An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 78

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172

USA > Washington > Skagit County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 78
USA > Washington > Snohomish County > An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 78

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they might find. They took sixteen or seventeen claims, among them the Monte Cristo, Pride of the Woods, Pride of the Mountains and Mystery. Samples brought back by them to Seattle assayed twenty-seven dollars in gold and silver, for which only they were tested. In September F. W. Wilmans joined Pearsall and Peabody in another locating trip which lasted until winter set in. In September Pearsall and Peabody determined to explore the stream to its mouth, and they spent seven days in so doing, cutting their way through the forest, wading or swimming when necessary and subsisting toward the last on rais- ins, nuts and berries. Finally, exhausted and half starved, they reached a farmhouse, nine miles above Sank City, and learned that the river they were descending was none other than the celebrated Sauk.

On their return in April, 1890, the miners named the camp "Monte Cristo." They erected on the Seventy-six, the first cabin in the region, and during the summer they cut a trail to Silver creek. The cabin is still standing.

The second party to enter the Monte Cristo district consisted of Andrew Lochrie, Newton Anderson, and C. H. Packard, the last mentioned of whom grub staked the two others, also, at a later date, James Lillis, Oliver MeLean and Ben James. The Packard party, which went in in May, 1890, located the Sidney, Philo, Rantoul, Whistler and O. & B. groups.

Before the season of 1890 came to a close the richness and extent of the district were fully known, and plans were matured to handle a large proposition. The Wilmans soon bought out Peabody for seven thousand five hundred dollars and Pearsall for forty thousand dollars. They interested their brother, S. C. Wilmans, and others, finally associating with themselves Colonel Thomas Ewing, Judge H. G. Bond, of Birmingham, Alabama, L. S. Hunt, H. C. Henry and Edward Blewett. A wagon road was built that season from Sauk City by way of the Sauk river to the camp. It is said to have cost twenty thousand dollars. An air compressor and other machinery were brought over this road and duly installed upon the Pride-Mystery group.

While prospecting in the summer of 1991, Fred Anderson and F. M. Headlee discovered Barlow pass. They communicated this fact to the Wilmans Bond Company, which had placed a corps of engineers on the Sauk, and the com- pany had the pass investigated. It was found to afford a practicable gateway to Monte Cristo; also that the route via the south fork of the Stillaguamish was preferable to any other.

Meanwhile Judge Bond had been striving to interest in Monte Cristo what is known as the Colby- Hoyt or Rockefeller syndicate, which was at the time engaged in an effort to build a large manufacturing city on Port Gardner bay. Hle eventually induced them to purchase a control-

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ling interest in the Monte Cristo, Pride of the Mountains and the Rainy Mining Companies, the deal being closed in the fall of 1591, after three searching examinations of the property had been made, the last by Alton L. Dickerman, an expert of national repute. Although at the time less than three hundred feet of development work had been done in the entire district, so well exposed were the veins by the action of natural forces that the experts could pass intelligently upon the merits of the camp; so it happened that three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, half cash, were paid for properties which, under other cir- cumstances, would be considered mere prospects.

The Rockefeller syndicate was not long in commencing operations on a gigantic scale, and it continued to push developments with vigor throughout the entire period of the hard times. The railroad was built to Silverton in 1892, and to Monte Cristo the following spring, at a cost of over two million dollars for the purpose of fur- nishing transportation for the ore; a smelter, costing two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was built at Everett by the same interests under the name of the Puget Sound Reduction Com- pany, and at the mines a concentrator was built, a double section mill with a capacity of three hundred tons every twenty-four hours. It is run by a two hundred horse-power engine, which also operates a one hundred horse-power generator, furnishing power and light to the mines.

