APPENDIX SS. 1819 



of a high quality of ore have been located, and in part are being worked, than in any 

 other district of the San Juan. 



The ores of this section are argentiferous, with the exception of those of the Little 

 Giant and a few other exceptional ones which have been found to contain gold ; in 

 general, therefore, they may be said to be of argentiferous galena, with and without 

 gray copper, occasionally chloride of silver, and in several mines the black sulp burets 

 being found. 



The number of lodes that contain first-class ore is very large, and as there are over 

 2,000 lodes registered in the county offices at Silverton, and the prospects of all are, 

 in general, very good, the work involved in an examination of this district may be 

 imagined, the mountains being everywhere covered with apparently an inexhaustible 

 quantity of lodes. 



The most prominent mines are the Little Giant (gold), (now called the Golden Giant) ; 

 Highland Mary, Pride of the West, Philadelphia, Susquehanna, Pelican, Aspen, Green 

 Mountain, Legal Tender, Victor, Little Fanny, North Star, Letter G, Mollie Darling, 

 Pelican, Bull of the Woods, Comstock, Silver Cord, and King Hiram Abiff (gold). 



Viewed financially, this section labors under more difficulties than any other of the 

 San Juan. With large bodies of valuable mineral within it, the lack of capital and 

 reduction-works keeps them undeveloped. At no place is there so fine an opening for 

 a banking firm. There exists none in the town, and with the activity of trade the 

 scarcity of currency is severely felt ; local checks of various kinds, the shinplasters of 

 war times, and drafts on distant banks being had recourse to. 



A general resume, embracing the subdistricts of this section, with their localities, 

 the most advanced mines at the time of visit (last part of September, 1877), and the 

 number of men employed therein steadily during the season, is as folloAvs : 



Mineral Creek. — Principal lodes, Tornado and Extension ; 8 men upon the former, 3 

 on the latter. 



Sultan Mountain. — Along its base flows Mineral Creek, emptying into the Animas; 

 over twenty lodes, chiefly low grades, with increased smelting facilities, will pay well ; 

 at present nothing less than 100-ounce ores are taken to the mill ; during 1877 fully 50 

 men were constantly at work. The Ajax is the nearest to town ; the Montezuma Tun- 

 nel was in 160 feet, bound for the Ajax ore ; various other tunnels prosecuted to con- 

 siderable depth, the greatest being that of Greene & Co., of a prospecting nature, and 

 in 500 feet. 



Anvil Mountain, near Silverton. Several lodes, on which assessments alone have thus 

 far been made, are to be worked during the winter. 



Cement Creel: — This creek has a southerly course to Silverton, the stream forking 

 about 6% miles from town. Up the North Fork, about 2-£ miles distant, at the mount- 

 ain summits, are the Saxon, Alaska, very rich lodes ; Adelphi and Acapulco, over 

 200 ounces, and many others of less value. The other fork leads to the Animas water- 

 shed, and is opposite Eureka Gulch. Down both forks are trails to the reduction- 

 works at their junction, and along the north fork the trail over to the Uncompahgre 

 passes. At its head and above the forks, over 20 lodes are being developed, in various 

 stages, from simple assessments to 50-foot drifts on the vein ; from each, between one 

 and four tons were being shipped. During the season over 50 men were employed. 



Boulder Gulch, distant from Silverton 2£ miles, possesses from 15 to 20 lodes of rich 

 galena ores, from 75 to 100 ounces each. During the season some 25 men were regularly 

 therein. 



Hazleton Mountain, distant from Silverton 3 miles, and opposite Boulder Gulch. Most 

 valuable mines are here situated, fully 150 men being at all times there employed, the 

 forces at times being increased to the extent of nearly 400 upon the whole mountain. 

 Its richest mines are the Victor, 10 men ; Susquehanna, in 100 feet, 15 men ; Aspen, a 

 magnificent one, discovered in 1871, producing nearly 4 tons daily, at a profit of nearly 

 $2,000 per month, and employing 30 men ; and the Mammoth, 4 men. The Victor is a 

 very rich deposit;, the pay-streak of the lode being of 4 inches of 1,000 ounces, while 

 the inclosing vein in which it is situated is from 5 to 8 feet wide, averaging 65 ounces. 

 A specimen of the collection belonging to the pay-streak of this mine gave an assay 

 of 1,500 ounces. Next in importance come the Legal Tender, tunnel under way 400 

 feet, 10 men, and the I X L Tunnel, 300 feet ; the Prospector, McGregor, Pelican, Tom 

 Paine, Silver Star, Union, and Gray Eagle Lodes, the latter 6 men. The two most im- 

 portant tunnels of the mountain are the Briggs prospecting, 4 men, and the Ingersoll. 

 The latter has already cut the veins of the Victor and the Susquehanna, and is not 

 far from the Aspen. At 500 feet from the surface this tunnel struck an imperfect vein, 

 or " blind lode," which contained nearly two feet of valuable galena, with gray cop- 

 per and sulphurets, and at 700 feet the Susquehanna ; its total length was over 800 

 feet, and its out-put averaged fully two tons daily of rich ore, with a possibility of 

 greatly-increased production, if desired. This was, at the time of our visit, the largest 

 tunnel in the entire San Juan. On this and Sultan Mountain, the mines are in general 

 farther advanced than those of the other subdistricts. 



Arastra Gulch (also spelled "Atrastro " upon location certificates of several mines) 



