The Butte daily miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1885-18??, 1886-01-01
SILVER BOW VILLAGE.
The Place Where the First Settlement
Was Made in the County.


at Silver Bow, which is now Il small vii
lage situated seven miles southwest of
Butte City upon the banks of the creek
from which it takes its name, near the
Butte and Deer Lodge junction or the
Utah and Northern railway The village
is built upon the bend Of the stream,
which forms Il perfect figure Of IL grace
fully curved Indian bow, and from the
mountain peaks which surround the
beautiful valley, the glistcning waters Of
the "silvrr bow" form Il striking feature
ofthc landscape. \ troop Of hardy and
adventurous fortunc-seekers, attracted
10y the fabulous reports of Fairwcatl,cr's
discovery, were not content, when they
found themselves on the yold-vielding
Alder, to accept the chances of wealth
offered in Il camp already discovered.
The unopened gulcl claims might con-
tain, rs they did indeed contain, mil
lions Of treasure; but the possibilities of
the new Territory were depicted in such
glowing tints in the imagination Of the
prospcctor, the charm Of pushing nut
over the untro'ldcn hills, and being the
first t. lead the way to golden treasures
as vet undiscovered, proved so irrcsist-
jb!c, tina many Of the more energetic
turned aside from the certainty Of mod
crate fortune to take chances on "striE-
ing it big" in some portion of the uncx-
plorr'l interior And they were not dis
appointed in their expectations. Argu-
ing from past experience, they main
tanned that II" s"ld-prolucins country
was ever known to contain but two
streams where placers would pay for
working, and this experience proved to
l,c Il safe guide in estimating the extent
Of the Montana mines. During the year
ISIS; strikes were made in quick success
sion, first in the ncighl,orhoud If Alder,
Or Of the previously discovered mines of
tirlsshoppcr Creek, at 5annock, and
then the more remote as the prospccturs
pushed out further and further from
those points. Finally, in the summer Of
1864, Budd Parker, +. Allison, Joseph
and James Eslcr, pushed across the
main range of the Rocky Mountains and
struck promising placer mines Il short
distance below where the village of sill
yer Bow now stands. For about a month
fortune-seckers remained in the vicinity,
testing as far as they could in that short
time, the character and extent of the
new diggings and then Allison returned
to Virginia City for supplies. On return
ing he brought with him &. @. Humph-
rey. In those early days the movements
fcvery prospector suspected Of having
s'struck it, were watched. When Al
lison and his friend Humphrey set out
for the new El Dorado, the sharp eyes
Of plainsnan tracked them through
gulches, over prairies and across noun
tains, until finally their secret became
his. This man was Denis Leary, later
member af the Silver Bow Mining and
Milling Company of this city. In the
summer of 1864, Mr.. Leary, accompanied
by Alexander Scott, arrived ut Silver
Bow, and tllcyw ere soon followed by
Geo. II. Newkirk, and II. II. Porter. Pre-
vious to their arrival Allison and
Humphrey had discovered the placers
adjacent to the present town site of
Butte, and II general stampede i'll this
direction set in. Like all camps sup
ported by easily opened and productive
placers, it sprang up with extraordinary
rapidity. In 1866 the creek channel
from Butte to Silver Bow was worked by
IL company Of four or more men to every
claim Of 200 feet These toilers in the
sfrinninv claims 1ivn1 II, tonts nr lrnsh