The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-08
LUCK OF A RANcHMAN.
Hank Robinson Makes a Discovery
Of Rich Ore on Willow
Creek,
Rock Which Runs From 800 to
500 Ounces in Silver to
the Ton.
A Number Of Other Locations Which
Show Good Ore-In the Helena Dis
trict and at Blue Cloud.

A lode carrying an exceedingly rich ore of
silver was discovered on Willow creek. fit
teen miles north of Helena last September,
by "Hank" Robinson. a ranch owner of
that neighborhood. while searching for
horses which had strayed from his prcmis-
es. He was walking along the ridge of Il
low hill at the time. when he CHANGED to
notice a small piece of g%reenish- stained
quartz, much weather worn, lying at his
feet. He picked it up. glanced at it, and
then dropped it into his pocket for a more
careful examination when at leisure. That
evening he broke the specimen and to his
great surprise it showed where freshly
fractured, thin scales of native
silver and spots of ruby silver. The
next morning Robinson took his pick and
and shovel and repaired to the place where
he had found the float" He searched the
spot carefully, but not another piece of
quartz could be seen. Believing that the
lead from which the rich specimen had
been shed lay beneath the ridge. he decided
to cut tunnel across it to the bedrock.
The drift was about two feet deep. He
pulled off his coat and went to work, and
soon the bedrock lay uncovered fora length
of ten feet. No lode appeared, however.
and he began to think that the float" had
been carried there from some remote place
Ind that there was no lead in the vicinity,
but he kept pegging away for some time
longer in a listless fashion. Finally, just
as he was about to quit and go
home, the outcrop of a lode appeared in
one corner Of the cut. The rancher went
to work again with renewed vieor and soon
laid bare a ledge of quartz six feet i'll
width, on tho hanging wall of which were
nine inches of rich ore. He took two sam
pies OF this rock to Helena and had them
assayed. The rock proved to be far richer
than he had anticipated. One sample gave
a return Of 500 ounces of silver to the ton,
and the other over 500 ounces.
Robinson at once located his find under
the name of the Willow Greek lode. A..
Larson, of Helena, secured at interest in
once, and this had reached a depth of
thirty-eight feet when the winter set in.
Operations were suspended on that account
until spring. The lead was eight feet wide
at the bottom of the shaft and showed sew
eral rich streaks Of ore. Work was re-
sumed again on May l. The shaft is now
fifty feet deep, and a drift has
been run south along the vein for a
distance of twenty-five feet. Rich ore was
encountered in the drift. The width of
the lead at the fftv-foot level is unknown.
The course of the vein is north and south.
and it dips to the west. The cangue is an
oxide of copper and iron, intsrmixed with
fragments of the enclosing rock. The
formation of the district is slate, inter
stratifed with sandstone. The slate is of
various colors, the red and blue prsdomi-
mating. The strata here and there is cut
by g~ranitic dykes. The Willow creek lode
is crossed by several of these dykes. The
richest ore is found in close proximity to
these. Little or no prospecting had
been don in that district until after the
discovery of the Willow Creek lode, and so
the district is a new one. Since then many
locations have been made. One or two of
these have yielded some rich ore, but the
Willow Creek vein is the mother lode OF
the section, and promises to develop into
a silver-copper property of importance.