History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 160

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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"A piece of ore from the General Terry ledge, situated on Bobtail Gulch, a tributary of Deadwood, Black Hills, Dakota Territory, owned by A. C. Harney, Alex Engle and Manwell Bros. Width of vein twelve feet, pitches west at about sixty degrees, running about northwest and southeast."

The nearest, by far, and most practicable route will be from Fort Pierre to Grindstone Buttes, out about fifty miles, then leaving these buttes to the left, strike the South Cheyenne six miles above the forks, thence to the mouth of Elk Creek and up that valley to its head, thence to Crook City-distance from Fort Pierre to Crook City 140 miles. Crook City is at the mouth of Whitewood and will be the metropolis of that mining region. It is easily accessible by the route mentioned. The distance from Crook City to Cheyenne by the route mentioned is over three hundred miles. Freights can be carried in from Pierre at one-half the price they can be hauled from Cheyenne.

Pearson's party saw no Indians coming out. The miners have not been annoyed by Indians since last February, and do not feel the least alarm from that source. What they want is provisions, mail lines, and good citizens. The miner's laws are very rigid, thorough and rigidly enforced. Bad characters are not wanted there and not tolerated. The feeling among the miners is to stick unless driven out by starvation. They are aware of the great richness of the country and will not abandon it unless driven out by famine.

Deadwood Creek, Black Hills, Feb. 20, 1876.

GEN. C. T. CAMPBELL, Yankton.

Dear Sir: As one of our party leaves for Spotted Tail in the morning, I take this first opportunity I have had to let you know of my whereabouts. Deadwood Creek is a tributary of Whitewood Creek, emptying into it from the southeast, ten miles from Bear Butte. I am located on Deadwood, two miles from its mouth. There is a scope of country here about twenty miles square, taking in Whitewood, Deadwood, Blacktail, Bob Tail, White Tail and Grizzly creeks, which have all prospected good-from 25 cents to one dollar to the pan.

A gentleman just came in from Bob Tail. He got $5.00 in an hour on that creek. We sluiced two hours on this creek and got $24.00; but the weather has been so cold for several weeks that we have not done anything. We hope to be able to get to work in a week or two. We are getting some supplies from Cheyenne and Sidney, but from those points they have to come through the hills and over a very rough country, while from some point on the Missouri River, say Fort Pierre, there could be a good road and much shorter, and I can't see why some of your enterprising citizens are not awake to their interests. We are 350 miles from Cheyenne, and a part of the distance has to be made with pack animals, while from the Missouri we are only 120 miles, and a good road could be made the entire distance.

We have partially located a town at the mouth of Whitewood Creek in the foothills, which is in close proximity to the prairie. I feel confident that we have the richest and most extensive gold fields in the Black Hills, both in placer and quartz. The placer dig- gings I feel confident, will pay $25.00 a day to the man. I have found several quartz leads that prospect well. I send you a small specimen of gold taken from the crevice of Black Tail Lode, and I would send you some of the ore but have no convenient way of sending it. This specimen I send you came from about five pounds of decomposed quartz taken from the lode. The lode is fifteen feet wide between the walls, and we are down twenty-five feet-and bids fair to be one of the richest lodes in the country. We have several other lodes that indicate silver, but they are not sufficiently developed to state positively as to their richness.

We are sadly in need of a sawmill, and if you know of anyone who has a sawmill I could guarantee they would do well. All the lumber that has been made here has been made by the primitive way of whip-sawing, and for that they charge $150 a thousand.

I am in company with five experienced miners-Mr. E. Haggart, from White Cloud, Kans .; Wm. Gay, from Ohio; M. J. Ingoldsby, from Steubenville, Ohio; J. B. Pearson, from Yankton, Dakota; and Daniel Meckles, from Lancaster, Penn., and they all say it is the best mining country they have ever been in.

We had a very pleasant visit from Captain Kelly, of Yankton, a few days ago. He intends to locate in this gulch. We have a very good cabin and enough provisions to last us until the bad weather is over, but we have no reading matter of any kind. I would like very much if you would send me some papers.

The Indians made us a visit a few days ago and got ten head of horses from the miners. They pursued them but did not succeed in overtaking them. They were supposed to have been from Cheyenne or Standing Rock agencies.

Snow north of us is about three feet deep in the mountains, but on the prairie there is scarcely any.

