JO1)AVIKSS( OINTY. 45 



The next heavy mines westward, on this same mineral range, is the 

 group at Elizabeth and Weston. About ii,; 500 acres here art- prospected 

 over and mined in. It is an irregularly shaped tract of laud, about six 

 miles long from east to west. The village of Elizabeth is located upon 

 its southern edge, a little east of its center. 



The most extensive lead now worked is the Wishou diggings, dis- 

 covered some two years ago in a cultivated field, about a mile north, of 

 the village. During the last year this mine has turned out nearly forty 

 thousand dollars worth of mineral. The mine is now worked by a com- 

 pany, under the superintendence of Dr. Little, of Elizabeth. A strong 

 steam engine runs night and day, and gangs of hands relieve each other 

 every eight hours. The workings have reached thirty-five feet below 

 the water level. The shaft is about one hundred and fifty feet deep, 

 and still going deeper. The mineral is found principally in vertical 

 openings, in some places several feet \vide, and full of clay, loose stones, 

 and chunk mineral. The company are driving their drifts in several 

 directions, and at several different levels. The object now seems to be 

 t> develop the mine, and not simply to obtain mineral. Many heavy 

 deposits are passed and left for future working. The prospect of a rich 

 future yield in this mine is very encouraging. I spent about two hours 

 in the bowels of the earth here, and then explored but a few of the 

 horizontal drifts. The old Haggerty diggings, the Van Meter range, 

 Stone's field and Ivilpatrick's field, have all furnished abundance of 

 mineral, and some of them have been worked for 35 years. The oblong 

 track of ground above mentioned has been prospected over and mined 

 in extensively. Deep crooked holes, red clay and stone piles, and tim- 

 bered shafts might be counted by the score. It would be impossible to 

 give the names of all these. 



The Elizabeth mines were discovered at a very early day, and worked 

 to some extent. In 1846 more than SOU miners are stated to have been 

 engaged in mining about Elizabeth and Weston. At this time one- 

 ninth of all the mineral raised in the lead region is supposed to have 

 been obtained here. Elizabeth and Weston were both swarming, ac- 

 tive towns. Lead mining, in its glory, was actively engaging all cl;i 

 of citizens, and the highest financial prosperity was enjoyed by all who 

 depended upon the trade of mining and the products of the mines. The 

 working out of some of the heaviest superficial deposits, and the dis- 

 covery of the California gold mines, caused mining to rapidly decline. 

 These mines soon, therefore, fell into disuse and neglect; but they are 

 again assuming something of their former importance. At the present 

 time labor in these mines is better paid than at any other period since 

 their discovery. We mean by this that the general mining labor of all 

 the mines, taken together, will pay a greater average remuneration than 



