220 J. A. LATCHA 



in the properties. Fagots of sage and other brush constitute 

 the bulk of the fuel used at many of these mines. Even that 

 unsatisfactory fuel costs from $5 to $10 per cord. With 

 a railroad traversing that territory, however, results would 

 ensue in the output of gold which would startle the world. 



The mining territory from Pioche to Candelara thus 

 described is wholly in Nevada. Just across the Nevada 

 line, west of Aurora, is Bodie. This California town has been 

 one of the most remarkable gold camps that the world has 

 ever known. It is on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada 

 mountains, at an elevation of 9,000 feet, and has, perhaps, 

 produced as much gold as any one mine in California. North- 

 west of Bodie, also on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas, 

 are Markleville and other mines which contain gold and 

 silver in almost equal proportions; but the cost of supplies 

 has, heretofore, prevented any great development of their 

 deposits. On the western slope of the Sierra Nevada moun- 

 tains, and almost directly west of Bodie, the heart of the 

 mother lode of California is tapped ; one of the richest sections 

 of the great lode being in Calaveras county. This county 

 has been and now is one of the greatest producers of gold in 

 California; and the famous Utica mine in the Angel district 

 of that county is, next to the Stanton mine in Cripple Creek, 

 probably the richest single gold mine in the world. 



If a pin be placed at Denver, Colorado, on the map, and 

 another at Stockton, California, and a string be drawn from 

 one to the other, an air line will be marked, passing through 

 the heart of the gold territory described. Slightly to the 

 north of Denver is Central City; and southwest of that city 

 is Cripple Creek; about thirty miles to the north of the string 

 Leadville will be found; in the southwest corner of Colorado 

 will appear Telluride, Rico, and other points where gold is 

 mined; Marysvale in Utah, almost due south of Salt Lake 

 City, will appear to the south of the string; fifty miles to 

 the north of it, near the line between Utah and Nevada, will 

 appear Osceola; Deep Creek lies north of Osceola and on 

 the southern edge of the great desert west of Salt Lake; De- 

 troit and several other rich gold camps are almost due east 

 of Osceola; Pioche lies one hundred miles south of the string; 