Very respectfully,

A. H. GAY.

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

Capt. James L. Kelly, who had resided in Yankton for ten years, a son-in-law of Governor Faulk and formerly adjutant general of the territory, left Yank- ton in September, 1875. for the Black Hills, in company with Maj. W. P. Lyman, Mr. Mershon, Ben Miller, Washington and Thomas Reed, and others. The party were once turned back by the military, and a portion of them returned to the capital city.

In December, nine of the party who had remained in the vicinity of Fort Thompson reorganized, and on the 22d of that month left the Missouri River for the hills. A day or two after starting Ben Miller received a gunshot wound which proved to be of such a serious character that Captain Kelly brought him back to Dry Island, where he subsequently died. Captain Kelly rejoined the party on the 27th, and they then took up their march for the land of goldl.

Captain Kelly's statement follows :

Leaving the Missouri at Dry Island we struck south through the gap in Bijou lille until we came to the old Whetstone Trail, which we followed to the south fork of the White River, then crossed on to the north fork and followed it twenty miles, when we struck northwest to Bad River and followed up stream to the crossing of the Fort Pierre Trail, thence to the south branch of the Cheyenne, which we crossed and traveled one day northwest to Elk Creek, and followed up that valley until we struck Custer's trail, which we followed into the hills as far as Box Elder Creek. This route was circu tous, bir we desired to avoid meeting with the military or Indians. The members of the party began prospecting in this vicinity, and in time separated.

The captain stated as to his personal experiences ;

I think there is plenty of gold here. I washed out gold getting as high as four cent t) the pan. I prospected seven miles south of Whitewood Creek; I also prospected on Rapid Creek and got good returns. I prospected again on Deadwood, always finding color_ The ground was frozen in almost every instance to the gravel, so that we could not obtain a fair prospect, but the results received satisfied me that gold existed in paying quantitie J. B. Pearson, of Yankton, is located on Deadwood and was doing finely until the ground froze. He is now waiting for warm weather and has his sluice boxes all prepared Pearson informed me that he had averaged $1.oo an hour when the weather permitted him to w rh Saw Fayette Place on Rapid Creek. He went north to look after quartz leads, neir Bear Butte. Pearson has located ten quartz leads in the same section. Good prospects Fase been received from the quartz. I met no other Yankton men, but learned that Bud ToH and the Reeds were located on Rapid Creek. There is an unlimited amount of gond ; in . timber in that country.

It was estimated that there were about two thousand people in the hills. 1 m . al it fifteen hundred going in on the Cheyenne route as I came out, and with those wie las gone in from the Missouri River routes, there must be not less than from now. Mines differ in opinion regarding the country. Some old miners believed they had truck a for thing : others thought it would cost more to get it out than it would come to. Custer ('' has about two hundred houses, principally log, though some frames are up awaiting lumber to be finished. Hill City has 125 log houses completed and under way. Raid tits if a town a mile square, located down on Rapid Creek, where there was a bie rush when I ors away. On Spring Creek, on what is called Allen Bar, seven miles below 11H Cits. th most gold has been taken out. The Montana company here took out over My Lunds I dollars week before last. The next to this is Pearson's on Deadwood.

The miners generally expect more or less trouble with the Indians, though I miw n n at all. A party of Indians had visited camp at the month of Whitew 1 and the tn head of stock. I think the Indians have been accustomed to visit thebills in tin 1 as I saw a great many old tepee poles.

I believe the Fort Pierre or Randall routes to be the best. Fort Pierce is the I point to the hills. A good route exists from either one of these points with gles? wood, water and grass. Either of these routes would strike F'lk C'rock and f IL ' valley into the hills. I never want to travel the Cheyenne ronte agun lt lu ser Lul timber. At Pole Creek ranch the proprietor lands his word twenty five ml going in are compelled to hand their fuel for miles. There is over thirty three mile dner without water. I do not think there can be much grass on the route t any distance from Custer to Cheyenne cannot be far from 300 mile . The re by way of Cheyenne was because I could find no parties coming by way of the Wall and did not wish to come alone. Besides I found a good opportunity with going to Cheyenne well equipped, and being somewhat anxious to see the Guns and compare it with the Missouri River, I concluded to come out that was t return after I have made a visit to my old home in Pennsylvania, which ! couple of months.

