The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1900-01-18
A GIRL In GOLD MINES
SCHOOL TEACHER STRIKES A
FORTUNE IN THE KLONDYKE.
Claim May BE Worth MiIlions-Miss
Jennie Hilton Ii Practical Woman
Miner-She Began Prospecting seven
Years Ago. "

of Rialto, CAL, has made fortune i'm
Klondike gold mine. She bought
claim last May for $1,000, which a day
or so ago she refused $4,000 for. Old
| miners say there are millions in it.
In 1892 Miss Hilton gave up her school
at Spadra, Cal, and became a pros
pector for golden wealth among the
mountains near Phoenix, Ariz. The
next afternoon after she arrived there
she went forth with a geological ham
mer and large bottle of acd in hand
to learn about the rock formations in
the mountains of the Gila valley. The
s!gat of the trim little woman dressed
in short wooden skirts, heav: shoes.
and an immense sunbonnet, tudging
along at the side of her two dnkcys.
both laden with the usual cami out
fit of blankets, pickaXes, pans, skrets. !
gridirons, bags of ratior.s, and capet |
sacks of clothing, and followed in po- |
cession by her big brother and hr |
uncle, each accompanied by lade
donkey, was sight that has remained
distinct among the hundreds of SINH
lar scenes in the memory of the spec
tator When the cooler autumnal
weather came the young woman and
her brother and uncle prospected over
the mountains. The next winter the
school teacher-prospector and her COM
panions went to Globe, Ariz. 1t was at
that time the most notorious commun-
ity in the territory. Hundreds of hard
characters-menw who robbed, assassin
ated, shot and stabbed-had rushed
there. But that did not deter Miss Hill
ton. There were but two other women
in Globe that winter. She says she
was treated with kindness, and on
many occasions the courtesy shown
her in a rude way by the queer old
characters, who had lived on the bor-
ders of civilization, was almost touch
ing.
Next winter Miss Hilton opened an
office for assaying in Prescott, and did
a fair business. Her method of making
assays was liked, and the miners had
confidence in her statements of the val
ues of ores. She was to remain in
Prescott, but when spring opened her
enthusiasm for prospecting was re-
newed by the news her brother sent
her that he had found over in Harqua
Hala region the best-looking aurifer-
Gus rock in the whole territory. Miss
Hilton closed her assay Office and went
across the country to Harqua Hala
with her uncle, and accompanied by
the usual complement of jackasses and
camp outfit. The Harqua Hala mining
region was the most prosperous in the
southwest at that particular time. The
mines lay in dark red quartz twenty
miles east of the Colorado river and
seventy miles more north Of Yuma
Once there Miss Hilton set about
studying the "lay" of the land 1t was
a strange condition of affairs in rock
Only a few prospectors could get the
secret of the gold deposits from the
surface indications. For weeks the
young woman miner and her brother
tramped from morning until evening
over the Harqua Hala rocks and des-
ert wastes. Several mining claims
were located, and then followed weeks
of labor, patient watchfulness and con-
sideration as to what claim was worth
opening. Nearly all the old and ex-
perienced miners quit the torrid and
dry region, believing that there could
never be another profitable mine found
there. Miss Hilton was convinced,
however, that the ledge in which she
had opened claim was neither a shall
low pocket nor a vein which would
soon pinch out. Her brother disagreed
with her and went with small army
of discouraged miners to cooler eli
mate.
The young woman and her uncle re-
NAMED, drilled and blasted in the rock,
labered day after day in opening a
vein of ore, suffered amid privations
and under fearful sun, pounded gold
bearing rock to dust in an iron mortar,
and got the gold out by tricks with
to sell while they developed their prop
erty. At last a shaft was down twenty
feet and several other small openings
were made. Then, while the uncle re-
manned at the mine, Miss Hilton went
forth to sell the property. She carried
a gripsack we'll filled with specimens,
and head full of practical facts about
her mine. She went all over San Fran
cisco with miners directory in her
hand, seeking possible buyers, but with
no success. Then she went to Salt
Lake. In a week she had interested
two miners from st. Louis in her
property. They went down to Los
Angeles and thence to the Harqua Hala
region along the Colorado river. After
few days they agreed to buy the
property for $4,000, if the property
appeared so we'll after they had worked
in it for two weeks as they saw fit.
Before the end of the week deeds were
DaSsed at Yuma