Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-01-02
THE MINES OF THIS NEW
ELDORADO.
immense Deposits Of Free Milling
Gold Ore
Varying in Width From Fifty to One
Hundred Feet.
The Promising Outlook For Toolc
City.


in character Of ores and general appear
ance Of the leads to the adjacent mining
camps in the Belt Mountains, viz: the
Barker and Neihart districts. The ores
Of this camp being free milling and RUM
ing from $12 to $50 in gold, and from
10 TO So ounces in silver. The ore is a
decomposed quartz, heavily stained with
copper, and the lodges are what is termed
contact veins, they lying between two
formations, porpayry ana qnartzEte. The
ore belt seems to extend for q distance Of
half a mile in width, running in a south
westerly course from the head Of Skunk
gulch along the base Of the higher range
to the summit Of Old Badly. The natural
resources for the economical working Of
the ores are unsurpassed in n mining
camp in the country. Good timber is to
be had in abundance, and on the north
fork Of the Judith river, which lies to the
southwest, only about a mile distant from
the principal leads yet discovered, will
afford when properly utilized, sufficient
power to crush hundreds of tons of ore
daily. The observer will see at a glance
that nature has done Z great daal for lo-
go. A natural road. on which there Is
D : hill, leads into the camp from .Ju-
dith valley, and teams can be driven onto
some Of the best leads without building
any road, and to within half L mile Of any
yet discovered.
Commencing my trip from the mouth
Of Skunk gulch, were the new own of
Toole City is laid out, | gradually wend
my way up for about a nile and a half,
where Brown & Davis mill is situated.
This is a one-stamp mill and a~rrastra com
bined, and driven by a 10-horse power en-
CINE, and has a daily capacity Of i've tons.
The mill is now crushing, and has been
since its erection some tNo months ago.
on ore from Mr.. Weatherwax's mine. |
understand they will continue to operate
the mill on the ore from this mine during
the winter
After partaking of the Inequalities Of
Messrs. Brown & Davis, | said good day,
and proceeded up the gulch a little fur
Their to the pioneer arrastra, owned, de
signed, built and operated during last
summer by j. D., Weatherwax, TO whom
credit is due to a great extent, for the
present development Of the camp. Mr.
Weatherwax's little mill is run by an
Over-shot wheel about IL feet in diameter,
with scarce sufficient water falling on it
to make a decent spray in the tail run.
Vet so perfect and simple are its gearings
that nr. WeatherWa1 was able during a
portion Of the summer to crush i ton Of
ore daily, the product Of which Was sent
to the branch mint in Helena for assay.
After vending my way up a gradual
slope for q thousand feet, | came to the
NeatherwaX mine, which is worked by
way Of shafts and tunnel, The obliging
foreman, Bob Mackay, showed me around
on the surface, but was not at liberty to
allow me to enter its workings; a favor |
cared little to indulge in, as | saw sutfi-
cient in the great quantity Of ore on the
dump, to satisfy me that q great ledge
must exist beneath the surface. | was
Informed that it required onlytwo miners
to keep the mill and a~rvastra running, so
easily are are the ores Of this mine ex-
tracted.
After leaving the Weatherwax and
climbing what considered the steepest
hill IN the world, / reached the summit
dividing Skunk and Elk gulches. After
passing on for a short distance
from the latter named gulch | came to 2.
Il. Hughes famous Blue Dick lead, which
is now being developed BY a cross-cut
tunnel, which was run i'll q distance of 10
feet before striking the foot wall of this
lead. This is one Of the oldest
discoveries i'll the camp, having been To-
Gated in the early excitement of Yogo in
1870. A sufficient amount Of surface
work has been done Gu this property to
that the lead is a permanent one,
lying between two formations, and is 81
feet wide by actual mea urment, across
the vein, Of free milling ore, averaging
from $40 to sl2 in gold, and 5 ounces in
per ton.
After following q westerly course for
half d mile, ] came to the B.ffnhseIa lead,
and found the owner, Il. {. Busni1aul,
working as indu-triously rs i beaver; not
in the way Of telling trees, but in that of
breaking rock in his immense deposit of
ore-as there has not been sufficient work
done yet to determi ne whether it q ledge
or a deposit, but it is at least 100 feet
wide, In all my travels throughout the prin
cipal mining districts in the world, ] new
ST saw anything that compares with it in
size except the Father de Smit mine in
the Black Hills.
In going still further west about 1900
feet, | came to the Bed Rock mine, own
ed by Ed Bolin and Hank Aorthum. 4
tunnel has been run in about 20 feet
showing q very large body Of ore. Some
parts of the lead prospects rich in wire
gold and doubtless may prove to be one
# the best properties in the camp.
Several other prospects | am told, lie
dong this line. One, the Silver Lake,
owned by Tom King, is an old location,
md is said to be a very promising pros
oect, out Of which Tom expects at some