Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-06-22
THE BULLION NINE.
n Tisit of Inspection to the Bull
lion Mine-- The Mining Season
ie FIOrence--E Etc. Etc.

On Sunday of last week Mr.. Weller,
Capt. James H. Fisk, the Portland as
sayer. and the editor of this great moral
family newspaper took trip to Salmon
river to inspect the Bullion mine. The
party were thoroughly baptised by hea-
Wy rains all the way in, and arrived al
Florence drenched and tired-out with
the tiresome ride. Here we found Mr.
Fem, who had come up for fresh meat
and next morning he escorted us to the
mine. The Bullion mine is located on
the Melnor trail, eight miles south from
Florence and three miles this side Of
the Wire Bridge crossing of Salmon
river. The mine is midway down the
mountain between Florence and the
bridge. The trail follows down long
ridge to the river, having on its right q
sheltered ravine where the cabins, gar.
den, springs and other appurtenances
of the mine are situated, and on the left
is the deep canyon of Meadow creek
which runs parallel with the trail. The
Bullion mine is the old Harpster and
Little ledge, which was incorporated
into stock company in the early COS
and who did considerable work on the
claim but finally abandoned it after
spending quite a pile of money in de-
velopment work. This company ran
800 feet of tunnel. which still remains
In excellent condition, only two set OF
timbers having caved in. but without
blocking the tunnel. very little dirt
having fallen. The tramway has also
suffered from dry rot, but with these
exceptions the tunnel does not show
the effects of the lapse of time, and one
hundred dollars rightly expended will
restore it as good as new. Ninety feet
of this tunnel was built by Mr.. Fem
and John Peterson in '65, on contract
at ten dollars foot awarded to them
by the company. For almost the en-.
tire distance the course of the tunnel
was through very hard and close
grained micacian granite, with texture
OF the fine and and adamantine con-
sistency of gneiss. The mining appli-
ances of those days were more primi-
tive than they are now, and the cost of
tunneling through such a formation
was enormous, and the company finally
abandoned the enterprise for lack of
means before they struck the ledge.
For many years the ledge lay idle, but
was eventually located by Hon. S. S.
Fem, who has brought it up to the sta
tus where it stands to-day of being the
best, the most promising, and certainly
the most productive mine on the Salmon
river slope. The development work
done by Mr.. Fem is visible in the shape
of shaft sunk on the ledge to depth
of 100 feet, and by two tunnels driven
on both sides of the shaft on the line of
the ledge. The upper tunnel is ninety
feet long and intersects the shaft at the
depth of seventy-two feet, and then fol-
lows the ledge twenty feet beyond.
The lower tunnel runs from the shaft on
the 140 foot level to prospect the vein,
so that the shaft and both tunnels are
directly in ore, and it is from these ex-
cavations that all the ore has been ta-
ken which has yielded so well at the
San Francisco reduction works, and
which has at length brought the mine
into prominence which we trust will
noon cI1l mi N q 70 In q colo Of tho nronarty
at handsome figures. About 800 tons of
orc has been extracted from Mr.. Fenn's
workings, of which 120 tons are still on
the dump, the remainder having been
shipped to San Francisco for reduction
at large profit over the cost of trans
portation and other charges. No effort
has been made to stope the ore from
overhead, which of course makes the
mine all the more valuable, as the ore
thus exposed is a reserve resource which
is accessible at all times. In short, the
Bullion is no longer a prospect, but
well developed mine, with large reserves
of ore in sight.
The ledge itself is two foot vein of
very uniform and high grade quartz
and remarkably free from
horse and other foreign matter. The
enclosing walls are as regular as any we
have ever seen. and the skids placed on
the footwall to guide the buckets in as
cending and descending do not vary a
fraction from a mathematical incline
SO true is the angle of the vein. Its
course is north-north-ea and south.
with a pitch to the south
ward corresponding to the slope of the
towards Salmon river, which
flows at its base. The mine is admir-
ably situated for working. as owing to
ravines on either side of the present
the vein can be tapped at any
depth without having to crosscut or
prospect for it. Indeed, SO peculiarly
favorable for deeF.mining is the topog-
raphy of the country in the immediate