History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 58

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

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388

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

During the winter of 1875-76, $1,000 worth of ore was produced. eral Point Mining Company, several parties are working on tribute. producing could not be ascertained.

On the lands of the Min- The amount this ground is

Goldsworthy & Brother .- These diggings are situated on Lots 279 and 280 of Harrison's survey, about a quarter of a mile east of the preceding, and on the northwest quarter of Sec- tion 6, Town 4, Range 3 east. This is known as the Barber range, and has been worked in the winter seasons during the last six years. The ore is Smithsonite, much mixed with pyrites ; it is found in the upper pipe-clay opening, in a flat sheet from cight to thirty feet wide, and from eighteen to twenty-four inches thick, being most productive in crossing crevices. About twenty tons per year is produced here.

T. Lutey & Co .- This party is working a short distance east of the preceding, on land owned by M. M. Cothren. They have been working in a continuation of the Barber range for about two months (October and November, 1876), and have now a very good prospect. Most of the lead orc from the Barber Range is obtained from the glass-rock opening, but it never has been worked for zinc ore.

Suthers & Co .- Situated on the southeast part of Harrison's survey. This is a nearly east- and-west range, known as the " Walla Walla," and has been worked by the present party since 1865. The range is about 120 feet wide, and has been worked in the glass-rock opening to a length of about 1,000 feet, and at a depth of seventy-three below the surface. The mine pro- duces lead ore and both kinds of zinc ore. The average annual product of lead ore is about 44,000 pounds. The products from January to April, 1876, of all kinds of ore were valued at $900.

J. Arthur & Co .- Situated on the southwest quarter Section 6, Township 4, Range 3 east. This is an east-and-west range, discovered about two years since, and worked continuously tothe present. The ores are Smithsonite and lead ore found in a flat sheets, from six inches to one foot thick, in the glass-rock opening, at a depth of sixty feet from the surface. The range is about one hundred feet wide. It is situated on land owned by Mr. J. J Ross. The ground is com- paratively dry.

Hoare Bros .- Situated about fifty yards east of the preceding, and on the same range, in land owned by Mr. J. Hoare. This party has been working here about two years, producing lead ore and Smithsonite from the glass-rock opening. The liggings are now very good.

Nichols & Holmes .- Situated on northeast quarter Section 7, Township 4, Range 3 east, a short distance east of the old zinc works. There are some irregular flat sheets of zinc ore in the glass-rock opening, about twenty feet deep. They have been worked during the last two years, and have produced considerable zinc ore.

Harris & Lang .- These diggings are situated about half a mile south of the preceding. This is an enst-and-west range, situated in the glass-rock opening, about twenty-five feet deep. It has been worked about a year, producing considerable zinc ore. In the vicinity of the Mineral Point Town Hall, on the northwest quarter of Section 5, Township 4, Range 3 east, are the fol- lowing diggings :

Prideaux & Henry .- This is a north-and-south range, about 200 yards south of the Town Hall, which has been worked by the present party since 1866. The ores are lead and zinc, found in flat and pitching sheets, from eight to ten inches thick, in the upper pipe-clay opening, at a depth of from one to sivty fect below the surface. The range is from sixty to seventy feet wide, and has been worked to a distance of 350 feet.

Jeffrey & Bro .- Situated about one hundred yards south of the preceding, and probably on the same range. The range is here one hundred feet wide, and produces lead ore and both kinds of zinc ore in about equal quantities, and considerable iron pyrites. The work has been chiefly done in the winter season during the last two years.

Mankey & Son .- Situated about 150 yards southeast of Jeffrey & Bro. They have been working during the last twelve years in a north-and-south range. The product is lead ore, found in vertical crevices, and in flat sheets in the green-rock opening, at a depth of forty feet from the

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

surface. All the diggings in this hill are dry, and most of them are remunerative, but the amounts of ore produced could not be ascertained. The mining land is owned by Messrs. Henry Coad, Prideaux & Woodman. About a quarter of a mile north of this ridge is the Mineral Point Hill, lying directly east of the city. The following parties are mining there :

Short & Foster .- Situated about 200 yards west of Jeffrey & Bro., on an old north-and- south range, sixty feet in width. They have been working during the last two years in the win- ter season, producing lead and zinc ores from the pipe-clay opening. The diggings are about forty feet deep.

