24 
THROUGH WONDERLAND. 
duction of the precious metals, if not in its own immediate vicinity, at least in 
the country it dominated, Helena grew rich, until now it claims to be the 
wealthiest city of its size in the United States. 
It was on the afternoon of the 15th of July, 1864, that a party of four 
miners, weary and sick at heart, pitched their tents in that desolate-looking 
gulch where now stands this flourishing city.. Disappointed at not being able 
to secure claims in the then prosperous camp of Virginia City, and reduced to 
great extremity, they regarded the little gulch on the Prickly Pear as their 
“last chance.” Finding gold in paying quantities, they resolved to settle 
down ; and it is said, that, before two years had elapsed, each of them was worth 
$50,000. 
In the meantime, the little camp in what was thenceforward known as 
Last Chance Gulch had attracted miners from all parts of the Rocky Mount¬ 
ains. It is stated, in a recent official publication of the Territory, that the 
gulch yielded $30,000,000 during the first three seasons it was worked; but 
these figures so far exceed the popular estimate, that they are repeated only 
under reserve. The present annual production is said to be about $50,000. 
It would seem to the visitor as though every square foot of ground had been 
dug up, and, if it be his first experience of a placer mining district, its appear¬ 
ance will strike him as singularly novel. 
The romance of mining is well illustrated by the story of'the citizen of 
Helena who was digging out a cellar to his house, when a passing stranger 
offered to remove the pile of earth that was being heaped up in the roadway, 
and promised to return with one-half of whatever dust he might obtain by the 
washing to which he proposed to submit it. Permission granted and the earth 
removed, the citizen thought no more of the matter. Great, therefore, was his 
astonishment when, a few days later, the half-forgotten face of the stranger 
appeared at the door, and he was handed, as his share of the yield of that 
unpromising dirt, the equivalent of $650. 
Possibly, however, a story involving only a paltry sum of three figures, may 
not answer to the reader’s conception of the romantic. It does not excite his 
imagination. He expects to read of millions. If so, let us turn to the story 
of the miner, who, confident that he w;as the possessor of a valuable claim, 
held on to it in spite of the most adverse circumstances, hiring himself out in 
winter that he might have a little money wherewith to work upon his claim in 
summer, until, at last, after eight years of indomitable perseverance and patient 
toil, he was able to sell his property for $2,250,000 ; or that of the weary and 
penniless wanderer, who, having tramped all the way from Nevada, began a 
toilsome search, to be continued through much suffering and privation for 
several years, but destined to be rewarded at last by the discovery of one of 
the richest veins of gold in the Territory, a vein that has yielded, up to the 
present time, $4,000,000 worth of gold. 
The tourist will find an hour’s chat with an old-timer an interesting and 
not altogether unprofitable exercise, albeit he may find it hard to discriminate 
