I.-Report of the surveyor general of Montana. UNITED STATES SURVEYOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, Helena, Mont., August 8, 1877. SIR: In compliance with instructions contained in your communication "E," of April 3, 1877, I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report of this office, with accompanying statements, in duplicate, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, viz: A.-Showing condition of appropriation for the survey of public land in Moutana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. B.-Showing amount of special deposits made for office work on mineral claims in Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. C.-Showing list of lands surveyed in Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. D.- Showing condition of surveys contracted for by the surveyor general for Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. E.-Showing condition of appointments of United States deputy mineral surveyors. F.-Showing the number of township plats and descriptive lists of land, timber, corners, &c., furnished the Helena and Bozeman land offices during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. G.-Showing condition of appropriation for clerks in office of surveyor general for Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. H.-Showing condition of appropriation for salary of surveyor general for Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. I.-Showing condition of appropriation for incidental expenses for office of surveyor general for Montana for fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. J.-Showing amounts of special deposits made for the survey of public land other than mineral in Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. K.-Showing the number of plats made in the office of surveyor general for Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. L.-Showing the total number of acres surveyed in Montana to June 30, 1877. M.-Showing the number of linear miles surveyed, the rates per mile, and the cost of surveys in Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. N.-Giving names, nativity, &c., of surveyor general and clerks in his office during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. O.-Estimate for surveying service and office work and expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879. SURVEYS. The entire appropriation of $17,000 apportioned this district, excepting a balance of $173.44, has been exhausted, all of the work under contracts having been performed under instructions based upon Congressional action in relation thereto. The following meridian and standard lines have been established during the past fiscal year: The base line through ranges 11 and 12 and portions of 13 and 16 east, to its intersection with the Yellowstone River, the boundary of the Crow Indian reservation. The Big Hole guide meridian, through township 5 south, between ranges 14 and 15 west. The Red Rock guide meridian, through townships 11, 12, 13, and 14 south, between ranges 6 and 7 west. The Sweet Grass guide meridian, through townships 1, 2, 3, and 4 north, between ranges 15 and 16 east. The Judith guide meridian, through township 7 north, between ranges 15 and 16 east. The first standard parallel south, through range 15 west; the first standard parallel north, through ranges 14 and 15 east; these being the preliminary lines to the extension of surveys into the Yellowstone, Big Hole, Musselshell, Red Rock, and Sweet Grass Valleys and tributaries, in which localities fifty-four townships were surveyed and returned, embracing an aggregate area of 790,359.42 acres, at a cost to the government of 3 cents per acre. A portion of this area contained settlements, including the towns of Butte, Silver Bow, Travona, and Rocker, located in the most valuable mineral belt in Montana at present. The valley of Red Rock Creek was entirely surveyed, in which a number of settlements have been made. This valley, lying on the main stage and telegraph line between Montana and Utah, contains a large amount of agricultural land as yet unimproved, offering many advantageous locations to those desirous of settling in Montana. A hitherto unsurveyed agricultural and grazing tract of country was discovered in the prolongation of surveys during the past season, known as the Upper Sweet Grass Valley, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, commencing at a point about twelve miles above its mouth, and extending thence up the creek to the base of the Crazy Mount ains, a distance of about thirty-five miles, is a beautiful tract of country, averaging about fifteen miles in width, covered with most luxuriant grass for the stock-grower, and the finest arable land for the agriculturist, with an abundance of water for irrigation and other purposes. The valleys of the Musselshell and Big Hole also contain many fine locations for settlers, and need but the improvement to bud into blooming beauty and freshness. The establishment of government posts on the Lower Yellowstone has given a feeling of security to settlers, as predicted in former reports, and a tide of immigration is steadily flowing in. Many families have settled in that vicinity within the past year, and many others on the route. A petition, signed by three hundred residents of that locality, for the survey of the Yellowstone Valley, in the vicinity of Big Horn and Tongue Rivers, has been filed in this office, and upon this and other necessities my estimate for surveys for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879, is based. MINERAL SURVEYS. There have been seventy-three surveys of lode and placer claims, ordered during the past fiscal year, the amount of deposit for office work on which amounted to $1,810, to which is added $15 deposited in case of the survey of fractional portion of township 10 north, range 1 east, under the deposit system, makes an aggregate of $1,825 for office work. I would again suggest that the blank maps and forms required in the workings of the mineral department is no inconsiderable item in our incidental expense account, and some provision should be made to meet these expenses separate and apart or combined with the regular appropriation. OFFICE WORK. Five hundred and eighty-nine plats bave been made in the office during the past fiscal year. The accounts for surveys, both agricultural and mineral, have been worked up promptly, and with no unnecessary delay to deputies, settlers, or claimants, my office force working day and night during the surveying season, in