| Show IN RAGGED TOP FIELD HERES CHERES A GRAND RUSH TO THE NEW GOLD COLD CAMP story of th chirich iRIch i in llio abe elack lahla 11 shrewd old jew jelv it clam worth abany Thou thousand aud bollara cheap black hills letter wagn HE recent discovery of sold gold in the nagged top rop country ftp X I 1 axt has brought the 1 1 black hills again 11 to the notice of the u IV world and already ll 11 the lame faille of tho the F 11 haggco ai ged top mines 1 licals deadwood leadville and cripple creek in their pal lays days while the rush for locations eions and town lots bids fair to continue until every available foot of land is secured and worked that the craze for gold is founded on reason however 13 not to be denied unlike other discoveries co the mines in tile the ragged top country require only a small outly outlay of capital and then hen that can be had by shipping a few tons of rock to tile the smelter and turning it into gold the rich finds at ragged top aelic emely accidental in the early days the prospectors in their search tor for gold confined their exploit aliens chiefly to the idea that goia existed in the pots potsdam darn and carboniferous formations of which the ragged top finds are compose composed d the story of the first find of gold in the ragged nagged top district is told to every newcomer new comer A party of prospectors passing through on their way to the terry goldcamp picked ill up a lew few pieces ot of the limestone formation near the mouth of an old shaft that had been abandoned years before and thinking there might be a few grains of gold I 1 in 11 the workings they ventured a dollar to have the stuff assayed the result startled them the assayer told the men that the rock which they had brought him was worth a ton they at once returned to the place and staked oft off their claims and after gathering up all the loose rocks lying near them they shipped them to a smelter and secured several thousand dollars in the meantime some of the miners who had located the ground previous to the find had become heartened disheartened dis and an old jew happening along one day a proposition was made to him to sell him one of the c claims for an even like others of his race the jew was crafty and realizing that the property was worth wore more than the amount asked he nevertheless would not accede to their terms after considerable haggling however he bought the claim for five suits of clothes worth 50 when the value of the property became known he be commenced shipping the ore and sold worth of the rocks afterwards disposing of his claim tor for it is not every day that luck strikes a young man as it did william dacy like all of the early settlers in nebraska he held down a claim in box butte county living the life common to bachelorhood in a sod shanty this was eleven or twelve years ago ile he always managed manage to earn a good living holding himself free and independent to come and go and do as he pleased during the last year or two lie he has devoted his time to prospecting in the dlack black hills places which old miners and prospectors passed over with contempt be camped at and staked his fortune he struck it and struck it rich the burlington railway company prompt in recognizing the value of nis his discovery established a station near ragged top and today to day his find Is exciting as great a boom as any gold field yet discovered in the west william has sold sola out an Int interest inte iest elest for just enough to keep himself in funds while prospecting his claims two months ago all was quiet in the valley where today to day a thousand soila push and struggle in an endeavor to gain choice locations or buy an option on one there are three town sites now lard out and platted adjoining one an M rm 1 I r i at f 4 k 4 g Z gg awl IV 1 j 6 4 X 11 VIEW OF TERRY other on a north and south line the one on the north is called preston then terry followed by ragged top the elkhorn has surveyed a branch from portland into the ragged top country and as soon as the weather permits it will build into the towns the reports sent out about ragged top seem to indicate that it Is a para dise tor for poor men but until the mines n are T 8 thoroughly equipped there will be no demand tor for skilled or common labor in that country because there Is a sur plus of 0 idle men in the vicinity the man who spends his last cent for a ticket to lead or preston and lands there to buy him a meal will not be allowed to starve but he would better remain where he Is the miners are all thoroughly organized in that section tile harney peak miners linc rs union alone having more than 2000 members Is in good standing at lead they have a firle hall built by themselves at a cost of 0 the tame fame of the mining country has attracted many queer characters to that sc section prominent among those these Is doe doc tbt noted scout who landed jr IE lead t the ie other day with 15 cents and a box boji ot of poker chips with which ho he ci expects ts tot to nae a fortune in the bills doe doc is a curious relic of wheatly the the caily aTlY days in the west and is always ready to recount some tales of his exploits when deadwood was a rough border town in the DOS doc c 1 I ears ida hla halt hair after the style of buffalo Duffa lct bill now ruid and with his goatee he looks looks as abou though b he had bad stepped out of 0 a wild west show lid ile is now city marshal of 0 Ed edgemont S D and lately thinking that he was waa about to pass in his checks lie he joined the church ile he has not changed his hia ways though he is quite gray but la litlie lithe and active as in ili the early days when lifting hair from an all indian w warrior or dodging a sheriff in the sand hills of nebraska no more picturesque scenery can tin bo found in a weeks travel than in fit tho the vicinity of lead and the tagged ragged 1 top moun mountains tans to the northwest of lead towers dald bald mountain fully 7 feet abo aboe e the sea level while clusters peik peak to the south presents a magnificent view thousands of years ago the entire country according to scientists must have been subi submerged berged in shallow water and the hills were formed by volcanic eruptions which ch angeLl the entire surface of the country the theory of the mining men is that the gold now being found at ragged top was at one time in a molten state and was vas projected it from orn the mouth ot of one of the volcanoes during this period the gold mixed with the liva lava flowed down the sides of the mountains and coord A subsequent eruption again changed the surface of the earth this time standing the hardened foi matlon on end forming the verticals that thai are now being worked by the miners som somewhere chere lislow blow the surface the source of all the gold exists and when the mathei lode is struck there will be gold enough to lo supply the world the road to ragged top camp bounds in beautiful situations near portland the trail winds around the mountains for miles and when one gains the summit it Is enough to make a timid person t V at fi f i ca ca sarat WE rt f rj a iab tit ae 1 VIEW OF PRESTON shrin shrift to look back over the peri perilous lolis path he has pursued to reach it at times the stage passes close to the edge of a precipice where a misstep would send the whole outfit crashing down the mountain side among the boulders bowl ders feet below the burlington and Misso missouri url railroad which runs through that section built IS miles of track in order to cover half a mile of the mountainous district near portland ragged top is just 14 miles from deadwood by the stage road yet it takes nine hours for the mixed train that runs past crown hill siding to cover the distance between deadwood and ragged top |
