HomeMy Public PortalAboutMines, Mining & Miners4aa h
Ye5�er,-Ia q 5 .
Mining Saga
a
Elided With
By ARTHUR A. HART
Director, Idaho Historical
Museum
J. Marion More was one of
those men who flash briefly
across the pages of local his-
tory and, through violent
death, are remembered long-
er than many who fade from
view more gradually. There
is much else to remember
him for, however.
In the seven years he was
In Idaho, until his death in
1
1868, More was undoubtedly
one of the most prominent
and popular men in the ter-
ritory. His faculty of being
on hand wherever new dis-
coveries of gold and silver
were made links his name
with a number of important
Idaho mining districts.
In the spring of 1861, More
was one of the exploring
party which climbed high
into the mountains out of the
Salmon River canyon and,
contrary to their previous ex-
perience, found placer gold
in a high mountain basin.
This famous discovery
marked the beginning of the
"fabulous Florence" district,
for a brief time one of the
most productive placer oper-
ations in history.
By 1862 there were more
than 10,000 miners in the
new camp, and the roads
were clogged with more try-
ing to get there.
Never one to stay long in
one place, J. Marion More is
next heard of leading a party
into Boise Basin, where he is
credited with the founding of
Pioneer City (Pioneerville)
and Bannock City (Idaho
City) in October, 1862.
So diligently did More's
party stake out its claims on
the stream now known as
More's Creek that the next
party of prospectors into the
region named their settle-
ment Hog'em.
More's popularity, which
a 11 contemporary writers
mention, led to his election
to the legislature of Washing-
ton Territory in the summer
of 1862, as representative of
Shoshone County. (Idaho
Territory would not be set up
until the following -spring).
When he passed through
a9� _dI e f —7 pa. ,yvs
of J. Marion More
Deadti Hail of Lead
Walla Walla on his way to
Olympia in December, More
gave an account of the new
districts to the local press,
but advised gold- seekers to
wait until spring to make the
trip.
By February of 1864, More
was making news in the
Owyhee mining district by
publicizing the recovery of
nine ounces of gold and sil-
ver from only a pound and a
quarter of rock.
For the next several years
More and his partner, D. H.
Fogus, invested much of
their Boise Basin fortune in
g e t t i n g quartz production
going in�a big way at Silver
City.
Their principal properties,
the Oro Fino and Morning
Star mines, were by far the
leading producers in the re-
gion. In the first year of op-
eration, the More and Fogus
10 -stamp mill produced a
million dollars.
In August, 1866, More and
J. Marion More gave name to More's Creek
This Was Idaho
Fogus failed financially —
not because the mines were
any less productive, but be-
cause they had overinvested
in other ventures.
In January of the following
year More was reported
building a ditch in Leesburg,
near Salmon, and soon after
led a prospecting party into
Deadwood Basin.
Early in 1868 the famous
controversy known as the
Owyhee War broke out be-
tween rival companies min-
ing the same vein on War
Eagle Mountain.
Both claimed to be working
a different vein from the sur-
face, but it was soon appar-
ent that there was only one
when miners from one oper-
ation broke through into the
tunnel of the other some 300
feet underground.
J. Marion More had most
of his money invested in the
Ida Elmore, and hurried to
Silver City to look out for his
interests.
The other contending mine,
the Golden Chariot, was
headed by Hill Beachy, well -
known stage operator.
There was an exchange of
thousands of shots under -
ground, both sides brought in
more men to fight for their
interests, and a wholesale
slaughter seemed imminent.
Governor Ballard stepped
in at this moment with a
proclamation requiring the
factions to come to an agree-
ment.
Famous Marshal Rube Rob-
bins rode the 60 miles from
Boise to Silver City in six
hours and got the twos ides to
cease hostilities at once.
There was general rejoic-
ing that disaster had been i
averted, and both mines
claimed victory, but in the '
celebrations that followed (on
April 1, 1868) a great deal of
wine was consumed.
This proved to be the un-
doing of J. Marion More. In
an exchange of angry words
between More and others in
front of the Idaho Hotel,
blows were struck and re-
volvers drawn. Three men
were shot, More through the
chest. He died a few hours
later.
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O r o F i n o m i n e a n d m i l l a t S i l v e r C i t y p r o d u c e d $ 1 m i l l i o n i t s f i r s t y e a r .
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ERNES T OBEIRBILLIG
MINING AND METALLURGICAL ENGINEER
2POO ONA STREET
BOISE. IDAHO
83705.
MINING - THE FTVE -LINK CHAIN
by ERNEBT OBERBILLIG
Mining is the coupling or a five -link chain connecting the train of
TVLEPHONE
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Americans to the engine of progress pulling our nation to the highest standard`
of living of any nation on the earth. This chain link coupling also led us to
victory thru two world. wars in the last sixty years, and it also enabled our
allies to march to the peace table side by side with us. Without that strong
five -link chain I shudder to thirds what life would be under the Nazi Jack boot
heel or bowing under the Nipponese sulaari sword.
We are now steaming serenely down the rails to destruction and. the f iv y --
link coupling or chain is being eroded away to destruction by bureaucratic acid
under environmental prompting.
What is this important five -link coupling or chain which I have likened
to the American mining industry?
The first link is the public domain where our minerals and metals are
located. The public domain covers forest lands, BL11 lands, and to a smaller
extent state lands. Most of these lands are located west of the Mississippi
River and all in the mountainous regions.
These lands supply the bulk of the metallic minerals and is where we can
look for new mines to keep the train of progress pulling us forward.
Since World War II the mining industry has been hampered by Wilderness
legislation which has restricted and excluded prospecting over vast areas of -
geologically favorable potential mineral lands.
The wilderness acts, wilderness study areas, roauless areas, roadless
study areas, ,protection corridors, wIl.d rivers legislation, and Tiational
Recreation areas have now built an unscalable fence around nearly all of central
Idaho and more withdrawals are pl311ned for BLM lands. Dr. Arthur A. Brandt
eminent Geologist and consultant to the Government stated that recent government
withdrawals in our western United States have reduced our potential for new
mineral discovery to 50'0. For the state of Idaho I would say that withdrawals
have reduced mineral discovery potential to less than 101. of what it was 25
years ago. If the present trend continues the potential will be down to less
than 510 within two or three years. Thus, we can see the first link in the chain
has been eaten away by bureaucratic obstructive acid until a mere metallic
thread remains.
The second link in the chain is the Federal and State statutes encouraging
prospectors and small miners to go out in the public domain and find the mineral
deposits to keep our train going. These statutes were designed to protect his
property rights and reward him for finding new mineral deposits.
The early state and mining district regulations were diverse and suited to
each distinct district so the Federal Government started codifying and clairifing
mining rights in 1866 and in 1872 and have proceeded to amend and up -date them
every few years to keep up with the changing times. But until the present day,
property rights and mining titles have remained solidly intact as protection for
the prospector and small miner.
Now we have a movement under way to wipe out the last 110 years of mining
law and replace it with a leasing system where the Secretary of the Interior
will be a Tsar of mining. He will tell us where, when and how we prospect, and
if we find a promising mineral showing he will turn it over to a big company
without a reward or payment to the prospector who discovers it. The leasing
bills now before committees of both the House and Senate will stifle and smother
the incentive to look for new mineral deposits. Present day leasing of such
minerals as coal, phosphates, salines and other such bedded deposits is the
-2-
best system but leasing of the erratic, smaller metallic deposits is not feasible
and would reduce prospecting to nearly zero for even the big operators.
Let me wain you of such leasing legislation. It will work no better now
than it did in the early 1800's in the Missouri lead mines and later in the
mid 1800's in Michigan's upper peninsula copper mines.
Further, before such activist legislation is even considered in the
government committees, I think our Senators and Representatives should be given
a good, honest Economic Impact Report of what will happen to our Domestic Mining
industry under such proposed legislation. Such a report must include a picture
of what happened to the mining industry in British Columbia, Canada within the
last five years. The new socialistic style of government enacted oppresive
taxation and restrictive laws that wiped out mining incentive. The exodus of
Mining Companies and capital out of Vancouver was immediate. Exploration dropped
to almost zero. After the mistake was realized, Canadians recently voted in a
new conservative government but the damage had already been done. Mining capital
is still wary, and wishes to "wait and see." The acid bottle is poised over
the second chain link and the Carter Administration had better lift its eyes
northward to Canada before allowing the fanatics to tip the bottle.
The middle link in the chain and, of course in my mind, a very important
link is the prospector or small miner. With the availability of the public
lands and the protection of the mining laws he feels it is possible for him to
go out and discover new mineral deposits. He may go into new, remoter areas to
look, or he may look in old districts earlier mined for gold only and discover
new mines of new needed industrial metals. Without the incentive of reward for
his labor, who wants to be a prospector? Mother Nature hides her riches well and
it is becoming more of a puzzle to find new mineral deposits. The modern
prospector is often college trained or has studied long hours by himself.
All he wants is reasonable freedom to prospect. If the present trend continues
and the first two links are destroyed legislation should be introduced to protect
• the prospector as an endangered species.
The fourth link in the chain is the medium -sued mining company who leases
or buys the prospect from the prospector and further develops the mineral showing
to determine proven ore reserves. With a small mill this modest comuany will
test out ore treatment methods, often this work is not self- supporting. The
capital available to him is often not large enough to push the operation into a
big profitable operation. After the medium operator goes as fax as he can, he
now has ore reserves or promising potential to take to the large mining company.
A large company seldom does their own prospecting and initial development, but
instead, waits for the third and fourth links of our chain to do this work for
them.
Under the imputus of the Korean Mar the government attempted to help the
prospectors and medium -sized miners develop mineral deposits by way of the DIDMA
program. The government in effect became a partner in this work and contributed
50 to ?5' of the costs. The program was a success for the most part, the only
criticism was that a change in plans required almost an act of congress, and the
slowness for approval of such plans frequently made it hard to utilize geological
signs as the work progressed. However, with modifications a similar plan would
be good today.
The fifth link of our chain is the large company which finally comes in and
further develops the mine into a big- producer. The statement is often made
that "the big mine was once a small mine" is for the most part true and we better
keep the small mines coming into our economy or we will soon be dependent on
foreign sources for our minerals and metals; this sledge hammer blow to us will
make the oil crunch seem like an Arab love tap.
The mining; five -link chain has kept our progress train steaming over the
rails, pulling us ahead, but destructive forces in our government have almost
broken it and dissolved it with bureaucratic acid. In fact the first two links
-4-
" h a n g b y a m e r e t h r e a d . U n l e s s t h i s t r e n d i s r e v e r s e d , m i n i n g a s a n a t u r a l
r e s o u r c e b a s e o r p i l l a r o f o u r s o c i e t y w i l l c r u m b l e a n d w e w i l l b e a v a s s a l
o r s l a v e n a t i o n u n d e r R u s s i a a n d o r C h i n a i n a C o m m u n i s t i c o n e - w o r l d g o v e r n m e n t .
W e w i l l f i n d t h a t o u r p r o g r e s s e n g i n e h a s b r o k e n t h e c h a i n a n d i s s t e a m i n g o f f
l e a v i n g u s s t a n d i n g o n t h e t r a c k .
N o w I a d d r e s s m y s e l f t o y o u t w o s e n a t o r s f r o m I d a h o . Y o u o r y o u r c o l l e a g u e s
o r p r e d e c e s s o r s i n o f f i c e h a v e c r e a t e d t h i s m a s s i v e l o c k u p o f c e n t r a l I d a h o
a n d a r e p l a n n i n g f u r t h e r w i t h d r a w a l . U n l e s s y o u r e v e r s e t h i s t r e n d I s e e n o
o t h e r a l t e r n a t i v e b u t t o v o i c e o u r d i s a p p r o v a l a t t h e b a l l o t b o x e s . W h e r e o u r
w o r k a n d j o b s h a v e b e e n j e o p a r d i z e d w h y s h o u l d n ' t y o u r j o b s b e p l a c e d o n t h e
l i n e a l s o ? W e w i l l w a t c h w i t h . i n t e r e s t y o u r v o t e s o n t h e w i l d e r n e s s l e g i s l a t i o n
a n d y o u r v o t e s a n d s t a t e m e n t s o n t h e m i n e r a l l e a s i n g b i l l s .
T h a n k - Y o u
,.,,�.x,.., m :.., .
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Foreword
At the request of stockholders of the Copper
Camp Mining Company and in view of the fact
that my family and I own the stock control
and I am general manager, which places me
in direct charge of the company's operations,
this brief biographical sketch is included by
way of preface.
I was born and reared in Newton County,
Georgia, the son of Judge and Mrs. E. F.
Edwards. I attended Emory College, which
was then located at Oxford, Ga., and graduated
in 1889 with the highest honors of my class.
Planning to follow in my father's footsteps
in the practice of law, I went to Washington I'
City and entered the law department of
Georgetown University. About the time of �.
my graduation from the law school I was ap-
pointed a law examiner in the General Land
Office and after a short time there was trans-
ferred to the office of the Assistant Attorney
General, for the Interior Department, where I
remained for nearly ten years. My duties
there were of a judicial nature, examining and
deciding cases brought up to the Secretary on
appeal from the General Land Office. The
most-difficult and complicated of these cases
were those involving mining properties and
gradually I became a specialist in that branch
of law.
During that time I married Miss Annie
Napier, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. V.
`-� FT•
Napier, of Macon, Ga., and an honor graduate
of Wesleyan University. We have one child,
a son.
In 1901 my health broke down and I was
compelled to resign and seek an outdoor life.
Because of my knowledge of mining law I
decided to go to some new mining camp in
the Rocky Mountain States. When I reached
Spokane the Thunder Mountain boom in cen-
tral Idaho was in full swing, 'so in the spring
of 1902 I left my wife and son in Spokane and
joined the rush to Thunder Mountain, which
at that time was about two hundred miles
from a railroad and sixty -five miles from a
wagon road. The story of that boom and
my adventures along the way would be an
epic in itself, but there is no room for it here.
The boom, being based on excited and exag-
gerated tales, which grew as they spread, had
no solid foundation and collapsed as quickly
as it grew. However, about twenty -five miles
from Thunder Mountain, in the Big Creek
country, there was an immense mineral belt,
extending across the country for many miles,
and having inspected this I came to the con-
clusion that there would some day be great
mines in that section. Returning to Spokane
for the winter, I went back into the Big Creek
country in the summer of 1903 and acquired
mining interests there. In the spring of 1904
my wife and son accompanied me in there
on an adventurous trip and we established
ourselves in a tent while I built with my own
hands a log house in a beautiful little valley.
Here we have lived up to the present time,
over twenty -four years.
It would take a volume to describe our
adventures, our struggles, our ups and downs
during those years and I cannot even touch
on them in this brief sketch.
I quickly saw that in the Big Creek country
there were two separate and distinct minerali-
zations, in one. of. which gold, silver and lead
were the predominating metals. and , in the
other gold and, copper were the leading metals.
I wished to acquire good interests in each of
these belts, and set my heart on two prop-
erties, one in each belt, where all that was
best and most promising in each belt seemed
to center. For a while it appeared that they
were entirely out of my reach and I had to
content myself with smaller interests acquired
with the aid of friends back east, but fol-
lowing the. collapse of the Thunder Mountain
boom there was a long period of dullness and'
quiet in the entire central Idaho country dur-
ing which prospectors and claim owners be-
came discouraged and gradually gave up and
went elsewhere or died off and their heirs
failed to take the necessary legal steps to
maintain title. Watching my opportunities I
acquired interests in the two properties I
wanted and from time to time added to those
interests until finally, after many years, I had
4 full ownership of them. Meantime I was ac-
quiring a knowledge of geology, mineralogy,
mine development, etc. Successful prospect=
'I ing is merely the application of logical deduc-
tion to observed facts and with the trained"
brain of a lawyer added to a knowledge of
mining I was able to discover hidden or
"blind" ledges, and materially increase the
size and value of these two properties.
Now at last that section of Idaho is awaken-
ing from its long sleep. Good roads are be-
ing built in there and whereas I formerly had
to pack my food and supplies on horseback
a distance of forty miles from Warren, where
the nearest wagon road terminated, now trucks
and autos drive right up to my door over a
smooth road. Some of the biggest mining
men in the west are buying up and develop-
ing . mines in that section, railroad men are
watching these developments with keen in-
terest and soon the isolation of central Idaho
will be a thing of the past.
Two courses were open to me. I could sell
out and retire with enough to keep my family
in comfort, even luxury, the balance of our
days, or I could hold on and with outside
aid develop these mines to a point where they
could either be sold at a vastly increased
price or put on a steady dividend basis. After
mature consideration and for many reasons,
which it is unnecessary to go into here, I
have chosen the latter course as promising
greater profit, in which all those who aid
me to attain this result will share pro rata
as all the stock stands on an equal footing.
I cannot close this sketch without a tribute
to the loyal and devoted wife who has stood
shoulder to shoulder with me during all my
years of struggle and. hardship and without
whose aid I would not now be in my present
secure position. Daughter of one of the oldest
and most prominent families of the South, she
did not hesitate to follow me into the wilds of
i
Central Idaho and endure without a murmur
a life as primitive as that of the early pioneers.
When I had to face and fight claim jumpers,
.horse thieves, outlaws and treacherous
"friends," her courage never faltered. She
has taken literally and honestly the promise
of loyalty "in sickness and in health, till death
do us part." The greatest happiness I feel in
winning out comes from the knowledge that I
can at last repay her in some measure for
those years of devotion and loyalty.
Another happiness is the character of our
son, who has grown up clean, dependable, in-
dustrious, practical and loyal. He has stayed
with us and we three have worked together
in a partnership that only death can break.
While the open air life of the mountains has
given me a soundness of body that, barring
accident, should result in many more years of
activity, yet if I should suddenly have to
answer the last call he and his mother would
be fully capable of carrying out the plans
that we have mapped together.
A Prospectus
For many years central Idaho has been
known to mining men as the greatest and
I richest undeveloped mining section within the
territorial limits of the United States, but
until recently lack of transportation facilities
has retarded its development. During the last
few years, however, good auto roads have been
built in that portion of Idaho and others . are
in course of construction. The leaders in the
mining world have decided that the time has
at last come to open up the great mineral
wealth that has lain idle there so long and
purchases have recently been made of mining
property in that section at prices ranging
from Four Hundred Thousand to One Million
Dollars by such giants in the mining world
as the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining Co.
(which has paid over $40,000,000.00 in divi-
dends) the Hecla Mining Co. (with a dividend
record of over $20,000,000.00); the Day
Brothers (who took $19,000,000.00 out of the
Hercules mine and have many other mining
interests besides) Fred Bradley and associates,
of San Francisco, and others of the same
caliber. These men are spending money freely
in development work; this work is showing
up ore that even exceeds expectations and as
railroads will go anywhere to get tonnage and
already have their scouts in there, it will not
a
be long until central Idaho is humming with
activity.
The Copper Camp Mining Company, in-
corporated under the laws of Idaho, and hav-
ing its principal place of business at Edwards -
burg, in the Edwardsburg Mining District,
Valley County, Idaho, owns two of the largest
and most promising mines in this entire sec-
tion. These two properties (known as the
"Copper Camp" and the "Dixie Group ") are
about fifteen miles apart and may properly
be called "key properties" as they are the
very heart or focus of two separate and dis-
tinct mineralizations that have occurred in
that section in past ages.
One of the most striking features of that
section (of which the Edwardsburg district is
the center) is a mineralized belt or zone run -
ning'north and south for many miles. It
resembles the famous Comstock lode of Ne-
vada which produced hundreds of millions of
dollars in the early days. This belt varies in
width from a few hundred feet to over one
mile and consists of a series of quartz ledges
separated from each other by porphyry or
granite. They are thus contact veins between
those two formations and such veins usually
extend to great depths. Add to this the great
length and continuity of the veins and the
fact that they are disclosed in the deep
canons, as well as on the high divides, and
it is certain that they are permanent, that is,
that they extend downward as far as economi-
cal mining can go. It is difficult to say how
many of these ledges there are, as they vary
in number at different places along the belt.
The largest is from two hates 'to' three
hundred feet in width, and the smallest so far
disclosed is four feet wide. The values carried
are gold, silver, lead and zinc. These values,
of course, are not uniformly distributed
throughout the ledges, but are contained
chiefly in bands or shoots, the mineralized
quartz between these shoots being too low
grade to handle economically.
k' The Dixie Group is situated near the center
of this belt and extends in a northerly direction
from the North Fork of Logan creek over the
divide separating the North Fork of Logan
creek from Government creek, across Govern-
ment creek and over the divide separating
Government creek from Smith creek, a dis-
tance of six thousand feet or over one mile
along the belt. The most striking feature in
connection with this group is that here the
ledges approach and cross each other. Near
the foot of the hill on the Logan creek side
the ledges are separated, with the largest
or two hundred foot ledge furthest west.
On Government creek they have apparently
all coalesced or come together. On Smith creek
they separate again but in reverse order, the
largest ledge being furthest east. This is a
highly favorable indication as it is a common
experience in mining that where two or more
ledges come together or cross each other, there
is an enrichment of the ore.
The property is ideally situated for eco-
nomical development. The ledges cross two
high divides on this group and the difference
in elevation between the foot of the hill on the
Logan creek side and the top of the divide
separating Logan creek from Government
creek is about seventeen hundred feet. The
hill is steep, averaging a slope of more than
thirty -five degrees. A tunnel started on ore
near the foot of the hill and driven back into
the mountain would attain a depth of over
sixteen hundred feet in a distance of about
twenty -five hundred feet. Moreover, the tun-
nel would be drifting on ore the entire dis-
tance, —there would be no dead work, no cut-
ting through country rock to reach the ore
bodies. This is by far the most economical
and satisfactory method of developing a mine
where topographical conditions will permit.
As before stated, the ledges come together
on the Government creek slope of the divide.
Near the foot of the hill on the Logan creek
side they are still separated. The hill is
heavily covered with soil and timber, making
prospecting difficult. So far as known at the
present time there are six ledges. The largest
of these, about two hundred feet in width,
lies furthest west. Its west wall is porphyry
and its east wall is granite. Owing to its
size and the amount of prospect work and
assaying it would take to accurately determine
its value, comparatively little work has been
done on it so far. Some time ago a tunnel
about one hundred feet long was driven into
it near the east wall, but no crosscutting was
done. In this tunnel a streak of high grade
silver -lead ore, about a foot in width was
encountered.
Next in order, to the east, is a ledge whose
width has not as yet been accurately de-
termined, but from the indications disclosed
in trenching and grading across its course, it
is at least forty or fifty feet in width. A
prospect tunnel twenty -five feet in length was
driven through the soil and slide until solid
formation was reached on the west wall of the
ledge. This disclosed an ore shoot five feet
in width of high grade gold and silver ore.
Two samples taken across the ore shoot as-
sayed, the first, sixteen dollars in gold and
�'1 seventy -two dollars in silver, —a total of
1 eighty -eight dollars per ton; the .second,
twenty -eight dollars in gold and one hundred
and one dollars in silver, a total of one hundred
and twenty -nine dollars per ton. A main
working tunnel was then started about fifty
feet further down the hill and driven in twenty
feet, but has not reached solid formation.
Both in the prospect tunnel and the working
tunnel below it considerable water was en-
countered, although this is a dry hillside, show-
ing that this ledge is a strong water course,
another excellent indication as water tends
to follow the master fissures and such fis-
sures are usually the most productive. In
grading out for a blacksmith shop and work
yard at the mouth of the working tunnel,
galena float was encountered in the soil re-
1j moved, indicating the existence of another
ore shoot in the same ledge in which lead,
1'� rather than silver, is the predominating metal.
Still further to the east is a ledge four feet
in width on which a drift tunnel ninety feet
long has been driven. An .average sample
taken across this ledge at :the face of the tun-
nel assayed over twenty -seven dollars gold and
silver and fourteen per cent lead, a total value
of better than forty -six dollars per ton in gold,
silver and lead. In driving this tunnel, a
small streak of high grade silver ore was en-
countered and two tons of this were shipped
to the Anaconda smelter, returns of over
two hundred dollars per ton being received
from the smelter.
Continuing on to the east, another ledge
about forty feet in width is encountered. On
the east wall of this ledge is an ore shoot
eight feet in width that averages over twenty -
six dollars per ton in gold, silver and lead.
Next is an immense ledge about seventy -
five feet in width. Along the surface where
the ore has been oxidized, there is considerable
free gold, that is, gold which is loosely held
in the matrix and can be separated by me-
chanical means. This condition, however, can
not be expected to last below the oxidized zone
and other methods of treatment will doubtless
be necessary on the deeper ores.
partied who
was, until recently, held by other
drove in a prospect tunnel about one hundred
feet long. Although insufficient cross - cutting
was done to accurately determine the ne t of width
ore
and value of the ledge, a
running from four dollars to twenty -five dol-
lars per ton in gold and silver was exposed
and conservative mining men who have ex-
amined it have expressed the opinion that this
ledge alone, if further developed, would make
a good and paying mine.
The furthest east ledge on this mineralized
zone is six feet in width and carries gold,
silver and antimony. It will probably, in time,
prove to be one of the most important ledges
in this series as the antimonial silver ores
are the richest of all silver ores.
As before stated, the north end line of the
Dixie group is on the Smith creek slope and
there it connects with the Independence mine
which is located on a continuation of
independ-
ence) described. This property t
has recently been bonded to the Day
Brothers (prominent mining men of the Coeur
d'Alene mining district in northern Idaho) for
One Million Dollars. The geological conditions
�c existing on the Dixie group are even more
favorable than on the Independence and there
can be little doubt as to the high value and
marketability of the group f eighteen quartz
The Copper Campo p eighteen q rtz
and two placer mining claims (approximately
five hundred acres) is situated on Big creek
in the Edwardsburg Mining District, about
fifteen miles northeast of the Dixie group. The
mineralization here is entirely different
formation is
that at the Dixie group. huge por-
phyry and quartzite, intersected by
dikes, and the ledges are chiefly fissure
veins carrying gold and copper. The silver
contents are low, and there is no trace of
lead, zinc or antimony. It is the oldest mine
in the district, having been discovered and
located about forty years ago. For many
years it has been well and favorably known
to mining men of the west, but because of its
distance from transportation, and the
aon hat
until recently all the known
property were copper bearing, it has been re-
garded as a mine for the future.
During the unfortunate 'Thunder Mountain
mining boom in 1902, the Oregon Short Line
Railroad sent a mining expert in there to see
if the mineral showing at Thunder Mountain
was sufficient to justify the building. of a
branch railroad into that section. On his way
to Thunder Mountain the expert spent a day
or two at Copper Camp. When he went out
he reported that there was nothing at Thunder
Mountain to warrant the building of a rail-
road, but that on Big creek, twenty -five miles
away, there was a property, the Copper Camp,
which, if developed, would alone justify the
building of a railroad. This opinion has
since been confirmed by some of the best
mining experts in the country. It is not
uncommon for experts to disagree concern -
ing an undeveloped mining property, partic-
ularly in a new district, but there has never
j been an unfavorable opinion expressed con-
cerning the Copper Camp. The verdict has.
been unanimous that it would some day be a
great mine. Note that until the summer of
1928 there were only five known ledges on
the property; all of these carried both gold
and copper and there was no known connec-
tion between them, it being supposed that they
were a simple series of parallel ledges. These
were all fissure veins in slate and porphyry.
On the east end the formation changed to
quartzite. None of these ledges had been
traced out into the quartzite, but over in
the quartzite, rich pieces of gold bearing
"float" has been picked up from time to time
on the hillside. Numerous prospect holes
were dug in the effort to find the source of
this rich .float, but the hill was heavily .cov-
ered with soil and slide rock and these at-
tempts were unsuccessful.
In the Spring of 1928 I began a careful,
systematic search which led me directly into
the ledge from which the float had become
detached. I found it to be a cross ledge, that
is, it has a course almost at right angles
to the previously known ledges and I traced .
it clear from the bottom to the top of the
hill, a distance of one mile. Suspecting its
connection with the other ledges, I traced
�* that out, incidentally finding still other hid-
den or "blind" ledges, and proved conclusively
that instead of being a simple series of a few
parallel ledges, it was a vast, complex series
of interlocking ledges. Up to date eleven
ledges have been identified. and they are
all connected. At one point five ledges come
together at a common focus, that is, they
radiate from that point like spokes from the
hub of a wheel. It is a certainty that deep
work will disclose a big body of high. grade
ore at that point.
A curious feature about this newly dis-
covered ore in the quartzite is that it does
not show the slightest trace of copper; it is
strictly a gold ore. Such ore does not have
1` to be smelted and consequently, it, is not
necessary to wait for a railroad to begin
treating it. As soon as a sufficient tonnage:
! has been developed by tunnels, mill tests:
can be made on it to determine the best method
of treatment and then a small plant, operated*
by .water power, can be set up and the mine
put on a self- supporting basis. In other.. words,
the Copper.Camp has- become a double mine,
" g o l d m i n e a n d a c o p p e r m i n e . ' I f i t w a s
" d e s i r a b l e p r o p e r t y b e f o r e i t i s d o u b l y d e -
s i r a b l e n o w . I t s s i z e , t h e e a s e a n d e c o n o m y
w i t h w h i c h i t c a n b e d e v e l o p e d , a n d t h e
a m o u n t o f g o l d i t c a r r i e s , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e
c o p p e r , m a k e i t a t t r a c t i v e t o t h e b i g g e s t f i g -
u r e s i n t h e c o p p e r w o r l d , s o t h a t i t s m a r k e t -
a b i l i t y a t a g o o d p r i c e i s a s s u r e d i f t h e
C o p p e r C a m p M i n i n g C o m p a n y s h o u l d e v e r
d e s i r e t o s e l l i t .
T h e f i n e s t b o d y o f y e l l o w p i n e s a w t i m b e r
i n t h e E d w a r d s b u r g M i n i n g D i s t r i c t i s o n
t h e C o p p e r C a m p g r o u n d . W i t h g o o d t r a n s -
p o r t a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s t h e n e t v a l u e o f t h i s t i m -
b e r w o u l d b e b e t w e e n f i f t y a n d o n e h u n d r e d
t h o u s a n d d o l l a r s . T h e r e i s a l s o s u f f i c i e n t f i r
t i m b e r t o l a s t m a n y y e a r s f o r t h e u n d e r g r o u n d
w o r k i n g s .
O w n i n g t w o s u c h p r o p e r t i e s , t h e C o p p e r
C a m p M i n i n g C o m p a n y i s o n a v e r y s o l i d a n d
s u b s t a n t i a l f o o t i n g , f o r e a c h o f t h e m i s o f a
s i z e a n d v a l u e t o a p p e a l t o t h e l e a d e r s i n t h e
m i n i n g w o r l d , s o t h a t w e c a n e i t h e r r e t a i n a n d
d e v e l o p b o t h p r o p e r t i e s , o r s e l l o n e a n d u s e
t h e p r o c e e d s t o d e v e l o p t h e o t h e r a n d p u t i t
o n a d i v i d e n d b a s i s . T h e t i t l e t o b o t h p r o p e r -
t i e s i s c l e a r a n d t h e y h a v e b e e n d e e d e d o v e r
t o t h e c o m p a n y i n e x c h a n g e f o r s t o c k , n o
c a s h p a y m e n t b e i n g r e q u i r e d . T h e d i r e c t o r s
a r e b u s i n e s s m e n o f h i g h s t a n d i n g w h o w o u l d
n o t p e r m i t t h e i r n a m e s t o b e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
a n y e n t e r p r i s e o f a d o u b t f u l o r s h a d y n a t u r e
a n d i t i s o u r f i r m i n t e n t i o n t o v i g i l a n t l y p r o -
t e c t t h e g o o d r e p u t a t i o n t h e s e m i n e s n o w h a v e
i n t h e m i n i n g w o r l d .
T h e c o m p a n y h a s b e e n o r g a n i z e d u n d e r t h e
l a w s o f t h e s t a t e o f I d a h o , w h i c h a r e d e s i g n e d
t o e l i m i n a t e " w i l d c a t t i n g " a n d p r o t e c t h o n e s t ,
l e g i t i m a t e m i n i n g . I t i s c a p i t a l i z e d f o r t w o
m i l l i o n , f i v e h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d s h a r e s o f t h e
p a r v a l u e o f o n e d o l l a r p e r s h a r e . A p p r o x i -
m a t e l y o n e m i l l i o n , f i v e h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d
s h a r e s h a v e b e e n i s s u e d i n p a y m e n t f o r t h e
t w o p r o p e r t i e s , l e a v i n g o n e m i l l i o n s h a r e s i n
t h e t r e a s u r y . A f i r s t i s s u e o f o n e h u n d r e d
t h o u s a n d s h a r e s i s n o w o f f e r e d f o r s a l e a t
f i f t y c e n t s p e r s h a r e . T h e p r o c e e d s f r o m t h i s
s a l e w i l l b e u s e d i n d e v e l o p m e n t w o r k , w h i c h
w i l l g r e a t l y e n h a n c e t h e . v a l u e o f t h e m i n e s ,
a s t h e m a r k e t v a l u e o f a m i n e d e p e n d s p r i n c i -
p a l l y o n t h e a m o u n t o f o r e a c t u a l l y i n s i g h t .
)C
Great Mining District
Cascade News
January 24, 1919
Volumn IV
Number 44
Of Which Cascade is the Supply, Point and the Gateway for Shipments.
(From Capital News.
Professor D. C. Livingston of the University of Idaho, who,
last su:Lmer, made an investigation of the quick silver deposits
in the Yellow Pine Mercury district, has recently made a report
of his findings. This report is now being published and will be
ready for distribution within a few days. The investigation was
made on account of the growing scarcity of the metal in the United
States, ti.!hich caused congess to appropriate the sum of $50,000,000
for the purpose of conducting a search for it and one or two orther
metals. While, as might have been e,pected. professor Livingston
is rat r
er guarded in his report, it appeas very clearly from it
tA
that he thinks ver favorable of the prospect of the camp as a large
quick silver producer. According to the report the general average
of ore mined and treated in California and Nevada runs only 4 -10
of 1 in quick silver, while the presence of bodies of ore in the
Yellow fine district that carry much larger values appears very
certain.
Attention is called in the report to the fact that of all
metale, quick silver is the easiest and simplest to treat; the
troutment consisting merely of heating the ore to about 530 degrees,
at which degree of heat this metal volatizes and condenses the
fames.
ROAD NEEDS REPAIRS.
The professor called special attention to the poor road between
Cascade and the minin camp, and suggested. that steps be taken to
repair this road. It is understood that the 'legislature now in
Valley County
Cascade News
March 31, 1921
Volumn VII
Number 2
From the twenty -third Annual Report of the Mining Industry
of Idaho.
Valley County, one of the largest counties in the State, contains
a larger area, with less population and. more possibilities for
mineral development than any other equal area in the United. States.
Lnck of transportation and isolation have prevented development and
compelled many valuabia properties to lie idle. Prior to 1919 the
greater part of this county was outside of the forest reserve an-1
so sparcely settled that the cost of road construction was not just-
ifiable. In 1919 this area was included within the forest reserve
after which the government laid cut a system of forest roads that
will tap all the isolated districts. The first section .Eol"M Cascade
to Knox has been constructed, and many additional miles will. be built
in 19 ^2. �,1hen.these roads are finished, mining operations will be
profitable, and much activity is anticipated.
The principal mineral resources of this county are (placer
and lode, silver, copper, lead, zinc, antimony, quicksilver,
tunsten, molybdenum, mica and monazite. The prospects containing
these minerals are practically undeveloped. Many will justify
the amount necessary to finance them, other warrant investigation.
These prospects and the possibilites of undiscovered veins presents
many opportunities to the investor and prospector.
8�
Important Developments In Mines4t Profile.
Cascade News
September 2 1921
Voloumt VII
Number 24
Col. Judson Spofford of Boise, who has spent the summer looking
after his mining interests at Profile, arrived from that district
last Friday, returning to his home. The Colonel, who has been super-
intending the sinking of a shaft in the Combination Mine of the
Profile Metals Co., says the prospects are most flattering now that by
going about 100 feet deeper and then cross- cutting to tap the Iron
Cap vein, which is supposed to carry very rich ore, the pioneering
days for this propery should be over. The Colonel has been sinking
on this shaft the past tiro seasons. having to sumpend c;erations at
this time on accouht:of water. The company expects to install
machinery the coming seasons however, to overcome this matter of
hindrance, hoping thereafter to push sling speedily to rich develop-
ments.
Col. Spofford says that Charles Ellison, in the Red Metal mine,
which adjoins the Combination property, has already struck what is
supposed to be the Iron Cap vein which is .found to be seven feet
wide, 18 or 20 inches showing values of $700 to the ton in gold and
silver. Mr. Ellison is still running the cross cut, hoping to
strike more of the same quality of ore.
YESTERDAY, a mountare , um 'of the - winis, un-
peopled, unexplored, majestic ,in its sile .4ce and mys-
tery. Today, a tangle of tents, hastily constructed
snacks, anything to house the 'fevered multitude "that
"mushroomed" from the tour corners of thkearth at the
magic word GOLD. Tomorrow, deserted, a Tr *.-of .wreck-
age by day, a spectre in the cold moonlight, ghost of the
dreams, the struggles of a 'gold -mad throng. Roosevelt,
Thunder mountain mining town that sprang -into being
overnight and became the mecca of the grizzly prospector,
the adventurer, the gambler, and of the camp follower.
