City and Silverton. It got its name when miners built a tent city in the "Flats" in the late 1800s. American Flats, a part of your national resource lands, is unique. It boasts a diversity of natural resources, scenic granduer, and historical and cultural values amid a most fragile environment. It is considered one of Colorado's most pristine areas and is a major tourist attraction. It is also an area rich in mineral values.

In 1971 Earth Sciences asked BLM for a permit to prospect in the area. This request immediately brought sensitive issues to the surface. Environmental groups including the Wilderness Society and the Colorado Open Space Council wanted the area set aside as a primitive area. A potentially heated conflict was avoided when representatives of the Environmental groups and other interested parties met with BLM officials and representatives of Earth Sciences.

After the meeting all parties agreed that the mineral values of the Red Mountain area were too great to be included in a primitive area at this time. From the meetings came a uniquely worded and restrictive prospecting permit. A significant feature of that permit was Earth Science's agreement to waive a statutory preference right to a

mineral lease should a valuable mineral deposit be discovered. Terms of the permit, worked out four years after the initial Earth Sciences' application, stipulates that, "If the prospecting under this permit results in the discovery of a workable deposit of potassium, no preference right lease will be issued until and unless an Environmental Analysis and Environmental Impact Statement, if required in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, indicates that the ore can be successfully extracted without significant adverse environmental effect." In addition, Earth Sciences agreed to transport all drilling equipment and personnel to the mountain top by helicopter during the exploratory phase of the operation. According to Dale Andrus, BLM's Colorado State Director, "The measures reflect the public's concern over national shortages of aluminum

Helicopters are used to bring fuel and other supplies to the drill site. The use of helicopters reduces the need for roads into the site.

and fertilizer on one hand, and the pristine beauty of the Red Cloud area of American Flats on the other."

Exploration by helicopter, especially at 13,000 feet, is a risky business, but Earth Sciences successfully accomplished their first phase drilling program with only the loss of three 1,000 gallon water tanks which were accidently released from the helicopter while they were being lowered onto the mountain top. These ruined tanks have since been removed from the area.

Earth Sciences drilled two holes, one down to the 325 foot level, the other down to 688 feet. Water to lubricate and cool the core bits was pumped vertically 1,800 feet from a small creek.

The drill crews worked around the clock and were housed in an aluminum hut assembled on the site. Thanks to the flexibility of the helicopter which rents for

about $425 per hour flying time,

the entire drilling operation took only about 4 weeks.

Russ Elam, Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Gunnison Basin Resource Are, was responsible for the supervision of the permit. He made the six-hour round-trip climb to the drill site on the mountain by foot several times to check the operation to see that the Company complied with all the terms of the permit. He expressed appreciation for Earth Sciences' cooperation and genuine efforts to maintain the environmental integrity of the area. "Even their cigarette butts and gum wrappers were disposed of properly.'

As a result of the summer's work, Earth Sciences has outlined the boundaries of a mineralized zone of alunite that runs between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in diameter and approximately 1,700 feet in depth. An analysis of surface and core samples indicates that the deposit is probably 30 to 45 percent alunite. It could be the largest known deposit of high grade alunite in the world possibly in excess of 2 billion tons of high grade ore.

In addition to the aluminum, there are also a number of important byproducts including potassium sulfate, a form of potash fertilizer, and sulfuric acid that can be mined along with the alunite.

Earth Sciences is planning to do additional drilling and exploration this summer. They hope to gather more data about the extent of the ore reserves in the area. If this work supports present expectations, it will be necessary to start preliminary environmental evaluations in the area in the very near future. The United States imports about 87 percent of the aluminum ore used in the country. Current domestic consumption is now 10 million tons per year. That is worth about $1.25 billion dollars. The Red Mountain alunite deposit could make a significant contribution to the Nation's need for this metal. And if all goes well, its mining will not cause undue harm to the environment.

PAUL HERNDON Office of Public Affairs

The appointment of Anthony

Wayne as Commander of the armed forces of the United States fell under immediate attack in the press, and Congressmen who had favored rival candidates voiced their apprehensions from the floor of the House and Senate. The criticism grew in intensity and continued until the Battle of Fallen Timbers had been

won.

