Great Falls tribune., 1889-11-27
REPORT OF THE TRIBUNE'S SPECIAL
COMMISSIONER.
Notes on the Great Mines in the Barker
Camp-Eold silver and Lead Pro-
auceu there--lhe Railroad
Approaching.


others extending for four miles east along
Dry Fork and several miles north on other
streams. There are only small number
of claims worked compared to the large
number Of locations In these mines,
like all mines that are not fully developed,
the true value is unknown, but f surface
indications can be relied on, this IS GER
tainly a most promising camp Mike
Foley, who was III Butte from 1866 to
1874, says there was nothing in Butte to
surpass the surface prospects Of Barker
today. In fact the prospect at Barker
today Is better than was ever seen in
Butte until 1878 when Marcus DAILY went
into Butte. This old-timer says the vein
in The Wright and Edwards surpasses
anything in the Butte district His opin-
ion is backed up by many otherold-timers
who were III Butte and by experts such
MS Messrs. Longn,ade, ]. NJ. Green, Capt
Couch, Woolstein and Prof. swallow,who
have made personal observations aud cor
roborate the opinions OF the old-tlners.
$500 LOCATIONS.
In this district there are about $500
locations, 800 Of these claims partially
developed and only about 10 in operation.
The oldest claims lie mostly west of
| Galena creek. Among these is the Pride
Of the West. This lead was discovered
| BY F. Rafferty, and $. A. Beachly in 1881,
vas bonded by Gibson q Go. for $4,000
and worked for IA time. Afterward Pete
May and Dick Oatey relocated the mine
in 1884 and have continued work on it..
Since then Armington and Goslin have
bought interests and the work Of devel-
opment has been pushed. 1t has now
one tunnel OF 500 feet with cross-cut Of
900 feet, one shaft 100 feet and two shafts
Of 30 feet each. One Of these 30-foot
shafts passes through six-foot lead Of
rich galena and carbonate ores.
ONE THAT PAYS. a.
The lead matter is found in between
strata Of limestone and is very easily
worked. To the naked eye much Of this
ore appears to be worthless dark earth,
and IN this respect is like the ores Of
Leadville, Col, but samples Of this mud"
have assayed $50 ounces of silver and 50
per cent lead per ton. But in this mine
are folud several classes Of ore which
litfer much in character--the black and
grav sand carbonates, yellow carbonate
md q lena. This is also true OF all the
mines in limestone formation. Another
favora lie characteristic of the ores OF the
entire Barker district is that they are
|
w.. FREE sMELTING.
Many samples may be reduced to bull
ion by the simple process of applying
heat. The Pride of the West, under the
superintendence of Dick Oatey, is capa-
bic of producing so tons Of ore per day,
has over / 900 tons on the dump now, and
is considered one of the best properties
in the Belt mountains.
1 THE ANGELINE MINE.
The Angeline, located northwest and
adjoining the Pride Of the West, is
another valuable property. In this mine
is found vein of carbonate o'e % feet
wide with one wall of the 81 # solid ore
The ore is rich galena ana carbonate
much like that of better developed mines
and assays 30 per cent lead and as high
as 100 ounces of silver per ton. This
mine is owned by Dan Carpenter and Joe
i}ioux. They have about 20 tons Of Sc
) lected ore on the dump awaiting ship
ment. ----- ..-r
ze-. THE PALMETTO,
Owned by Carpenter, Larkin and Boiling
lies between the Pride of the West and
the Wright and Edwards. A shaft has
been sunk 60 feet in this mine and shows
d 3-foot vein Of galena and porphyry
Samples Of this ore have given rs in gold
S5O in silver and 1900 pounds of eac
Der ton. The tlmbers Of this mine acci
: ientally caught fire last year and burned
about half way down the shaft. Ihi
loss has been repaired and about 80 tom
of ore placed on the dump.
THE BLACK HAWK
is owned by the same parties. In this
mine tunnel has been run ITO feet ant
a shaft sunk 20 feet, both of which shov
: ore of a low grade. This ore, however
is free smelling and can be proftabl,
i worked. AT Il greater depth richer or
: is expected and the work Will be con
II tinued.
;, The Wright and Edwards mine, locate'
Il north of the Pride of the West some dis
1t tonce. is the second mine discovered
l. this district and is developed more tina
Il any other in the district. A tunnel ma
:. been run in 1900 feet and q shaft sun
y 160 feet. This lead il 4 true tissure vel
from two to seven feet wide, The ore !
palena and carbonate and assays 52 pc
cent lead, $3 SO in gold and from 20 to D
!. ounces OF silver per ton. In 1850 Or
!. from this mine was hauled to Fort Benton
q then shipped to Omaha. Neb., and sme na
u ted with profit to the miners. Over 3,o0
e tons of ore are lying on the dunn nov
u and the mine is in such condltlon that
n large force of men can be put on an
1t MANY tons of ore shipped daily.
e The mountains of this district are stee
u and thus render development easy. Tur
nels run into the side hills usually stflk
+ the ore beds. The mountains are coyere
with dense growth OF spruce, red 1lr an
e pine. Thus the miners find at the YER
"a mouths of the tunnels abundance OF TIN
y Der we'll adapted for the work inside tn
D mines.
The building of the Belt mountain
railroad assures the success OF this cam
and in short time will make it one
- the greatest ore producing districts
Montana. ----
;, "NuT'
or SOFT COAL,
y y s4 PER TON DELIVERED,