USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
The mining camp of Atlanta and the great ledge from which it took its name, about fifteen miles northeast of Rocky Bar, was discovered soon after rich ore began to be taken out of the latter camp. Numerous producing claims were located in Atlanta and a great amount of gold and silver taken out. The old camp seemingly yet has a bright future.
In what is now Owyhee County, the first quartz ledge-"Whiskey Gulch" -- was discovered by H. R. Wade and his associates in July, 1863. A few days later the Oro Fino ledge was located by Svale Neilson and A. J. Sands. Men made as high as $50 a day by grinding the Oro Fino rock to powder in a hand mortar and then washing out the precious metals. Neilson and Sands were also the dis- coverers of the Morning Star ledge in August, 1863. It was at this ledge that the first quartz mill, equipped with eight stamps, was set up by More, Fogus & Company.
The Oro Fino Gold and Silver Tunnel Company was incorporated in May, 1864, for the purpose of running a tunnel into or through the mountain on which the Oro Fino ledge was situated. There were at that time some thirty quartz claims located in the immediate vicinity, one of which was the "War Eagle", whose name was afterward given to the mountain. The tunnel company never did anything, however, and some years later the project was again agitated, but the tunnel failed to materialize.
ROMANTIC NAMES
There is an element of romance in the names conferred on mining properties in early days, and it would be interesting to know just who suggested some of the names and why they were adopted. Sometimes the name was suggestive of the character of the mine, but in a majority of cases it was the name of some person or object having no connection with the mining industry. Idaho was organized as a territory in March, 1863, and by the close of 1865 nearly three hundred mining claims had been recorded in the Carson, Mammoth and Flint districts. These mines bore such names as Ida Elmore, Esmerelda, General
IDAHO CONTINENTAL MINE, KLOCKMANN
487
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Lane, Southern Confederacy, Golden Star, Western Star, Abe Lincoln, Golden Chariot, Hibernia, Snowshoe, War Eagle, Hidden Treasure, Blazing Star, Home Ticket, Silver Cloud, Idlewild, Ruby Jackson, Rattling Jack, Floreta, Calaveras, Lone Tree, Seventy-nine, Owyhee Treasury, Stormy Hill, Red Jacket, Noonday, Illinois Central, Henrietta, Empire State, Florida Hill, Crown Point, Little Fish, Twilight, Northern Light, Paymaster, etc. A number of the mines whose names indicated rich ore did not belie their names. The Owyhee Treasury was one of this character. From a "stringer" in this mine a pound of quartz, worked in a common mortar, yielded $46, and at a depth of 100 feet the ore was worth 75 cents per pound.
EARLY QUARTZ MILLS
The first quartz mill in the Boise Basin was set up by W. W. Raymond on Granite Creek, about two miles from Placerville, and was equipped with ten stamps. The materials for the mill arrived at Placerville in July, 1864, and it was started early in September. Each stamp weighed about six hundred pounds and could crush 11/2 tons of rock daily. This mill crushed ore from the Pioneer, Lawyer and Golden Gate ledges and the first week it was in operation yielded fifty pounds of amalgam.
At the Landon lode, three miles northeast of Idaho City, a sort of "home made" crusher was placed in operation about the time the Raymond mill was built. It consisted of heavy sledge hammers fastened to the ends of tough poles, the spring of which would drive the hammers against the rock with sufficient force to break the rock. One man could operate two of the hammers and in a week's time crush 400 pounds of ore, which ordinarily yielded from $90 to $95. Late in the year 1864 this crude device was supplanted by the five stamp mills of the Consolidated Boise River Gold and Silver Mining Company, and about the same time a ten stamp mill was started on the Garrison Gambrinus ledge.
During the winter of 1864-65, Bibb & Jackson built a stamp mill on Summit Flat, and Britten & Company constructed one on Bear Run near Idaho City, which derived its power from Robie & Bush's steam saw-mill. On the south fork of the Boise there were thirty or forty arrastras run by water power, and the number was about double in 1865. An eight stamp mill was built in Portland, Ore., for the Idaho lode on the South Boise. Andrews & Tudor purchased a twelve stamp mill in Chicago for the Idaho lode. This mill was hauled by ox teams from Omaha, Neb., the freight charges being 30 cents a pound. It began business in December, 1864. About that time R. B. Farnham took a ton of rock to New York and succeeded in forming the New York & Idaho Gold and Silver Mining Company, which shipped a thirty stamp mill to the South Boise country, but it was not placed in operation until the following spring. Besides the mill of More, Fogus & Company on the Morning Star ledge in Owyhee County; several others were erected in that section of the territory. The Morning Star yielded about one million dollars before the mill was dismantled.
