THROUGH WONDERLAND. 
27 
almost perfect letter S; across innumerable ravines; along rocky shelves and 
through deep cuttings, until at last it enters the eastern portal of the Mullan 
Tunnel. A few minutes later the traveler is looking out upon the grassy 
hills and pleasant valleys of the Pacific slope, the approach to the tunnel from 
the west presenting a singular contrast to the savage grandeur that distin¬ 
guishes the approach from the east. 
Following the valley of the Little Blackfoot, the train presently arrives at 
Garrison, where passengers desirous of visiting the most flourishing mining city 
on the American continent, if not in the world, must change cars. 
“ The most flourishing mining city on the American continent, if not in the 
world ! ” exclaims the reader. Even so : and yet we are not in Nevada, nor 
yet in Colorado; and, besides, the former is about played out; and, as for Lead- 
ville, every one remembers the disasters that overtook her, culminating, as they 
did, in the failure of all her four banks. The city is Butte, that, at the last 
United States census, had a population of only 3,363, but now claims six times 
that number, and has a monthly mining pay-roll of $620,000. 
The line from Garrison runs through the beautiful Deer Lodge valley, in 
which are many fine farms. Deer Lodge City, the judicial seat of the county, 
is pleasantly situated 4,546 feet above sea-level. Being well laid out, it presents, 
with its wide streets and handsome public buildings, an exceedingly attractive 
appearance. 
It is at the head of this valley, on the western slope of the main range of the 
Rocky Mountains, and fifteen miles from the Pipestone Pass, that there has 
been witnessed, during the last three or four years, that rapid growth of popula¬ 
tion and wealth that is without parallel, even in the marvelous annals Of mining. 
Here, encompassed on three sides by lofty ranges of mountains, Butte pours 
forth the smoke of its innumerable furnaces; for not only is its production of 
silver so great that it has come to be designated the “ Silver City,” but its 
copper mines are such as to give employment to the most extensive smelting 
works in the United States. Its total production during 1885, valued at 
$15,000,000, viz., $5,000,000 worth of bullion and $10,000,000 worth of copper 
matte, was twice that of Utah, and three times that of Nevada. It also 
exceeded that of the whole of California, or the combined production of Idaho, 
New Mexico and Arizona. 
The leading silver mines of the district are the Alice, Moulton, Lexington 
and Silver Bow, which alone employ 210 stamps and produce 230 tons of ore 
daily. The magnificent appliances of the Alice mine, including the great 
Cornish pump that cost $40,000, are the wonder of every visitor. The process 
of reduction, here as elsewhere, is somewhat complex, especially in the case 
of the baser ores, being in part chemical and in part mechanical. It involves 
the crushing of the ore to powder, under the pressure of enormous bars of iron, 
weighing 900 pounds each, and known as “stamps,” and its subsequent 
roasting in large, hollow cylinders, salt being largely employed in the former, 
and quicksilver m the latter, stage of the operation. The roasting mills of the 
