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Show SAN JUAN. A ltit'h, but Hard Country. Ouray, October 30, 1S77. Editors Herald: Though this region ia comparatively new and very difficult to penetrate, neither the resources of the country nor the hardships of the trip have proven sufficient to prevent yo honest miner from paying it a visit anddelv-ior; anddelv-ior; iuto the earth lor treasures which he very often has in his miud'e eye ;id very seldom in his pocket. Tbs best way to reach here is by (be old Gunnison route, but if those of your readt-ra who intend to pull up it-ikes will take the advice ol an old 49cr, they will remain whero thy aru nil next apring, for though wu huvb some of the biggest mines in America when they are devolnpfd, there i carcely enouah work nt present for the men already here. Unlees a muii lias plenty of money, it is a bad policy tor him to leave an established min ing camp wnere niH creon is goou, to no to a new one where he is ita eutire stranger and can get nothing but what he pays for. My advice id wmt til! the spring, work during the winter to raise a Blake, and then come do wo, when you can either invest in a mine or else prospect and had one, tor there are plenty here as yet undiscovered. A large proportion of the iunn down here are operating on this principle, working for themselves, and many ol them are making gnod w:ges by the ale of their ore. Theoe mini all ad init the rjeredflity of having money to start with. Ouray, Lake city and Silverlorj are ;lie most important camps. Ouray bst perhaps 100 inhabitants, but is neither bo lively nor prosperous as Lake city, which has some smelting and refining works lately erected. Sil-vertoo Sil-vertoo is the oldest camp in the neighborhood bring also the couDty nnat of Stiu Juau. Han Miguel, a naw gold camp on the Sin Miguel river, has recently 'teen the scene of considerable excitement, excite-ment, lu rjuinae are both placer and quartz, the Utter being lound high above the timber limit (which, I be lieve, is 11,000 feet). Present lack ol machinery retards active development. develop-ment. Except San Miguel, each ol the towns baa a hauk and a news paper, though they have no tele graph ic communication with the outside world. There is no express office and a weekly mail only sometimes. some-times. There ii nothing to raly upon lor support here except the mines, as the Indian reservation takes in all the agricultural land. The mountains are enormously high aud the mines almost al-most inaccessible. Only the exceeding richness of the orea renders mining i in this country profitable, for in the absence of adequate smelting facili ties, it has to be carried on the backs I of donkeys for a distance of thirty-five J miles. Minor. |