THE POORMAN MINE
One of the richest mines in the Silver City district was the famous Poorman, concerning which several accounts have been given. Some say it was discovered
488
HISTORY OF IDAHO
by D. C. O'Byrne and others give Charles S. Peck the credit of its discovery. Prof. Gilbert Butler asserted that the mine was discovered by a party of six prospectors and was first called the "Hays & Ray" mine. Another story is that Charles S. Peck found a rich "chimney" about a thousand feet from where the discovery shaft was afterward located, but kept his discovery secret because he believed it lay within the boundaries of the Hays & Ray claim. He then tried to purchase the mine from its owners, who were unwilling to sell, and later another party of prospectors uncovered the chimney and named the mine the "Poorman," because they had not sufficient capital to develop it. All accounts agree, how- ever, that the mine was discovered in 1865.
This mine was located on the War Eagle Mountain, about a mile and a half southeast of Silver City and the ore taken from it was a silver chloride, richly impregnated with gold, easily worked and tinted crimson, which gave the ore the name of ruby silver. As it came from the mine it sold for $4 an ounce, and this price was said to be much below its real value. At a depth of 100 feet a block of ruby silver was taken out which weighed 500 pounds. It was exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867 and was awarded a gold medal. The Poorman mine is said to have been the richest body of ore for its size ever discovered. A ten stamp mill was erected and between July I and October 1, 1866, ore to the value of $606,692 was shipped from this mine. Two thousand tons of second and third class rock yielded $546,692 and the tailings afterwards turned out nearly $70 to the ton. In 1888 the property was sold to a London syndicate and was worked for some time after the sale. The total production of the Poorman was .over three million dollars. It was one of a group of about twenty mines that rendered the Silver City district famous all over the world.
UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE
As early as 1864 an effort was made to have the Government establish a branch mint for the Boise Basin. Congress, however, appropriated $100,000 for a branch mint to be located at The Dalles, Ore., which was considered suffi- cient for the whole northwestern mining country. The people of Portland op- posed the establishment of a branch mint at The Dalles and before work was commenced it was decided by Congress that by the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad bullion could be shipped to Philadelphia as easily as to The Dalles and the act was repealed. Then a movement was started to bring the mint from Dahlonega, Ga., to Idaho, but it was unsuccessful.
Edward D. Holbrook was then Idaho's delegate in Congress and he succeeded in having a bill passed appropriating $75,000 for an assay office at Boise City. The block bounded by Second, Main, Third and Idaho streets was donated by the city for a site and John R. McBride, chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court, was appointed to superintend the erection of the building. The assay office is a substantial structure of cut stone, two stories high, with basement in addition, 50 by 60 feet in dimensions. It was completed in 1869 at a cost of $81,000, and was a great convenience to the placer miners for many years after, as the bars run by their assay office would always sell for their face value. The office is still in operation.
GOVERNMENT ASSAY OFFICE, BOISE
491
HISTORY OF IDAHO
THE WOOD RIVER DISTRICT
Probably none of the early quartz fields created greater excitement than the Wood River country, where mineral was first discovered in 1877 on Warm Springs Creek, a few miles west of the present town of Ketchum, Blaine County, but the Nez Perce Indian war was then in progress and no claims were located. During the next two years several prospecting parties visited the region and many mining claims were located, districts organized, etc. There was a rush to the new field and by 1881 a large amount of development work had been done on the claims. The ore here was principally galena, carrying both lead and silver in paying quantities. Among the most noted of the mines in this section were the Minnie Moore, the Queen, the Bullion, the North Star, the Ten Brook, the Salamander, the Silver Star, the Muldoon and the mines of the Ontario, West Fork and Red Cloud groups.
As this ore had to be smelted and there was no smelter in the district, the first products of the mines were taken by freight teams to Kelton, Utah, a dis- tance of 170 miles, and from Kelton it was shipped to Salt Lake City or Denver to be smelted. This was an expensive process, but the ores were rich enough to net the owners a fair return after all expenses of shipping and smelting were paid. It was not long, however, until the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, influenced by the reports of this new mining section, built a branch line from Shoshone to Ketchum, and with the completion of the railroad a smelter was established at Hailey.
