now, however, a busy and prosperous mining region. The ores are argentiferous galena, with some gold in quartz. The veins aro true fissures, accessible, and very thick, and carry from forty to sixty per cent, of lead, five to fifty ounces of silver, and a few dollars in gold to the ton. The strike of the principal lode, which is three miles in length, is parallel to the river, at a distance from it of from two to six miles, and it is frequently cut at right angles by ravines, which afford facilities for mining.
There are no fluxes in the Coeur d'Alene country except that contained in the ore, and no great amount of fuel near the mines, which makes it more economical to carry the ores out for smelting than to bring in the fluxes,—a fact in favor of Spokane Falls as a centre for reduction works. Mills and concentrators on the ground reduce the expense of transporting the ores, which, however, with the supplies required by the camps, furnish a profitable business to the Coeur d'Alene Kailway and Navigation Company's lines, connecting with the Northern Pacific Railroad.
The Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mines, at the head of Milo Creek, were the first discoveries on the lode, and have been good producers. The ore as taken from the mine concentrates four tons into one, which has a gross value of one hundred dollars, and with the first concentrator, whose capacity was one hundred and twenty tons daily, returned three thousand dollars per day to the owners. The company employ one hundred and fifty men, and are well equipped for profitable mining.
The Stemwinder, just bejmnd these mines, on the main lode, is owned in Portland, and is a rich producer. The company has a concentrator at Milo. The Tyler, also owned in Portland, is a similar property, as well as the Emma—Last Chance, owned in Spokane.
The Sierra Nevada is a carbonate instead of galena, and yields a large amount of ore, giving returns of one hundred dollars per ton without concentrating. Specimens from, this mine of crystallized silver and lead, consequent on some disturbance of the formation, are beautiful and wonderful, fantastic in shape and rich in color.
Silver King, Crown Point, and Eureka are also good mines in
