An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 237

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 237
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 237
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 237
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 237

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Buckskin gulch has given the camp the principal excite- ment of the past week. Hundreds of men have flocked thither to witness the very unusual spectacle of men picking gold from the earth instead of washing it out in a pan. This is about what they witnessed. Robert Williams, David Bryant, John F. Hennessy and Frank Barnes own claim No. 3 and upon striking bedrock got from $2 to $20 to the pan. The entire bedrock averaged $5 to the pan. One nugget weighed $45. The excitement was intensified by Nate Vestal at the mouth of Buckskin finding ounce diggings in the gravel.

Two cleanups on the Widow this week netted 60 ounces and 8 pennyweights and 88 ounces respectively. Work has been commenced on a ditch to be taken from Alder creek.

This ditch will be two furt ont-hilf miles long de a vall; mercase the production of the Widow. From the Wolffoot. Gen. A. P. Curry washed $21.50 from one pan of dirt selected at random. The total yield of the Webfoot thus far has In wy something over 71 pounds or $10,052.65.

Frank L Robertson's claim in Fancy gulch is being worked by a force of eight men. Fancy gulch is a tributary to Eagle creek and flows in ou the east side about a mile above Eagle. The gold is identical in appearance with that taken from Dream gulch. Fancy and Dream gulches head close together and flow in opposite directions. The Robert- son claim is known as No. 6, being the sixth from the mouth. J. M. Robinson has No. 3. but has not yet opened it. A. J. Prichard located claim No 1 in Fancy gulch, Captain James A. Fisher, No. 2, Frank Grove, No. 4 and C. C. Fink, No. 5.

One of the largest ledges yet discovered in the district is the Golden Chief. It crosses Fancy gulch at right angles and dips to the westward at an angle of about 35 degrees. It was located in December of last year by James Cronin. Messrs. Porter & Henderson are the present owners of the mine. It contains free gold in paying quantities and carries some silver. The ledge is of mammoth size, cropping out to a height of ten or twelve feet on one side of the gulch, and is from eight to forty feet wide. It can be traced read- ily for 1,500 feet. J. B. Stevens owns the southern ex- tension and C. R. Teems, the northern.

The New Comstock, owned by the Homestake Com- pany, is working four men on its ledge with excellent re- sults. This mine is in the side of the mountain below Eagle and can be seen from portions of the town.

Ruby gulch is a tributary to Daisy, which emptics into Eagle creek about a nule above town. Irvin B Hopkins, J. M. VanHoose, George Oswalt, George Wortman, J. J. John- son, Henry Moots and Patrick Sullivan own seven 20-acre claims in Ruby. They have been working for about eight weeks. They are digging through wash gravel and have got fair prospects from the surface down.

Dr. H. R. Littlefield, T. M. Pugh, M. C. Rudder and J. F. Calbreath own claim No. 4 on Butte gulch. A force of 14 men are at work.

The Butte Company is working on bedrock and taking out good pay. Patrick Flynn, the gentlemanly superintendent, did not wish the exact cleanups stated, but assured a Nugget reporter that they were entirely satisfactory. The Last Chance is operating a set of sluice boxes only a few yards from the sluices of the Butte Company. No other claims are being worked so far up Prichard creek.

Prospecting parties were very aggressive through- out the entire year. Encouraged, it is said, by Mr. Prichard, a number of men visited Canyon creek in April. 1884, found what they considered prospects and staked out claims. Nine-Mile was also prospect- ed and staked and quite a rush to these canyons and to Nigger prairie was incited. It is stated that some of the early placer prospectors filed claims covering the very ground upon which the now famous silver- lead mines were later discovered, but they were look- ing for placer gold, and were, perhaps, without much skill in their business, so failed to see the riches that lay before their eyes.

It was stated that by the middle of August two thousand locations of placer mining ground, embrac- ing tracts varying from 160 acres to fractions, were recorded on the books of the Coeur d'Alene district alone, and it was only one of five districts then in existence, the other four being Summit, Beaver, Evo- lution and Eagle. Of course the usual excitement and stampeding attended this activity, and the popu- lation showed itself true to the usual instincts of a mining class in flocking en masse to each point where

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a find was made or reported. Several discoveries of real merit were made this year in the now famous silver-lead belt of the south fork country, but of these more ano1.

The Coeur d'Alenes fortunately did not experience any such reign of outlaws and desperadoes as did Oro Fino and Florence placer districts, but there was some bloodshed during the early days. The first homicide of the region was committed in April, 1884, by T. F. Richards, who shot and killed Walter Mc- Donald. The deed was held justifiable by the coro- ner's jury, as the killing was plainly in self-defense.