Vivian & Sleep .- This party is working a nearly east-and-west range, the most southerly of several parallel ranges which cross the hill. The range is about fifty feet wide, and produces zinc ores, chiefly Smithsonite, from the upper pipe-clay opening, which is here about twenty-five feet below the surface. They have been working here during the last thirteen years, operating during the entire year.

Brown & Cluthers .- They have been mining about a year on a parallel range 150 feet north of the one last mentioned. The range is about fifty feet wide, and produces zinc ores, chiefly blende. The ore is found in flat and pitching sheets in the pipe-clay opening.

James Dunn & Son .- This party has been working about three years on a range 150 feet north of the preceding. Both kinds of zinc ores are produced from the upper pipe-clay opening, which lies here about forty feet deep.

Trewilla & Strong .- This party has worked about eight years in this vicinity and one and a half on their present range, producing zinc ores.

Goldsworthy & Hocks .- Situated about one-fourth of a mile east of Vivian & Sleep. They have been mining about a year, producing blende. The mining land in this hill is owned by Messrs. Hutchinson, Henry, Curry, Gundry and Washburn. The ranges all bear a little north of west and south of east, and have never been worked below the upper pipe-clay opening. The earliest mining in this vicinity was done in the Mineral Point Hill. The ranges were formerly very productive, and have been worked continuously for many years to the present time. There are a few other parties mining with in a few miles of Mineral Point. They are as follows :

Rogers & Mankey .- Situated on the northeast quarter of Section 8, Township 4, Range 3 east, on land owned by Mr. Suthers, near Rock Branch. This is a new discovery, made in October, 1876, being a flat sheet of Smithsonite in the brown-rock opening.

Jeffrey & May .- Situated a short distance north of the preceding. This is also a new dis- covery, made about the same time as the preceding, being a flat sheet of zinc ores in the glass- rock opening. The prospect is very good.

Badcroft Diggings .- Section 15, Township 4, Range 3 east. Work was begun here in 1872, and has been continued at intervals since. A small amount of lead ore has been pro- duced. The ore is found in flat and pitching sheets in the pipe-clay opening, about twenty feet below the surface.

Shepard & Co .- Situated on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 22, Township 4, Range 2 east. Work was commenced here in August, 1876, on the old Maloney range. This range has a general east-and-west course, and yields lead ore and blende from the pipe-clay opening, which is here about twenty-five feet deep. The ore occurs in flat sheets from four to five inches thick, the blende forming the top and bottom of the sheet, and lead ore the central part. The product has been, to December, 1876, lead ore, 1,500 pounds ; blende, three tons. The ground is dry, and the prospect considered good.

Clebenstein Diggings .- They are situated on the same ridge, and a short distance east of the preceding. They are now operated by August Cain, who has been mining about a year. They were operated from 1865 to 1875 by Mrs. Clebenstein, and produced large amounts of lead and zinc ores. The ore was found in flat sheets, in the pipe-clay and glass-rock openings.

H. Joseph's Diggings .- Situated on the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 5, Township 4, Range 3 east. Mining was commenced here in 1871, and continued until the fall

390

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

of 1874, when it was discontinued on account of water. The ore found here was exclusively blende, which occurred in a flat sheet in the green-rock opening. The width of the sheet was about eighty feet, its greatest thickness three feet, and it was worked for a distance of 800 feet. The greatest depth below the surface is seventy feet. During the years 1873-74, this ground produced about one thousand tons of blende.

Diamond Grove Diggings .- These diggings are situated on Sections 25 and 26, Township 5, Range 2 east. They produce chiefly zinc ores, found in flat sheets in the pipe clay and glass- rock openings. The following parties are now mining here.

Cain & Read .- Situated on the northwest quarter of Section 25. This party has been working on the Rodersdorf range during the winters of 1873-74, 1874-75. The ore, which is Smithsonite, is found in the glass-rock opening, in a range from sixteen to twenty feet wide, and two hundred feet long. The production during the first season was seventeen and one-half tons ; in the second season, twenty tons.