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

Mr. John R. Brennan, of the new Town of Rapid City, came into the settle- ments on the Missouri River, in March, 1876, with a company of Dakotans who had come out after supplies by the Fort Pierre route. Mr. Brennan went into the hills in 1875 from Denver City, where he had resided for a number of years as the proprietor of the American Hotel. His business took him to the capital of the territory where he gave out a statement of the conditions in the hills dur- ing the winter of 1875-76. He went into the hills in November, 1875, and had spent the winter there mining. Concerning the gold country, he said :

I worked on Spring Creek and found good prospects. There are really only two claims being worked in the hills now-I mean by means of sluice boxes. (Mr. Brennan had no definite information from the Deadwood region at that time.) There are thousands of men sinking prospect holes, but have not got down to work yet. These two claims that are worked are on Spring Creek-one by the Montana company and one by the Florida Bar Company. The former is composed of five men and has been at work all winter. They have averaged $10.00 to the man since they begun, by working six hours per day. When I left they were taking out $90.00 per day. The Florida Bar Company consists of seven men, and is averaging $7.00 a day to the man. There are now between four thousand and five thousand white men in the hills and more arriving every day.

Our party, which numbers five, has sunk sixteen or seventeen prospect holes on Spring Creek. Our best results were obtained after we reached Bed Rock, where we took out from fifty to sixty cents to the pan. Our success created considerable excitement. The bed rock is eighteen feet down. Our folks were running a drain ditch up the gulch when I left.

On Rapid Creek, which is north of Spring Creek, big preparations are going forward for the spring work. There are more men at work on Rapid Creek than any stream in the hills, and I have obtained better prospects on Rapid than in any locality in the hills. Rapid City is on this creek and is the finest location for a town in the hills. The Rapid Creek Valley furnishes an easy natural entrance from the South Cheyenne to the heart of the hills. The valley averages two miles in width and has a good road ready made by Nature. Rapid City has been laid out. It is one mile square, and has streets 100 feet wide.

Black Hills gold appears to be more valuable than the average; it runs from nineteen dollars and a half to twenty dollars an ounce, and a man who can rock out $5.00 a day can sluice $25.00. Gold has been prospected for and found in a space of country 150 miles long north and south, by 80 miles wide east and west, all in the Territory of Dakota.

Gold bearing quartz has been found near Hill City, near Custer City, and in Palmer's Gulch. It is claimed that there is rich quartz in the northern part of the hills. All the miners have great faith in the richness of the northern region. There is snow there now, but there has been but little snow in the region I have described The hills are covered with timber, and the most of it is white pine. and will compare well with that of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Regarding J. B. Pearson's claim to have been the discoverer of gold at Dead- wood Gulch, confirmation is furnished in Mrs. Tallent's Black Hills History. In her chapter giving an account of the first discovery of placer gold in the northern hills, we find this reference to the pioneer party :

Frank Bryant, with a party of six others. namely, John Pearson, Thos. Moon, Richard Lowe. James Peirman. Samuel Blodgett, and George Hauser, seven in all, arrived in the hills from some Missouri River point. in August. 1875, making their first camp at Spring Valley, on their way to the northern hills, their objective point. The party did its first pros- pecting on a small tributary of Elk Creek, with unpromising results. Frank Bryant was the possessor of a small map, furnished him before starting by Tom Labarge, Charley DeGray, and Lephiere Narcouter (probably Zephier Rencontre, the well known Yankton half-breed, who was the original owner of the townsite of old Bon Homme). all old employees of the American Fur Company, which served the party as a guide to their objective point.

The second place prospected by the Bryant party was at the mouth of Spruce Gulch on wbat was called on their map. the Chaw-Skaw-Skaw-Walkapalla (afterwards named White- wood Creek), a beautiful stream of clear water, running then about two hundred miners' inches, where was found good prospects on the surface gravel. Fortunately, having a saw in their outfit they whipped out enough lumher to construct eight boxes, twelve feet long each, and commenced sluicing, but not being wholly satisfied with the results of the experi- ment. they soon began to look around for richer diggings. This party built, at the mouth of Spruce Gulch, the first cabin in the northern hills.

