The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-20
and y waa his favorable report and that Of
the three MOST scientific men In England
shat brought together tho present strong and
representative company.

toe tnTeO moss eOfentl0O men In Englan
ehat Drought together tho present strong an
representative company.
HISTORY OF THE FIELDs.
~ HAS Twenty-Five Years. to Attra<
tho Wsrld to Them.
y was In 1865 that the frst lot Of sap
phires from the Missouri river bars wer
brought into Helena, Last Chance, ~ tn
camp was called, was producing at the tim
hundreds Of thousands Of dollars in place
gold, and the miners gave little attention
TO the pretty stones found twelve or ffteei
miles from the digRinas. Collins was tn
name OF the diacoverer, and SO persisten
whs he in telling Of the richness of his find
that the people in the camp finally gave hin
the name OF sapphire Collins" naming
him after the stones he alleged he had dis.
covered. He was IN expert on gems, and
could talk by the hcur on his favorite
nuisance that the people avoided
him. This. added to the fact that do what
he would he could convince no one of the
value OF his discovery. so affected him that
he lost his reason, and finally died. per-
sistinE to the last that there were untold
riches i'll the gems on tho Missouri river
bars. Along in 1866 or 1857 placer miners
went over on tho Missouri river, but not
after gems: they wanted gold. Many thou
sand dollars worth of the yellow stuff was
taken out. In the sluice boxes they found
mixed with the gravel from the bed rock
collins sapphiies." rs they we're called.
and at times they picked up and saved ono
of unusual size and brilliancy. But no one
believed the light-colored stones were
sapphires. or the red ones rubies and gar
nets, 30 no attempt was made to save them.
As 8 result there are to-day in the tailings
an SNolana hn- rama In irCalNulQhla nnim-
befs, thrown away as of no account.
Finally a SUCCESSOR came to Collins; one
who was as persistent and as firm q be-
lever in the value of the stones. This man
was George B.. Foote, and to him the world
Is indebted for the greater part Of the in
phirss and rubies. MI. Foote talked about
them in Helena, to home people and to
strangers, and wrote about them several
times in the local papers. Yet the people
could not be convinced that right at their
doors were immense quantities OF gems,
which needed but the skilled hand of the
lapidary to make them worth vast sums of
money. Finally Mr.. Foote sent some OF
the stones east and had them cut. They
came back as handsome as he predicted.
and then some few began to think Collins
and Foote might be on the right track
after all. Later Mr.. Foote wrote an nrti-
Gle Tor the Century magazine on the Mon
tana sapphires. This attracted a
great deal of attention. Among those
who gave it thought was Geo. +. kunz, the
gem expert OF Tiffany & Co. Late in De-
cember, 1887, Mr.. kunz, in an illustrated
Article in Harper's Monthly. under the title
precious Stones III the United States"
mentioned the Montana sapphire fields,
~pronouncing the gems genuine and calling
attention to their beautiful and varied hues.
Mr.. Kunz's article was the second step in
tho development of the Montana sapphire,
the first being Mr.. Foote'S effort. People
who have tried to cry down the Montana
and asserting that it is very strange that
these precious stones should remain undis-
covered for so many years and so close to
Helena, do not know what they are talking
about. 1t was fifteen years after Collins,
time before Foote took them up. Then it
known all over the world endorsed Collins
and Foote. But mark the rapid progress
since 1887.
Just about the time Kunz's article APP
peared F. D. Spratt, of Michigan, pur-
chased some placer ground on Trout creek,
q tributary of the Missouri, not far from
Eldorado bar. He read Kunz's story about
the Montana sapphires and it set him to
thinking. He was on the ground where the
were found, and for a man of his
temperament to think was to act. He
washed out some of the stones, tested
them himself and then sent samples to
noted experts for analysis. ALI the returns
were the same-the stones were genuine
sapphires, some having the oriental tints,
a majority of lighter shades, but of more
brilliancy than the eastern gen.. Satisfied
that there was a future for the Montana
gems, Mr.. Spratt began to buy up all the
gem bearing land he could get hold of.
it another case of Collins, ran up their
prices and sold to the man from Michigan.
Besides buying, Mr.. Spratt entered land
under the mineral laws, and finally he con-
trolled, with his associates, about 4. 900 acres
of gem bearing ground. For about one-half
of this he obtained a government patent.
The miners we're glad to unload, though
they pitied soratt. But the latter had the
son of the most eminent English gem ex-
pert come all the way from the African dia-
mond fields to look over his ground. This
gentleman, &. K. Streeter, satisfied himself
the gems were in Montana and took numer-
GUS samples back with him. They we're
subjected to every test and then pronounced
genuine. Then it was determined to or
ganize a company in England for the pur-
pose of developing the fields and placing
their product on the European market.
of this reached Montana and ground
on the Missouri river, which it was thought
gems. was taken up and held at
OF dollars where previously it
had been considered worthless. And the
Stones" which one could get before
for the asking, vent to IS, $40 and even $50
carat. People began to think that maybe
had another bonanza beside gold,
copper, lead and coal, and one that
would make the name of the state familiar
not only all over America, but throughout
he globe. And events since last March
nave proved the correctness of the last
FORMATION OFF THE COMPANY.
How Strong Opposition Was Met and