USA > Colorado > Gilpin County > Early Records of Gilpin County, Colorado, 1859-1861 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
4
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
(Three cheers were given for Mr. R., and a unanimous vote of approval for his conduct was passed.)
Dr. J. Casto was called out, and in a few remarks urged the miners who had not found paying leads, to push on toward the snowy range, whither an exploring party was going in a few days.
The Meeting then adjourned. It was a stirring sight to see so large an assembly in the Mountains, and was, no doubt, sur- prising to the grizzly bears, who held undisputed sway there six weeks ago.
THE KANSAS GOLD MINES.1
We are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Williams, of the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express, for the following report from Messrs. Greeley, Richardson, and Villard, which will give satisfaction to the public mind, and at once set at rest the cry of "humbug" reiterated by the returning emigration from this region. The names of the gentlemen signed to this report are sufficient to give it credence without further comment from us ; and the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Williams to get it before the public are commendable.
Denver City, K. T., June 10th, 1859.
Gentlemen :- Will you do me the favor to furnish me, for publication, such facts in reference to the Gold Mines, as you obtained upon your recent visit to them, in company with my- self and others? We desire that the facts should be presented to the public as they exist.
Yours respectfully,
D. B. Williams, Agent "Jones & Russell's P. P. Expres. Co."
Messrs. Horace Greeley, of the N. Y. "Tribune"; A. D. Richardson, of the Boston "Journal"; and Henry Villard, of the Cincinnati "Commercial."
Denver City, K. T., June 10th, 1859. Dear Sir :- In reply to your favor of this morning, we
1 Rocky Mountain News, June 11, 1859, p. 1.
5
GREGORY DISTRICT
herewith submit a report, written at the "Gregory Diggings," of such facts as we witnessed there, and obtained from the lips of the miners. We have endeavored to make it definite and specific as possible, and to give an unbiased statement of the present condition and progress of the first important gold dis- coveries in the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. We de- sire to acknowledge your many courtesies during the trip.
Respectfully,
D. B. Williams, Esq.
Horace Greeley, A. D. Richardson, Henry Villard.
Gregory's Diggings, near Clear Creek, in the Rocky Mountains, June 9th, 1859.
The undersigned, none of them miners, nor directly inter- ested in mining, but now here for the express purpose of ascer- taining and setting forth the truth with regard to a subject of deep and general interest, as to which the widest and wildest diversity of assertion and opinion is known to exist, unite in the following statement :
We have this day personally visited nearly all the mines or claims already opened in this valley, (that of a little stream running into Clear Creek at this point;) have witnessed the operation of digging, transporting, and washing the vein-stone, (a partially decomposed, or rotten quartz, running in regular veins from south-west to north-east, between shattered walls of an impure granite,) have seen the gold plainly visible in the riffles of nearly every sluice, and in nearly every pan of the rotten quartz washed in our presence; have seen gold, (but rarely) visible to the naked eye, in pieces of the quartz not yet fully decomposed, and have obtained from the few who have already sluices in operation accounts of their several products, as follows :
Zeigler, Spain, & Co., (from South Bend, Ind.) have run a sluice, with some interruptions, for the last three weeks; they are four in company, with one hired man. They have taken out a little over three thousand pennyweights of gold, estimated by
6
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
them as worthi at least $3,000; their first days work produced $21; their highest was $495.
Sopris, Henderson & Co., (from Farmington, Indiana,) have run their sluice six days in all with four men-one to dig, one to carry, and two to wash: four days last week produced $607 : Monday of this week $208; no further reported. They have just put in a second sluice, which only began to run this morning.
Foote & Simmons, (from Chicago:) one sluice, run four days : two former days produced $40; two latter promised us, but not received.
Defrees & Co., (from South Bend, Ind.,) have run a small sluice eight days, with the following results: first day, $66; second day, $80; third day; $95; fourth day, $305; [the four following days were promised us, but, by accident, failed to be received.] Have just sold half their claim, [a full claim is 50 feet by 100,] for $2500.
Shears & Co., (from Fort Calhoun, Nebraska,) have run one sluice two hours the first, (part of a) day ; produced $30; second, (first full) day, $343 : third, (today,) $510: all taken from within three feet of the surface; vein a foot wide on the surface; widened to eighteen inches at a depth of three fcet.
