Sharp County record., 1899-03-17
IN BURYING A DOG,
How a Rich Idaho Copper Mine
Was Found,
An unpublished story OF the Original
Discovery of the DepOsit-Sup-
posed to BE of Recent
Origin.

OElBbhs
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 friend an unpub-
lished story in connection with the first
discovery of the big lead 25 years ago
1t is supposed by many that the mine
wasA discovered only two years ago
To all intents and purposes it was, for
the original discoyerers are now ont
Of the state and have been for years,
and none of the recent discoyerers
knew anything about the lead until
they accidentally ran across it two
years ago next May. The story OF
the original discovery they learned only
a few months ago and this is how it IS
told:
IN the fall of 1878 or 1874 Con Cor
coran and Joe Featherly left Philips
burg for the Salmon river country IN
Idaho. They had two pack mules and
a riding horse each. They travelled by
easy stages, hunting and fishing along
the route. They camped for week
at Moose lake and probably killed the
first moose that ever fell into the
hands of a white man in that beau
tiful basin. A quarter of mile below
the lake is a large tree, which the set
Tiers have named moose pine 1t is
said that the moose Featherly killed
was hung up on that tree and dressed
"The men proceeded on their Jour
nev up the middle fork Of RoeE creek
and camped for several days among the
craggy peaks of the main range OF tie
Rockies, which tower majest1cally
above the tisnbered mountains sur
rounding them, their summit5 contin-
ual!y covered with snow. This is in
disputa6ly one of the widest anG
grandest mountain scenes in tne etate,
Its grandeur is indescribabl2 Noun
tain lion, bear and deer used to abound
there. Now only an occasional black
bear is seen playing tag with a chip
1nunk and chasing woodcEucE. Grouse
are not to be found where once they
made the hunters heart glad,
"Roaming over the high passes in that
district the men found deer tracks, and
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
TO find the object of the search. In
some way unexplained Corcoran's gun
was discharged, and poor Towser was
corpse. The men agreed to give the
dog a decent funeral, and forthwith set
about digging 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-bearlng~ ~fa. 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
calap carrying the pieces of the estrange-
looking ore. By their crude process OF
assaying the men reduced the samples
and were convinced that, while gold
did not predominate the rockcontalned
q large per cent, Of copper
"The guns were stacked and the PICK
and shovel put into active sefyice. a
shaft ~ feet deep was dug, after which
the men returned to- the burg. The ore
was assayed and preparations made to
return to the mine, About That time
placer gold excitement ATTRACTED the
wealthy hunters to another part of the
state, and Corcoran and Featherly
Joined the stampede and neyerreturned
to 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 owners do not
say much about them, It's inferred that
they have great confidence in their
property, Last year a large mining
company of Butte sent its agent there
to inspect the mines, and the result of
his visit, it is believed, will bring the
district into prominence. Anaconda
Standard,
Dnrlnu ncrls OF MnNern surgery.