The second, of which record has been found, was the shooting of Thomas Steele by D. S. Ferguson. From the testimony adduced by the coroner's inquest it appears that Steele was ill-treating a drunken cyprian and that Ferguson interfered in her behalf, whereupon Steele drew a revolver and struck him a violent blow over the head. He then stepped back a few paces and fired at Ferguson, but missed his mark. Ferguson then shot him. inflicting a mortal wound.

A homicide which attracted wide attention and roused the community to a high pitch of excitement was the killing of John Enright by Henry Bernard, July 2, 1884. The victim was a compositor in the office of the Pioneer, of which paper Bernard was editor. It appeared from the testimony at the pre- liminary hearing that Enright had been discharged and paid the afternoon of the homicide; that he came to the office for his blankets, but instead of taking them and going quietly about his business kept com- plaining to Bernard of the shabby treatment which he claimed had been given him. Bernard told him to go two or three times, but he still hung around the office. Finally Bernard drew a revolver and pointed it at him, telling him he must leave or get hurt. En- right received the threats in a jocular manner, and soon the fatal shot was fired.

By change of venue Bernard was tried at Lewis- ton in September. The jury found him guilty of man- slaughter ; Judge Buck sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment, and he was confined in the state peni- tentiary for a time, but was eventually pardoned by Governor Shoup.

Ever since the first scttlement of northern Sho- shone county a natural desire had existed among the people to have the county seat nearer than Pierce City. There was some talk of dividing the county, and giving the southern portion to Nez Perces county, but objection to this was made by the few residents still in Pierce and on Weippe prairie. One hundred and eighty thousand acres had just been surveyed ; of this one hundred thousand was thought to be good farming land and it was felt that such a rich section of country could not long remain unsettled. The resi- dents hoped that as soon as it became peopled they might have a more convenient county government than Nez Perces could furnish. The matter was finally compromised by the passage, in the legislature of 1884-5, of a bill providing for the removal of the county seat temporarily to Murray and for a special election to be held in Shoshone county the first Mon-

day in June, 1885. for the purpose of selecting a coun- ty seat. The bill was signed by the governor just before Christmas, 1884.

At the special election held pursuant to the pro- visions of this act the vote was as follows: Summit precinct-Murray, 636, Delta, 31 ; Beaver precinct --- Murray 25, Delta 264: Littlefield precinct-Murray 70, Delta 14; Myrtle precinct-Murray 100, Delta 77 ; Mullan precinct-Murray 121, Delta 2; Canyon Creek precinct-Murray 19, Delta 5; Kingston precinct- Murray 7, Delta 39 : Coeur d'Alene precinct-Murray 42, Delta I; Ellensburg precinct-Murray 53, Delta 3; Big Jam precinct-Murray I, Delta 6; Pierce pre- cinct -- Murray I, Delta 15; Murray's total, 1,075 : Delta's, 457. Add to these two votes cast for Beaver (the former name of Delta), two for Eagle and one for Littlefieid, and we have a total vote in the county of 1,537.

A comparatively few persons, perhaps 4,000, spent the cold winter of 1884-5 in the Coeur d'Alenes. One rather amusing incident, illustrative of the character of a mining people, occurred on New Year's day, when ahout fifty men concluded they had urgent husi- ness at the head of Eagle creek. What caused the stampede none seemed to know definitely, but not- withstanding the fact that the thermometer's finger was down below the zero mark and playing around the figure twenty-five, the miners trudged through two feet of snow for fifteen miles to locate claims on land they could not see, much less prospect. Claims were staked on the main stream and on the various tribu- taries and the adventurers, having peacefully accom- plished the object of their mission, returned to Murray.

As the season advanced the camp took on an air of activity and progress. A correspondent of the Lewiston Teller. writing under date March 5, 1885, speaks of the great confidence manifested in the dis- trict by almost all the miners, and states that he count- ed eleven buildings under construction in Myrtle, some of them large ones, that there was a steady rush to the bars of Beaver creek and Beaver City was en- joying a healthy boom in consequence. "Murray," he said, "is fast building up and assuming the air of a mining metropolis, and property here has a value outside of what is justified by present appearances. Real estate changes hands daily and business pros- pects are bright. Two shingle mills are the latest improvements and parties are daily in search of busi- ness locations. There are twelve stores where goods of all kinds can be procured, three drug stores, several restaurants and a hotel."

