THE BLACK HILLS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1240, 4 September 1875, Page 16

THE BLACK HILLS.

It is not, by any means, our desire to encourage a rush from this country to the Black Hill region, in Dakota but, as faithful chroniclers of passing events; we conceive that it would be a gross neglect of duty to pass over without notice the fact that there is in the mining settlements of America, at the present time, great excitement about newly discovered goldfields in a distant and hitherto unexplored region, in a country which, before the days of railroads, was called the Far West. The story of the Black Hills is a long one, but it is exciting, and will no doubt prove highly interesting to our readers in the mining districts. In last week's Witness we gave an account of how a report had got abroad that rich goldfields existed in unexplored Indian Territory ; that this territory has been ceded to the Indians, and no white man had a right to intrude ; how U.S. troops had been sent to protect it from intrusion on the part of the whites ; and how , while one part of this force had been sent back with a party of miners, whose property they destroyed, the remainder pushed on, and another body of miners had threatened to take them on with them to the Hills ; and how imminent the danger was of an Indian war, unless the title of the Sioux was extinguished by honourable means.

"We have now further interesting particulars to add. Red Cloud and several of the leading Sioux chiefs, being aware of the threatened rush, repaired to Washington for the purpose of discussing the question with the President. They had been driven from their hunting grounds intg this reserve, wad now their very

exisjtence was threatened by the inroads of the whites. The conference led to an offer on the part of the Government of 25,000 dollars, but this the Indians rejected with disgust. So great is the excitement about this new El Dorado, that several of the leading papers have despatched reporters, and Government have j sent out a Mineralogical Surveying Expedition, headed by Professor Jenney, to report upon the district. He is with a j strong force of United States cavalry, and is accompanied by a special reporter from the office of the New York Tribune. On the Ist of May, the expedition was on Beaver Creek, at the base of the Black Hills, and they were about to penetrate an unexplored country. Their great difficulty was with the trains. Roads had to be cut, creeks bridged, and quicksands corduroyed. Speaking of the country, the reporter says :—": — " Whether the Hills prove rich in minerals or not, if this country is thrown open for settlement, it will be occupied at once by the cattle and sheep herdsmen. The homesteaders are crowding the stockmen off of their immense rauges along the Union Pacific

Railroad, aud this region will therefore be seized by the latter." It was the intention of the scientific party to establish a permanent camp in the heart of the ranges, and then begin their explorations. The Indians say that to the north-west of the Beaver the ground is on fire, and has been burning beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant. There are oil springs, it is supposed, in that region. On the 2nd, they were in Wyoming, on the borders of Dakota — most of the Black Hills being in the latter territory. On the 3rd they were on a fork of the Beaver, and there the main body of the military halted, naming the spot Camp Jenney. From this point various explorations were made, and on the Bth, the scientific party, Colonel Dodge, and two companies of cavalry, left Camp Jenney for the purpose of selecting a permanent camp, in a more central part of the Hills. They moved north, then east, over a high range, and then 8,000 feet down to a deep valley. At Ouster Gulch, in Dakota, they found a camp of miners at work — the formation being slate, with veins of quartz. " For a distance of seven miles," says the reporter, " gold has been found in paying quantities. We have all seen and handled it. It has been panned out by the soldiers in the blades of their shovels or any other vessel that could be obtained No Indians had been met with. Camp Jenny was established as a permanent camp, and in order to protect it from any possible combination of Indians, two redoubts or stockades were built, so as to place artillery in position commanding the approaches from every point. This seemed to be necessary, as the Indians had been suspiciously silent and inoffensive. On the 20th June, the Tribune's Special writes :—": — " Returning to-day to camp I find the camp greatly excited. They have found gold in the Black Hills at the new camp near Harney'a Peak in large quantities. I hasten to, give you the foots in regard \o the movements of the expedition since my last letter was written." Ostensibly, permission had been given to Lieut. Moshier to hunt. In reality he determined to prospect for gold in the country marked in the map as unexplored. He found over a hundred miners hard at work. They had slipped in unmolested by the military. The Special ■ays : " When the troops appeared, rising as it were like a phantom from the cliffs to blast their hopes, the thought, as one expressed it, arose : " The jig may be up now, but nothing but death or prison will keep me from these diggings." They have ( been at work this spring, ditching and preparing sluice-boxes and panning gold from the gulch. They are apparently experienced and hard-working men. Their stories are straightforward and manly. Every one of them has more or less gold dust to show. Colonel Dodge has no orders to arrest these men, and probably feels thankful that so disagreeable a task is not his. Lieut. Morton and Dr Lame are good geologists. They are cautious in stating how rich is the quartz which they saw, as that can only be accurately detertermined by assays. Dr Lame believes that the country will prove to be the richest for gold-digging east of California. "

A letter from another special, dated Fort Laramie, June 12, sayß : — "The mining excitement has been worked up to a height hardly surpassed in the days of '49 and '50," when California promised fortunes. The excitement increased when what was considered the corroborating stories of Captain Mix and Lieutenant Hay were heard. Yes, there was gold in the Black Hills beyond question, and the news aroused a determination in many men's breasts which has shown itself by a reckless invasion of that dangerous Indian country. These parties were only the vanguard of a large number of citizens — a sort of skirmishing line — who were ready to march into the Hills as soon as permission was given. Although men in Washington may have thought that the number of men in Northern Wyoming and Western Dakota who were planning to march into the Black Hills was not very great, still in this place it was estimated that at least 20,000 persons were preparing to go to the mines. If rich mines were discovered, thousands more would come. The inhabitants of Colorado, California, and Nevada have all witnessed such great gatherings of miners. The excitement goes far to prove that there is a great popular movement. . . . It may be that when the Washington delegation of chiefs returns there will be War fast and furious. The miners are to be looked after, and ' lively times ' may be counted upon."