Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 89

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992

USA > Washington > Chelan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 89
USA > Washington > Ferry County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 89
USA > Washington > Okanogan County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 89
USA > Washington > Stevens County > Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington > Part 89

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it comes the shipping ore is assorted to run over $100 per ton. Thirty tons shipped to the Hall mines smelter, at Nelson, British Columbia, after deducting the treatment charges, gave net returns of $2.742, and twenty tons shipped, from which returns have not yet been received, will average 200 ounces of silver per ton, in addition to the gold value, as shown by assay of sack samples. The lower grade ore separ- ated in assorting is being piled on the dump. to be concentrated at the Gold Zone mill, about two and one-half miles distant, which the com- pany has leased for a year for experimental purposes. Although the ore is going to the smelter at present, it is evidently a natural con- centrating product.

"There is considerable talc and talcose ma- terial in the vein which, while carrying good values, will not pay to ship, and a method will be adopted for its treatment at the mill not yet decided on. The Ruby mine is now paying expenses, with very little stopping required. At present the ore is sent down the hill by an aerial tramway to a small bin at the base of the mountain, but a survey of the mine has recently been completed, and it is intended at an early date to start a new tunnel for the vein at an elevation of only one hundred feet above the level of the valley, which will give an addi- tional vertical depth to the mine workings of 259 feet and admit of driving northeasterly and gaining a depth of 2,000 to 2,500 feet on the vein. The vein is traceable at the surface fully 1,500 feet. New buildings have been lately erected for an office, a boarding house and a comfortable bunk house for the men employed, of whom there are sixteen on two shifts. An additional force will be required upon the start- ing of the new tunnel."

Speaking of the Okanogan county Mineral Districts the Mining World, of August 15, 1903, said :

"In the region of the Upper Methow river and tributaries work proceeds favorably, and there is every encouragement here for capital

- !

ALE

WANNICUT LAKE.

TOATS COULA FALLS OF THE SINLAHEKIN RIVER.

Palmer Leke

PALMER LAKE.

ST. MARYS MISSION. OKANOGAN COUNTY, AS IT WAS IN PIONEER DAYS.

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

to come in and open up the many veins ex- posed. A satisfactory gold-copper property is known as the Goat Creek development, consist- ing of one shaft on the vein and 400 feet drift work with a few raises. Distant three miles is the American Flag mine, a large low-grade proposition averaging $6 to $10 in gold and silver, and shows 1,000 feet development. Formerly a twenty-stamp mill was operated successfully, but the increasing baseness of the ore made it unprofitable, and a cyanide plant is now being erected.

"J. M. Hagerty, chief owner of the Ruby mine, Okanogan county, has secured the Golden Zone concentrator to be installed at once on Ruby property. Sufficient ore from the two tunnels on the Ruby can probably be taken to keep the concentrator going steadily. While the upper workings are supplying funds, a main tunnel at the base of the mountain will probably be started several hundred feet below the other tunnels. When that tunnel cuts the ledge the Ruby should be in shape to supply a larger plant than the Zone. Previously only high-grade ore has been handled, and there is lying on the dump a great quantity of low- grade, now able to be treated profitably."

Discovery of gold in the Methow valley is

said to have actually occurred about eighteen years ago. Among the numerous stories con- cerning this event the following appears thie most probable, as it is vouched for by a number, of responsible parties : A government expedi- tion was traveling through the Methow coun- try. "Captain Joe," an old Methow Indian was eniployed to guide the party through the coun- try. They were camped at one time on the headwaters of War Creek, a tributary of the Methow. One morning, while hunting horses, Joe stumbled across a big gold ledge cropping out of the mountain. Breaking off a piece he put it in his pocket, but said nothing to the gov- ernment party concerning his "find," until the next day, when he exhibited the rock to Col. F. S. Sherwood, now of Colville, Stevens county, who was one of the party. They went back to the neighborhood of the ledge, but could not find it. When Col. Sherwood arrived in Portland he showed the piece of ore and it produced great excitement. Quite a number of prospectors at once started out to hunt for the ledge, but to this day all efforts in this direction have proved unavailing. More recent discov- eries on Squaw Creek have reminded many of the "find" made by "Captain Joe."

CHAPTER IV.

DESCRIPTIVE.