Brown & Co., (from De Kalb Co., Ind.,) have been one week on their claim; carry their dirt half a mile; have worked their sluice a day and a half; produced $260; have taken out quartz specimens containing from 50 cents to $13 each in gold ; vein from 8 to 10 feet wide.
Casto, Kendall & Co., (from Butler Co., Iowa,) reached Denver, March 25th; drove the first wagon to these diggings ; have been here five weeks; worked first on a claim, on which they ran a sluice but one day ; produced $225; sold their claim for $2500; are now working a claim on the Hunter lead, have only sluiced one, (this) day; three men employed ; produced $85.
Bates & Co. one sluice, run half a day ; produced $135.
Colman, King & Co., one sluice, run half a day ; produced $75.
7
GREGORY DISTRICT
Shorts & Collier, bought our claims seven days since of Casto, Kendall & Co., for $2500; $500 down, and the balance as fast as taken out. Have not yet got our sluices in operation. Mr. Dean, from Iowa, on the 6th inst., washed from a single pan of dirt taken from the claim, $17.80. Have been offered $10,000 for the claim.
S. G. Jones & Co., from Eastern Kansas, have run our sluices two days, with three men; yield $225 per day. Think the quartz generally in this vicinity is gold-bearing. Have never seen a piece crushed that did not yield gold.
A. P. Wright & Co., from Elkhart Co., Ind. Sluice but just in operation; have not yet ascertained its products-Our claim prospects from 25 cents to $1.25 to the pan.
John H. Gregory, from Gordon Co., Georgia. Left home last season, en route for Frazier River, was detained by a suc- cession of accidents at Ft. Laramie, and wintered there. Mean- while, heard of the discoveries of gold on the South Platte, and started on a prospecting tour on the Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, early in January. Prospected in almost every val- ley, from the Cache la Poudre creek, to Pike's Peak, tracing many streams to their sources. Early in May arrived on Clear Creek, at the foot of the mountains, 30 miles Southeast of this place. There fell in with the Defrees & Ziegler Indiana Com- panies, and William Fouts, of Missouri. We all started up Clear Creek, prospecting. Arrived, in this vicinity, May 6; the ice and snow prevented us from prospecting far below the surface, but the first pan of surface dirt, on the original Greg- ory claim, yielded $4 .- Encouraged by this success, we all staked out claims, found the "lead" consisting of burnt quartz, resembling the Georgia Mines, in which I had previously worked. Snow and ice prevented the regular working of the lead till May 16th .- From then until the 23rd, I worked it five days with two hands, result, $972. Soon after, I sold my two claims for $21,000 the parties buying, to pay me, after de- ducting their expenses, all they take from the claims to the amount of $500 per week, until the whole is paid. Since that time, I have been prospecting for other parties, at about $200
8
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
per day .- Have struck another lead on the opposite side of the valley, from which I washed $14, out of a single pan.
Some forty or fifty sluices commenced, are not yet in oper- ation; but the owners informs us that their "prospecting" shows from 10 cents to $5 to the pan. As the "leads" are all found on the hills, many of the miners are constructing trenches to carry water to them, instead of building their sluices in their ravines, and carrying the dirt thither in wagons, or sacks. Many persons who have come here without provisions or money, are compelled to work as common laborers, at from $1 to $3 per day and board, until they can procure means of sustenance for the time necessary to prospecting, building sluices, etc. Others, not finding gold the third day, or disliking the work necessary to obtaining it, leave the mines in disgust, after a very short trial, declaring there is no gold here in paying quantities. It should be remembered that the discoveries made thus far, are the result of but five weeks' labor.
In nearly every instance, the gold is estimated by the min- ers as worth $20.00 per ounce, which, for gold collected by quicksilver, is certainly a high valuation, though this is un- doubtedly of very great purity. The reader can reduce the esti- mate if he sees fit. We have no data on which to act in the premises.
' The wall rock is generally shattered, so that it, like the veinstone, is readily taken out with the pick and shovel. In a single instance only did we hear of wall-rock too hard for this.
Of the vein stone, probably not more than one-half is so decomposed that the gold can be washed from it. The residue of the quartz is shoveled ont of the sluices, and reserved to be crushed and washed hereafter. The miners estimate this as equally rich with that which has "rotted" so that the gold may be washed from it; hence, that they realize, as yet, but half the gold dug by them. This seems probable, but its truth remains to be tested.
