MINING PROSPECTS IN COLORADO FOR 1882. 51 



PITKIN COUNTY. 



This is a new county, lying westwardly from and adjoining Lake County. 

 Its county-seat is Aspen, some thirty-five miles from Leadville. Among its best 

 known mining camps is the Independence District where gold is the most abun- 

 dant metal. The Farwell Consolidation with the well-known J. V. Farwell, of 

 Chicago, at its head is in the lead of all, and so rich are its mines and well man- 

 aged its affairs that its five dollar shares are said to be in demand at eighty dol- 

 lars each. Their -mines have netted about $40,000 per month, for the past three 

 months. 



The Independence mine, the Last Dollar, the Choler, Mammoth, Dolly Var- 

 den, Lincoln, Pacific and Sheba, the Minnie, Legal Tender, Bennington and 

 Climax, are all now the property of the Farwell Company, besides the valuable 

 properties known as the Tarn O'Shanter and Brown tunnel sites. The former is 

 now in 170 feet and the latter 500 feet. This large array of valuable mines does 

 not comprise all the property of the company, however. The Johnson placer 

 and many others, which are not fully developed, are owned by the company. 



A good idea can be had of the extent and importance of the developments 

 on these claims by starting from the Minnie's workings. At this mine a tunnel 

 has been run in about thirty feet to strike the vein. The mineral varies from a 

 foot to two feet in thickness, and is composed of honeycombed quartz, inter- 

 persed with iron and copper pyrites. Rich specimens of free gold are often en- 

 countered in these workings. The outcrop of the vein is about sixty feet above 

 where the vein has been cut. 



Many other good mines have been opened and are now being worked in 

 this district, among which are the Lake George and Sunrise : also those of the 

 Hamilton Mining Company. August Schott, an old prospector and experienced 

 miner, writes as follows : 



"I have just returned from a trip over the county picking up such knowl- 

 edge as is necessary for my business. There is a great rush for the lower end 

 of this county, but the snow is so deep that no prospecting can be done by 

 strangers. The first hoisting engine has arrived in the gulch. It is for the Min- 

 nehaha mine, a claim situated between the Farwell property and that of the 

 Hamilton Company, and joining both. There is a large body of mineral there, 

 but it lies deep. A seventy-five foot shaft has failed to reach it, but the boys are 

 determined to go down to it." 



" Four men have been working all winter on the Mt. Hope mine, driving a 

 tunnel to cut the vein. At the intersection it was only six inches thick, but it 

 soon widened to six feet solid quartz, which yielded $25 in gold per ton under 

 the stamps, while the tailings are worth $5 per ton. The great cry is ' a custom 

 mill' and this will be the leading gold camp in Colorado." 