With the single exception of Yakima, Okanogan is the largest county in the state of Washington. The area of the former is 5,784, of the latter, 5,318, a difference of only 466 square miles. Previous to the setting off of Chelan, to the southwest, Okanogan county contained upwards of 8,000 square miles, a

territory rivalling in size many of the most prominent states in the union. The present lim- its of the county are comprised within the Inter- national boundary on the north; the Columbia river on the south; Ferry county on the east; Whatcom county on the west, and the recently organized county of Chelan on the southwest.

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

The Chelan-Okanogan boundary is a line from the extreme northeastern portion of Ska- git county, nearly due southeast, to a point on the Columbia river a few miles below Pateros, in Okanogan county.

The Okanogan river, heading in Osoyoos lake, on the International boundary, trends southward, forming a confluence with the Co- lumbia at Brewster, and dividing the county of Okanogan into two nearly equal portions, the western part being somewhat the larger. The territory throughout is traversed by innumer- able streams and indented by beautiful lakes, many of the latter lying at high altitudes among the basins formed by depressions in mountain peaks. Of these picturesque bodies of water, Omak lake is the most extensive, lying to the east of the Okanogan river among the Bunch Grass hills of the Indian reservation. Among the mountains of the far northwest heads the Methow river, the general trend of which is southeasterly, joining the Columbia at Pateros. This stream flows through the finest agricul- tural lands in Washington, leaving the rich Okanogan mining district to the left on its course to join the Columbia.

In contour the entire country is decidedly mountainous. A non-technical classification of the land of Okanogan county would be mineral, timber, grazing and agricultural; all of these sources are rapidly increasing ones, and of vast wealth in the aggregate. Although the surface of the country presents a rugged mountainous aspect, difficulties usually encountered in moun- tain traveling are not particularly unpleasant, there being low passes through almost all sec- tions, making the problem of road construction a comparatively easy one. While the country is thus broken into bold and frowning foot- hills, a great many productive ranches nestle along the bench lands and in the valleys of the streams. The problem of transportation by rail is the only serious one remaining to be solved by a class of progressive citizens repre-

senting mining, lumbering, stock-raising and diversified agricultural industries.

No one general statement can satisfactorily cover the question of soil elements in Okanogan county. The most familiar character is sandy. Under favorable cultivation it is found arable and generously productive. The climate in- cludes a variety of temperatures. It is in this matter that individual taste must be consulted. While climatic conditions vary with the great range of altitude, extremes during either sum- mer or winter are not considered excessive. The climate of Okanogan county cannot be justly called dry, in the sense that this term is applied to other sections of the country, for summer showers are of frequent occurrence, and the snowfall is about normal for these lati- tudes. However, the highest degree of pro- ductiveness of land is gained by irrigation. Yet it is equally true that productive possibilities are fairly good from land inaccessible to arti- ficial irrigation.

A graphic description of Okanogan county. thought it be drawn ever so vividly, fails to convey to a reader exactly the desired impres- sion. There is no sameness of scenery ; every- where it is varied, although its general effect is grand and imposing. Perhaps one of the most favorable stage routes-and at present there is nothing in the line of passenger transportation save stages and the short strip of summer river travel up the Okanogan from Brewster to Riverside-is from Republic through Wau- conda, Bodie, Chiesaw, Molson, Oroville. Loomis, and southward to Conconully, the capital of the county. This route may be varied by including in the itinerary, Bolster and Kip- ling, of which descriptions are elsewhere given. It was the fortune of the writer to make the first mentioned succession of stages in the mid- dle of winter previous to the holidays of 1903.

It is only a few miles from Republic, the capital of Ferry county, to the Okanogan line, yet the "Summit" between Republic and Bodie

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

is not crossed within a distance of between fif- teen and eighteen miles. The roads were found to be exceptionally good, the air invigorating and the grades, as a rule, easy, although to gain this possibility, it became necessary at times to pass over many devious and winding convolu- tions. It is well to recall the fact that in the matter of road-building the commissioners of the northern tier of counties in Washington expend considerable sums of money and that, too, judiciously and to the entire satisfaction of a large majority of the tax-payers. Owing to the absence of rail transportation the necessity for this will be readily perceived.