The Red Cloud group of mines, located on Deer Creek, about twelve miles northwest of Hailey, were discovered in 1880 by Orin Porter, E. H. Porter and James L. Mason, who sold them in 1889 to Lyttleton Price, of Hailey, and some Pittsburg parties, who organized the Red Cloud Mining Company and worked the mines for several years taking out about two hundred thousand dollars in dividends. In 1897 water was struck and the mines were abandoned for about two years, when they were leased by Lyttleton Price, Thomas Kennelly and G. L. Havens, who developed a new ore body and took out nearly as much as the mines first yielded to the owners.
In 1880 John Boyle discovered some rich deposits of galena ore on Warm Springs Creek, about twelve miles west of Ketchum, yielding 40 per cent lead, 80 ounces of silver and $3 in gold to the ton. Boyle sold his claim to the Warm Springs Consolidated Company, of which Michael Carey, state senator from Alturas County, was the head, a $20,000 concentrating mill was built and $500,000 were taken from this group, known as the "Ontario," during the next few years.
The Tip-Top mine, situated twelve miles west of Hailey was discovered in 1881 and was the leading gold mine of the Wood River District, with the pos- sible exception of the Minnie Moore. H. E. Miller, who came to the Wood River in that year organized a company to erect a twenty stamp mill, the other members of the company being John Q. Packard, of Salt Lake City, and James A. Lusk, who was also from Utah. The gold in this mine was found in con- nection with iron and copper pyrites and yielded about twenty dollars to the ton.
Although considerable gold was taken from the Minnie Moore mine, located at Broadford directly across Wood River from Bellevue, its principal wealth lay in its galena ore, which Professor Blake, a distinguished metallurgist declared to
492
HISTORY OF IDAHO
be the largest body of galena ore he had seen in America, "carrying 112 ounces of silver to the ton." Nearly four million dollars' worth of ore was taken from this mine during the first two years it was operated, when it was sold to an English syndicate for $500,000.
In common with other mining fields of the Northwest, the Wood River Dis- trict saw a decline after a few years and many people who had been drawn there by the fabulous reports of the mines "moved on" to some other locality. Several of the mining towns, such as Galena and Muldoon, which sprang up dur- ing the prosperous era that followed the discoveries, are no longer on the map of Idaho, and those that remain have lost much of their early prestige. The Wood River country still produces gold, silver, lead and zinc in considerable quantities, the report of the inspector of mines for 1917 giving the total value of the output of the Blaine County mines at $521,180.
THE COEUR D'ALENE DISTRICT
In the historical sketch of Shoshone County in another chapter is given an account of the discovery of gold in this district by A. J. Pritchard and two others in 1880, which marked the beginning of mining activities in the Coeur d'Alene District, now the richest mining section of Idaho and the greatest lead producing district in the world. Placer gold was discovered by Pritchard and his com- panions on the creek which bears his name and there Eagle City came into exist- ence in 1883. It was once the center of mining operations, but is now a deserted camp, other towns of a more permanent character having robbed it of its glory. Probably no mining field in the United States furnishes better illustrations of what may be accomplished by "luck" on the one hand and "pluck" on the other than the Coeur d'Alene District.
Two prospectors, partners, with their supplies loaded on a burro, were pros- pecting on the hillside near the present city of Wardner in the fall of 1885, when the burro accidentally displaced a piece of rock. This attracted the attention of one of the men and led them to examine it. They ascertained that it was lead ore. Then followed the location of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan mine, the heav- iest producer in the great Coeur d'Alene lead mining district.
A few miles above Wardner the Day brothers and their associates worked under great disadvantages for several years developing claims they had located and in which they had great faith. Sometimes working for wages to get the money to buy powder, tools and other supplies necessary for working their claims, together with others who associated themselves with them in this enterprise, they worked for fourteen years on what seemed to be a hopeless undertaking, but at last developed the great Hercules mine which has been one of the heaviest ore producers of the entire Coeur d'Alene District and which has made million- aires of each one interested in its development.
