. I am informed that the charter has been granted and the incorporation perfected for a narrow-gauge railroad from Elko to Hamilton, and that work is soon to be commenced. A wire tramway for transporting the ore from the mine to the mill at a trifling expense is in operation, and at last accounts was working successfully. This is the first instance in which this method of transporting the ores has been tried; various experiments are going on with a view to perfect this sort of a tramway, and the results cannot fail to be a step in the right direction.

2.30. SPRING VALLEY DISTRICT, NEVADA.

This district is situated immediately north of the stage-road from Austin to Eureka and about twelve miles from the latter place. The ores are chlorides and sulphides of silver in metamorphic limestone, showing croppings of a limited size. But little labor has been applied, and beyond generalizations of the widest nature, but little can be said. Most of the miners were absent and the time for observation short. The mines lay in the southeastern foot-hills, covered with nut pine. Water is scarce. The country roads are good.

2.31. ANTELOPE DISTRICT, NEVADA.

Situated about fourteen miles in a southwest direction from Mineral Hill. Base metal ore in a highly metamorphic limestone formation. No developments showing expectations even of a permanent vein. The croppings are distributed over a considerable area, among low, rolling hills, on the western slope of a range that passes nearly due south from Mineral Hill. Water scarce; wood plenty. A few miners at work.

2.32. HOT CREEK AND EMPIRE DISTRICTS.

Situated in the Hot Creek Range, and successively to the south and adjoining Merey. These localities were visited by topographical parties, but no notes are available except the average milling assays of the ores from the Hot Creek district at the Old Dominion mill, when this was in operation. These were very favorable, in no month falling below $200 per ton, and reaching as high as $325 per ton. The mines are on the eastern slope of the range, and crop from a volcanic formation. A transcript from the mill returns of the Old Dominion mill shows the average working value per ton to range from $80 to $472.

2.33. RATTLESNAKE CAñON DISTRICT, NEVADA.

South of Empire, adjoining it, and now believed to be a part of it; is being worked by a New York company, whose principal endeavors have attached to the Philadelphia mine; showing roasting ores, stedefeldtite predominating. The ore deposits are in volcanic rock. The water-level had been reached, and arrangements were soon to be made for pumping, when it was intended to push the work on with vigor. The walls, at a depth of 55 feet, were clean and well defined. Water sufficient for mining purposes. Wood scarce. No mill in the cañon. A 2-stamp mill in sight in the valley below.


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2.34. TYBOE DISTRICT, NEVADA.

The little mining Camp of this name is situated in a canoñ that runs toward the Hot Creek Valley, and from the mountains between the Rattlesnake Cañon and the old Milk Spring district. This district shows two very dissimilar series of ores. The first, prominent along a very long line of east and west croppings, is of a yellowish-brown ore, heavily charged with lead, assaying about $60 per ton in silver, and, like the Eureka ores, can doubtless be easily smelted. The ores from the west, and in the direction of the Empire Cañon, show sulphide and chloride of silver in limestone, and also among volcanic rocks. The first series belong to a line of fissure; the others have no particular direction, and doubtless are pockets for the greater part. The veins of the carbonaceous ores are wide. Several miners were vigorously at work; wood and water sufficient for mining purposes. The most direct access to this locality is via Eureka, and thence down Hot Creek Valley. The distance from Hot Creek Station is fourteen miles. But few developments had been made. The principal work has been done on the 2 G, Casket, and Western Extension mines. The district is, however, in my mind, one of great promise, if developments prove that it can be worked on a large and comprehensive scale. The direction of the veins trends toward the summit of the range. The nearest milling center at present is Belmont. Plenty of wood for fuel purposes. Roads are not yet well opened.

2.35. BATTLE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

The district includes four principal locations, known as Battle Mountain, Trenton, Galena, and Copper Cañon, all on the eastern slope of the Battle Mountain Range. The first mentioned, which is the oldest, I did not visit. Galena, five miles farther south, is now the principal center of activity; it is situated fourteen miles south from Battle Mountain Station, with which it is connected by a good road. The country rocks are metamorphic sedimentary, (quartzite, mica-slate, clay-slate, limestone, &c.,) dipping to the west at all angles, from 20° to 75°. The veins are well defined, and for the most part are more nearly vertical than the adjacent beds, but trend with them north and south.

The chief ore is argentiferous galena, and some mines have passed below the water-level; others are still dry and yield a large proportion of oxidized ores. Price of labor, $3.50 per diem. No mill was in operation at the time of my visit, but that of the Nevada Butte Silver Mining Company approached completion. The best ore ($150 to $300 per ton) is shipped to San Francisco.

The principal mines worked are the Avalanche, Buena Vista, Butte, Trinity, and White, and they are comprised in an area about one and one-half miles square. Population, 200.