Until late in 1897 the Rockefeller Company and others interested pushed developments and operations with vigor, maintaining a lively camp, but in November a disastrous flood on the Still- aguamish so damaged the road bed as to stop traffic permanently. Of course this caused a suspension of operations all along the line, and for three years there was little activity in the Monte Cristo or Silverton districts. When in July, 1900, trains again commenced running, operations at the mines were begun immediately, and for a number of years there was great activity in the district, W. M. Wilmans, one of its original promotors and now a leading operator, believes that the total production of the camp to date must be in the neighborhood of 300,000 tons, and states that some of the ore has run as high as $100 to the ton, while very little has fallen below $15. For years the shipping and smelting charges were $0.50 a ton, but now they are down I to $5. Developments have proven the existence of a great series of ledges of refractory ore of low or medium grade, and that this ore, when economically mined, will pay fair profits on the necessary capital. Ore is now being shipped without concentration or other treatment, but it is admitted that the only practical way to operate successfully on a large scale is to treat the ore at least once on the ground, thereby saving freight and securing to the mine owners at least one of the valuable bi-products, arsenic.

At present there are only three mines in the district shipping ore. the Justice, the Rainy and the Sidney. The Justice Gold Mining Company, of which J. M. and F. W. Wilmans are principal owners, is operating the old Thomas property, first worked by the Golden Cord Mining Com- pany, which the Justice absorbed. Fourteen claims comprise the group, lying mainly on Wilmans mountain between Glacier and Seventy- six creeks, just above town. The main claim in the group and the one for which the company is heading, is the Oneida, through which runs the mother lode. This great vein is to be tapped by the Thomas crosscut on Glacier gulch, now being driven with all possible speed. From this tunnel the ore shipments are being made regularly. It is eight hundred feet and when it shall have gone four hundred feet more the Oneida will be tapped at a depth of three thousand feet. No other mine in the district will have anywhere near this depth and if the ore proves to be there as expected, the question of permanency with the depth will be answered most satisfactorily. The Thomas vein will average six feet in width, with a pay streak of from two to two and a half feet, carrying arsenical iron, gold, silver and some copper. Wilmans Brothers located these claims in 1890 and developed them until about 1895, when they left the camp.

Something over seven years later they returned, to remain. Chiefly through their efforts the Justice Gold Mining Company and later the Potomac Mining Company, were organized, the latter only eighteen months ago. The first step taken toward placing the camp on an economic basis was the harnessing of Glacier falls, a mile above the town of Monte Cristo, where a vast stream of water falls four hundred and six feet in half a mile. To develop two hundred and seventy-five horse power the Justice Company laid a pipe line with twelve inch head to a plant on the creek below erected in the sum- mer of 1904. The plant consists of two compres- sors, also two Puthill water wheels and a two hundred and twenty volt, thirty-five ampere Erickson-Wyman dynamo which supplied both the Justice and Rainy mines. Six thousand dol- lars covered the cost of utilizing that magnificent water power, only a portion of which is harnessed. Why the old Monte Cristo Company maintained an enormous steam plant within almost a stone's throw of the present Justice plant, importing coal at heavy cost, is one of the puzzles of Monte Cristo's history.

On the other side of Glacier creek, a little below the power plant, is the main tunnel, entering the Rainy mine, which is now operated by the Potomac Mining Company. This group of seven claims, discovered in 1890 by the Wilmans Brothers, and sold to the Rockefeller Syndicate in the fall of 1891, was purchased at sheriff's sale about two years ago, for something

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like $6,000. The present company was organized with H. C. Henry of Seattle, I. F. Balch of Minneapolis, and W. M. and F. W. Wilmans as stockholders. They proceeded at once with developments, and have a six hundred foot tunnel and a shaft two hundred and forty feet in depth, the workings being one thousand feet below the Thomas tunnel, though but two hun- dred and forty feet below the apex of the Rainy

vein. This vein is full twenty feet wide in places, with a pay streak varying from two to eleven feet, really an unusual showing. Its ore is said to run four or five dollars richer than that in the Thomas vein, or in the vicinity of twenty dollars a ton. That the Rainy is producing rich ore cannot be questioned, but as both the l'oto- mac and the Justice are close corporations, defi- nite official figures are not easy to obtain.

Fifteen men are employed at the Rainy at present, and forty at the Justice, both of which crews are to be shortly doubled, it is said. New modern tramways connect both mines with the terminal bunkers at the railroad tracks. One of the sights at the camp is these numerous cable trams, stretching hundreds of feet across gulches and trailing gracefully down the mountain sides to the ore bunkers.

