The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-04-22
HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED.

CONtLSIS VI lllC l. uuDuEI mOuu-
tain mining district, tells the
story of the find most interest
ingly in recent interview. He
says :
when we three boys went out
West in '94 we decided that it
was about time to leave the
beaten trails of the timorous
prospectors, and when we got to
Idaho, where the mountains look
ed big, we struck off into the
wilderness, and | suppose where
white men had never been. We
investigated every stream where
we thought gold was likely to be,
but had no success for long
time. At last we came to a stream
that looked good to my brother
and we stopped there, right at
the base of Thunder mountain.
Here we raised our first color.
We followed the stream to its
source, and the result has been
the discovery of isgold region.
when we went there we three
had just S64 with which to make
our fortunes, and with this
amount we purchased supplies
and the necessary clothes which
we thought we might need dur
ing the winter. 1t lasted us for
one year. This was in the fall
of the year. That year we made
enough money to repay the loan,
but were still rather hard up.
The man who had made the loan
had the choice of having his
money back or one-fourth inter
est on any strike we might make.
Last fall his fourth interest was
sold for $25, 900, and for his small
loan he received this amount. 1t
was sold along with other prop
erty which he owned, TO Col.
/ Dewey. After we began negoti-
ations with Colonel Dewey our
property improved so much that
we were unwilling to sell out,
and hoped that the bond would
fall through, but the Pittsburg
people somehow or other got
wind of what was going on and
closed the deal at once for 800,
600.
1--WE have been there since
1894 and have investigated all
all parts of the mountain. There
is a porphyry dixie two and a
half miles wide, by ten miles
long, that is one solid mass ot
gold ore. 1t may sound like al
exaggeration, but it is neverthe.
less true, when I tell you there
is no part of the mountain that is
not immensely rich in minerals.
There are immense bodies Of
cinnabar. or quicksilver of such
purity as to be almost as valu
able as gold. There is not {
place where one can not make {
strike on any part of the noun
tain. After we made the dis
covery of gold, there were som,
days when we made a pound o
) gold. In three days we made 2:
ounces of gold, such as you see
here" holding up small bottle
; of gold dust that glittered dimly
as the small particles caught tht
) reflection of the suns rays
This dirt" is worth $166 ;
] pound.
|; Wherever 1 go people come
s to me for eager information o
\ Thunder mountain. In Wash
! Iington and New York there wer,
] people after me all the time seek
: ing information, and | tell then
: all that it is the most wonderful
! country on the continent. | hav
\ been mining and prospecting TO
y years, have been all over tn
: western mountains, but hav
: found nothing to approach thi
: anywhere. The tales of hard
d ship, on the other hand, hav
Z not been exaggerated. 1t is
( lonely country, far away fror
! civilization and all the comfort
4 thereof, and one should not g
d unless they are more than willin,
: to rough it. lido not call it luc
z that we made this discovery
/ We workedsday in and day out
\ winter and summer, never givin
n up, and it was only by conStau
= digging and plenty of hard wor
( that we made anything. Man
: men would have given up wher
\ we held on, and many woul
u have stumbled blindly by tn
r little creek where we first caugh
: sight of gold. 1t is hardly luc
; when a man just keeps on, wit
8 one end in view, keeping his eye
4 open all the time and digging
\ digging all the time. The rewar
" is bound to come sooner or later
r as it did with us.
Z There is not much develoi
= ment work done on account {