The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-10-09
OPAL MOUNTAIN
FOUND IN IDAHO
Lucky Find of a Provo Man Who
Was Taken Sick.
FAILED TO REACH HIS GOAL
BUT NOW HAS A MIME FULL OF
PRECIOUS STONES.
FAILED TO REACH HIS GOAL

n Rovo. Utah. Oct s.-St v. 10
sieur Of this city. is. II not the
original discoverer Of asphaltum
in Utah. the man who first brought
the attention OF capital TO this
field on industry and caused
the product 70 be brought into
market. He has been engaged In
prospecting and promoting mining en-
terprises in Utah and other western
states for the past sixteen or seven
teen years, and when the Thunder
mountain Qdaho) excitement caused a
stampede to the gold fields Of that re-
gion he left for the digginss with
view to getting in En- the gFAund
floor"
Lucky Sickness.
This was in March Of this year. He
did not reach the Thunder Mountain
district, however. owing TO a severe
illness which he contracted on the
road, caused by the hardships OF the
journey. This made it necessary for
him 10 camp and wait till he got bet
ter or died. He did not Dire. although
when he returned to Provo he looked
as If he had been near the portals Of
the unknown country. But he did
not feel discouraged on account of his
illness, nor because he had failed TO
reach the destination he set out for.
He had made a discovery In the neigh
borhood of the place where his Ill
ness compelled him to camp. which,
from his account OF IL, was nothing
less than a mountain of opals. He
brought few samples with him which
he showed to his friends, among them
Judge Marioneaux of the Fifth dis
trict and Court StenOgrapher w. L.
! Cook. They became interested with
Mr.. lie Sieur and about Sept. l he left
/ for the north for the purpose OF To-
eating the ground in which the Opals
are found.
Secured the Mine.
He has Just returned, after securing
the ground for himself and associates,
and he is more enthusiastic over his
! find than before making the second
/ trip. The gem bearing mountain is
situated on Panther creek. about forty
five miles northwest of Challis. Gus
ter county, Idaho. 1t is a mountain
of porphyry near the summit of the
range In this porphyry the Opals are
embedded and the matrix Is so full OF
| stones that dfty car frequently ha
taken from a chunk no bigger than
a mans head. Mr. lie Sieur brought
with him over a thousand Of the gems.
secured during his last visit TO the
opal mountain. These were taken out
by himself in three days. while others
Of the party were attending TO max
ing locations and other work Most
Of them are broken, as the porphyry
in which they are imbedded was brok-
en- off from the lodges. and when thus
broker appear in the matrix closely
resembling pitch in pine board.
Wonderfully Beautiful.
Some Of them are wonderfully beau
tifuI, with a great variety Of brilliant
tints. They are all eOlOrs-blaek. blue.
green, pink, yellow and White-and
very in size from l to l40 carats.
Mr.. lie Sieur Will send some Of the
gems to a lapidary in Denver IN a few
days for the purpose of having them
cut and viii also arrange to place
some Of the product on the market
and obtain machinery with which 10
i separate them from the porphyry.
Systematic work will be commenced
for digging and separating the opals
at once. There is no doubt that the
quantity Is so large that Mr.. lie Sieur
and his associates can control the
market of the world, and Mr.. lie SieuT
may yet be known as the opal king.