The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-03-08

only medium Of exchange was dust
1t il not my purpose to recall
the doings of past years, but t;
speak Of present opportunities, that min.
ing near Helena presents. The craze ia TO
new and untried mining countries whsl
better things are offered at home. Nearl,
every one is going to the SLOGAN country
b. O., in order TO assist John Bull TO de
velop his territory, instead of opening on
own. There is to-day within q radius o
ten miles Of Helena good mines that hav'
been overlooked by capitalists which i
opened up would o~utrival any of the grea
attractions of the day elsewhere. Thu
nnmo Of Whitlach Union suggests to me
property, Of which I am certain il capita
would take hold and properly develop, i
would create az great an excitement al
Granite Mountain ever did. and therefor,
will be justified in rotating the following
story of what once promised to make on.
of the greatest mines Of Montana. In the
basin about ten miles southwesterly q
Helena, between Ton Mile and Greenhorn
is an old camp called Blue Cloud
once quite noted for it's placer
and quartz. Here it was in 1864
that a prospector named q. H. Smith, at
teiward known as"Old Blue Cloud Smith,
on the ridge between tie basin and the old
Blaokfoot road. Looking the foat over he
found many pieces showing zee gold, and
quite elated with his discovery cal ed it the
Blue Cloud Lode" from the color OF the
ore, which carried gold, silver and copper.
He located under the old law two claims,
discovery, and No. above, each 200 feet
long by 100 feet wide. This find created a
furore and the whole country around it was
soon etaked. Smith built a cabin on the
lode. and began sinking a shaft, md in the
mean time refused many fattering offers
for the property. His funds becoming
exhausted, he agreed to give a friend OF his,
a ranohman on Silver Creek, BY the name
OF George Greer. an interest il he would
help him develop tho claim. Thus matters
went on until the fall OF 1866, when the
shaft was down in solid ore about eighty
feet, and the showing was splendid;
oonnfrv did .bo = quartz par lode sa1, , in any
to dazzle The Oldest miner, and every ay'o one
pronounced it the Finest showing in the
territory In tho meantime matters did
not run smoothly between the partners, and
the result was that Greer threatened to
decided over, claiming a half, which Smith
thought too much for the amount of work
done. Finally, they agreed to submit to
an arbitration. which gave Greer an undi-
yided half, and both parties stood by the
decree. Immediately sfterward Smith
leased his half to q mining firm by the
name of NJ. w. Nye & Co., and they or
dered y ten-stamp mill from st. Louis,
which came across the plains in the sum
mer of 1867. Measrs. Case, Speer and Ba-
ker, OF Lafayette. Ind, had brought three
mills into the country that season via the
Missouri river, and, meeting Greer, pur-
chased bis interest in the Blue Cloud for
$4,000 cash, and Immediately erected a
twenty-stamp mill nearly a mile below the
lode, and by tho time the Nye mill arrived
were ready to begin operations.
An agreement WAS reached and the Indiana
mill began crushing and ran all the winter
of 1S67-68 with tho, most Disappointing re
suits. only being able (by simple free pro
cess) to average $8 per ton, which was a
losing business. They shut down in the
early spring and sold their machinery to a
mining company at Phillipsburg. The Nyo
company, not discouraged by their failure,
got their mill ready to run in April, 1868,
continued work untillats in the fall of 1869,
when tbs ore chute was exhausted, ana not
being ablo to prosecute further deyelop-
ment they abandoned the work and sold
their machinery to II Grow Creek company.
At times they would obtain as high as $50
PEI WI III 2oiH' wv 'holr average was ElO
per ton, which did not pay, zach concern
sinking from $4,000 to $40 900 in the
venture. Ihe tailings were allowed to run
to waste and no test was ever made of tho
sulphides.
Some incidents in regard to the ore are
worth mentioning. Prior to tho erection
OF tho mills, several arastra runs wore
made, yielding $50 per ton and over from
average rock, while analytical tests of the
ore made in Chicago showed that if all the
product were saved it should Weld over
$500 per ton. While the mills were being
erected a trial run of the orc was made ut
Pierou's mill, at the head Of Nelson. which
mine would not accept the result as Prov
ing ANYTHING except their incorrect idea
that the Pie CO uill did not do pood
wo,k." Had they nhidsd by this result
they would have saved money. This ore
chute was one worth investigating. 1t
c'opped out on tho surface six feet N
width and about twenty feet long, no trace
above or below ever being found. In sink
ing tho chute widsned out to thirty or forty
feet, and vt a depth OF between 200 and 800
foet on a slight incline to tho south,
plnched ont entirely. IL memory serves
arlghs, IT. IL IN a granite or granite and
this work, j. I.zComer, of tho firm Of Nye
d Co., relocated the property. and obtained
= patent, and 1t has. as far as the writer
knows, lain idle ever since the TALL of 1850.
knowlna the country and property we'll and
having nad access to all tho official
data concerning ii, | am satisfied that it ia
the making of an immonse property only
awaiting capital to develop. MY theory Ia
that if "A ahaft 800 feet deep were sunk, with
Cross outs Mt every 100 foot level, ii would
dsvelope ore chutes of Immense value, and
by working the ore with tho improved me.
thois OF tbs present timo I think thera
w stna be iittls doubt of its Welding from
$500 to $500 por ton. There was several
thousands OF tons mined ont from the
chute. III ons will whit the Col
ville mines in this state hs will 500 how the
ores OF that region liz in the ohutes sop
from each othor without II connect.
ing link, but by following the general
which n true lead should run, they
uncover smother. In the Gear d'Alane
mines \ singular formation ia noticed at
Tho Emma mine near Murray where PARTIES
in ground sluicing the side of a hill, .un
= distinct vein of rich quartz bould-
ers weighing from II few numbered
pounds to tons q piecs. separated from each
mi rounded, and smoothsd OF by