Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-08-02

claims that the discovery of these lead
deposits was made by one Nicolas Per-
rot, in 1892, but none of Perrot's writ
ing, now extant, allude to the matter
lie Seur, in his voyage up the Missis-
sippi, found lead near Galena in 100.
In 1866 Carver saw Indians with float
mineral at Blue Mounds, but they had
no idea of its uses. The first white
miner we .have any evidence of was
Julien Dubuque, who mined in the
vicinity of what is now Dubuque, Iowa.
from 1888 to 1909, when he died. The
mining boom started and general atten-
ton was drawn to the rich deposits and
interest kept increasing until about
1919, when the gold fever broke out
and large proportion of the miners
lett for the mines of California.
At what was known as the Buck Lead
near Galena on the Galena River, sew
eral million pounds of ore was taken
out by the Indians, the work being
chiefly done by the squaws and old In
dams In 1920 aud 1921, Col. johnson
took charge of the lead and worked it
out
Previous to November, 1921, the
whites were afraid to mine to any ex-
tent, on account of the Indians Several
white miners and traders were killed in
the vicinity of Galena, but in Novem-
Der, 1921, the government assumed
ownership of all mineral land in the
lead region and a boom started at
Fever River (Galena River). Trading
posts had been established previously
by Jesse W. Shull, Dr. Miner, A. P.
Van Matre and others. During the
session Of Congress of 1921 and 1922
Col. johnson, of Kentucky, leased these
mines of the government for three
years. His company consisted of a
force of white men and number of
negro slaves. He took out a large
amount of mineral which he smelted
on the leyee. In 1928 large accessions
were made to the population. A colony
with DR.. Meeker arrived from Ohio,
and in June of the same year the first
steamboat touched.
Until 1880 the miners were allowed
to sell ore only to licensed smelters and
the government collected 10 per cent.
for rent. From 1880 to about 1886 the
rent was per cent, when the miners
and smelterS finally refused to pay the
rent and new order OF affairs was in
stituted In 1S47 the lands were thrown
on the market after 10 years of quarrel
ing between miners and smelters and
the agents. 1t was not long before the
miners began to scatter out over the
country and discover other lodcs. As
near as can be determined the Platte
vile diggings were discovered in 1926
by S. Metcalf, and sold the next year
to John Rountree, j. B, Campbell, VIM.
Ruby and John McWilliams. The
Hardscrabble Diggings, discovered in
1925, received its euphonious title from
the trouble had about it by two men,
Jas. Hardy and Moses Meeker. who
each claimed it.
The jamestown leads were first
worked by James Royce in 1927. In
Potosi the first lead was accidentally
found by hunters in 1929, but little if
any mining was done until after the
Black Hawk war in 1882. A party of
hunters in 1927 also made the discovery
of lead in Beetown, and from the close
Of the Black Hawk war when all fears
of Indians was removed the county
swarmed with miners, towns sprang up
at all the places referred to above;
smelling furnaces were built and run,
fortunes were made and lost, and, in
fact, the whole southwestern corner of
Wisconsin was mining camp.
Lead mining is still carried on by a
great many men, but the surface of the
earth attracts the attention of more, as
the land is probably the best in the
world for an agricultural population.
Most of the old leads in the galena
limestone are worked out and the miner
can no longer find leads coming to the
surface as float, but depends on the
well-known fact that the leads run in a
practically straight line north and south
or east and west. Sometimes he strikes