There is no doubt about the existence of extraordinary large quartz veins in the district, and the quantity of ore, such as it is, seems to be almost unlimited at the very surface.

In regard to the quality of the surface ore, which here, as well as in hundreds of other silver veins, will probably be found to be the best in the veins, nothing satisfactory has as yet reached me.

We are indeed informed by an article, which appeared in the Scientific Press of July 30, 1870, that a number of assays of ore brought to San Francisco yielded as follows: "83 01, $10 37, 814 14, $18 84, $28 25, $28 35, $30 17, $43 96, $46 10, $50 23, $53 38, $55 97, 866 76, $113 13, $118 26, $130 81, $147 21, $158 03, $172 80, $224 37, $287 21, 8471 24, 8528 78, 8561 88, 8742 24, $751 87, $831 80, $1,342 50, $1,442 43, $3,038 62, $3,838 46, $4,861 09. A little gold, from a trace up to $25 22, was found in six samples." But this proves nothing. The same assays may be obtained from the smallest pocket of a silver-ore deposit. Only average samples, taken according to the methods in use in the practical working of silver ores, will reveal the true value of those veins, and that only after large amounts have been taken down.

A large number of assays, made in Arizona, of specimens taken from the ledge by one who was unacquainted with silver ores, gave less than an average of $15 per ton, and one of the original locators acknowledged to my assistant that he thought the great mass of the ores would not yield above $15 per ton, and that they all contained a high percentage of base metals. If we add to the cost of beneficiation of such ores the expense for transportation for forty-five miles by railroad to the Gila River, the as yet high cost of freight to and from the Burro Mountains, and the interest of the large capital required for starting such an enterprise, it is evident that those mines cannot be worked at a profit at present. the same time it is clear that upon the completion of the Texas Pacific Railroad a very extensive mining industry is likely to spring up here. I learn that the attempt will be made during the next year to maké at least a beginning in the development of these mines.

At

The Cienega mines are located about fifty miles northeast of Ralston. According to the accounts received they occur in limestone, and are rather deposits than veins. A town, named Silver City, has been located here, and some little prospecting work has been carried on, but in no case a depth exceeding 12 feet seems to have been reached on the deposits. Much high-grade chloride of silver is reported to have been found, and the principal deposits appear to lie along a zone running northeast and southwest, which is half a mile wide, and has been superficially explored for a length of three miles. Chloride district, two miles from Silver City, is spoken of in still higher terms of praise.

All these discoveries lie apparently a short distance from Fort Bayard, and may be identical with those of the Central City district mentioned in last year's report. As yet nothing definite is known in regard to them, and as no actual mining was carried on, I have not deemed it necessary to expend any means in that direction.

The passage of the Texas Pacific Railroad bill will probably exercise a powerful influence toward developing the mineral resources of southern New Mexico during the immediate future, and there are certainly no Territories which deserve more the attention of mining men than those crossed by the thirty-second parallel line.

The total white population of the mining counties of New Mexico, as given by the census of 1870, is 26,716, including Mexicans, and distributed as follows: Grant County, 1,143; Lincoln County, 1,803; Taos County, 12,079; Santa Fé County, 9,699; Colfax County, 1,992.

The gold product of the Territory for 1870 slightly exceeds $500,000.

1

CHAPTER IX.

COLORADO.

This Territory manifests a steady progress in the direction of settled and productive industry, and permanent public improvements of every kind. The completion of three railroads, centering at Denver, the forma tion of new and thriving colonies, like that of Greeley, and the growth of several branches of domestic manufactures, are all causes which, though distinct from mining, operate favorably to that interest. The absolute proximity of agriculture and mining is not always perfectly advantageous to both. Thus in California the placer-mining operations have been ruinous to large areas of farming and garden land, along the rivers below the mining ground. The vapors from smelting works are frequently injurious to crops. The high rates of miners' wages affect unfavorably the price of agricultural labor. Conflicts of interest between the two industries promote litigation while they hamper legisla tion. Yet, on the other hand, mining cannot maintain itself remote from auxiliaries, except at great pecuniary and social cost to the community. I regard it, therefore, as peculiarly fortunate for Colorado that within her borders mining and agriculture are "so near and yet so far;" that her rugged mountain districts are skirted with fertile plains and parks; that in days to come the camps of her pioneers will be merely outposts of her great cities. It is difficult to find an instance where the two fundamental productive activities of man are both so magnificently endowed, and so conveniently located for mutual assistance without interference.