The mines of Copper Cañon (the Virgin and Lake Superior) lie three miles farther south, and are worked entirely for copper. The surface ores are carbonate of copper and red oxide, and the deep-seated copper glance. The water-level has not been reached. The ore is sold in Liverpool.

Galena and Copper Cañon have a scant supply of water, and have no timber in the immediate vicinity, though it is found on the range.

2.36. YANKEE BLADE DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

Situated immediately north of the Reese River district. It is reported at Austin that work has been entirely suspended in this district.

2.37. REESE RIVER DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

There are no new developments at Austin, but, by economic and skillful management, the place is recovering from the stagnation that followed the White Pine excitement. The mill of the Manhattan Company, which now does a large custom business in addition to the reduction of the ores mined by the company, is to be enlarged, and another mill is building to reduce, by competition, the prices of milling, and foster still further the development of mines held by parties with small capital. Great advantage is derived in the large mines from the use of a contract system, which pays the miners in whole or part by a percentage of the ore extracted.


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2.38. KINGSTON DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

Situated on the eastern flank of the Toyabe Range, twenty miles south of Austin. The silver mines of the district are entirely deserted, and the machinery of its mill is being removed.

2.39. NORTH TWIN RIVER DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

Situated on the eastern flank of the Toyabe Range, facing Smoky Valley, and thirty-five miles south of Austin. The great speculations that have been based on this district are without fulfillment. In Summit Cañon, two men are said to be at work, and at the entrance of Park Cañon, where stands an unfinished silver-reducing mill, the proprietor still faithfully maintains his residence.

2.40. TWIN RIVER DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

Situated immediately south of North Twin River district, and including Twin River, Last Chance, Ophir, and Wisconsin Cañons. In Ophir Cañon the extensive works of the Twin River Silver Mining Company stand idle, the celebrated Murphy mine is full of water, and the town, once containing several hundred, has now but five or six inhabitants, two of whom are engaged in mining. The other cañons are quite deserted.

2.41. JEFFERSON DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

This district of silver mines is situated on the west side of the Toquima Mountains, being separated by that range from the Silver Bend District, (Belmont,) and by the Smoky Valley from the Twin River district, (Ophir Cañon.) It is entirely deserted.

2.42. MANHATTAN DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

This district, now abandoned, was located on the west side of the Toquima Mountains, immediately south of the Jefferson district.

2.43. MOUNTAIN CHIEF DISTRICT, NEVADA.

This district, visited by a topographical party, lies on the eastern slope of the Toquima Range, and nearly due north from our camp at Meadow Creek Cañon. Principal mines: Mountain Chief, Mount Ruby, and Blue Point; no notes available.

2.44. SILVER BEND DISTRICT, NEVADA.

Belmont stands on a system of plicated black shales of silurian age, with some associated limestone and quartzite, all dipping east and northeast at high angles, and resting against a mass of granite that lies west and south of them. The argentiferous veins are near the granite, and dip and trend with the strata.* *

Quite a minute survey and examination were made in this locality by members of the fortieth parallel geological survey, and there is little left to be done beyond chronicling changes in the material developments of the mines that have since taken place. Nothing has been done with the mining or mill property of the combination company. Mr. Canfield had in constant operation a 10-stamp mill, with furnace and crushers, working upon ores from the Arizona and Transylvania mines, and paying a good profit.

The owners of the El Dorado south were busily engaged in a legitimate development of their mine down to the water-level, which shows at this point a most beautiful fissure-vein.

The old Belmont mill, situated in the town of Belmont, was receiving a thorough overhauling, preparatory to receiving new furnaces and machinery. The ore supply was expected to come from explorations that had commenced on the Transylvania north, and upon the old Belmont lead.

The Monitor, in the bight of the hill near the summit, and lying nearly in a line between the Arizona and El Dorado south shafts, was taking out fine, high-grade ore. Other parties, here and there, were prospecting their leads in a small way.


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To the north and west of the town, and in the continuation of the mineral-bearing trend, some mines were visited. At one of them a little work is progressing. They doubtless belong to the same system of mineral deposition.

Mining and milling labor commands $3.50 per day. There are sixty stamps set up in this district, only ten of which were working.

Two freight-lines connect with Austin. Number of inhabitants, 400.

There is said to have been taken out, in bullion, from the High Bridge, $170,000; El Dorado, $200,000, and Transylvania, $250,000. During the last year the bullion from the Arizona has increased the above amount, so that probably the district in total has produced not far from $750,000. The veins here are undoubtedly permanent. The range of the properties is limited. Developments become exceedingly expensive after reaching the water-level.