One of the most lovely portions of the drive between Republic and Chesaw passes through Lost Canyon, a sombre mountain gorge, heav- ily timbered with stately pines and firs, a few miles southeast of Chesaw. The present time of stage arrival at this point is about six o'clock p. m., and one has then been on the road from Republic nearly eleven hours, including a wait of an hour at Bodie for lunch. Most of the Okanogan traveling is by easy stages, and the drive from Chesaw to Oroville, on the Okona- gan river, occupied a fair portion of the follow- ing day, with lunch at an elegant, large hotel -an innovation in the wilderness-at Molson. This route between Chesaw and Oroville is not so picturesque, perhaps, as the one between Re- public and Chesaw, from a scenic view point, yet it includes sufficient exhilarating variety to satisfy the most ardent admirer of Dame Na- ture. On this route Mt. Bonaparte, one of the highest altitudes in Okanogan county, is left to the south. The town of "Oro," as the name is generally abbreviated, lies at the base and to the east of Mt. Ellemeham, at the confluence of the Similkameen and Okanogan rivers.

Six miles west of Chesaw, on the state road to Oro, is a rugged pile known as the "Hee Hee Stone." It is a large upright boulder, somewhat in the shape of the human body, and is the object of worship among the Indians. There are many stories concerning this stone,

but the most popular among them appears to be the following :

Many years ago there were two rival tribes of Indians in this part of the country ; one on the Okanogan and the other on the banks of Meyers creek. These two tribes were continu- ally at war with one another, like the Capulets and Montagues, and during the course of a desperate battle the chief of the Okanogan tribe was captured. The handsome daughter of the chief of the Meyers Creek tribe nursed him through a dangerous illness, with the usual, but romantic result. They fell in love with each other and determined to elope. The chief of the Okanogans, praying to the Great Spirit, had a vision in which it was revealed that they would escape and be happy providing the prin- cess did not look back. But, woman-like, after she thought they were safe on the way, she did look back, and laughed, whereat she was turned into stone for her disobedience.

From that period, the legend runs, a legend combining the elements of Lot's wife and Ro- meo and Juliet, the Indians have never ceased to worship this rock, invariably leaving some- thing upon it as they pass by. At present it is strewn with a motley array of old clothes, silk handkerchiefs, leather straps, small pieces of money, arrow heads, etc.

There is, however, still another version of the story of this mythical monument in the wilderness. It is one, too, having a wild, su- perstitious strain quite frequently observed in Indian folk-lore. This version was related by a youthful red man to the editor of the Meyers Creek News. The Indian prefaced his story with the observation that there were many tra- ditions concerning the Hee Hee Stone, but he could contribute but one. He said :

"That story of an Indian chieftan watching a battle between Mt. Chapacca and Mt. Baldy while he was standing on the Hee Hee Stone, and about his laughing when Mt. Baldy crushed in the sides of Mt. Chapacca is all nonsense. So is the story of the long fight between two

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

tribes during which an Indian maiden was cap- tured from the Nez Perces, who, on looking toward the home of her people, to the east, against the commands of her captors, was turned into the rock which is now the Hee Hee Stone. Those stories are only repeated among white men and Chinamen. I will give you the true story :

"The Siwashes (generic term for all In- dians ) have always lived here. We were chas- ing deer in the Okanogan country long before your Adam was introduced to his Kloocth, (Eve) and were happy on these hills and in these valleys hundreds of years before any Chinamen ever lived. Along about the time Chief Abraham started up in business in West- ern Asia the Indians along the Okanogan be- came afflicted with some distemper, not unlike leprosy, and it threatened to destroy the whole nation. The priest of the Siwashes talked every day with the Great Spirit who told him to tell his children that he would send a messenger to talk to them, and that on a certain day all the people should gather at the place named to receive the courier of the skies. The place des- ignated was the same stone which is so rever- enced by us. On the day appointed the Si- washes, for hundreds of miles were gathered here, all arrayed in the newest buckskins, and all, of course, anxious to see whether or not the priest, who was, also the medicine man, had told the truth or was only dreaming. At ten o'clock in the morning the priest pointed to- ward Mt. Bonaparte and thousands of eyes looked in that direction. Soon an object ap- peared in the southern skies which assumed the form of an angel, and before the astonished Siwashes could fall upon their faces the heavenly visitor had alighted on the Hee Hee Stone.

