Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-08-14
OUR METALS. ETC.
CONTINUED FROM JULY 18th 1861

CONTINUED FROM JULY 18th iSob-) Pc
The Little Belt Mountains whose
mineral products are the theme Of
this portion Of the essay, are connect
ed with the Great Belt Range by a
high divide on the West, which is cut
by the Smith River Canyon. and on
the Southeast with the Big Snowies
by the platform of the Judith Gap.
Throughout its area, are scattered
various mining camps, with almost
innumerable mining locations, many
of which are Of great value, the only
impeachment in the way Of their fur
ther development being the want Of
cheap transportation. The following
camps have had considerable develop
ment made, viz, Yogo, Sage Greek,
Wolf Greek, Barker, Belt Park, Nei-
hart, Sheep Greek, Newland Greek,
and Sand Coulee. All these localities
differ IN the character Of ore fuundin
one shape Or another. owing to the
variance in the country rock, and the
chemical composition Of the filing of
the. veins. This results in the pre-
ponderance Of some metal in one
camp which is less plentiful in anoth-
Ell. Thus, the gold, copper, silver,
lead, graphite, and iron belts are
clearly defined, as Will be seer further
on. Where the limestone comes in
contact with the Trachyte, the result
has been the deposition of carbonate
ores, very often being rich in lead.
The southwestern part part Of the
range IS essentially volcanic, especial
ly as you approach the White Sui
phur Springs. This is well exempli-
fed on the divide between Newland
Greek and the North Fork Of Smith
River, where there IS a thick exterior
strata OF lava, which, geographically
speaking, is Of recent date. The
Badly Group in the centre Of the
range, is also volcanic but of vastly
Older formation, most Of The country
rock being trachyte, porphories etc.
The south central portion is little
known, and few prospectors have ex-
amined it.
The principal mineral centres Of
the range are Yogo Badly {7,975 feet
in altitudel and Big Badly 5000.
4 high ridge about four miles long
connects these two mountains, and it is
in their lei ghborhood, and the spurs
connected with them, that the richest
and largest bodies Of ore have been
found. These two peaks We're found
oy the transcontinental survey to be
the two highest peaks in the range.
They show marks OF considerable dis
turbance at time Of elevation. and in
their vicinity have occurred those ex-
plosions Of gas. which by their thun-
dering reverberations excited the
curiosity Of Lewis 4 Clarke in the
early part of the century, and who
referred to this range as the Black
Mountains. Traces Of these cxplo-
sions can be clearly seen. by the deep
c~revices and puts that are found here
and there.
Though the existence of previous
metals in these mountains had been
known for many years, it was the dis
covery of placer gold at Yogo, on the
North Fork Of the Judith, which re-
suited in the location Of quartz mines
in that camp, resulted in their scat
tering over the range in search OF
new mines, and the Barker camp was
discovered Immediately after. From
that time to this, various new camps
have been found, the locators having
unlimited confidence in their future
prosperous development.
Y0Go DISTRICT.
This, the oldest camp in the range
is by no means the poorest. It com
prises the headwaters of the NORTH
Fork Of the Judith and its continents
The centre village is p%icturesquely
situated in the alpine scenery of the
North Fork, the giant Yogo Badly
forming the prominent feature in The
landscape. In halcyon days tbs
u,I,L ao,4,ol , EJo,a. a~.fax