Roosevelt —now a ghost town in 1901, the metropolis of
the Thunder mountain country 160 miles north of Boise.
GOLD, that electrifying, magnetic word that has been
the inceptive power of. scores of. mushroom settlements,
rang through Boise in the early part of 1900. "Pay dirt has
been struck in-Thunder mountain. . The hills are lousy with
gold," was the . ¢larion' call that swept the country when
the news leaked 'but : that the Deweys— financiers, railroad
builders and mine owners of Nampa, Silver City and south-
ern Idaho —had just paid one hundred thousand dollars in
cash to the Caswell brothers for an option on a mine that
turned out specimens that fired the imagination.
It was in the old Overland hotel, that famous, rambling,
frame rendezvous of men in all businesses and walks of life,
that Erb Johnson called the attention of Ed Dewey, son of
the famed Colonel Dewey, to some rich ore that the Cas-
well brothers had brought in.
One specimen, weighing 70 pounds, incited Dewey's in-
terest, and he talked to the Caswells.. The four brothers, it
_seems, had been doing prospect work for quite a ,while 4n
the Thunder mountain district. They struck something that
looked good. That was in 1899.. They placer mined the
surface and uncovered a vein ° of ore that has gone down
in the annals of Idaho history. Ed Dewey bought the 70-
pound specimen, paying $500 for it, and sent it to Colonel
Dewey, who was in Pittsburg at the time.
"Go ahead. Take an option," wired back the colonel. His
son complied. He went ahead; took an option on the prop-
erty, handing over one hundred thousand dollars to the
discoverers and immediately went into action at the mine.
A 10 -stamp portable mill was. ordered. When it arrived
in Boise, which by this time was agog with the news of
the richness of the mine and was swarming with pros-
pectors assembling pack trains and equipment for the
exodus to the wilds of the mountain country in Idaho
county, it was loaded into monster wagons and freighted
to Bear valley. At Bear valley it was-transferred to pack
animals- and taken by Jesus lirquides,.v q
,nwer packer of
Boise Basin ' 'over a perilous course to the mine, a distance
of about 100 miles. Ten gents a pound was the charge for
packing into the mining sections in those days.
Soon the echoes of hammers mingled with the cries of
teamsters. All was noise and feverish hurry. The silence
and mystery of Thunder mountain were broken.
Work, at Dewey mine, which was cradled in the wonder-
ful,. scenic loveliness of the mountains, was rushed to com -,
pletion. The mill began grinding out the wealth that lay,
in the bosom of the earth.
Above and below tents and shacks dotted the gulches,,_
and everywhere from basin to hill crest, men dug and
blasted patiently, bent on ripping open the hillside seam
in which were hidden4he golden flecked quartz.
� to couple o�, miles down the gulch from the mine, had
s- ng up,R9 It, its tents and impromptu frame build -
htung its w- street.
burmlgg, rang in the voice of the
perm d• the atmosphere with a magnetic en-
ghter and the tinkle of music emanated from the
umerous saloons. All twas noise, profanity, congestion.
Men and women were, measured, not _by their ;past, but by
their present deeds. Ai town, like other towns of its kind,
:wore a picturesque -,-unceremonious style of dress and
imorals.
Men schemed, fought and in one -or.two instances killed
for the right to -the claims they had located. It was a case
othe�survival 0the fittest.
r'-- There `was tension, but there was laughter and hope and
exhilaration. . .
E_ The saloon was the club,'the office, where business -was
:transacted, where claims' were - bought and . sold, - 'where
ismall fortunes were made =or lost. V -
Because of the ,expense of getting supplies. in, foodeand
other ` commod` 'es were extravagantly high. Groceries
cere;*eighted nd .packed in from Falk's store. in• Boise.
�rst winf�t, as d'eer, were plentiful, venison fur,
the me for the-66mmunitr =3b
m �firat of the next year, 'a bill was presented,-, dhe
sta` a egislature asking "that'a road be built to th Ong
,totem 4The` 41I. as passed and an appropriation; de to
Md-_in the':building; of "'the road. The Deweys *tmi fhe
rest;'of the'inoney for the.`road construction The" n
roi& wae:;built through„ Thunder City, another;1
Mg
;mining town between :Smith Ferry and Van> ''', Ito
,Roosevelt::
For sixtor eight months. the Dewey mine
wealth, was the: hub abo4l. hich all other mining _'ties
rqd,out d. ; In . those few months it .produced between. two
ee hundred thousand dollars.
e end of eight months, the rich ore chute had been
and low grade ore had been struck. The 10 -stamp
s not large. enough to handle the tonnage to make
pay in commercial way, so the mine was shut down.
yI ater;` a 100 -stamp mill was ordered, but by the time it
wed in; Boise, Colonel Dewey, .the builder, the man
w'#rd had made histery in southern Idaho, had taken ill and
�died.'• His eastern partner followed .within a short time.
�' of the mill was shipped to Emmett and part to Thun-
dorCity. Since the closing of the. Dewey mine, it has never
eeii:reopened, although some work has be(4 done by W. C.
J ewey, another son, and by Robert Davis, a son -in -law.
t
osevelt continued to hum with: activity, however, for
s).6ear: or more, ' other mine having, been opened up on
othez< side of, the mountain. But, the million and a half
t by..-R.. W: Purdum and his partner, Lovejoy; failed
�r}ng satisfactory- returns.
As,, other ,mines ..in =,the district ceased operating, Roose-
w2lt began to lose.tl a flush of wealth and victory.. Its citi-
zens-drifted -to other fields that beckoned, By 1904, Roose-
L) r' ' /1rJ<
~ elt was another deserted town of dreams. _
In 1905, a landslide completed its desolation .
filled Mule creek, that rollicking stream that
and laughed 'and rippled through the gulch dii y of
velt'q heyday. Fed by mountain streams the cr
avenue of escape had been cut off. bylhe slide, spree
a natural lake was formed and: the houses and�.b"
that only a few short years before had - w
rung it }:
voices, shouts and laughter of -the miners,.. adventurer }
camp followers, became flotsam, floating,° g%ostsof - -,
dreams and struggles of men. 5,
But there are murmurs borne on the wmcis for'
snow- capped mountains. Perhaps they are.th o
-
of those who delved deep into the- -of . Thund` o .
tain, but the message that is borne to the prosg:�x"
1931 is of an ore chute still unexplored, a, big oft eorrteY
thing on the Alaska Treadwell o_ r Black Hills type.:ost`,c+_
the ore will be low grade, with high grade streaks. now and
then, comes the message which ends With-47 . Wun�
tain is not dead. Some place within its booms. igfne
waiting to be uncovered and its weal pga�;y; to a
.......... — _....
.. ------ .
Pr
MINING CAMP BENEATH MOUNTAIN LAKE
Clayton Dannah in the Idaho Sunday Statesman - July 1, 1934
The building of roads by the forest service has been accompanied
by a corresponding development in mining... During 1933
Yello9w Pine Company was the largest operation .. throughout the
year with 65 men. Mercury, gold, silver, and antimony were the
principal ore products. The Mary Jane mine.. and the Sunnyside
at Thunder Mountain were operated all summer.
Nuggets LurE�d Thousands Who
Stayed To Build Upland Empire
THE UPLAND EMPIRE EMBRACES THESE COUNTIES P
To Winnemucca 4 To MountaiiL city
D
It's called the Upland Em-
pire, this versatile expanse of
southwestern Idaho and east-
ern Oregon. This section of
the anniversary edition de-
scribes, in picture and story,
the development of 10 counties
that are Boise's trading area
and the district of Idaho's heaviest
population.
Seventy -five years ago most of
the Upland Empire was little
more than a bridge on the road to
somewhere else — to Oregon, to
California, to the mines of the
north. Today it is filled with
farms, cattle, lumberjacks, miners
and modern cities. More thou•
sands of acres are being reclaimed
for agriculture by irrigation proj-
ects. The empire is growing in
population and wealth.
Counties in the district are Owy.
bee, Canyon, Ada, Elmore, Pay-
ette, Gem, Boise, Washington,
Adams and Valley, all in Idaho;
and Malheur in Oregon. Ad coun'
ty, hub of the empire, is dealth
within another department of this
diamond jubilee issue.
Mining and migration are the
foundation stones. Snake river
provided the valley and the wa•
ter for agriculture that stabilized
the region when the glitter of gold
was no longer bright enough tc
insure a future. Mineral wealth
poured out from Boise Basin and
the Owyhees. Men came by the
thousands to make a fortune.
Turn to Agriculture
Their descendants remained tc
grow potatoes, wheat, prunes,
sheep, beef and beets. The Up
land Empire is a product of the
soil, whether it be considered as
the placer tailings of Grimes creek
or the sandy loam of eastern Ore.
gon desert where water from Owy.
bee dam is growing sugar beets.
Most of the counties are of com-
paratively recent origin. For a
long time the area consisted only
of Boise and Owyhee counties. As
population increased and transpor•
tation became swifter and more
dependable, smaller counties were
made from pieces of the originals.
Largest is Malheur which spreads
over more than 9000 square miles.
Second is Owyhee with 7000
square miles and which has suf-
forwi lanst by noriofllc creation of
new unit;. Last 'Alteration of the
county nap was' made in 1931
when si a sections ;)f northeastern
Owyhee were added to Elmore.
`'moliest county Is Payette with
an "arm of 414 square miles and
population -of 18 to the mile. Gi-
gantic Owyhee, in contrast, has
nearly two square miles per per-
son.
Names Preserve Past
Names of towns and streams are
living links with the past. Weiser,
for instance, goes back to a miner
who dug up a tidy treasure in
Baboon gulch at FIorence. Pay-
ette honors Francois Payette,
clerk of Hudson's Bay company
who was in charge of Fort Boise
several years a century ago. Coun-
cil, biggest town in Adams county,
borrows its name from Indian
powwows. Emmett was named
for the son of a pioneer. Elmore
county recalls the Ada Elmore
mine at Rocky' Bar in '64. And
so it goes.
None can compare in scope and
concentration of history with
Boise and Owyhee. In their re-
spective centers, Idaho City and
Silver City, were written chapter
after chapter of Idaho's story, po-
litical, industrial, and personal.
From their mines came millions
in gold and silver. From their
people came sagas of high adven-
ture, of gunplay, or roaring law-
lessness, and of hearty fun. Con-
sider, for example, the killing of
Hickey the Gambler at Placerville,
and the charivaree at Silver dur-
ing which a pig was tossed
through the baywindow of the
bridegroom's domicile.
Some of the Upland Empire is
very much upland, indeed. The
primitive area is within its
bounds. Up there the mountains
talk to the stars. Mountain folk
shoot first and find out the rea-
sons afterwards. Nearby, at Pay-
ette lake, motion picture compa-
nies follow much the same policy.
Past and Present Narrated
One of the west's largest cattle
ranches is in Adams county.
White face steers rub against the
fence protecting Packer John's
cabin, the cabin where the first
Democratic territorial convention
was conducted. And at the other
extreme of the empire is the rem-
nant of Fort McDermitt, on the
border of Malheur county and Ne-
vada.
The area is large but it can be
handily traveled. A trip around
the loop is an exciting lesson in
Idaho history. With Boise as the
starting point, the loop, all on high
calibre highway, goes through
Horseshoe Bend, Smiths Ferry,
Cascade, McCall, New Meadows,
Tamarack, Council, Cambridge,
Midvale, Weiser, Payette, Ontario,
Vale, Nyssa, Parma, and back to
Boise either by way of Caldwell
or through Fruitland to Emmett
and over Freezout hill to the Boise
valley road.
Past and present of the district
Is detailed in this section of The
Statesman. The bad is related
along with the good. The primary
purpose in editing and prepara-
tion of the stories has been to
make them interesting, to revive
the pioneering days of long agog
when the upland empire was being
built in a wilderness.
This section is not an encyclo-
pedia. It does not give the amount
of wheat that grows to an acre of
land nor does it deal in extrava-
gant ballyhoo for the territory in-
cluded. The articles are written
with the primary desire of enter-
taining the reader —but always
keeping in mind the necessity for
historical accuracy.
S�
f� z'f 1/
r- /G 6 h v lci �eS1w a )'(
Lost Pilgrim Mine Shows
Prospect Of Becoming Rich.
Catlin Buys Deadwood Placers; Horseshoe Bend
And JerusalemAttend Court En Masse; Garden
Valley Boys Give Trout To Editor
(50 Years Ago in Boise Basin) I length, and the vein is large, car -
Harry Behr arrived here last rying high -grade silver ore.
Friday from Deadwood Basin. He
says snow in the Basin or valley,
is three feet deep, and at the Lost
Pilgrim mine, 15 miles above,
about 12 feet. Harry came to
await the arrival of a man named
Catlin, who purchased the Dead -
I wood placers last fall. Mr. Catlin
has a 40 -stamp mill which he
thinks of moving to that district to
do custom work. Mr. Behr owns
an interest in the Lost Pilgrim
mine, which stands at the head r)
the list of big bonanzas of Ida?o
so far as developed. The
chute is-known-to be 900 fee.,
BAUMHOFF PLANNING
MILLION DOLLAR DREDGE
Substantially increased produc-
tion of monazite from Idaho's vast
deposits near Cascade will be pos-
sible with the million dollar dredge
planned by Fred Baumhoff, Cen-
terville dredge operator.
Baumhoff, whoo has one dredge
now operating at Cascade, said the
big, new equipment will be capable
of digging to the full depth of the
Cascade sand beds, which in places
are as much as 100 feet deer.
He is being encouraged in the
project by Lindsay Light and Chem
ical company, Chicago, Ill., firm'
which purchased all his Lg51 nr4-
uction of approximately 10 tons.
Car es R. Lindsay, 111, pres-
ident of the firm, said in Boise last
week that if the Idaho monazite
supply was shut off it would vir-
tually put the industry out of bus-
iness. The Cascade deposits, he
said, exceed those of India d
Brazil, a countries on w ich this
a ion depended for supplies until
recent years when exports were
curtailed.
Monazite is a vital material in
the production of jet _ e_ ngines.
Other commercial uses are m q.L*9-
aLgtte lighter flints and mo g Pte -
jec.Uan ligHts.-- Tallace Miner.
Is your subscription marked paid?
Quarterly Economic Publication of the Idaho State Department of Commerce and
Development, Issued in Cooperation with the University of Idaho and Idaho State College
THE MINERAL INDUSTRY IN IDAHO
A SHORT HISTORY • 1962 PRODUCTION . FUTURE OF 1HE "BIG FOUR"
Murray in the 1880's . . . the nearness of the forest, the tents and the newly constructed buildings all bear witness to
the youth and vigor of the town that was once the center of gold mining in Shoshone County.
Picture Credit, Idaho Historical Society
Much in today's outlook signifies that the rich-
est days of Idaho's mineral frontiers still belong
to the future. Impressive facts give promising
assurances that in production of mineral wealth,
the best is yet to come. Rich indeed were those
colorful early days when the call to Idaho rang
across the continents and oceans as gold strike
after gold strike was proclaimed. Some proved
richer than the gold wealth of all Alaska and at-
tracted thousands of prospectors, even from the
golden lure of California. Yet those opulent days
and the rich three quarters of a century that
followed were merely a beginning.
Idaho in 1860 was dictating the final chapter
of an episode written mostly in the language of
the fur trapper, trader, and the missionary. In
this new beginning, that transformed the state
almost overnight from a savage, sprawling fron-
tier into an emerging white community, the
farmer and his harvest would have to wait.
Gold had been discovered in Orofino Creek on
the Nez Perce Indian Reservation by a member of
Captain E. D. Pierce's gold- hunting party. It was
a rich strike — news spread rapidly. A veritable
stampede started from Walla Walla in the spring
of 1861. Pierce City, named for the discoverer,
had to house over a thousand that summer; and
the first county officials in Idaho began operating
as functionaries of Shoshone County, Washington
Territory. This fabulous mining county cast the
largest vote in the Washington territorial elections.
that July.
The coast vessels and river boats hauled an
amazing number of fortune seekers up the Pacific
streams to the junction of the Snake and the
Clearwater. It was here that the boats had to be
unloaded and the trips made on foot, on mule -
back or packtrain ; and here the Port of Lewiston
was founded. Widespread prospecting parties
fanned out over the state. The tide of emigration
had turned. Idaho became the place to go and
garnered the added distinction of being the first
state to be settled from the west rather than the
east. Then as the gold rush towns mushroomed,
people came from all points of the compass.
South Idaho Too
Prospectors soon claimed other deposits, and
Elk City and Florence became the lively centers
of new districts to the south. More permanent de-
posits were discovered at Warren in 1862. By 1864
there were 16,000 people in the Boise Basin. Dis-
coveries were also made in Owyhee County, where
Ruby City and Silver City became the main
camps. Silver ledges and gold- bearing quartz were
found, and eastern capital was attracted by un-
mistakable signs of permanency. In March, 1863,
Idaho was organized as a Territory. It was a big
land. No Territory created in the United States
ever took in so much land which was destined to
belong to so many states. It was bigger than
Texas and bigger than all the Pacific states
combined.
The Biggest Discovery
The gold rush was important. It helped put
Idaho on the map and opened the doors to a rich
but hitherto, unknown part of the west. But the
biggest discovery of all was made by Noah
Kellogg, an itinerant carpenter prospecting in the
Wallace- Kellogg area. Kellogg let his burro graze
one night in Milo Gulch. When he caught the
animal next morning he found that the burro had
wandered its way into what was later to become
the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mines, the richest
source of combined lead and silver the world has
ever known. Experts will readily testify that the
discovery of galena ores in 1880 marked the trans-
ition point in Idaho from isolated small -scale min-
ing ventures to organized, large -scale capitalistic
mining. Thus, Idaho became solidly established as
a mining state. Some eighty years later, although
mining has been surpassed by agriculture and
lumbering, it still ranks as an important producer
of income in the State., Where it will go from here
is a matter for speculation. But many people
close to the situation feel that mining in Idaho is
on the edge of a new frontier similar in stature to
those which it approached in 1860 and 1880. A
look at how the mineral industry performed. in
Idaho during 1962 and finally a discussion on in-
dividual mineral commodities with attention to
prices, exports- imports, national policy, and other
pertinent items should help in determining the
direction in which the Idaho Mining Industry is
headed.
THE MINERAL INDUSTRY IN 1962
Preliminary figures from the United States
Bureau of Mines reveal that during 1962 Idaho's
mineral industry reached its highest plateau in
dollar value since 1956 and set a record as the 5th
highest production year in the history of mining.
The highest production year was 1961 when $82.7
million worth of minerals were extracted. In-
creases in both production and values of silver,
zinc, and lead explained most of the $5.4 million
Table 1
MINERAL PRODUCTION IN IDAHO'
MINERAL
1961
1962
Value
Value
Quantity
($000's) Quantity
($000'x)
Antimony ore
and concentrates __ short tons
689
P
550
/3
Clays- __________ thous. short tons
27
20
30
22
Copper ______________________ short tons
4,328
2,597
3,778
2,342
Gold ________________________ troy ounces
5,718
200
5,704
200
Iron ore ________ thous. long tons
12
70
5
38
Lead --------------------------- short tons
71,476
14,724
84,248
15,502
Lime ______________ thous. short tons
47
658
64
818
Mercury ________________ 76 -1b. flasks
1,073
2.2
-
-
Phosphate
rock ______________ thous. long tons
1,440
7,984
1,575
8,864
Pumice ---------- thous. short tons
60
95
55
87
Sand and
gravel -------- thous. short tons
7,305
6,793
7,250
6,740
Silver __________ thous. troy ounces
17,576
16,249
17,878
19,129
Stone thous. short tons
1,873
3,111
1,500
2,500
Titanium
concentrate ____________ short tons
1,873
28
/-
/x
Zinc __________________________ short tons
58,295
13,408
62,951
14,479
Value of items that
cannot be disclosed_ ________________
-
2,697
-
3,522
Total- ___ _______________________________
-
68,846
-
74,243
gain which set the 1962 figure at $74.2 million.
The quantity of silver mined during the year was
nearly the same as 1961, but the value increased
by $2.9 million due to higher prices for the
precious metal. Zinc value rose $1.1 million on
the basis of a 4,700 ton increase in production.
Lead also gained in production by 12,800 tons but
value advanced by only $.8 million because of de-
creases occurring in lead prices. The most impor-
tant of the non - metals, phosphate rock, increased
in value by $0.9 million due largely to a production
increase of 135,000 long tons.
Silver, lead, and zinc, "The Big Three ", have
been since 1880, the major income producers of the
Idaho Mining Industry. Only since the 1950's has
phosphate come into prominence as a member of
this exclusive group. Today, the "Big Four" pro-
duces nearly 78 per cent of all mining income in
Idaho.
SILVER
Silver is one of the few bright spots in a mining
picture that is generally considered to be de-
pressed. Its performance during the past months
and the prognosis for the many months to follow
definitely separate it from trends expected of its
fellow minerals.
Uses of this precious metal have expanded con-
siderably and the outlook for growing markets
looks good. Writing in the "Mining Congress Jour-
nal" of February 1963, A. J. Teske, Secretary -
Manager of the Idaho Mining Association, said
"The first pages of a new chapter in the long
1. Production as measured by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production (including consumption by producers).
2. Preliminary figures. U. S. Bureau of Mines, Albany, Oregon.
3. Figure withheld to avoid disclosing individual company confidential data.
4. Excludes fire clay, kaolin, and bentonite; included with "Value of Items that cannot be disclosed."
5. Barite, cement, garnet (abrasive), gem stones, peat, perlite, tungsten (1961), uranium ore, vanadium, and values indicated by footnote 3. Excludes
value of raw materials used in manufacturing cement and lime.
6. 1961 total revised.
and glamorous history of silver were written in
1962. How this chapter will unfold is still a mat-
ter of great conjecture, but the initial entries,
showing a substantial price increase and a widen-
ing imbalance between new supply and require-
ments seem to indicate an economic future for the
precious and versatile metal that is considerably
more favorable than the long era of excessive
supply and depressed prices which characterized
the market for decades after silver was demone-
tized throughout much of the Western World
nearly a century ago." While this statement could
be called a very conservative estimation of the
economic future of silver, it is an excellent analy-
sis of the prospects in view. One single event has
led to almost complete clarification of the silver
situation.
President's Order
After President Kennedy issued an executive
order in November 1961, directing the U. S. Treas-
ury to terminate sales of its non - monetary silver
stocks to domestic consumers in the arts and in-
dustries, the price of silver jumped from the gov-
ernment sustained ceiling of 913/8¢ to 1003/10 an
ounce. By mid - December the price had climbed to
1043/1 and after some preliminary fluctuations
during the early part of 1963 the price reached a
firm 1201/2 in December. The price has continued
steadily upward and on May 2, 1963 was $1.27 per
troy ounce. Much of this price rise was due to
heavy demand pressure that had been building up
over the years since World War II by the persist-
ent failure of new production to keep pace with
expanding consumption. Changing patterns of
usage accounts for much of this increased demand.
Industrial use of silver has skyrocketed because
of expansion in photography, brazing alloys, elec-
tronics and chemical processes; space technology
has contributed its share to growing consumption
as has its use in batteries and other products
where silver is desirable because of its superior
properties in thermal and electrical conductivity,
malleability, reflectivity, and corrosion resistance.
To compound the situation of growing silver
usage, many of these applications involve the com-
plete dissipation of the metal, so there is no
chance that it will be used again or channeled into
the market as a secondary source of silver.
No one knows how it will be utilized in the near
future. The free world consumption increases each
year by about 5 percent while the production from
the same sources grows at a rate of 21/2 per cent.
How this gap will be filled and what effect it will
have on silver prices is still to be seen. The out-
look is generally that prices of silver will continue
to rise and that if the demands for the metal
warrant it, there may be some additional produc-
tion facilities built. In any case, Idaho as the
largest U. S. producer, will benefit greatly from
increasing world consumption of silver.
PHOSPHATE
Phosphate is growing in importance as a valu-
able all- purpose mineral — its uses in fertilizer,
industrial, and household products are almost end-
less. Add this to the well - established fact that the
largest reserves of phosphate rock in the United
States are in the western field with the most eco-
nomically attractive of these deposits in Idaho and
there is every reason to forecast a bright future
for the Idaho phosphate producers.
The U. S. produces about 43 per cent of the
world's output of phosphate. Other important pro-
ducers are Morocco —18 % Russia —17 , , and
Tunisia — 5 �/( , ; the remaining amount conies from
North Africa and certain Islands in the Pacific.
Of the U. S. total, Florida producees 74'/r, Tennes-
see — 12'y and Idaho about 8V(-*; the remainder
comes from Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
The trend in recent years has been to increase
the manufacture of more concentrated phosphates
and high analysis fertilizer. Shifts to a high con-
centration product has occurred at the Bunker
3,025
Table 2
42,187
2,122
IMPORTS,
EXPORTS
AND AVERAGE PRICES
FOR
IDAHO'S
■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■
1961
39,828
11,773
SILVER
LEAD
ZINC
PHOSPHATE
000 Troy
■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■ ■7 \■F
\■
■I \ ■ ■ ■I
Ounces
Tons
Tons
Long Tons
'
■■■■■■■■■■■■
AIL, Amok \I
IF
.
■■■■■■■M■■
■f/ AMAENt
69,088
■■■■■■r'
\■ ■I A■■■■■■._
'
■■■■■
■I \■ ►I■■■■■■■ k AN
359,396
a
■Il■■
. .
%�Amob .mF - ,q�qm, ■mmr
391,162
484,325
134
11.63
N/A
/ q■p� `\0OF �r
V
1.27
■ ■�
11.50
r
I
and glamorous history of silver were written in
1962. How this chapter will unfold is still a mat-
ter of great conjecture, but the initial entries,
showing a substantial price increase and a widen-
ing imbalance between new supply and require-
ments seem to indicate an economic future for the
precious and versatile metal that is considerably
more favorable than the long era of excessive
supply and depressed prices which characterized
the market for decades after silver was demone-
tized throughout much of the Western World
nearly a century ago." While this statement could
be called a very conservative estimation of the
economic future of silver, it is an excellent analy-
sis of the prospects in view. One single event has
led to almost complete clarification of the silver
situation.
President's Order
After President Kennedy issued an executive
order in November 1961, directing the U. S. Treas-
ury to terminate sales of its non - monetary silver
stocks to domestic consumers in the arts and in-
dustries, the price of silver jumped from the gov-
ernment sustained ceiling of 913/8¢ to 1003/10 an
ounce. By mid - December the price had climbed to
1043/1 and after some preliminary fluctuations
during the early part of 1963 the price reached a
firm 1201/2 in December. The price has continued
steadily upward and on May 2, 1963 was $1.27 per
troy ounce. Much of this price rise was due to
heavy demand pressure that had been building up
over the years since World War II by the persist-
ent failure of new production to keep pace with
expanding consumption. Changing patterns of
usage accounts for much of this increased demand.
Industrial use of silver has skyrocketed because
of expansion in photography, brazing alloys, elec-
tronics and chemical processes; space technology
has contributed its share to growing consumption
as has its use in batteries and other products
where silver is desirable because of its superior
properties in thermal and electrical conductivity,
malleability, reflectivity, and corrosion resistance.
To compound the situation of growing silver
usage, many of these applications involve the com-
plete dissipation of the metal, so there is no
chance that it will be used again or channeled into
the market as a secondary source of silver.
No one knows how it will be utilized in the near
future. The free world consumption increases each
year by about 5 percent while the production from
the same sources grows at a rate of 21/2 per cent.
How this gap will be filled and what effect it will
have on silver prices is still to be seen. The out-
look is generally that prices of silver will continue
to rise and that if the demands for the metal
warrant it, there may be some additional produc-
tion facilities built. In any case, Idaho as the
largest U. S. producer, will benefit greatly from
increasing world consumption of silver.
PHOSPHATE
Phosphate is growing in importance as a valu-
able all- purpose mineral — its uses in fertilizer,
industrial, and household products are almost end-
less. Add this to the well - established fact that the
largest reserves of phosphate rock in the United
States are in the western field with the most eco-
nomically attractive of these deposits in Idaho and
there is every reason to forecast a bright future
for the Idaho phosphate producers.
The U. S. produces about 43 per cent of the
world's output of phosphate. Other important pro-
ducers are Morocco —18 % Russia —17 , , and
Tunisia — 5 �/( , ; the remaining amount conies from
North Africa and certain Islands in the Pacific.
Of the U. S. total, Florida producees 74'/r, Tennes-
see — 12'y and Idaho about 8V(-*; the remainder
comes from Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
The trend in recent years has been to increase
the manufacture of more concentrated phosphates
and high analysis fertilizer. Shifts to a high con-
centration product has occurred at the Bunker
EXPORTS
1952 -56 Ave.
3,025
Table 2
42,187
2,122
IMPORTS,
EXPORTS
AND AVERAGE PRICES
FOR
IDAHO'S
FOUR
LEADING MINERALS 1952 -1963
IMPORTS FOR
CONSUMPTION
3,994
1961
39,828
11,773
SILVER
LEAD
ZINC
PHOSPHATE
000 Troy
Short
Short
ROCK
Per
aLb.
Ounces
Tons
Tons
Long Tons
1952 -56 Ave
99,055
496,889
653,319
112
1959
69,088
410,697
589,730
140
1960
60,657
359,396
504,873
129
1961
50,256
391,162
484,325
134
EXPORTS
1952 -56 Ave.
3,025
4,870
42,187
2,122
1959
9,180
4,121
28,083
3,048
1960
26,593
5,843
93,996
3,994
1961
39,828
11,773
64,597
3,918
AVERAGE PRICES
S Per
Ounce
a Per
Lb.
Per
aLb.
$ Per
Ton
1952 -56 Ave.
.905
15.03
12.71
4.52
1959
.905
12.21
11.46
4.17
1960
.905
11.95
12.95
5.21
1961
.924
10.87
11.55
5.28
1962
1.08
9.63
11.63
N/A
1963 (May 2)
1.27
10.25
11.50
N/A
*Although Idaho now produces only 8 %, it has been estimated that the
phosphate deposits in the state contain as much as 85% of the total
U. S. reserves.
pop-
Kermac Nuclear Fuels' new plant at Soda Springs will
convert ferro -phos, a by- product of phosphate, into vana-
dium. Picture, Credit, Caribou County Sun Newspaper.
Hill- Collier Carbon works in Kellogg, the J. R.
Simplot plant at Pocatello, and the Central Farm-
er's Fertilizer Company at Georgetown. In addi-
tion to a new aluminum sulphate plant, Simplot is
planning a $10 million outlay for new facilities in
Pocatello with $1.75 million being dedicated to the
construction of a sulphuric acid plant. The expan-
sion will include new products being developed by
Simplot and will be spread over 2 or 3 years time
with maximum employment increase set at 100
workers.
Developments Add Interest
Developments of added interest during 1962
were completion of the pre - production phase of
International Mineral and Chemical open -cut phos-
phate deposits (optioned from Husky Oil) near
Soda , Springs and Monsanto's research into recov-
ery of additional rock from mining areas beyond
the limits set by present stripping.
A bonus to Idaho's phosphate industry has been
the location of Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corpora-
tion's vanadium processing plant at Soda Springs.
Vanadium, a major alloy in making tool steel, is
obtained by secondary processing of ferro -phos, a
by- product from the furnaces of Monsanto Chem-
ical Company and Central Farmer's Fertilizer.
Idaho Slag Corporation, another satellite industry
located at Soda Springs, utilizes the waste "slag"
to produce track ballast, concrete aggregate, road
building materials, and other light weight aggre-
gate products.
Outlook for the future based on increased utili-
zation of phosphate in agriculture is optimistic.
New research into uses of phosphate for industrial
purposes should step up usage over the long term.
LEAD AND ZINC
The tireless workhorse team of the Idaho min-
ing industry, "lead and zinc ", is the reason for
much of the gloom in the general mining picture.
Since the post war period, the price and production
of lead and zinc have been generally depressed.
The situation is distinctly one of oversupply
with undercontrol and calls for readjustment. Ac-
cording to the "Mining Congress Journal" the U.S.
lead industry is now operating at 65 per cent of
demonstrated capacity, and because of under-
priced foreign sources, cannot put one ounce of
lead on the world market at a profit. Zinc, which
has increased exports since 1950 is said to be op-
erating at about 70 per cent of demonstrated
capacity.
Results in Unemployment
The results of the lead -zinc industry's long -term
economic distress have been unemployment, de-
pressed prices and the general devaluation of the
true worth of lead and zinc. However, the surplus
of lead and zinc continues to grow. The fact that
the U. S. mines are not helping to build this sur-
plus does not deter the effect it is having on the
domestic market. It has been established that in
1961 less than 40 per cent of the U. S. production
of lead originated in the U. S. mines; the re-
mainder came from foreign sources. Quotas on
imports have helped prevent chaos in the metal
market but they have also given foreign producers
a guaranteed participation in our market regard-
less of U. S. level of consumption.
What this amounts to is that the future of lead
and zinc is so absorbed in the foreign policy and
national politics of this country that any firm pre-
diction of advanced performance becomes hap-
hazard if not baseless. The production of these
metals, however, will probably continue at present
levels with slight room for increases from time to
time. Major increases over the long term would
be impossible without some adjustment in the for-
eign policy governing imports of these metals.
CELEBRATING THIS ONE - HUNDREDTH
BIRTHDAY
A special offer by the State of Idaho
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c_ /y7d
monazite
Ivor and Hazel Wallberg- mined sand near Burgdorf - about the 40's.
(nephew) Joe Truxau - .Anaheim,Calif. source
FLFry:ba
December 13, 1972
John Carry
To start with, I've got about the best history of Warren I could get,
just in case somebody wanted to hear it, from some of the real early
timers in Chamberlain Basin while I was working for old R. G. Bailey
when I was 17 years old. It's quite old now, and maybe not very inter-
esting, but nobody published them- -maybe they didn't fit into the
Sheepeater Indian history in any way. I still cherish them quite a
little bit. Them old fellers are gone now, and the history is pretty
well impossible to obtain. So when I finish with The Warrens if some-
body would be interested I could tell this, but I don't want to spend
too much time.
Mr.:9Akins has come with me here and he's more of an oldtimer than I am.
He's been rte, since he was 3 years old and
U
been right there in the same house on the same place his whole life, you
might say 70 years. I haven't been in one place that long.
I haven't tried to bring this up farther than about 1909 because it just
don't do no good to try to print or publish it because nobody is inter-
ested when you get that So what information I've got has
been quite'a way back, beyond that time. I'll just have to read you
a little bit here and then talk a little bit.
Having read in research about everything that is available in regards
to the discovery of Warrens and the gold mining there, including Judge
r
2
Cole who write a book of very fine
rush, and Alonzo Brown here and Ed Parker had an opinion and he wrote
it, and Idaho historic books I have read through; but of all the accounts
I've read through some come from Walla Walla. We were first a Washington
territory before we became Idaho territory, and there is some very
good records at Walla Walla available. It's quite a project to go over
There's really some good information available
there and search them.
there, goes back in the '60s and '70s. I still think the best account
I've had up to date or have ever seen was an account that was acquired
by R. E. Lockwood, who was actually the backbone and the mainstay of
the Weiser Signal when it started publication. He was a miner himself
and quite accurate. What I've got from Mr. Lockwood is his story from
a gentleman who was with the first party by the name of Rube Bosse.
Some have spelled it B- e- s -s -e, but nevertheless, I believe it's the most
accurate account because he seemed to be more common.like. It wasn't
elaborated on. Reading what Mr. Lockwood has recorded for his paper
at that time, back in the '70s and 180s and up until he lost his life,
seemed to be about the most accurate research we'd run into. Seems like
actual fact, it's not eleborated on, but it really seems to be fact.
of the complete
To start with, the Florence Gold Rush, as you all know, took place in
1861. By the way, Jim Warren had a cabin in Florence which did burn
down. I have a picture at home of the cabin site. In the spring of
1862, the next year after the Florence rush, Jim Warren and 4 other men
3
left Florence as early as they could cross the big Salmon River. They
made their way to about where Burgdorf stands now, and awful close to
the mouth of Lake Creek. There., among themselves, now they're characters
of a questionable quality all the way through - -Jim was pretty much of
a gambler type man and wasn't interested in hard work, and naturally
they weren't interested in working sluice boxes in Florence like everybody
else at that time. Well, they made their way just beyond where Burgdorf
sets now, but according to old Rube Bosse's report it was awful close to
Burgdorf. They had a falling out and Jim Warren pulled away from the
other 4 fellows. They located about where the road crosses now going out
to Ruby Meadows which later became Miller's Camp. They actually made
the first discovery on that, the 4 guys that stayed that didn't go with
Warren, sellout. Warren went on by himself and he crossed
over, undoubtedly he had to go through Secesh Meadows, and he crossed
over a divide and dropped into another big meadow and camped.
