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About Kendall Chronicle (Kendall, Mont.) 1902-190? | View This Issue
Kendall Chronicle (Kendall, Mont.), 02 June 1903, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053338/1903-06-02/ed-1/seq-3/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
t rt J 7 • KentliklIAU44;41;t4i\e'l titte:: 1 _ -.weft 11111.\' A Pioneer's Storf of Placer Mining in Montana Stage Coach Puffed Out of Helena With $4500,00U hi Gold on - - erftwoostmlkwaarr. . \The wonderbil 'disteoveries of gold that have been made in Alaska dur- ing 'the last few years have attracted the• attention of the people of the world,\ said H. Addoms, an old-timer In Mentena, i day' or two ago; \but when one thinks of it they are no more wonderful than the dincoveries that were made in . Montana during the early history of mining here. All old- timers in this state know of the finds within the confines of Montana—the discoveries of gold in Alder. Last Chance, Confederate and a hundred other gulches. In 1886 I was running as a messenger on the stage line conne6ting Helena and Salt Lake, and I do not believe there was a day that the shipments of ,gold dust from Hel- ena did not aggregate more than $100,- 000. One trip I remember quite well. When the stage pulled out of Hel- ena it had on board $600,000 in gold, which I think was the largest ship- ment ever made, but there was not a day for a long time that the ship- ments did not aggregate from $100,- 000 to $291,()N. ot that_gold was taken from the placer mines near Hel- ena. Why, Last Chance gulch, in which Helena now stands, yielded from thirty to forty millions, and, Wash- fngton and other gulches near it gave up between fifty and sixty millions. Washington gulch is located in Pow- ell county. Its gravel has been wash- ed for miles and the uedrock is now as clean as the average residence floor. Thousand to the Shovel. \There ,are gulches in Montana the gravel -of which in the early days yielded 11,000 to the shovelful, and I do not believe there is a gulch in Alaska that can beat it. I know of one instance in which three Jews took out of one small area a( ground $600,000 in 90 days, exclusive of the expense of working the ground. That is 'what I call good ground; and yet it was only a sample of the rich gravel which Montana contained at that time. The gulch from which they extracted the money is located about 20 miles from Helena. \There is no way of ascertaining tow muck gold was taken trom Aide: gulch, but it has been estimated at 'between $50,000,000 and $100,000,000. I think that $75,000,000 would be about right. Alder gulch is a long one and was rich in the yellow metal from 'bead to foot. From the time of its discovery by Bill Fairweather and his party In the early 60's until many years later it was a continuous pro- ducer, notwitstanding the fact that the claim of each man was limited to 100 Pet. It is still yielding gooc! aut the work is being done by dredg- ing companies tnat have adopted a more modern system of getting the G iavel out of deep places by means of machinery. In this way vast quan- tities of dirt can be handled each day, and while the gravel may not be so rich in gold as that sluiced by the miners in the old days, it pays a handsome' profit. Has Mined Some Himself. \Have I mined in Montana? Well. yes. • I put tn abou, three years at it , in the early days and made money. ...11 had a few claims in Washington and Other gulches and they were rich. halso• owned ag interest in a placer on the Snake river of Idaho, but the .e gold was too fine to be saved. This !I discovered after two clean-ups had been made. I spent about $40,000 try- ing to make the ground yield expea-- ses. But the claims I had in Wash- ington gulch- contained -all sorts of gold. I have seen pieces of the metal there as large as my fist, but, of course, the bulk of it was fine. After working my claims out I entered the employ of Ben Holliday, who then owned the stage line running between Helena and Salt Lake and it was while with Holliday that I had the op- portunity of ascertaining how much gold the guichee.of.nortlera Montana were yielding. In 1867 Holliday sold out to the Wells -Fargo company. \I guarded the first silver bullion that was ever..protiliced in Montana— took it to Salt Lake. It