"She was radiantly beautiful and immedi- ately began to talk to the afflicted people. She told them that their cry for help had been heard by the Great Spirit and that she had come to help them. She invited all who were suffering

from the epidemic to come near her and be healed. Within a short time the army of in- valids was transformed into a host of shouting Siwashes, exulting in the perfect health that had been given them. Their benefactress ex- plained to them that she would come again sometime, but that they must use the means that she would provide if they desired to retain their good health which she had given them. She then distributed camas seed among them and urged that they be planted everywhere, the roots of which when eaten would prevent a re- turn of the malady from which they had suf- fered. She bade them be of good cheer, to deal justly with one another, and that some time she would come again.

"While the shouts that greeted this an- nouncement were echoing over these hills, she was caught up in the air and floated away in the southern skies whence she came, and ever since she has been known to the Siwashes as Queen Camas, the divine visitor from the sky that healed our people. Now, is it a wonder, white man, that the pious Siwashes for thou- sands of years have drawn nigh this rock and have left upon it those tokens of affection that you always see exhibited there? When they are left there the act and gift are in memory of the beautiful Queen Camas who came and saved our people, and some time she will come to us again."

Seven o'clock on a raw December morning may be considered an inauspicious hour at which to begin a twenty-mile drive to Loomis. But on the whole it was exhilerating-and the walking was good. For there are heavy grades in the foot-hills of Mt. Ellameham, which must be surmounted pedestrianwise or endure the pangs of witnessing the palpable agonies of a pair of jack-rabbit cayuses struggling with the almost impossible.

The driver, who has been delayed somewhat overtime, peremptorily announces that those who are going with him must be ready to de- part. Trunks and other impedimenta are left

53I

HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

behind to follow the next trip, a stinging whip- lash curls through the air, and the "stage," an uncovered hack of limited proportions, dashes a mile down grade to the east bank of the Similkameen river. Here is a ferry; the stream swollen bank full and running with ice. The hack-full of passengers rolls on to the boat; a couple of miners mounted on cayuses ; an Indian "buck" clothed in fringed leggins and a Mackinaw in colors of brilliant and startling design ; an Indian boy whose ears are tied up in a blue, polka-dot handkerchief, drift on to the boat in the rear of the "stage." An old man of Homeric visage-an animated Rembrandtain Charon-quietly informs us that we must "help work the craft across stream," with the added ominous suggestion that we "will be in luck if we get over at all with so much drift ice in the river." Following this admonition everyone, including the Indian boy, and exclud- ing the Mackinawed Siwash, bears a hand, and the passage of the Similkameen is made in safety.

Two miles beyond, after a humming ride along the frozen bottom lands of the river, mountain climbing recommences. The scenery is rugged, sublime, yet constantly varying in contour and topographical presentation. We toil laboriously over one precipitous height to be confronted with another of sharper declivity. The road, a passably good one, winds a serpen- tine course nearly the entire distance between Oroville and Loomis, accentuated with abrupt curves at which one wonders what would occur should another vehicle be encountered in these wild and awesome passes. In the foot-hills one continually hovers between sunrise and sunset. There are points in the valleys, gulches and canyons where the sun, during the shortest days of winter, never rises. A cold wind sweeps over the lower levels, as though pneu- matically sucked through the canyons; higher and along the mountain sides the atmosphere is milder.

Suddenly a scene unfolds magnificant in

its pastoral beauty-twin lakes hung high in the mountain fastnesses, one on either side of the roadway. They are small, nearly circular, the larger one perhaps half a mile in diameter, and both of them animated by the presence of hundreds of wild ducks. A few miles further on and we gain the charming banks of Lake WVanicutt, a much larger body of water from whose margin rise huge, rocky mountains, nearly sheer and vertical from the broad level of this sylvan lake. Here, about midway the length of the lake, is the little hamlet of Golden, with a telephone office, and a few scattering picturesque homes. Leaving Golden, at one period a town of no little importance so far as commercial activity is concerned, but now re- tired from active competition with villages once in its class, the smooth roadway follows the north bank of Spectacle lake, so called from the resemblance of its meandering to a pair of eye-glasses. In reality these are two small oval lakes connected by a stream of water, the whole about two miles in length. From the western end of Spectacle lake it is only a short dash into the brisk and enterprising camp of "Loomis-On-The-Sinlahekin."

