The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1891-12-25

| ii tuc lIIStrlCC NOuEC WIS COrrcCC III
1 its conclusions of law in this case,
then the miner must not only dis
cover vein, ga continuous body Of
mineralizcd rock, lying within any
other we'll defined boundaries on the
carth's surface or under it, which
vein shall answer the definitions
which the courts have given of that
term, but before he can locate that
vein as a mine, he must discover
known mineral deposits of such rich
ness as to justify work to extract
them.
Assuming that the mincralized vein
is found, the mineral deposit is dis.
covered, the whole proposition re-
duces itself to the Interpretation Of
the work ''valuable," as uscd by the
statute. Must the deposit, at the
time of location be valuable enough
to pay to work as mine, or must
some other intention be discovered
as the true intent of the use of the
word "vaiuable?" The miner has
twenty days in which to record his
claim, in order to protect his right of
possession. Must his prospective
mine appear, within these twenty
days, to be valuable enough to pay
for extracting the minerals, or must
the quality of valuablencss be deter
mined upon considerations other than
the certainty of paying mine at the
time of location:
1t is perfectly apparent, from our
examination of the decision of the
United States Supreme Court that
may state one proposition positively,
that is, that that court has never vet
held, as did the court below in the
case at bar, that IN order to entitle
one to locate mining claim npon
the public domain he must first dis
cover vein or lode containing rock
bearing known mineral deposits of
such richness as to justify work to
extract them.
There may be vast difference
between mineral ground which is
valuable for exploitation, and that
which appears to be valuable for ex-
ploration. There are immense tracts
which appear to tn. miner to be valu-
able for the latter purpose, and
large portion of which developes to
be valueless for the former. This is
evidenced by the honey-combed and
deserted mountains through the min
ing regions, where toll and wealth
have been expended on leads, which
once attracted the miners exploration,
but where the sound of the pick and
drill is long since stilled. And it is
Just this fact that has made and will
make the mines the ever present and
alluring appearance of value and the
occasional reward "of development.
Without prospecting there will be
no discovered mines. Without
the privilege to claim and locate
and hold a discovery there will be
no prospecting. A prospect not
once in hundred times is mine in
sight. If the locator must show
paying mine at location, the riches
in these mountains must remain a
locked treasury. The law does not
contemplate this. The mineral lands
are open for two purposes, for cx-
ploration and for purchase. Explo-
ration precedes purchase. 1t opens
the way for purchase. Without ex-
ploration purchase would be rare.
A miner would desire to purchase
the mineral lands at once, if they at
once appeared to be of sufficient
value to pay to work. He would
desire to explore them if they seemed
sufficiently value To attract explora-
ton. 1t is rare claim that is
mine at the grass roots, or where the
paying vein is first found at Or near
the surface. The history of the min
ing countries has shown that in the
vast majority of cases, years of toll
and thousands of dollars have been
required to demonstrate that min
eral vein will pay to work. And in
many of them even after years of i'm
mensc production, when dead work,
prospecting and development is off
set against output whether they have
paid to work is a doubtful proposit-
ion.
Must the miner await large de-
velopments and tremendous expen-
diture before he can take the first
steps; by locating and recording, to
secure to himself the right Of ofpossess-
ion, and of grant from the govern
ment when the great mine is devel-
oped? I think not.
The whole spirit of the statute and
the construction given by the learned
tribunals that have considered them,
is not that the prospector must find
a paying mine before he can locate
his clame. If it were, mining pros
pecting in these regions would suffer
an instant and we'll nigh total par
alysis.
I feel an ample support in my
views in the decisions Of the United
States Supreme Court: ga valid
location of a mining claim may be
made whenever the prospector has
discovered such indications of mini
erals that he is willing to spend his