order to push the work forward, and attending to the regular daily duties of the office. I would respectfully call your attention to the article on office work embraced in my last report, the necessities therein mentioned still existing. AGRICULTURE. From appearances every farm in Montana will be cultivated and improved the present season; farmers who, from the devastating ravages of grasshoppers in former years, had become disheartened and almost completely discouraged, have commenced labor with renewed ardor and hope, and the indications are that the present season will be the best for agricultural products in the history of the Territory. The past spring has been an unusually wet one, the climate seeming to have undergone a radical change, and on the whole this branch of industry promises better than ever before. Lands that three years ago were considered valueless have, by improvement, proven very lucrative to the settl r, and in many places, in altitudes of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, all kinds of cereals and vegetables were raised, except tomatoes and corn, the production of which the high altitudes and early frosts will not permit. PLACER MINES. The success attendant upon the development of silver lodes has to a great extent reduced the working of placer mines, they being left for this greater inducement and returns of opening and developing quartz lodes, until the past season, during which the heavy fall of snow and rain has added a new impetus to placer mining. Several old districts have been reorganized and worked energetically and steadily, fully demonstrating the fact that as a placer mining and gold producing country Montana stands next in order to California. Some of the mountainous country on the Big Horn, Powder River, and Clark's Fork, and their tributaries are as yet unknown, but it is predicted that these localities will present a greater field for placer and gold mining than any other portion of the Territory has, or will accommodate. There is said to be five hundred gulches in Montana of varied length from one to twenty miles, in which placer mining is carried on during six or seven months of the year, with a good prospect of yielding well for several years to come. GOLD LODES. The development of gold lodes is steadily progressing, and new and improved machinery constantly being added for the working of auriferous ores. A new district has come into public notice during the past year, that known as Pony Mining District, located near the head of Pony Gulch, one of the tributaries of Willow Creek, in Madison County. A fifteen-stamp mill was erected in this district about one year ago, to reduce the ores of the Strawberry mine. The success of the enterprise and the richness of the ore attracted numerous prospectors from all directions, and in a few months the town of Pony sprang into existence, containing at this time a population of about four hundred, and the surrounding country dotted with a great number of locations of rich, paying auriferous lodes. Among the mines in this district may be mentioned the Strawberry, Boss Tweed, Willow Creek, Keystone, Policy, Christy Cabb, Pilot, and many others that are being continually developed, the ore taken therefrom being worked in the camp by eight different mills erected for the purpose; and negotiations, I understand, are in progress for the erection of several other mills during the coming year. Mineral Hill, on which these ledges are situated, is 44 miles in length, and extends from half a mile below the town of Pony westerly to South Boulder Creek. There are twenty-one lodes located in one continuous line on this ledge-twelve ou a line parallel on the north, and fifteen on the south-while half a mile south, and running parallel, are the Atlantic and Pacific Lodes, showing veins sixty fees in width. From this it will be seen this district promises a brilliant future. ARGENTIFEROUS LODES. Reports from all silver mining districts in the Territory are very encouraging, and indicate that silver mining has become firmly established throughout the Territory. Leads that have been noted in former reports have been developed with flattering results, and numbers of new and rich discoveries have materially added to this the chief industry of Montana. The mines in the vicinity of Jefferson City, under the influence of recent improvements in concentrators and smelting furnaces, have been worked more determinedly and constantly; the Rumley Lode has a drift of 90 feet in the ore body of the vein, and the end not reached yet, with 4,000 tons of concentrating ore on the dump and 20,000 tons of ore in sight, being the largest body of ore ever exposed in any one vein in Montana; the Comet, adjacent to the Rumley, has 6,000 tons on the dump, with about 8,000 tons exposed in the lower levels, assaying from $35 to $150 in silver per ton, with a heavy per cent. of lead. The Australia, of which the Comet has developed to be an extension, is more than meeting the most sanguine expectations; a tunnel cutting the vein at a depth of 150 feet, on discovery, shows a pay vein of 9 feet in width assaying from 45 to 320 ounces per ton in silver. A quantity of high grade ore from this mine has been sold for shipment. The Gregory mine is being rapidly and skillfully developed under the management of experienced miners. They have over 3,000 tons of ore on the dump, and the facilities for hoisting ore recently greatly enhanced by the addition of steam hoisting works. A large quantity of ore from the lodes mentioned, and from other lodes in this district, are being worked by the Montana Company's concentrating works, recently finished at a cost of $90,000, a brief notice of which will not be amiss in this report, to show the advance made in the Territory in ore reducing facilities. The process employed is "Krom's crushing, drying, and concentrating proc ess," the ore first passing through Blake crushers, thence over drying furnaces, and through one set of rollers, where it is elevated, weighed, and put through another set of rollers; thence, by means of cup elevators, carried to the third story, and, descending through four screens, is sized and separated, the separators being on the lower floor. Suction pipes connect with all the chambers where the ore is handled, and the dust is carried to an adjoining building for roasting. Reverberatory furnaces are used for slagging finest concentrations after passing through the Bruckner cylinders, and before being carried to the water jacket furnace. These works have a