And now we are in the heart of the Palmer Mountain mining district, perhaps the most famous throughout the entire length and breadth of Okanogan county. Of this portion of the country Mr. L. K. Hodges has written in his exhaustive work, "Mining in the Pacific Northwest."

"Palmer Mountain is a great broad ridge, ten miles long from north to south and about six miles across, with numerous small peaks marked by cliffs of white dolomite. The for- mation of the mountain is diorite on the south- ern slope, extending as far as the summit, and on the northern portion this is intersected by dikes of black slate and serpentine. The east- ern portion consists of slate capped with dolo- mite, which forms high white walls noticeable through all the country around, while further east are large dikes of wildly contorted dolo-

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HISTORY OF NORTH WASHINGTON.

mite extending to the Okanogan river. The black slate is only here and there overlaid with dolomite, where the latter has resisted glacial action. Minerals have been found in all these formations. On the eastern slope are veins of silver-lead ore carrying a good percentage of gold in contacts of dolomite and black slate. Through the black slate running on north and south lines are great quartz veins carrying gold, on which are the Triune, Spokane and Wehe groups. On the northern part of the mountain, in the black slate, are large, prominent ledges carrying high-grade silver ore, as well as a good percentage of gold, on which are the Ivan- hoe, Empire and Bullfrog.

"In the serpentine and black slate contacts which extend on the northwest side to Mt. El- lameham and on the west overlook Palmer lake are some of the richest gold-bearing veins on the mountain, among which are the Lead- ville group and the Bunker Hill. On the south end in the diorite are gold-bearing veins carry- ing a small percentage of silver, on which are the Black Bear, War Eagle, Wisconsin Cen- tral, Grand Summit and a large number of others, coursing northwest and southeast. Iron caps are found in the diorite identical in char- acter and in identical formation with those across the International Boundary, and they also occur of large size in diorite walls in the syenitic formation to the west, which runs through Aeneas Mountain, Douglas Mountain, Gold Hill and Mt. Chapacca. Palmer Moun- tain shows surface disturbance which accounts for the breaking over of some of the ledges, for as depth is attained it is found that they are permanent and that the break-over is merely a surface disturbance. This is proven in the Black Bear, where the greatest depth has been' reached, and agrees with the experience at the Cariboo mine at Camp Mckinney, B. C., which is on the same geological formation and shows the same surface displacement. These disturb- ances caused many prospectors to think their ledges near the surface had given ont, and

scared away some timid investors who were in- experienced in mining."

As there are other lines of travel between Loomis and Oroville let us examine another as seen through the observant eyes of Mr. Frank M. Dallam, proprietor of the Palmer Mountain Prospector, published at Loomis :

"There are three routes to the village on the Similkameen (Oroville), two over Palmer Mountain and one out around the eastern foot of that immense elevation. The two across the mountain are like a ledge divided by a great 'horse,' as they start together, split asunder at Spectacle lake, and again join at Golden, con- tinuing together to Oroville. *

All * * along the road across Palmer are indications of the presence at some time in the past of the prospector. Mounds of rocks, dumps, tun- nels and shafts are scattered through the hills. No great work has been accomplished on any one of these numerous claims, and there was, in 1897, at the time of this writing, no mine in operation, but all the labor required to make these holes and get out that dumpage represents in the aggregate a vast amount of hard blows. The land is not altogether given up to mining, as here and there on the benches and draws where springs exist are scattered ranches upon which good crops can be grown. Upon de- scending the grade into the depression separat- ing the main mountain from the Whiskey Hill spur the road passes numerous veins of quartz croppings. Wehville is a conspicuous object at the foot of the last heavy grade (near Oro- ville). The 'ville' of the former is made up of two cabins and an innumerable collection of dumps giving the land the appearance of being pitted by small-pox. The Wehe brothers oc- cupy this site, and their holdings extend beyond the reach of the eye. Several ledges run through the country they possess, and large bumps of handsome quartz indicate where the drill has been industriously used. There are tunnels and shafts, cuts and drifts in abund- ance, and if the hard-working crowd do not

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Illustrated history of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, state of Washington, Part 89

Author: Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History Number of Pages: 992

Author:
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Spokane, Wash. : Western History
Number of Pages: 992