In the south fork country there was also consid- erable activity. Only four men wintered on Nigger prairie, but by April Ist twenty-three were there and a new town known as McFarland had been laid out. In a short time McFarland had a rival half a mile distant, named Mullan from the man who constructed the military road through the country. The occasion for the platting of these towns was the discovery of the Hunter, Evening, Morning and other mines.

While the year 1885 was one of great development in the gold belt and much mining was done by the

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primitive methods in vogue during the earliest days of the placer fields, yet it is plainly evident that the district was in a state of transition from primitive mining to more advanced methods. Even in the creek bottoms, where the gold could be most easily secured, many of the miners spent the early spring months in preliminary work, rather than in direct production, and considerable was this year in- vested in ditches and other essentials of hydraulic mining. The Coeur d'Alene Water & Supply Com- pany was busy constructing what, in its inception, had been known as the Coulter canal, intended to furnish water for the supply of Murray and for the working of hillside claims, also to float to points where needed along its course mining timbers, lumber, fuel, etc. In October there were 285 men at work on the bed rock flume at Eagle, an enterprise which was claimed to be the most gigantic ever undertaken in the history of placer mining up to that date. According to con- tract with miners, the Bedrock Pool, which was con- structing it, was obligated to put in a bedrock flume from the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene river at a point below the mouth of Eagle creek, along said Eagle creek to its confluence with Prichard creek ; thence along said Prichard creek to the month of Bitte creek, the excavation to be sixteen feet wide at the bottom.

By November the last pipe on the Beaver and Potosi ditch was put in place, completing an aque- duct from the head of Beaver creek to American gulch, distance thirteen miles. Across Pony gulch 1.584 feet of twenty-inch piping were laid. The mass of heavy iron was put in place by the aid of water power so applied as to haul the large pipes up the mountain side to the places where needed. It was planned to continue the ditch to Placer and Trail gulches and beyond. The same company also constructed a small- er ditch from Beaver creek, below Carbon, to Potosi gulch.

But while these larger enterprises were being pushed with vigor, the miner who for lack of capital must content himself with smaller things was busily at work. That his labor did not in all cases go un- rewarded is illustrated by the day book of the Myrtle Mining Company, consisting of Pat. Mahoney, James Osborn, Mike Conners, Dick Buckingham and Dave Alvord. These men, with five or six employees work- ing with wheel barrows on a claim a mile above Delta, are shown by their day book to have made the follow- ing clean-ups : March 24 to 28, inclusive, 1885, $495 ; March 30 to April 4, $1,621.50 (this clean-up included one nugget worth $165) ; April 7-11, $1,054.50; April 14-18, $689.50; April 21-25, $1,158; April 27-May 2, $1,188; May 9, clean-up, $1,010; May 11-16, $1,690.50 ; May 19-23. $1.700.15 ; May 26-30, $905.50; June 2-6, $585.50; June 8-13, $865.25; June 18-20, $935 : June 22-27, $2,595 ; June 30-July 4, $2,282 : July 6-II, $2,040; July 13-18. $1.916.50; July 21-25, $803; July 27-August 1, $935 ; August 3-4, $168 ; August 29- September 4. $553.50; September 5-12, $561 ; Septem- ber 14-20, $2,878: September 21-27. $3,891 : Septem- ber 28-October 4. $4,131.50; October 5-11, $2,167; 63

October 12-18. $1.385 ; October 19-25, $1,826.50; ()c- tober 26-November 1, $2,814; November 3-8, $1,896.50 ; November 9-15, $1,638.50; November 10- 22, $1,030; November 24-20, $1,549.50; December I- 6, $1,131 ; December 7-11, $707. One nugget worth $300 was taken out of this claim.

More important, however, as subsequent events proved, than all other developments of the year 1885 was that of the silver-lead properties of the south fork. These were found to produce from the surface, and such large bodies of ore were uncovered by the small developments resulting from a few months of effort that the eyes of capital were already turned in their direction and railway magnates began looking toward the Coeur d'Alenes as a promising field for future operations.

One entering the country from the west in the fall of 1885 with an intention of examining these proper- ties would doubtless first pass up Milo creek and visit the Bunker Hill mine. This was the first claim dis- covered in the district. It was found in the late sum- mer of 1885 by N. S. Kellogg and Phil. O'Rourke. The location was filed by O'Rourke September 10, 1885. By November developers starting from the discovery cut had reached one wall fifty-two feet to the south. but the north wall of the vein had not yet been found. On the same ledge with this mine was the Jackass, with a thirty-foot tunnel. Further down the creek on the third parallel vein of the system was the Omaha, located September 18, 1885, by Frank McElroy and Mike McHale, and the Buckeye, an ex- tension of the Lackawanna, located by the same indi- viduals. Besides these were the Stemwinder, located by F. R. Devine, J. P. Smith and C. E. Tyler, and the Tyler, located by the same persons on the saine vein.

