The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-06-25
1'esume of the Situation IN :
New Mines from a Recent
Arrival.
Inc eulch Towns, Trails. and
railroad Points OF Entrepot.
co'o Galore in the Ground but
Little in Circulation.
Mining Notes from the Kew Edo
RADIO.

, q AHAoImeu gentleman who re-
l Gently arrived from the so called Cour d Alene
3 "lnes' the following interesting notes are
: sieaneo regarding that much advertised re.
3 sion: among the many popular errors and
misconceptions Of fact, into which the public
mas been led through all almost total lack OF
i regarding the entire country, not
T the least remarkable is the fact which now
' seems apparent that TIE mines are not in the
C9ur dAlene mountains at all, that branch of
the Bitter Root range extending in a north
westerly and southeasterly direction about
five miles south of Eagle City and that
the range OF mountains now yielding its wealth
OF treasure to the inde1atigable miner on
Pritchard creek, was christened Hors d'Aleine
by the Hudson Bay Company packers forty
years ago. Those who have scaled the rugged
heights of III Baby will recognize the an
propria teness Of the name which literally
translated. means tout of breath" This fact,
which is sustained by the evidence of a Jesuit
priest who has resided at the old Mission dur
ing the past forty years, as well as by Indians,
trappers and others who are familiar with the
country, will cut an important figure in the
dispute which is soon to be adjudicated be-
tween Kootenai and Shoshone counties as
to which shall have official jurisdiction over
the new mines, the Cpur d'Alene range b. ing
defined by the statutes SIS the northern boun-
Diary of Shoshone county.
STATUS OF THE MINES.
That there has been a stampede and an exc
dus is made paint lily apparent by the vacant
buildings and deserted streets of Eagle City,
but that the country has sustained any mate
rial los by an exodus of the horde
of adventures who erstWhil thrOnged
the streets is not admitted by the
substantial portion of the community
and the thirty-five hundred people who crowd
the narrow thoroughfares of Murrayyille. four
and a half miles distant from Eagle, indicates
that the ''bOOm" has not yet became a thing of
the past. The trouble seems to have been that a
large proportion of the people who came with
the stampede, came with q view solely to
amassing sudden wealth by preying upon their
fellow stampeders, and without capital, re- !
sources or ability to transact a legitimate bust
ness, and ignoring entirely the idea of depend |
ing upon the development of the great natural
resources of the country for solid prosperity
they were soon driven to the wall and COM
PEELED to leave the country. Their departure left |
Eagle City, Murrayyille ard Raven upon a !
more substantial business basis, and although
Murrayville seems to be now enjoying a boom
which is scarcely warranted by the present de- !
velopment of the mines, the residents of all /
these towns are firmly confident Of their per
manent prosperity.
THE TRAILS.
Connection between the various trails seems
to have narrowed down to the Thompson Falls
and the Spokane routes. The former has fallen
into the hands of Hugh Kirkendall, whose we'll
known energy of character and executive abil-
ity has given an impetus to business at Thomp-
son Falls and inspired a new confidence in the
speedy construction of a wagon road by that
route. The Spokane route, although the longest !
of all, has proven Il reliable line of tlansporta-
ton and is likely to hold the freight and pas
senger traffic which comes from the West.
Trout Creek and Belknap are doing but little of
the transportation trade to the mines, and I'M
less great improvement is made in the trails
they will soon lose all Importance as points of
dcbarkatiOn.
THE MINES.
When it is considered that there has been but
little over two months in which tho work OF
exploration and development could be success
fully prosecuted, the development on Pritchard
Creek and its tributary gulches may be regarded
as wonderful. The number of miners working
may lie estimated at upwards of two thousand.
Bedrock has been reached on over one hundred
claims. and in no case has bedrock been struck
without finding good pay, and the fact is now
ully demonstrated that the mines are rich be-
You'd the expectations of last spring, but owing
to the deep wash, flat channel and other i'm
t.: $1,000 =: H., 30 ,->r1. n-1
only be successfully operated by capital.
For this reason many properties are not worked
and although the gulches are known to contain
stores of golden nuggets, the country
cannot become permanently prosperous until
capital is invested which will extract them
from the ground and place their value i'll circu-
lation in the camps Of the creek.
QUARTZ DEVELOPMENTS
A prominent characteristic Of the entire
country has been the profusion of rich float
found in the guiches and on the gravelly noun
sides indicating the close proximity of rich 8
quartz leads. A large number of lodges have Z
been located but in most cases they have not 8
yet been sufficiently developed to indicate their !
value and extent. The predomlnating country t
rock is a blueish talcose slate with belts of gram {
limestone and porphyry, Indicating a ia {
yOrable condition for compact veins. {
The mother lode was discovered a few yards 9
from the trail in a cliff overhanging Pritchard g
A tissure running across the ledge, five ,
long and three fourths of an inch wide, /
to have been filled with pure molten gold
from Natures ladle,w while the exposed surface. d
seven by eight feet, is thickly dotted with
.lobules of the precious metal from the size of a
shot to that Of the end ola mans thumb.
The ledge has been developed by open cuts a Q
distance of 175 feet north from the original dis q
,overy and shows free gold the entire distance. I
The Goldback ledge on the Flynn placer v
claim. is six feet wide and shows a prOtrsion of v
free gold. r
The Paymaster, one mile from the Goldback, v
S traced by groupings 800 feet wide for a dis !,
ance of 900 feet. h
The new Comstock is traced for six miles and a
1t a depth of forty feet yields high grade car y
BONA. Is and black sulphurets from which as h
have been obtained as high as 81 900 silver, a
nd $50 gold. 7"
The Montana, on Eutte Creek, is developed r.
" Il shaft and tunnel to a depth of 100 feet and b
he L.. foot ledge has been stripped for a dis =
ance of 40 feet showing a uniform width and Il
,rade, The ore is gray sulphurets and assays
rom 50 to $50 ounces in silver and from 5? to $1H3 y
II gold. G
The Old Abe, at the head of Macumber st
.ulch shows a strong lead at a depth of 50 feet, Il
from $50 to S225 in gold and silver, and fl
vas recently sold for 900 to Chicago parties {,
Who will thoroughly develop the property. =
The Skookum is a phenomenal property
N Pritchark Creek near Eagle City. 1t is de-
,eloped by a tunnel which has penetrated the 6,
side 80 feet. The ore is crystal :,
,uartz carrying free gold and ~aSsaying into the "
thousands. u
WORKING NOTES.
Discoveries have been made on st. Mary's
Fork, st. 10 River, the South fork of the Occur {.
the st. Regius Borgia and both forks !"
Eagle Creek which promise to prove valuable e
With Development. ~
Porter Il Henderson are employing twelve men
md are doing good work. A drain ditch has 81