Belleville, 150 miles from Mound House, is a thriving mining and milling town.
Candelaria.
Candelaria, 158 miles from Mound House, is a brisk mining town of about 600 inhabitants. It contains several mines of note, and has yielded great quantities of bullion. The Mt. Diablo Mine is at the present time the leading bullion producer. The town has several mills, some good buildings, and a good system of water works. Stages leave the town for Columbus, Silver Peak, Montezuma, Alida Valley, and Gold Mountain.
Leaving Candelaria, the road soon passes into California, striking down into Independence Valley near the White Mountains, the highest peak of which stands 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. The line runs through a rich agricultural and grazing region, with high mountain ranges on either hand, in which are found many veins rich in the precious metals.
Benton.
Benton, in Mono County, California, is 193 miles from Mound House. It is situated in a rich section of Independence Valley and is a fine fruit-growing region. In the neighborhood of the town, which contains about 200 inhabitants, are many good farms, orchards, and vineyards.
Bishop Creek.
Bishop Creek is a flourishing agricultural settlement, 224 miles from Mound House. It is in Inyo County. The lands and surroundings are much the same as those of Benton. The hamlet constituting the trading-post at the railroad, and the farms in the neighborhood, have a population of about 250.
Independence.
Independence, 267 miles from Mound House, with the farms in its immediate neighborhood, has a population of about 400. The town stands in the midst of a fine farming, grazing, and fruit-growing region. Bordering the valley are mountains in which are many good mines of the precious metals, though these have been but little worked and many have not been opened at all, the settlers in the valleys who discovered them being devoted to agricultural pursuits. Here is published weekly the Inyo Independent, an excellent local paper.