One of the party, Sam Blodgett, who had, while hunting, come upon a gulch which to him looked favorable. after reporting the same to the other members of the party, returned to the gulch with John Pearson to see what could be found. and the first dirt panned by

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HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

them was taken from the point of the bar, on which now stands the Deadwood High School building. Other bars, for a distance of three hundred or four hundred yards up the creek were also prospected, but as nothing encouraging was'found, no locations were made The places last prospected were on what was later called "Deadwood Guleli." This, as far as known, was the first prospecting done on Deadwood Gulch.

About the middle of September (1875) the party left their works on the Whitewood on a fruitless search for richer diggings. Turning their faces toward Terry Peak, they prospected on the way.

After some time spent in prospecting in this locality, the party appears to have become discouraged, and broke up, and nearly all of them abandoned further prospecting and left the hills, at least temporarily, Pearson and Bryant going to Fort Laramie; where the "gold fever" appears to have again attacked them, and they both returned, late in October, Pearson ostensibly going to the south- ern hills and Bryant to the northern, where he reoccupied the cabin, with W. 11. Coder and William Cudney, that had been built by his party earlier in the season. These parties made a placer claim at this point, and posted notices.

Mrs. Tallent's account continues with this reference to further pioneer operations in the northern hills in 1875-76.

J. B. Pearson later went to the northern hills with the Lardner party, and was among the first locaters on Deadwood Gulch, where he continued placer mining until some time in 1876, when, it is alleged, he commenced the erection of the second stamp mill in that vicinity, which was put in operation in April, 1877, operating for the most part on ore from the Black Tail mine, which he had located. He operated his twenty stamp inill for about three years, when he disposed of his property and prospected for a time in the southern hills. In 1883 he became engineer of the DeSmet mill at Central City. Mr. Pearson located what was known as the Giant and Old Abe mines, now the property of the Homestake Company, on December 11, 1875. These are believed to be the earliest quartz mines located in the hills.

It was circumstantially reported in the Deadwood News in October, 1880, that the honor of discovering Deadwood Gulch probably belongs to Dan Meckles, who with a party of seven were slicing on Castle Creck. This party had packed an old wagon box, in small pieces, of which they had made a sluice box and had undergone great hardships to reach Castle Creek, and after three days' hard work had cleaned up $3.10. Discouraged, they were thinking of returning, when Meckles came into camp and announced that he had discovered a gulch where he could get 50 cents to the pan. The party, loath to believe him, thought they would look it up, and after several days of wandering brought up near the base of Bald Mountain. Going up near the summit at Terraville, they got a view of the surrounding country and going down Deadwood Gulch they camped near where Gayville was to be. Bill Gay panned out the first panfull of dirt and got 50 cents ; others tried it with equal success. Convinced that they had struck it. they started in to build a cabin-the first ever built in the gulch. They named it Deadwood Gulch on account of the immense amount of dead timber which filled the gulch. The names of this party were Dan Meckles, J. B. Pierson, Joe Ingoldsby, Win. Gay, Wm. Landner, Ed MeCay, James Mayer, Harry Gaminage, and old man Haggart. They had saddle and pack animals, some tools and a little stock of provisions. . Elk and deer were abundant and they had all the meat they wanted. They arrived at Deadwood Gulch November 9, 1875, and the same day staked off their claims, 300 feet long, up and down the gulch, and as wide as the gulch. In a few days they were joined by a party who had wandered around the western part of the hills. This party was from Montana, and hand camped where Spearfish City stands. Nearly all of them were delighted with the country and declared that they had found the "Happy Land of Cansan," one of whom, R. Il. Evans, picked out a ranch and declared he would qunt inning and go to farming. Mr. Evans kept his word, for after mining and prospecting for many years, he located a ranch one mile below Spearfish, and became one of the most successful grangers in the country Shoun, a freighter, brought in a whipsaw, and got out lumber which he sold for Sigo a thousand l'op- Vol. 1-39

930

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

ulation increased rapidly, and in December, at a meeting held on the 9th, the dis- trict was named the Lost Mining District, and William Laudner was elected recorder. In January, 1876, quartz locations were made. The first one was called the Giant ; and the quartz district was named Whitewood.