Well, Warren pitched camp and started to pan for gold. He found fair
prospects, panned out 7 pans of dirt, saved the proceeds, took some
quartz samples and headed back to Florence. He reported his discovery to
Hank Diefenbach, who later on ran the ferry at French Creek before the
state bridge was put in, and he's been around that country a considerable
time and you see his name appear in a lot of places; he used to be well
known among the oldtimers there. He in later years ran the ferry at the
wire bridge.
�r
4
A party of 16 prospectors was formed to investigate the strike. Rube
Bosse, Hank Diefenbach, of course Jim Warren, Fred Osgood and a brother.
I never could find the brother's name; 0. L. Whiting, a man by the name
of Russell, a man by the name of Walls, and 9 others made up the party.
They left Florence on July 15, 1862, and crossing the big Salmon they
proceeded on to where Warren had made the strike in Warrens Meadow. It
was a strike in the meadow, not up at where Warrens is at, at all. It
was down in the middle of the meadow. Leaving there on July 15, 1862
I never did learn no more of what day they went back with their party.
Nevertheless, they met the 4 partners they had fell out with.
This interview with Rube Bosse was quite confusing. He talks about
wandering around so the 4 guys couldn't follow them, and they talk about
going to the head of the Secesh, and I just wouldn't know, because the
stories conflicted. It stands to reason that 16 guys couldn't give 4
guys the dodge, hardly. Anyhow, it does speak about the 4 guys coming
back and reporting the strike. I had 2 different stories on that. At
vailable. I know a man in Boise that did
one time - -the 4 guys names is a
that and he is the man I wish would come here and talk to you, his name
is Bill Olson and he is certainly a historian, as a matter of fact he
don't have a bunch of notes when he talks, he's got it all in his head.
I think he'll come at a later date when the weather's nice, I think he'll
come in here and talk on about any subject.
I
Getting back to The Warrens discovery. They left immediately for Warrens
to start staking claims. After the 16 men hit the meadow they started
staking claims. They staked claims for themselves and they staked claims
for friends left in Florence. The party soon moved up the creek and found
ground going from $2 to $4 a pan. That's what they called Osgood Flat,
which later became Summit Flat, which actually is where the town of
Warren sits now. The Osgood brothers panned a day and a half and took
out 140 ounces, it is estimated. Well, the rush was actually on, and
8 men returned to Florence for some supplies and tools, which they
apparently were very short on; they seemed to have not very much with
.them. The rest stayed to dig location holes. News of the discovery
soon leaked out, and the four "hard cases" returned too, so apparently
they figured they had a strike at Millers Camp or else they followed
the 16 men into Warrens Meadows. you just can't make it out, it is just
so conflicting sounding, one guy claims one thing, one claims another.
Anyhow, the stampede started, not stopping until 600 men within the
area, by September 25, in 1862 there were 600 men on the ground in
Warrens Meadows. Warrens Meadows consists of about 600 acres that have
been mined in the area, which don't look that big when you pull into it,
but according to the mineral map surveys that's what it shows. I do
have a map.
A miners' meeting was called, and by unanimous decision Jim Warren was
offered his pick of the claims, and the one he picked turned out to be
the poorest claim in the camp, hardly even a color. Warren never stayed
rA- -
J
Ln the camp. Being of a roving nature, he never realized any money
its strike. So then, through curiosity I traced Warren -to some
extent.
He went from there to Bannock, got in trouble, seemed like he
was, apparently, in trouble a lot of times, and the last time, clear up
on the tail end of the show, he was at South Pass, Wyoming in a big fracas
with Indians, so I quit.
The first winter set in, and most of the miners returned to Florence and
on the Salmon River to winter. The good pay dirt lasted until 170
when it started to play out, and this year the quartz discovery started
a new rush.
Question: You mean 1870, Mr. Carey?
Answer: 1870,,yeah. Everything here has got to be in 1800s, and I see
I've got 19 down. The rush that's on now is the Bum's Rush.
#(-,,L S r
In the year of 1870 they started a new rush, and George Hurst, the
millionaire governor of California, who is the father of William Randolph
'HurstI , the publisher, came into the camp. He gave it new life, and the
courts properties were opened up, and by that time the chinese started
to flock in to work the old placer ground, which would be the second
time it was worked. The chinamen worked in the bottom and the good
ground which was along the hill where the water was available was still
being worked by the white men.
I've got a report here I should read right now of the money that was
taken out. This is a mint report from 1912. This is by Ruben McGregor
and E. M., United States Mineral Survey at Elk City, Idaho in 1912.
Gold production from Salmon River country was producing 1 /10th of the
gold produced in the United States up to 1912. If anybody's ever
interested in this I'd sure be tickled to show it to them. The map
shows where the gold was taken out. I have it there at my home.
Florence Basin yielded half a million dollars in quartz and $80,000
in placer. Buffalo Hump had a million dollars in quartz, no placer.
Dixie yielded $250,000 in quartz and $4,000,000 in placer. Elk City,
$750,000 in quartz, and $20,000,000 in placer; Warrens, $2,000,000 in
quartz and $62,000,000 in placer. Now if there's any question, you'll
have to stop by my house, I have the reports up to 1912 as to the
amount of money that was extracted out of there.
Question: Does that include what they took out of the.creek?
Answer: No, up to 1912. I got that here too. That was later. That
was a considerable amount too.
Comment: I think they might be interested in knowing how long some of
those tunnels are in some of those mines around Warren.
Answer: By golly, yeah. I got that information but I didn't bring it
with me. The Rescue did have a lot of tunnels, but the Little Giant
8
didn't seem to have. I never had more than 250 feet, that's all I
ever had on that, but the Rescue Mine has got a lot of tunnels, if I
remember, it's close to a mile. I can give you the yield here in just
a minute if I can find it in my notes here.
Question: The Unity had a lot of tunnels too, didn't it?
Answer: Yeah. Actually, what I was going to do was go back up to
more after the discovery. Maybe I can find my figures down here.
Anyhow, George Hurst started the next spending spree in Warren after the
placer mining started to die out. There were about 6 mines that he
poured money into, the Unity was one of them, I think $127,000 yield
while it worked. It played out about '92. Now I don't want to contra-
dict myself, I've got it written down here.
Question: How many mines were there?
Answer: I'm getting the money ahead of everything else; course that
comes first now anyhow. You mentioned the Baumhauf, Fisher and Idaho
Dredging Company, dug 18,000,000 yards of dirt and the mint report is
$4,000,000. That's gross.
1. . T;
9
Comment: Any of the workers there all knew by the way they handled the
sacks whether there was gold
After the rush was on, the first string of packstock through with mer-
chandise, which was immediately after the stampede started, was a man
by the name of Joseph Haynes. He was a partner of Three- Fingered Smith.
Three - Fingered Smith did make the strike in Slaughter Gulch, of which
he panned the dirt out of a wash where the creek had washed out after a
big runoff in high water. At the mouth of Slaughter Gulch is where they
unloaded the pack string and built a very crude cabin and unloaded the
first string of mules and unloaded the merchandise. That was the first
building up and the first store merchantile business set up in Warrens,
during a strike at the mouth of Slaughter Gulch. They later called it
Sherman for awhile. Down where Warren sits now, they called that Hichm
There were two factions at that time; that was the second year of the
Civil War and that was still a controversy going on among the people at
that time. The town of Sherman soon passed out for two reasons. One
reason was they all moved down to Warren; that was all pay dirt underneath
the town of Sherman and Warren did happen to be on dirt that didn't seem
to be worth anything.
Question: Was it worked?
Answer: Yes, it was. The other was very rich dirt underneath where the
first town was started at the mouth of Slaughter Gulch.
10
Joseph Haynes, as the partner of Three - Fingered Smith, and tha
Judge Pole, maybe some of you are familiar with Judge Pole, he
first recorder there, he was fresh out of school, later was a
Lewiston, in the Territorial Legislature, etc. He and his par
Joseph Haynes and Three - Fingered Smith, put up .a quick log cab
called the store Smith and Company. It was at the mouth of S1
Gulch. That was the first load of supplies that was ever unlo
the town of Warrens, was Haynes. Apparently there's quite a 1—
stories connected with his getting through with the stock. Api
there were tracks going every place, so he'd follow one set of
going to the stampede, and that wasn't getting there so he'd ci;
He had quite a time with his pack string getting there.
Well, Judge Pole appointed himself as the first recorder, but Y
stay with it very long because it started out at $1.50 a claim
finally got cut to $1.00 so he quit it, he could make more mone
Slaughter Gulch got its name from the cattle butchered there.
cattle in the camp were brought in by Jack Splong and a man by
of Mr. Barnes. In my Salmon River book, the little red book, I
Barnes coming through the Boise Basin with cattle. If you read
you'll see that Jack Splong is the gentleman who wrote
and wrote an awful lot of the early history books in the State
Washington, especially the Indian wars and fighting. 'Course, .
of the finest books I ever read in my life. Mrs. Akins in Rigg:
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11
the book, it's getting pretty old and nearly impossible to get hold of,
I guess. His brother, Mose Splong, was instrumental in the Boise Basin
discoveries. If you look at him and Grimes, he was with the Grimes
party when that was discovered and when Grimes was killed. You get to
looking, you see where Mose Splong- -well this Jack Splong was a brother
to him.
They trailed the cattle from The Dalles, but that was not the first year
of the strike, I think that dates back to about '63 or '64, because they
had an awful time with the cattle. They had an awful time getting there
and they had to winter one winter on the Salmon River - -had an awful time
trying to swim them, trying to do this and trying to do that. By the
time they got the cattle to the Boise Basin the mine strike was playing
out and the miners were coming back. They got the cattle as far as the
second Packer John Cabin in Round Valley below Cascade. They stopped
there and Barnes rode on to Boise Basin to see if there was a market
for the cattle and he met the miners coming out and they had to turn
around with the cattle and come clear back through Long Valley down
through what they call the Salmon Meadows, back down into Florence to
dispose of some of them there, and wound up in Warrens with the last of
them. This is quite a pathetic story when you get to reading it.
That's off the subject again, nevertheless, if you want to check any of
this out that's a good reference, of Jack Splong and this book.
12
Well, Alonzo Brown has another history and biography and has quite a
lengthy report on the history of the gold discovered in Florence and
Warrens both, if you read it. He appeared here the first year with a man
by the name of Sterns, and he started the first store where the town of
Warrens now stands. It was later to become the main town, which was
called Washington for awhile. The county seat was moved to Warrens in
1868 from Florence. They rented a cabin, and Frank Schlisler and Don
Mathison were hired to build a jail. B. F. Morse appeared to be the
recorder of the longest duration. He was the father of Otis Morse who
stayed with the town, well, practically a lifetime. I've got a notation
here and I can't read my own writing. In 1890, Otis Morse and his mother
Mrs. Kelley arrived in Warrens. I think I've just seen Otis's obituary
as he just passed away recently. It's close in there somewhere, that's
when he appeared on the scene.. Now I want to stay'farther back on that.
The first blacksmith shop was erected by a man by the name of Edwin
Sherman. He built the blacksmith shop and started work in earnest in
1865. He worked until 1873. He had a wife and children in the old
country. With what he saved up over that length of time he sent for his
family and moved out of Warren and went and bought across from the John
Day Ranch on the Salmon River, what's called Sherman Bar, and there he
raised his family. Some of the boys are still living in that country
there. There's lots of Shermans around Grangeville, sons of Edwin Sherman.
13
Now I'd like to go to Grostin and Barnard, who were the bigtime packers.
Benson and numerous other small strings appear on the scene. Grostin
and Barnard were at the late '60s and early '70s, and really the big
merchants from Lewiston, direct through, packing through with a big
string. They moved their stock of groceries from Florence over to Warren
and opened up a business where the main town would sit. This same store
of Grostin and Barnard was later taken over by the merchants of my time
which have been George and Elmer Patterson, old man Kelley and on down
to that time. That was the continuation of the Grostin and Barnard store.
They also did terrific amounts of packing. In running through the
reports here I see where during the Sheapeater War Grostin and Barnard
had 150 mules leased to the military packing supplies to the soldiers
during the fighting. Seventy of the mules were lost or killed and the
Government paid him $100 a head for each mule and it was returned.
That apparently shows that it's unimaginable the amount of livestock that
was used in keeping that many people going as the money came out of the
ground. I see Cal White had two large strings of horses of pack and
studding. He used horses which he leased from the Indians and then packed
with them. Benson, Grostin and Barnard were the big packers. They kept
big strings going and was apparently no end to their endurance with them.
The first winter of 1862, the last string of groceries that went into
Warrens was taken in in December and it was almost impossible. They like
to never got in, but when they did they thought they'd never get the horses
out; but they did get them back as far as French Creek. I have the report
on that, what a trip it was. You read about these hard trips, you know, and
14
I don't think I ever made a trip in there in my life that wasn't a hard
trip. There ain't no such thing as an easy trip when you come into
Warren.
Anyhow, I put a note down here that a road come in the late 180s and
early 190s and that took the long pack strings out, the freight teams
did. I got a note down here saying that the truck and the car took the
oldtime freighter out; now the helicopter and the airplane is taking
everybody out of the back country as far as hor$es are concerned.
It's just actually that way. Grostin and Barnard held the mercantile
business in Warrens to a large extent of the business until 1900. Then
Elmer and George Patterson took over and stayed until old age. Otis
Morse came next, then Jim Harrison during the last stampede, during the
'30s and '40s when the dredges dug in there.
There were numerous packers in here. Bear Pete, who had a cayuse-
hay packstring
long as his outfit
which Bear Pete Mountain and Bear Pete Lake, Bear Pete Trail,. etc., are
all named after Bear Pete. I was up to Burgdorf last summer just looking
around, and it made me very disgusted that from Burgdorf up-- there's
Bear Pete Mountain and that country, and new signs along the road, and
they've dropped Bear Pete out and have Bear Peak on it -- dropped poor old
Bear Pete out. Well, Bear Pete is quite historical there, and I wish
somebody would talk to somebody who would change the signs back. Bear
Pete spent two years trying to drain one of those lakes to get some placer
15
water at one time in the early 190s. His name is Pete Brockenut and he
was a past master at telling good bear stories. They are really good
bear stories. So I would hope somebody sometime would restore those,
and honor Bear Pete on those signs, because the mountain is there, a
landmark to Bear Pete.
Question: Is that the mountain looking out from the springs?
Answer: West of Burgdorf along that trail up Lake Creek.
Question: Did you ever suggest that to the Forest Service?
Answer: Well, I was planning on it, if somebody would listen to me.
There's another thing. Jim Warren and his 4 associates claim they're the
ones that named Secesh Meadows, but it's a very vague report I have, and
could be questionable either way. I do believe from what I've read and
researched that they actually did find Millers Camp, which later was
known as Larson's Camp, later known as Ruby City, Ruby Meadows. I
think the four guys that fell out with him did make that discovery. It
indicated that.
Well, I've got trails traveled during the gold rush into Warren. The
main trails, that is. I can go back to the money again on what was taken
0
16
out of what mine, which maybe I should do. George Hurst actually financed
the money for the Unity Mine and about three more mines in there. I
didn't copy the names down here., but there's 6 mines. One way and another,
directly and indirectly, them mines all produced considerable. It's
amazing how much they produced when you actually read what gold was
checked through the mint report. Considering what you've got to do with,
hauling everything in there from Weiser, which was the end of the railroad.
There was a big lot of the stuff that was hauled in.
Question: Was it hauled in -- Is that what you have on the trails there?
Answer: Yes, I can go on that now.
The two main trails to Florence were Shears Ferry and the one crossing
at the mouth of Carey Creek called Wire Bridge Crossing; also Carey
Brothers, which is no relation of ours, they spelled their name different.
They were Englishmen, John Carey and Jim Carey. They put in a ferry and
a bridge there. That bridge shows up the first time in 1872 when a survey
party came down the Salmon River with boats looking out for available
routes for the Gilmore and Railroad Company. The first
mention I've been able to get was over the wire bridge to see about the
ferry. That trail came from Florence down and at that time Wind River
was called Meadow Creek and was called that for a long time. Now it's
Wind River. Wind River ran in up at what would be called the Mc
place, and I guess it's all Wind River now, but it went down to what
17
was old Meadow Creek and Wind River just stopped; that was the meeting
place where it ended. That trail crossed at the mouth of Wind River and
went up Carey Creek, then swung to the right and went into Studebaker
Saddle. I went over the old trail afoot and it was so full of logs I
could hardly make it, but there is an awful indication that thing is cut-
ting waist deep in that old dirt and still shows there. Trees have been
chopped off with ax, there's no saws all the way through on it. There
was a watering trough there, you could water your horses without untying
them or unpacking them, one end of it built up so you could ride by
and water.
Luke Stockton thought the water trough had been there 52 years, still
working, so that kind of fascinated me, 52 years and still be working,
so I went up to see, and sure enough, it was getting pretty rotten, but
was still working. That old trail is very plain where it drops into
Studebaker Saddle and the trail comes up over Marshall Mountain and runs
out by Carey Dome. The other trail crossed at Shears Ferry which would
be underneath Kelley Mountain where the Hard Ranch is now. The trail at
the wire bridge. The wire bridge was built in 1891 and it went down in
1902 by a big windstorm on November 13. Before that bridge, there was
a ferry there, and I don't know any particulars, I never tried to find
out anything about any dates on it or what, but it was first run by
Hank Diefenbach who was in with the first discovery at Warrens and a man
by the name of Rogers, and the last was a Mr. Knott. He at one time
owned the Scott Ranch which was known as Knott's Ranch. He ran this
ferry and I do have a picture of the house there, it burnt down in 1910.
18
I got the picture from old Jake Stover who was living in it when it
burned down in the winter of 1910.
Well, Frank Schlisler, who built the first sawmill on what's known as
Schlisler Creek that runs into Warrens Meadows, a water - powered mill,
built that in 1868. He had a daughter born at the mouth of French Creek
in 1871, who was the first white child born there. They had another
daughter later on who was sent to a girls' school and died with diphtheria
which was very sad. Both children - -the one daughter was the first child
born at the mouth of French Creek in 1871. There's a Schlisler Creek
above Wind River and there's a Schlisler Creek that comes into Warrens
Meadows.
Norman P. Wiley had the first sawmill on what is called Steamboat Creek.
He also mined there. Everybody knows who he was, he was the second
governor of the State of Idaho. He done 2 years of an unexpired term
and then done a full term. Of course he was quite prominent all the way
through. Apparently he had quite a lot to do when they had the county
seat in Warrens.
r
brother Bob froze to death in 1892 going over on the trail to Logan
Creek. At that time there was sort of a mining boom on there and they
call it the Alpine District. There was another brother that was killed
in a wagon accident at Garden Valley at a lot later date.
I think what I'd better do now is knock it off here and let Mr. Akins
r
"
1 9
t a l k a w h i l e , i t w o n ' t g e t s o m o n o t o n o u s . I c a n g o o n a n d o n h e r e l i k e
t h i s . D o n ' t y o u t h i n k t h a t w o u l d b e a g o o d i d e a ? Y o u ' d l i k e t o h e a r
s o m e t h i n g d i f f e r e n t f o r a w h i l e , t h i s g e t s o l d , m a y b e .
Q u e s t i o n : o n W a r r e n S m i t h , h e w a s f r o z e t o d e a t h t h e r e
a t t h e o l d S m o k e h o u s e o n E l k C r e e k , r i g h t ?
A n s w e r : B o b S m i t h . E i t h e r 1 9 0 o r 1 9 2 , I ' v e g o t i t d o w n .
W a r r e n d i e d a t t h e o l d H a c k e t t R a n c h w h i l e h e w a s l i v i n g a t t h e S o u t h
F o r k . H e ' s b u r i e d t h e r e w h e r e T h r e e - F i n g e r e d S m i t h i s b u r i e d . I h a d a
r e a l g o o d p i c t u r e o f W a r r e n S m i t h .
C o m m e n t : I w a s a l w a y s u n d e r t h e i m p r e s s i o n i t w a s W a r r e n w h o f r o z e t o
d e a t h , b u t i t w a s h i s b r o t h e r B o b ?
A n s w e r : Y e s , y o u n g e r b r o t h e r .
I d i d n ' t e l a b o r a t e o n T h r e e - F i n g e r e d S m i t h , w h i c h I s h o u l d h a v e . H e
d e f i n i t e l y s h o w s u p h e r e e v e r y w h e r e y o u g o . H e s h o w s u p i n F l o r e n c e ,
h e s h o w s u p i n W a r r e n s , a n d h e s h o w s u p o n t h e S o u t h F o r k , a n d h e t o o k
t h e f i r s t p i e c e o f l a n d t h a t w a s e v e r l o c a t e d i n t h a t c o u n t r y , , t h e e t t i t l e
s h o w s . H e s h o w s t h e f i r s t t i t l e o n t h e F r a n k S m i t h p l a c e . T h e - f r L S t
( ��, " w c , _ ��
r e c o r d t h e r e w a s i n t h a t c o u n t r y , A t h e f i r s t l o c a t i o n .
20 '
Question: Isn't he the same Smith that was mixed up with the Indians
down in Cascade, crawled such a long ways to survival?
Answer: Yes, that was in '78. The same Three- Fingered Smith appears all
the way through. I also have his obituary when he died, about '92 or '96,
right along in there. The one boy, Warren, had some education. My --Ske�'i
mother left, which took me a long time to find out what ever became of
him.
Question: Well Warren was the only one, as near as I can find out from
Henry that had an education. Henry couldn't read nor write, either one.
Answer: That might be a good thing. If some of the rest of us couldn't
read so good we might be better off.
Question: Did you say Warren Smith was the first white child?
Answer: That's what he told my mother. Apparently, from the date when
Henry was born, he pretty near had to have been.
Question: What year was he born?
Answer: His brother Henry was born in 1867. On what's called the
Hettinger Ranch now, but it would be the Frank Smith place. Frank
Smith, by the way, is an uncle, a cousin of Three - Fingers Smith.
21
Three - Fingers Smith died at the mouth of Elk Creek. That's where he
was on the tail -end. He turned the ranch down cold. So Fred Shaeffer
tells me, he turned it over to Frank Smith if he'd take care of the
kids after he passed away.
At the time we moved off the ranch, and we lived there 6 years at the
Frank Smith place, the only one of that family that was left that I
remember of was Dan Smith. He'd come in once in awhile to visit and
just see the country. Frank Smith was gone. I don't know whether he's
at Council or whether he's still alive or not.
Question: Was that on the South Fork then?
Answer: Yes
Question: Some of the people here didn't realize where some of these
places are.
Answer: Yeah, that was on the South Fork.
Question: An awful lot of the history of Warrens actually ends up on
the South Fork of the Salmon and on back in the Big Creek area and on
through. John has t � ?
aJU
Answer: That's another lecture here. When I get the floor again I'll
OIL
tell you -abet
7
V
37
in 1882 and they was shut down in 1902. The Little Giant mine produced
$250,000. It sure don't seem like it to look at it up there now, but
nevertheless, it's rI I That was the money that was taken out
from 1882 to 1902. That also did keep the town going at that time.
Somebody asked me about some more mines there; but George Hurst was
actually the financier of the Charity mine which was owned by Noah'Davies,
George Darr and George �ibbetts. I was going to give you the figures on
that mine, but I just can't find them here. They're right here. I know
how much money was taken out of the Charity mine because really the
quartz mine died out by 1892 and a large dredge was hauled into Warrens
in 1892. There was a bucket dredge and a dragline, a steam shovel and
a bucket dredge was hauled in there.
Question: About how many people lived in there when it was really going?
Answer: Well, it fluctuates. There was 42 people worked at the Rescue
mine.
Question: Were there thousands of people living up there when all of
them were going?
Answer: It kinda surges. There'd be years there would be an ungodly
amount then pretty soon there wouldn't be hardly anybody, 'cause it would
play out, see? But it seemed to go in surges. When the Charity mine
boomed, I just read here, 200 men mined out it and the other
i s
38
quartz over a period of 35 years mined out $250,000.
mines
Well that made a surge where the population would go up and then it would
with a bucket
go way down again.
line and steam shovel hauled in. It surged up, but they never matured,
there was never no yield there that showed up at all.
. )'Y1
�nhsishowed me records here a few years ago before
Comment . � - �^- `
he left Warrens that between the years of '94 and '98 there were as many
as 5,000 people lived there
Question: How many chinamen were in there at the time?
Answer: At one time I read a record saying 600, and one time it was 800,
from the six companies in San Francisco,
which
and all I do have is coming
seems to be something
to do with the connections someway.
Every chinaman belonged to some company. They was under some company and
there were 6 main companies. Through them is the only record I've ever
seen that it gives any record at all of the chinamen. But there's an
awful lot - -you can't imagine until you get to looking - -at the amount of
people that was there. You just can't believe it. Sounds like a big
eo le there. en
if you tell anybody there was that many p P
you go into it and see how many people at different times was voted on,
how many people was registered, you can't imagine the amount there was
there before they left.
I
7
39
Comment: They claim there was 6,000 people wintered over here at Deadwood.
Well, there was a lot of people in Florence at one time, too. That's
another story. That's a big one. But here's something I'd like to state
that might interest somebody. You always run into something and get
clear off the subject. But it's worth recording, you can't overlook it,
either. I ran into this here and it certainly fascinated me. It was a
diary and report by Captain John Stanley. I've got it briefed out here,
it won't take me long but I'll read it to you.
Captain of a gold- seeking party, 23 in all. They left Warrens July 5,
1863 to prospect the headwaters of the South Fork and the Middle Fork.
Nothing was found until they reached Stanley Basin. It was named for
UC
the captain, John Stanley. There they hit pay dirt.
- valley was
alive with salmon and lots of bear were reported in the area. The party
had all mined in Florence the previous year. It went on to say that it
was beyond imagination how many salmon was in the streams, and the bear as
they went through Bear Valley. It said that apparently that's how Bear
Valley derived its name. Stanley Basin was named after Captain John Stanley,
and he left Warrens with a big searching party. They did have apparently,
an awful time to get up to the headwaters of the South Fork. It told
how many days they was trying to get through there, doubled back, and on
and on and on. But that's where Stanley Basin got its name. The party
started at Warrens in '63, that discovered the Stanley Basin.
There's one more - -I'd like to get this money off my chest here. Give me
1
1
40
a push. The last big placer operation in Warrens was in the 1930s and
1940s when the war shut the dredges down at Baumhauf and Fisher. It
turned over 18 million yards of dirt and grossed 4 million dollars. From
1867 to 1871, quartz mills yielded $127,000. There was a big power plant
built at the mouth of Elk Creek, I believe Mr. Epley over there lives
now. It was a 600 horsepower power plant. The line went from there to
Warrens which ran the Rescue mine and also derived the power for the
dredge boats the last time it was mined in '30 to 1940. That was just
to arrive at the money that was taken out, I didn't want to go into the
history of that.
I'll give you the figures on the Little Giant mine. From 1882 to 1902
when the mine shut down, it mined $250,000 in quartz. The Unity mine
was the big payer. I've already give you the figure on there, it was
$127,000 mined.there from along in 1867. Now the Rescue was the biggest
mine there in front of town. I've got the figures on it here, but I
can't find it. The Rescue was actually the big producer and it did pay
off.
Question: When did the Unity close down, John? Did that close down
before the war?
Answer: No, it was real early. It was a real heavy producer and it
OLZ �
41
CfLAXY
Question: A. R. Cruise told me one time when Jay Susick was super -
to send him back east. for more money, and they
intendent, they were going +�
fie, UJYI_� DTs
o they had a meeting there in Boise and
figured e-a-t
Cruise and somebody else was supposed to go check Susick's suitcase, and
r�
they found $3,000 in gold in it. They took it up and showed tti to
Susick, and he said, "Well, what are you going to do about it ?" And they
said he was the best man they had to go back east and pick up the money
so they didn't do anything about it. They let him keep the gold.
Answer: Well, that's a good idea. Safe
Question: Could you tell us a little bit about when you were living up
in Warren? cbvu� t 1
Answer`s Well, it's not really much of a story.
Question: Was it really kind of fun? Just some of the everyday things
that happened, you know? The school up there, and things like that, just
what the people were doing
Answer: I' to get rid of-
Answer:' got this money here I've got
` Hisf lks sent him to Warren to go to school. He was about 5 or 6 years
old, or 7. A guy won a horse in a poker game and give it to him, so he
just heads back down on the South Fork
42
He wouldn't tell me what kind of reception he got when he got down there,
but
In 1867 the Rescue mine was located. I got the locator's name on file
at home. That's the one right there in town. Until 1871 quartz was
milled yielding $127,000. That's the early figure. Well then that mine
worked up under Jay Susick. Jay Susick was the promoter of it and he mined
it clear up until the last until it shut down. I've got it down here.
On the start that mine was rich.
The Unity was rich too, it was a rich mine. The Rescue was the mine that
was the longest of any of them and held out the longest. It was worked
clear up into the late '20s. I've got the closing down date here.
Question: They ran the Rescue clear up until the war, didn't they?
Answer: Yeah. Susick was working 42 men there, I've got down here, and
running the mill, at the time the mine finally shut down. But the George
Rebo mine, the Little Giant, was quite a producer from '82 to 1902, that's
$250,000, a lot of money in.that kind of time for those dollars. O.K.,
that's enough of that.
Question: Tell us about when you were living there.
Answer: I don't know what to say. I come up to go to school in Warrens
and apparently the first year I didn't make it. I had to stay alone and
r
43
it wasn't very good. The next year I came back, there was a lot of kids
there. The first day at school, why a kid run up to me and said, "I know
who you are." I said "Yeah ?" And he said, "You're a Blackfoot Frenchman,
that's what you are." That's the at Warren school.
like that all the way down the line.
Uncle Herman's got a picture of him here I'd like to show you about the
Indians and that would settle the argument about them.
Comment: There's a picture back there of that.
Answer: Where's it at? I'm more proud of the pictures than about anything
I've got. ---O .- ,�����g _t1�11 ^Uncle Clem, that's Herman's
dad. Uncle Herman here,- I'll talk on him rather than talk on myself.
I see in Florence where old Joe Williams, who was an early pioneer in the
Dixie area ran a butcher shop and Uncle Herman and some other party was
furnishing meat to him. Who was it?
Uncle Herman: He used to work for Dad. Him and me drove a bunch of cows
and he butchered them out over there at Florence
You know monkeying with this kind of stuff, well then if you verify every-
thing, run it all down and really prove it and convince yourself you're
right, it's an awful good way to lose the farm.
44
Comment:
go down to Circle C
big Durham cows, pigs and cows
dollars a head,
drive them up Secesh Meadows, peel the hide off of them and quarter them
up, bring $100.
Picture of old Fox and his
hair
was white and hung clear to
his hips.
He located
mine
and Susick
later
on there.
Comment: He put a lot of tunnels under there.
Question: Johnny, how did your family come to
19aGC�
Answer: J ' mother was a sister to Uncle Herman. He came to McCall
,aj,v,
first, then she come and �,�t'J -= = _= =t==.. = ouse.
what they called f4sher f�. That was during the Thunder Mountain
boom
went from there to the South Fork
at the foot of the hill, now it's the Barkell place. I had 4 brothers
and sisters. twin brothers Ti-u-%A� South Fork Ranger
Station, 2 sisters T'-Ift-i-se4 at thud L can't find the
think I can almost find them but I can't quite.
Question: Who's buried in the grave beside the powder house on the
South Fork Ranger Station?
Answer: Jack Schaefer
t i
45
come up just can't get straightened out, the road is
now, what used to be little trees is
all different, timber has grooved up
big ones now, I'm getting senile awful fast.
Question: How large a mill was at Stibnite? Black Lake or Iron Springs
or Rankin Mill?
Answer: Well, I couldn't tell you the size of that mill.
Where they drop the ore in is about 14 inches. Like a cider mill, you
know, run down in about that big. The paint was still on it and
(Bedlam)
Dick d'Easum
Gold Fever Spins Dreams of Farming the Glittery Stuff
"Salted mines are familiar," said
Mister Bundy. "Somebody wants to
sell a hole in the ground so he plants a
little gold or whatever in the vein and
the buyer thinks it is a rich claim. Salt-
ed mines used to be as common as lost
strikes such as the Lost Dutchman,
Lost Packer, Lost Swim, Lost China-
man, Lost Ram and Lost Blue Bucket.
But this Triennial mine you men-
tioned is something else. Did you say it
grew gold ?"
"Right," said the Duck Springs Her-
mit. "You heard me."
"Back up and run it by me again,"
said Mister Bundy.
"Well, there was this prospector in
the Sawtooths name of Hank Stebbins.
He hit on the process back in 18,97 after
he lost his share in the Runover mine
"near Bonanza which was named be-
dhuse the early miners ran over the
ledge in their hurry to stake other
ground.
"Hank went to a gulch near Saw -
tooth City and farmed a gold tunnel
about three years."
"Farmed ?" asked Mister Bundy.
"I guess you could call it gold farm-
ing," said the Duck Springs Hermit.
"He found a smattering of rich ore, but
it sort of pinched out. He had plenty of
time to read and he read a lot.
"One of his books told about alchemy
— you know, the stuff about making
gold out of other things. He figured he
would grow a batch. He fertilized the
vein with water, sand and copper —
something like you do an oyster bed.
Old Hank sealed it off for three years
and took another crop.
"Anyhow, that's what he said at
Hailey where he went to show samples
and spend a bunch of money. He said
he had sealed up the hole for another
three years, which he figured was
about right for the next growth."
"I know what happened then," said
Mister Bundy. "He lost the mine. That
figures."
"Yeah," said the Duck Springs Her-
mit. "Didn't exactly lose it. He just
died before he could go back and sell
it. Nobody knew where it was. People
thought he was some kind of nut, not
only on account of his thing about
growing gold but because his partner,
who disappeared, lived in a dugout
with pet snakes and a couple of mean
dogs.
"Records at the land office showed
he had a raft of claims all over the
canyon. Prospectors poked around.
They found some silver and about four -
bits -worth of gold, but never anything
that looked like the gold farm. They
tamed the dogs, smoked out the
snakes, searched the dugout, and as-
sayed all of Hank's claims they could
find. No dice."
"So that's where it ended ?" asked
Mister Bundy. "Same old story. Big-
THE IDAHO STATESMAN, Boise, Sunday, February 3, 1974 PAGE 11- B
of Farming the Glittery Stuff
gest strike in history of Idaho lost for-
ever."
"That's the way it looked," said the
Duck Springs Hermit. "Guys joshed
about Stebbins' gold farm. They told
greenhorns not to forget their plows
and manure when they went after
gold. The snipe- hunting gag it was,
only bigger and better. They offered to
sell an interest in the gold farm. Drew
maps of its and everything, along with
recipes for how much water and fertil-
izer, copper and other goop to whip up
for a crop.
"I guess they worked the gold farm
for several hundred dollars worth of
secret sketches and a barrel of booze
before a couple of the ringleaders
made 'a real killing on a dude outfit
from Wisconsin. A gent who said he
was agent for the New Eldorado Co., or
some such, bought the whole string of
claims, chemical directions, and all.
Paid cash for most of the deal and
gave a note for the rest."
"Did they give the money back when
the trick showed ?" asked Mister Bun-
dy.
"Coming to that," said the Duck
Springs Hermit. "They reckoned the
bird from the New Eldorado would be
around in a few weeks when he got
wise. They banked the money so they
could give it back. Fun with dudes is
one thing. A charge of fraud and the
chance of a stretch in jail is something
else.
"So they waited for the guy to storm
in full of fire. They would laugh and
say 'April Fool' or whatever you say
when the jig is up on a joke.
"But it didn't turn out that way.
There wasn't a peep out of the guy for
three years.
"He just said he was doing okay on
his claims like miners do when they
don't want to give away information.
The idea got around that he was not
only a sucker but off his rocker.
"Then one spring day - that would
be about 1900 - he whooped in, bought
a fancy suit and a box of cigars, and
stood drinks for everybody, and said he
was the happiest man in the world.
"That gold farm, he said, sure paid
off. At first he didn't put much faith in
it, being an old engineer. But darned if
it didn't work. After three years he had
a crop worth around $50,000, with ore
to come at the same intervals.
"Because he had his pile and was
ready to give opportunity to others he
had sold the claim back East for a
princely sum. The new owners would
be taking over soon."
"That's the end ?" asked Mister Bun-
dy.
"Sort of," said the Duck Springs Her-
mit. "Now Jou hear of the Triennial
mine. The new company worked it. A
real jewel. A real mystery."
This Burgdorf crew was among Idaho miners who came from many lands
A little imagination bri0
ngs
miners in 1870 Census to life
By ARTHUR HART
A comic was once asked why he
was reading the telephone book from
cover to cover. He explained by say-
ing, "True, there isn't much plot, but
what a cast!" The same can be said
of early Idaho census records, but
they have quite a bit more informa-
tion than a telephone book and allow
us to create our own plots.
An analysis of Idaho's 1870 Census
reveals much that is informative, in-
teresting, and even intriguing. We
learn who was in the young terri-
tory's mining camps, how old they
were, where they were born, and
what they did for a living. The record
most often confirms what we have
always thought about mining com-
munities, but sometimes there are
real surprises.