It should be borne in mind that, while the miners here now labor under many obvious disadvantages, which must disappear with the growth of their experience and the improvement of
9
GREGORY DISTRICT
their now rude machinery, they at the same time enjoy advan- tages which can not be retained indefinitely, nor rendered uni- versal. They are all working very near a small mountain stream, which affords them an excellent supply of water for washing at a very cheap rate; and, though such streams are very common here, the leads stretch over rugged hills and considerable moun- tains, down which the vein-stone must be carried to water, at a serious cost. It does not seem probable that the thousands of claims already made or being made on these leads can be worked so profitably in the average as those already in operation. We hear already of many who have worked their claims for days (by panning) without having "raised the color" as the phrase is -that is, without having found any gold whatever. We pre- sume thousands are destined to encounter lasting and utter dis- appointment, quartz veins which bear no gold being a prominent feature of the geology of all this region.
We cannot conclude this statement without protesting most earnestly against a renewal of the infatuation which impelled thousands to rush to this region a month or two since, only to turn back before reaching it, or to hurry away immediately after more hastily than they came. Gold-mining is a business which eminently requires of its votaries capital, experience, energy, endurance, and in which the highest qualities do not always command success. There may be hundreds of ravines in these mountains as rich in gold as that in which we write, and there probably are many : but, up to this hour, we do not know that any such have been discovered. There are said to be five thousand people already in this ravine, and hundreds more pour- ing into it daily. Tens of thousands more have been passed by us on our rapid journey to this place, or heard of as on their way hither by other routes. For all these, nearly every pound of provisions and supplies of every kind must be hauled by teams from the Missouri river, some 700 miles distant, over roads which are mere trails, crossing countless unbridged water courses, always steep-banked and often mirey, and at times so swollen by rains as to be utterly impassable by waggons. Part of this distance is a desert, yielding grass, wood, and water only
10
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
at intervals of several miles, and then very scantily. To attempt to cross this desert on foot is madness-suicide-murder. To cross it with teams in midsummer, when the water courses are mainly dry, and the grass eaten up, is possible only to those who know where to look for grass and water, and where water must be carried along to preserve life. A few months hence,- probably by the middle of October,-this whole Alpine region will be snowed under and frozen up, so as to put a stop to the working of sluices if not to mining altogether. There then, for a period of at least six months, will be neither employment, food, nor shelter within five hundred miles for the thousands pressing hither under the delusion that gold may be picked up here like pebbles on the sea-shore, and that when they arrive here, even though without provisions or money, their fortunes are made. Great disappointment, great suffering, are inevi- table; few can escape the latter who arrive at Denver City after September without ample means to support them in a very dear country, at least through a long winter. We charge those who manage the telegraph not to diffuse a part of our statement with- out giving substantially the whole; and we beg the press gen- erally to unite with us in warning the whole people against another rush to these gold-mines, as ill-advised as that of last spring-a rush sure to be followed like that by a stampede, but one far more destructive of property and life.
Respectfully, Horace Greeley, A. D. Richardson, Henry Villard.
MINERS' MEETING.1
At a meeting of the miners of Gregory Diggings on the North Fork of Clear creek, K. T., on the evening of the 8th inst., [June 8, 1859] Wilk Defrees was elected President and Joseph Casto, Secretary.
1 Rocky Mountain News, June 11, 1859, p. 2. These laws were also printed on a large sheet entitled LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE GREGORY DIGGINGS DISTRICT. On the printed sheet Sections 10 and 11 were omitted.
11
GREGORY DISTRICT
1st. Resolved that this Mining District shall be boundcd as follows: Commencing at the mouth of the North Fork of Clear creek, and following the divide between said stream and Rallston Creek running seven miles up the last named stream to a point known as Miners Camp. Thence South West to the Divide between the North Fork of Clear Creek and the South Branch of the Same to place of beginning.
2nd. Resolved that no miner shall hold more than one claim except by purchase or discovery, and in any case of pur- chase the same shall be attested by at least two disinterested witnesses and shall be recorded by the Secretary and the Secre- tary shall receive in compensation a fee of one dollar.