Robert Conley & Sons .- Situated on the southwest quarter of Section 25. Mining has been carried on here by the above party during the last ten years, on an east-and-west range. Both kinds of zinc ore and lead ore are found here, in the pipe-clay and glass-rock openings, but chiefly in the latter. The range is from forty to sixty feet wide, and has been worked a distance of one hundred and fifty yards. During the last year and a half, the product of lead ore has been 60,000 pounds, and 60 tons of zinc ore during the last two years.

Biddick Diggings .- A valuable deposit of lead ore has lately been discovered on the south- west quarter of Section 24, Township 5, Range,2 cast. Four flat sheets, from one to four inches thick, are found here, situated above one another in the upper pipe-clay opening. It has not yet been sufficiently worked to determine its actual extent.

Martin Bros. § Cramer .- Situated on the southwest quarter of Section 25. This and the preceding one are on land owned by Mr. James Spensley. They have been mining here on an east-and-west range, which was discovered two years since. The ore is Smithsonite, and is found in the glass-rock opening, which is here from ten to thirty feet deep.

Spensley & Brown .- situated on the northeast quarter of Section 26, Township 5, Range 2 east. Men have been employed since July, 1876, driving an adit in the glass-rock opening. The adit is 200 feet long, and drains an east-and-west range. The product has been : Lead ore, 36,000 pounds ; blende, 6 tons.

Opir & Lancaster .- Situated on the northwest quarter of Section 26. This party is work- ing the same range, 450 yards west of the preceding. It is here known as the Lancaster range, and has been worked by the present party about a year. The product has been 150 tons of blende. It is worked by an adit.

Mc Dermott & Co .- Mining has been carried on here by Mr. McDermott for about twenty- six years, in the McShane & Gray range. The ore is found in flat and pitching sheets, in crevices and crevice-openings in the Galena limestone, above the flat openings. The dig- gings now produce lead and zinc ore. The average annual product is about thirty thousand pounds.

Schlosser & Co .- This party has been working four or five years on the east end of the same range as the preceding. The ground is dry, and the lead ore is found about forty feet below the surface. The average annual product is about ten thousand pounds.

William & Thomas Thrasher .- This party has been working in this vicinity about fifteen years, on a parallel range, situated about a quarter of a mile southeast of Schlosser & Co. The product is chiefly lead ore.

Lost Grove Diggings .- These diggings are situated on land owned by Mr. J. J. Ross, on Section 33, Township 5, Range 2 east. Mining is confined here to the winter season. The ground is dry, and the ore is found in flat sheets in the glass-rock opening. The following par- ties are mining here :

Rigger & Arthur .- This party has been working two years in an east-and-west range, producing lead ore and Smithsonite. The range varies from twenty-five to fifty feet in width,

391

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

and lies from thirty to forty feet below the surface. The product is valued at $12,000 per annum.

Clayton & Co .- Situated about a quarter of a mile northwest of the preceding. Have been working during the last twelve years on the Jim Brown raoge. This is an east-and-west range, from fifty to sixty feet wide, and lying about seventy feet below the surface, producing exclusively lead ore. The product has been about twenty thousand pounds per annum.

Garden & Son .- Situated about one-fourth of a mile south of the preceding. They have been working about two years, and have produced about $400 worth of ore.

Robert Brown & Co .- Situated about half a mile east of Clayton & Co., and on the same range. The diggings here are from twenty-five to fifty feet deep. They have been working about three years, and have produced about thirty thousand pounds per annum.

Furfer & Co .- They have been working on a range near Brown & Co. during the last eight years, producing lead and zinc ore.

CALAMINE DISTRICT.

There are several tracts of land situated in Sections 18 and 19, Township 3, Range 3 east, which were formerly quite productive, but little work is now done on them. They are situated on the left side of the Pecatonica River, on the ridge which sepirates the Wood and Bonner Branches. The ridge slopes abruptly on all sides, but one toward the various streams which nearly inclose it. On the summit of the ridge there is a thickness of about one hundred feet of Galena limestone, underlaid by about fifty feet of the blue and buff limestones, below which is the sandstone. All these formations may be distinctly seen in passing from the summit of the ridge to the valley of the Pecatonica. During the winter of 1876-77. so ne mining was done here by Mr. Charles Mappes, of Belmont, on an east-and-west range, lying from thirty to forty feet below the surface. Four men were employed, working on a flat sheet of blende and galenite. The amount produced could not be ascertained. Some Smithsonite is also produced in this vicinity.