The Chinese made up a large part
of the Idaho mining scene by 1870,
outnumbering white miners. This is a
statistic that has been published be-
fore. What is not as well known is
that there were other exotic national
groups mining in Idaho at that time
as well.
Our biggest surprise came when
we began to note the names of a con-
siderable community of miners in
Idaho aw
Yesterdays
O
the Boise Basin who were born in the
Azores Islands. Centerville had 6, Pi-
oneer had 49, Placerville, 3, and
Grants Creek, 13. Each was listed
simply as "placer miner." Most were
men is their 20s. We may never
'know, more than a century later,
who recruited this group of people in
their remote Atlantic Ocean home
off I the coast of Africa to come to
Idaho.
The preliminary investigation we
have made suggests that these min-
ers from the Azores all left the basin
within a short period of time and that
none of their descendants live in
Idaho today. We may, in fact, yet
find that there are some of them
around. Any of our readers who have
clues to this interesting puzzle are in-
vited to share them with us.
The Mexican -born population of
Idaho is another national group
which can be documented rather
well in the 1870 Census. Boise pioneer
Jesus Urquides, about whom we
have written before, was a well -
known packer who had a "Spanish
village" just south of the 100 block of
Main Street. His "Spanish" packers
were really mostly Mexicans wno
spoke only Spanish. Urquides was
born of Mexican parents in San Fran-
cisco. His father was probably de-
scended from a Basque family in
Spain.
Most of the Mexicans listed from
all parts of Idaho in the 1870 Census
drove park trains to remote moun-
tain mining camps. It is interesting
that the census -taker carefully made
a distinction between "mule packer"
and "horse packer," suggesting that
these were separate skills.
Unlike the miners, Mexican -born
packers were mostly older men.
Lemhi County's mule packers of 1870
averaged over 50 years of age. The
five men listed in one pack train had
a female companion whose occupa-
tion was listed as "disreputable" a
not unusual term for women in min-
ing camps, of whatever nationality.
Since "prostitute" was also a com-
monly used designation in the 1870
Census, "disreputable" may have
had a different connotation.
Only three of Idaho's Mexican pio-
neers in 1870 were lucky enough to
have their wives with them, accord-
ing to the census figures.
The drama of the 1870 Census, for
readers with a little insight and
imagination, is created by the won-
derful cast of characters who had
come to Idaho from so many far-
away lands — from Europe, Asia and
even islands in the sea.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
/clo,/ Sfa�P �s�aYiCC1 csoci(I f �S�rirrc/ T3
Ernfe`"Oberbillig died in Nampa Marcq el
A mining and metallurgical engineer by
training and practice, he was a steady
source of information and lore about the
Stibnite /Yellow Pine area as well as mining
in general. His work as an expert witness
before the Indian Claims Commission in es-
tablishing the value of lands taken from
the Nez Perce during the gold rush to their
reservation provided an extraordinary col-
lection of data about mining in that part
of Idaho. On the basis of that experience,
he was called upon to do similar research
in other parts of the mining West. In Jan-
uary he was named an honorary curator of
the Society in recognition of hls service
to the preservation of Idaho's history.
Ernie and Dave were special people, and
we are grateful for their work as amateurs
in the truest sense of the word.
��d o h o S f e t e s v t , d h ' a a , �� 1 q ,
I d a h o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e r
M u s i c f r o m h o m e s o o t h e d l o n e l y C h i n e s e w o r k e r s a t D e L a m a r
C h i n e s e w o r k e r s w e r e i n t e g r a l p a r t
o f r e i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s i n I d a h o
A l t h o u g h i t i s w e l l k n o w n t h a t
n e a r l y e v e r y I d a h o m i n i n g c a m p
h a d i t s C h i n a t o w n i n e a r l y d a y s ,
p h o t o g r a p h s o f t h e s e c o m m u n i -
t i e s a r e r a r e .
T h e y a r e l e s s r a r e n o w f o r t u r n -
o f - t h e - c e n t u r y D e L a m a r , I d a h o ,
w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n o f t h e p h o t o
s h o w n a b o v e , d o n a t e d r e c e n t l y t o
t h e H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y c o l l e c t i o n
b y S c o t t a n d C h a r l o t t e D a v i s .
T h e d e t a i l o f t h i s f i n e p h o t o i s
s h a r p , e n a b l i n g u s t o o b s e r v e
c a r e f u l l y a g r o u p o f e i g h t C h i n e s e
m e n t a k i n g t h e i r e a s e i n t h e m i n -
i n g t o w n i n t h e O w y h e e M o u n -
t a i n s . S i n c e a l l a r e i d l e , i t m a y
h a v e b e e n t a k e n o n a S u n d a y s u m -
m e r e v e n i n g .
T h e m a n i n t h e f o r e g r o u n d i s
l i g h t i n g h i s p i p e . H e s i t s o n
s q u a r e s o f c e d a r s h i n g l e s , s u g -
g e s t i n g t h a t o n e o f t h e b u i l d i n g s
b e h i n d h i m w a s a b o u t t o b e r e -
r o o f e d . T h e m a n b e h i n d t h e p i p e
s m o k e r , a t l e f t , i s p l a y i n g a l o n g -
n e c k e d t h r e e - s t r i n g e d b a n j o . T h e
q u i e t m o o d o f t h e e n t i r e g r o u p
m a y h a v e b e e n g e n e r a t e d b y t h e
m u s i c i a n , c o n j u r i n g u p d r e a m s o f
t h e C a n t o n e s e h o m e l a n d t h e y h a d
l e f t t o c o m e t o t h e m i n e s o f I d a h o .
T h e r e i s a r c h i t e c t u r a l i n t e r e s t
i n t h e p h o t o o f o l d D e L a m a r a s
w e l l . T h e b u i l d i n g a t l e f t i s m a d e
o f l a r g e a d o b e b l o c k s . I t i s p a r t l y
d u g i n t o t h e h i l l s i d e a n d h a s a r u s -
t i c p o r c h s u p p o r t e d b y p o l e s w i t h
t h e b a r k s t i l l o n . I t w a s p r i m i t i v e
s h e l t e r , b u t w a r m i n w i n t e r a n d
o n c o o l m o u n t a i n n i g h t s i n s p r i n g
a n d f a l l .
B y 1 9 0 0 f e w C h i n e s e i n I d a h o
t o w n s w e r e m i n e r s . M a n y w e r e
s m a l l b u s i n e s s m e n d o i n g w h a t -
e v e r t h e y c o u l d t o m a k e a l i v i n g ;
T h e b u i l d i n g a t f a r r i g h t , a s i t s
I d a h o h i s t o r y i c e : : : < " :
s i g n p r o c l a i m s , w a s t h e H u n g
Y i c k L a u n d r y . T h e C h i n e s e l a u n -
d r y w a s a n i n s t i t u t i o n i n m o s t
I d a h o c o m m u n i t i e s i n t h e 1 9 t h
c e n t u r y a n d l a t e r ( i n 1 9 0 2 B o i s e
s t i l l h a d s i x o f t h e m ) .
C h i n e s e g a r d e n e r s w e r e a l s o
i m p o r t a n t s u p p l i e r s o f f r e s h f r u i t s
a n d v e g e t a b l e s t o w h i t e h o u s e -
h o l d s , w e l l i n t o t h e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y .
O t h e r C h i n e s e w o r k e d a s d o m e s -
t i c s e r v a n t s o r c o o k s i n s h o r t
t h e y t o o k a n y k i n d o f w o r k t h e y
c o u l d t o s u p p o r t t h e m s e l v e s .
M a n y r a n r e s t a u r a n t s o r w o r k e d
i n t h e m .
C h i n e s e m e r c h a n t s s u p p l i e d i m -
p o r t e d i t e m s t o t h e i r c o m p a t r i o t s
a s w e l l a s f i n e t e a s a n d o t h e r
d e l i c a c i e s t o t h e w h i t e c o m m u n i -
t y .
T h e C h i n e s e e x c l u s i o n a c t o f
1 8 8 2 s u s p e n d e d i m m i g r a t i o n o f
C h i n e s e l a b o r e r s f o r t h e n e x t 1 0
y e a r s ; i n 1 8 9 2 a n d a g a i n i n 1 9 0 2
t h i s a c t w a s r e n e w e d , m e a n i n g
t h a t I d a h o ' s C h i n e s e p o p u l a t i o n
d w i n d l e d d r a s t i c a l l y f r o m i t s
g o l d - r u s h p e a k . I n 1 8 7 0 t h e c e n s u s
t a k e r s r e c o r d e d 4 , 2 7 4 C h i n e s e . B y
1 9 0 0 t h e r e w e r e o n l y 1 , 4 6 7 , a n d b y
1 9 4 0 o n l y 2 0 8 .
S i n c e C h i n e s e w o m e n w e r e
r a r e i n A m e r i c a , m o s t C h i n e s e
m e n w e r e w i t h o u t t h e c o m f o r t o f
f a m i l y l i f e o r c h i l d r e n . T h e y h a d
t o r e t u r n t o C h i n a t o f i n d w i v e s .
M a n v o f t h e m w e r e u n a b l e t o a c -
c u m u l a t e e n o u g h m o n e y f o r t h e
t r i p , a n d l i v e d a n d d i e d l o n e l y
b a c h e l o r s , f a r f r o m t h e C e l e s t i a l
K i n g d o m o f C h i n a .
A r t h u r H a r t i s d i r e c t o r o f t h e
I d a h o H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y . H i s c o l -
u m n a p p e a r s o n T h u r s d a y s .
The Star-News 3/27/85
In search of the 20-carat 'McCall Diamond'
By Randall Brooks •
The Star -News
Scattered innocently enough
among a group of obscure facts
cubic yards of concentrate.
published recently in an Idaho
"A 19' /z carat diamond was
promotional folder was a
also reported (no date given)," it
reference to a diamond weighing
nearly 20 carats found near Mc-
says. "The authenticity of the
"
report report is doubtful.
Statements like that have
That report jives with what
Bob Wilson, a gemologist with
started whole towns in the West.
If true, the gem would be
Stewart 's Gem Shop in Boise had
one
of the largest diamonds ever
said. Dudley Stewart, now
deceased, had done much of the
found in the United States, not
particularly known for its dia-
gem mining in that area and the
mond mines. Certainly it would
family still maintains claims in
the Thorn Creek -Old Brundage
be the largest in Idaho, where.
Road area.
iamond- bearing clays are almost
Discouraging, but the trail
nknowri.
logically leads to tapping the
„ It was a marquee cut, pointed
There's enough historical
local knowledge.
on both ends, he said. They
nowledge about the early gold
Ron Parks of McCall, who still,
say it was equal to any African
ines and other metals mining in
makes his living finding and cut-
they had cut."
his area to `fill a few volumes,
ting the precious gemstones this
On to the Smithsonian, and a
ut references to diamond finds
part of Idaho has to offer, knows
call to Russel Feather, �a,
re as fleeting as the valuable
of the Rock Flat .mine, the
mmerologist at the Smithsonian s,
ems themselves. Still, they keep
"Glory Hole" as he calls it, and
mineral science department.
howing up enough during
adds a twist to the story.
No Idaho topaz, Feather
esearch that one wonders why
The mine is located just as you
reported after a couple days of
ock Flat isn't a boom town.
enter the Goose Creek Canyon
searching through his racks. We
The trail started with the
grade, near the turnoff to Brun-
do have one diamond from
eference to the 20 -carat diamond
dage Mountain Ski Area.
Idaho.
in The Idaho Conversion Kit,
recently b Idaho First
y y
There, a pond i visible, arem-
Eurekal_,
"It's from Owhyee County,"
published
p
National Bank.
nant of an operati on that includ-
ed a tunnel. running through the
he said. "About .69 carats and
„
A quick call identified the
solid rock mountain and entering
sort of yellow in color.
pamphlet's source as the Idaho
the canyon below. A concrete
Rats! °
Almanac where, sure enough, a
abutment marks the entrance to
Emory Rowland of McCall
one -line note about the diamond
the tunnel.
worked to clear the mine tunnels
and another enticing bit lies
waiting to tempt the gem miner to It was in this pond during the
the mother lode: 1930s, Parks said, that the
"Adams County has sap famous diamond was found, one
phires, a few rubies, and many of about 60 diamonds found in a
fine pink garnets in the area of sample that was taken.
Rock Flat near New Meadows," As Parks tells the story, a man
the book states. "Flawless' from Tiffany's of New York was
blood -red rubies have been found checking out the gemstone opera -
here that weighed two carats after tion that had grown out of earl
garnets here are chiefly pink.
they, were cut and polished. The ,placer claims Band noticed they From there you're sent on to a Were into what is known as
book entitled Idaho in the Pacific Kimberlite, a blue -gray clay in
Northwest and the trail to that Which diamonds are found. He is
20 -carat hunk of rock goes cola said to have set up a grease plate
quickly. to process some concentrate from
Like a good miner,, it's time to the mine and found diamonds in
search up another creek. The Mc- the process.
Call Public Library coughs up the Parks said his information was
Rock Hunters Guide, in which that the diamond in question ac-
author Jay Ransam talks of a tually was only 6.7 carats in size,
mine five miles east of New but of exceptional quality. He
Meadows up the Little Goose said it can be found at the
Creek Canyon, where Rock Hat museum at the Smithsonian In-
gravels yield diamond, garnet, stitution in Washington, D.C.
ruby, sapphire, topaz and zircon. Along with it; Parks said, is a
Another book, the Gem large blue topaz found at a mine
Hunters Guide, also locates what in the Paddy Flat area.
it calls the Rock Flat Gold Mine Parks has searched the mystery
and summarizes an early 1900s of McCall's famous diamond
assay done at the site where a himself and took much of his in-
number of diamonds, the formation from a family relation,
largest being about one - eighth John Beckwith, who wrote Gems
carat in size, was found in two and Minerals of Idaho.
during the early 1920s, but had
little to add to the diamond
mystery.
With those comments, it seem-
ed like the time to let the elusive
giant diamond rest for awhile and
check out other gems in the area.
Asked about other mining of
precious gems around the area,
Rowland told a story about the
Prospect Mine on Boulder Creek.
The mine was set up as a placer
gold operation by his father, Ar-
thur Rowland, and Jake Stover.
The mine was typical of mines
on the Secesh River and up
Grouse Creek to War Eagle mine.
They were looking for gold, but
sapphire and garnet would clog
the sluice boxes.
"They used to hate to mine it
because it clogged the boxes,"
Parks had said.
Places like Ruby Meadows,
Ruby Creek and Ruby Rapids on
the Salmon River are all
misnomers, Parks said. "It's all
garnet."
Hank Shank of McCall said a
number of good -sized sapphires
have been found over the years at
Paddy Flat, near a creek ap-
propriately named Sapphire
Creek. Most of them were found
as a by- product of the placer pro-
cess, he said. Most are actually
corundum, according to one
gemologist.
There also was a quartz crystal
mine that was worked extensively
during the war for its radio -
quality crystal, Shank said. That
mine is located about a mile
south of the Finn Church
cemetery, east from Farm -to-
Market Road and Grouse Knoll.
Nowadays, the largest activity
in the area takes place on the
Stewart claims on the Thorn
Creek -Old Brundage Road. The
Stewart's will open the claim to
anyone who asks permission, and
each summer rock hounds can be
found looking for that perfect
gem. Most are sapphires, mainly
of the intruded, star variety.
other gems reported still to be
in the area for the finding include
rubies, blue and yellow topaz,
amathyst, ceylonite, epidote,
tourmaline and corundum.
But no one seems to know
where the 19.5 carat diamond
went. i
��/ a / ��7
` R a r e e a r t h ' w o n ' t t u r n I d a h o i n t o b o o m s t a t e
B y A N D R E W G A R B E R
T h e I d a h o S t a t e s m a n
A l t h o u g h t h i s s t a t e h a s o n e o f t h e r i c h e s t d e p o s i t s
i n t h e c o u n t r y o f t h e " r a r e e a r t h " m i n e r a l s u s e d i n
t h e n e w s u p e r c o n d u c t i n g c e r a m i c s , I d a h o a n s
s h o u l d n ' t e x p e c t a m i n i n g b o o m a n y t i m e s o o n .
T h e e l e m e n t s y t t r i u m a n d l a n t h a n u m , k e y i n g r e d i -
e n t s i n s u p e r c o n d u c t i v e c e r a m i c s , a r e u n u s u a l l y
a b u n d a n t i n w h a t g e o l o g i s t s c a l l t h e " b l a c k s a n d s "
d e p o s i t s i n t h e C h a l l i s q u a d r a n g l e , w h i c h i n c l u d e s
p a r t s o f V a l l e y , L e m h i , C u s t e r , E l m o r e a n d B o i s e
c o u n t i e s .
A r e p o r t b y t h e U . S . G e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y p r e -
p a r e d b e f o r e t h e n e w s u p e r c o n d u c t o r s w e r e i n -
v e n t e d e a r l i e r l a s t y e a r i n d i c a t e s t h e q u a d r a n g l e
c o n t a i n s a t l e a s t 1 . 7 b i l l i o n c u b i c y a r d s o f b l a c k
s a n d s d e p o s i t s . T h e r e p o r t , " U S G S O p e n - F i l e R e p o r t
8 6 - 6 3 3 " c a n b e p u r c h a s e d f r o m t h e G e o l o g i c a l S u r -
v e y .
T h e b l a c k s a n d s d e p o s i t s , l o c a t e d m a i n l y a l o n g
B e a r V a l l e y C r e e k , w e r e d i s c o v e r e d i n t h e l a t e 1 9 4 0 s
a n d e a r l y 1 9 5 0 s . T h e y w e r e o n c e m i n e d b y t h e f e d -
e r a l g o v e r n m e n t f o r r a d i o a c t i v e m a t e r i a l s .
I n t h e c o u r s e o f d e v e l o p i n g t h e n e w s t u d y , t h e
U S G S r e v i e w e d s t u d i e s m a d e d e c a d e s a g o i n c o n -
j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e e a r l i e r m i n i n g , s a i d T h o r K i i l s g -
a a r d o f t h e a g e n c y ' s S p o k a n e o f f i c e .
J a c k P e t e r s o n , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e I d a h o M i n i n g A s -
s o c i a t i o n , s a i d t h e d e p o s i t s r e p r e s e n t a s i g n i f i c a n t
r e s o u r c e t o t h e s t a t e . T h e s e l l i n g p r i c e i s e x p e c t e d t o
r i s e f o r b o t h m i n e r a l s i n l i g h t o f t h e i r n e w u s e s ,
U S G S o f f i c i a l s s a i d .
B u t P e t e r s o n s a i d t h e r a r e e a r t h e l e m e n t s a r e
v e r y e x p e n s i v e t o m i n e a n d n o t e d t h e w o r l d m a r k e t
c u r r e n t l y g e t s a b u n d a n t s u p p l i e s f r o m C a n a d a a n d
C h i n a .
I n l i g h t o f t h a t , h e s a i d , " I d o n ' t e x p e c t i t t o b e -
c o m e a m i n i n g b o o m . I t d o e s n ' t h a v e t h e s a m e
b r o a d - b a s e d a t t r a c t i o n t h a t g o l d d o e s . "
P e t e r s o n s a i d t h e m i n e r a l s h a v e t o b e p u t t h r o u g h
a n e x t e n s i v e p u r i f i c a t i o n p r o c e s s b e f o r e t h e y c a n b e
m a r k e t e d , s o i t w o u l d t a k e a m a j o r f i n a n c i a l i n v e s t -
m e n t t o g e t a s u c c e s f u l o p e r a t i o n g o i n g .
A n d K i i l s g a a r d s a i d t h e s t r e a m w o u l d h a v e t o b e
d r e d g e d , w h i c h c o u l d s t i r c o n s i d e r a b l e e n v i r o n m e n -
t a l a n d p o l i t i c a l o p p o s i t i o n .
D r e d g e m i n i n g i n v o l v e s d i g g i n g u p a n d p r o c e s s i n g
r i v e r b e d s f o r t h e i r m i n e r a l s . B e a r V a l l e y C r e e k
f l o w s i n t o t h e m i d d l e f o r k o f t h e S a l m o n R i v e r ,
w h i c h e n j o y s s p e c i a l p r o t e c t i o n u n d e r t h e f e d e r a l
W i l d a n d S c e n i c R i v e r s A c t .
J'. Qa l -3 / )) Oc o-)
Gold found
near Grimes
125 years ago
Rush gave boost
to Idaho City, Boise
Today is a red - letter day in the
history of southern Idaho. On
Aug. 2, 1862, just 125 years ago,
D.H. Fogus found gold on
Grimes Creek in Boise Basin,
setting off a rush unparailleled in
the history of the Pacific: North-
west.
Fogus was leader of one of
three parties of prospectors that
had met in the Owyhee country
while on the trail of a mythical
lost Blue Bucket mine, long a
part of the lore of the Oregon
Trail.
Moses Splawn and George
Grimes led the other two parties
that joined Fogus in a determi-
nation to explore the Boise Basin
area to the northeast.
Since Boise valley was the
home of Shoshoni Indian bands,
joining forces was motivated
primarily by a desire for greater
strength in case of hostilities.
Moses Splawn's interest in
Boise Basin had been aroused by
a conversation he had once had
with a Bannock Indian who told
him that there was gold in that
region. Some historians are
skeptical about this story, since
Idaho Indians had traditionally
never shown any interest in the
yellow metal that white men
would suffer, die or kill to get.
There is the possibility, of
course, that the Bannock had
watched miners at work in
North Idaho and knew what gold
looked like. The problem with
that is, what was a Bannock
doing far from home at Florence
or Elk City, where he could have
talked to Splawn?
After a cautious approach to
the Basin, in which the party
managed to avoid the Boise
Shoshoni, prospecting began
along the creeks. On Aug. 2,
1862, D.H. Fogus found rich de-
posits of placer gold at what
would be named Boston Bar on
�C.c5 �2 , cl d'`7
Idaho Historical Society
Grimes Pass, named for an ill -fated prospector.
His fenced grave is at left in this old print.
Grimes Creek.
George Grimes, for whom the
creek was named, would prob-
ably have foregone the honor if
he could. He was shot from am-
bush just a week after the initial
strike at Boston Bar. His com-
panions blamed the killing on In-
dians, hastily buried him in a
prospect hole, and headed for
Walla Walla to get supplies and
reinforcements.
The legend persists that
Grimes was killed by one of his
own party and not by Indians,
but we shall never know.
Grimes Pass, on the divide be-
tween the Basin and Garden
Valley, is the site of the unfortu-
nate prospector's grave,
marked by a later monument.
In October, 1862, the prospec-
tors were back with supplies to
last the winter. Pioneer City,
first called Hog'em, and Idaho
City, first called Bannack, were
both started that month. When
word got out in Portland, Walla
Walla and Lewiston that some
miners were getting $200 in gold
dust to the pan, the mad rush
was on.
Winter is no time for placer
mining, since the needed water
is frozen, but thousands poured
into Boise Basin anyway. They
wanted to stake their claims and
be ready to start getting rich in
the spring.
Without the gold discovery on
Grimes Creek in 1862, Boise
would probably not have been
founded in 1863. Without the
huge shift in population from the
mines of North Idaho to Boise
Basin, Boise could never have
become the capital of Idaho
Territory in 1864.
Rare deposits
of minerals
discovered
BY ERIC BECHTEL
The Star -News
Long Valley and Bear Valley
are potential major sources of in-
gredients necessary for research
into superconductors, a recent
U.S. Geological Survey study
says.
The study of an about
8,000- square -mile area from the
eastern side of Long Valley to
east of Challis shows the area has
large quantities of "black sand"
deposits.
Contained in these black sand
deposits are scarce rare -earth
minerals, including monazite and
euxenite. Monazite contains
substances called cerium, lan-
thanum and neodymium oxides
as well as thorium and uranium.
Euxenite contains yttrium.
Both lanthanum and yttrium
are now being used in research to
develop room - temperature super-
conductors, or materials which
will conduct electricity with no
loss of energy at high
temperatures.
Currently, superconductivity is
produced by cooling materials to
near absolute zero, or -459
degrees Fahrenheit. Because it is
expensive and difficult to main-
tain materials at such low
temperatures, scientists are sear-
ching for materials which will
superconduct at higher
temperatures.
Both lanthanum and yttrium
alloys are being used to develop
these superconductors. Accor-
ding to current scientific reports,
however, yttrium alloys have pro -.
ved the most promising supercon-
ducting materials yet.
Yttrium is the principal ele-
ment of euxenite in Bear Valley,
and the predominate mineral in
Bear Valley is euxenite, said Thor
Kiilsgaard, co- author of the U.S.
Geological Survey report.
Monazite and other heavy
minerals identified in the survey
were mined in the 1950s for their
radioactivity, Kiilsgaard said,
and some of the dredge piles are
still visible. "It's not a question
Stir (VeU)S
of whether it's there or not. It's
been mined before," he said.
He said his survey was only
meant to identify areas with
mineral content and to try to give
an indication about which areas
have the highest content.
He said figures in the study are
just estimates, and that if so-
meone were to mine the area, dif-
ferent values would probably be
discovered.
Mining the material might be
impossible because of pressure
from environmental groups and
current laws regulating dredging
and restricting air pollution, he
said.
the _ 5km j
Mementos of,x
mining
Brick kilns produced charcoal for eastern
Idaho smelter
By SHEILA ROBERTSON
Special to The Idaho Statesman
ike a cache of
colossal gumdrops
forgotten by some
passing giant, four
brick kilns lie
nestled around a
spring in the foothills of Idaho's
Lemhi Range.
Antelope outnumber people in
this sparsely populated part of
Lemhi County, but according to
Targhee National Forest
archaeologist Jim McDonald, a
town called Woodland was
located on the flat southwest of
the kilns 100 years ago.
It was home to 150 Italian and
Irish immigrants and native
Americans who spent six years
cutting the forests and
producing charcoal for the lead
smelter at Nicholia.
"I estimate that 26 to 25
million board feet of lumber
were cut to produce the
charcoal there," McDonald
says.
He says it is possible to see
where those trees stood by
looking west and northwest
toward the foothills from the
kilns. The brief but harsh
history of this piece of Idaho
mining is written on the Forest
Service interpretive signs along
the trail around the kilns.
The four rust - colored ovens.
each 20 feet tall and 25 feet in
diameter, are the only ones left
of 16 kilns that once produced
charcoal for a multi - million
dollar lead - smelting business at
the abandoned mining town of
Nicholia, about 14 miles
southeast across the Birch
Creek Valley.
Few ghosts are left in this
crumbling town located a
couple of miles below the Viola
mine, but at one time Nicholia
boasted a population of 400.
Most were men who toiled to
move the heavy ore out of
seams deep in the earth. Many
were chronically sick from lead
poisoning.
But life had its lighter
moments, too. Back then
Nicholia had 10 saloons, two
wholesale liquor
establishments, and a roller
skating rink. "Roller skating
was quite the fad in the 1880's,"
says McDonald.
Nicholia also had the only
smelter in the area. Ore was
hauled in from the Texas and
Spring Mountain Districts, later
known as Gilmore and Hahn to
supplement that from the Viola
mine. At one time the Viola was
the largest producer of lead ore
in the state outside of the Coeur
d'Alene Valley. Ore from the
mine was transported to
Nicholia's smelter by a 11 /Z mile
aerial gravity tramway. Lead
bullion produced at the smelter
was shipped to the railroad
head at Camas, a now -
abandoned town near Dubois,
by wagon and then by rail to
Eastern markets.
The wagons returned from
Camas loaded with coke
delivered by railroad from
Pennsylvania. The smelting
process required coke and the
charcoal produced by the kilns.
The kilns were built in 1883,
shortly after the Viola was
developed. Laborers dug clay at
Jump Creek eight miles east of
the kilns and made the bricks to
build the huge ovens. They
logged the foothills, cutting
stands of Douglas fir, and
hauled the logs about 2 miles
back to the flat. The logs were
split into 4 -foot lengths and
packed tightly into the kilns
through the lower door. When
the floor was full, the dome was
filled through the upper door in
the back. After a kiln was
loaded a fire was lit in the
center and sheet -iron doors
were put into place to seal off
the openings. Drafts were
regulated by vents in the base
and by adjusting the upper door.
Loading the kiln, converting
the wood to charcoal and
unloading took one to three
weeks.
He estimates that 100,000
cords of wood were processed
in the kilns during the years
they were in operation.
In 1887, the vein of ore at the
Viola ran out. A collapse in lead
and silver prices and a fire that
burned the hoisting works
closed the smelter and ended
the demand for charcoal.
Over the years 12 of the kilns
have been torn down and hauled
away for building materials.
Bricks went as far as Leadore
and Idaho Falls. The rest are
protected by the Targhee
National Forest.
The Forest Service is in the
middle of a project to improve
the interpretive signs and trail
around the kilns. A pamphlet on
the site is expected to be ready
by summer. Pamphlets on the
area will be available at the
Dubois Ranger Station.
To preserve this piece of
history, District Ranger Grant
Thorson at the Dubois Ranger
Station, is looking for volunteers
interested in stabilizing the
kilns. Anyone interested,
especially those experienced in
masonry, should contact him at
374 -5422.
1'he 5 *d �e!iymavn AN1 -ch 10 ; I�SS
Immigrants and native Americans labored for six years cutting trees and feeding the Birch
Creek Kilns northeast of Arco.
How to get to the kilns
To get to the Birch Creek
Charcoal Kilns, drive north
31 miles on Idaho 28 from
its junction with Idaho 22
northeast of Arco.
The route travels
between the Beaverhead
Mountains of the Bitterroot
Range on the east and the
Lemhi Range on the west.
The crest of the
Beaverhead Mountains
marks the Continental
Divide. Turn left, or west, at
the sign and historical
marker and follow the dirt
road six miles to the kilns.
Drifts have been reported
in the area in recent weeks
— it may be necessary to
walk in the last 1/2 mile.
Four -wheel drive vehicles
are recommended for
spring travel.
Mud is a hazard when
the road is wet, but when
dry it is passable to all
vehicles. For a detailed
road map of this area, you
can purchase a forest
recreation map for $1 at
the Dubois Ranger Station.
T hG sfa-Fe- satidh De- c- 5� /9�3
Seven sites in Idaho proposed
for trial of innovative cleanup
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Seven mining
and mixed -waste sites in Idaho,
including four at the Idaho Na-
tional Engineering Laboratory,
have been listed as potential pi-
lot projects sponsored by the
Western Governors' Association
to demonstrate cleanup tech-
nology.
"These Idaho projects have
been identified as classic cleanup
challenges, and if our predictions
are correct, they will be solved
more quickly through the work
of the (governors') committee,"
Gov. Cecil Andrus said Friday.
"The technologies we use in
these projects hold great poten-
tial for use in other, similar
-waste cleanup projects through -
out he world."
Andrus is attending the West-
ern Governors' Association con-
ference in Las Vegas. The group
has a federal advisory panel,
Demonstrate On -Site Innovative
Technologies — DOIT. Members
- include the secretaries of De-
fense, Interior and Energy, the
administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and
Andrus and the governors of Ne-
vada, Arizona and California.
Three places in Idaho affected
by waste from mining activity
were identified for possible feder-
al grants to fund innovative
cleanup.
Andrus said they are Triumph
Mine in Blaine County, Black-
bird Mine on a major tributary
to the Salmon River in Central
Idaho and the Coeur d'Alene Riv-
er Basin in northern Idaho.
A mixed -waste working group
focusing on waste that includes
radioactive and hazardous mate-
rial listed four sites at INEL for
potential demonstration proj-
ects. They are the Rad and Haz
Mat Measurement Systems, the
Rapid TRU Monitoring Lab, the
Dig Face Characterization and
the Fixed Plasma Hearth.
Findings of working groups
were presented to the governors
Friday and will be presented to
the entire panel next month for
proposed action.
Earlier, Andrus told the con-
vention that states need a stron-
ger role as the federal govern-
ment re- examines its cleanup of
contamination at federal facili-
ties. He told the governors that
he has relayed his concerns to
the Clinton administration.
Sfa�Psma)7
Above: Hecla's operation has brought renewed prosperity to an area
that's seen its share of hard times. Business is up a third at the
Sunbeam Store, said owner Richard Andrews. Top photo: At the site
of the old Sunbeam Mine, Hecla Mining Co.'s Grouse Creek mine is
the largest gold and silver mining operation ever undertaken in Idaho.
Mine is golden for economy,
but does it tarnish the land?
By Tim Woodward
The Idaho Statesman
SUNBEAM — On a face of
Sunbeam Mountain, a series of
explosions erupts in quick suc-
cession. Nearby Estes Moun-
tain trembles, and a cloud of
smoke rises to drift over the
Frank Church -River of No Re-
turn Wilderness.
Seen from Estes Mountain in
the glow of a sunset reddened
by ash and haze from forest
fires, the Hecla Mining Co.'s
Grouse Creek mine in Central
Idaho is a scene of eerie im-
mensity. Heavy trucks look
like toys as they climb rocky
switchbacks in the Challis Na-
tional Forest. Buildings and
equipment are dwarfed amid
an enterprise of dizzying enor-
mity.
Expected to open for produc-
tion in October, the mine is the
largest gold and silver mining
operation ever undertaken in
Idaho.
A high -tech wonder unima-
gined by the sourdoughs who
mined here, it has brought re-
newed prosperity to the upper
Salmon River area. With its
neighbor, the Thompson Creek
molybdenum (a hardener for
steel) mine near Clayton, the
Grouse Creek mine has turned
bust to boom.
The gargantuan mine also
has environmentalists warning
about potential damage to land
nestled between the Sawtooth
National Recreation Area and
the Frank Church -River of No
Return Wilderness, the largest
wilderness area in the lower 48
states.
h- ,4 XG11, r b
LP}lil-Wulluu r vtul 11V W, Photos by Katherine Jones /The Idaho Statesman
with construction winding down Dust and echoes from an explosion roll down Sunbeam Mountain as
apd the work force reduced to preparations continue at Hecla Mining Co.'s Grouse Creek mine,
3E5, competition for housing is
intense. expected to open for production in October.
"I got a request for a rental
the other day from Missoula,
Montana," said Jim Turk, who
works at the Chamber of Com-
merce in Stanley (population
71). "I said, `Lady, there aren't
any.' They're staying in motels,
tonts, you name it. If this keeps
up, they'll have to change the
population signs."
Todd Story, a foreman with
tie Gundle Construction Co. of
Houston, spent two weeks in
Challis before finding a place to
live in Stanley.
"It's 13 miles to work, but that
beats 40 from Challis," he said.
";Anything closer than this is
out of the question."
' Many see the mine as an eco-
nomic bonanza in an area where
hard times are recent memories.
When the Cyprus Minerals Co.
closed the Thompson Creek
mine in 1992, unemployment
t`Opped 11.9 percent. Mining is
the bedrock of the area's fragile
economy, with government sec-
ond and agriculture a distant
third.
"Quite a few of the local guys
have been out of work, so this
has been, a good deal for them,"
said Bret Baird of Salmon's
Peach Creek Construction Co.
"'You can't hardly find anybody
to do commercial work around
here now. Everybody's working.
. We get $50 more a day here
than we would in Salmon."
At the Sunbeam Store and
Motel, business is up a third.
"Most winters we close," own
er Richard Andrews said. "Not
last winter."
_.:The Thompson Creek mine re-
opened this year under new
ownership and employs 150.
Hecla's Grouse Creek mine,
though highly automated, will
have a work force of 180 and an
annual payroll of about $6 mil-
lion. The company, said the mine
will add $1 -2 million annually to
the local tax base.
The reason Hecla is willing to
risk a fortune ($90 million to
date in construction costs) on an
old mine is a high -tech process
that mines minerals previously
too difficult and expensive to
extract. Ore is crushed, ground
and dumped into vats, where
minerals are extracted with a
cyanide solution. Hecla said the
process becomes profitable when
gold reaches $355 per ounce.
Current prices are about $385.
The scope of the operation is
staggering. Every day, 6,000
tons of ore from two pits and
two underground mines will be
sliced from mountainsides and
processed. The mine will operate
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
for eight to 10 years, possibly
longer. The value of the miner-
als to be extracted has been esti-
mated at $379 million.
Under the 1872 mining law
that opened the West to hard -
rock mining, Hecla pays the fed-
eral government $5 an acre for
mining patents. Patents transfer
title on public lands to private
ownership.
The 1872 law remains on the
books despite criticism from en-
Mining talk
Here are some common
mining terms defined:
■ Dredge. Large floating
machinery used in underwater
excavation for the purpose of
recovering mineral deposits.
■ Lode. A fissure in rock
filled with mineral. Lode, as
used by miners, is nearly syn-
onymous with the term "vein,"
as used by geologists.
■ Placer deposit. A mass of
gravel, sand or similar material
resulting from crumbling and
erosion of solid rocks and con-
taining particles or nuggets of
gold or other valuable minerals
that originated from rocks or
veins.
■ Tunnel. A horizontal or
nearly horizontal underground
passage that is open to the at-
mosphere at both ends. Such a
passage that is not open at both
ends is called an "adit."
vironmental groups and efforts
to update it. For its Grouse
Creek -area patents, according to
the Mineral Policy Center in
Washington, D.C., Hecla is pay-
ing $2,230. To that, the company
adds development costs of
$20,000 per acre. The patents
cover roughly 500 acres.
