Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1899-04-12
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IN BURYING A DOG,
How a Rich Idaho Copper Mine
Was Found.
An Unpublished story of the Original
Discovery of n Deposit-sup-
posed TO he OF Recent
Origin.

Several of the owners Of the big cop
per mine eight miles from Moose lake
lately spent their vacation in Butte.
One of them told a friend an unpub-
lished story in connection with the first
'~iscosery of the big lead 25 years ago.
1t is supposed by many that the mine
was discovered only two years ago,
70 all intents and purposes it was, for
the original DISCOVERIES are nov out
of the state and have been for years,
and none of the recent discoveries
knew anything about the lead until
they accidentally ran across it two
Years ago next May. The story of
the original discovery hey learned only
a few months ago and this is how il is
told:
in the fall of 1873 or 1874 Con Cor
coran and Joe Featherly left Philips
burg for the Salmon river country in
idaho. They had two pack mules and
riding horse eacu. IheS travelled by
ls Stages, hunting ana fishing along
the lsutr. They camped Tor "a week
ed Moose lakc and PROBABLY killed Tic
rsl moose that ever fell into the
! aud, Of a white man in that beau
t,,Ul basin. \ quarter of a mile below
We lake is a large tree, which the set
Tiers have named 'morsc pine Ii is
aid that the oosc F~latherly killed
was hung mp on that tree and dressed.
The men proceeded on their Jour
rey up the middle fork Of Rosk creek
and cnmped for several days among the
craggy peaks OF the main range Of the
Eockics, which tower majestically
above the iisnbered mountains sur
rounding them, their SUBMITS contin-
uaily covered with nov This is III
Iisputably one Of the widest anG
grandest mountain scenes in the state.
us grandeur is indescribable. Noun
ilin lion, bear and deer used to abound
there. Now only an occasional black
bear is seen playing tag with a chip
munk and chasing a w~oodchuck. Grouse
are not to be found where nee they
made the hunters heart glad.
Roaming over the high passes in that
district the men found deer tracks, aud
with the instinct inherent in them
they followed them. Towser, The
pet setter, was right on the spot
and as eager as any of them
10 find the object of the search. In
-ome way unexplained Corcoran's gun
was discharged. and poor Towser was
Il corpse. The men agreed TO give the
dog a decent funeral. and forthwith set
about digging a hole in the loose rock
and earth, using sharp sticks and
sharp slabs of rock as tools. The first
rock they loosened was broken, and it
looked like mineral-bearing ore. Still
another was removed, and more the
men became convinced that they were
digging in rich groupings. The dog
was buried in a hole about two feet
deep, after which the men returned 10
camp carrying the pieces of thestrange-
looking ore. BY their crude process Of
assaying the men reduced the samples
and were convinced that, while gold
did not predominant, the rock contained
a large per cent. of copper.
"rhe guns were stacked and the pick
and shovel put into active service. \
shaft IL feet deep was dug, after which
the men returned 10 the burg. The ore
was assayed and preparations made to
return to the mine. About that time n
placer gold excitement attracted the
wealthy hunters TO another part of the
state, and Corcoran and Featherly
joined the stampede and never returned
10 Moose lake.
Last summer Dorland and Johnson,
so the recent story goes, found the skel-
eton of the dog near the tunnel they
are driving. Dorland suggested that
they name the tunnel Dog tunnel
and now when the boys speak of that
tunnel they refer to it as the dog hole.
These copper deposits are said TO
be rich, and while the owntrs do not
say much about them, ii is inferred that
they have great confidence in their
property. Last year Il large mining
company Of Butte sent It's agent there
10 inspect the mines, and the result of
his visit, it is believed, will bring the
district into prominence.'-Anaconda
Standard.