3rd. Resolved, that no claim which has or may be made shall be good and valid unless it be staked off with the owner's name, giving the direction length, breadth also the date when said claim was made, and when held by a company the name of each member shall appear conspicuously.
4. Resolved that each miner shall be entitled to hold one mountain claim, one gulch claim and one creek claim for the purpose of washing, the first to be 100 feet long and fifty feet wide, the second 100 feet up and down the river or gulch and extending from bank to bank.1
5. Resolved that Mountain claims shall be worked within ten days from the time they are staked off, otherwise forfeited.
6. Resolved that when members of a company constituted of two or more, shall be at work on one claim of the company the rest shall be considered as worked by putting a notice of the same on the claim.
7. Resolved, each discovery claim shall be marked as such, and shall be safely held whether worked or not.
8. Resolved, that in all cases priority of claim when hon- estly carried out shall be respected.
9. Resolved that when two parties wishing to use water on the same stream or ravine for quartz mining purposes, no
1 On the printed sheet the law reads "fifty feet" instead of "from bank to bank".
12
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
person shall be entitled to the use of more than one half of the water.
10. Resolved, that when disputes shall arise between par- ties in regard to claims the party agrieved shall call upon the Secretary, who shall designate nine miners being disinterested persons from whose number the parties shall alternately strike off one untill the names of three remain who shall at once pro- ceed to hear and try the case, and should any miner refuse to obey such decision, the Secretary shall call a meeting of the miners and if their decision is the same the party refusing to obey shall not be entitled to hold another claim in this district, the party against whom the decision is given shall pay to the Secretary and referees the sum of $5.00 each for their services.
11. Resolved, that the proceedings of this meeting be pub- lislied in the Rocky Mountain News, and a collection be taken up to pay for 100 extra copies for the use of the miners.
Wilk Defree, Pres't.
Joseph Casto, Sec.
LAWS OF JULY 16, 18591 LAWS & REGULATIONS OF THE MINERS OF GREGORY DIGGINGS DISTRICT
Your Committee on the Codification of the Laws of the District beg leave to report that they have Examined the Reso- lutions Submitted to them Since the printed Copy Was posted up but find them So involved and in many cases incompatible that the [y] hereby report a New Code which they recommend Should be passed and that the Original Code be retained with these additions.
1st Resolved, That for the Settlement of differences and the purpose of preventing disputes the Miners of this District hereby Enact; that there Shall be elected in this District by ballot a President a Recorder of Claims and a Sheriff for the term of one year from this date. That the President Secretary
1 Gregory District, Book A.
13
GREGORY DISTRICT
and one Assistant to be chosen by the people be tellers of Said Election and that it take place immediately
The above Resolution was passed on the 9th of July, 1859 When Cap R. Sopris was Elected President, C. A. Roberts, Recorder and Chas Peck Sheriff
C. A. Roberts Recorder
2d It Shall be the duty of Recorder to take charge of and Safely keep all records heretofore made by the Secretary and all records made necessary by Law Shall hereafter be made by lıim
3d All Claims may be Recorded if the owners See fit but no claim which is being worked Shall be obliged to be recorded
4th When any miner has a Lead Claim which it is impos- sible to work to advantage this Season either for want of water or Machinery he may hold the Same until the first of June next, by filing a Statement of the reasons with the Recorder
5th All water claims not used Shall be Recorded within ten days from the claim date or they Shall be considered for- feited
6th All Bills of Sale or Conveyances of Claims Shall be witnessed by at least two disinterested witnesses and Recorded
7th The books of the Recorder Shall be always open to the inspection of the Public and Shall never be taken from the Recorders hands but any person Shall be entitled to copy any record at any reasonable time
8th All laws relating to trials of disputed Claims are hereby repealed
9th When any person is agrieved in regard to a claim he shall file with any Commissioned Justice of the Peace or in his absence the President of the Miners Association a Statement of his grounds of Complaint which shall also have the names of the parties complained of and a prayer that they be Summoned to appear and answer. Thereupon the Justice (or President) Shall issue a Summons to the adverse party to appear and an- swer within three days. If he fail to do so the Complaint shall
14
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
be taken as true and Execution issued. If he appear and an- swer the Justice (or President) Shall Summon a venire of nine persons from which each party shall Strike off one until there remains three who shall proceed to hear the Evidence of the par- ties with or without counsel and try the Case Any juror may be challenged for cause Shown Either by his own Evidence or the Evidence of others
Should the party loosing feel agrieved by the dicision he may appeal to a jury of Twelve men by paying cost already ac- crued. Which jury Shall be selected by the Justice (or Presi- dent) and their decision Shall be final
10th The Sheriff Shall have power to Serve Notices and Executions and he shall have power to Summon parties put parties in possession of property decided to be by law ; Summon juries and do such Service as a Sheriff in any other place may do, and Shall be entitled to receive double the legal Fees pro- vided by the Statutes of Kansas
11th The fees of the Recorder Shall be one Dollar for Each Claim Recorded
12th The Justice (or President) Shall be entitled to five Dollars for presiding at Each trial and making out the papers
13th The Jury Shall be Entitled to one Dollar Each per day
14th The defeated party in Each Suit Shall be liable for all Costs of the Suit and the Justice (or President) Shall issue Execution for the Same which Shall be Collected from any property the party So liable may have (Excepting tools bed- dings clothing and necessary provisions for three Months.
