The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1907-11-22
ODD NAMES OF MINES
Peculiar Titles Given to Some OF
the Black Hills Claims.
WHIMs OF PIONEER MINERS.
Many of the Early Prospectors Select
ed the Names of Wives or Sweet
hearts, Which Stand Now as Remind =
ers of Romances of Bygone Days.

Many of the Early Prospectors Select
ed the Names of Wives or Sweet
hearts, Which Stand Now as Remind
ers of Romances of Bygone Days.
Behind the names of many of the
mining claims and mines of every min
ing district in the west there lies a
wealth of romance and history, both
pathetic and ludicrous. The Black
Hills furnish as many and as good ex-
amples of the peculiar circumstances
under which many claims are named
as any locality in the country.
One of the best known mines in the
southern hills is the Holy Terror. Back
in the early days this claim was To-
Gated by an old miner who had work
cd some years without success. The
claim was hard one to work When
the man went home in the evening
after locating his claim his wife asked
him what he named it. He smiled and
told her, For you. my DEAR" and her
further inquiry drew forth the fact
that he had called it Holy Terror. An
other man once named his claim Gen
tie Annie for his wife, while still a
third perpetuated the memory of his
wife, who was a noted clubwoman, by
naming his claim Silent Julia.
The hills are dotted with the names
of claims recalling romances of bygone
days. Many young. ambitious man
came here when the mining boom Of
the eighties was at its height lured
with hope of Il fortune, and all that re-
mains to tell the tale is the name of
Katie W. or Mabel L. or Lulu J. Many
4 sweetheart or wife in the PARKWAY
east was hOnored in the naming of 4
claim that its owner hoped would prove
4 bonanza. Some few made good. Wit
ness the Annie Fraction and the Josie,
both of which were named for the
eastern wives of their owners. They
are in the Bald mountain district and
have produced thousands of dollars for
the locators.
In the Galena district there is n
small abandoned claim known as the
Widow, with which there goes a story.
Years ago youth named Hanley APP
peared from somewhere with a few
thousand and with zeal commenced to
sink his money in hole in the ground
in the hope of Il vast fortune. Back
in the old home little widow waited
III vain for the golden wealth he said
was sure to come and the wedding
day that would celebrate it. 1t took
but short time for the youths small
savings TO dwindle away with his in
experience, and. chagrined and dis
heartened, he put a bullet through his
brain on the site of his blasted hopes.
One proSpectOr who worked diligent
ly on claim which was staked by an
outsider and had difficulty in even get
ting his living expenses secured his re-
venge by naming his claim Old Per
Simmon.
Men of patriotic turn of mind have
chosen names of those famous in his
tory. as Washington. Lincoln. etc.
Each of the presidents has been re-
membered, famous generals. all of the
states. seafaring heroes and heroes of |
the Philippines, as Dewey and Fun |
ston. Indian names by the score are
found, as Hiawatha. Minnekahta and |
Nanoma. Those of sporting proclivi- |
ties chose race horses, as Nancy Hanks, |
Salvador, Maud S., Red Wilkes, Joe |
Patchen. Favorite authors have been |
remembered, as Longfellow, Burns and |
Dickens. One student named his |
group Miltiades, Mark Anthony, Attila |
and Cleopatra.
One man of a pessimistic vein chose |
What's Left and Some Left. The aver |
age business man in naming claims |
will choose simple name and use a |
series Of numbers, as, for instance, |
Thomas No. /, Thomas No. ., etc. One |
man favored his wife by calling his |
claim Red Headed Woman. Two ad- |
joining claims are known as On Time |
and Late
An odd case was known in the name |
of The Hoodlebug claim. which was To-
Gated by a German and an Irishman |
and intended by the former to be called |
Heidelberg. When the Irishman reach |
ed town to record the location he had |
forgotten his partners selection of a
maine and said it was something like
Hoodlebug, which, for convenience, |
WIS the name recorded.
The Prodigai Son lived up to its
name by bankrupting its locator, who
returned to Iowa at the behest of the
father who had put up the funds for
the venture. Among the names that |
doubtless conceal stories never known
are Old Whiskers, She Devil, Crack
Brain and Crank.
Some of the gulches have names
that refer to incidents. Two Bit was
named because a placer miner de-
clared his first painful would yield
about two bits. Then there are Poor
Mans Gulch, Sheeptail, Blacktail,
Whitehall. Crooked Arm, Poverty and
Prosperity Cor ST. Louis
Republic.