The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-12
AN OLD QUARTZ MILL
1t Was Built in Bannack in the
Winter of 1859.
WAS A PRIMITIVE AFFAIR
Rochester Has Two Old Mills Which Were
in Operation in the Early Days.
First Furnace Erected In
Montana in 1865.
Special Correspondence of the Standard.

Special Correspondence of the Standard
Twin Bridges, Sept. 6.-The recent
session of the Pioneers of Montana re-
called many facts pertaining to the ear
ly history of the then territory. Among
other ancient history was the one re-
lating to the Oldest quartz and silver
mills in Montana. From informa ton
gathered Bannack, the first capital of
the territory, can justly claim the hon
or of having the first quartz mill erect
ed within her confines In 1862 the Da-
kota lode, within sight of the town,
was discovered and that winter the
first quartz mill was built. 1t was a
primitive affair, as every part was con-
structed at home. 1t originally had six
stamps, but later was increased 10.
Water was the propelling power and at
first the crushing was success. But
the irregularity of the vein of the Dako-
ia prevented extracting ore rapidly
enough to keep the mill going contin-
uously, and it was worked only at in
tervals in recent years.
The second mill to be erected was the
Butterfield & Hopkins mill. This one
was purchased in st. Louis and shipped
to Bannack and erected in 1864 at q
cost of $4,000. 1t was a 24-stamp mill
but only ~ of them We're set up. Steam
power was used. The stamps weighed
$50 pounds each, dropped IA inches and
IS times per minute. There was no ad
ditional saving apparatus attached, and
mainly for that reason the mill extract
ed according to tests made on the spot
and in New York, only rs per cent. of
the gold contained in the ore. The own
ers We're principally English capitalists.
Another mill built about the same
time was the one owned by the Mon
tana Mineral Land and Mining COM
pany. The mill, or rather what is left
Of it, is a short walk below Bannack
1t was built by Marshall & Co. at cost
Of $4,000. This mill had 40 stamps Of
700 pounds weight each and both wat
er and steam power were available for
running the eight batteries of five
stamps each After the mill began
operations some 1900 tons of ore was
crushed which averaged about $40 in
gold per ton. The cost of mining and
milling a ton of the ore was said to be
$4 per ton, but as it was like the But
erfield & Hopkins MILL without any
means of saving the gold aside from the
batteries, almost so per cent. was car
ried off with the tailings. Later r. p.
Hopkins erected the Hopkins mill 1t
was propelled by 15-inch turbine wat
er wheel, contained five stamps of 700
pounds each, with drop of nine inches
and So strokes per minute. 1t had a
capacity of six tons every "a hours,
Marshall & Co. of st. Louis We're the
manufacturers and the cost, including
the building, was $4,000. Another old
Bannack mill is the N. E. Wood. 1t
had a capacity of four tons per "a hours
and the average yield was $35 per ton.
The cost of mining and milling was
only IS per ton, so this was the best
proposition in the district at that time.
The mill had no stamps but consisted of
a crusher and pans. During the winter
of 81 and '6S the Cherokee lode fur
nished the ore, which averaged $50 per
ton.
In the year 1865 the Cope mill was
erected in Canadian gulch. Hot Spring
district Madison county. The mill was
named after George f. Cope, who is
now interested in the dredging ma
chimes at Bannack. 1t cost over $50. 000
had three batteries of five stamps each
weighing 600, drop IL inches. The
stamps were driven by a 40-horse power
engine and recorded 80 drops per min
ute. The capacity was 20 tons per "a
hours. The Midas company of Roches-
ter, N. Y. erected the Midas mill in
the same district in 1867. 1t was man
ufactured in San Francisco and cost
$4,000. This mill had three batteries
of Is stamps each, drop eight inches
and 60 times per minute. 1t was driven
by steam power, contained besides the
stamps one Blake crusher, two Wheeler
pans and one concentration. Besides
the above mills the following were
erected in the Hot Spring district: New
York & Montana, erected 1866; Hobart,
erected 1868: Clark G. Epson. erected
1859; Hall & Spaulding, erected 1868;
Spark, erected 1869: Brooklyn Golden
company, erected 1867. Besides the
foregoing there were three arastas, all
propelled by water, in the district.
A few miles above Sheridan in the