ARIZONA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 720, 8 April 1864, Page 6

ARIZONA.

Arizona, from its position and general geological features, so far as explorations have made them known, is believed to be stocked with mineral wealth beyond that of any other territory of equal extent in America.

The rich silver mines of .Nevada on the north, of Sonora oq the south, which latter have been traced into, and successfully worked in the southern part of the territory, recent discoveries in the valleys of the Upper Colorado and its tributaries, and in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, all point to this territory as the grand centre of the immense mineral deposits of this region. The larger portion of this territory has not been critically expfored, but as it has been approached from either direction, the number and value of the known mineral deposits have been increased.

A recent letter, addressed to the Hon. John S. Watts, from this section, holds the following language:—

" The country north of the Gila River is rich in gold, silver, and copper. In the new mines there is plenty of timber, water, and grass. By an arrival to-day I learn that they have found diggings that pay 1500 dols. to the man. The place is called Antelope Creek, and is about 100 miles northwest of the Pimo Villages. I think we will have one of the finest countries in the world if we can have some help to keep the Apaches and people from Sonora out of the country. The miners have made bye-laws prohibiting Sonorians from holding claims in the new mines, and will certainly try to enforce the laws they have made."

In another letter, dated 2nd August, 1864, and said to be reliable, the following statements are made :—

"I arrived here the 25 th of July, and found this a very hard-looking country. On this creek there is no wood, and only water enough for drinking purposes. There are about 100 Mexicans aad 30 Americans, and they are making from sdols to 200dols per day. One company of nine men have taken out fifty pounds of gold in ten days. The claim is situated on the top of one of the highest mountains in this vicinity. . The gold is coarse, and is found from one to four inches below the surface. The tool most used is the butcher knife. I was up to the claim yesterday, and saw two pounds of gold taken out in two hours. The gold is coarse —from one to eight ounces. Walker's diggings are fifty miles north of this, and in a different country, in which there is plenty of wood, water, and grass. About fifty men are at work there; making from 80dols to lOOdols per day. One man has taken out lOOdols per day for the last twenty days. None make less than Bdols, and T think the average would be about 30dols per day, each man.

" The gold field is large, They have prospected one hundred miles, and every gulch and creek has gold in it, and there is no telling how much gold will be ffcken out. I worked one day, and made .27d01s 50c." • .'

The statements in these letters are fully sustained by representations which have reached the Pacific coast from other and trustworthy sources, and great activity in consequence now exists in California in the formation of mining companies for operations in this new field, and both mining labor and capital are readily and liberally enlisted for enterprises in this region. Some portion of these places have, years since, been traversed by scientific explorers, and their contents described and calculated, their average productiveness being estimated far below the indications mentioned in the foregoing extracts, yet the existence of gold in paying quantities was clearly stated, and its locality fixed. Colorado Territory, resting upon the head waters of the Platte and Arkansas Rivers and the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, is rich in mineral wealth, containing gold, silver, copper, iron, coal and salt, alabaster, limestone and gypsum. None but gold mines have been worked to any extent; these are proving remunerative both upon the placers and quartz veins. The coal fields will only be resorted to when the supply of wood for fuel in the vicinity of the mills and towns is exhausted. The copper and iron mines will not be worked until labor shall be cheapened by a more abundant supply.

Several hundred quartz mills are now in successful operation in this Territory, and the quantity of gold produced is increased from month to month by the erection of new mills, opening newly-discovered veins, and the accession of miners in the placers. The field for placer mining is much restricted by the inadequate supply of water and the extreme fineness of the particles of gold in many localities.

" In the south-western portion of the territory bordering upon Utah and New Mexico are extensive deposits of both gold and silver yet unworked, but offering to the enterprising miner as liberal a compensation as any other locality which has been tested.

" There are large bodies of good agricultural land in Colorado, the area of which may be increased to the full extent that water for irrigating purposes can be obtained. At present the cultivation of the soil is confined principally to the valleys of the streams, and a few favored localities where irrigation has been found to be unnecessary.

"The extension of the Pacific Railroad westward will soon, as hereinbefore indicated, be favorably felt by every branch of industry in this territory, and with the facilities which that improvement will afford when carried to its western boundary, the population and products of Colorado will be doubled.

Narrow Escape.—On Saturday morning last as Mr W. Oakley was on his way to liis own claim on Stewart's Hill, lie had occasion to pa9a near au abandoned claim of 100 fret in depth, ■when to his horror he found himself sinking through, the ground, He instinctively threw out his arms at right angles with his body and arrested his downward progress ; but the ground still gave way, and had he not presence of mind enough to work himself to the edge of the hole that appeared firm, lie must inevitably hare'disappeared. Some persons were within a.few yards; but so sudden was the affair.' that none of them saw the accident. So that, had Mr Oakley fallen into the shaft, the chances are that his fate would have been unknown. Upon examining the spnt it was found that the rain had caused the ground to cave in for a considerable distance, from the mouth of the shaft—a contingenoy which ought lo make people cautious in approaching abandoned shafts where the soil is poruiw.— "St. Arnaud Mercury."