The patenting process, in the
view of three Idaho conserva-
tion groups, is an "outrageous
rip -off of public resources."
The Idaho Conservation
League, Boulder -White Clouds
'/: ti, o, la,
Photo courtesy of the Boulder -White Clouds Council
Where once nestled Pinyon Lake Basin, Hecla has built its tailings dam
As compensation, the company rehabilitated other wetlands.
Katherine Jones /The Idaho Statesman
Lynne Stone, a staff worker with the Boulder -White Clouds Council,
has devoted her summer to opposing the Grouse Creek Project on
Sunbeam Mountain. ''We've lost this one.'' she said.
Hecla Grouse g
mining, logging, grazing and
28
Min
road - building in the Challis Na-
Creek
tional Forests and six others in
c=
Idaho, until management plans
13 E
are reviewed by the National
Boise
Marine Fisheries Service. Both
requests are
f.;hallis
pending.
The Idaho Fish & Game De-
partment and the U.S. Fish and
21 Sunbeam
75
Wildlife Service both have ex-
pressed opposition to the
Stanley Cla on N
project.
"We don't usually come out in
Council and Idaho Watersheds
total opposition to a project, but
Project have asked for a morato-
there were problems we didn't
rium on mineral development,
think we're getting resolution
expansion, exploration and pat-
through the Forest Service pro -
enting in the area. They worry
cess," USFWS biologist Alison
about trucks carrying toxic sub-
Beck Haas said. "The biggest
stances on narrow river high-
concern was the Pinyon Basin
ways, acid mine drainage, and
wetlands.... When all was said
sedimentation, which they see
and done and the Forest Service
as a potential threat to Idaho's
had signed off, we were not espe-
endangered salmon.
cially pleased."
Endangered chinook and
Hecla has converted the 4.5-
sockeye salmon also are at the
acre Pinyon Basin wetlands to a
heart of a request by the Sierra
tailings dam but has worked to
Club Legal Defense Fund, Wil-
_rehabilitate other nearbv wet -
derness Society and Pacific Riv-
lands as compensation. The
ers Council for an injunction on
company considers the mine a
showplace of environmental
f 3 P q vs
safeguards and has reclamation
plans to compensate for damage
after it finishes mining.
Yankee Fork District Forest
Ranger Greg Johnson calls the
company's precautions "more
than adequate. For an activity
that size, sitting on an anadro-
mous (salmon spawning) drain-
age, I think things have gone
very well."
Conservationists aren't con-
vinced. The mine is on Jordan
Creek, which flows into the
Yankee Fork, which flows into
the Salmon River. Lynne Stone,
a staff worker for the Boulder -
White Clouds Council, said that
Hecla's wetland efforts don't be-
gin to compensate for loss of the
Pinyon Basin wetlands and that
the mine potentially could de-
grade watersheds.
"Look at this," she said, point-
ing to scattered hay bales and
black plastic the company is us-
ing as sediment barriers. "This
project never should have been
allowed to happen."
Non - environmental concerns
tend to be growth- oriented. Cus-
ter County Sheriff's deputies
handled 131 complaints in June,
up from 15 the preceding June.
The increase was partially at-
tributed to more people.
Speed bumps have been in-
stalled outside the Sunbeam
Store. In Clayton (population
26), the number of bars has in-
creased from two to three.
"The mining boom can be a
scary thing for a little town like
this," Clayton nurse Kathy
Richmond said.
Scary or not, the boom is en-
dorsed from the streets of Clay-
ton to the state's highest offices.
Gov. Cecil Andrus, who first
won office campaigning against
molybdenum mining in the
White Clouds, said he supports
the Grouse Creek Project.
"Sometimes my environmen-
tal friends just drive me to the
brink," the governor said. "Hec-
la has met every requirement
we've asked of them.
. I can show you a thou-
sand sins of the past that we
need to clean up, but modern -
day mining is a plus. The salmon
problem isn't with mining in
Idaho; it's those eight blocks of
concrete downstream."
Even Stone, who has devoted
her summer to opposing it, ad-
mits the mine is likely to open
on schedule.
"We've lost this one," she
said. "But the question is where
will they go next. ... I'll do
anything I can to make sure this
is the last open -pit mine in the
Salmon River mountains, the
foothills to the Frank Church -
River of No Return Wilderness."
i 177E
Diamond hunters will
continue McCall search
BY ROGER PHILLIPS
The Star-News
Diamonds are forever, and
searching for them takes almost as
long.
A team of prospectors repre-
senting a Canadian mining com-
pany is returning to the McCall
area to resume the hunt for the
precious gems.
Two years ago, Golconda Gold
Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, discover-
ed rare minerals that are associated
with diamonds in the Big Creek
area between McCall and New
Meadows. But actual mining — if
it ever occurs — is still many years
down the road.
Golconda has drilled 30 test
holes and 14 of them have con-
tained lamporite and kimberlite,
which frequently are found in ore
that contains diamonds. The pros-
pectors have also found a particu-
lar type of garnet that has been
associated with diamonds in other
areas of the world.
"It's nice to find out you have
that kind of rock," said Guenter
Leidtke, president of Golconda
Gold. "We know it goes together
with diamonds, but they (garnets)
are more common than diamonds."
Diamonds are formed under in-
tense heat and pressure about 100
miles beneath the earth's surface.
Volcanic activity brings them near.
.the surface through "pipes," which
contain the diamond - bearing ore.
The pipes range in size from 10 to
60 acres in size and extend deep
into the earth.
The Golconda team has not yet
found any diamonds in the area,
but historical records at the
Smithsonian Institute indicated dia-
monds were discovered in Little
Goose Creek in 1913. Also, unsub-
stantiated rumors said a 19 -carat
stone was found in 1946 or 1947,
but there is no recorded evidence
to support it.
The team has outlined five ar-
eas located miles apart where the
ore occurs. The next step will be to
drill two 200 -foot test holes that
will yield 10 tons of rock each and
hopefully produce some diamonds,
Leidtke said.
The miners typically do a series
of drillings to determine what they
have beneath them, and Golconda
plans sample drilling next month.
"This is a big step," Liedtke
said. "This is the moment of truth.
Either we have it, or we have to step
back and scratch our heads."
Only about one in 100 pipes
contains actual diamonds, and only
25 percent of those are economi-
cally possible for mining.
A ton of ore might only produce
one stone, and the average for a
high - quality mine is about one-
quarter carat per ton. But finding
actual diamonds still does not mean
mining is feasible, Liedtke said. A
percentage of the stones must also
be gem quality for the mine to be
profitable.
"You have to figure out how
many are gem quality. The gem
quality are the ones that make you
money," he said.
If actual diamonds are found
near McCall, Golconda is still at
the beginning of a long path that
leads to large scale mining because
a large -scale operation costs hun-
dreds of millions of dollars.
"You don't spend that kind, of
money on a 10 -ton sample," Liedtke
said.
However, a successful diamond
mine can be wildly profitable, reap-
ing billions of dollars worth of the
precious stones, he said.
The next step would be a 200 to
300 -ton sample, and if that looks
promising, another sample of 3,000
to 5,000 tons. At that point, the
company would be 60 percent sure
that mining would be feasible,
Liedtke said.
But even that doesn't mean the
mine would be a sure thing.
"As soon as you have the re-
sults, you have to go through get-
ting the permits and raising money,"
Liedtke said.
Mineinwi Iderness may'
Miner seeks permit
to work old claim
east of McCall
By Rocky Barker
The Idaho Statesman
A miner has applied for a per-
mit to reopen a gold mine in the
Frank Church -River of No Re-
turn Wilderness.
Jack Walker, owner of Ameri-
can Independence Mines and
Minerals Inc. of Big Creek, pro-
._-,
poses reconstructing 2.7 miles of
road to the Golden Hand Mine so
he can explore and reopen the
underground mine.
He has filed a plan of opera-
tion with the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice, which is conducting a pre-
liminary environmental review.
The mine is 40 miles east of
McCall.
Federal wilderness areas are
closed to motorized vehicle traf-
fic and logging. Roads into the
2.2 million -acre Frank Church -
River of No Return Wilderness
were closed when it was estab-
lished in 1980.
However, valid existing min-
ing claims were protected.
Walker successfully fought a
15 -year battle to prove the claim
valid.
Now the Forest Service must
provide "reasonable access," said
Jim Egnew, Payette National
Forest minerals program man-
ager. But that doesn't mean it
has to allow trucks.
"It could be a--backpack or
horses," Egnew said.
"There is a long way to go be-
fore this is going to happen."
Walker has a small mill on pri-
vate land outside the wilderness.
He has been working claims in
the area for more than 40 years.
Walker could not be reached
for comment. But Pat Holmberg,
who mines in central Idaho and
knows Walker, said the Forest
Service would be breaking the
law, if it prevented Walker from
mining his claim.
"Jack is an honest man trying
to make an honest living and
being hampered by every possi-
ble thing that could be put in his
way," Holmberg said. "If they
can stall long enough for people
to run out of money or die, they'll
have won the battle."
The 1872 Mining Act gives
miners with valid claims a right
to mine public land without pay-
ing a royalty, and to buy the land
for a fraction of its value.
Active mining took place on
the Golden Hand between 1932
and 1941. All that's left is a road
system, underground mine
shafts and drifts, waste rock
dumps and a few support build-
ings. All the land is public.
"The Forest Service should
buy them out or shut them
down," said Mike Medberry of
the Idaho Conservation League.
"There are places that mining
shouldn't be done, and the River
of No Return is one of them."
Fewer than a dozen mining
claims remain in the River of No
Return wilderness, Egnew said.
But McCall resident Jim John-
ston said he worries that reopen-
ing the Golden Hand would set a
precedent that could open the
way to larger claims being reac-
tivated.
"I think it illustrates the need
for reforming the law," he said.
The Golden Hand lies in the
watershed of Big Creek, a tribu-
tary of the Middle Fork of the
Salmon River and a ,spawning
stream for endangered Snake
River chinook salmon.
Holmberg said she mines in
salmon streams and is able to
meet the requirements of the
reopen
Wilderness mine
A small mining company wants to
reopen a mine and 2.7 miles of road
in the Frank Church -River of No
Return Wilderness.
Golden
Endangered Species Act.
"It can be done if you work
with federal employees that be-
lieve miners have a statutory
right to mine," she said.
The Forest Service will take
public comment on the project
until Jan. 15, then decide
whether it must write an envi-
ronmental assessment or a more
extensive environmental impact
statement.
Hydraulic mining on Granite Creek was big business in the early 1900s
Gold rash tales often overlook
:Granite Creek mining history
Placer mining, which began in
Boise Basin after gold was discov-
ered along Grimes Creek in 1862,
continued well into this century.
Most people have heard of the early
gold rush that made Idaho City a
roaring boom town for a few years,
but relatively little attention has
been paid to the mining history of
Granite Creek.
In addition to Grimes Creek, there
were important placer operations on
More's creek and Granite Creek. The
appropriately named town of Placer-
ville grew up on Granite Creek, num-
bering at its peak about 300 buildings.
While Placerville is well known, its
nearby neighbor, Granite Creek is
not. It too became "a brisk little min-
ing camp," that The Statesman de-
scribed in January, 1874:
"It boasts of two stores, two sa-
loons, one hotel, livery stable,
butcher sthop and blacksmith shop,
with goodly numbers of `celestials' as
Idaho
Yesterdays
By Arthur Hart,
adjuncts. (Chinese often were called
"celestials.)"
Hydraulic mining, in which water
under pressure is used to wash down
gravel bars to get at the placer gold,
was an early development that enor-
mously increased the amount of
gravel that could be processed. By
the 1870s it was the standard method
used.
On April 29, 1875, The Statesman
reported that the season had started,
and that "the hydraulics" were
going. These consisted of nozzles fed
by gravity flow from flumes and
ditches, generating enough pressure
to wash the gravel down the sluice
boxes where the gold particles were
trapped in riffles.
Chinese miners were an important
part of the Granite Creek placer op-
erations for more than 30 years. In
1876, The Statesman noted that 60 to
1110 Chinese were employed in the
Granite Creek fields. In 1897 the Chi-
nese, who had leased placer ground
from whites (since they were ex-
cluded from ownership), were pay -
ine 55 percent of the take to the own-
ers and paying all the expenses out of
their 45 percent share.
Mike and John Leary were often
called "the Placer Kings" of Granite
Creek by the newspapers. By mid -,
summer each year, when the peak of
the available water for placering had
passed, The Statesman avidly re-
ported on the amount of gold the
Granite Creek miners brought to the
U.S. Assay Office in Boise.
On July 28, 1894, Mike Leary, one
of the principal owners, delivered
$40,000, representing the four months
work just past. K.P. Plowman, an-
other pioneer placer operater,
brought in $16,000 at the same time.
In 1897, John and Mike Leary, R.
Gunderson and Patrick Brogan were
"down from the basin" with their
annual cleanup, and in 1898 the news-
paper reported that John Leary of
Placerville "has owned all of the
water of Granite Creek, both west
and east forks, and also that of Il-
linois Gulch, since 1865 ..."
The Leary claims, amounting to
about 1,000 acres, produced $40,000 in
1899, $42,000 in 1901, and $40,000 in
1902, according to the pages of The
Statesman. Other members of the
company frequently mentioned,
when the Granite Creek gold was
brought in, were Patrick Brogan,
John Manning, and John and James
Murnana.
Memoirs of an Old Prospector
by
Noel Routson
Edited by Peter Preston
for the
Heritage Program
Payette National Forest
U.S. Dept of Agriculture
Intermountain Region
March 1997
li
Introduction to
"Memoirs of an Old Prospector"
Noel Routson, the Old Prospector, was one of those unique individuals who
grew to manhood and spent most of his life in the central Idaho wilderness, in
what is now a management unit of the USDA, Forest Service, the Frank
Church - River of No Return Wilderness.
Noel arrived in the wilderness in 1910 when he was a year and a half old, in the
company of his parents, John and Lettie Routson, who were establishing a
homestead on lower Big Creek, near the mouth of Cabin Creek. The Routson
b� family at that time also included Noel's older siblings, John, Edna, Adelia, and
Emmit. The Routson homestead was the former "ranch" of the Caswell brothers
who, a few years earlier, had been instrumental in establishing the gold boom
at Thunder Mountain. Scattered along Big Creek were a half dozen other home-
steaders and miners who were a mutually - supporting "family ".
1
Although the Idaho National Forest had been established in 1908, the Big
Creek - Thunder Mountain area was not included in the National Forest until
1919. Access to the Big Creek area was a journey of several days by horse-
back via Warren, the South Fork crossing, and over Elk Summit into the Big
Creek drainage. This far -away wilderness became Noel Routson's experience
for the learning period of his childhood. Here he learned horsemanship, wood-
craft, and the ways of Nature.
Staying at the old Caswell ranch only a year, the Routson family moved up-
stream on Big Creek in 1911 to take over the Yardley place at the mouth of
Acorn Creek. This became home for the Routson's until 1925. John Senior
became the Big Creek mail carrier for many years, which provided a meager
little bit of from
G
but steady income which was supplemented by extracting a gold
the Werdenhoff mine. Noel and his siblings were taught the basics of reading,
writing, and 'rithmatic by mother Lettie, and father John taught them woodcraft
and about prospecting. The passion for prospecting and mining stayed with
Noel for his lifetime.
t
Noel was the baby of the family for a number of years, until Robert Grant
Routson was born at the Acorn Creek ranch in 1916. Robert was the last of
the Routson children. As the boys matured they all went to work for the
Forest Service as temporary summer employees, building trails, bridges,
telephone lines, lookout houses, and whatever work was to be done. They
were all workmates of my long- deceased father -in -law Don Park, and all
worked for Dan LeVan, the Forest Ranger at Big Creek from 1924 to 1950.
Among the Big Creek extended family was Ranger Dan LeVan's son Danny
who came to look upon Noel Routson as a mentor. Dan Jr remained in close
rcontact
with Noel throughout Noel's life.
1
The Routson family lived a most unusual life in the wilderness. Noel's
older sister, Adelia Routson Parke, authored a history of the family,
published in 1955, titled "Memoirs of an Old Timer." Noel's story,
"Memoirs of an Old Prospector," has overlap with sister Adelia's book,
but is Noel's personal story of the Routson family as seen from his eyes.
I had given thought to editing Noel's manuscript to make it grammatically
correct and to add information to clarify some of the story elements; but
I decided against editing the manuscript because it would have lost the
the flavor and impact of Noel's words. Thus, "Memoirs of an Old Prospector"
is presented here as Noel Routson wrote it.
Dan LeVan Jr, knowing that I was collecting historical information about
early days in the central Idaho wilderness, led me to seek his mentor
Noel Routson, as Dan had heard that Noel had written an autobiography.
I did meet with Noel in July 1995 for a tape- recorded interview and it was
during that meeting that Noel agreed that his "Memoirs of an Old Pros-
pector", which he wrote around 1980, could be published by his former
employer, the Forest. Service, as a document for the Heritage Program. I feel
fortunate to have had that meeting with Noel Routson, to shake his hand, to hear
him speak and tell stories about my father -in -law and other old timers when they
were workmates in the 1930's. Noel died not quite a year later on June 17,
1996; he was 87.
Dan LeVan Jr, upon hearing of Noel's pending demise in early June 1996,
composed the poem, immediately following this introduction, to honor his
long time friend and mentor. Noel Routson will be remembered, to use
Dan's words, as "an exceptional man, dear man of the Forest Men."
Rpter Preston, Editor
Mathews, Virginia
February 1997
II
SILENT FOOTSTEPS OF A NATURE MAN
by
Dan H. LeVan Jr
They all walked with silent footsteps, those folks of the forest and the surround-
ing wilderness. They were there by choice and a desire to be adopted by the
elements that surrounded them, challenging them to become inseparable with
whatever they were becoming a part of - Nature: their most honest soul mate
and their greatest adversary. They were those of any blood, and of any time,
who would be children of Mother Earth. It would not be of them to disturb the
quiet of Nature's way, nor to interfere in pre- destined conflicts that were the
ways of balance. No, they would step around these happenings, but they would
also stop and stand against designed wrongs that would destroy that balance.
Nature was always their conscience, always walking with them, behind them,
within them, never to be lost. Noel Routson, my dear friend, you are a Nature
Man:
You with silent footsteps who, even now,
Walks with the beauty of Nature,
God's beauty, God's Nature, and you,
Quite perfect, for you are Nature.
Now, as you were then, with small bare feet,
Walking, never stopping, even in your sleep,
Small bare feet that took you through your dreams,
All your dreams.
Bare footprints beside puppy footprints,
Can you count the miles?
The oozes of mud,
The pain of playing.
The happiness as she stooped
To take the mountain sunflower from you,
After you walked those hot endless miles,
Clear up the mountain to get the special one.
Small bare footprints where you saw the frog,
Footprints circling those of a fawn;
Little footprints with big footprints,
Going the same way, together.
Footprints left everywhere a boy could leave footprints,
Even some of those were backtracked,
They had to be
If you were going to learn.
Footprints in the mountains, collected in memory,
Sunken into history, grown naturally, through your years,
Growing still in thought, as beautiful as ever,
Letting us read your story...
A story of beautiful life paralleling God's plan.
You have followed in His footsteps well; your footsteps are good,
Not easy to follow in goodness, respect, kindness, and love,
For you are an exceptional man, dear man of the forest men.
We stand! Now, waiting to follow your fine footprints.
We stand in awe of your example in life,
Of what is grand, of what it should be.
We honor you, we salute you!
We love you, now more than ever, as
Step by step, your hallowed, silent footsteps
Go now without fear
Toward the top of the ridge, the step over.
For now we can but wait,
Still learning from you.
When we get there
WavMt find your footprints and follow.
IV
MEMOIRS OF AN OLD PROSPECTOR
by
Noel Routson
"It's not the gold I'm wanting as much as just finding the gold."
-- Robert Service
CHAPTER1
"Our New Home and More Happenings"
I was born in Weiser, Idaho, in 1908. At this time I had two brothers, John seven,
Emmit two, Sister Edna four and Adelia nine. When I was two years old we moved to
New Meadows, Idaho, stayed there two years and then moved to Central Idaho, a very
remote area, which is now in Idaho's Wilderness. We settled on the old Caswell place
on Big Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork (River of no Return) in 1910. This place
and vicinity are rich in historical lore, having been the center of many events in the
famous Sheepeater Campaign of 1878 and '79, when the Sheepeaters were expelled
and put on a reservation. Dave Lewis was a government packer for the soldiers, during
the Sheepeater Campaign, and he told us about several battles and maneuvers. One
battle was fought about three miles below the Caswell place, on Big Creek. At this point
the trail crossed Big Creek. When the soldiers got half way across, the Indians opened
fire from a rock formation, on the north slope. A wall of rock hid them from view and
made a regular fortress. One soldier was hit in the leg and was bleeding badly. They
was all sitting ducks and no place to maneuver. Their only escape was down river. After
about eight miles they made their stand on "Soldier bar' and held the Indians off. The
wounded soldier, Egan, died that night and was buried there, thus the name "Soldier
Bar." In about 1937 the Forest Service made a landing field there and set up a grave
marker.
After the Sheepeaters was taken to a reservation, Dave Lewis took up a homestead
about four miles upriver from Soldier Bar, and lived there for the rest of his life. He
made his living by hunting cougar. The bounty at that time was S50.00. His ranch was
small but served to furnish enough hay for his horses. He would say "there's just
enough room here to whip a dog. Dave's mind was clear as a bell. He would go back to
his Civil War days and quote dates and names to perfection. I've heard that cleanliness
is necessary for health and long life, however, in Dave's case this is not true. He died at
the age of 90, had always looked after his own needs and enjoyed good health. He
never changed clothes until they wore out, never took a bath, unless he fell in the creek,
and the dirt on his bald head was cracked like a clay mud -hole that had been in the hot
sun. His four cougar dogs lived in the house with him and, during a meal, there was
always that feeling that something was watching. You could throw a table scrap in any
direction and it would never reach the floor. Slim Vassar, a fire dispatcher for the Forest
Service, used to say, I'm always very careful, when I'm at Dave's house, not to fall
because I know I'd never get up again." Dave's sourdough jug had stalactites built -up
from the table to the floor.The way Dave lived had nothing to do with his pure heart and
true friendship. He was a grand old man and we all loved him. He was always eager to
help his neighbor and never expected anything in return. Dave Lewis can be envied for
the quiet, peaceful, happy life he led in those beautiful mountains. Worries were very
few, and each new day brought new joys. In June of 1937, Dave got sick and headed
for Big Creek Headquarters, by horseback, 35 miles. He got there the second day. We
nursed him until the doctor from Cascade arrived, and then he was taken to the Veter-
ans' hospital in Boise, Idaho, where he died soon afterwards.
One summer while we were on the Yardley place, a traveler come by from Salmon City.
He told us Dave was very sick and needed help, was down with a double hernia. Dad
and Mom got medicine etc. together and headed for Dave's place, 13 miles down river.
When they arrived, Dave had high fever and was unconscious. His hernia had come out
on both sides, the bag was swelled and black. They first gave him an enema and then
started working the hernia back in place. This took all night and by morning Dave was
resting and the fever had gone down. The next day Mother worked two balls of yarn into
the hernia openings, and Dad made a truss from buckskin. After two days Dave was up
and around and feeling fine. He was always grateful for the folks' saving his life.
"Sheepherder Bill" Borden
Mr. Borden come from the Borden milk family and was educated to become a Catholic
priest. He could talk fluently in seven languages, and had an overwhelming ability as an
orator and could hold an audience spellbound. Most people thought this brilliant man
wasted his talents living in this isolated wilderness, but who can judge that? Bill was a
good man, loved his neighbor and did many things to help those in despair and in
trouble. Maybe by words of sweet poetry or by creating an air of joviality and happiness
he managed to give them renewed strength.
During the Thunder Mountain gold rush, Bill would locate claims, even on top of the
snow, and sell them in Boise, Idaho. On one occasion he had just sold three claims and
was flush. He first went to the furniture store and bought a fancy bed, and lounging
chair. The clerk said, "Now, Mr. Borden, where do you want this delivered ?" Bill said
"take it to the jail, I will be there before long. Sure enough he was. Bill liked to imbibe,
and this had happened before. Every fourth of July, we had a big celebration in the
mining town of Warren, Idaho. I would come on several occasions with Dad. The ouin
entertainment for us kids was to comer Bill Borden and get him to recite poetry. It
seemed there was no end to what he knew. Thanatopsis, word perfect, The Raven, by
Poe, and many, many more.
On one occasion the mayor (Mr. Bailey Dustin) from South Fork of the Salmon, had a
podium built, covered with red, white and blue bunting, with a pitcher of water ready to
wet his tonsils. The crowd was gathered, the mayor had just cleared his throat to start
his patriotic speech. At this time there was a stir in the crowd. Many were laughing and
directing their attention to Bill, pushing his way toward the podium. He had a wood milk
box in one hand and a ,gallon jug of moonshine in the other. Soon Bill was standing on
the milk box, after taking a long drink from the jug, plunged into an exhilarating exhibi-
tion of oratory that started the crowd into uncontrollable laughter. All the mayor could do
was clear his throat a time or two, then bow out.
The celebration included hand drilling contests, both four and six pound hammers with
7/8 inch drill steel. One man could drill into solid granite, seventeen inches in five
minutes and two men with the six pound hammer could drill thirty -seven inches. There
was also horse races, three- legged race, greased pig, greased pole, boxing and
wrestling, baseball game, women's nail driving contest, and this all ended with a big old
time fiddle dance. George Schafer usually won the drilling contest.
One summer the storekeeper (Jess Root) received a tombstone from people who had
their grandfather in the graveyard at Warren. They offered $35.00 to place the stone on
the grave. The location was up a narrow, steep switch -back trail about 500 feet from the
main street. The stone weighed about 270 lb. The storekeeper had asked several to
2
take it there, but had no offers. It was hard to balance on a pack horse, because of its
size and weight. One day Sheepherder Bill was sitting on the porch talking, when Jess
Root jokingly said "Bill if you can pack that stone to the graveyard, you can make
$35.00." Bill without a word tied the stone securely to his Backboard, slid it to the edge
of the porch, where there was a drop of three feet. He got underneath the load, thus
helping to gain leverage. By now people were gathering to see what would happen. Bill
as usual got the crowd in a good mood, and without any hesitation gave a quick surge
upward and without a rest took the stone to the designated marker.
On one other occasion, a fisherman on the South Fork of the Salmon River had caught
at least 140 lb. of steelhead salmon. This was in April and Warren Summit still had
seven feet of snow. The fisherman sold the fish to the Warren miners. Bill Borden
volunteered to take the fish to Warren for 6 c a pound. By getting an early start he
made Warren in seven hours, a distance of twelve miles. They packed the fish in ice to
preserve them on the trip. Borden weighed 180 lb., 5 ft. 7 in. tall with broad shoulders
and a barrel chest.
On one occasion in 1904 Borden was asked to help the W. A. Edwards family move
from Warren, Idaho to Big Creek, a distance of 45 miles. The trail traversed two
summits, Warren Summit 7000 ft., and Elk Summit 8700 ft. It was in the spring and the
party hit snow on Elk Summit. The horses started floundering, so Borden had to carry
their boy Napier on his back. Napier was about four years old and was spoiled to high
heavens. "Mother's loving pet." He would kick, bawl and scream. After Bill could stand it
no longer, in exasperation he called to Mrs. Edwards, When you get this brat to Big
Creek, give him away, and make another one. Maybe you will have better luck next
time." Bill Borden died in 1935, in a small log cabin, on the South Fork, down river from
the Dustin Ranch. He had many friends, and his name was a legend throughout the
back country.
The W. A. Edwards family come from Macon, Georgia. Mr. Edwards had a law practice
there, and Mrs. Edwards was a college graduate from a highly sophisticated southern
family. They had one son, Napier. In 1902 Mr. Edwards had to give up his law practice,
in Georgia, due to poor health, and try to rejuvenate his health. Stones of the Thunder
Mountain gold rush gave him the incentive to try Idaho's back country, about 120 miles
from the nearest railroad and approximately 102 miles from the only doctor at McCall.
They took up a homestead where the Forest Service Ranger Station on Big Creek now
sets. They acquired several mining claims and built a log cabin. Their home was called
Edwardsburg and they run a Post Office there.lt was here the family spent the rest of
their lives. The Edwards family was hospitable and would always help
those in need.
In about 1909, my Dad, John Routson, was working in a quartz mine, near Edwards -
burg. We lived in a log cabin, Mother and five children. In January we had a fire that
burned down the cabin. It was early in the morning, with the temperature around 30
below zero. All Dad had time to was carry us kids outside, beyond the fire and lay us
down in the snow, wrapped in blankets. We lost our food and clothing and was destitute.
Edwards family took us in and we stayed with them until we found another cabin. I will
always have a soft spot in my heart for the Edwards family and their generosity. Later
on that spring Mother had a miscarriage, and our brother was buried near Edwardsburg.
3
t
I
CHAPTER
We Move to the Old Yardley Place
In 1911 we bought the Yardley place seven miles upstream from the Caswell ranch.
This was our home until Dad sold it to Walter Estep in 1925. Mother had been a
schoolteacher in Midvale, Idaho before she married, so each winter she taught the kids
until 1918 when we moved to Weiser, Idaho, for schooling. Dad stayed at the ranch.
Each summer he would work for Dan McCrea in a placer mine at the old Dewey mine in
Thunder Mountain until later years. He had a mail contract from Warren, Idaho to
Clover for twelve years. In the summer after school was out, my brother Emmit and I
would help Dad with his mail route. We would ride 20 miles a day between the camps.
The horses were always turned loose to graze, and next morning I would roll out at 4:30
a.m. and wrangle them. Invariably they would climb to the highest ridge in those
Salmon River Mountains. I could climb like a scared rabbit, but sometimes had a late
breakfast. The mail route was 120 miles round trip, which we made in six days.
Summer, he used horses with 120 pounds of mail limit, and winters Dad used webs,
with 65 pounds limit. At 20 miles per day, two high sum its to go over: Warren Summit,
7500 feet elevation, and Elk Summit, 8670 feet.
When I was around six years old, at the ranch, I was always interested in rocks. Would
fill my pockets every time I went out. Dad would tell me what kind they were, and this
would whet my appetite for more looking. Several years before this a Mr. Bell had
uncovered a lot of showings in this area around the ranch. So one day I stumbled on an
old tunnel. The rock was all green and about seven feet wide, and the tunnel fifty feet
long. This was a real thrill. I took some samples home, and Dad got gold colors by
panning the ore. Later we sent a sample for assay and it went 1/4 oz. gold and 6 oz.
silver.. Gold was only S20.00 an ounce then, so it wouldn't pay to work. Later I found
another long tunnel with vein four feet wide showing beautiful pyrates of iron and
chaleopyrite. It also panned. Later on I found out that the formation was granodiorite,
with some porphry dikes and belts of quartzite. Veins run easterly and the formation
northwesterly. Some lamprophyre dykes run for several miles. These I never panned or
assayed. This system of faults should be thoroughly prospected. Nearby in the same
general area, the government found formation that may be a host for yttria ores.
However it's in the Wilderness, and they keep the prospectors hobbled, with regulations.
Of course this situation may be relaxed in time.
At seven years old, I was allowed to go hunting alone, for grouse (big blues). I had a
single -shot 22 rifle, and knew how to use it. When I spotted one it took a while to get
into position, needed a rest, and then my target was just under the wing. Sometimes the
grouse would sail out of the tree for a half mile before falling. One day I started climbing
a steep bluff in order to take a short cut. When I got almost to the top I lifted my weight
just above the last rock shelf, and there, about 12 inches from my eyes, was a big
timber rattler all coiled and ready to strike. There was no warning, because he had just
shed his skin. I let all holds go, and fell to the bottom into some fine slide rock, which
cushioned my fall. After I got through shaking I made a wide circle and come out above
the snake, with a big flat rock I splattered him but good.
4
My thoughts go back to our life on the little frontier ranch. What joys we experienced.
The close bond of our family, working together and laughing a lot. We made our own
toys and dolls from anything available. They meant more to us than the most expensive
things that we have today. Each of us had our own chores to do. This gave us pride in
thinking we were part of everything, helping to push the wheel of life. Each night we
would gather around our mother, and she would read a chapter from the Bible, then
explain in simple words what the lesson meant. This served as a basic guide for all of
us. No matter what temptations came along during our life, we would always remember
the messages dear old Mom had revealed to us.
On our ranch we always raised a big garden, had a flock of chickens and two or more
milk cows. Game was plentiful. The streams were teeming with fish. The big red side
trout and Dolly Varden was our favorite. All we needed for a fishing pole was a diamond
willow (even crooked so we could fish around the bend of the river). A plain hook,
grasshoppers and salmon flies. Our creel was a forked willow. We fished for the skillet,
by watching closely, when the fish opened his mouth for the bait, slack off slightly and
then take the fish to carnp without any dawdling around.On some of our fishing trips we
would be barefoot. Our dog, old Pat, would go in the lead. Sometimes we could hear
him barking, usually this meant excitement. Seemed like Pat would always wait for us,
so we could see the fun. There all coiled to strike would be a rattle snake. Pat then
would start playing his victim by slowly circling, soon it would strike out. This was the
big mistake. Like lightning the dog would grab the snake by the middle and vigorously
shake until one half the body would fly off. This dog undoubtedly saved us from getting
bitten many times.
My brother John was about seventeen and could be considered a real mountain man.
Dad had taught him to strap, hunt and fish, and how to survive under very adverse
conditions. During the winter John would catch a variety of fur - bearing animals and hunt
cougar with the dogs. On one occasion, my sister Edna went with him on his trap line. It
was late November, with snow on the ground. The trap line took them to higher altitude,
finally topping out on a ridge overlooking a large scope of country. Just across a ravine
they noticed a hole in a big lime bluff, both got curious and decided to investigate. They
found a cave about two, feet in diameter, running back at least 20 feet to where it looked
more spacious. Right at the end was a dark form and after some eye - squinting John
could see two shiny objects about four inches apart, in the semi -dark nest. He backed
out very quickly and reported his find. After a hasty conference, it was decided John
would push his 22 rifle ahead and try to get a shot. Edna when she heard the shot was
supposed to help pull him out backwards, without any waste of time. Slowly John
crawled back, and after giving his eyes time to adjust to the darkness, the dark form
came into focus. There was no chance to use gun sights, so he pointed carefully and
pressed off a shot. Edna pulled with all her might and John wasn't exactly sleeping,
because the black form was thrashing and moving out of the cave. Upon getting out the
two kids took off for the high country, not looking back. In about an hour they returned
and there lying on the outside of the cave entrance was a big fat 2- year -old black bear,
shot in the head. When Dad heard their story he was furious that they took such a
dangerous chance. The! bear grease come in handy for the winter however.
5
it
1
CHAPTER
Happenings Around Our Mountain Home
11
In 1916 my brother Bob was bom at the Routson Ranch (Yardley place). My father and
sister Adelia helped with the birth. Mother had spent hours coaching Adelia how to cope
with any emergency also what to do in general. My father had previous experience. I
was eight years old and can remember that wonderful day very vividly. We was shock-
ing hay in the field about one o'clock, Dee came running to where Dad was working and
told him that Mother had started labor pains. We were told to wait in the barn. After two
long hours, Dad come out and said "You can all go in now and see your new brother,
everything is fine." It was sure a thrill to know that all went well. The nearest doctor was
100 miles away, at McCall, Idaho, twenty miles of that distance by rough, dangerous
horse trail and the rest wagon roads. We always figured God must have been watching
over us. Dave Lewis named our brother Robert Grant, from the Civil War generals.
two and then moved back to Weiser, Idaho, to be
We stayed on the ranch more years,
in school. Dad stayed to complete his mail contract. That fall we left the ranch for .
Weiser, it was the middle of November. We encountered many hardships. Three feet
of snow on Elk Summit to buck with horses. It was difficult to keep Robert warm under
these conditions. After four long days we arrived at Warren, Idaho, just in time to catch
the Fulton mail run to McCall. The stage was a 1917 Cadillac, the first car that most of
us had ever saw. Even to this day when I smell gasoline exhaust, my mind flashes back
to that day. Another thing I remember was the night we spent in McCall, at "The Pea-
body Hotel." Mother was starting a fire in our room. When I saw her putting those
"black rocks" on top of the kindling, I said "Mom, those rocks will put your fire out." We
had never saw coal. When we started to school it turned out that we were all ahead in
our respective grades, thanks to Mom's teaching.