Yellowstone Diggings, Pierce & Son .- Some work has been done here during the winter seasons of the last three years, in a range a quarter of a mile north of the New Kirk range, situated on the southwest quarter of Section 14, Township 4, Range 4 east. The lead ore is found in a vertical sheet in a crevice opening about fourteen feet below the surface.

In the winter of 1874-75 the product was 18,000 pounds, and in the following winter about one thousand eight hundred pounds. No mining is done here in the summer.

WIOTA DISTRICT.

This is a small group of east-and-west ranges, crossed by north-and-south crevices, situated on the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 2, Range 5 east. But very little mining is done here; the annual production of the whole district does not exceed 40,000 pounds. The ore is lead, occurring in the middle portion of the Galena limestone, and there does not seem to be any regular opening. There are several parties here, among whom the principal ones are as follows :

Purcell & Harden .- They are at work in the old Hamilton Diggings, removing the pillars from the old workings, which were abandoned many years since. They are unable to go any deeper, or make any new discoveries, on account of the water, which is here quite plentiful. The ground is owned by the Ridgeway Mining Company, of Madison. Messrs. Purcell & Harder have worked here two years, and during that time have produced 20,000 pounds of lead ore.

Smith & Anderson .- Situated a short distance north of the preceding, and from the north- ern part of the Hamilton Diggings. This does not appear to form any regular range. The orc occurs in east-and-west sheets, in very hard rock, and seldom in openings. The diggings have now been worked since January, 1873, and have produced 80,000 pounds.

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

COPPER IN THE LEAD REGION.

The last mining for copper in this region was done at Mineral Point from 1873 to 1876. Mr. James Toay is authority for the following sketch of the work in past years: "Sometime in 1837-38, copper was discovered on the southeast quarter of Section 32, Township 5 north, Range 3 east, one mile northeast of the Mineral Point Court House. The crevice had a course south 85° east, and was traced for over one-third of a mile. The locality has not been worked since 1842. A great amount of copper was obtained. Some of the ore was smelted by William Kendall & Co. Sometime in 1844, S. P. Preston came to the region and went into partnership with Kendall & Co. Two other furnaces have been worked; one by Charles Bracken and one by Curtiss Beach."

From 1873 to 1875, Mr. Toay produced about two hundred tons of copper ore from the mines near Mineral Point.

For a detailed statement of the statistics of the amount and kinds of ore raised prior to 1877, reference is made to the State Geological Report of 1877.

SETTLEMENT OF THE LEAD REGION.

A brief narrative of the settlement of the lead region is necessary to a complete under- standing of the growth which eventnated in the formation of Iowa, La Fayette and Grant Counties.

In the general history of the State, which precedes these pages, can be found a sketch of the several explorations of the Wisconsin River, or rather the fact that they were used as ave- nues for the still further exploration of the Mississippi Valley during the seventeenth century. Those rapid journeys cannot be considered as bearing upon the subsequent selection of this region by white men, save in so far as they made known the existence of a habitable section, and one which contained valuable mineral deposits as well as fertile agricultural lands.

THE FIRST EXPLORER.

Nicholas Perrot is said to have discovered lead in this region during his visit here in 1692, but this assertion is not proved by his written statements concerning his trip.

Probably the first explorer of what is called the lead district, including Dubuque County, Iowa, and Jo Daviess County, Ill., was Le Sueur, a French trader, who, on the 25th of August, 1700, while on an expedition to the Sioux on St. Peter's River, now in Minnesota, discovered a small river entering the Mississippi on the east side, which he named " The River of the Mines." He describes it as a small river running from the north, but turning to the east, and he further says that " a few miles up this river is a lead mine." Le Sueur was unquestionably the first white man who trod the banks of Fever (Galena) River. He visited lead mines which were then known to and probably operated in a crude manner by the Indians.

Whatever may have been done in the way of mining by the natives during the unrecorded years of their occupancy, it is clear that the primitive methods of work have left no traces visible to-day.

A natural sequence of the ownership of the territory now known as the Mississippi Valley was the exploration of the river by French adventurers. Le Sueur pointed the way for other brave men, who were inspired both hy a love of wild life and that universal hope of pecuniary gain. When reports of discoveries of rich mineral deposits in the hills of the section defined by the Ouisconsin and Mississippi Rivers reached the lower settlements, numerons parties undoubtedly attempted to speedily profit by the knowledge thus gained.