Lead was discovered in the district in September, 1884, the year of the first great stampede to the Coeur d'Alenes. John Carten and a man named Seymour were looking for placers on Canyon Creek, near the present town of Burke. Noticing some float they followed it up and located the Tiger quartz lode. The next day the Poorman quartz lode was discovered by Scott McDonald. These two claims, both on the same ledge, were the first quartz locations in the lead belt of the district which has since become celebrated throughout the mining
493
HISTORY OF IDAHO
world. Other quartz discoveries on Canyon Creek were the Diamond Hitch, Black Bear, Badger, Frisco, Gem, Ore-or-no-go and a few others of lesser im- portance.
In October, 1884, the Tiger mine was bonded to John M. Burke and by him to S. S. Glidden, who was one of the most active factors in the development of the quartz interests of the Coeur d'Alenes. He was one of a wholesale grocery firm in St. Paul, Minn., and at the time of the wonderful discovery in Shoshone County was in charge of a branch house at Thompson Falls, Mont. He organ- ized the Consolidated Tiger and Poorman Mining Company, of which he was elected president, and in the spring of 1885 disposed of his grocery interests to give his entire attention to the development of these mines. Roads were opened by him to the Murray and Thompson Falls roads and to the old Mullan road at Placer Center (now Wallace), and he was instrumental in securing the building of the first railroad into the district.
The first concentrator in the district was built by A. M. Esler for Helena, Mont., parties at the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine. It was of 100 tons capacity. Soon after it was completed the property was sold to Simeon Read, of Portland, Ore., who paid the various parties interested about six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Read worked the property for several years, when he sold out to a company of California capitalists. The Tiger and Poorman concentrator was completed in January, 1887. Then came the Standard, Morning, Helena & Frisco, Mammoth and Last Chance, and a few others of smaller capacity.
During the decade from 1890 to 1900 the production of the district was seri- ously retarded by labor troubles, an account of which is given elsewhere in this work. This was especially true of the year 1899, when the total mineral pro- duction of the state fell off more than four million dollars from that of the preceding year, nearly all of the decrease being due to the conditions in the Coeur d'Alene District.
A volume would be necessary to describe in detail the marvelous develop- ment of the Coeur d'Alene District; the Standard group of mines at Wallace, including the Standard, Banner, Snow Line, Youngstown, Little Chap, Tom Reed, Sullivan Fraction, Parallel and perhaps a dozen other properties ; the Hecla group at Burke, the original claims of which were the Hecla and Katie May lodes, to which have been added a number of others, all good producers; but enough has been said to show that the Coeur d'Alene District is one of the rich- est mining fields in the United States. Originally discovered by prospectors who were looking for gold, its lead mining interests have forced the yellow metal "to take a back seat," the value of the lead produced in 1917 being more than three hundred times that of the gold.
MINING INSPECTORS
In 1895 the Idaho Legislature created the office of inspector of mines and defined his duties, which were to see that sanitary conditions are maintained at the mines, that they are properly ventilated, etc., to collect statistics relating to the mining industry, and to make annual reports. The inspector of mines is elected by the people at the same times as the other state officers are elected, the first one being chosen in 1896. Since then the inspectors, with the year in which each was elected, have been as follows: Benjamin F. Hastings, 1896; Jay A.
494
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Czizek, 1898; Martin Jacobs, 1900; Robert N. Bell, 1902 (reëlected in 1904 and 1906) ; F. C. Moore, 1908; Robert N. Bell, 1910 (reelected at each succeeding election to 1918).
Eighteen of the forty-one counties of the state are included in the report of the inspector of mines for the year 1917. The following table shows the value of the five leading metals produced in each of the counties during the year :
County
Gold
Silver
Lead
Zinc
Copper
Ada
$ 11,500
$
203
$
$
$.
Adams
4,000
1,628
40,770
Blaine
12,000
66,756
129,924
312,500
Boise
210,000
40,705
Bonneville
3,000
14
Bonner
2,000
40,705
15,804
Boundary
4,000
95,249
545,062
Butte
1,000
30,12I
219,500
Clearwater
22,000
170
Camas
10,000
3,256
Custer
65,000
190,499
228,280
1,279,634
Elmore
91,000
8,548
Fremont
2,000
1,628
40,770
Idaho
211.760
5,893
Latah
1,000
569
Lemhi
69,200
129,523
647,963
40,770
Owyhee
12,000
20,352
Shoshone
95,060
9,537,181
32,971,973
8,243,447
544,687
Total
$826,520
$10,173,000
$34,758,506
$8,555,947 $1,979,247
The table shows at a glance the distribution of the state's mineral products and total production of each of the principal metals, the total for the state being $56,- 292,210, the largest of any year in its history. Annual records of production have been kept since 1898 and the total value of all metals produced during the twenty years ending with 1917, was $428,193,682. In 1918 the total value of the metals produced was $37,320,082.43, a considerable falling off from the previous year. There is no doubt but what the total production of all metals in Idaho since mining first began has exceeded a billion dollars.
