Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1884-05-24

II 10 First Discovered in the Hills By
Prof. J. f. Sanders in TT.

""o th iouuu Ill tne fiarney range an
IN the Eta mine, we were among tn
doubling ones and not until the report
OF such men as Profs. Bailey and Taylo
had proved and established it's existenc
beyond any possibility Of doubt, wer
we convinced that the mineral existe,
in such quantities as to warrant the in
vestment Of capital. Over six month
ago report said tin had been found il
the Eta, hut it remained unproven b,
men of such rhpu'e as Bailey until with
IN the last two or three months. w,
were all the more 10th to credit tn,
truthfulness of the report from the fac
that Custer was located i'm the yer,
centre Of the formation said TO carry the
mineral and also that it had not beer
discovered in any Of the mica locations
that were being developed. True il
was, that in most Of these properties the
miners reported the existance of dark
colored rock carrying mineral, which.
when extracted resembled a button of
silver To this mineral little attention
was paid, owing to the fact that the
owners were after mica. But since the
most skeptiral were convinced that tin
existed in the same formation at Harney
attention was recalled to the above men
toned rock found in the ledges of spar
which abound in this vicinity.
In the Florence, located Just outside
the city limits, owned by Messrs. Har.
bach and Dempsey, and who were work
ing the location for mica, considerable of
this rock was encountered in the bot
tom of a thirty foot shaft and the peru
sal of Prof. Bailey's report in which his
description Of Ii. ore Tailed with the
appearance Of that found, led to a sam
pie being sent OFF for test. Returns
received the first Of this week gave as
a result of the test high percentage of
tin, which has been the cause of mum
crous locations being made and the ere.
alton Of considerable excitement.
While all cannot expect to find a pay
ing tin mine who locate claims, still, if
the excitement leds to the location and
development Of even one, il will prove
beneficial TO every one in the Hills and
to the people Of Custer in particular
That the mineral exists in the imned.
late vicinity is foregone conclusion on
the hypothesis that leads or veins of
gold, silver or other mineral bearing
rocks arc found 10 carry the mineral
which is its particular affinity, in "a
greater or less degree, wherever the
given formation is found, and there is
no doubt in our mind but that as good
mines will be found in the same forma.
ton, outside of the Eta, as that location
has already proved to be.
FIRST D'sCoyERED-PRor. SANDERS.
Now that the fact is established that
tin exists in the Hills, it is we'll to place
the honor due its first discovery, wnere
and to whom it belongs. Many Of our
readers who knew, but have forgotten.
will now remember Prof j. +. Sanders.
who in rs ran an assay Office on Sher-
man street, Deadwood. and previous to
that time prospected in tue vicinity of
Lead City and in IT was amalgamator
for the Davenport Milling company Of
that place. This gentleman was the
first resident of the Hills to discover the
exisiance of tin and first made it pib,;c
through the columns Of the Champion.
weekly paper published in Central
City by Chas. collins, now publisher of
the Sioux City Daily Times. Prof. Sand
crs first made the discovery while on a
visit Of inspection to the mines of Bald
mountain and in Nevada gnlch he stated
stream tin was to be found. This was at
a time when Chamber c. Davis was the
assayer and authority in Deadwood for
the minerals found in the Hills, who,
with others derided and made much
sport Of the Professor for his statement,
and while some were charitable enough
to call him ali enthusiastic theorist the
majority called him fool and his busi-
ness as assayer was ruined in cOnse-
qucnce. lie left the Hills the summer
of rs fol- Idaho, passing through Custer
and by some home readers is remem.
bered. We became acquainted with the
Professor in VI through Mai. w. r..
Snider, now of the Spearfsh Register.
The Major knew him in Southern Colo
rado and New Mexico where he was en-
gagged by different mining corporations
to report on the leading properties in
that country at that time, and where
said reports were proven to be correct.
While from this fact and others we knew
that the man was "A thoroughly scientific
and practical miner, we still thought
him mistaken in regard to the tin. Now,
however, that the truth Of his statement
has been proven we hasten to give space
10 the alb We as our amende honorable.
When this is brought to the notice of
the Major he will vouch for the facts
stated above, and c. Collins will become
terribly excited over the fact that as
we'll as being the first tn publish an arti-
Gle on the gold discoveries in the Black
Hills he was also the first to announce