On the opposite side of the canyon from the Bunker Hill was the Sullivan, located October 2. 1885. by Con. Sullivan and Jacob Goetz, better known as "Dutch Jake." It was being opened at the time of which we are writing, and a vein 28 feet 6 inches from wall to wall had been uncovered. The Iuka, an eastern extension of the Sullivan, had been taken by J. M. Pannel and Albert Allen, and was a promising prospect. These were the principal mines in what was then known as the Yreka district in 1885. Ken- tucky was the name of an ambitious town in the vicinity.

Proceeding up the river six miles the visitor would arrive at Evolution, the oldest mining settlement on the river, and the first mine to attract his attention would be the Polaris, located by W. B. Heyburn, Clem Matheson and others in May, 1884. Half a mile south of this. on the same vein, was the Edner, dis- covered in October, 1884, and owned by Brown & Stringer. Assays of ore from these mines were said to have given as high as 303 ounces of silver and 60 per cent. lead. In the same vicinity were the Blake Brothers, the Silver Crown, the Badger and the Gen- eral Grant, all slightly developed.

Between Evolution and Placer Center ( Wallace) were a large number of claims, among them the Cap. Place, so named from its discoverer, Captain Place ;

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and the George, located November 1, 1885; by Lee George, who took a ranch in .the valley of the river near his claim. Near the head of Placer creek were the Silver Tip, located by Messrs. Mckinlay, Holohan and Arthur ; the Charter Oak, discovered by the same persons, and the Iron King, located at the same time by the same individuals, with E. J. Livermore added to their company.

Proceeding up the river nine miles from Placer Center, the visitor of 1885 came to Hunter creek, some three or four miles up which was the Hunter mine, the second claim in the entire south fork sys- temi to be discovered, Tiger being the first. Its dis- coverers were J. G. Hunter and F. A. Moore, Montana prospectors, and the time of its uncovering was May 15, 1884. Inside of eighteen months it was devel- oped by a main tunnel 175 feet. Its vein was 57 feet wide, and its ore was remarkably rich. At this time the mine was bonded to Franks & Martin for $50,000. The Yolande was a northwestern extension of the Hunter, located by the same men June 3, and pro- ducing similar ore. The Evening lode, an extension of the Yolande, and belonging to the same group, was discovered by a sixty-five-foot tunnel.

Returning to Placer Center the visitor would nat- urally be impelled to ascend Canyon creek to the Tiger, eight miles upstream. This mine was the first silver-lead claim to reward the search of the south fork prospector, being discovered May 2, 1884. John Carton and Almeda Seymore were the fortunate min- eral hunters. As soon as they had well opened their vein they bonded it to John M. Burke, of Murray, who in turn bonded it to S. S. Glidden, of St. Paul, for $35,000. In 1885 the mine was Mr. Glidden's property, with Burke and Carton holding a contingent interest. It was at that time developed by three tun- nels. 575 feet long in the aggregate. Eighteen men were employed in the mine at $3.50 a day.

Directly opposite the Tiger, on the other side of Canyon creek, was the Lelande, closed in 1885 by liti- gation. Up the creek from the mines just described was the Silver Chief, located and owned by the Blake Brothers. Between the Tiger and the mouth of the creek, on different sides of the stream, were the Union, the Diamond Hitch, discovered May 16, 1884, by J. P. Smith, C. E. Tyler, Frank Bell and John Lennahan ; the Ore-or-no-go, by Colonel W. R. Wallace, J. M. Arasmith, Oscar B. Wallace, T. H. Doud, J. A. Flute and Theodore Davis; the Black Bear, located May 4, 1884. by John Bartlett and W. S. Haskins, R. C. Van- derford buying on interest later ; the Cape Horn, lo- cated by same parties May 4, 1885; the Badger, lo- cated Mav 10, 1885, by John Bartlett, E. J. Lee, W. S. Haskins and F. M. Prichard; the San Francisco (or Frisco), located May 16, 1885, by Charles A. Pearson : the Gem of the Mountains, located the same day by R. C. Vanderford, William Gaughn, Thomas Cavanaugh, R. M. Howell and William Barens.

