The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-13
DaWning of an Era of DeveI-
opment and Pros
perity.
MARIP0sA TO CoULTERvILLE.
Probable Resumption of Work on
the Mines of the Fremont
Grant.

town or Bear alley. And Wnom 90 you
suppose 1 encountered on the way? None
other than Badly Hamilton. You know
Badly, Mr.. Editor; and do you suppose
Badly would be up there If mining was
played out? Not by three fingerstul!
And worse and more of it, old Sam Jones
was there. Wonder if any old Cold Hlll
men know Sam? Well, Sam and Badly
and 1 shook and smiied-and smiled-and
then Sam got derrick rugged and holsted
Baby onto the port side of heavyweight
blackboard and steered US down the grade
toward the famous old Pine Tree and
Josephine mines, near the MERGED River,
and among the many mines on the Ere
mont Grant, now owned by Senator and
Sam Jones, Alvinza Hayward and John
W. Mackay. OF sourse, Sam was too much
of a diplomat to tell Badly how much gold
Trepor w. Park didn't turn over to the
owners that came out of those two famous
mines, but the gentle zephyrs tanning our
cheeks could hear how high Sam figured it
In his brain mentally.
Well. after getting such lift on his way
the writer pursued his journey toward
Split Rock Ferry, on the MERGED River,
thinking disconsolately of the lonesome
deserted town of Coulteryille. In imagi-
nation, with the owls hooting and the bats
darting about among the musty rafters,
how different from the days gone by, when
music, hilarity and the blinking of the gold
scales, varied occasionally by the crack of
the six-shooter. made life tolerable.
But hold! who is this and where am /?
Can this be old man Coulter and this town
Coulterville? you bet, answers the old
man with broad smile, as he passes out
the black bottle. Yes, this is old Coulter
vile. l always knew the time would come
when these mines would stir up the money
bags of Frisco. But no, the OLD fossils let
them slip through their fingers, after all;
and although old Quartz Johnston did
hard work to get them to take hold, it re-
manned for outsiders to knock down the
persimmons.
After getting relief from the snake bite |
began to investigate, and discovered what
threw me into a sort of trance. As /
neared SCOTS Gulch, where the great quartz
veins surrounded me, instead of dismal
silence and solitude [ found the hum of
industry and mob Of busy life. A big
company, composed of Montana miners
and Boston capitalists, has secured not
alone all the vast area of mining ground
owned by the Seth Cook estate, but hun
dreds of linear feet from outsiders along
as townsltes and water rights. The COM
pany already has $50 men employed, and
Will have as many more by October. Three
large thfee-com partment shafts and long
tunnel are part of their work, besides
putting In repair the abandoned Oak Flat
ditch, which is nearly sixty miles in length.
Ponderous modern machinery of the very
best kind is already in place at the mine
and by the time the ditch is completed to
supply power for operating the mills, cleo
tr9c lights, drills, ETC., everything will be
IN condition for production.
Colonel Thomas Couch, the general man.
ager and part owner spent a part of his
early life polishing the head of a drill at 81
a day in one of the Fremont mines in
Mariposa County, from where he emf
grated to Montana, where fortune favored
him. But he never forgot the great mother
lode passing through Mariposa County,
hence his readiness to not only father the
in Coulterville, but he also showed his
faith by investing largely himself.
Aside from the Montana and Boston
Company the Tyro Company's mill is in
active operation, as we'll as a company
whose name has slipped my memory, To-
Gated some five miles from town. They
expect to erect a forty-stamp mill before
rain sets in.
Next to the Seth Cook claims come the
properties belonging to the estate of the
late Fred McCrellish of the old Alta. and
formerly owned and operated bv Flint,
Peabody d Co. Extensive prospect work
is now being done on these claims. Among
other mines that have long been idle are
the Emmett and Bunker Hill, on SCOTS
Gulch. Not to mention many other mines
within a radius OF five or six miles from
CouLtervllle, millions of tons can be mined
from those enumerated above the surface
OF the ground that will pay from 81 to SIS
per ton. With improved machinery this
quartz can be worked at profit at 50 so
per ton. isn't it a wonder that these
great properties have lain dormant so
long, and isn't it wonder that many
others equally as great and good in the
State should still lie dormant for lack of
energy and capital to develop them?
1forgot to state in proper sequence that
1t is common report in Mariposa that SEN
ator Jones, John W. Mackay and Alvinza
Hayward will soon start active operations
on the mines of the Fremont Grant, which
will mean the active employment directly
and Indirectly of over thousand men.
Nor. must / forget to say that Mariposa
County has voted $4,000 with which to
build good road from Coulteryllle with
WHICH to connect with the Mariposa stage
road which will include the erection of
fine steel bridge over the MERGED River
near Benton mills, thus enabling people at
Coulterville to have easy communication
with the county seat.
And now for old Tuolumne. / found the
camp, of Soulbyville in a great state of ex-
element. Everything is hustle and hustle.
Where the old English company left off
the new owners have commenced, and one
never escapes the roar of giant powder.
The Confidence mine, from which Ben
Holiday took the millions to start his
Arizona stage and railroad lines, is in
active operation, being owned and worked
by, the Baker family. They know that
only the surface has been scratched. Hay
ward is sending pick and drill into the
bluffs across the river from the Confidence
near by in the Black Oak mine; splendid
property, owned by st. Louis people,
recently put in perfect order by Thomas
Ewing of San Francisco and producing
rich ore.
Down we go to the Buena Vista, where
extensive development work is progress
ing and where big returns are expected
from the outlay Then comes the great
Rawhide mine. A single glance at Mr..
NeviIls, the manager, is sufficient assur-
ance that it is a prosperous concern. he
isthe picture of genial complacency and
certificate that "all is well. 1t is astonish
ing to think that such a wonderful gold
producer as The Rawhide should have re-
NAMED in possession of the bats and owls