Mohave County miner., 1900-03-31
Butte Mining Property.

Referring to Butte, its geology, his
tory and description of the various
ores from which its output is derived,
Prof, Arthur Lakes, who was Butte
visitor few weeks ago, says, in the
Scranton Mines and Minerals: As a
prelude to n sketch of personal visit
to some of the principal mines of
Butte, Montana, we cannot offer any.
thing that we believe will be more ac-
ceptable than brief synopsis of
Messrs. Emmons aud Towers account
of the history and geological features
of the camp and its lodes, as given in
the Atlas Sheet of the United States
geological survey, recently published,
accompanying it with a reproduction
OF part of their minutely accurate and
elaborate maps and sections. The re-
gion is one of gentle Typographical
forms and extreme baroness. The for
mer popularity results from the ready
disintegration of the granitic rocks,
while the butte in the center of the dis
trict, formed If rhyolite, erupted since
the period of naturalization, is sharp,
we'll defined and precipitous cone.
What little timber there was on the
hills was rapidly cut and used for min
ing purposes, and the fumes Of the
smelling works have since destroyed
all vegetation. Water is not plentiful;
the main stream is Silver Bow creek.
Missoula gulch is north-south de-
pression on the eastern foot of the bis
butte, and the city is situated in the
hill slopes east of the gnlch; between it
and Dublin Gulch are most of the cop
per mines. The hill between Dublin
Gulch and Silver Bow valley is called
Anaconda hill, the richest copper mine
Of the district, belonging to the Ana.
c,nda company, being situated on it,
The camp was originally discovered
and worked, as in the case of Leadville,
Colorado and many western camps,
on gold bearing gravels and placers in
1864 along Missoula gulch. The miners
were attracted to deep mining, first,
from lack of water for their placers,
aud secondly, by the prominent out
crops of mineral veins scanning the
surface of the hills, often standing up
in ridges Is feet above the surface.
Locations were early made both in
copper and silver bearing lodes, and
various fruitless attempts to reduce
their ores followed. After the exhaus-
ton o. the richer placers the camp was
in quisscent state for many years,
aud for time nearly deserted. New
interest was excited by the discovery
of rich silver ore in the Travona lode
in 1875. Silver ore shipped to the
smelters at Salt Lake attracted capi.
talists from that region, and the Alice
mine, in Missoula gulch, was bought in
1877.
This proved so rich that soon the
town of Walkerville sprung up, and
the adjacent mine of Lexington was
bought by French company for L.
000,O00S. The Washoe process was sue
cessfully adopted for the treatment of
silver ores by dry crushing, by stamps,
roasting with salt, and amalgamation
The decrease in the price of silver has
mainly caused the abandonment of the
silver mines, though in some cases
there has been decrease of quality of
the ore with depth. Some of the mines
are now worked by lessees. The cop
per mines at the west end of the Par
rot lode was worked in the earlier days
with unsuccessful attempts to smelt
the ores till the plant of the Colorado
Smelling company was erected-1S79-
So--for making copper matte, and the
copper industry was established on a
sound basis. Later the Parrot aud
Colusa smelters we're erected and the
Anaconda lode, which was first worked
for silver, began to develop its enor-
nous bodies Of rich copper ore as the
workings passed below the zone of
oxidation.