On Nine Mile, which empties into the south fork near the mouth of Canyon creek, was the Black Cloud, located by Oscar Wallace May 7, 1884: the Ohio, located August 29, 1885, by Benj. McElroy,

John J. Johnson and Scott McDonald; the California, located by Scott McDonald, John J. Johnson and Benj. F. McElroy August 24, 1885; and the Contact and Sweepstakes, located by these same prospectors May 7, 1884. Between Nine Mile and Canyon creeks was the Granite, located by Bartlett & Vanderford July 13, 1885, and there were several prospects in. the immediate vicinity of Placer Center.

From the foregoing review of silver-lead discover- ies on the south fork it will be seen that nearly all the mines which have since made the Coeur d'Alene country famous the world over were discovered and were being developed in 1884 and 1885, the years of greatest excitement, if not of greatest activity, in the gold belt of the north fork.

Some other improvements brought by the busy season of 1885 must now be mentioned. During the session of the Montana legislature that body empow- ered Missoula county to levy a special tax of two mills for the purpose of building a road from Thomp- son Falls to the Idaho line. In March the Missoula commissioners visited Murray to confer with the Sho- shone county board, and the result of their conference was that a highway connecting the two territories was constructed. This road is today the only one for wagons over the Bitter Roots to Montana from this region, and it is still in use by summer iminigrants.

A new road from Lake Coeur d'Alene to Murray was likewise completed in 1885, and on July 28th the first stage made a trip over it. Thereafter the mining district had stage connections with Spokane Falls. The same morning the first train of freight wagons came into Murray. It consisted of two four-mule teams and two vehicles, and belonged to T. S. Smith. The first stage from Thompson Falls came into Mur- ray November 16, 1885, and the line from the east with the one from the west made the isolation of the region a memory.

The one great tragedy of 1885 in Shoshone county occurred at Pierce City in September. On the Ioth of that month at an early hour the body of the well known and respected old pioneer, David M. Fraser, was found in the deceased's own store, literally hacked to pieces with axes, hatchets and knives. A bullet, also, had entered the mouth and passed out through the side of the neck. An old county safe had been bat- tered and the lock broken, but Mr. Fraser's own safe was untouched, as was all the rest of his property. The body was taken to Lewiston for interment. After its arrival there twenty or twenty-five citizens left for the scene to endeavor to find a clue to the murderers and these were joined by about fifteen from Camas prairie. Upon their arrival they surrounded the town, sending in a small posse to learn of the situation. It was found that the few white men in camp had ar- rested eight Chinamen on a charge of complicity in the crime, including two Chinese merchants of Pierce. A preliminary hearing had been given them and five were held for trial, the others being discharged. It developed that the crime had been committed for the purpose of ridding the town of the only white merchant, that the Chinamen might have a monopoly

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of the business, also that the Mongolians were angry at Fraser for taking the part of Indians against them when they had paid the red men in bogus gold dust.

It is said that the evidence upon which the citi- zens held the Chinamen was obtained by disguising as an Indian a young man named Sears, who could speak Chinese. Sears stole up to the courthouse jail and heard the eight Chinamen incarcerated there dis- cussing the crime and what were best to do to escape punishment.

After the departure of the Lewiston and Camas prairie people the few white men left began asking one another what was to be done with the accused Chinamen. It being evidently impossible to guard

them in Pierce until next term of the district court, the whites decided to take them to Murray. Seven men, one of whom was the deputy sheriff, started with the prisoners. When they were about four miles out they were met by a mob, only one member of which was masked. The mob overpowered the guard, seized the Chinamen and, notwithstanding the fervent pleadings of the wretched Mongolians, hanged them to a pole between two trees. No punishment was ever meted out to the lynchers, although the matter was officially investigated by Secretary of State Bayard in July, 1886, for the purpose of satisfying the Chinese government.

CHAPTER II.

CURRENT HISTORY-1886-1892.

The initial month of the year 1886 was marked in the Coeur d'Alene country by the first fatal snow- slide in the region. Willow creek, a tributary of the south fork, was the scene, and Andy P. Richards and Simon Christenson the victims. At the time the slide took place the men were doing some work on the Elder mine, on the eastern side of the divide in Mon- tana. As the entire region had been burned over the summer previous, there was nothing to hold the snow on the steep mountain side. The bodies were found January 27th by I. C. Sargent and W. S. Har- ris, who lived near the scene. Harris started at once for aid, but before he could return with reinforcements from the Hunter the bodies were buried deep under another snow slide, so deep that they could not be exhumed without danger, so they were left in their sepulchre of snow for the time being.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 237

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524