Frank W. Peabody, before mentioned as one of the discoverers of the district, is now success- fully operating the Sidney in Seventy-six basin, and is just beginning to ship. A six-hundred- foot double track tunnel is being driven on the Sidney claim, which is expected to tap the main vein at a depth of two hundred feet. Then Peabody will drift to the eastward along the vein, gaining a foot in depth for every foot driven. The ore will average, perhaps, fourteen dollars, the values running about like these in the other mines of the camp. From the tunnel in the mountain side, a shoot carries the ore to Seventy-six creek, where it is loaded in small cars, and run over a three-foot gauge wooden tramway, a third of a mile from Monte Cristo. This group was originally located in 1890, by Lochrie and Anderson, while prospecting on C. H. Packard's grubstake. Subsequently Pea- body bought it, but not until quite recently has any extensive development work been done on the property.

The district's newest mine is the Mackinaw, situated on the divide, southwest of Monte Cristo, perhaps three miles. Everett parties are developing it. It is said that a ledge twenty-one feet through has been cut, assaying twenty-five dollars. Several hundred feet of tunnel have been driven. A reorganization of the company is now in progress.

One of the oldest properties in the district and yet one only slightly developed is the Philo, comprising four claims. A long tunnel is being driven, now in five hundred and fifty feet, which will tap the main ore body at great depth. Three

shorter tunnels have been driven from time to time at higher levels. The mine is equipped with a cable tram connecting with the main Pride- Mystery line from the summit of Mystery hill to the railroad.

The Rantoul group consists of four claims located about five hundred feet north of and parallel with the Pride-Mystery and adjoining the Philo, another shipper.

The vein is a large, well defined and strong one that outcrops in several places from the Keystone at an elevation of three thousand five hundred feet to the Merchant at an elevation of six thousand feet. On the latter the outerop is sixteen to twenty feet wide. These claims cover a region on the western side of Cadet mountain from its base at Glacier creek to the summit. The outerop which has made the property noted in local mining eireles is on the Rantoul. Here the main vein from six to fourteen feet wide is exposed for a dis- tance of four hundred feet, where snowslides and a small stream have "blocked out" the ore. The paystreak is one to three feet wide where exposed by tunnels and open cuts. In 1892 this property was bonded for one hundred thousand dollars to the Colby-Hoyt syndicate, but the financial panic prevented the complete consum- mation of the deal. A new two-hundred-foot tunnel lower down to cross-cut the main ore body, is now being driven by the Packard Min- ing Company, Incorporated, owners of the mine. A compressor plant and a small erew of men are emploved in this work at present. The old Pride tramway is being used. C. H. Packard, the secretary and superintendent, is one of the dis- triet's pioneer operators and has been active for fifteen years in its development.

Owned by the same company is the Whistler group of three claims located about fifteen hun- dred feet north of the Rantoul-Keystone, noted for the high grade of ore found in a shoot almost as large as that on the Rantoul. This group adjoins the famous mine of the Penn Mining Company just over the divide in the Goat Lake district, which may tunnel through this divide via the Whistler claim to gain an outlet at Monte Cristo. Both groups lie on the same vein. A short tunnel and open cuts constitute the de- velopment in the Whistler.

Although closed down for the past two years, the Monte Cristo Mining Company's property is worthy of mention here. It consists of twenty- eight claims, including mill sites and placers in the canon, and mineral locations in Glacier, Seventy-six and West Seattle gulches. In

Glacier gulch the ledges run nearly north and south between walls of diorite and granite; in Seventy-six gulch their course is northeast and southwest between diorite and basalt; and in West Seattle gulch, north and south with both walls of diorite. The ledge matter is silicious

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porphyry. Thousands of fect of work have been done upon these different properties, but the main development is tunnel No. 3, topping the Pride-Mystery group from the west face of Mystery hill. This tunnel has been driven three thousand feet through the hill and under Glacier creek into the Pride claims. It is expected that the entire group of claims in that region will eventually be worked through this tunnel when operations are resumed. A fine cable tram sys- tem, thousands of feet in all, carries the ore to the mill and bunkers at Monte Cristo. Ore with as high values as one hundred dollars has been taken from the Pride. A considerable galena streak has been opened in Mystery hill, but the main values lie in the arsenopyrite, gold and i · silver as elsewhere in the district. That this great property should be closed is of course a misfortune to the camp. John D. Rockefeller and his associates have patented all the claims and still retain possession of the great original ledges which have brought fame and credit to Monte Cristo.