Even Washington had reservations. He had preferred Henry Lee of Virginia for the post but was afraid of arousing the jealousies of other veterans who outranked him. The choice of Wayne was a compromise, but having made the choice, Washington stood by it.

Known as "Mad Anthony" since the days of the Revolution, Wayne had served with Washington throughout the war and had been present when the British had surrendered at Yorktown. Since the war his career had been marked with failure. He had failed in business, been disgraced in politics, and was then a disillusioned “old” man of 47. He was fat, gouty, and something of a drunkard. But he was also a man God had fashioned to be a soldier.

He took command of troops that had been defeated under Harmar

and St. Clair and were throughly dispirited. Such recruits as he was able to get had been scraped from the grog shops from Boston to Savannah.

When Wayne and his army straggled into the town of Pittsburgh, the citizens of that frightened town took one look at the fat General and his motley band and were undecided whether to cry or laugh. They might have thought better of their country's future had they known more about Mad Anthony.

He was a tough old crow, and with a professional's insight, he knew that it had been a lack of discipline that had defeated both Harmar and St. Clair. He was determined that his men would not suffer the same fate. At Pittsburgh he set about turning his dispirited men into professional soldiers. It so happened that he was to have an abundance of time to do the job.

It was just at this time that events in Europe started to exert an influence on the Nation's policy toward its frontier. Those events would delay Wayne's expedition for two years.

England and Spain, traditional enemies for centuries, had formed an alliance to combat the growing menace spawned by the

French Revolution. Both of these countries claimed land that bordered the American frontier, and both were apprehensive over the vigor of the new country's westward expansion. Each believed that the United States would eventually enter the war on the side of France. Both countries stepped up their campaign to limit or reverse the wave of settlers that were still pouring into the west.

Both England and Spain encour aged and supported the Indians in their attacks on the frontier settlements. In the south, Spain closed the port of New Orleans to American trade and armed the Cherokee and the Creeks while urging them to drive out the settlers. In the north, Alexander McKee was telling the northern tribes that England might declare war on the United States in support of the Indian cause.

In spite of the extreme provocation, Washington was determined to keep the United States from becoming involved in a European War. He ordered his army not to take any action other than purely defensive measures, and made the same demands of the Territorial Governors and of the Governor of the new State of Kentucky.

President Washington's fear of

becoming involved in war caused England and Spain to become increasingly arrogant toward the United States, and each openly armed the tribes and urged them to renew their attacks on the settlements. For the next two years Washington walked a tight rope between England and Spain on one hand and France on the other. He also had to Ideal with the criticisms of the western settlers who believed that they had been deserted by their Government.

Each time the Americans appealed for further negotiations, the tribes became more thoroughly convinced that they were invincible. At a conference of the Indians in August 1792, they reaffirmed their demands that the settlers be moved back across the Ohio River, but this time they added a new stipulation that was especially galling. At the insistence of the British, they informed the United States that all future agreements between themselves and the Americans would have to be approved by the British Government. In effect this put the Americans in the position of accepting England as a party to what all Americans saw as a purely internal matter.

Neither Washington nor Congress had any intention of accepting either of the Indian's demands, but since the threat of war was equally unattractive, the Government seized upon a third element in the letter. That was a suggestion that the United States send a delegation empowered to negotiate all differences to meet with the Indians. It was a small straw afloat in the maelstrom of international affairs, but the Government was desperate. Secretary Knox wrote to the Indians accepting their offer to negotiate. It was then that he learned that he would have to accept a still further humiliation. The only way the Indians would agree to meet with the American delegation was for the conference to be hosted by the British. This stipulation had, of course, been dictated by the British, who left nothing to

chance. The Indian was a curious mixture of the sophisticate and primordial man. He could reason with fine logic, but he was also susceptible to the blanishments of a generous host. The British were determined to be the beneficiaries of any gratitude the Indians might feel because of a full stomach or a full glass. As for the Americans, they would be forced to play the role of a guest whose welcome is questioned even in his own house.

