CENTEAL AND EASTERN NEVADA. 315 



The rocks of the range cut through by this canon consist of quartzite, 

 Hraestone, shales, and slates, dipping with considerable uniformity to the 

 westward, striking north and south or north a little easterly. Most of the 

 important veins, though not w^ithout exceptions, conform with the country- 

 rocks in course and dip. Such is the case with the Sheba vein just refen-ed 

 to, a deposit which lies between a black rock of slaty structure as a hanging 

 wall, and a bluish, probably calcareous, bed below. In places the ore-bear- 

 ing ground has a great width, it is said 150 feet; but as the mine was inac- 

 cessible to the writer, there was no opportunity to verify the statement. 



The same vein on the south side of the canon is known as the De Soto. 

 On this property the vein has been explored by tunnel for a length of 

 about 600 feet, and to a depth, at the inner end, of 300 feet below the sur- 

 face. In general, the lode varies from two or three to five feet in width. 

 The hanging wall is well defined, smooth, and regular, generally underlaid 

 by a foot or more of soft, clayey material, talcose in appearance. The filling 

 of the vein or ore-deposit is chiefly made up of bluish limestone, somewhat 

 argillaceous in appearance, very fragmentary in character, having all the 

 seams and interstices filled up by quartz. These quartz-seams are sometimes 

 large and continuous for considerable distances. The ore is associated with 

 this quartz, and consists chiefly of rich silver minerals, antimonial sulphurets, 

 fahlerz, &c. Galena and zincblende are associated with the ores. The assay 

 value of the assorted ore is very high. The ore occurs in bodies, chimneys 

 or bonanzas, and the vein contains long intervals of barren ground. This 

 feature partly explains the history of the Sheba, the mine having been very 

 productive while in bonanza, which, being exhausted, the patience of the 

 stockholders was not sufficient to search persistently for more. 



The De Soto was first opened in 1861, since which time a considerable 

 amount of work has been done upon it, but with long intervals of quiet. In 

 the summer of 1867 five men were employed there, and the results of their 

 labor were deemed very encouraging ; but the work was soon after suspended, 

 and, so far as the writer of this is informed, still remains so. 



Star City, a town of considerable size and importance in the earlier days 

 of its career, is situated in the neighborhood of these mines. It possesses a 

 number of large buildings, stores, post office, express and telegraph stations. 



