Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1877-01-02
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.
WHAT IT WILL BE.
The Pioneers-.The Sentinel -.
Wealth Of the District.
PROMISES OF TINE FUTURE.

The history of the discovery, devel
opment and present growth OF Eureka
District, may enable some of the doubt
ers and those that cry dull times to
compare the solid prosperity that OBJ
tains in II town, with that of some of
our less fortunate neighbors. We have
had both our dull and flush times.
Some of our citizens have made for
tunes, and others plod along enjoying
theirs in the bright future, but we as
sert that a comparison with other To-
c~alities will reconcile even the most
chronic grumbler to his lot. Many of
of the facts stated in this communica-
ton have heretofore appeared i'll our
columns, and are familiar TO old resi-
dents, but IA brief review will be in.or-
der for the New Year.
First Discovery
The mines of Eureka District were
discovered in the summer of 1864 by
a prospecting party from Austin, who
located mines in New York canyon
and organized a mining district, with
6. J. Tanneh:ll as Recorder. Very
little work was done until 1866, when
Meyers, Arnold Il Co. sold their
claims to a New York company, who
spent large sums of money in the dis
trict, but met with very poor success.
The first furnace was built by Moses
Wilson, in that year, and an attempt
made to smelt the ores, which resulted
in a total failure. The refractory ores
we're too much for our early miners,
who knew but little ofsmelting, and as
a consequence the district was pro.
nounced a failure. A few indomitable
spirits still stuck to it, and in 1865
Messrs. Morris, Monroe q Co. en-
ployed Mr.. C. A. Stedtfeldt, of Austin,
to build another furnace. 1t IA not a
success in a financial point of view, al
though the fact vas demonstrated that
the ores were rich in gold and silver,
and only II eedcd a modified process tc
insure a profitable eturn. BY this
time the White Pine excitement, which
had carried away the most of our pop
ulation, was at an ebb, and many min.
ers found their way back to the dis
trict, bringing with them no capital
but stout hearts, and the little faith
left them from their sad experiences
on the Poponip." A few merchants
followed in their wake, and quickly
disposed of their goodS-on credit
aud the nucleus of a town was started
Money was scarce, lumber high, and
nothing in sight but locations and
drafts on the future. No~twithstand-
ing these drawbacks,
The Pioneers Struggled on.
Overcoming obstacles that would have
discouraged less hardy men, and wait
ed for something to turn up that would
give them relief. This d~esideratum
was some process that would success,
fully cope with the rich, but refractory
ores. In the fall of 1869, Colonel Rob.
bins built a small furnace and demon
strated that the ores could be sinelted,
making a profitable ran on ores from
the new mines. About this time Col
onel Buel leased the Mccoy furnace
and bonded the Buckeye, Cha mpion'
and Sentinel mines. The ores were
worked successfully, they being of a
character we'll adapted to the smelling
process. This settled the fortunes Of
the camp and enlisted outside capital
Colonel Buel organized q company te
build large smelling works. The firm,
Buel, Bateman, Allen, Ingoldsby and
Farren, was called the Batenan Asso-
citation. In the meantime VIM. Lem
had purchased the mines bonded BY
Buel, also the Central, Roseland and
Mammoth, and then effected a eonsol.
idation with the Batelnan Company,
known henceforth az the Eureka Con-
solidated Mining Company. The ores
smelted were very rich, the assays
to the end Of April, 1870, compris'
ing many thousand ton, averaging
S75 gold, and $50 silver, the
ore containing about fifty per cent
lead. The product OF bullion to June
LIST, 1870, was
Six HUNDRED Thousand Dollars,
A good showing for the new district
Still there was u drawback. Smelling
was a new method, and the furnaces
built were defective in construction
From repeated experiments it was
found that 80 per cent. of the silver
and 40 per cont. of lead contained in
the ores were lost, and the old dumps
assayed IS high as $50 per ton in silver
In the fall of 1870, the Eureka Com,