OTHER MINERALS
While the mineral development of Idaho has been confined chiefly to the metals gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper, there are other mineral substances existing within the state and only awaiting transportation facilities to insure their development. Among these are oil bearing shales, gypsum, fire clay, cement rock, phosphates, etc. Various other similar substances are found in nearly all parts of the state and need no special mention. We will make mention of some of these mineral substances after considering the minerals which are of more im- portance.
Antimony-This mineral has been found in many places in Idaho in small amounts and is associated to a greater or less extent with the gold ores of Boise
32,616
495
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Basin. In Yellow Pine Basin, in Valley County, it occurs in the form of stib- nite, an antimonial sulphide, and the deposit promises to be of great importance. The deposit consists of a balanced grain in soft granite. It is sixty miles from a railroad and therefore the ore will have to be transported by wagon over a rough, mountainous country to the nearest shipping point. Measures have been taken, however, to concentrate the ore on the ground by a sublimating furnace.
Cobalt-Several years ago the presence of cobalt was noticed in copper ores in the Blackbird District of Lemhi County. In 1917 the Haynes Stellite Com- pany, of Kokomo, Ind., acquired the Beliel Group of copper sulphide claims in that district and erected a concentrating mill of ten stamps. This mill is largely an experiment, being intended for the proper cleaning of the cobalt for ship- ment to the east. If it proves to be successful, the company expects to erect a large plant, and the probabilities are fairly good that cobalt will be added to the list of Idaho's commercial minerals. Some nickel is found in connection with the cobalt.
Iron-The only known iron deposit in the state is at Iron Mountain, twenty miles north of Weiser. In his report for 1917 the inspector of mines says that this deposit "consists of a monster lode in igneous and old sedimentary forma- tions, 50 to 100 feet wide by 1,000 feet long and carrying average values of 50 to 60 per cent iron in the form of gray hematite. It is estimated the deposit con- tains several millions of tons of ore at a moderately shallow depth. Prospectors have reported a succession of recurrences of similar ore on a line striking north- east from Iron Mountain to the Salmon River, but the writer has never seen any of these other occurrences." North of the Clearwater and Weiser rivers bodies of low grade hematite ore have been noticed, but the percentage of iron ore is too low to make them of commercial value at the present time.
Manganese-In the Lava Creek District in Butte County, a chute of black oxide of magnesia, at a twenty-foot depth, showing two feet in thickness, with a fair grade of ore carrying some silica, has been discovered. A deposit of the richest kind of black oxide of manganese was discovered in Bear Lake County in 1916 not far from the Oregon Short Line Railway and some steps have been taken for the development of the deposits. Manganese oxide has also been found in Adams County. This mineral promises to be valuable in the future and sub- sequent developments on some of the deposits already found are liable to add to the mineral wealth of the state.
Mica-During the year 1917 considerable activity was manifested in the deposits of this mineral at Mica Mountain in Lemhi County, and several car loads of ore were shipped from that point. Late in the fall of 1917 another project was launched for the opening of new deposits and these have been worked to some extent. The mica is found in veins in a soft, friable granite formation and is easily mined.
Quicksilver-Cinnabar ore has been found at several places in Idaho, but no production of quicksilver was made until 1917, when five flasks were produced by the Fern Quicksilver Mining Company, whose holdings are located about eighteen miles southeast of the Yellow Pine postoffice, and not far from Thunder Mountain. The discovery of the ore was made in 1915 by E. A. Van Meter, a veteran prospector, and it carries about two per cent of mercury in the form of cinnabar across a width of thirty feet. A Johnson-McKay twelve-cell retort
496
HISTORY OF IDAHO
furnace, capable of treating twelve tons a day, was installed in the summer of 1917, and the five flasks produced were extracted from five tons of the ore. The product was shipped to San Francisco and sold for $90 per flask.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.