Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-04-11
Al Gay and the Al Gay Mine.

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At the opening Of spring at each re-
curing year since 1875, parties have
formed to hunt for the AL Gay mine, and
it has been the. yearly custom Of certain
individuals living in and around Gus
ter to hunt for that famous lost bonanza.
We have never looked for it, but for the
sake of those who might still desire to
engage In the fascinating search, We have
taken the pains to obtain what informa.
tion we could in regard to that indivi-
dual, and his valuable find. In our in.
vestigation we have found but two men
who were sufficiently familiar with the
circumstances to be taken as authority
upon the subject. These were Sam
Shankland who had seen the ore when
it was brought into camp, and James
Demereau who came into the Hills with
AL Gay and his party in 1876 and on up
on one occasion afterwards helped him
to hunt for his lost mine. Both author
tiles agree that AL Gay came first to the
Hills with party late in the fall ofls74,
and camped at the stockade, which had
been erected by the Gordon party, who
had arrived earlier in the season. There
were about dozen men who came with
the Gay party at that time among whom
the names of Maj. Craig, Ed. Fuchs and
man by the name of Porter, together
with number of prospectors whose
names are not remembered.
Mr.. Shankland, who was dweller in
the stockade at that time says, that it
was the habit Of AL Gay (who was a
great hunter) to 60 out every day in
quest of game, and always came in with
plenty of meat, but that he was not a
prospector in any sense. That he always
went on horseback, and never carried
either pick or shovel, and what little
digging he done in those days ho done
with butcher knife. But one evening
he came back with some rock tied up in
handkerchief and fastened to the horn
Of the saddle. Mr.. S. says that he saw
his rock crushed and pulverized, and the
free gold rolled out of it like grains of
wheat, and he continued to bring in like
samples on different occasions as many
as dozen times. Mr.. S. describes the
rock as being Eure quartz, flattened on
the sides as If the vein it was taken from
had been well cut up by seams, which
were filled with oxide of iron, which
gave the ore a reddish appearance. Al
Gay always went and came alone. He
had been raised among the Indians, and
though American born and of English
descent, he had much of the disposition,
and many of the ways ofthe Indian. AL
Gay left the Hills in March 1875 and re-
turned to the Pine Ridge agency, but
raised another party and came out to the
Hills in June, 1875.
Mr.. James Demereau s$-s he was one
of that party, the other members being
AL Gay, John Bigler, Bouncer, Bill
sommers, - Porter, Club Foot Taylor,
Maj. Craig, and an Irishman by the name
of Dan Welch.
In August, 1875 all the miners and
white n,en were ordered out of the Hills,
as the country belonged to the Indians
who valued it highly. However they
did not to any great extent live in the
Hills, yet it was their
favorite hunting ground in the summer
and they guarded it tjealously. No treaty
at that time had been made, nor could
it be made, as the Indians would not
consent to surrender their right under
any consideration and this lead to the
war in which General Custer, together
with his army were massacred in the
summer of 1875. We have said that it
was in August, 1875, that all the miners
were ordered out of the Hills. This or
der was enforced by General Crook and
the army of U. s. troops which he COM
manded. There vas however one not
able exception to this, wherein General
Crook appointed six men to remain in
The Hills and occupy the stockade, and
guard the property and effects which the
miners left behind them. These six
men were Sam Shankland, AL Gay, Alex
Thompson, Ralph Kenyon, A. d. Trask
and Judge Wood. These remained.
There was at this time about 1900 men
encamped on the ground where Custer
now stands, and before they were forced
to leave they laid out the town of Gus
ter, which was done on the 10th OF Au-
gust, 1875. 1t was during the fall after
the miners and soldiers had left that AL
Gay was in the habit of bringing in his
rich rock, and in the beginning Of 1876
the miners began to flock back into the
Hills. They came in such numbe and
were so determined, that it was found
impossible to keep them out. The In
dians began to see the folly flonger re-
sistance and at last signed the treaty
cedsing the Black Hills to the U. S.
for which they received "a 800, 10000,
and on February 2Sth, 1877, the country
was thrown open for legal settlement.
But we have distressed somewhat from
our story and must go back to 1875. The
immigration had been quite heavy into
the Hills during the fall and winter and
in the spring it was estimated that there
were 1000 people in Custer, at the time
the news came Of the continued rich
strikes Of gold in Deadwood creek, the
first of which was in November, 1875. 1t
was in April, 1876 the people focked to
Deadwood and Custer was so nearly de-
populated that it is said that only four
families remained in the town. 1t was
about this time that Al Gay again re-