The Territorial fair, held in September at Denver, was a striking exhibition of the wealth and progress of Colorado. It is true, it was inferior in its array of native stock to that of 1869, and no more than equal to its predecessor in point of agricultural products. But these facts have little significance., What Colorado can do in these particulars is well known already; and it matters not whether the heifers or the turnips are a few inches larger round the belly this year or last. On the other hand, the magnificent display of blooded stock in 1870 means a great deal. It shows growing wealth and intelligence among stock-raisers, and promises still better things hereafter.

The crops suffered greatly from drought, so that, although the area under cultivation was greater, the total harvest probably did not exceed that of 1869. But next season will astonish the outside world; and meanwhile, though the average yield was not realized in the present crop, the ranchmen of Colorado may claim with truth that, even under the great disadvantage of a partial failure, they far exceeded the general average of the United States.

But the great glory of the fair was its display of ores and bullion. The total value of the samples on exhibition was not far from $100,000; and the exhibition as a whole has seldom or never been equaled. The pride and joy of the citizens over this splendid testimony to their young industry is more than pardonable; it is fully justified. They have no longer any need to indulge in idle asseverations; they can point to facts. The bullion display was very fine. There was one solid piece of gold bullion, value $39,061 65. Clear Creek County sent one silver button

weighing 1,141 pounds, value $20,000; one weighing 400 pounds, value $7,000; one 93 pounds, value $1,027; and one 113 pounds, value $1,625. The first two were from the Brown Company, the third from the Terrible mine and the last from 4 tons of Snowdrift ore.

The following is a list of the ores exhibited, together with their mill or assay values:

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, GRIFFITH DISTRICT-SILVER ORES,

Of course these figures do not represent the average yield of the ores treated, still less the average value of the vein-material. Nor would the true average mill-yield give a direct measure of the general quality of ore. A common error with American miners has been the habitual,. though often innocent, exaggeration of the "average value" of ores.. People do not seem to know what this phrase means. At first it used to mean the average result of a large number of sample assays; then,, when we had grown wiser, it meant the average of pulp assays taken in the mills; and beyond the latter signification we have apparently not yet advanced.

Now any district can maintain a high "average value" of this sort, as long as it sends only good ores to the mill or furnace; and the figures signify, not the average value of all the ore in the veins, not even that of the ore extracted, but that of the ore treated. In other words, they are a criterion of the expense of mining and reduction, and that is all. Moreover, since no mines ever did or do contain rich ores only, the high yields are generally associated with wasteful sorting, which still further increases the expense of mining.

Let him who would apply this test to a mine or a district measure the excavations on the lodes, calculate the whole amount of vein-matter removed, and compare this with the total of bullion produced. In Colo-rado this style of calculation would produce some surprising results.. But Colorado is no worse and no better than any other districts in this respect. She is just now working her best mines, and of these only the best and second-best ores. When, in the progress of healthful industry, more mines shall be opened, existing mines operated on a larger scale and more permanent system, and less ore thrown away or left standing as too poor to work, we shall see an apparent decrease in the value per ton of the contents of her veins; and I cannot wish her better fortune than just this decrease.

In a subsequent chapter the processes of reduction employed in Colo. rado will be fully discussed, and more exact information as to average value and yield will be given.

H. Ex. 10-19

BULLION PRODUCT OF 1870.

The Denver News estimates the total gold and silver yield of the Territory for 1870, as follows:

I am obliged to regard this estimate as altogether too high. The article which contained it showed the manner in which each item was calculated; and a revision of the whole, with additional sources of information, for which I am indebted to Mr. Schirmer of the Denver mint, and Mr. Jones, agent of Wells, Fargo & Co. at that place, leads me to substitute the following estimate, as the most accurate which I can obtain:

The items of northern and southern mines in these estimates refer to the fact that much of the gold gathered in the mines of Park, Lake, and Summit Counties goes out, by the way of Colorado and Cañon Cities, to Pueblo, and thence east without coming to Denver at all. So of the product of the North Park, Snake, and White River mines in Northern and Northwestern Colorado. It finds its way to the line of the Union Pacific Railroad and thence east or west.

The deposits at the Denver branch mint were as follows: