The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-28
fDtHo ft6DUefs IL 1904 ++++++++++++

-. 80. $1,000 SIS, 252, 1888 =
= > = = = ="
sources of the state of Idaho. no mat |
ter how brief, could pass muster with |
out reference to that marvellous ex-
panse or country known as Thunder !
mountain. Thunder mountain means
the greatest UNEMPLOYED region in the !
United States. 1t stands for the 1900
square miles of territory of mountains
Gus north central Idaho where, until
the past two years, practically no hui
man foot had ever trod. Probably less
than fifty prospectors had ever pen
etrated TO any extent into this unknown
section of the globe before the year
1900 During the past year many peo-
pie have 1ocked into this almost mac
eessible region and several hundred
thousands of dollars have been invested
there. While the rush was not as
been better than if there had been a
great stampede. Thunder mountain was
not a country for the poor man this
year. 1t was difficult of access. the
expense of going to and from was
large and the cost of living was high
These objections will be largely re-
moved for the coming season. Well
established routes Of travel VIII have
been opened, with regular stopping
places for the accommodation of trav-
elers, and the trip win be deprived Of
hardships. and Roosevelt will have be-
come a substantial supply point It is
estimated that there are 500 men win
tering in the districts The Dewey, the
Fairview, the Sunnyside and the Wis
dom are known to be good properties,
and are great mines in the first stages
of development. On the Dewey there
is a force of thirty-five men at work
for the winter, the ten stamp mill is
hill
progressing on the site for the 100
stamp mill that is now warehoused at
Emmett, en- route into the camp. The |
Fairview, for which Pittsburg people |
paid $125, 900 when it was a mere pros
pect, is being developed. shows a sixty |
foot vein Of ore and will be equipped |
with a mill the coming season. These !
four properties alone will insure the
pernanency of the camp, but there are !
many more promising claims in the dis |
trict.
Big Creek District.
In the Big Creek district. some miles |
away from the Thunder Mountain dis
trkct proper, some very rich dis
cOverieS have been made which have
passed into the hands of men Of wealth
who are pushing development work as
fast as conditions viii permit. This
district. which is usually embraced in
the larger description of Thunder
mountain, IS plentifully supplied with
these necessary ad5uncts of successful
mining timber and water Several
mills are to be erected in this district
during the coming year, and well in
formed people assert that at least 1000 !
miners will be steadily at work in the
Big Greek and Thunder Mountain dis
tricts.
Copper Mines Closed.
Copper has no place in the output of
metals of the state of Idaho for the
year 1902, Notwithstanding there are
many who think the copper properties
OF the Seven Devils, in Washington
county. are among the richest in the
world, and some of them have been de-
veloped into shippers, but unfortunate
ly, some Montana millionaires are dis
putting over the ownership of the mines
with the result that the properties are
all tied UP by litigation. 1t is to be
hoped that these cases viii be settled
in the near future and that work viii
be resumed. Lewis n. Hall, president
OF the Pacific & Idaho Northern Rail-
road company, has recently announced
that his road viii extend a branch to
Cuprum where these copper mines are
located. In times past ore has been
hauled in wagons from Cuprum. thence
via the Pacific & Idaho Northern to
Weiser. and by the Short Line to Salt
was of sufficiently high grade - stand
this expense. A smelter has been
erected at Weiser especially for the
treatment of this ore, and with a very
short all-rail haul the mines, when re-
opened, should become very profitable.
These are not the only copper mines
i'm the state. There are the properties
of the White Knob Copper company In
Custer county, of which the multi-mil-
lionaire. the late John W. Mackay, at
the time Of his death was president.
This company within the past two
years has built smelter of 500 tons
daily capacity, constructed for its own
use twelve miles of electric railway,
and waa the principal cause of the con-
structhon of the Oregon Short Line
branch from Blackfoot TO the new town
Of Mackay, where the mines of the
company are located IT is anticipated
that this mine will become a great and
steady producer during the year 1903,
as it is being constantly developed with
a large force of men.
other Mining centers.
Owyhee county. next to shoshone
county, is the largest producer of the
precious metals in the state of Idaho.
Here are the world-famous De Lamar
mines that were the basis of Captain
De Lamar's mammoth fortune, and
start in life that today ranks him with
the millionaires and gives him the I'M
disputed first place among the wealthy
men of Idaho. This year the mines of
OWyhee have added more than 81. 000.0 600
to the wealth of Idaho, and there has
been more work done in developing new
properties than in any year in the his
tory OF the county. The great Sinker
tunnel under War Eagle mountain was
completed during the year, and the
abandoned and water-filled Golden
Chariot and a half-dozen other pro-
ducers of the olden time have been
drained and will again take their prop
er rank among the great mines of the
northwest.
Boise county. where in less than
twenty years there was taken from the
placer beds of Boise basin, a narrow
strip some fifteen miles wide by thirty
miles long, the fabulous sum of $780,
600 900, according to the best estimates
of the pioneer Wells, Fargo & Co., is
still a steady producer and discoveries
are now only being made of the great
quartz lodges that according to min
eralogists must have fed the placers of
old. Pearl district has come to the
front in the last few years and already
has a producing mine-the Checkmate
that has paid from the grass roots,
and the development of which was car
ried on by means of the proceeds de-
rived from its own ore. There are a
dozen other properties in this district
that are following the same path as the
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