Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1900-03-14
BIG BUG NURMURINGS
The Cid Reliable District is Keeping Pace in the Lock Step of Mining
 Progress in Yavapai.
The Fruits of Steady Development are Showing up Many Big and
 Promising Claims.

If one half of what is currently in circulation these days is true of the early production of gold in Big Bug district, there must have been in ex- istence in the early eos decidedly
 prosperous era. From the lips of men who claim to have been on the ground in those remote days, to- gether with the indisputabIe evi- dence the country backs them up
 with in the line of gigantic doings in placer excavations, there Is but little room left to doubt the veracity of any one, so far as the production
 of the yellow metal goes. Big Bug has to its credit the distinction of
 being not only the oldest regularly established mining camp in the north, but it likewise ranks first and
 foremost in Arizona in the produc- ton of placer dust and successful quartz mining, with the possible exception of Rich Hill. It may be stretching the raw hide too tight
 to hold water" but from Hassay pers who were on the ground ln 1864. and some of whom are still
 tbere, the assertion is freely and
 voluntarily made that along that
 historical stream no less than four thousand people were at one time engaged in the pursuit of mining, and generally speaking the gulch came up to tue eA pectatioas of all.
 Another instance of the popularity
 of that section as a gold region is that one of the first quartz mills erected in Arizona was placed in position to handle the free" of the | tayOrite mine, now known as the
 Belcher. T. W. Eggs, who in 1864 resided on the creek and today occu
 pies the identical spot he did then.
 was the owner of the FavoTite. In recalling the methods pursued then,
 linked with tue ''new fangled" syS
 tenn of the present, this veteran of Yavapai pioneers Is decidedly an in teresting if not fascinating subject to converse with. Like many others
 he has a big volume of reminis- cences, also, and so imbued was he
 with the regard of his adopted sec tion of so long ago that for nearly forty years he has been necessarily
 at his post, aud will probably re- main steadfast to the end.
 Big Bug district is, however, an exact counterpart of other rich gold
 localities of other days long gone by in Arizona, and the mlning ele-
 ment especially will coincide with 1 the statement when it IS brought home to them, and particularly so 4in broad view. Attending quartz operations in those early periods, so i long as the ordinary arastra or the
 copper plate was capable of hand 1 ling the free ore, universal success
 followed every enterprise. But as
 has been repeatedly proved in the
 last few years as development pro-
 gresses on the old free" claims, as
 well as on the new ones, rebellious
 ore is invariably the result in depth,
 In the early days this prevailed in Big Bug as we'll as elsewhere. and
 in consequence gold Lining pro
 gress remained at a standstiIi, if not
 altogether checked, simply from the
 lack of a mechanical knowledge to
 handle the output. Another obsta-
 cIe to face gold mining in this im-
 mediate neighbOrhoOd has been the
 regard of the mining element to
 favor the white metal under any
 and all conditions. When the lat | ter collapsed. however, Yayapai wa:
 at standstiil, and by way ot co
 incidence the industry had 10 sup
 port another boom when Biz
 Bug again, in 1894, came to Ihe : front as a wonderful producer n gold quartz. Since then a decided ; impetus has been given the calling until today it has spread to ever!
 section, and that, too, to where golC ! had never before been known to ex 5 ist. So rapid has been the progress } of gold inning along Big Bug unde ' the new order that in radius o , two miles four quartz mills are il . daily operation, with two more pro lected, while the claims on whiel } development progresses are so man. . in number that not foot of ground - is oIen for location in radius o
 two miles wide by six long. Ele , ments that go to maks mining sue !, cess in Arizona are an abundance O f wood and water, In this respec ! this district is bour teously 'provide' ? with both, and is demonstrating r this during the universally dry pc $ riod we have been in for so long q Sone of the active claims in opera : tion today on somewhat of an orde 9 out of the ordinary are the follow 2 ing:
 - THE BELCHER.
 9 The history of this mine run g hand in hand with that of man ], others that came into prominenc $ in early days as a gold producer. l e was the biggest thing that laid ou d of doors and seems to have been tn t basis of initial work in quartz mir = ing along the creek. yielding owe > S70OOO in less than a year in ire, IS when operations were suspended b l. ores of a rebellious character bein n run onto. The product of this min
 was handled in a crudely built mi O and had the appliances been sue e then as they aro today, this proI f erty would have gwen probably a if excellent account of it's operation a But with the Belcher as with man is other claims the property was abaI n doned until change in condition l. of mining came along and in cons, a ouence when the free milling ol e changed in depth to sulphide tt J. only logical recourse was to han lO up the stamps. The Belcher has fC m a generation been the center of d deep regard in mining channels an d when the section of which 1t is th T. pivotal claim assumed an active ii ,r but five pears ago, it again came il D. to prominence and today Is regard Il ed by the kesn and practical min, ,t as one of the best propositions C -s the creek to favor with any amour 70 of development work. Experts WI sf in late years have gone up the hi n to examine the claim more out of f desire to see the old workings tn H. yielded so richly, rather than a d ii sire to become interested, speak
 words of praise of tho property al
 are struck by the fact that compa
 ativelv speaking it would while u