There are large numbers of partially devel- oped mines in the district upon which at present but little is being done. Prominent among these is the O. & B., lying on the Silver Lake divide. Considerable work was done upon this well-known property during the nineties and sev- eral hundred tons of rich ore were shipped, but in recent years it has lain idle. The hills are dotted with prospect holes, and one can find stringers bearing mineral almost anywhere.

No attempt will be made here even to enumerate these, much less to describe each in detail. Enough has been said to indicate in a general way the character of the district. Cer- tainly there is much foundation for the hope that Monte Cristo will yet take rank, and shortly, among the famous producers of the Northwest.

The Goat Lake mining region is usually con- sidered a part of the unorganized district of Monte Cristo, but is separated from the basin of that name by a high divide. It is the eastern exten- sion of the Monto Criste mineral belt and lies at the headwaters of the north fork of the Sauk and on Goat lake, from which it takes its name. The lake, which is less than a mile long, empties into the south fork of the Sauk. The mountains at its head and on each side are veined with mineral. The formation is syenite, granite and schist, cut by dikes of porphyry, quartz and slate. The principal ledges run in an easterly and westerly direction, and vary in character from a clear, white, slightly mineralized quartz to a very dark quartz carrying much gold, also a fine grained arsenopyrite, also gray copper. galena and sometimes charcopyrite. Gold and silver occasionally predominate.

Discoveries on Goat lake were first made in August, 1891, when Bishop located the Foggy and parallel ledges on the divide between the

lake and the north fork. Many valuable veins have been uncovered since, but the Foggy lode and its branches are the only ones that have been developed to any great extent. The Foggy, however, has the distinction of being the most thoroughly developed of any in the county, there being in the neighborhood of fifteen thou- sand feet of work upon it. It has been stated that three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars have been expended upon this mine, but no official figures are at hand. Certain it is that ever since 1901 a large crew of men has been employed almost continuously blocking out the ore, it being the policy of the company to develop the property very thoroughly before attempting to ship. The ledge is known to be a large, true one at a depth of a thousand feet, similar in character and value to that of the Pride on the opposite side of the mountain. A compressor of several drills capacity and an electric light plant are among the operating equipments. The present manager, W. M. Mackintosh, deserves the credit for the develop- ment of this mine, he being the man who enlisted the interest of several Pittsburg capital- ists, and associated them with himself in the work. The Penn Mining Company is regarded as one of the most progressive in the mining operations of Snohomish county.

That portion of the mineral belt which lies too far south to be tributary to the Monte Cristo railroad is traversed by the main line of the Great Northern. The passenger journeying eastward on that road enters the first mining district at Sultan. Placer mining is carried on from the confluence of the river with the- Skykomish to the big cañon twelve miles above, where the river emerges from a deep gorge, above which is Sultan basin, the site of the Wallace camp. Naturally the ancient river beds are richest in deposits of the yellow metal. The gold is in flakes and nuggets of small size, the largest reported weighing only twelve dollars and fifty cents, but it is of great fineness, its average value being seventeen dollars and eighty cents an ounce. So far the simple sluice system of saving the metal is in vogue. In early days some rich cleannps were made, but in late years from three dollars to five dollars to the man is considered a good average.

At present but few men are employed in the district. The extensive properties of the DeSoto Mining Company at Horseshoe Bend have not been worked since 1902, though they were the scene of extensive operations in the latter eighties and early nineties, a tunnel one thon- sand feet long being driven about this time for use as a tail race. The company has one hun- dred and seventy-six acres of placer ground which was patented about ISSS. Four miles above Sultan the Sultan Placer Mining Company is at work with a force of twelve men on two.

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claims, sluieing. An average of from three dollars to five dollars per diem to the man is reported. Henry C. Williams, a pioneer, is oper- ating on a small scale on the old Hahacker prop- erty, and it is estimated that from thirty to forty other men work the placers along the river every winter, commencing as soon as the fall rains and snows furnish sufficient water.

