The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-31
Mrs. F. r. Gibson Tells of Her Dis
covery in Deadwood.
RICH AND DIDN'T KNOW IT
"PAY DIRT IN THE GROUND
ABOUT HER RESIDENCE.
She Refuses All Offers of Purchase
and Believes There Are Millions
In It''-At Least, She Tells a
Very Interesting Story.


word attracts quite as much attention
as the little one of four letters gold"
So when the telephone bell rang and
a voice said, II know where there is
woman in Chicago who discovered
gold mine in the city limits of Dead
wood awhile ago." says the Inter-
Ocean, the inquiry was at once made
about where the lady could be seen.
The lady who enjoys the distinction
of being the discoverer is Mrs. f. r.
Gibson of Deadwood, s. D., and she is
now, together with her daughter, a
guest at the home of her cousin, Pat
rick Powers. at 1897 Superior avenue,
South Chicago, where she will remain
for a few days.
A reporter for the Inter-Ocean was
accorded a cordial welcome yesterday
afternoon by Mrs. Gibson, who is a
kindly and unassuming lady, evidently
in no wise puffed up at being the re-
cipient of smiles from the goddess OF
fortune.
When requested to relate the cir
cimstances connected with the discov-
cry of her mine, she did so in very
simple and straightforward manner.
My mining property is situated
within the city limits of Deadwood, on
the north side, and l and my family
have lived on the site for more than Ia
years Although we have known for
years that there was some gold mixed
with the soil, we had no definite
knowledge that it existed in paying
quantities, as it is not unusual to find
gold mixed with the dirt in that re-
zion.
For some reason / have always had
a vague idea that there were large de-
posits of gold hidden deep down in the
hill on which we live, although l had
nothing more tangible than an intul-
ton upon which to base my hopes-for,
since / am a woman, | suppose 1t mus
have been intuition. At any rate, the
feeling was sufficiently strong to cause
me to refuse to sell out when l had
what seemed to be good offer a year
or two ago.
MY idea, or intuition, regarding the
value of the property at last received
full confirmation, for when some men
employed by me TO work out my street
tax were at work with ScraperS last
fall they struck rock quartz and pieces
rich with gold were broken off. The
discovery created quite an excitement
and the fragments of quartz were
eagerly picked up by curiosity seek
ers.
Owing to lack of the large capital
required for the purchase of the ex-
pensive machinery needed to take out
the ore, and my unwillingness to sacri-
flee too large an interest in the proper
ty in order to secure the money, the
mine has not yet been developed, bu
/ am considering an arrangement
whereby / expect that capitalist will
in a short time put in the machinery
and open I'D the vein of ore, on the
basis of an equitable interest in the
mine.
Il have had numerous offers for the
| purchase of the property, but have de-
clined them all with thanks, as l in
tend TO retain an interest in it at al
hazards, so great is my faith in it:
value.
Simply as a matter of curiosity
had some of the surface dirt, collected
at random, assayed by Moliter, one O
the standard assayers at DeadwoCA
/ and he found that it contained $11.66 o.
gold to the ton. Of course this is &
! handsomely paying figure, and as We
have countless thousands of tons Of
the dirt, that alone would make the
property very valuable, even if The
quartz bearing rock were not there
Prompted by the same feeling of curl
osity 1 also had three pieces of slate
found on the surface of the ground
assayed and each showed the presence
of $3.50 to 1915 of gold per ton.
1.-The property is 1900 feet in length
and 800 feel wide, including full water
rights, and, as it is within the city
| limits. the problem of transporting the
ore to the mill will be easy of solu
| ton
| Mrs. Gibson exhibited several beau
tiful and rich specimens of gold-bear
! ing quartz taken from the mine, anC
said that she expected to return t
Deadwood in a few days. but hoped il
the near future to make her home il
ChicagO