15th In any case, either party may call upon the other party to give Security for Costs or the Suit Shall be dismissed if Plaintiff or defeated if Defendent
16th Any person may take up by Recording forty feet front and one hundred deep for a building Lot but Shall not Secure the Same against being used for mining if found rich Should any person work out the Ground on which a house Stands he Shall secure the house against damage
15
GREGORY DISTRICT
17th Any person or company intending to Erect a Quartz Mill may Select a location Two hundred and fifty fcet Square which shall be recorded. Hc may also Claim the right to cut a race from any river to bring water to the Same and shall hold the water not interfering with any vested rights
18th The Preemption Laws Established by the citizens of this County Shall be recognised in the mines but shall not Conflict with miners rights
19th Gulch claims Shall be one hundred feet up and down and fifty feet wide following the meandering of the Stream and shall be worked within ten days if water can bc ob- tained, if water is wanting, he may record the Same and hold it until water can be obtained Any time after the first of Sep- tember any miner may record his Gulch Claim and hold it till the first of June
20th When any miner holds both a Gulch and Lead Claim if one be worked the other may be held without working by recording the Same
21th When water Companies are engaged in bringing water into any portion of the mines they Shall have the right of way Secured to them and may pass over any claim road or other Ditch, but shall so guard themselves in passing as not to injure the party over whosc ground they pass
22st When any company is formed for the purpose of Tunneling for discovery the parties engaged may Stake off re- cord and place Notices on ground two hundred and fifty feet Each way from the Tunnel and running as the Tunnel is in- tended to run. After that all new leads discovered in Tunnel- ing belong to the Company to that Extent. Claims already taken are to be respected, but New Claims Cannot be taken within the limits Staked off if work be progressing on the Tun- nel. If work on the Tunnel be Stoped for one week at any time the original Claim shall be forfeited and Shall be again open to Claiments
Passed at the Miners' Meeting July 16th 1859 Attest
C. A. Roberts, Recorder R. Sopris President
16
GILPIN COUNTY RECORDS
MINERS' MEETING AT GREGORY DIGGINGS.1
Pursuant to previous notice a mass meeting of the miners of Mountain City, Gregory diggings and vicinity, was held in front of Keliler & Patten's store, on Saturday evening, Oct. 29th, A. D. 1859, to consult and advise relative to the course to be prescribed by the miners of the mountains in relation to the efforts being made by the citizens of Denver and Auraria to re- duce the price of gold dust from the rates for which it has hith- erto been received.
The meeting was called to order by Dr. C. R. Bissell, and the call for said meeting was read.
Upon motion T. T. Prosser was elected President and Win- ton Smith, Secretary.
A motion was then made that a Committee of Three be appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of this meeting relative to the efforts of certain persons in Denver and Auraria to reduce the price of gold dust, from its value as here- tofore established, whereupon Geo. W. Brizee, Col. Sam'l McLean, and C. R. Bissell were chosen to act upon said Com- mittee.
The meeting was then addressed by Messrs. Flanegan, Prosser, Patten, Rariden and Dr. Stone; after which the Chair- man of the Committee on Resolutions announced that said Com- mittee were ready to make their report, and introduced the following to wit :-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.