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Show RECONNAISSANCE IN THE UTE COUNTRY. 71 This granite exists in regular beds* is easily quarried, and would make-a good and durable building- stone. Cement Creek differs but little from the north branch of Mineral Creek,, and was also once tilled with modern formations after the valley had been formed. Seven mineral veins have been found, mostly galena. Two on Matilda Creek, a branch of Cement Creek, and one still higher up the main valley, contain silver. Eich float- specimens were found, whose veins are probably located well up toward the summit. Further prospecting will probably develop this valley and its surroundings into a rich mineral field. Little Giant Gulch is situated on the left side of Las Animas Eiver, and is a mere culde- 8< w of a few miles in length, closed in on three sides by high mountain- ranges. On the right side near timber- line is situated Little Giant gold- mine. The lead is 2£ feet in width, the walls are of compact feldstone and the gangue quartz, copper, and iron pyrites. A drift of 60 feet and its developments prove this be a true lode. ! N" o large amount of the ores had been reduced, but the company had erected at a heavy expense a mill, which was not yet in operation. I had no means at my control to test fully the value of this ore, but the proprietors entertain reasonable expectations of a large return. There are several other leads in this gulch. One or two have some of the characteristics of the Little Giant vein, while others are mostly galena, and still others galena and silver. Though in none had the developments reached beyond the prospect- pit, they thus far promised well. At or near the summit of one of the ranges is also a vein of pure galena 100 feet in width. I did not visit this locality, in consequence of the hazardous ascent, but the fact is so well attested that I gave it full credence. The walls of the Little Giant Gulch are mostly feldstone. Cunningham's Gulch is a narrow valley that connects with the left aide of Baker's Park three miles above Little Giant Gulch. Its walls are composed of porphyry, mica slate, and quartzite rocks, and the summit volcanic trachytes. There are several veins of galena, supposed to contain a large percentage of silver. This is probably true in reference to the Mountaineer and Green Mountain leads, but I have no definite data to that effect. There are numerous other leads that may be equally promising, but the claimants were absent, and but little knowledge could be obtained respecting them, and the prospect- pits were in a dilapidated condition. Eureka Gulch, situated near the head of Baker's Park, is a narrow gorge on the right of the valley. Its walls are mostly trap, overlaid by volcanic deposits. Ko mineral leads have been discovered here, not for the want of favorable indications, but because several years since a large amount of labor was expended in washing for gold, and, the enterprise proving unprofitable, was abandoned. Baker's Park is mere widening of Las Animas Valley about eight miles long and a half a mile broad at the widest place. Its walls are mostly of granular and crystalline feldstone. This is traversed by innumerable veins of quartz, some reaching from the base of the valley to near the highest mountains- peaks. This is peculiarly so in Galena Mountain, where a rich vein of ore exists above timber- line, and is only lost by being covered with volcanic deposits. The veius of quartz do not all contain mineral nov a tithe of them $ but many rich leads of galena have been discovered, and some of them contain |
