The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1881-12-29
THE BARKER AND sURROUND DaNGs
MINING DISTRICTS.
BY O. C. NOR on.
FoRr BENTON, Mt, Oct. %. 1881.

Coming now to description Of the loca
, tions, lam compelled TO give. q brief a,
count only Of those veins which have SON
{ special interest, either By. their size, forl
orlnineral; otherwise t. would make thi
article altogether too long.
/; Coming up the Dry Fork by the stag
road, the first locations we meet are thos
OF Mr.. Patrick. One is a gold-bearin
lode OF granulated quartz, well defined
and Of width Of nearly two feet, and Oh
which there are four locations. The conrs
Of the vein is almost uo#east and west.
While in this locality I met an object o
especial interest to me. &c is well know
since the days of Lewis aud Clarke's ex
plorations that loud explosions have beer
heard in these mountains at occasional in.
| tervals. Not later than fourteen months
ago three were heard as far IS Fort Ben
ton. About three miles west of the DRY
Fork there is a blow ouG Oh one Of the
lodes mentioned above, and for a circunl-
ference Of about one hundred feet the
trees are all burnt and cI1arred, the ground
being covered with mineral rocks which
were elected by the explosion. Here un-
doubtediy we have the cause of these ex-
posions, viz: the gathering of the gases in
the lode until finally the pressure requires
vent Similar phenomena are alluded to
elsewhere in this article.
The next lode Of any size on the Dry
Fork is the ssDoak'' lode on the eastside,
and little below Spruce Gulch, owned
and discovered by William Doak. The
vein is nine feet six inches wide, having a
course almost nearly north and south, and
is without doubt ono Of the lodes of the
Montana District WilieI1 here connects
with the lazises ts. nging walIhas
galena next 1t which essay goes $3.50
per ton.. understand the lode viii be de-
yeloped this winter. Several other loca-
tions are made in this neighberhood, bu6
they require development.
A little above the mouth Of Spruce
aulch is the Echo" lode Of j. johnson. |
This vein runs northwest and southeast.
showing at discovery the wedge-suape
.orn peculiar to some lodes. Assays at
surface give $50 per ton. Other locations
ire also made for two mi1esu up stream, al |
# chem being in granite.
a little below the mouth of Galena, aud
N the right bank we find the Morris"
nd Oneida" lodes, both Of which are
laying work done on them.
About aquarter Of a miIesup Galena and
n the right bank we find iii dolonfte
ortnation the 'ssilver Belle,'' owned and
iscovered by Foster and Clarke. In close
proximity is the ''Silver King ssSilver
'lume," &c., located by other parties.
he "silyer Belle'' has been the subject of
1ore controversy than any other lode in
ne camp, simply because the character of
le dolomite formations was impe1fectly
nderstood by many arguing on the point.
he lode almost runs east and west. with
dip Of As degrees south in discovery
1aft, but further westward the dip in I
'eases SO greatly rs to form almost hori- :
ontal beds OF carbonates WIlielare at pres +
1t mined at the surface. While develop :
g the discovery shaft a large hollow or /
I'VE was found to exist, caused apparently /
Z evasion of water. This cave was the S
Idth Of the lode, about five feet high.
itl length unknown. The sides, roof Il
Id floor were covered with soft, sticky r
ass of carbonates OF almost any imagina- 8
e color, intermiAed here =and there with 10
lena. When this mine is developed, it {.
my impression that it will be found to
n Id large ore bodies, il chamberlike z
apes, peculiar to . dolomitic formation, 8
shown at PhiIIipsburg and other kin Il
ed districts. That there is continuity b
shown by It's having five locations on II. 6.
j: yellow Bird, Central" s.silyer 4
lie, RED STAR and :. Blue STAR The u
It two are located by Messrs. StaIlabras Al
Co., and were discovered this fall and Eot
We very faVoroble Indications. Follow j,
: up that sideof Galena creek, we arrive as
a small park, west OF Meagher City, in 81
lieh is located the sPittsburg'' and the Ii,
fountain Maid, owned and discovered
Rafferty, and Beechley. These loca- 10
ns are Oh the same vein as the Anna | ri
= and May Wilson, The vein here Tf
only shows galena in paying quantities I
contains also q thick deposit of ferru- at
lous ore containing valuable flllying I'll
alities. Exceedingly beautiful speci-It I'll
rs Of spar crystals are also obtained de
e. il
1tthe head Of this park IS the discovery til
It of.the = Unian'' lode Of aaIessrs. Turn bY
= Co., which aov showing heavy de-
It's of ggalena and other mineral. 81
'assfng -oVeIa low divide into Nick 3 &C
eh We come 10 the Little Giant, and I ste
oor Mans Pride 1'haoWners, Messrs.
ton, Evans Co., are to be congrafu-E bo
q Oh the possession Of such large vein. NJ
siderable work has been done here. tic
the vein Is vel traced over the loea-.I do
]. II some places over eighty feet oe- "
between walls, vel striped vith pay Il