Another Baby Born at the Routson Ranch
During the month of June 1920 1 was 12 and staying with my father at the Routson
Ranch on Big Creek, during school vacation. Dad hired a man to help put up the hay,
which was done by using a hand scythe or sickle. The crop usually amounted to about
15 tons of timothy and red clover. The hired man was Ed James, and his pregnant wife
and little girl about two years old. I was sleeping in the barn and Ed had been keeping a
horse, "Old Buck," in the barn for emergency. One morning at daylight I was awakened
by Ed saying hurry and come, I think my wife is going to have a baby!" I ate a hurried
breakfast and, by then, Old Buck was saddled and ready to go. Ed said "Go down to the
Conyner Ranch and get Mrs. Conyner to come help, also watch Buck when you cross
the river fords, and don't get into swimming water, he can't swim." Then I took off. Big
Creek was rolling high, muddy, swift and treacherous. It was about seven miles to the
ranch on Cabin Creek, mostly narrow, twisting trail with three fords across the river, to
'
bypass high bluffs of rock. The first ford proved to be all right with good footing. The
water was swift and hit the saddle blanket. The next ford looked very bad and I was real
shaky but Buck plunged right in and started across. About mid -way I could feel that the
water was going to be too deep for wading. I remembered what Ed had said (that Buck
couldn't swim), so I pushed myself out of the saddle and caught the tail as I went by. It
wasn't any too soon. Buck started rolling like a barrel, and the current took us down the
river. I knew how to swim, but was afraid in that raging torrent, with big boulders all
around. My head would go under and then bob up like a cork, but I managed to cling to
6
11
that tail. After about one hundred yards of drifting down river, we hit a sand bar and the
horse got its footing, about fifty feet from shore. Buck stood on that sand bar for twenty
minutes humped up and coughing. At last I remounted and we picked a route down
stream, angling towards shore. It was sure a relief to get on dry land.
When we reached the third crossing it looked worse, so I took the high water trail. When
I reached the Conyner ranch they were there, and soon we started back. This time I
took the high water trails. It was much slower but safe. When we arrived, we found Mrs.
James in good shape. A seven pound girl had been bom and Mrs. Conyner took over
from there.
Trip to Thunder Mountain
In 1915 my Dad wanted to visit the Conyners at the head of Monumental Creek, so I
was chosen to go along. We took the old high water route that started at our place, in
order to miss dangerous trails on Monumental. The trail was the same route where
Dave Lewis, Ira McGarry and three - fingered Smith traveled when they found the rich
gold ore that became a legend. The way it happened, the three old timers was coming
down from the old Dewey mine at head of Monumental Creek. The first night, they
camped at a spring, on top of a ridge high above Monumental Creek. They stayed all
night, and early the next morning one of them went after the horses that had gone down
on Monumental for better grazing. The other two men waited in camp. Ira noticed a big
black boulder of porous rock nearby and when he broke it open, it was actually held
together with threads of gold. This was the only boulder they could find, after looking all
day. Anyway, they located three claims. They decided to go after supplies, powder and
tools in Warren, Idaho so they could do their location work and try to dig down below
the overburden. Ira was going to Warren, while Dave and three - fingered Smith went to
the Lewis ranch and put up the hay crop. They promised each other not to tell anyone
about the discovery.
They went their separate ways and after three days of travel, Ira reached Warren. Ira
had a lot of dust in his throat to get rid of, so he walked briskly to the saloon. There he
met some of his old bosom friends. During the exchange of greetings and displays of
pure friendship, it was finally Ira's turn to give an account of his activities. At such
times, with the help of whiskey and companionship, one has the uncontrollable desire to
divulge one's overwhelming excitement. So Ira reached in his pocket and brought out
his beautiful specimen of gold ore and laid it on the bar. At once there was quiet in the
bar, as every man examined the rock. Then his friends started crowding around the
hero, each taking his turn buying drinks. It wasn't long, with the aid of the drinks and
congenial companionship, until Ira made a slip about the gold rock's origin. The next
morning Ira was slow in getting up and after buying his supplies it was noon before he
got started on his return trip. It wasn't until he arrived at the Dustin ranch, on the South
Fork (Salmon River) that he found out five men had passed by with horses, traveling in
the same direction. The third day when Ira got to his treasure camp, there was five of
his buddies waiting. There was nothing left to do now but join forces and search for the
bonanza. After a week of unsuccessful effort, the party broke up and ended their
prospecting activities there.
The float was on top of the ridge and had no chance to move, except by erosion. Later
years I thought back to the day Dad showed me their camp. I believe the float come
from a spring, showing red gossan and a definite fault swale. The black color of the rock
was probably caused by bomite copper ore, which is characteristic of other faults in the
7
same area. I believe more depth is what they needed. Dave Lewis told Dad the story
and he was very trustworthy and honest, but wasn't a true prospector. He thought the
rock come from a meteorite, which of course is impossible (gold melts at lower heat
levels). I always wanted to get back to this old camp ground, but never had the
opportunity.
The Thunder Mountain excitement was brought on when the Caswell brothers found
gold at the Dewey mine on Mud Creek, a tributary of Monumental. The Dewey dis-
covery was made in a clay sheer zone, between a contact of basalt and schist. Shortly
afterwards the Sunnyside was discovered, showing quartz, and the whole area turned
out to be low grade ore. This area is now being worked in 1980. The Dewey has a 25-
ton mill, and the future looks bright for years to come, if gold holds its present value.
Other Prospects
I looked the old Butler property (iron clad) over in 1934, and believe this whole district
has potential for further development and prospecting. The "iron clad" fault runs approx-
imately N.5 E. and dips S.E. 70 . The width in some places is about 14 feet and varies.
The ore in one tunnel seemed to be mostly on the hanging wall, where it showed very
high grade free gold. There are several roughly parallel quartz lenses, two of which are
followed by tunnels. I noticed near the quartz lenses there was shear planes with
various attitudes, some replacement. The general formation is in the Yellowjacket, with
quartzite and some breccia. There is also copper. The iron clad is near the head of
Copper Creek, east side of Monumental. I had a friend, "Ace Reed," who spent several
weeks prospecting on Monumental Creek and he found a 40 -foot fault over half way up
Deer Creek, running towards the "iron clad" showing. This fault panned gold and
showed copper.This draw -back to this mineralized belt is the "Wilderness" which does
not give a free hand to the prospector and mining companies. Perhaps some day these
restrictions will be lifted.
91
CHAPTER
The Jensen Brothers and More Happenings
The Jensen brothers, Eric (Spider) and Jake, lived about seven miles from the Routson
ranch, on Crooked Creek. They had a gold quartz mine and treated their rich ore with a
one stamp mill. At first they spent their winters trapping for money to start their mine
operation. Eric, Jake and sister Olga come from Finland in about 1889, and started out
from Grangeville, Idaho. On the boat coning to the U.S., both brothers were gamblers,
and they kept this profession until moving to Crooked Creek. From Grangeville they
went to the Buffalo Hump gold excitement and worked on several claims. One night in a
poker game, Eric ended up betting with an old prospector that come through from
Crooked Camp in the Thunder Mountain district. Eric put a bear hide and $100 in the fi-
nal pot, against a quit claim deed to the Snowshoe gold claim that had recently been lo-
cated. Eric won the pot and this caused the two brothers to move to our country. Sister
Olga went to Fort Bragg and lived there until her death. She married and had one son.
Here I will mention my Dad, as he played a part in the life of Jake. My father was
looked upon by neighbors as being a country doctor. He had very little training as such,
but was always willing to help, and many times risked his life in order to do what he
could. In the back country, John had saw several of his neighbors suffering from tooth
ache, with the nearest dentist over eighty miles distant by horse travel or snowshoes.
During a trip to Weiser, Idaho, John consulted with a dentist who gave him two forceps,
one real heavy for jaw teeth and one smaller, for front teeth. This dentist also spent
time showing how they should be used.
Back in the mountains it wasn't long until the neighbors heard that Routson could pull
teeth, and during the next few years, several had their teeth pulled. Usually they would
wait until the tooth was practically gone or ulcerated before they come for help. There
was nothing to ease the pain except Dad kept a jug of good whiskey on hand and
usually they drank very freely before the extraction. No charge was ever made for any
help that Dad could give; it was a matter of being a good Samaritan. Upon these tooth
pulling occasions, all five of us kids were never far away. Our Dad wouldn't allow us to
be there, but we always managed to peek from a convenient vantage point. This was a
big day, and well worth waiting for; to see the victim squirm with pain, and try to shout
to the high heavens. The operation usually took place in our yard. The patient, half
drunk, would lie down on his or her back, with John holding their arms with his knees,
left hand placed on the forehead and the forceps in his right hand. After the forceps
were in place (deep down on the tooth), they never come out without the tooth. John
was strong in the wrists and knew just how to twist for leverage. It seemed that our
sadism tendencies were appeased, for the many baby teeth that we had to have pulled.
One day our neighbor, Eric (Spider) Jensen, come to our house with a very bad
ulcerated jaw tooth and it was really painful. He asked to have it pulled. John gave him
two water glasses full of whiskey and got everything in readiness. Soon the whiskey
took over and the "Spider" was very jovial, but not to the extent of overlooking the
foreboding forceps. Then "Spider" told John that the 'toot" was very much better. (He
was a Russian Finn and had quite a brogue). Then he went on to say that his "brudder
Yake" was a bleeder and that he himself might bleed to "det." Then "Spider' started
back home, singing a Russian song. We kids were robbed of our fun, for that day. A
week went by and the Spider" showed up again, with no improvement in the tooth. He
was begging to get it pulled. Again John gave him the whiskey to help deaden the pain
and again the "Spider" tried to back out. This time John said "All you want is to drink my
whiskey that we have for medicinal purposes. Now this time the tooth is coming out."
And sure enough it did. He never bled to "det" either.
0
About December of 19'15, early in the morning, the dogs were barking, so we looked out
of the window to see what was going on. There come Spider" on a trot, towards our
house, paying no heed to our dogs (they would usually keep him bayed for a half hour,
while we enjoyed the show). However the dogs wouldn't bite, and would only bark at
those who showed fear. We could hear him holler a hundred feet away, "John, John
come quick. my brudder Yake is dying!" Then, in his excitement, he turned at the door
and started back up the trail. Dad said "Come back here, control yourself, and tell me
what happened!" After careful persuasion, "Spider" told us that his brother had not had
a bowel movement for two weeks and was out of his mind and had a high temperature.
John soon had castor oil and epsom salts, along with an enema bag and other medi-
cines, ready. "Spider" was like a quarter horse, fauncing the bit. When they started out,
John soon found out that to stay up with this little man would be almost impossible. Dad
was a powerful hiker and had gained a reputation of being one of the best, but to cope
with a man full of love and desperation and charged with adrenalin, was a different
story. They made the seven mile trip to the Jensen cabin in one and one half hours,
over a narrow, icy, steep mountain trail.
Upon entering the cabin, they found Jake in a critical condition: high fever, out of his
mind, and his stomach was bloated. Right away, Dad felt for evidence of appendicitis
but it was hard to determine with the man in this state, but something had to be tried or
it would soon be too late. Dad finally was able to give an enema but it didn't give
results. Then they both got some castor oil down brother Jake and started to gently
massage the stomach. After several hours, Jake began to respond to treatment and it
wasn't long until the fewer broke. At this time, a neighbor, Jess Root, arrived and they
were setting around talking. Jake was apparently asleep and they still didn't know
whether he had come back from the shadows. They was reminiscing about an engineer
who had come through the country the summer before and stayed all night with Jake
and Eric. Jake was trying to weld a 2 -inch steel shaft that supported his 650 -lb. stamp,
on his quartz mill. Jake only had an old- fashioned bellows to furnish air, and charcoal
instead of hard coal for heat.. The engineer watched Jake work, and soon told him that
the job couldn't be done in that fashion. A big argument ensued. To go back now to the
conversation around Jake's bedside. Jess Root said "I don't believe Jake should have
argued with a full - fledged engineer, with all of his education." Suddenly their attention
was turned to Jake. He was setting up in bed, shaking his finger at them and, in a loud
voice said "and'God, I still think I was right. It was a well known fact that Jake was
stubborn, but to assert himself at a time like this, just about took the cake. Later Jake
proved his point by welding the shaft to perfection. Eric always said "My brudder, Yake,
is a yeenus!"
That same winter, in February, we saw something coming down our trail that was hard
to figure out. The dogs were barking up a storm. In the lead was Eric, in harness, pulling
a queer - looking sled and, following behind was his brother, Jake, steering the sled with
handle bars. When they arrived and set their load in the house, it turned out to be an
old- fashioned baby cradle, about 30 inches wide and five feet long, two big heavy wood
rockers, with wood upright, spaced stays, jointing a top railing. One side would slide up
and down for easy access. The workmanship was done to perfection and would make a
lot of furniture makers jealous. My mother was pregnant and expecting that coming
summer. This cradle was made in appreciation for what Dad had done for them by
saving Jake's life.
10
Another Story About Eric
Always when the "Spider" came to visit our household, he would carry his violin in a
case slung over his shoulder. He thought, without a doubt, that he was one of the great
violinists of that time. We children were always glad to see him come, as it meant some
good entertainment -- but not from the standpoint of good music -- that was hard to
take, but great fun just to watch. After the tune -up, "Spider" seemed to turn into a
different person. First his eyelids would half close and a dreamy (sick calf) look would
come over his face. The music would start real slow, like the wind wailing in the pines.
Then ever so slowly, the tempo would increase, along with a louder and louder noise.
With the increase in timing, his eyes would come wide open, roll back and forth faster
and faster, at the same time the facial muscles would contort into lines of misery and
the chin whiskers would tremble like a billy goat eating taffy. This was our cue to get
out, quickly, so we could roll on the floor, with laughter, in the bedroom, without hurting
his feelings.
One Christmas Eric come to our place to celebrate by singing songs, dancing, etc. with
the neighbors. Dad had given Eric a big glass of punch and he was really "in the
groove" with his fiddle. He stepped back to let the dancers have more room, and fell
backwards into the wood box. He continued playing, without missing a note, and when
the tune was over, my brother, Emmit (about ten years old) said "Eric, please play
Turkey in the Straw. Eric turned around, very indignant, and said "You nin come poop,
I just got through playing that..." Everyone in the house had a good, healthy laugh. Just
because we children had a lot of fun with the Jensen brothers didn't mean that we never
loved them. No one ever had better neighbors.
Snowshoe Mine and Vicinity
In 1928 my brother Emmit and I worked for a mining company that had the Snowshoe
mine. The company drove a 400 -foot cross -cut tunnel and tapped the vein, the ore was
good, and for several years thereafter the ore was mined and the concentrates hauled
out to a smelter. Finally mining costs got higher and they shut down. At present the
claims are held, and possibly some day it may reopen. Nearby the Jansens had another
property, "The Yellowjacket." A Mr. Scott owns these claims, and started putting up a
mill the summer of 1980. The YellowJacket has a great potential. My brother and I
located a quartz vein between the Snowshoe and Yellowjacket and sold it for $3,000
cash in 1934. This claim, the "Buckhom" is still held.
The geology of this belt consists of gneissie biotite -quartz diorite, which, in the general
vicinity, contains many highly altered inclusions of sedimentary rocks, mainly schist,
white quartzite, and near the Jensen cabin limestone. A big tertiary dike, mainly
granophyre, cuts the formation west of the Snowshoe high grade, and undoubtedly
caused most of the enrichment in these faults. There is some cross faults which in most
cases only extend the width of the veins. The average dip is 60 NE, and the strike is N
50 W. The ore runs from S20 to $50 with $35.00 per oz. gold. There is also silver and
copper. Jensens run their one stamp mill, with picture highgrade, and made a living.
11
CHAPTER
Building Trail and Prospecting
In February 1931 the Forest Service decided to build a trail from the Dave Lewis ranch
to the mouth of Big Creek, where it would join the Middle Fork (Salmon River) trails.
This Big Creek route had been by- passed up to this time, because of bluffs and slide
rock. The old trail was higher up on the opposite side and went over Burnt Creek
Summit. We organized our crew at Big Creek Headquarters, where the supplies had
been kept that winter. The government pack string had been wintered on lower Big
Creek. The crew consisted of six men, including our Ranger, Dan LeVan. We had nine
government mules with a bell mare. We loaded out of Headquarters with 200 pounds
on each mule, and started for the Dave Lewis ranch 40 miles downstream.
The second day we arrived there, and found old Dave in good spirits and doing fine.
Our first camp was made on a flat across from the Lewis ranch. Right away we started
work. This was very rough country, where mountain goat and the big hom abounded.
Every day we could see the golden eagle trying to capture the young sheep or goats, by
swooping down and catching a Iamb or kid off by itself, picking it up high enough to
drop them in a slide or bluff area, then later to clean the bones. There was a S2.00
bounty on the brown eagle, at this time. (They now have a birds of prey sanctuary, with
signs to show them where to go!)
By April 15th we reached the Soldier Bar Box Canyon with our trail. Here the walls of
the canyon was only about eighty feet apart, and rising several hundred feet vertically;
in fact on the trail side, the walls overhung the trail. Big Creek here was a raging torrent
during high water. The only way we had to build trail was by laying big flat rocks on top
of each other and lapping them for a crib effect. After the rock was laid, it was covered
with six inches of clay. This kind of trail will last for several years.
On April 21st (about 10 a.m.) I was working under the big bluff, bent over placing a big,
flat rock in the crib, when suddenly there was a cave in from above. I was mostly buried
with fine rock and one big boulder weighing a ton or more pinned my hair to the rock
crib. The crew working behind me saw what happened and quickly dragged me back
into a shallow cave. It was none too soon, as tons of rock started falling but no one else
was caught. I was knocked unconscious for about twenty minutes and later suffered
shock. Our camp was located about eleven miles down Big Creek from the nearest
phone at the old Caswell ranch. My brother, Emmit, who was one of our crew, took off
for the phone, to try and get help from the Werdenhoff mine and to notify our folks in
Weiser, Idaho.
Five men come down from the mine and it was decided to clear a field on Cabin Creek,
so a plane could land from Cascade.The second day after the accident, the trail crew
made a stretcher and started carrying me up Big Creek. We arrived at the man -made
airstrip about four p.m. Bill Gowan, the pilot, was already there, with my brother John
from Weiser, who come along as a guide. This was the first plane to ever land in that
country. Bill Gowan had been a World War I pilot, and was accustomed to flying "by the
seat of his pants." The trip was made to Boise in good shape and I was soon in the
Veterans hospital. (Forest Service accidents were taken to the Veterans hospital at that
time). The X -rays showed I had a compression fracture, in the second dorsal vertebra.
After about two months I was able to leave the hospital and resume my job as fire
dispatcher at Big Creek Headquarters.
13
When I got back on the job they told me a story about old Charles Mahan, a Ramey
Ridge prospector. Mahan had spent most of his life in the back country and had never
saw an aeroplane. The day we flew up Big Creek, heading for Boise, he spotted the
plane across Big Creek from his cabin on Ramey Ridge, flying at about 9,000 feet.
Mahan was flabbergasted with excitement. He had been listening in, on the phone, to
all the calls, but seeing the plane was the payoff. He rang Big Creek Headquarters real
quick and when Harold Vassar answered, he said, very excitedly, "Slim it's all over for
that plane! It's going to crash... the wings are just barely flapping!" It took a lot of
explaining about all aspects of flying to convince him that aeroplanes didn't flap their
wings like big eagles.
Premonition
My mother in Weiser, Idaho told Dad that I had been in an accident, just at the same
time it happened. They never, received the phone call until six hours afterwards, so
there was no way of knowing. In our family on several occasions these things hap-
pened, and she was never wrong. The spring we built the Big Creek trail I used Sundays
to scout around the country and prospect. One day I was on Big Creek above the Lewis
ranch. I noticed two small veins in a bluff where the trail passed. The veins were highly
oxidized and showed evidence of silver. On one side was gneissie diorite (dark) and the
hanging wall was limestone and quartzite. I traversed up the hill about 3/4 mile and here
you could see the limestone belt running at a northerly direction up the mountain, at one
point an east west stringer cut out from the limestone about six inches wide; it showed
solid galena in places. This assayed 15 oz. lead and 15 oz. silver. I never done any
more prospecting here, but I think the main limestone should have a replacement of
galena. The belt was around 20 ft. wide. Dave Lewis said he had found silver on lower
Rush Creek, that should line up with this fault. Another time I found free gold in a spring
at Rush Creek lookout. Itseemed to be in a clay sheer zone. I never prospected for the
source.
14
CHAPTER
Dad Has an Accident, and Other Happenings
About the summer of 1925, Dad left brother Emmit and I at the Werdenhoff mine while
he carried the mail. We was working on Smith Creek cutting out a buckboard road, to
Big Creek and thus have a route by way of Profile Summit or Elk Creek. The distance
was about five miles. We knew how to use the cross -cut saw and ax to perfection, also
dynamite, but not how much it would take to move a stump. Some holes still mar the
landscape along that route, and to find the stump would take a lot of searching. We lost
one day just filling in one hole.
In July Dad hired a man to pack the mail. while he worked with us to do the assessment
work on the Werdenhoff quartz claims. The first morning we started it was decided I
would wrangle the horses, to pull in mining timbers, while Emmit and Dad cleaned out
the tunnel to get ready for hand drilling. I walked up a steep trail with them to the tunnel
and helped wheel out a few loads of muck, then I went on to track down the horses. The
horses had the whole country to run in, so it was always a job to find them. I had gone
perhaps two miles, when I heard three quick rifle shots. We had been taught that this
signal meant "help." So I immediately started back, on a trot, over an old game trail.
Soon I arrived at the Werdenhoff cabins and there I found Dad in bed suffering with
severe shock and not talking coherently; my brother had headed down Smith Creek for
help. I placed hot water bottles around his legs and covered him with blankets. He was
cold and shaking all over. In about an hour he started talking coherently, but was in
terrible pain.
This is what happened. The fall before, Dad had stored some powder and blasting caps
inside the tunnel on some timber logs. When the mucking was completed he placed
seven sticks of dynamite side by side in the wheelbarrow and set a full box of blasting
caps (open) by the powder. The wheelbarrow was on the tunnel dump, where the sun
could dry the caps. After a few minutes, he made a primer (put fuse in blasting cap) to
test if the caps were good, after being in the tunnel all winter; they could draw damp-
ness. He split the end of the fuse, in order to light it, then after the fuse was spitting
sparks -- not thinking -- he passed the lighted fuse over the open box of caps. The
sparks set the caps off thus the concussion detonated the seven sticks of dynamite.
Dad was standing between the handles of the wheelbarrow, so he received the full
impact of the blast. It threw him against Emmit, who was standing behind Dad, and they
both ended up twenty feet back against a wall of rock, near the tunnel portal. Dad was
knocked unconscious; my brother was dazed, but was soon able to stagger to his feet.
My father was a big man, six feet two weighing 190 lb., and my brother was six feet two
weighting 220 lb. It was over a half mile by a steep narrow trail that traversed a forty
degree slope to the cabin. Emmit's adrenalin must have been working, because he
lifted Dad on his back and carried him to the cabin. Then he grabbed the 30 -30 rifle and
shot three times to summon me. At the cabin, Emmit laid Dad on the bed and started
for help at Big Creek Headquarters. It was then we got our first lucky break. Dad's mail
carrier, Walt Estep, was just passing the mouth of Smith Creek, so he volunteered to
come help. Estep had been a trained first aid man for the army, this contributed in large
part for helping to save our father's life. Estep worked over Dad for two hours or more,
washing wounds, putting iodine on, and in some cases stopping the bleeding. We all
knew that Dad would have to go outside to a doctor, so Estep left to get his truck and
meet us the next day on Elk Summit. It was decided that I would go to the phone, at the
Scott cabin, on Smith Creek, and call for more medicine at Headquarters and then go
get the horses for the next day. I took off down Smith Creek on the run, thinking of
15
nothing but "help." It was dark by now and the only light I had was a palouser (1/2 gal.
lard pail with wire handle, and hole cut midway in the bottom for a candle). At the Scoff
cabin I got the watchman (Hubert Nipe) at Big Creek the first ring. (This was another
break). I told Hubert to notify my brother John in Thunder Mountain that Dad was in bad
shape and that we needed help, also to notify Dr. Numbers at McCall to come in the
next day and meet us around the smokehouse on Elk Creek, and for Hubert to bring
more bandages and medicine to the Werdenhoff. After this I started for the horses on
McFadden prairie. After topping out on a high ridge I could hear the horse bell and soon
had them all tailed and started on a trot for the Werdenhoff. Dad was still in shock when
I arrived and very weak, so now we hurried getting the horses saddled, putting Dad's
saddle on our favorite sure- footed Old Fred.
By this time brother John arrived from Thunder Mountain, a distance of forty miles, by
rough mountain trails, This saddle horse was about fagged. We packed light. some food,
medicine and blankets. Then we dressed Dad warmly and boosted him into the saddle. I
got on behind to keep him from falling off. Emmit led the horse. We left for Elk Summit
for our rendezvous with Walt Estep or the doctor, a distance of eight miles by trail. This
seemed like the longest eight miles of my life. After the first mile, Dad became very
weak, and it was difficult to keep him from falling. That moming we had found a quart of
brandy in the cupboard and had put it in the saddlebag. We decided to see if this would
help. Let me say here that alcohol used in the right way and at the right time has its
place, and in this case was one of the factors that helped us. Everytime Dad took a
swallow, it would give him much needed strength to fight the good fight. It took us three
hours to contact our help. We did not even try to hold back the tears when we saw
Estep with his old Ford truck.
When brother John had arrived that morning it was certainly a "big lift" for a couple of
discouraged scared kids, who did not have much hope left. We knew that our prayers
was being answered. Dad was in the hospital at McCall for two months. My sister Dee
Parke helped to nurse him back to health. The accident had taken its toll. Dad lost the
sight in one eye, copper was embedded all over the front of his body, even to the third
lining of his stomach. But strange as it may seem, he went on to live to the ripe old age
of ninety -one years. The back country was a hard frontier life, but it brought friends and
families together in time of need with a friendship and devotion that is hard to find any
more. Back then it seemed everyone was part of one big family. Also we all have a spot
in our hearts for our country Doctor Numbers.
Geology of the Old Werdenhoff
This mine is near the contact of the Yellowjacket formation and granodiorite of the
Idaho batholith. The Pueblo group (nearby) is in granodiorite. This formation is made up
largely of light - colored quartzite, but also includes dark green argillite. These rocks
strike north and dip thirty to forty degrees east. Near the veins the gold is noticeably
scattered, most feldspars are almost entirely altered to "ericite. Quartz latite porphyry
and dark colored lamprophyre dikes cut granodiorite and the Yellowjacket formation in
the vicinity of the Werdenhoff. The quartzlatite porphyry, known locally as "birdseye
porphyry," is exposed in several of the underground workings and they have been
responsible for most of the ore in that area.
16
�% T h e r e w a s a r o u n d 2 5 0 0 f t . o f g r a s s - r o o t t u n n e l s d r i v e n b y m i n i n g o u t f i t s , a t t h e W e r d e n -
h o f f . M o s t l y t o s e l l s t o c k o n t h e h i g h - g r a d e o r e . T h e l o w e r t u n n e l w a s n e v e r f i n i s h e d , t o
' t a p t h e f a u l t a t a r o u n d 8 0 0 f t . d e p t h . P o o r a i r c l o s e d t h e m d o w n , w i t h o u t e n o u g h m o n e y
t o c o m p l e t e . I n g e n e r a l t h e r e i s a b i g n o r t h a n d s o u t h f a u l t , i n t e r s e c t e d b y s e v e r a l e a s t
a n d w e s t v e i n s , a l l s h o w i n g s o m e v a l u e s . D e p t h i s t h e o n l y w a y t o o p e n u p t h i s s h o w i n g
a n d p r o v e i t s m e r i t . T h e o r e m i n e r a l s i n c l u d e p y r i t e , c h a l c o p y r i t e , s p h a l e r i t e , g a l e n a a n d
t e t r a h e d r i t e . S o m e a s s a y s r u n 4 5 o z . g o l d b u t t h e c o m p a n y a s s a y s r a n g e f r o m a t r a c e
t o 1 1 / 2 o z . g o l d a n d s i l v e r f r o m 5 o z . t o 1 5 o z . T h e P u e b l o c l a i m s , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 1 / 2
a i r m i l e s t o t h e n o r t h o f t h e W e r d e n h o f f , a r e m o s t l y i n t h e g r a n o d i o r i t e , i n s t e a d o f b e i n g
m o s t l y q u a r t z i t e a n d a r g i l l i t e . T h e s y s t e m s t r i k e s n o r t h a n d d i p s t o t h e e a s t . H e r e t h e
q u a r t z l a t i t e p o r p h y r y a l s o r u n s a l o n g t h e f o o t w a l l s i d e . S o m e o r e s a s s a y g o o d a n d i s
s i m i l a r t o t h e W e r d e n h o f f .
A b o u t t w o m i l e s n o r t h e a s t f r o m P u e b l o i s t h e G o l d e n H a n d , w h i c h t u r n e d o u t b e a u t i f u l
g o l d s p e c i m e n s a n d m a d e t h e c o m p a n y t h o u s a n d s o f d o l l a r s . T h e o r e a t d e p t h r u n o u t ,
w h e r e i t s e t s o n a s y n c l i n a l f o l d . P e r h a p s w i t h m o r e d e v e l o p m e n t w o r k a n d d r i l l i n g , t h e
o r e m a y b e p i c k e d u p b e l o w . T h e m i n e r a l s a r e a b o u t t h e s a m e a s t h e W e r d e n h o f f , a n d
f o r m a t i o n b e l o n g s t o t h e Y e l l o w j a c k e t . C a l c i t e s h o w s u p w i t h t h e h i g r a d e a n d t h e r e i s
m o r e s c h i s t o s e r o c k s s h o w i n g .
S k i i n g O u t o f t h e H i l l s
O n e w i n t e r , m y b r o t h e r E m m i t a n d I h a d b e e n w o r k i n g A t t h e S n o w s h o e m i n e ( J e n s e n
p r o p e r t y ) . A b o u t t h e f i r s t o f t h e y e a r t h e m i n i n g c o m p a n y r a n o u t o f m o n e y a n d h a d t o
s h u t d o w n t h e m i n e o p e r a t i o n . T h e r e w a s o n l y o n e t h i n g l e f t t o d o - - h e a d f o r W e i s e r .
S o w e s t a r t e d p r e p a r a t i o n s f o r t h e t r i p . N o o n e h a d a n y s k i s o r w e b s , s o w e m a d e c r o s s
c o u n t r y s k i s o u t o f b l a c k p i n e t i m b e r . W e s o o n h a d t h e s k i s c o m p l e t e d a n d s t a r t e d o n
o u r t r i p . T h e r e w a s t h r e e o f u s t r a v e l i n g t o g e t h e r , t h e e x t r a m a n w a s L e o B r u s t . T h e
t h i r d d a y f o u n d u s a t E l i e B e a t o n ' s p l a c e o n t h e S e c e s h R i v e r , a p p r o x i m a t e l y s e v e n t y -
o n e m i l e s f r o m w h e r e w e s t a r t e d . T h e n e x t m o r n i n g w h e n w e l e f t B e a t o n ' s t h e t h e r m o -
m e t e r s h o w e d f i f t y b e l o w z e r o . A s w e s t a r t e d t o w a r d s M c C a l l , y o u c o u l d h e a r t h e
b l a c k p i n e s c r a c k i n g l i k e r i f l e s h o t s a l l o v e r t h e c o u n t r y . A s t h e g r e e n t i m b e r e x p a n d s
f r o m t h e c o l d s o m e t i m e s t h e t r e e w i l l s p l i t t h e b a r k , f u l l l e n g t h , o n t h e g r a i n .
A f t e r a b o u t a m i l e , m y b r o t h e r s a i d " I h a v e t o t r a v e l a t a f a s t e r p a c e o r m y f e e t w i l l
f r e e z e . I t o l d h i m t o g o a h e a d , t h a t B r u s t a n d I w o u l d t r y t o s t a y t o g e t h e r . L e o w a s
o n l y a b o u t f i v e f e e t f o u r i n c h e s t a l l , w i t h v e r y s h o r t l e g s , s o h i s p r o g r e s s h a d b e e n l e s s
t h a n a v e r a g e . A f t e r a b o u t a n o t h e r m i l e m y f e e t b e g a n t o f r e e z e a n d I t o l d L e o , " N o w i f
w e d o n ' t g o f a s t e r t h e y w i l l f i n d u s i o n t h e t r a i l t o m o r r o w , f r o z e n t o d e a t h . " W i t h t h a t I
t o o k o f f . L a t e r , a b o u t a m i l e b e h i n d m e , I h e a r d a c o m m o t i o n c o m i n g a n d t h e r e t o p p i n g
o v e r a r i s e w a s L e o , h i s a r m s w a v i n g a n d h i s s h o r t l e g s g o i n g l i k e p i s t o n s . H e w a s
s h o u t i n g , " W a i t f o r m e . " F r o m t h e r e o n t o M c C a l l , L e o w a s r i g h t u p w i t h u s .
A b o u t f i v e m i l e s a h e a d w e c a u g h t u p w i t h J a s p e r H a r p , w h o h a d t h e m a i l c o n t r a c t f r o m
W a r r e n t o M c C a l l . H e u s e d a d o u b l e - e n d t o b o g g a n . w i t h f o u r s n o w s h o e d h o r s e s a n d
w a s h a u l i n g a b o u t o n e t h o u s a n d p o u n d s o f f r e i g h t . W h e n w e m e t J a s p e r , h e h a d o n e
h o r s e d o w n f l o u n d e r i n g i n t h e d e e p s n o w w i t h a b r o k e n s h o w s h o e . W e h e l p e d h i m
r e p l a c e i t a n d h e t o o k t h e b r o k e n s h o e , p u t i t o v e r a w h i t e f i r t r e e t o p t h a t w a s s t i c k i n g
o u t o f t h e s n o w , a n d l e f t i t . W e t h o u g h t i t w o u l d b e a g o o d t i m e t o b e s o c i a b l e , s o m y
b r o t h e r h a n d e d h i m a f u l l p i n t o f 1 0 0 p r o o f m o o n s h i n e . J a s p e r s a i d " I d o n ' t c a r e i f I d o . "
W h e n h e s t a r t e d d r i n k i n g , y o u c o u l d s e e h i s a d a m ' s a p p l e b o b u p a n d d o w n l i k e a c o r k
1 7
in a tempest. Soon empty bottle was em t and he tossed it aside, saying 'Boy! that was ,
good." We both said "it sure was" (with our tongues hanging out). That night we drank a
toast to Jasper, while sitting in a warm hotel room, in McCall. We had covered thirty -two
miles that day. Harp would make it a day later.
Horse showshoes were made of hard wood or steel. About eight inches long, seven
inches wide, and turned up slightly on the front end. There was three holes to
accomodate the three horse shoe corks. Clamp and straps come up around the fetlock.
Without them horses were helpless in deep snow. After being trained horses would
throw their feet slightly to one side, and never stumble. These horses seemed to have a
special sense of following the trail, when it was drifted full. The next summer Jasper
said he measured the distance fro. the ground -to the shoe, in the tree, and it was
twenty -seven feet.
n
1
18 1
CHAPTER 7
Wilderness Doctor and Baby Bom at Werdenhoff
In about 1927 my Dad sold the Werdenhoff quartz claims to an outfit from Tacoma,
Washington, J. B. Mason. That fall in November, brother Emmit and I got a job with the
outfit driving tunnel. The summer before, we had worked for the "Idaho National
Forest," Emmit as trail foreman and smokechaser, and I as commissary clerk and
smokechaser at Cold Meadows Ranger Station. The tunnel was driven all by hand
drilling and a wheelbarrow to muck with. It was four feet wide and six and one half feet
high. Two men would make about sixty feet a month.
I was working with Bob Carey, from the South Fork. He was quite a hand to brag. One
morning when we had started drilling, Bob said "You know after I get my distance you
can just blow out the light and I can drill all day." "Do you have your distance now?" I
asked. He said, "Of course, I'm really on the beam today." I raised up real quick and
blew out our two carbide lights. When his hammer came down you could hear him
holler clear out to the portal of the tunnel. He had hit his hand instead of the steel. I had
a grumpy partner for over two days. Work went along as usual and we were all settled
for winter.
About the 30th of November we got a telephone call from Ramey Ridge, via the Forest
Service ground telephone line, that Matty Mahan had injured his leg and needed help.
Kolbar was staying with him that winter. Mahan was an old prospector who had his
claims on Ramey Ridge. He was around seventy -five years old. His cabin was about
fifteen miles from the Werdenhoff, over the 7500 ft. Pueblo Summit. Early next
morning five of the crew took off on snowshoes, with medicine etc. Enough men was
left to keep the work going. Emmit and I was among those who went. After seven hours
of breaking heavy snow we finally reached our destination and found Mahan with blood
poison setting in on his leg. He had a high fever and was very restless. We sized up the
situation and decided that he should be taken out to a doctor. We soaked his leg with
hot epsom salt packs all night, while some of us fixed up an old sled to haul him on.
The next morning we got an early start for the Werdenhoff. For the first mile we pulled
him up a steep ridge to the top, from there the route led down towards Beaver Creek. It
was a job to hold the sled back from going over the bluffs. From Beaver Creek we
started climbing a steep trail up Cache Creek. This trail was very narrow and two of us
had to go below, to keep the sled from turning over, in deep snow and brush. After two
miles we reached an old wagon road at the Penn -Idaho mine, abandoned for several
years. (This property later was worked by the Golden Hand outfit, and they had some of
the richest gold ore ever found in the United States). From there to the Werdenhoff was
two miles up to the Pueblo Summit and three miles down hill to the Werdenhoff. Finally
after dark we reached our camp, dog tired and ready to call it a day.