By the judicious combination of interests and application of capital, this could be made one of the most flourishing districts in the interior of Nevada. The original name of this district was Silver Bend, then it was temporarily called Philadelphia; at present the record-books show ‘‘"Silver Bend"’’ to be the appropriate name.

2.45. REVEILLE DISTRICT, NEVADA.* From notes furnished by Mr. G. K. Gilbert.

Reveille district, organized in 1856, is on the Reveille Range, two hundred and twenty miles south, by road, from Elko, on the Central Pacific railroad. The mountains are here composed of heavy beds of lime and quartzite, uplifted and shattered by massive eruptions of rhyolitic lava. Silver ore has been found at numerous points in the surface of the limestone, with a calcareo-siliceous gangue, but no traceable vein has been demonstrated, except along the uneven margin of the rhyolite, where it is adjacent to the limestone. The base metals are iron, copper, lead, and antimony. No deep mining has been done, but a notable amount of superficial work. A mill for the district was built twelve miles west, at the foot of the Hot Creek Range, but it is not now used, and the district is quiescent. The supplies of water and timber are scant.

2.46. FREIBERG DISTRICT, NEVADA.

This was formerly known as the Worthington district, and it is situated northwest from Silver Cañon, about seventeen miles distant. The ores are represented as rich smelting ores. The notes taken by C. A. Ogden are not now available. It is understood that the main mountains are of limestone, highly fossiliferous, covered on their eastern flanks by eruptive beds of rhyolite.

The deposits occur on the eastern base, cutting across the ravines that are parallel with the northeast spurs. Water in two places for mills; timber sufficient for fuel and building purposes. The area covered by croppings is about 2½ square miles.

2.47. ELY DISTRICT, NEVADA.

The range, or group of hills occupied by the district stands as an island on the eastern foot-slopes of the Ely Mountain Range, and is quite as peculiar in structure as in position, since its axis of elevation and the accompanying fractures trend north 60° west, and the system of argentiferous veins east and west, nearly at right angles to the general trend of the Cordilleras. The rocks are slightly altered limestone and argillaceous shale, with vitreous sandstone or quartzite. At Pioche the latter stretches as a longitudinal belt, a half mile in width, with an easy dip to the northeast, and is separated by faults from bodies of limestone and shale on either side, through which it seems to have been uplifted. The metalliferous veins are confined to this belt. In the shale a few fossils were found, one of which I thought to be a Carboniferous form, (Phillipsia,) but, as the specimens were afterward destroyed, it has been impossible to confirm this identification.* *

This district, first discovered in 1864, was relocated, and developments commenced in 1868. A visit was made here in the fall of 1868, since which time astonishing developments have been made, and Pioche ranks second to no mineral section in Nevada, except Washoe. Fifty-five stamps were busily employed, the ore being worked by what is known as the wet process, giving a fair percentage;


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the tailings are collected, however, and will be reworked at some later period. Only the higher-grade ores are carried to the mill at the present stage of the mining industry. Water being very scarce in the mines, the mills have had to be erected, one in Dry Valley, about eight miles to the eastward, others at Bullionville, eleven miles to the south. The present cost of transportation of ores from the mine to the mill is somewhat of a burden. The wall-rock is quartzite, badly broken and disturbed in many places; the ores found are chloride and sulphuret of silver; specimens of horn and ruby silvery stedefeldtite, argentiferous galena, small amounts of manganate of silver, oxide and carbonate of lead, and pyrites of iron. The lower levels have a tendency toward sulphuret ores, and it is not unlikely that, at no distant date, in order to secure a sufficiently high percentage, roasting will have to be introduced.

The main veins occupy but a small lateral extension, separating, a short distance from the western end, into two branches or prongs, or, looking from the other extremity, these prongs uniting ought to lead to a wide and more substantial vein to the westward.

Astonishing results have been obtained from the (Lightener) shaft, sunk on the Raymond and Ely property in this direction, $750,000 having been taken out, at a profit to the stockholders of more than 8450,000, in four months. The principal companies are the Meadow Valley, Raymond and Ely, and Pioche. Other parties have lately made developments, some of which are reported as of good promise.

This district was the scene of considerable terror and bloodshed for quite a season, caused by the disputes and litigations arising from frequent ‘‘"jumping"’’ of claims. Much of the blackmailing spirit has held sway, and may be cited as an instance of the loose state in which mining laws, records, titles, &c., are often placed, incident upon the irregular method of the prospecting, locating, and placing in market of mines in interior and remote sections.

The little town of Pioche, in July, 1871, was as thriving, cleanly, and well-regulated a mining town as it has been in my experience to meet. A fire, in August, destroyed nearly everything, and left the surface of the country more desolate than before the mines were worked; since that time the enterprise that is evinced in all mining camps where bullion is prod