working capac ity of fifty tons per day. The rapid growth of Butte and Philippsburg districts is unparalleled in the history of Montana. The introduction of capital in the development of the veins, and new machinery from Utah and elsewhere, has been shipped and put into running order during the past year, and to-day these districts are considered the "bonanzas" of Montana. The lodes mentioned in my last report are all being steadily worked, and constant shipments of ores, bullion, and silver are being made, although the demand for transportation is greater than the supply. Besides the list of mines given in these districts, there are thousands of minor prospects all over the Territory that would consume too much time and space to particularly mention. Trapper, Silver Star, and Vipond districts are advancing with rapid strides; and in the vicinity of Helena, the Red Mountain and Scratch Gravel silver veins are receiving attention, and are likely to prove permanently valuable. COPPER. At Butte large discoveries of copper lodes have been made along the westward slope of the range to the northward, indicating a very extensive belt of these minerals, while at Copperopolis copper mining is the main feature, and development of lodes in that locality is steadily progressing. Although this branch of the mineral deposits is still as yet in its infancy, the indications are that at no distant day copper mining will be no inconsiderable feature in the industries of the Territory. COAL. The surveys of the past fiscal year have brought to notice several extensive coal beds on the Musselshell River, while in the vicinity of Butte new discoveries of coal beds have been made, and the mines are being worked to good advantage. The indications are very conclusive that Montana can and will produce all the coal required for future manufacturing and commercial interests. STOCK. The stock interest of Montana is a great and growing industry, and is fast becoming one of her leading interests; thousands of cattle and sheep are driven from and into the Territory annually, and the grazing facilities of the Territory are being utilized and improved to a vast extent, and Montana beef is to-day the leading feature in Eastern and foreign markets, and cominands better prices than any other. Sheep are being raised with great profit and very little loss from the flocks that in many cases range on the hills the entire season. It is estimated that there are about 75,000 head of sheep in the Territory, and the wool product for the past season is estimated at about 400,000 pounds, which is shipped and meets with a ready and profitable sale in Eastern markets. The erection of woolen mills, already commenced, will materially aid the sheep growers in providing a market for their wools and add a new feature to the industries of the Territory. The character of land in Montana, as the stock interest advances, is rapidly changing, and now, where a short time ago the survey of land was considered by skeptics to be valueless, is rapidly being taken up and improved for sheep and stock pastures or ranges; for, by means of irrigation, the grass crop is increased threefold, and the blue joint grass springs up thick and luxuriantly by this means, upon which stock are fed. This improvement is noticeable in several localities, especially in Meagher County, and at no distant day the sheep and stock interests of the Territory will demand vast tracts of these lands for the sustenance of stock. CONCLUDING REMARKS. The organization of a new county government, (Custer County,) and the building of government posts, and location of troops therein. has greatly added to the settlement of that portion of the Territory. It has interposed an effectual barrier between the settlements and danger from Indians, leading to the improvement of our mines and the permanent settlement of the vast unoccupied tracts of our Territory. A great many settlers have located in that vicinity, and a large immigration is coming that way from Dakota and southwestern border into Montana. It is believed that the immigration the present season will equal the present population of the Territory. We need men and women even more than capital; and while other Territories have commissioners of immigration to disseminate information and attract the attention of those meditating immigration, or direct wavering thoughts and steps, we have none and never had any, and yet we have more substantial inducements to offer than many of the Western States and Territories. Transportation now by way of the Missouri River is quick and cheap. To those who will come, as they would go elsewhere, withont the expectation of picking up a fortune in the first day or week, but wait quietly and intelligently the chances, Montana to-day offers a more inviting place of location than ever before. Every year witnesses steady advancement in the comforts and advantages of civilized life. With regard to investment of capital in our mines, I have only to reproduce, in closing this report, what a correspondent of an Eastern paper has written, who has been here and knew whereof he wrote, that "Montana, being farther away from communication with the civilized world than any other part of the Union, has suffered more severely and for a longer time than any sister Territory; but those who bave remained in her cañons and valleys in the belief that the land was good and worth standing by, cannot be far from the day of their reward. Signs of new life and new growth are everywhere visible. Silver mining has be ome one of the recognized industries of the Territory. Gold quartz mining is on a sound basis, and many old and abandoned placer districts are waking up under the stimulus of new enterprises. Capital to a moderate extent has come in, and is being employed successfully, and already is reproducing itself. Montana is no longer an unknown and unvisited section of the West, and those who have taken the pains to examine its resources are finding that it embraces as fine a field for investment as any part of the country." Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. A. WILLIAMSON, Commissioner. ANDREW J. SMITH, No. of contract. A.-Statement showing condition of appropriation for surveys of public land in the Territory of Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, DR. 1877. 1876. Amount. Aug. 22 By appropriation, act of $17,000 00 910 83 957 16 321 84 1,209 50 787 73 969 75 952 76 1,677 20 1,251 24 3,029 52 559 70 173 44 17, 000 00 17, 000 00 ANDREW J. SMITH, Surveyor General, Montana. |