It seemed we had just hit the bunk, when the alarm clock went off at 5 a.m. After
breakfast we bundled up our passenger in a sleeping bag, put in some hot irons to keep
his feet warm, and took off for the smokehouse fourteen miles away over 8700 ft. Elk
Summit. There we were supposed to meet a buckboard from the South Fork. By
1 changing off breaking trail we got to the smokehouse by 4 p.m. The buckboard was
waiting for us, and after bidding our old friend goodbye we went back up our trail two
miles to the "old smokehouse" that was built during the Thunder Mountain boom. This
old building had no doors or windows, and all we could do was build a fire, in the middle
of the dirt floor. That was an unforgettable night -- smoke so thick you couldn't see and
the temperature dropped to 20 degrees below.
19
The following day five tired men arrived back at the Werdenhoff. We were told by our
foreman (Jim Homberger) to rest up the next day, so none of us had any complaints.
Next day when we started back to work, my brother Emmit complained about feeling
weak and tired. Homberger told him to stay in the bunkhouse and rest up. That evening
when I got in from my shift I found my brother with a high fever, weak and all choked
up. I'd never had much experience with this sort of sickness so I conferred with
Homberger. They were very helpful in doing everything possible. We tried physics,
enemas and cold packs to bring down the fever, but Emmit become gradually worse
each hour. We decided to call my Dad in Weiser, Idaho and have him bring the doctor
(Numbers) from McCall.
Dad soon went to work. Brother John drove him to McCall and there they got the doctor
lined out. Roy Stover had a team of Irish setters, these dogs had won several blue
ribbons racing around the country. The doctor was taken by this team to Warren, Idaho,
and from there they picked up another team of dogs (mongrels from around town, but
they had more stamina than the racing team). Three men went from Warren with Dad to
help break trail for the dogs, all were real mountain men, filled with spirit and had iron
wills. It was five days after we called Dad that the doctor arrived at the mine.
Going back to the second day of my brother's illness. Emmit was unconscious, and
started to hemorrhage from his nose. I applied ice packs to his head and neck and kept
his feet warm, but to no avail. I knew he was dying but there wasn't anything I could do
but pray and watch. It was a regular nightmare happening right before my eyes -- to say
I wasn't scared would be a lie. With his pulse so weak and his face absolutely colorless,
I knew his life was ebbing away. In desperation, with tears streaming down my face, I
screamed to God, with all my might, to bring him back. Very soon it seemed my prayer
had been answered, some color come back to his face and his pulse become stronger.
Afterwards Emmit told me he was dreaming of climbing a mountain, and with each step
he became wearker. Finally, when he had gone down, without strength to move any
more, he heard someone calling for him to come back. When the doctor arrived he
told us we had done everything possible under the circumstances to save Emmit's life.
He said it was a combination of pneumonia and stomach flu. His treatment was what
turned the tables and :saved Emmit's life.
Dad stayed after the doctor left for McCall. There was some very important medicine
due the next day, at tfhe smokehouse, for Emmit. Dad left early in the morning and
made that 28 -mile round trip alone. The night before it had snowed and every step was
made breaking trail with his webs. Dad was fifty -four years old, at this time, and I would
say very few young men could have made that trip.
My brother and I will always have a very warm spot in our hearts for the doctor and
those very strong- hearted men who came through by straining every ounce of their
endurance. Their names were Bill Roden, Fred Schafer, and George Benson. In about
a week after the doctor left, my brotfher started to gain strength and soon afterwards
was able to set up and take nourishment. Six weeks later he was pulled over Elk
Summit by hand and dog team aand then went on to Weiser to recuperate. Everone
in that rugged country welcomed the chance to help his neighbor. It's too bad that we
can't have more of that spirit today.
20
Robert Vassar is Born at the Werdenhoff
During the winter months of 1932, 1 was driving tunnel on my gold quartz claim at
Crooked Creek. My wife was with me, we had been married in August 1931. At the same
time, Harold Vassar. and Edith his wife, was stationed at Big Creek Headquarters.
Harold was the caretaker there for the Idaho National Forest, during the winter months.
Later during fire season Harold (Slim) was a fire dispatcher at McCall, Idaho. They had
been married the year before and everyone in the back country found them to be fine
neigh -bors, with their refreshing smiles, ready wit and eagerness to help others.
That spring in April, "Slim" called me on the phone one evening and asked if I would
help take Edith over Elk Summit to meet the stage, on the South Fork, and then she
would go on to McCall and be near their doctor in case of any complications with her
pregnancy. They were expecting in two months. I said "of course I'll help." We decided
the Werden -hoff dog team would be the only way to get over 8700 -foot Elk Summit, and
that I would meet them at the Werdenhoff the next day. They had seven miles to hike,
over mostly bare ground, with patches of snow on the upper end. The next moming they
started early and had good hiking until they reached snowdrifts two miles below the
Werdenhoff. The patches of heavy snow proved to be very bad. Each time Edith put her
weight on a forward step she would break through and the strain was terrific, to get
righted again. Dogs were useless for this kind of trail.
When I arrived, they had been there for more than an hour. Slim was in the woodshed
1 getting extra wood for the stove and he said, "Noel, I'm worried! Edith is starting to have
pains." I said "perhaps she will be all right when she gets rested up." I had hiked twenty -
one miles to get there. Edith was laying down resting and seemed in good spirits. The
pains was coming about every half hour. It wasn't long before we knew, this was the real
thing. Edith had been a nurse, so she told us everything to get ready. Warm fire, plenty
of boiling water, first aid kit and two Coleman gas lights -- in case one went out.
"Slim" rolled his own cigarettes and I remember he made three tries to get one ready,
but each time, in his excitement he spilled the tobacco all over the floor. After the third
try, he said, "I didn't want a smoke anyway." From then on, "Slim" got himself under
control and was in there pitching. The old watchman at the mine was very helpful in
finding some things we needed. Soon we were real busy. I remember tying a rope on the
foot of the bed so Edith would have something to hold on to, and that help to relieve the
pain. This was her first child and she was thirty -three years old.
Finally around 10 p.m. the baby was born -- a boy around six pounds, right away he
started crying -- which was good. Edith had me take a pair of sterilized scissors and cut
the navel cord about three inches long, fold it down on the tummy and make a belt out of
three inch gauze to hold it in place. We were all so happy by now that everything was
going so good. We could have shouted for joy. "Slim" was the proudest father I had ever
saw. They named the boy "Robert." It was around midnight by now, and after talking it
over, we decided to try and get through to Mrs. Spillman by phone. She was a former
' trained nurse, living with her husband, Bert, at the South Fork power plant, twenty -two
miles by way of Elk Summit. We started ringing the phone. Since all the lines were
hooked together, it was hard to get a strong ring to register. Finally an old sour - dough,
1 Miles Howard, answered and I told him what we were trying to do. Miles had a new
phone, so his first ring got the Spillmans. I asked them for help, and it was arranged that
they would meet me at the old smokehouse, fourteen miles away.
21
At 4:30 a.m. I left the Werdenhoff with nine sled dogs (German police with an Irish setter
leader) hitched single file on an eight -foot toboggan, with a tail break. The trail was solid
and soon I was traveling at a breath - taking clip for Elk Summit. It was probably 6:30 a.m.
when I topped out and started down the other side. Around 7:30 a.m. I wet the Spill -
mans, half a mile above the smokehouse, they were a welcome sight! I loaded Mrs.
Spillman on the sled and had quite a quarrel with Bert. He wanted to ride also, but this
was impossible, he weighed 250 pounds, and the dogs were getting tired. Finally I said,
"Mush" to the lead dog, "Noodles," and we left Bert behind talking to himself and waving
his arms.
My first concern was to get Mrs. Spillman to Edith as soon as possible, to check for
complications. The three miles to the top was very slow but, when we started down the
other side, those dogs went like the wind, "heading for camp with a downhill pull." Mrs.
Spillman put a scarf over her face in order to breathe, with fine snow sifting in the air.
Around noon we arrived back at the mine, and found everything going fine. After talking
with Edith, Mrs. Spillman said there wasn't any complications.
I gave each dog one of the caretaker's hotcakes and then started back to get Bert.
Believe me, those dogs hated to move again. After about five miles, we met our man
and coming back was made in good time. I stayed over the next day, to be sure
everything would be all right and after that went home to my wife. I always felt proud to
have played a part in this blessed event. Therein happiness lies. Harold Vassar, in later
years, become an inter - Regional fire dispatcher. His record was highlighted by numerous
commendations for performance. Harold died in 1966 but Edith is still living in Boise,
Idaho. Their son Robert grew up to be strong, healthy and very successful.
22
CHAPTER8
Driving Tunnel on the Scotty Vein, and Other Happenings
In 1933 my brother John built a log cabin on Smith Creek. The purpose of the cabin was
to have a place for our wives to live while we drove tunnel on our quartz vein (The Little
Scotty) nearby. Brother Emmit and I joined him later, when our job with the Forest
Service was over for the summer season. We had to stay at another cabin one and one-
half mile up a steep mountain from where our families were, while we drove tunnel. To
go back and forth each day wasn't possible.
' I never shall forget that winter. The upper cabin was about ten by ten feet, with a wood-
shed in the front. Our heat come from a wood cookstove that had a flat top and small
oven for baking. The floor was made from split poles, flat side up. Lots of fresh air came
in from underneath. The logs were chinked with small poles, but John didn't have much
time to mud up the cracks, consequently when an all night blizzard came, and that was
almost every night, our beds and the floor of the cabin would have from two to six inches
of snow by morning. The water bucket would be frozen solid and you can rest assured
that we never let our ears be exposed while sleeping! We always drew straws the night
before, to see who would have to build the morning fire; seemed to me I lost most of the
time. Maybe being the kid brother had something to do with it.
From the upper cabin we had a quarter mile to climb to the tunnel. The trail would switch
back and forth through heavy snowdrifts on a steep hillside. Our tunnel was just wide
enough to let a wheelbarrow pass and you had to hump over in several places to protect
your dome. We followed the vein which twisted and turned like a snake. It was two
hundred feet from the portal to the face to start with. Every evening we would blast the
face, and each morning there was a big pile of muck to move. My two brothers would do
all the shoveling and I would run the wheelbarrow. I used a rope over my shoulder and
had loops over the handles of the barrow. I wore mittens to protect from getting broken
knuckles along the way. The wheelbarrow had an iron wheel. We drove about sixty feet
of tunnel, and then ran out of dynamite. This shut down the operation.
The Scotty vein is a fissure, cutting the formation at an angle and dipping to the
southeast about thirty degrees. The wall rocks consist of mica schist, with several dark
colored tertiary dikes nearby. The — formation is known as the Yellowjacket. Some
quartzite and schistose argillite are in the vicinity. The ore consists of chalcopyrite, gold
and silver. Assays made every fifteen feet from portal to face (around 215 feet)
averaged 1 oz. of gold and 15 oz. silver. Wasn't assayed for copper. The vein is narrow,
from 2 feet to 6 inches wide, but very strong with a slick hanging wall. There is over two
hundred feet depth at the face. The first prospector to find this showing was Clarence
Scott. He always figured the Scotty was a spur off from a big North and South system.
Scott worked the vein for several years, with a one stamp mill and made his bacon and
beans with S20 an ounce gold. The Routsons still hold this showing.
Left To Die
I was fire dispatcher at Big Creek. We invited my father to come down for the Fourth of
July, to have a get- together picnic. When Dad passed the Scott cabin he could hear
groaning coming from inside. Upon further investigation there lying in the comer was a
man all crumpled up and unconscious: his face a bloody mass beyond recognition. Dad
23
lifted him up on the old bunk, then hurriedly started for help at Big Creek. On arrival Dad
told us the story. We gathered up first aid, medicines and blankets. My sister Edna was
at Big Creek visiting and she volunteered to help. I couldn't leave the phone and radio
for very long, however II managed to drive Dad and my sister to the cabin, and later
helped them with their vigil. The man was still unconscious and running a very high
temperature. After cleaning up the patient, and doctoring his many cuts and bruises they
started trying to lower the fever. There was a cold spring near the cabin, which served to
make cold packs. To administer enemas and physic to an unconscious man under these
circum- stances was hard to do. They kept on working feverishly but had very poor
results. The patient became weaker. All the color had left his face and he started
breaking out with red spots, especially on his chest. Right away Dad knew it was spotted
fever, caused from a tick bite, and that there wasn't much chance to save his life.
I had notified the doctor (Ward) at Cascade, Idaho, right at first, but he couldn't make it
in time. Soon the man (become rational and this is his story. About three weeks before,
according to the date he remembered, he and his pardner camped in the cabin and
started prospecting the immediate vicinity. In about a week the patient noticed a tick,
stuck on his head, then after a week or so he started feeling weak and sick. His partner
must have left about this time. The two men had come in from Montana. My sister asked
him if there was any relatives left, but apparently not. The patient received the cuts and
bruises after he became unconscious, by running into the cabin walls and windows, not
knowing what he was doing. At that time, the doctor in Cascade would send me a big
supply of tick serum and needles each spring. As the Forest Guards and employees
come through Big Creek I would give them a total of 5 cc, in two different shots. All of
the residents around the country would also get their shots, but we never knew there was
two prospectors on Smith Creek.
Hardrock Elliott
Earnest (Hardrock) Elliott lived at the head of Coxy Creek, on a high ridge called the
Mile High ranch. He trapped during the winter months and packed horses in the summer
for the Forest Service. In June about 1934 my brother Emmit and Richard Cowman was
building a lookout house on Acorn Butte. One afternoon Roy Elliott, a brother of Earnest,
come over to where they were working and told them Earnest was sick and had a high
fever, so Emmit and Dick volunteered to help. It only took a couple of hours to make the
trip to the Mile High ranch. They found Earnest (Hardrock) in bad shape, in bed weak
and with a lot of fever. Earnest was rational and didn't know what was wrong. He thought
it might be food poisoning.
They started trying to reduce the fever with aspirin and cold packs, but this never
seemed to help. Earnest was rugged, and tougher than a pine squirrel, but this was
something he couldn't handle. By midnight he got weaker and pale as a ghost. He only
lived until about 2 a.m. After Earnest died, there was red splotches all over his chest
and body. They all thought it was spotted fever. Getting a doctor there was out of the
question. Earnest had his partner, Horace Yaunce, with him at the time, so Emmit, Dick
Cowman, Roy Elliott and Yaunce dug the grave, the next day and buried Earnest there,
at the Mile High Ranch.
24
rCHAPTER9
A Losing Fight and Other Adventures
In 1937 1 was caretaker for the Forest Service at Big Creek. Close by Richard Cowman
had a store and hotel. This was March. One afternoon I got a call from Miles Howard at
the Smith Creek Placer Camp, two and a half miles north of Headquarters. Miles said
"Noel, George De Shanko is hurt badly. We will need a dog team to move him to the
camp here." I asked if I should call Doctor Ward in Cascade, Idaho. Miles said "Yes, he
will be needed." I had my wife call for the doctor while I gathered up five mongrel sled
dogs. I had two. and there was three more at the Cowman hotel. Buster McCoy at the
hotel volunteered to come with me. At the Placer Camp Miles Howard directed us where
to find Shanko. When we got to him he was in very bad shape, suffering from shock
and just half coherent.
This is what happened. Two young men around eighteen years old, George De Shanko
and Salty Perkins, had come out from Kansas the summer before and decided to spend
the winter with Miles Howard at the Placer Camp. According to the story I heard. these
boys were not accustomed to mountain ways and had spent most of their lives in the
farming country of the middle west. On this fateful day they had decided to fall a big
Yellowpine and make some cross - country skis. After about an hour they had the tree
ready to fall. The ground was covered with a foot or more of snow. and when the tree fell
George lost his footing and ended up in the path of the big tree. The tree passed over
his hips and legs. and he was carried about fifty feet down hill. Salty was safe on the
upper side.
When Buster and I first saw George one of his legs was under the tree and we had a
hard time to dig him loose in the frozen ground. After we got to the Placer Camp we
made an examination. It was plain to see that there wasn't any hope and only a miracle
could save his life. His hips were ground to a pulp and lower bowels severed. One leg
was holding by the main cord, all bones ground up from the knee down. There wasn't
any bleeding to speak of by now. but the pain in his stomach was terrible. We gave what
first aid was possible to ease the pain. There was only bandages and aspirin at the
camp. Outside the weather had turned to a blizzard and you couldn't see over two
hundred feet. There was no chance for the doctor to fly from Cascade. This turned out to
be the worst storm of the winter, for two days and nights. We thought more medical
supplies would help. so the Golden Hand mine had been notified. The Hand mine was
twenty miles north of us, over 7500 ft. Pueblo Summit. The foreman got his dog team
ready and started right away. My brother John, "blacksmith at the Hand," come along
also to break trail. By twelve o'clock that night they arrived at the Placer Camp. They
had better pain killers than the aspirin so this made it easier for George. That night
dragged by, also the next day, and about midnight of the second day George died. He
had been unconscious most of the second day. It was a sad day for all of us, to see him
lose his life. The next day we hauled his body to Big Creek and the doctor had just
arrived.
I often wondered about a happening. My mother called on the phone. about twenty
minutes before George died. She said "The boy must be dying because the dogs here
are howling to the high heavens. Mom was five miles away to the north at the Werden-
hoff. Afterwards, when we got back to Big Creek, my wife said a dog there had howled.
at the same time. This was two and a half miles to the south of the Placer Camp. I think
there's a lot about the animals around us that we don't know about.
25
Feathered Messenger
About 1935, after I had finished my summer season with the Forest Service, I started
looking for a winter job. Work was scarce. there was relief rolls all over the country. I
knew an old timer. James Hand, who had a good silver showing in the Chamberlain
Basin country near Sheepeater Ridge. Mr. Hand told me he would like to get a mining
outfit to develop the prospect. I knew a mining engineer in Boise, Idaho. I arranged a
meeting between him and Mr. Hand, with the idea in mind of getting the silver showing
opened up and creating a job for myself. After the meeting which was supported with ore
samples, assays and technical information, an agreement was soon reached and
preparations made to start exploration work.
Sheepeater Ridge was situated thirty miles north of Big Creek, by trail, at an elevation of
about 8900 ft. The only means of travel in the winter was by snowshoes, and summer by
horses. Hand had a cabin there stocked with enough supplies and dynamite to last for
two or three months. I was hired, along with my friend Henry Schied, to complete a
tunnel along the vein to tap a good showing on the surface. The tunnel had already been
started so we were under cover. It was all hand drilling and I sharpened the steel. The
rock was very hard (granite gneiss) so we used 60X dynamite. About the middle of
December my partner and I landed by plane at Big Creek, and then started hiking with
webs. We both had Backboards and about sixty pounds each. I had my dog (a big
northern Husky) pulling forty pounds wrapped in a deer hide, pulling with the grain of the
hair. It was getting late so we stayed with my Dad that night at the Werdenhoff.
We left the Werdenhoff the next morning and continued our trip to Sheepeater Ridge. As
we progressed towards Mosquito Ridge Summit, the snow gradually got deeper and the
going slower. It was impossible to bring the webs to the surface and our pace slowed
down to a crawl. Darkness overtook us at the summit, twelve miles from the Werden-
hoff. There we made a shelter under a big white fir tree by using boughs and limbs. We
built a fire in front to reflect the heat. At daylight we started out and found the traveling to
be somewhat better. It was like being in a winter wonderland; trees white with snow and
sparkling like diamonds in the early moming sun. Standing there on top of the divide,
looking out over that sea of beauty for miles, made us glad to be alive, and our only wish
was to be able to share it with others.
By noon we reached the Hand cabin, our destination. The cabin was all covered with
snow and only a steep slide led to the woodshed. There was about eight feet of snow.
After opening up the stove pipe. we prepared a big feed of rice. bacon and biscuits,
washed down with strong coffee. The cabin had two bunks and it didn't take us long to lie
down for a much needed rest.
The first day was spent in breaking a good trail to the tunnel, shoveling out the portal.
and sharpening up all the steel. For the next two weeks our progress was very
satisfactory with an average of two feet per day. and then my partner had a very
unfortunate accident. A piece of steel flew off the drill head and embedded in his eye, at
the edge of the iris. We tried to get it loose with horse hair and a small magnet, but the
steel was too deep and it was dangerous to tamper with. Consequently there was nothing
left to do but hike out to the doctor in Cascade. This left me alone on the job, relying
upon the Forest Service phone to keep in touch with the outside in order to replenish the
supplies. It had been agreed that I would phone to Boise via Big Creek and let them
know when I needed them. There was an old lake bed nearby where I was supposed to
make a cross by using green tree boughs. This would serve as a marker for dumping
chutes loaded with supplies from the plane.
26
I worked for about two months and just before I decided to order more powder and
groceries, a big wind and snowstorm broke the telephone line and severed my commun-
ication with the outside. I decided to work on until everything was used up, then head for
Big Creek and telephone from there. I had a radio that worked part of the time, so my
form of entertaineent during the long evenings was to try for some special programs and
make an occasional batch of fudge. I felt very close to God, all alone in that cabin, which
was just a big pile of snow on the landscape. Every evening I would read the Bible. I
have often wished it would be possible to recapture the wonderful. strong feeling of love
and happiness that was with me.
I made a trip over the telephone line to find the break. but it must have been near the
Werdenhoff. My progress in the tunnel was slowed down, however I still made a foot
every day. Early one morning, about the first of April, my sleep was disturbed by a noise,
which to me in my half -awake condition seemed very unusual, but it wasn't enough to
bring me completely to my senses. Consequently I soon dozed off. Again this noise
came. This time I set up in bed, completely awake. What I saw was hard to believe.
Across from my bunk, about ten feet away at the cabin's only window, was a blue grouse
tapping at the window with its bill. When the grouse saw me moving it turned and half
scrambled and half flew up a four foot snow chimney that led to the outside. The whole
cabin was covered with snow and only a very small opening led to the window. For some
unknown reason I jumped from the bed. dragged my clothes on and just as I opened the
door I could hear the drone of a plane. I quickly moved out from the cabin and soon the
plane was dropping white chutes, six in all. The night before it had snowed and the trees
were all white. Consequently I would have lost some of them without knowing where they
landed. The chutes were loaded with approximately one hundred and fifty pounds each -
- groceries and dynamite. Even a new radio battery that my wife had sent. I have often
asked myself the question: What was the blue grouse doing at the cabin ? ?? During the
winter I had never seen one at that altitude, any place in the country. They winter in the
fir trees around seven thousand feet except fool hens (another kind of grouse). Why did
it tap on the window the second time, or even the first time? Was it only a coincidence?
At least I will always remember the occurrence and be able to see it in my mind's eye, as
if it happened this very day.
In June the geologist "Frank Kennedy" from Boise sent two men to take over the tunnel
while I went back with the Forest Service as fire dispatcher at Big Creek. That summer
the tunnel was completed, under the surface showing. It turned out to be better at that
depth, but due to the price of silver, the property wasn't further developed. Some day it
may reopen.
The geology at the Sheepeater Ridge showing is very good. The formation was gneiss,
along with a metamorphic granite, some porphyritic coarse and granular. About three
quarters of a mile from our tunnel a tremendous dike of Idaho batholith shows up and
can be traced along the ridge. Under the dike Jim Hand found free gold in the over-
burden just alongside of the Batholith. He always figured the gold come from the dike.
This is a very interesting showing and should be further explored. Batholith is one of our
oldest formations and could be responsible for all the mineral showings in this district.
About three miles to the northwest, at Little Sheepeater Mountain, Hand found another
silver showing that was never explored but has merit.
27
CHAPTER 10
Homer, Alaska, and Prospecting
The winter of 1940 1 moved my family to Homer. Alaska. At first we stayed at a hotel
until I bought forty acres seven miles east of Homer and built a home there. The first
summer I worked for the Highway department putting up a big machine shop and later
helped to build the Horner grade and high school. We raised a fine vegetable garden
and I got a big bull moose for meat. I fenced off five acres for a cow and calf we bought,
and put up about twenty tons of red -top hay. (Red top is a wild grass that grows even to
seven feet high). It was cut with a scythe, and put on stakes to dry. The hay can be used
by leaving the round shocks right in the field. Two cross pieces at the bottom of the long
stake keeps the hay from moulding by letting the air circulate. We put up a small warm
bam and was all fixed for winter. School was about three miles from home and my two
kids, Letty age 8 and Emmit age 6, walked. Sometimes I would have to break snow for
them with webs.
In 1941 1 got a job with the Civil Aeronautics building a headquarters for them in Homer.
That November we had a boy. "John," bom at Seldovia, Alaska, just across the
Kachemek Bay. After we finished the CAA headquarters, I got a job at a government
chromite mine at Red Mountain, fifteen miles southeast of Seldovia. The next spring the
Fire Control Service (in the Department of the Interior) gave me a job as fire guard at
Homer. Later that summer we got fifteen days of steady rain that put the damper on the
fire season, and the Fire Control Service gave me a vacation for ten days. We decided
to spend it across Rac:hemek Bay from Homer at Remote Bear Cove. There the country
was beautiful; small coves, bays and lagoons, plenty of wild flowers and good fishing.
Above timberline there was no words that could describe the beautiful glaciers,wild
flowers and the view of the Bay and surrounding landscape. The peninsular mountains
are a new geologic formation and the majestic peaks are very sharp and prominent.
In Homer I chartered a thirteen -foot dory with a ten horsepower Johnson motor and after
several unsuccessful attempts finally got outside the breakers and headed for Bear
Cove. I noticed white caps and some heavy ground swells, but the weather forecast had
been favorable so we decided to go ahead as planned. Our party consisted of my wife
Una, daugher Lefty 9, boy Emmit 7, and boy John 8 months. From Homer it was about
twelve miles southeast to Bear Cove on the south shore of Kachemek Bay. We started
our trip about 2 p.m. The first three miles went fine -- bright sunshine and some wind --
but it seemed that from there on our progress was going from bad to worse. The wind
grew stronger and the white caps started to tossing us arouind. Soon I turned the dory
straight for shore, abandoning the shorter route to Bear Cove. This way we would be
heading into the ground swells. My daughter and oldest son was kept busy bailing out
the dory as I had my hands full steering. My wife sheltered the baby from the wind and
cold ocean spray. It was only one quarter mile to shore, but it seemed twice that far. We
were all too busy to get scared and that was probably a good thing. I headed the boat for
a small opening that led to a sheltered lagoon, but about four hundred feet from this
opening the waves got so high and strong we were forced to head straight for a.high,
steep bluff of rock. I jumped out and pulled the boat to the rock cliff and was glad to see
a five foot level shelf extending out towards the water. This afforded a place for every-
one to get out. Looking up the perpendicular bluff I saw there was level steps about
every five feet, reaching twenty -five feet above us. I had cast the anchor and was
helping to unload everyone but it wasn't long until the waves started moving the boat
28
' and anchor out into deep water. I was forced to swim out about twenty feet in order to
reach the anchor chain and then hurry back to where the water was shallow enough for
' sound footing. It soon become apparent that it would be a man -sized job to hold the
boat. The family had climbed to the second shelf and there they huddled together under
blankets.
was highly mineralized, but he never got any of the quartz.
During my exploring I found a big glacier bowl on top, draining at least one quarter mile,
with a funnel leading to the bottom which was probably two thousand feet below. To slip
here would be "all she wrote." A glacier river come out underneath. The fisherman "Pete
Neilsen told me that the main body of ice had receded about one half mile since they
moved to Homer twenty years before. During my hiking here, I saw several small bands
r of white Dahl sheep and a few black bear, also ptarmigan and bald eagles. On our way
back home, the bay was smooth as glass and we had a very enjoyable trip.
Ili
29
J
u
Each hour the tide got higher (some tides here, with the aid of wind, rise over thirty feet)
'
and by midnight we had reached the last shelf. with the water lapping at our feet. From
here on up was a sheer bluff impossible to climb. Within a half hour the tide had crested
and started to recede. To say we were thankful is putting it mildly. By now the water had
to
'
started to get more calm, and we were able to reload the boat and make it a sheltered
lagoon where the water was smooth as glass and afforded a beautiful camp site. At our
camp the butter clams were plentiful so it wasn't long before we had a feast. Later that
day I caught a big mess of trout in a side stream and the family found some morel
mushrooms. This was living like a king. We stayed here about three days and I done a
lot of scouting around, especially above timberline on the glaciers. One place below a
big glacier, the formation was exposed over a large area. I found a big porphyry dike
running in a north -south direction for a mile or more, and going out at right angles,
several small quartz veins. One especially that I sampled was about six or eight inches
wide and after panning it. the pail turned yellow with gold. The vein itself was too small,
but the whole area should be thoroughly prospected. The porphyry dike looked like
latic, but should be studied under a microscope to determine for sure.
quality quartz
Another vein I noticed was running north to south and could be seen for one halt' mile,
coming down through solid formation. This with the naked eye. I never got over to it. A
Homer fisherman told me he had saw a larger vein, higher up, above the glacier, that
was highly mineralized, but he never got any of the quartz.
During my exploring I found a big glacier bowl on top, draining at least one quarter mile,
with a funnel leading to the bottom which was probably two thousand feet below. To slip
here would be "all she wrote." A glacier river come out underneath. The fisherman "Pete
Neilsen told me that the main body of ice had receded about one half mile since they
moved to Homer twenty years before. During my hiking here, I saw several small bands
r of white Dahl sheep and a few black bear, also ptarmigan and bald eagles. On our way
back home, the bay was smooth as glass and we had a very enjoyable trip.
Ili
29
J
u
II
CHAPTER 11
' "The Golden Poker Chip" and Prospectinq
In 1942 the Fire Control Service transferred us to Tanacross, Alaska to patrol the Alaska
'
highway which was being built at that time. It was expected that there might be
numerous fires during the construction of this road. I had spent sixteen years (mostly
summers) with the Idaho National Forest, in Idaho's Wilderness near McCall, and owing
'
to my experience on a fire forest I was promoted to District Ranger. On the 28th of
February we left Anchorage with six trucks and four pickups, driven separately. The
break -up had not started so the trip to Copper Center was made without mishap. There
we spent the night. After dinner someone started a poker game to pass the time and it
1
turned out to be quite an experience for me. The game wound up between an old
Swede, Ole Hansen, and myself. On the last pot Ole ran out of money and put up a gold
nugget to cover his bet. The nugget was the size of a large thumb and very rough,
impregnated with quartz, a beautiful specimen. I won the pot and had the nugget for
several years. Afterwards Ole told me where the gold come from.
This was his story. Several years previous, Ole and two ompanions were coming over
the pass from the headwaters of Big Tok Creek and dropped into another watershed.
They were prospecting for placer. Finally after several days' travel they made camp on a
short tributary where it entered the main stream. After the work of setting up camp each
went his separate way. One to pick berries, one to fish and Ole took pick, shovel and
'
gold pan, and headed up the side creek. When the others returned and got dinner ready,
Ole had not returned. Later on they heard Ole shouting and here he come, at a brisk
walk, when he arrived in camp his partners knew that there was something big going on.
In the gold pan you didn't need a glass to see half a dozen "clinker" gold nuggets. Soon
all three was whooping it up. It was the middle of August, and the nights was getting
cold. so they had to work feverishly, in order to set up a sluice box. One of them took
their only horse and started for more supplies at the nearest trading post. The other two
cut poles and got ready to start the placer operation.
It took ten days to start work and after that they only worked three weeks until cold nights
and days stopped them. Ole said they sold S7000.00 worth of gold at S36.00 per ounce.
'
The next spring they come back with a small "25" Cat and took out S60,000 during that
summer. Ole figured they had worked the claim out so they let it go back.
'
Later that same summer my boy Emmit and I hiked to this claim. The main placer
workings had probably been worked out but I believe there must be plenty of placer left,
on the lower end. It was all virgin ground (not touched). Also my prospecting showed that
there must be a rich vein at the head of this creek. I found a big porphyry dike (natural to
produce gold) crossing the canyon just above where their workings stopped. Below the
dike everything was covered with overburden. In their workings I found several chunks
of beautiful mineralized quartz honeycombed with Vogs, where sulphides had leached.
These pieces panned gold. Above the dike in one exposed place there was a small
quartz stringer cutting at right angles. This rock turned my tailings yellow with gold in the
pan. I have tried and dreamed of getting back to this prospect, ever since the day I
looked it over, but never had enough finances. It would take a tunnel to open it up and
or even a backhoe. I never mentioned the names of creeks, etc., in case I might
prove,
get back some day. The present price of gold makes it more appetizing. The area might
be staked by now but that could be found out. The next day after the poker game we
took our convoy of trucks and pickups on to Tanacross and Fairbanks without mishaps.
'
For the next two years I was stationed at Tanacross and patrolled Alaska Highway.
30
A Lightning Fire
One day while patrolling the Alaska Highway I spotted a lightning fire about sixteen miles
north and close to the AlaskaNukon border. Bill Wallace (another Ranger) was with me
and we took off across country about two p.m. The days were long and you could see to
walk all night. We traveled for six hours and finally reached the fire. The lightning had hit
a white fir snag and was burning at the base. also it had burned about one fourth acre of
grass. We cut the burning snag down, threw it in a creek close by and mixed the
smouldering duff with mineral soil and water. then we had a much needed rest. At six
a.m. the next day we started back to where our truck had been left. The country was
rolling with low hills and occasionally we come out on a ridge or hill so we could see
ahead for miles. By three p.m. we hit the Highway within three hundred feet of our
pickup. Bill said "I didn't think you could do it, you must have a compass in the back of
your head." What Bill didn't know was that I had marked a high point, just back of our
truck, for a landmark when we first left for the fire.
A few years later, William Wallace created the "Mile Post Guide Book" that covered all
of Alaska and the Alaska Highway. With starting points in the U.S.A. This venture
proved to be very successful. Later he sold this business and started "The Ponderosa Art
Studio in Fort Bragg, California. Later that same summer we had a 200 -acre man -
caused fire on Tok River. We had to call on the Tanacross Air Force Base to help us put
this fire out. The whole country was dry and had a very high fire hazard.
Another Prospecting Trip
We had enough rain that same summer in August that Bill and I was able to take a
week's leave. An old trapper, Ole Espland, had told us about finding silver ore on Ahtell
Creek. about fifteen miles from Mentaska Lake. Ole went with us and the first day we
camped at the head of Porcupine Creek. There was a lake there that later was called
"Lake Noel" on the Fire Control map. This lake was about one mile long. At the upper
end there was a rim of volcanic rock all around and the water was a greenish color. We
figured it must be an old volcano chimney. The fishing was good so Bill decided to stay
there while Ole and I went on to his silver find. The next morning Ole and I hiked about
seven miles and arrived at his discovery. The formation was granodiodte with bonds of
quartzite and dolomite lime. The ore had one wall of granodiorite. The vein was about
from six to ten inches wide and in some places solid galena, running high to lead. Later,
assays went 157 lead and 10 oz. silver. Nearby was another vein about two feet wide
that panned free gold. where it was oxidized. The area needed more prospecting, but our
time was limited. We stayed that night at an old trapper's cabin and the next day picked
up Bill at the lake and went on back to Tanacross.
Later I found a good showing on Little Tok of antimony, but figured it was too far back at
that time. The next summer, later in the fall, we moved to Windermere, British
Columbia. My son John wasn't doing very good. He was anemic and had rickets (his rib
cage wasn't developing right). The doctor said he would be better off further south where
the sun had more kick. The Fire Control Service wanted me to stay, but naturally we
figured his health was the only thing that mattered.
31
CHAPTER 12
The Bald Eagle and Other Adventures
In 1944 we moved to Windemere, B.C., and I bought a ranch for our home. There was
about ten acres. and we got four head of cattle and four pigs with the deal. I soon got a
job as carpenter, building houses and remodeling. Towards spring in February I heard
about a silver property on Boulder Creek. The owner had died the year before and my
informant, Sinclair Craig, thought the property would be open for location. Mr. Craig was
eighty years old and crippled with rheumatism. The claim was called the Bald Eagle and
the former owner was John Burman. My first step was to get a free miner's certificate for
S5.00 which gave an American the same prospecting rights as Canadian citizens. I also
inquired about the Bald Eagle Claim. After a week the mining recorder at Golden, B.C.,
wrote saying that according to their records the claim had lapsed.
Mr. Craig told me how to get to the claim. I borrowed a pair of webs, fixed my back pack
with supplies, got a sharp ax and a pair of metal tags (one tag is nailed to the initial post
and one to the final post to give the claim a number for record). Each claim had over
fifty acres, 1500 it x 1500 it on the strike of the vein or fault you could claim 100 it to left
or any part of the 1500 ft. to protect the dip of the fault.
The next day I started my trip. The route went up Toby Creek nine miles then started
climbing up Spring Creek for another seven miles, to the Paradise Mine, from there
about one mile to the top of 8 9000 -ft ridge and down the other side about three miles to
the claim, at an elevation of approximately 7000 feet.
The first nine miles up Toby was fast walking, on a well packed game trail; but when 1
started towards the Paradise mine traveling got slower and slower as I gained altitude.