In the meantime, Wayne moved his troops from Pittsburgh to Logstown 23 miles further down the Ohio River. There he intensified the drilling of his men. He alone, among all men living on the western frontier, welcomed the necessity of delay. He needed still more time to get his men ready for battle. Throughout the year of 1793, the Americans were forced into the awkward position of begging the Indians to negotiate. In this they were abetted by Joseph Brant who was still firmly convinced that the Indians could never win a war against the United States. In a letter to Alexander McKee, Brant pointed out that the time to get a favorable settlement was while the Indians were strong and still victors over the American forces. Such an opportunity might never come again, he concluded.

Neither the British nor the Indians were inclined to listen to the advice of Joseph Brant. The Indians much preferred to listen to the British agent Alexander McKee. He was telling them exactly what they wanted to hear. The realism of Joseph Brant was no longer welcome in the Tribal Councils, and the war faction openly taunted the Iroquois for their accommodation of the Americans.

On March 1, 1793 the Senate approved the delegates Washington had appointed to negotiate terms with the Indians. The delegates were instructed to agree to any condition the Indians demanded short of agreeing to move out those settlers who were already living in the

Northwest.

On April 30 Wayne moved his troops further downriver to Fort Washington. The move did not go unnoticed by the Indians. Later they would cite it as proof of the aggressive intentions of the Americans.

A number of significant events took place in May. France declared war on England. The French ambassador, Citizen Edmond Genet, had already landed in the United States with instructions to do all in his power to induce the United States to enter the war as an ally of France. Joseph Brant started out to attend his last conference with the Northwest tribes, and the American delegation, on its way to the peace conference, arrived in Niagara. When they arrived in that city, they were detained by the British. Once again the young republic was humiliated since its own delegates were not able to travel on American soil without the consent of the British Government.

In June the Indians arrived at the Maumee Rapids to discuss their pending conference with the American delegation - still waiting in Niagara for a British escort. While at the Maumee rapids, the tribal delegations enjoyed British hospitality and openly snubbed Brant and his Iroquois. From June 15 to July 1, the Indians feasted and no business was conducted.

On July 1, the British Indian Agent, Alexander McKee confided to Brant, his plan to abort the peace negotiations. He would allow the Indian delegation to make its protest over Wayne's presence at Fort Washington, then at his urging they would demand that the American delegation tell them whether they had the authority to accept the Ohio River as a final boundary of the Indian lands. McKee knew that the delegation did not have this authority, and once the admission was made he would have the Indians declare that there was no further point in continuing the negotiations, and there the conference would

be ended. However, McKee made the mistake of consenting to have Joseph Brant as a member of the delegation to the Americans.

It was the last chance Brant would ever have to delay the downfall of his people. Instead of asking the question as McKee had worded it, he rephrased it and asked if the American delegation had the authority to set a boundary line for the Indian nations. To this question, the delegation was able to give an affirmative answer. The negotiations continued, and Wayne was given a few more weeks to prepare his army for combat.

On July 21 the American delegation was escorted to the home of Mathew Elliott, another British Indian agent, at the mouth of the Detroit River. Soon there began one of the strangest

negotiations in diplomatic history. The British had refused to allow the American delegation to come face to face with the Indian delegation or to even approach the site where the Indians were gathered. Many miles separated the two delegations and all communication between the two parties was handled by the British.

Brant had prevented negotiations from breaking down at the beginning of the conference, but he could not now bridge the physical distance and partisan differences between the two parties. On July 28, two Indian chiefs appeared at the house of Mathew Elliott to deliver the Indian terms. There had been no

change in the Indian position. On July 29 the American delegation made their counter proposal. Pointing out that it was no longer practical to move established settlers back across the Ohio, they offered a generous settlement if the Indians would consent to give up the lands they had already conceded in the Treaty of Fort Harmar.

Back at the Maumee Rapids, the Indians debated and then voted to reject the American offer. In a farewell speech, Brant wished his fellow Indians well and noted that there was no longer anything he could do to