The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-06-19
THE BARK Err DISTRICT.
\ Correspondent Writes interestingly
About This Great Mining Camp.

"TIteS InttrtNtiuSis
About This Great Mining Camp.
BARKER MINING DISTRICT,
Meagher County, Mont.
June u, 1891. y
To the Editor of the TRIBUNE
On learning that the TRIBUNE in
tended to issue an extra edition of that
valuable paper, giving the of
the great northwest, 1 naturally came
to the conclusion that a few lines on the
early discovery and the amount of de-
velopment work done in the Barker min
ing district would not be out of place.
The Barker mining camp was dis
covered in the month of October, 1879,
by p. H. Hughes, now of Great Falls,
and Buck Barker. both of them old
quartz prospectors in California. Nevada,
Colorado, the Black Hills, Idaho and
Montana.
The first discovery made in the Barker
and the next the Grey Eagle. Then
comes the Queen of the Hills, Equator
and famous Wright and Edwards: also
the Lynch & Conway, Vanderbilt,
Esmaralda, Blue Bird, Boss Oxide. Para.
gon and Top Hand.
The Top Hand at present has six feet
Of solid galena ore in the face of the
tunnel now being driven on the vein.
The possibilities for the future great
ness of the Barker mining camp are un-
surpassed by any mining camp on the
American continent. 1t is only a matter
Of time until you will see the Barker and
Neihart districts one continuous mining
camp with steam hoists on every mine.
The formation of both camps are some
what similar, although the character OF
the ore is different. The Barker ores are
known as galena and soft carbonate,
while the Neihart ores are what are
known as dry ores carrying considerable
anthony and feldspar. The country
rock in the Barker district is principally
dolamite, lime, porphyry, shale and
granite. A good many of the mines will
be difficult to work without proper ma
chinery as water is plentiful from the
surface in all the mines found in the
granite. Still the great majority of the
mines now being worked are in a lime
and porphyry formation, the most noted
of which are the Pride of the West. May
and Edna, the Magnolia, st. Louis
No. .. Black Hawk, Liberty, Palmetto,
Silver Bell, formerly known as the Four
Ace; also the Richmond, Colorado,
Monte Cristo, the Alice, Weyandotte,
Cosmopolitan, Benton and Flint Lock,
Sun Set, Daisy, Carter, the r. w. prop
erty, belonging to the Idyl Mining com
pany, the Tiger and Moulton, and the
Meeks. The mines mentioned are prin-
cipally in a lime and porphyry formation,
those in the granite being the Barker,
Manitoba. North and South Ontario,
Scott and Cleveland. There are several
other locations the names of which |
now remember that show up as
well if not better than some of those
mentioned. To make those mining
camps prosperous and producers of ore
will require mining companies with cap
ital to properly open them and put in
the proper machinery for deep mining.
After the Montana Central railroad is
completed into those camps, the business
of the city of Great Falls will more than
treble what it is at present. -.
The mines of the Barker and Neihart,
also Dry Wolf, Yogo and Bear Park show
more ore for the amount of development
work done on them than any mines that
/ have ever seen. This opinion has been
expressed by every mining man that has
both camps in the last eleven
years.
Works were erected in both Barker
and Neihart for the reduction of the ores
but on account of Encouragement, de-
machinery and cost Of transpor-
they were both failures. This
fact, of course, gave the camps a setback
that it took years to recover from, so that
it is only now that the clouds are begin
ing to break and the sun once more
shines over our mining camps. With an
of rain this season, we can all
predict a prosperous year for this whole
country as our resources are varied and
great. NJ. c. l..