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b'tit.podabew]COditoblt;bithinches, or a few foot |it farthest, would haw seemed to them a. competence for their life time. The man;} loads that had been dis-covoed about Platthville, previous to ’30, hudy either fiom the lack of skill, or of perseverance, beenbu. poorly worked, lienee man/ miners, abot t that time, commenced worl ing them ; an 1, it is probable that there hasiince been tv. c millions of mineral raised from that sou re/. Indeed at this time, who t the miner ini', by prospecting, exhaus-tod bis money and approached toward the ‘lag end’of his c - dit, ho “goes to work on o d i/ig't'tx,” as dernier resort.o,i. As to the uifvns the miner has of judg s g where mineral lies. The mining region is about 100 miles square, and is a rough undulated country., consisting of rnou ids and chasn high hills and deep valleys with, liowo** r, a tulrioiem-y of level praiheto all'ord ■ ,ost admirable facilities Ibr Urminjf. Ten miles below the mouth of Plui d river, on th east bank of the Missis.. Lf feipp , theie is to If seen a sand bank, from] which a ridge or el vuled strip of land, easily st to b: distinguish© ! by the traveler, extends to Is ock Itiver. A person travelling south tVon Plattev die, a ee ids ami descends high hilh,and crosses li.npid streams of water, rippling over oluaU? and cataracts, and win ling their co ifses between high banks and precipices, * t intersect and clarify the mammoth river. But upon ascending to the top of the above mentioned ridge hee sVn\ilt;Plt;01Plt;pc:Virr:elt;isc.’ifata his eyes uj on a level plain* which P whlt; n contrasted ut'i the countfv through'\\Clwditwhich he lias jus, passed, presents to him the appearance of a :,ea in a calm. Its wa-l w tert- are moving s.torg sluggishly, through «' iinr ov; muddy cl aimels, as if they felt a jthiliilrnce in mixi ig with the waters from W,t cousin,TUsridgesceux- tube the southern boundary of the lead i cues ; and it would seem to b:; the natural geographical line, by which to divide W'pcon-im and the Sucker state. Ucjoiu. the Win; Jiusiu river, there lias been copncr oar Ibiin-i ii many places ; but it is quite probable tha* the lead region is bounded oji the north b, |_h:vt river.Tin no arc ma-iv intelligent minors, in- OlNattcviJU\ who ( Ptcrtajn the opinion, that mil era! dkcuvorH m lie j ii northiiik1 bouth rajij/i s, heuring, perhaps, about 111 drgrci'a to tli' east of north* Indeed, the P) iMeviUc di j present a phenome-nor , eiiHnJ in d? v'j some extent, to sustain tlii* hypotheeiK—/ heini; throe miles from the north to ?he lt;mth end of the diggings,(if we 4 no Hide tl e I'iancy IHurh, and the Meeker digging*' *) an A only about three fourths of a £2iilo irom oast and weal, .But if vve examine a iryip of the country upon vt ich the digg.n rs'are correctly dolioeatod,CltlticS(otc4n0k*uuiiatlt;bwe iiiui them proud sou oufcly, all over the ini-I»nil g region and piC!i.enting no more of the Jt-appearance of ri gular north and south range;. than is to be found on the map of Oce-uu CO.There is, how- yor, some peculiarity to be discovered in th* country, about every considerable digging . ’.iroughout the country ; j] for instance, ttiei-j is 2»ot an isolated eircuxn* Ms nee of a Uirg r lead’s being found on a high ridge that d tides considerable streams of water; but to the contrary, diggings are g« icrnlly found to be situated near the source of small 1 tooks, the crevices running acoss tin: sm.-ilest ridges and most generally appearing tot lose upon striking the higher nios. Indeed a man may take a stand cm tlie highest gvuiod in any digging in the1, eo nstry, and i.j o i looking around he will « discover that b*‘, is Mirroiindcd, with still1111 VJiijflitT £froii«iH 1'or iriblun^c he may stnnd | h on any of the points oji either side of the i y ce cbrateil Ulurk load, which haa yiel-|v de 1 mure tn.tivnl pcrhapt? than any load in the mining lt;mjiory ?ami he looks downjv upon the pomt njion which the lead ia.— although Jiu Dubuque diggings ure fjituated lt;»n very lug'll ridges, yet to ntaud on tliu blnJf,on t ie east tide of the Mississippi, and it at once that the countryrhea very nnie i higher si.ill west of tlio lt;h;n*ins. If iumever after pcoctraUng the ro:k to a great deprii in the highest ridges, cr iviee* should 1 *■ Sound containing mineral it would be an abounding fact.It will most 1 i.Uy be Jound to be a much more dilliculttn; U to ascertain wliat particular part of uny r dgc, believed to contain m.ncral, ft crcvh'O or lead id to be found, than to discover tlie ridges ; for while some ©f them are found to lie in swags crossing the ridges, most of them give no indication w latever. Fin lly tiller 13 years cxperi-ercoin the bueimss of mining, the liestin-st -notions I shot !d bo able to give a person just engaging in the enterprise, would be that given by Tlisha the prophet to Jelio-rain, Jehosaphal, and the king of Edom, * w ten they and ' heir armies were famishing ing in the wildc ness ibr the want of water,“ Make this vail ‘y full of ditches.”{Ti be continued.)1i]
Newspaper Details
Independent American and General Advertiser
Platteville, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Jun 27, 1845
Page 3
Full Page
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Anonymous
WI, USA 27 Mar 2022
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