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Show 56 IMMIGRANTS' AND SETTLERS' GUIDE tains northward till its intersection with the Bitter Root Mountain . ~hence n?rthward along the crest of said Bitter Root Mountains to t~' IntersectiOn of ~he 30th degree of longitude west from Washin ton~ t~ence along said 30th degree of longitude northward to the b gd ' hne of the British possessions ; thence eastward along said b~un d ary line to the 27th degree of longitude west from Washin t . un ary !:!~;vard along said 27th degree of longitude to the pla~~~f ~e~~~~ . ~orts are now being made to establish military posts In .ontana ~or the protection of prospectin or old~~. tmg part~es, a? the Blackfeet and Cro! trib~s of t 'bians who Inha~It the Territory are the most warlike r1 es ou the continent. The follo~ing desc~~iption of the new Territor of ~onlana, kmdl.Y furm~bed us for publication wJ'i be oun not only Interesting but important : VIRGINIA CITY, MONTANA. TERRITORY July 26 1864 Hon. J. M. EDMUNDs, WaBMngton, D. 0.- ' ' . DEAR SIR : The emi()'ration to th. T . . mense-the streets of fui 1 IS e:ntory th1s year will be im-with pilgrims and wan~e~e~~e s~:~!l't t~Is prese~t tim.e actually :filled I cannot imagine what will be' Ing ~rtunes IP. this land of gold. c!l'nnot find profitable employ~~~t hof this ~rfe emigration; the half twn, and trials of no ordinary char e~e,. an ·n b fear want and destituN ot less than twenty thousand h ac et, WI e. the reward of some. the roads from Salt Lake and D ave alrea~y arn~ed, and report says of them for this Territory I enver ~rf hned WJth emigrants, most arrived. Of course a Jar. ca.n sa e y .say the half has not yet dissatisfied and dis~oura()'~~ ~orJwn ~f thts emig-ration will become hu.mbugging of this count~y .' ornin ~~~ e home doleful stories of the sent to the States by inte~ested o :r wm~d~, the erroneous reports prospects. But these letters a pa.~ Ies, o Its present and future ~migrants will in no wa alter t nd stones of. : eturned. and disappointed developed Territory. rfhat th he t~ue cond~twn of ~hM as yet but partly most fastidious and skeptical o~~~ IS ~bundant evidence. to satisfy the shown b.eyond a doubt. e muleral wealth of this Territory, is noTt hteo dbisec orveleireides uthpouns far this Ye ar d emonstrate that Gulch digging is cious metal for many y~~~s ~~r~~~e:t business for s~curing. the pre· b~en. n;tade that compare at all favor bl In. fact, no discovenes have VIrgi~Ia and Bannock of last e a y With the Gulch diggings of attentiOn to other sources for Y ~r, and we must therefore turn our Explorers have already tur:~~u~~~ the wea!th of these mountains. leir attentwn to prospecting for I I TO THE NEW STATES AND TERRITORIES. 57 '' Quartz leads,'' I am happy to say with the most favorable results. Not less than th.ree hundred leads have already been discovered, and new ones are bmng reported nearly every day. It is true these leads h.ave to be teste.d before their richness can be proved ; but the expef! ence of old ro1ners would seem to indicate that their richness is eq~al, if not superior, to those of any other State or Territory in the Unwn. Several tests have already been made with the most favorable results, bnt I forbear to mention their results till a further test can be app~ied, and with bettor facilities. Parties (myself among the number) WI~l be in Washi~gton the coming winter with full samples of the leadmg Quartz V mns, for the purpose of having the matter fully tested before competent witnesses. There are a number of persons engaged here in obtaining samples of quartz, and also in securing agencies for parties owning claims, to sell the same by samples in New York, Washington, and other places for the purpose of speculation, regardless of the development of the leads or extent of their richness. Now I will state, for the information of all concerned, that there is not a lead· or claim here that has beeu sufficiently developed or tested for any one to purchase with any certainty as to the condition or richness of the claim he is purchasing. Indeed, it is not at all improbable that the sample shown will be from some other claim than the one purchased or offered for sale. Capitalists purchasing under these circumstances are sirnply running the chances, besides the risk of having their claims jumped. The fact is, no one bas any title to his claim except by right of possession, unlesA he does one hundred dollars worth of work on the same within six months from the time it was recorded. This is the Territorial Law, passed last winter at LewiAton. This place (Virginia City) · is improving very fast. The population (some five thousand last year) has nearly doubted in number since last fall, and the business of the place has increased in the same ratio. There is a large surplus of merchandize now on hand, and more coming in every day, both from Boston and Salt Lake. Of course goods are cheaper than they were last spring, but prices are kept up on most of the articles-such as c1othing and some kinds of provisionswith wonderful pertinacity. I can account for it in no other way than that the merchants have become so independent that they can afford to hold on to their goods without any inconvenience to their credit or pocket. It is an undoubted fact that most of the merchants here have made large fortunes within the last two years. The currency here is entirely gold. Treasury notes at this present writing bringing but fifty cents on the dollar, the entire business transactions of the country are done with gold dust as a medium, and it is recognised as the . currency of the country. This is decidedly unfortunate, particularly for government officials, who are compelled to sacrifice one-half in the performance of their duties. The mail facilities have been, until the present time, very uncertain and unreliable. The first regular mail under the new contract starts 3* • • |