MEMORIAL AND ORGANIZATION

Indicating the orderly and intelligent sentiment of the pioneers of the Black Hills, Independence Day was observed in an appropriate manner at Deadwood, in 1876, and one prominent feature of the proceedings was the adoption of a memorial to Congress urging the extinguishment of the Indian title to the coun- try, and making an exhibit of the population of the country and its varied re- sources, as follows :

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress Assembled :

Your memorialists, citizens of that portion of the Territory of Dakota known as the Black Hills, most respectfully petition your honorable body for speedy and prompt action in extinguishing the Indian title to and the opening to settlement of the country we are now occupying, developing and improving. We have now in the hills a population of at least seven thousand honest and loyal citizens, who have come here with the expectation of remaining and making this their homes. Our country is rich not only in mineral resources, but is abundantly supplied with timber, and a soil rich enough to produce all that will be necessary to sustain a large population. Your memorialists would therefore earnestly request that we be not deprived of the fruits of our labor and driven from the country we now occupy, but that the Government, for which we have offered our lives, at once extend a protecting arm and take us under its care. And as in duty bound your memorialists will ever pray.

Dated Deadwood, D. T., July 4, 1876.

The memorial was subsequently signed by a large number and forwarded to Washington.

A few weeks later an effort was made to induce the governor of the territory to organize county governments in the hills. Deeming the matter of great im- portance the governor referred the subject to the secretary of the interior at Washington, and received the following reply :

Department of the Interior, Washington, August 24, 1876.

His Excellency, JOHN L. PENNINGTON, Governor of Dakota:

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 16th inst., enclosing one to you from Mr. A. H. Simonton, dated at Deadwood in the Black Hills country, who suggests the propriety of organizing county governments in that section of Dakota Territory; and to state in reply that in the judgment of this department no such governments can be legally established in that country. The white inhabitants of the Black Hills are there not only without authority of law, but in actual violation of law, and so long as that section of country is set apart as an Indian reservation, it would be mani- festly improper and unlawful to authorize the setting up therein of any form of civil govern- ment for citizens of the United States. I am sir, etc.,

CHAS. F. GORHAM, Acting Secretary.

CHAPTER LXXII DELEGATE KIDDER'S ZEAL HASTENS THE TREATY

1876

DELEGATE KIDDER'S GREAT BLACK HILLS ADDRESS IN CONGRESS, JUNE, 1870 -- KID- DER'S IMPORTANT ACTION IN SECURING THE OPENING OF THE HILLS.

In the House of Representatives, June 29, 1876, the House having under con- sideration the bill ( H. R. No. 2417), to declare the Black Hills in the Territory of Dakota open to exploration and settlement, to secure the right of way thereto and for other purposes, Mr. Kidder, delegate from the Territory of Dakota, said :

Mr. Speaker : On the 28th day of February last, I introduced the following bill :

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that portion of country in the Territory of Dakota, lying between the forty-third and forty-sixth degrees of north latitude, and the road degree of west longitude and the west boundary of the Territory of Dakota, is hereby declared to be open for exploration and settlement; and the true intent and meaning of the treaty with the Sioux Indians, concluded April 29th, 1868, is declared to be that men and women are not excluded thereby from traveling over, exploring, or settling upon any portion of said territ ry included within said boundaries.

Sec. 2. That it shall he lawful for any persons to travel upon, over, or through, on foot or otherwise, any Indian reservation in said territory, for the purpose of arriving at. going to, or reaching any point or place within the boundaries aforesaid, and returning therefrom in the same manner.

Statement of Facts .- The area of the Sioux reservation in Dakota, including additions. is 56,072 square miles, or 35,896,080 acres. The area of that portion of this reservation lying west of the 102d degree of west longtitude, which includes the Black Hills is 30,0.30 square miles, which will leave, after this portion is opened for settlement, as a reservation, 25,436 square miles, or 16,279,010 acres. More than one-third of the entire Territory of Dakota is now included in this reservation.

The number of Indian parties to this treaty, as reported by the several agents is (men. women and children), 40,391. If these lands had been assigned to these Indians in severalty cach Indian, squaw and pappoose would have had a title to more than eight hundred and eighty-eight acres. Take from this reservation 30,436 square miles, what this bill calls for. and then there will be reserved for each man, woman and child over four hundred and ciclity two acres; when a white man, including his family, is entitled only to huis rights as fy pre emption, homestead and timber culture, to 48o. Pass this bill and there is leit fur cach Indian, estimating six in each family, more than five times as much as we are severally entitled to.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 160

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198