From the Sultan mining section Wallace dis- trict was cut off in 1899, mainly for the purpose of segregating the quartz interests of the Sultan river and Wallace creek from the placer country. The new district is bounded, north by the Silver- ton divide, east by the Silver creek district, south by the Skykomish river and west principally by the Sultan district. The country rock on the west side is a kind of diorite and on the east granite, the contact of the two running north and south through Copper lake. In the diorite region the strike of mineral veins is usually east and west, but when the granite country is entered the ledges run north and south as at Monte Cristo and Silver creek. Developments show that the ledges increase in size and richness with depth.

By far the leading property in the district and one of the foremost in all northwestern Washing- ton, is the Forty-five, Consolidated, which con- sists of thirty-two claims at Marble pass, owned by the L. E. Pinkham estate. The mine has recently been bonded by the Magus Mining Com- pany, of Seattle, under an eighteen-month agree- ment, and will be developed extensively during the next few months.

Four parallel ledges run through the claims, namely, the Forty-five, the Forty-five No. 7, the John L. and the Bryan. The first mentioned, which is the main ledge, is seven feet wide at a depth of three hundred and fifty feet, with a pay- streak of pyrites and galena, carrying gold and silver in high values; the John L. is a three-foot vein of arsenical iron carrying about five dollars in silver; Forty-five No. 7, an eighteen-inch ledge, is of the same general character as the John L., while the Bryan has two feet of gold and silver bearing pyrites and galena. As high as twelve per cent. lead ore has been taken out. The development work on this property is exten- sive. On the Forty-five ledge there are four openings, one of 210 feet on the Hard to Beat claim at the eastern end of the group: 80 feet on the Duepree, the next claim to the west, and a series of tunnels on the Magnus. Cross cut tunnel No. I is the highest opening and from it a drift of 210 feet has been made along the vein. Tunnel No. 2, 220 feet lower, is 233 feet long, with a drift 900 feet, sloped and connected with the workings of No. 1 above. Here also is a shaft 135 feet in depth, with two drifts, one at the 75 foot level and one at 130 fect. A steam hoist operates the shaft at present, but a gaso- line plant is being installed. Eight hundred feet

lower down on the vein is tunnel No. 3, now being driven, and 400 feet below it again is No. 4, only 30 feet in length at this writing, but being rapidly extended. It will strike the Bryan ledge before reaching the Forty-five. The fifth tunnel is also in course of construction, 500 feet below No. 4, which will strike the Bryan and Forty-five at great depth. The company's equipment includes an air compressor, a small saw-mill, and an elec- tric light plant, while an aerial tramway, two thousand feet in length, connects the mine with the Monte Cristo railroad at Silverton, just over the Stillaguamish divide. Next spring the com- pany expects to utilize the water of Copper lake in developing twelve thousand horse power at the mine. The machinery will be taken in this winter from Sultan. At the present time twelve men are employed, but thirty-five have been en- gaged all summer and at least twenty will be required for the winter campaign. Charles F. Lee, with offices at Silverton, is the engineer in charge and Nate B. Jones, of Sultan, is superin- tendent of the saw-mill and of transportation.

The history of this mine goes back to the spring of 1891, when George Hall and W. M. Moleque located the Forty-five claim. About the same time James and Ambrose Duepree staked out the Ninety-five group, adjoining, on the same ledges. Under various managements these prop- erties were worked separately until the season of 1897, when a coalescence was effected under the name of the Forty-five, Consolidated. In all more than one hundred and two thousand dollars worth of ore has been shipped from the property, and there is every reason to believe that the mine will be a heavy producer for generations to come.

Another notable property of the district is the Little Chief, lying in the basin south of the Forty-five, a low grade copper proposition of enormous proportions, concerning which little is known by the general public. A great knob of ore fully one hundred feet wide projects from the side of the mountain, giving evidence of the existence of an immense deposit beneath. Some tunnel work has been done and a great deal of prospecting, the results of which are known only to those interested. It is claimed that one hundred thousand dollars were spent upon this property by the English syndicate that owns it, but nothing has been done during the seven years last past.

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An illustrated history of Skagit and Snohomish Counties; their people, their commerce and their resources, with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 78

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1906 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1172