Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1900-09-14
THAT GOLD CRAZE.
Newspaper Man Tells How the Edge
ley Gold Craze Affected Staid
Residents.
Whole Country Staked Off by Elk.
cited Prospectors, Who Thought
They Had Millions.

They Had Millions.
Kuhn Messenger: That the hills
ten miles north of Kuhn, abound in
rich deposits of gold, both in placer
and quartz, seems now an established
fact. The Raney brothers, who OPP
crate an extensive cattle and horse
ranch eleven miles due north of town,
discovered what they thought to be
good indications of gold in a gulch,
just east of the ranch several months
ago. They sent specimens of the
rock to an assay Office and the returns
showed that they contained gold and
silver to the extent OF Sis per ton
500 Of silver and $26 of gold. 1t was
the intention OF the Raneys to keep
the matter quiet but two Minneso-
ia gentlemen to whom samples of rock
had been sent to take to the assayer,
in coming out to secure claims aroused
suspicion and a stampede Vas started
from Edgeley last Friday. Several
Kuhn parties who had been in possess
sion Of the secret for many weeks
heard Of the break and fastened to the
scene to stake off claims. 1t was not
until these began to return that the
craze got the town. On Saturday
daylight found the streets lined with a
rushing mass of men, women and chill
dren tumbling over in their efforts to
get started for the gold fields. Many
Of them reached there early in the
morning only to find a milling mass Of
half frenziel Edgeleyites stalking ev-
erything in sight. AS might be en-
pected the Messenger man was about
the last to start, and it was about noon
Sunday when with an experienced
mine prospector, who we had employed
by phone the day before, we reached
the rancn. It really looked discour-
aging as the whole country seemed to
be staked off. There was not even a
chance to obliterate the boundary line
of anybody's claim; Harmon Bros. had
INSTRUCTED the road with their pegs and
Attorney Larsen had driven stakes
three feet into solid stone; G. ]. Zell-
mer lay upon a large rock, shouting to
the passersby to keep off that claim"
saying it belonged to a bad man from
New York; DR.. Brenckle had encom-
passed a portion of the lake, contain
ing several feet of water and a hay
stack large enough to winter a regi-
ment of mules; Senator Sharpe and
Fred Buechler had erected a picket
around the outlet of the lake; so we
passed on, into the gulcu, stopping at
the Joe Raney claim where several
feet of a ledge of rock had been uncov-
cred. The upper crust of this was
genuine shale but farther down it re-
sembled joint quartz and IL expert
said it carried gold but could not tell
how much. This is the point where
were procured the specimens that are
said to have assayed so we'll. The
stratum seems very thick and extern
sive and it looks as though it was a big
fortune for the wner Here W. met
many Edgeley peop.e, quite a number
OF them ladies, and all were busy as
bees. H. E. Sox stood on a side-hill,
rubbing sand in his hands and blowing
out the dust; James Carpenter had
several tape lines tied to gether and
vas doing them" on measurements.
A number from that LOwn had claims
staked off for all their relations, in
Guiding their ancestors, clear back to
apedom. Hancock of the Mail had the
rest staked off, sc we were about to
quit in despair when we saw the fam
iliar face of Col. Brady. He said, why
in - don't you get down on the next
creek south?"
On the diagram prepared are indi-
Gated three districts by as many dark
spots. The center spot marks the
district first discovered, and lying just
east of Raney ranch. Just south of
this lies the two bottle district, along
another gulch. The rush to this
gulch started soon after noon and at
dark the creek was taken for miles.
Here the Messenger force located two
claims. We met there Messrs. Scobie
and Ralph Edgeley, who had also Sc
cured the services of an experienced
miner from the west, and arrange
ments were maze to spend an expedi-
ton next day to the hills northwest
of Raney's. This vas carried out and
now the district indicated on the map
by a large spot off to the northwest is
the center of attraction. Those who
have had experience in prospecting say
that most favorable indications exist
at all of the three points marked on
the map above. Many small pieces of
float of many varieties and all carry
ing large percentage of gold have been
picked up also a few chips Of white
tale, all showing beyond a doubt That