Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-03-23
EUREKA'S EARLY DAYS.
Difficulties to be Overcome by the
Pioneer.

haII H1ne AmOtS ana II Otnel
Charcoal = squaws TO Feed tn,
Furnaces from Rawhide Bucket.
How n Range Looked in go
Judge Adams In n Corral.
Through the courtesy of Frank Rob
bins we are allowed to publish the follow
lowing letter from his father, G.. Collier
Robbins. This bit Of early Eureka his
tory will be read with interest by many
especially by the "old timers:"
AMnERsTBERa, Ont, March g., 1883.
MY DEAR Son: You ask me for som
facts in regard to the early history of Eu,
reka District. l left White Pine with
Volney Rector in August, 1869, on q pros
pecting expedition and we camped neal
the spot where the Parker House nov
stands, the ground on which Sweeney.
stable now stands. The block was partly
inclosed then with a picket ~stockade, in.
side of which were a haystack and a meal
stall, which was supplied with beef from
the Hay Ranch. Judge Adams was the
agent for the sale of the meat and hay
He lived in q small canvas tent in ont
corner of the corral, in which he held his
Office as Mining Recorder, doing his cook
ing in an open fire. Here l made my
Headquarters until I had examined the
Secret Canyon, Spring Valley and Eureks
District mines.
THE ONLY HOUSE.
The only house then in Eureka was 9
stone hut with q canvas roof about
where p. N. Hansen's store now stands
This was occupied by William Mccoy,
Nose Hill, Dalton, Tim Haley, Tom
Short and others, owners of the Buckeye,
Champion and Richmond locations. The
old Mccoy furnace was idle and Major
Ingolsby, with two men, was hewing
down with axes the sides for a store On the
hill, which was afterwards sold for the
Eureka County Hospital. Majors Mccoy
and Ingolsby lived in the log house at the
spring above town.
THE KENTUcK AND MOUNTAIN BOY.
I bought from Frank Duket and Ed.
Carless an interest in the Kentuck and
Mountain Boy mines, and as they had no
money I paid Judge Adams a $50 gold
piece, which he said was the first money
he had received for recording in the dis
trict, the common custom being then for
ground with book in hand and make the
record on the spot and for his services he
took up an additional claim. In this way
Adams became a part owner in nearly
every claim recorded up to that time.
SMELLING FAILURES.
Nathan Baron had a few hundred dol
lars worth of goods in a tent store where
Dunkel's building now is. l found upon
examination that there had been some con-
siderable work done by the old Tannehill
Company, organized in 1868, in New York
Canyon, and that a furnace had been
built near the mouth of this canyon by
Professor Alexander H.. Everett, who, after
experimenting, failed to succeed in smelt-
ing the ore, and the company abandoned
its mines. Professor Stedefeldt had been
employed by the Eureka Smelling Com
pany OF San Francisco to build a furnace.
This was owned by Ira Rankin and others
of the Pacific Foundry, San Francisco.
Prof. Stedefeldt failed to make a success in
smelling, and the furnace was sold to Ma
jor Mccoy.
SUCCESS AT LAST.
After assaying the ores I { determined to
locate at Eureka, and bought from Mon
roe 400 feet front of his tract Of land and
for Hamilton. This was in Sep
TENDER, 1869. At Treffren's station, then
kept by Mr.. Ham, on the Austin road, I
met Dave Buel and Ike Bateman, who ar
rived upon the same stage which I took
for Hamilton. On my return to Eureka
a week afterwards, I found that they had
bonded the Buckeye and Champion mines
for six months. I rented Major McCoy's
furnace, and bargained that the owners of
o certain amount Of money for each ton of
ore delivered, it to be paid for as fast as it
was smelted. I Immediately commenced
the construction Of a draft furnace. I sent
Harvey Tregaskis to Carlin for lumber,
for which I paid 5000 per thousand on de.
livery. I employed VIM. Mccoy. Haley,
Nose Hill and other owners OF the Buck
eye and Champion to grade the ground for
. furnace site. and to quarry out stone.
At that time there were not to exceed 80
miners in Eureka District.
THE FURNACE.
T soon got The furnace walls up and
bound it with hewed timbers bolted to-
gether with iron rods, and had adobes
packed over the mountains from Secret
Canyon. With these I managed to build
up the stack and topped it out with a
sheet iron pipe made by Clute in Hamil-
ton.
I succeeded in smelling tue ores using
equal parts Of pine knots and charcoal. I
employed Mexicans at the furnace front
and Indian squaws to fire the furnace.
The ore was stored in the company's tent
lore house, and the squaws packed 1t in
raw hide buckets and fed 1t into the fur
mace.
From this furnace I produced before
January /, 1870, 90 tons Of bullion. I then
commenced the erection OF q blast furnace
and bought at Austin the old Ophir hoist
ing works boiler and engine, which were
the first hosting works ever erected on
the Comstock. 1t had been used at Aus
tin also. After hauling it over, 1 found
the iues burnt out at the ends and had to
send to San Francisco for a boiler maker,
who came up and cut off the ends Of the
boiler and nues, for which work he charged
me the modest sum Of $500.
THE sEcoND FURNACE.
I finished the second furnace in 1870
and succeeded in smelling within a few
months 572A tons of bullion, which was
refined by Selby & Co., San Francisco, and
Balback & Sons. Newark, New Jersey. II
realized $2SS, CTS SO. The cost OF mining,
smelling, refining, etc., was S253, SOC 10,
and the profit to the company S35, 1867 %,
or nearly S62 per ton Of bullion. Taking
into consideration the difficulties incident
to the building up OF a new mining dis.
trict, opening mines, building roads and
houses for men, all OF which were included
in the cost OF production Of ore and bull
lion, and the high coat Of Transporting by
OK teams 90 miles to the railroad, 1t was q
wonderful success.
NEW YEARS DINNER.
In the Fall Of 1859 I had the logs out for
q house and hauled down, and succeeded
in getting a roof on by Christmas, but had
no lumber for floors. On the first Of Jan
uary, 1870, I invited all the ladies then in
Eureka to dinner, and there were present
Mrs. Mackleson, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Van
derlip. the only ladies then living in
Eureka. Your Father,
G.. COLLIER ROBBINS.