Here I had to wear the snowshoes, and by the time I reached the mine buildings I was
breaking eighteen inches of new snow, on top of about six feet of old snow. By now it
was dark, and the only shelter I could find was a cellar under the bunk house. The mine
had been abandoned for a couple of years and the main buildings were locked. I stayed
all night in the cellar and felt lucky to be out of the weather.
The next morning I ate a cold sandwich and then continued on my trip. In about an hour I
topped out on the main divide. On the other side I started down a long ridge into Boulder
Creek, I thought to myself, "Hope I'm on target" as to get on the wrong ridge would take
hours of dangerous snow slide travel to right myself. I went down the ridge about two
miles and there surrounded by a small patch of timber was a large hump of snow. When
I got closer this proved to be the old Burman cabin.
According to Craig's description the mine was below the cabin in some steep bluffs.
When I got down there the snow had almost gone. because of lower elevation. I soon
located the tunnel portal and by squeezing by glacier ice I was able to explore the drift.
Forty feet from the portal a short cross -cut exposed about four feet of beautiful galena
ore. The main drift exposed a vein which varied from eight inches to two feet wide.
' Some sloping had been done in different places. This ore was mostly tetrahederite "grey
copper" alongside of dolomite lime on one side and argilliate on the foot wall side. The
four feet of ore in the side cross -cut was a replacement in dolomite from off the main
vein. Later I got some assays of 2000 ounces silver in the gray copper and the four foot
showing went lead, zinc and 90 oz. silver. There also was several beds of quartzite
nearby. I located one claim and then started back to Wilderness. It was noon and I never
stopped until I reached home. The going was good with a broke trail and a downhill pull.
' That spring in June. my son Emmit and I drove a cart to the Paradise mine, then hiked
to our claim. This made an easy trip to the property.
32
We first dug our location hole and then I started prospecting the imoediate area. A large
fault passed approximately four hundred feet north of the Bald Eagle, which I took to be
the continuation of the Paradise mine. It showed gossan and some copper stain. The
Bald Eagle seemed to be a separate fault from the Paradise, but the formation was
similar. Dolomite lime quartzite beds and argilliate with some replacement.
One afternoon we were digging on a fault south of the cabin. About two p.m. I asked
Emmit to put on a pot of beans at the cabin. It took longer for them to cook at that
altitude. About six p.m. I called it a day and went to the cabin. When I tried the door it
was latched from within, I said " Emmit, open up, it's Dad." He opened the door, but
seemed to be really shook up. Emmit said "Dad, I'm sure glad you're here." Then he told
me what happened. After he started the fire and put the beans on, he heard footsteps in
the woodshed, he opened the door but could see no one. Then latched the door from the
inside. Soon the footsteps come again, and then the door was pushed. The latch made
an indentation in a cardboard on the inside. He said "Look" and sure enough there was a
deep mark in the cardboard. I opened the door and looked the trail over, and there was
no sign of any tracks, except ours. The trail was dusty. We passed it off, and set down to
dinner. Afterwards we washed the dishes and I laid down on the bunk to read an old
magazine while Emmit started drawing a panorama of the high ridge across Boulder
Creek from us. He looked through a small window. Later on I said " Emmit, put some
wood on the fire." He went to the woodshed and got more wood and replenished the
stove. When he set down again at his drawing he said, "Dad, did you make a couple of
black marks on my drawing?" I said "No, I haven't been off the bunk since you started."
He brought the drawing to me, and there on the paper was two dark marks down from
the main saddle which showed on the picture. Emmit was good, and very artistic, the
mountains were all defined in perfect copy. The marks.made no sense, because they
could not be seen on the landscape, at that distance. We were both puzzled and couldn't
find any plausible explanation. I said "Just for the fun of it we will go over there tomor-
row, and see what is there."
Early the next morning we started from the cabin straight down to Boulder Creek, which
was about 6000 ft. elevation, then climbed to 8900 ft. elevation in order to top out in the
main saddle marked on Emmit's sketch. Then we started working our way down and to
the south. (This was steep rugged country). After we had gone about three hundred
yards I could see an old prospect hole. The dump was real black. Just below there was
another hole showing Iblack. This matched the sketch. made from one and one -half air
miles away. I examined the formation very closely and found that the holes had been
dug years before on a contact, between magnesium limestone and argillite. The black
color come from the manganese.
The contact had a vein of quartz about two feet wide. showing grey copper and copper
stain. Quartz was ground up and mixed with lime. Two samples I took assayed one and
one -half oz. silver. Below these two showings about 300 ft. there had been a tunnel
driven on a two and one -half foot vein of quartz. It was about twenty feet long. Assays
from here run about the same. I never did get back to this showing even though it
showed promise of being heavily mineralized at depth. By now both of us were scratch-
ing our heads and wondering what this all meant.
On the way back to the Bald Eagle claim, we stopped and sized up the lower tunnel
which was about two hundred feet below the upper tunnel and, judging from the dump
rock, should run far enough to tap the high grade silver ore above. This tunnel could
have been at least four hundred feet long. There was about thirty sets of timber standing
in place which acted as a snow protection in the winters. There wasn't any snow left at
this time and everything was sound and dry. I told Emmit "I will come down here in the
morning with my carbide light and explore this tunnel."
33
The next morning I went back to the lower tunnel and stood there spellbound and dumb-
founded. Every standing timber was laid flat and the tunnel opening was caved in, to
where it was impossible to get underground. Why did this happen? This I had no answer
for. John Burman, the former owner, who had died two years before, was known to be a
cranky old man. Anyone who come near his property was shot at and cursed, and
everyone had given the Bald Eagle claim a wide by -pass. That summer one of the
natives from Wilmer. B.C. (close by), a Mr. Hansen, informed me that he had this
property located for several years. His stakes were freshly blazed and the mining
recorder's records in Golden, B.C. now showed he was the owner. I was surprised
because I had looked into the records before I located. However I knew it was dishonest,
but never wanted to take it to court.
Over the years this property changed hands several times. I don't know if it is owned at
this time or not, but it seems that something always happens to push owners away. I
have never believed in spirits, etc. Perhaps what happened there could be explained as
just a coincidence. However, it has left a question in my mind for all of these years. Why
has not some one taken out the rich silver ore? Why is it that someone cannot own the
property long enough to prove its worth?
The Bunyan Mine
In 1946 1 looked up the record on the old Bunyan Crown Grant claim. (Crown grant, in
Canada, is the same as a Patented Mining Claim in the U.S.). This claim had become
delinquent because of tax default. The claim, about fifty acres, was situated around five
miles from Invermere, B.C. just off the valley floor. It consisted of barite and streaks of
tetrahederite, all in argilliate. Above was a big band of dolomite lime, and just beyond
and higher up the slope there was a big body of conglomerite. I took a sample of the
streaks of grey copper and this assayed 15 oz. silver, about three feet wide. A sample of
barite went 9 oz. The barite was beautiful white heavy crystals fifteen feet wide.
I paid the back taxes and got a deed for the claim. Soon afterwards an oil engineer from
Calgary bought the Bunyan for cash. They used it for drilling oil, in the big Canadian oil
fields near Edmonton. The barite is lowered to the bottom of the hole, below the drilling
bit, and it helps to keep the hole clean and thus the mud is forced above. Barite has
about the same gravity as lead.
The Red Ledge Adventure
In 1947 there was a new mine opened up at the Mineral King, about 25 miles up Toby
Creek from Invermere, B.C. I figured that the country across Toby Creek from the
Mineral King had never been prospected. I waited until school was out, so my boy Emmit
could go with me, and we took off. Across from the King there had been an old bum and
the logs laid like match sticks in all directions. This was a losing route, to gain altitude,
logs above our heads and thick brush. We back tracked and took a long steep ridge
opposite, and across, Spring Creek. We traveled all day and finally topped out on a high
divide at 9000 ft.
Directly across from us and in line with the King, about one and a half air miles away, we
could see what looked like big piles of sawdust, like a sawmill might leave behind. We
knew this wasn't possible because there wasn't a road on that side, so I figured it was red
gossan, from a big fault, and probably the continuation of the Mineral King. We had to
try and figure out just what route to take, because the other side was heavily timbered,
34
and we wanted to hit right on the beam. Our side was slow and dangerous at first, very
steep, poor footing and glacier ice. Finally we reached the bottom and hit one of our
markers (a big snowslide that had piled tons of logs at the bottom). From here we figured
straight up. This turned out to be right. We hit a big gossan, right on the nose. From
there about 100 feet there was a red spring in the same fault. By now it was starting to
get dark, so we hurriedly built a shelter out of white fir limbs, and built a fire in front. We
ate our lunch and laid down for the night.
It must have been about an hour later that I heard a loud "cat scream" real close. My boy
raised up from the boughs and said "Dad, what in hell was that ?" I said "It has to be a
cougar. Throw that black moss on the hot coals so we can see." In the meantime I was
looking for the only weapon we had, a double bladed hand ax. When the fire blazed up
my boy said "Dad, look there." Just across the spring from us was a big she cougar,
standing and watching us. About this time the fire must have scared her off. With one
bound she was gone. The next morning there was the cougar tracks, in the mud. One
big set and three kittens' tracks. I don't think the cougar would have attacked us, but it
was real scary.
After an early sandwich, I went out and looked the fault over. The big red spot of
oxidized gossan went four hundred feet downhill from where it originated. You could
walk ankle -deep in iron oxide. The fault could easily be traced by a large swale, it was
heading for the Mineral King mine. The formation was argilliate, slate, breccia just above
the fault, and dolomite 'lime. I located a fifty -acre claim, got some gossan samples and
then headed for Toby Creek. Named it the Red Ledge.
Later on I organized a party of three, and we drove tunnel the rest of the summer, a
cross -cut for the fault. In about fifty feet we hit stringers of pure galena, heading at a
cross angle for the fault. From then on, over the period of twenty years, we had a lot of
bad luck. The reason was because of not enough money. The next summer water drove
us out of the tunnel. The stream come in just below the fault, and we couldn't clear our
drill holes from building up mud, and to stand in that water and drill would freeze anyone.
Of course a jackhammer would work, but there again, it would also cost.
We had a cat road built from Toby Creek, and one fall diamond drilled above the red
spring. At 180 feet down we hit the fault, but lost two bits. The fault assayed silver, but
we had just started into it. In 1957 a geologist, (Mr. Webber), looked it over and was real
excited, offered us one hundred thousand over a ten -year period. Webber was working
for the Kimberley Sullivan Mine (the biggest lead, zinc mine in the world, at Kimberley,
B.C.). Webber thought there would be at least 700 tons of ore a day, when it was
opened up. Later a geologist from Vancouver looked the Red Ledge over (just before
our deal) and he turned it down because 700 tons a day wouldn't be big enough for their
operation. I stayed on until 1972 and then let the property go back. My partners had quit
in about 1970. 1 have never checked to see if any outfit took it over, since I left, but I
know some day it will make a mine.
35
CHAPTER 13
Tips on How to Find Metals and Precious Gems
I started prospecting with my father when I was seven years old, in central Idaho. Every
summer during school vacation, we would spend all of our spare time looking for metals.
Dad taught me what he had learned from experience and later I studied every book I
could find.
After I married, each summer we would plan our vacation to take in a likely geological
area and spend our time prospecting. So far I have found and sold several prospects in
Idaho, British Columbia and Alaska. Most of my experience has been centered around
base metals instead of precious gems. Following is information that helped me.
First, find the right kind of rock formations that are receptive to
metals. Consult geological maps. Look for old workings and abandoned claims. Just
because old claims were left behind doesn't mean that everything was found. Years ago
some metals were valueless, but now are worth more than gold, silver and other ores.
Also, mineral belts can be the home for a variety of metals. New methods of production,
over the years, have made the recovery possible.
One example: the Golden Hand Mine in Central Idaho was found within five hundred
feet of an old quartz mill and a long tunnel that had been worked and abandoned years
before. The Golden Hand produced over one and a quarter million dollars in gold alone.
The ore was exposed in a prominent bluff, sticking out like "a sore thumb." Some day,
perhaps by diamond drill, there may be more bodies of ore opened up at greater depth
there.
Huge bodies of granite, running for several miles, wide, are seldom productive to ore.
The borders of such bodies, where the granite family changes to pegmatites, gneiss,
etc., or contacts argillite, mica schist, slates, quartzite and other metamorphic formations
and where the formations are broken up with gabbro, basalt, rhyolite porphyry, quartz
latite and lamprophyre dike intrusions, are very likely locations. Limestone formations
are a prime lead for some lead, zinc and silver ore bodies. Breccia alongside a fault
sometimes affords a passageway for mineral fumes coming from a magma below.
Quartzite makes a good wall in such cases to hold the metals in place. Look for signs of
faults, quartz veins and stringers.
I have never in all of my prospecting experience found a fault showing rich metals, that
was not backed up with heat rock, either on a parallel contact, cutting across the fault
nearby or coming in from below. There is a reason for everything, ore minerals are no
exception. Fumes and solutions from these heat rock magmas come up through the
faults and deposit the ores. Again I stress the importance of finding heat rock where
there is evidence of faults. Sometimes heat rock dykes stand out very prominently and
they could lead you to uncover veins that may be obscured by over burden. The contact
of two different formations often form a likely location for a fault, that could be worth-
while, also fissure veins, cutting the formation, are very likely openings to accomodate
ores.
Pegmatite deposits should never be overlooked for a variety of precious gems. The
extent is usually small, but often times very valuable. Gems can also be found in
rhyolite, obsidian, basalt, gneiss and other basic rocks. Learn to identify all the main
36
formations associated with precious gems and base metals. To know them by sight in
the field is very important. Also know the gems and base metals, at least enough to
know whether to collect samples and specimens. List their location and have an expert
identify them. This way you can learn by experience and not overlook something
worthwhile.
When panning for gold, gems etc., as you move upstream watch for oxidized quartz and
heat rocks, which may help to lead to the source. When panning keep your pan free
from all grease. This can be done by heating pan over a camp fire, forge or stove, until
the pan turns blue. Any quartz that is oxidized or not, be sure and roast it for three hours
at a red heat, to free the minerals from the sulphides, especially gold. Sometimes gold is
not freed from oxidized rock unless it is roasted. Tellurium and other minerals can hide
the gold. If you are panning in a stream bed, don't be afraid to dig down. Always go
deep enough to reach either false bedrock (clay or hardpan) or true bedrock, otherwise
you're just wasting your time.
A simple effective way to pan for cinnabar (quicksilver) is: crush the rock very fine,
concentrate heavy material by panning, then put concentrates in partially hollowed
potato, turning open side over hot stove. Heat will cause the quicksilver to condense into
potato. Afterwards dry potato (lower heat) powder and pan for specks of quicksilver. You
can also buy a sniffer, which shows pure quicksilver in water by using heat.
List of supplies needed for field work:
- Pocket knife, to help identify rock and minerals by hardness and streak.
- Pocket compass, to take bearing, dip and strike of fault or formation (Brunton compass
ideal)
- Knapsack, to carry maps, notebooks, notices, can to nail on, posts for locating claim.
- Prospecting pick, for breaking and obtaining specimens (metal handle is best)
- Mineral glass, at least 10 power
- Gold pan, even small quartz pan is suitable
- Hydrochloric acid, to test for lime. Always test all porphyry or other heat dikes near the
faults. They can also contain valuable minerals and may give indications of what the
faults contain.
- Magnet sometimes is useful for cleaning tailings in the pan, and identification of iron.
- Look for minerals in wall rocks of the faults. In some cases wallrock ores point to
bodies, and paying mines to greater depths.
- Always have a fire assay, it is much more accurate for gold.
- Watch for mineral stains: copper, cobalt, nickel, silver, cinnabar, iron and many others.
These stains in a gossan (oxidized vein material) may wean the minerals are deeper, or
stains on a slope nay have been moved by water down hill. Also stains may follow
seams, stringers, soft decomposed rock, etc., from the main source. Explore them
thoroughly. Some iron gossans may mean sulphides at depth, which could be lead, zinc,
silver, copper etc. Always pan gossans: there may be free gold on the surface. Gold
does not break down. Some of our largest mines have been found by exploring gossans.
37
CHAPTER 14
Help Save Our Heritage
I believe that all people on earth have something far greater than wealth of man -made
materials to be proud of. It is something that words cannot describe. It is all around us all
the time, and can be felt and enjoyed by everyone. It is simply "our heritage" that God
gave each one of us, when we were born. Some people go through life and never see or
feel this wonderful blessing. It does not take any special skill or secret formula to unveil
these wonders. Just get away to the quiet countryside, the deserts, mountains, in fact
anyplace where man has not destroyed the ecology.
At first, relax, soon you will feel the stillness and peace, broken only by nature's noises,
as the song of a bird, the rustle of the wind, or the movement of nature's hosts. Even a
blind man can feel the mystery, and wonders around him. Then look out and see,
perhaps the majestic peaks and mountains, the valleys all still and peaceful, the
landscape covered with beautiful flowers, grass and trees, or desert cover. In the
wintertime, the beautiful cover of snow, each flake having its own pattern of beauty.
See the sun shining on water, our beautiful lakes, streams and oceans. Think of all the
life around us, and know that each and every thing has a purpose to fulfill, and a
contribution towards our own living and happiness. After you have really discovered our
own Garden of Eden, you will always be conscious of it, wherever you may be. I would
like to ask some questions.
Why do we human animals keep on destroying all of these blessed gifts, that God so
' graciously bestowed upon us, out of love for us, to balance God's creation of nature, to
make a paradise on earth? To name all of our trespasses would be almost impossible,
but to name a few: How about our songbirds, we kill them in every conceivable way, with
' insecticides, guns and traps. We destroy their homes and habitats. Is there anything on
earth more heavenly than a bluebird or robin? Doesn't your heart skip a beat when you
see the first one, in the spring? Are there any words to describe their beauty?
This is just one very small example. How about all birds? Even those that prey on
animals are just carving out their session in life. Did you ever watch the great American
Bald Eagle, or the majestic Golden Eagle? How graceful sailing to and fro; how loving to
their kind! I could name all animals on earth and not one is spared from the human
onslaught. Most are going down to oblivion and complete destruction.
How about our life- giving streams, lakes and even oceans that are being poisoned and
contaminated, mostly in the lower reaches of streams where we use the water for human
consumption? How about the pollution in the air we breath? How about the millions of
tons of litter we carry and deposit along our beautiful beaches and stream banks,
highways and countryside?
Will God finally stop this wanton waste ar just let us destroy ourselves? It is the duty of
every human to work, in theidr small way, to "keep our garden clean." If we do this the
job will be made easy for everyone, and the joys we receive from just being a part of this
great heritage will reward us a thousand -fold. This is our country; let us all work together
so that no part of it will be taken from us.
38
I don't believe our wilderness ice boxes are the answer. Moneyed people are exploiting
our game herds and fishing, by taking out and not putting back. Some drift down the '
River of No Return on a raft, half drunk, doped and stark- naked. These kind of people
could care less about the wonders of beautiful Idaho. They talk about multiple use for
minerals and timber, but at the same time hobble these resources to where it's nothing '
more than just empty words.
Mining and the lumber industry is one of Idaho's main crops, for our existence. Let us
harvest these crops by using common sense and strict laws, educate people to use the '
right way.
39
I1
I �
I I
II
I I
� I
DISTRIBUTION LIST (one copy each, unless otherwise noted)
USDA, FOREST SERVICE
- Intermountain Region
+Historical Archives
- Payette National Forest
+Supervisor's Office
+Archaeologist (x5)
+Krassel District Office (x5)
+Big Creek Station
Idaho State Historical Society
Valley County (Idaho) History Project
c/o Cascade (Idaho) Public Library
McCall (Idaho) Public Library
Individuals;
-Peter Preston
-Dan LeVan II
-Robin McRae
-James Collord Sr
-James Collord Jr
-Jack Walker
-Emmit E Routson
- Robert G Routson
-Mary (Mrs Noel) Routson (x5)
-Emmit Routson
-Letty Routson Tucker
- Leonard Routson
,2 -- /C) - Z 00
Sunshine on the brink
Of closing Big Creek mine
Silver producer
seeks new buyers
after smelter closes
The Associated Press
BIG CREEK — Company officials at
Sunshine Mining Co. announced that a
host of economic factors, led by low sil-
ver prices, have put Sunshine on the
brink of closing the historic mine at Big
Creek.
Still, the company said that its third
amended plan of financial reorganiza-
tion became effective this week, allow
-
ingthe company to emerge from bank -
rnBu the company learned that the
smelter to which the mine ships its con-
centrates will be closing and is accept-
ing no more shipments.
"It's nice to be out of the bankruptcy,
but right on the heels of that Asarco
told us they were closing the smelter
and could no longer take our concen-
trate. That put us in a real financial
bind," said Sunshine mine manager
Harry tougher.
There are no smelters in the U.S.,
and Cougher said mine officials are
talking with smelters in Canada and
overseas to see if they can take the
mine's concentrate.
Company officials said it would not
be cost effective to restart its own refin-
ery operation.
On the market, silver costs about
$4.58 an ounce. President Bill Davis
said his operation costs are about that
amount.
While the company is analyzing
available alternatives for the sale of its
concentrates, officials said the avail-
able markets in North America are lim-
ited.
If economically viable commitments
are not found soon, Davis said the com-
pany will have to close the mine.
The mine's economic woes were
clear in late- December when 27 of its
200 -plus employees were laid off due to
slumping silver prices.
Should the mine close, officials said
it will likely be placed on a "care and
maintenance" status, which would al-
low an easier restart if silver prices re-
bound.
Finalization of the bankruptcy did
bring some good news for the compa-
ny.
Sunshine was able to settle all envi-
ronmental litigation in the Coeur d'A-
lene Basin Superfund case which was
brought by the U.S. Department of the
Interior, Environmental Protection
Agency and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
The plaintiffs alleged millions of dol-
lars in natural resource damages
against the defendant. Sunshine's re-
lease from the case removes a major
burden from the company.
Sunshine was also released from a
1994 consent decree that obligated the
company to remediate certain proper-
ty in the Bunker Hill Superfund site.
Common stockholders, owning
more than 100 shares, will be issued
new stock in the reorganized compa-
ny. Out of 50 million shares of old
stock, the company will issue 1.7 mil-
lion shares of new stock.
s
_t e-,,) f x G1
q — 3C2 -- _2_00 Z-
Idaho's gold rush:
How it all started
Trespassing group
of prospectors found
the precious metal
on Nez Perce land
By Kathryn Harvey
Special to The Idaho Statesman
Though the California gold
rush started with the discovery
of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1849,
Idaho didn't experience a gold
run until 11 years later.
Although prospectors were
probing for treasure in other
states, Idaho's American Indian
population kept most prospec-
tors out of the state for several
years.
It was worth a man's life to
search for gold in Shoshone and
Bannock country.
y,sr Y a a, -.. �•.
Photos courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Library
Above: The spot where Elias Pierce and a smuggled party of miners dis-
covered gold in 1860, starting Idaho's gold rush.
Eventually, despite the danger,
hopeful miners began to trickle
in to try their luck in the area that
would become the Gem State.
The gold that started Idaho's
rush was discovered by Elias
Pierce in the spring of 1860 in the
Clearwater Country — on the
Nez Perce Reservation.
After his discovery, which was
small but proved that there was
indeed gold in the area, Pierce
informed the Nez Perce that he
wanted to bring others to search
for the gold.
Although a few of the Nez
Perce were interested in the min-
ing enterprise, most violently op-
posed white men trespassing on
their land. Nevertheless, Pierce
smuggled a small prospecting
party onto the reservation in
1860.
Pierce's mining party found
luck on a tributary of the Clear-
water River, which they named
Orofino Creek.
When the party took the gold
to Walla Walla, Wash., to gather
supplies for the winter, it began
to stir people's interest.
Some of the miners returned
to Orofino Creek and built cab-
ins there for the winter. That
small settlement was Idaho's first
mining camp, now the town of
Pierce.
Once the winter was over and
Right: After-Elias Pierce found gold in Idaho, thousands of people
began pouring onto Nez Perce land to try their luck, despite the
tribe's opposition.
a miner took some of his gold to
Walla Walla to purchase more
supplies, the gold rush began in
earnest. Soon, thousands of peo-
ple were pouring onto Nez Perce
land.
An agreement was reached
with the Nez Perce in which the
Indians would allow miners to
search for gold on part of their
land as long as the whites would
not settle in the area perma-
nently, but a few weeks later,
when more gold was discovered
in an off - limits area, the agree-
ment was violated.
Pierce's find was the beginning
of Idaho's mining boom, with
towns spreading out from the
area.
Many of them died out as
rapidly as they grew, when the
gold hits moved on to other ar-
eas.
Others remained and-became
established Idaho cities.
Only a few of the miners un-
covered substantial amounts of
gold, but the influx of people led
to the establishment of Idaho
Territory in 1863.
Sources: The Pierce Chronicles —'
E.D. Pierce (Introduction by J.
Gary Williams), Rush to Idaho,
Vol. 19 -Merle Wells, The Story of
Idaho —Virgil M. Young
// -
5Z0 tes t>-?Q
Forest
Service
agrees to
resumed
mining
Move paves way
for work to begin
in McCall area
The Associated Press
The U.S. Forest Service is sid-
ing with a mining company's
bid to reopen roads and drill
test holes in the Frank Church -
River of No Return Wilderness.
Conservationists warn that
the Golden Hand Mine is in the
Middle Fork of the salmon wa-
tershed, home for several
species of imperiled fish, in-
cluding chinook salmon and
steelhead.
Payette National Forest su-
pervisor Mark Madrid on
Thursday signed a record of de-
cision for the Golden Hand
Mine. The alternative chosen
allows American Independence
Mine and Minerals Inc. to re-
open about three miles of road
to access mining claims cover-
ing about 40 acres near Coin
Creek in the headwaters of Big
Creek.
Up to 48 test holes at 31 lo-
cations will be drilled. There
also will be some underground
work at two existing mine open-
ings.
I am basing my decision to
implement the selected alter-
native on the following prima-
ry factors: fisheries and water
quality, wilderness, and activi-
ties reasonable incident to min-
ing," Madrid wrote.
The selected option modifies
the proposed plan by reducing
road construction, allowing no
trenching, no residence at the
site, and adding more mitiga-
tion and monitoring, the Forest
Service said. Activities there are
limited to three years.
The decision is subject to ap-
peal, with a June 23 deadline.
The two claims are 40 .Hiles
northeast of McCall and had
been mined from the early 1900s
until 1941 for a total profit of
$44,000, the Idaho Conserva-
tion League said earlier.
The group in May 2002 called
on the Forest Service to reject
more mining there.
"The mining company as-
sumes that a claim gives them
a license to build roads and
drive bulldozers into this
wilderness, which simply isn't
true," said John Robison of the
Idaho Conservation League.
"Miners in other wilderness
areas minimize their effects by
accessing claims on foot, horse-
back and helicopter. More in-
trusive methods are not appro-
priate and should not be al-
lowed."
The Conservation League
and The Wilderness Society
filed suit in March, charging the
Payette forest violated federal
laws in approving a mill in the
Big Creek drainage east of Mc-
Call that would use cyanide to
leach gold out of the ore.
War set off mercury mlnlng rush
By ARTHUR HART
When the United States entered
the first World War there was an in-
stant demand for mercury. This
metal, sometimes called quicksilver,
was used for the detonators in artil-
lery shells and the army needed all it
could get in a hurry. Idaho's known
mercury claims were the scene of a
flurry of activity in 1917 and 1918.
As early as 1902, at the time of the
gold rush to Thunder Mountain, pros-
pectors J. Pringle Smith and Bert
Bartholomy had located quicksilver
claims on the ridge near Monumen-
tal Summit which separates the
drainages of Monumental Creek and
Meadow Creek. Smith's claims,
known as the Hermes group, were
soon surrounded by the claims of oth-
ers in 1917 when the wartime market
for mercury suddenly developed.
E. H. Van Meter's Fern Quicksil-
ver Mining Co. was treating two tons
of ore per day when the war ended —
Idaho
Yesterdays
but before he had been able to get
back his original investment. It
would take another world war to
make mercury mining in the area
profitable.
In 1921, however, Boise mining de-
veloper J. J. Oberbillig succeeded in
consolidating 41 unpatented claims in
the district into the United Mercury
Mines Co.
At the Hermes claim on Cinnabar
Creek, a tributary of the East Fork
of the South Fork of the Salmon
River, the .company drove two tun-
nels, one 900 feet long and the other
2,700 feet long. They set up a small
6- cylinder tube retort to extract the
mercury, but by 1924 this operation
was only able to produce 45 flasks of
mercury weighing 75 pounds each.
Oberbillig leased the Hermes mer-
cury claims to F. W. Bradley, along
with an option to purchase, and by
1927 the Bradley Co., one of the gi-
ants of Western mining, had acquired
leases from Oberbillig on gold claims
at Meadow Creek as well. Since
there was little market for mercury
at the time, the Bradleys let their
Cinnabar leases go back to Oberbillig
in 1936.
Within weeks of U.S. entry into
World War II on Dec. 7, 1941, Oberbil-
lig had worked out a partnership deal
with Bonanza Mines Inc., which
owned a mercury mine at Suther-
land, Ore.
Bonanza agreed to build a 60-ton-
per -day rotary furnace - condenser
plant, for a 51 percent interest, if
Oberbillig's company would put up
the mine and build a good road to the
head of Cinnabar Creek for its 49 per-
cent .
During the war years the Hermes
mine produced more than $2 million
worth of mercury. This derived from
about 10,000 flasks of the metal at the
wartime price of $200 per flask. An
average crew of 50 men was em-
ployed, and the buildings to house
and feed them made an impressive
camp.
After falling prices closed the mine
in 1948, Oberbillig bought out Bo-
nanza mines. He reopened the
Hermes in 1950 when the Korean war
again created a demand for mer-
cury. An additional 3,000 flasks were
produced during this period.
Later misadventures, including a
fire and an avalanche, made Cinna-
bar into a ghost town, but a new flo-
tation process for extracting mer-
cury may bring the Hermes mine
back to life.
(Arthur Hart is director of the
Idaho Historical Society.)
Hermes Mercury Mines produced more than $2 million worth of mercury during World War II
Edwardsburg Mines
Narrated by Sandy McRae
Summer 2008
Sunday Mine
The Sunday Mine was developed in 1910 -1911 by the Edwards family, who had come
from Macon, Georgia to engage in mining. There were many diggings and several
profitable shafts with gold ore. This was a "pinch and swell" quartz vein about 5" in
diameter; the ore was sorted for only the richest gold. The Edwards' mill, built in 1911-
12, cost over $100,000.00. It was a reduction mill, a stamp mill, that used a cyanide
leaching process. The wood fired boiler powered a steam engine that powered the three
stamps. There was a blacksmith's shop, a bunkhouse for the workmen, measuring
35'x25' and built of logs cut on the property, and there are still the remains of an old
cabin west of the mill that measured 15'x 20'. The Edwards spent about $500,000.00 in
the mine and mill, much of this from eastern investors, and earned in return between
$25,000.00 and $30,000.00.
Beginning in 1938 -40, Dan McRae and his son, Bob, worked this mine and mill which
was profitable until the mandatory closure at the onset of WWII. All gold mines in the
country were closed at that time. Dan McRae had legal permission to mine since the
property had sat vacant for 18 years. Napier Edwards, the son of the Edwards, who still
lived in Edwardsburg, did not approve any use of the property and would come to hide
and shoot holes in the mill smokestack while the men were working. Bob warned him to
stop, and, when Napier argued repeatedly with him, he broke the gun and reminded
Napier that they had the legal right to mine. He remained angry and, when the McRaes
returned the following summer, the mine car was missing. Bob told Napier to return it or
he would bring the sheriff to arrest him. The car was returned to its tracks the following
day, and there was no further interference. The McRae family stayed in the Sharples'
house until they went into Stibnite in 1940. When the site was no longer being mined,
the McRaes' son -in -law, Jim Collord, gave the three stamps from the Edwards' mill to
Warren Brown. Warren brought in one of the lumbering trucks with a hoist to take them
out to McCall. He had wanted them for his son, Frank, who was planning a restaurant in
Boise. It was to have had a mining theme and these would lend some authenticity. The
restaurant never materialized, and the stamps were lost, perhaps, in the lumber mill
storage. The old equipment seen at the mine is from the 1940s.
The Sunday mine property was selectively logged in 1983 -4 for $125,000.00. The
logging camp was set up in the Gillihan's pasture. They estimated there would be about
$400,000.00 worth of timber on the entire 112 acre property. This property was then sold
to Richard Paulson, a pilot and who envisioned a condominium development for pilots
who would fly in to the Big Creek airfield. Tom Wooten had flown him over to look at it
before he bought it. He never drove in to examine it. His estate still owns the property.
In 1950, Axel Faulkenberg bought what became the McRae /Collord house in
Edwardsburg, built by Pete Peterson in 1933 at the Big Creek Lodge site. It was
originally a bar in Big Creek and was moved to the current site about 1944. The current
lot was the first piece of property sold from the Edwards' ranch. The interior timbers in
this house had been brought from the Sunday Mill. Axel worked at the mine in the
summers and in the forest in the winter. The McRae's bought the house from him for
$1500.00, while they lived in Stibnite inl951. An old trailer in the yard was used on a
sled to haul ore from the tunnel to the mill at the McRae tungsten mine until the bulldozer
arrived. One half interest in this house now belongs to Marge McRae Collard's
granddaughter, Carrie, who in summers mines at the opal mine inherited by Jimmy
Collord from Wilbur Wiles. The other half interest in the house belongs to her cousin,
Jimmy Collard, a retired mining engineer and active partner in the Thunder Mountain
Gold Company. This is a publicly held company with several properties in the Owyhee
mountains and Nevada. Their properties at the Dewey and Sunnyside mines were sold to
the USFS in 2008 after being held in the Conservation Trust for Public Lands for two
years.
Moscow Mine
The Moscow mine was bought sight unseen by Phoebe Apperson Hearst of the San
Francisco mining and newspaper family in 1912 -3 -4. She invested $10,000 412,000 in it,
but being gold in sulfide, it was too difficult to mill. It was closed.
The McRaes, Bradleys and Harold Bailey came from Stibnite to do exploratory drilling in
1944. A late spring snow and snowslide closed their egress. They had only the warm
work clothes on their backs, but no skis or webs, and painstakingly made their way out to
the lodge at Big Creek. Kennecott later explored this mine.
The Flyshacker family owned it in the 1980s, using the Big Creek fire station as the place
to separate the ore. They also drilled at the Gold King mine. Freeport/McMurran came
to check all sites here following the belt of ore.
Other properties
Barrick later drilled all sites from Stibnite to Monumental Summit to Cinnabar. The
Oberbillig family owns the claims all around the Bradley family's claims. Jim Bradley is
an attorney in San Francisco and watches the legality of the claims. John and Lyn now
live in Spokane. Jack Bradley and his wife had been killed in an auto accident. When
Jack was not at the mine, he was at Bradley Field in Boise (now the racetrack site) or
flying. They used the Payette Lake house only for entertaining. (This is now the Simplot
house at the Narrows.)
Above the Gold King mine, is the Nefkin Trail made by the mail carriers. About half-
way up the slope above Jack Walker's is an old house that the mail carriers used. The
Er
mail coming from McCall via Warren was brought down Logan Creek to Big Creek.
Freeman Neflcin's cabin sits below the Smith Creek Road near the Werdenhoff mine;
this road goes west of the Elk Summit Road.
John Routson had begun working at the Golden Rule mine, which lies between Warren
and Burgdorf, in 1906 and worked there for several years. After ranching in Big Creek, in
1924 the Routson family bought the Smith Creek Placer mine. When that was sold at a
good profit, they bought the delinquent Werdenhoff mine. The road from Warren to
Fawn Meadows to the Smith Creek Road was paid for by the Werdenhoff mine. Jack
Walker's company, Ivy Minerals, Inc., now owns the mill, other buildings, and the main
tunnel. The Routson family owns the other tunnels; some of the family still mine in the
summers, earning enough in gold to cover their summer expenses. These mines are part
of the belt of heavily mineralized ore that can be seen from the air.
Jack Walker has the bulldozer that had been bought in 1953 for the McRae's use up at the
Wolf Fang mine, a tungsten property, near Elk Summit. It is an International bought in
Emmett by Hubert Martin (He built the houses after 1941, school, recreation hall, and
hospital at Stibnite. All buildings were built of wood cut and milled on the property.
Earlier houses, mill, and bunkhouse were milled and built by the mine crew.). This
bulldozer was used to build the road there and to haul ore. Jack had worked for the
McRaes at the Wolf Fang after the Korean War and then came to the Big Creek area.
Jack Walker manages the Gold King and the Golden Hand mines plus many other
claims. Conrad Ivy is president of Ivy Minerals, Inc., the mining company for which
Jack Walker works; Conrad Ivy is a businessman in Beaufort, South Carolina, who, in
addition to supporting Jack, supports two engineers for exploring and mapping the area
every summer and who keeps a close eye on the claims and roads. He was out in March
to attend the USFS public meeting on the roadless plan for the Big Creek area.