Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-01-04
THE GRIMES CREEK aRnnocu
FLUME

w. oharp. Mr.. Bowen's business
east IS to enlist capital in the Grimes
creek bedrock fume enterprise, and
enect an organization for effective
work on large scale. This is Mr..
bowens second trip East on this busi.
ness. lie has already met with good
success in interesting capitalists in
the enterprise. Three of the parties
VINO are to take hold of the EIkborn.
Gladstone, Orc Fino and Revenue
mines, have agreed to take stock in
the bedrock aume company. If cap.
ltaiists could only be made to know
the truth OF statements regarding the
fabulous wealth lying in the beds of
the creeks Of Boise Basin, they
would jump at an opportunity to put
their money into an organized plan
for capturing 1t. Ninety million dol
lars is the amount Boise Basin has
yielded that is accounted for. and
this does not half tell it. That
amount has gone out by express, and
the amount carried out by indi. idu-
ais, in their breeches pockets, would
without doubt exceed that immense
sum. BY far the greater portion was
taken from Grimes and More creeks.
The creeks were worked under many
disadvantages, with the primitive
short sluice as 4 gold catcher, and the
tailings the sand and gravel that
has been rushed through carried off
as much gold, IN many instances, as
was captured and held in the boxes.
The tailings contain an enormous
amount of gold, and the debris, run
through bedrock flume IA far more
scientific and rapid method of work
ing, and much better gold saver,
than the little primitive sluice used
in the early days. would pay big div
idends on the capital invested. There
is one encouraging feature of a bed
rock fiume enterprise in the Basin,
and that is it is sure to pay. There is
no element of doubt. Any miner
who has worked in these creeks, does
not beliere this to be fact; he knoics
it. The tailings alone would pay
handsomely, and in this there is a
large amount of rich, unworked
ground covered up along the creeks.
Miners in the creeks of the Basin in
early times were as thick as ants in
an ant hill, and crowding each other
were so eramped they could not work
to advantage, and every claim owner
had to have dump, even though he
covered with strippings ground that
was rich. Ground that was not liter.
ally yellow with the auriferous de-
posit would hardly pay for working
in those Aourishing days of gold pro
ductlon. Everything was immense
Clean-ups were big-ever, thing or
scale of great magnitude-prices
of provisions, mining tools and gen
eral supplies keeping pace with the
mammoth yield. The natural eonse-
quence of such a state of affairs
high prices, rush in gathering the
yellow metal, mine owners cramped
in their operations and being forced
to work with primitive methods
would be that the gold was not hal!
saved. To illustrate the faith of the
pioneer miners of the Basin-or,
rather, not a faith, but knowledge
of the fact that Grimes and More
creeks contain immense wealth-we
will state that company was
organized here in 1870 to work More
and Grimes creek by bedrock tiume
The members OF the company were
actual residents of the Basin-most
of them men who owned and worked
ground along the creeks in the very
early days. They endeavored to get
bill through Congress granting the
right of way for the company. Al
that time there were mining Interests
along the proposed line of the hnme
that would have caused the company
trouble without a grant and right OF
way from Congress. At any rate that
is the way the company viewed Tue
matter. Ground was then taken uE
and held under local laws, this being
before the twenty-acre lot law was
enacted, and it was doubtful if the
company could locate and hold 'h'
ground under local laws. The com
pany's plans of operation were on I
large scale. They proposed to IN
crease the water supply by running
a big ditch from Payetto or Crooked
river to dunn into More creek. 1hl