conshited of a button worth about WON and was the result of a run on ore taken from the Legal Tender mine at Argenta. The ore was lint throe& a smelter built by Samue4,T. Hauser, of Helena,, and after the button had been pro- duced the plant was closed down. It was the first reduction plant built in Montana. A. M. Essler, of Hel- ena, had charge of it. Easier had in his employ at that time a man named, Guyer, who was not supposed to have any ability or knowledge of treating ores,' but subsequent events ,preved ; different. At the time the first run was being made Guyer was a sort of a roustabout at the plant—he was king of the slag dump. When Essler shut the plant down Guyer asked him what he was doing and Easter replied that he intended to cease operations, as the plant would not pay. He said the owner had expended $50,000 and all they had received for this expen- diture was this $5,000 button. Guyer then informed Easier that he had han- dled considerable ore in the easy and knew a thing or two about smelting, and Essler replied that if he desired to do so he could take the plant an run it. Guyer accepted the offer an in a short time was making it pay handsomely. He is the man to whom Easier owed hi 3 fortune, for he made 'Essler rich. After - leaving Argenta the former king of the Argenta smel- ter dump went to South America, where he -entered the employ of an English, company epgaged in mining and smelting ores and is now wealth . He has been there 15 or 18 years. First Mall R o u te. \I establinhecl the first mail route in Montana and Idaho—did it on the. 27th of July, 1864. Th0 line extelJe(d from Salt Lake to Fort Hall aiid thence to Virginia City and Into 1c34 - ho on the west. Prior to that the mer- chants and miners had been receiving, their mail in a haphazard way, but. alter I got the line in operation the Virginians and others along the line had no further trouble. The stages' in those days made good time when' the weather was not bad. As the stages were not running during the night it took six days to go from Held ens to Salt Lake, which was not bad time. Once, while guarding the tress, tire box south, I got caught in a snow storm and had to tie up for a few days, and during that time the bon with its contents, eonsipting of about $200,000 ,laid in the snow. There was no danger of anyone getting away with It, for the snow was so deep that even horses could not get thronsh it.,. I John Jackson, Jr. Notary Public .Fire Insurance Conveyancer, Etc. Kendall, Montana DENTISTRY Dr. IA. 14 . , Hedges Office Over Judith Hard. NW are Stare, Lewistown, Has tieen Inprattice nver thirty years and guarantees all his operations. ***********************************************111 Club S'aloon: CLINOAN & HAMILTON, Proprietors KENDaLL High Gra& OeCigars TRY OUR Cedar Brook Hunter's Bourbon Whiskies t e 444 4 1irO4IThr+ - + 44+* 3+4$ NTANA HARDWARE compANy Lewistown . I Montana _ We have on hand and can fill yaur archers tor . MINING SUPPLIES, ASSAYERS' °SUPPLIES, PROSPECTING OUTFITS In fact everything needed for mining and pros- pecting EXCEPT THE rilNE 4 1 r1Vit'i frl Rustlers for Trade Now is the time to beautify your home. Nature is putting a new dress on Ilother earth and you should put a new coat of Paint on Your House inside and out. The Montana Hardware Company has a colnpfett line of Devoe's Ready=Mixed Paints that are guaranteed. DON'T buy cheap paints, but send your mall orders to the MONTANA HARDWARE COMPANY and get the best: We also have a Complete Line of Wagons, Buggies, Harness, Shelf and Heavy Hardware, Steel Ranges, Cooking Stoves, Woven Wire Fencing, Poultry Netting and all other spring goods Screen Doors, Garden Seeds, Lawn Grass Seeds Call in or send your orders by the Kendall Stage Company ,Montana Hardware Company 52 Telephone Montana Lumber Company _ Sash Doors Mouldings Shingles, Etc. Estimates Furnished on Application Corner Fifth Ave. and Water Street, Lewistown GRAND BALL AND SUPPER There will be a Urand Ball and Supper on the evening of Miners' Union Day SATURDAY, JUNE 13th, 1903 At the Cook Block and Shaules' Hotel The Proceeds of which are to be donated to theiliners' Union Hcspital The Bullard Orchestra Will Furnish Music A Special Effort Will Be Made to Give the Peor a Very Enjoyable Time EVERYBODY CORDIALLY INVITED •