THE MISSOURI DIGGINGS.

Some twenty years after the voyage of Le Suenr (who unquestionably did find lead at sev- eral different points on the Upper Mississippi, besides obtaining specimens in the Fever River

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HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

country), mining was actually begun in what are known as the Missouri Diggings, although it was not until 1798 that it became a regular business or was systematically carried on.

The sparse settlement of the Lower Mississippi Valley at the beginning of the century did not conduce to a rapid invasion of the Indian country, as in the present days the discovery of val- uable minerals in forbidden regions would do.

THE MARGRY LETTERS.

A most valuable contribution to historic information was recently made through the medium . ship of Hon. E. B. Washburne, late United States Minister to France, and formerly a resident of Galena. Mr. Washburne dates his interest in the lead region from 1840, and because of those years of prosperity there he gladly improved opportunities presented while he was in France to gain further knowledge of its early history. The subjoined extract explains itself, and is most timely in its appearance.

CHICAGO, December 13, 1880.

MR. A. D. HAGEN, Librarian of the Chicago Historical Society.

DEAR SIa : From the great interest you have taken in the early discoveries and explorations in Cansds (or New France) and Louisiana. you are aware that Pierre Margry is one of the most thoroughly studied men of the present day in all those matters, as he is also one of the best-known men in historical circles, both in Europe and in this country. The Chicago Historical Society honored itself, some time since, by making him an honorary member. In view of his extended and accurate researches, he has been decorated by the French Government as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. It may be said that he has spent most of his life in the archives of the Ministry of the Marine of Fronce. It is a mine of historic wealth of unsurpassed richness. Under the patronsge of our Congress he has brought out a vast mass of material, hitherto unpublished, in relation to the discovery and explorations of the French on the North American Continent. This material is in the course of publication at Washington, and will be looked for with great interest by all students of history.

I had the pleasure, during my residence in Paris, of knowing Mr. Margry quite well, and talked with him often in regard to the early history of New France and Louisiana. In the course of our conversation, I took the opportunity to talk with him touching the early discoveries of lead mines in what is now Illinoissnd Missouri, and received a letter in reply, which I inclose herewith. He was kind enough to send mes transcript of certain documents which are to be published by Congress, and which I have not yet seen. By these documents I am more convinced than ever that the Galena and Dubuque lead mines were the earliest ever discovered by the French explorers. either in Illinois, Iowa or Missouri. The accounts of the discovery, about the year 1719, of the mine of M. de la Motte and the Msramek mines of Missouri, are very interesting, but I cannot here refer to them particularly. What interested me very much is an extract from a letter, written from Fort de Chartres, on the 21st day of July, 1722, by one Le Gardeur de Lisle, which I copy herewith, and which is in relation to the discovery of minerals on the Illinois River:

" I have the honor to inform you, gentlemen, that I havebeen sent in command of a detschment of twelve soldiers, to accompany Mons. Renaud to the Illinois River, where the Indians have found some lumps of copper, which they brought to Mons. de Boisbriant, and more particularly to s così mine, said to be very rich.

"When we reached the place of our destination. M. Renaud commenced the search for the copper mine, but without success, no sign of that metal being visible anywhere. However, in looking for the co il mine, which we had been told was near the spot we had examined before, we discovered a silver and copper mine, of which Mons. Renaud made an assay, and which upon the surface of the ground is much richer than M. de la Motte's.

" I have kept a little diary of thst journey ; I take the liberty of sending it to you. It will enable you to locste the spot where this mine is situated. It is s most beautiful site; the mine is easy to work, and close to a magnificent country for settlers. I am delighted with my trip and with the success which has attended it, for the assay made by Moos. Renaud was upon ore found on the surface, and it has proved to be much better than that of M. de la Motte's mine," etc.

The alleged discovery of silver and copper mines on the Illinois River has never been verified to any extent. As to the coal mine said to be " very rich." s question which now arises is, Where was it locsted ? All of the expeditions for the discovery of mines were fitted out at Fort Chartres, which was then evidently the commercial as well as the military headquarters of all the country.

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History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 58

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044