SILVER AND GOLD: FVB. AN ACCOUNT OF THE MINING AND METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH REFERENCE CHIEFLY TO THE PRECIOUS METALS. BY ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, PH. D., U.S. COMMISSIONER OF MINING STATISTICS; PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF "MINES, MILLS, AND FURNACES," ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: J. B. FORD AND COMPANY. 1876. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by J. B. FORD & COMPANY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. CONTENTS. Page. INTRODUCTORY. WASHINGTON, March 20, 1872. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my report on mines and mining in the States and Territories of California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, giving a general review of the history of this industry in each district during the year 1871, and of its condition and prospects, with such comments and suggestions as seemed likely to be of use to miners, metallurgists, capitalists, and legislators. It is pleasant to know that the series of reports of which this constitutes the sixth, (two having been prepared by my predecessor and four by myself,) has been recognized at home and abroad as highly important and valuable, constituting not only a repository of much current information, but a display of the natural resources of the country, and a history of American progress which no other means could supply. Those portions of the reports which discuss the geological, metallurgical, and mechanical problems involved in American mining have been widely studied, quoted, and discussed, and have done much, if I may credit the testimony which has reached me from many quarters, to increase the economy and success of the extraction and reduction of ores. One evidence of this fact is found in the numerous inquiries upon practical points addressed to me by letter, or in personal visits from persons engaged in mining, milling, and smelting throughout the West. The additional labor of correspondence thus thrown upon me will be cheerfully discharged, so far as time and strength permit. While this part of my work has greatly increased, the ordinary duty of collecting, by personal inspection or correspondence, the statistical and technical information from the mining districts required for my annual reports, has also grown to double what it was four years ago. Large numbers of new districts have been opened and made productive since the completion of the Pacific railroads, and the difficulty of obtaining correct information from them is enhanced by the complexity of their communications and financial connections. The means at my disposal have always been inadequate to the thorough performance of this work as I would like to do it. Ten thousand dollars is scarcely sufficient to provide for the salary of a single assistant, and the necessary traveling expenses. A careful estimate, made in detail, shows that twenty-five thousand dollars would be required to carry out a comprehensive plan, including the employment of resident agents in all the leading districts, and the payment to them of |