Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-06-19
1ou, SMITH, pRosrEcToR.
..,euturons Career Of Former West
Ellsworth Man.

/ A Spnkaue, N'sAsf k'-k'~~ - -
,.,ssting sketch Of "John" Smith, for
west Ellsworth man, who died re-
NY. s,,v in LYNN, Mass. Mr.. Smiths name
.iibbeus, but he did not like his name
swben he went West, called himself
,obn. The spokane paper says:
n.ep regret is expressed by pioneers,
.s,otors and miners all over the Occur
T.,sne mineral district, east OF Spokane,
sr,, the death OF John Smith at the home
:, his sister in Lynn, Mass. He was
'.,o,vn all over Spokane country as "Yel-
law Dog" Smith, because Of his attach
mont for yellow dog named Gilt, which
80 his companion more than twenty
Gears. Early residents say he never for
.oor friend and that he was benevolent
"a charitable almost to the extreme. He
80. interested in a number of mining
,.oner,ies in the district, owning also con-
Siderable realty vt Wardner, Ida, and
ether parts of the mining country.
The history Of the last twenty-four
vsars of the life OF Mr.. Smith is the his
,orv of the Occur d'Alenes. He left the
RIaek Hills in Dakota in December, 1883,
with party OF gold hunters, headed for
nortbern Idaho. The yellow metal had
been found at Murray, Ida, by prospec-
tors travelling north from the field in Cali
,ornia. and Smith was one Of the first to
come into the country, arriving over the
divide at Eagle, Jan. Q, 1884.
Smith brought with him his famous
yellow dog, Gilt, which was his constant
companion until . few years ago. From
this strong attachment he won the name
Of aYellow Dog" Smith, and by this name
he was known throughout the Occur
dAlenes.
After reaching the Occur d'Alenes,
Smith spent year prospecting near MUIR
raw. He located the Kitty Burnett, which
property he afterward sold to the Golden
Chest Mining Co., which owned the ad-
Joining claims at the time the Kitty Bur-
nett was located.
Mr.. Smith went down on the south fork
OF the Occur d'Alene river, in 1885, and
while prospecting near Evolution, three
miles west OF the present town of o.
borne, he was met by mike" Carlan and
John Flaherty.
aJack, come along with us; we've got
something good, they said. "There is a
discovery down here that we got onto over
in Murray, and we want you to 60 with
u.s. What they had s.got onto" was the
discovery Of lead, south OF the present
town OF Wardner, which was soon to be
developed into the greatest lead mine in
the world.
Cooper and Peck, then running gen.
eral merchandise store at Murray, had
grubstsked Kellogg. He started for the
South Fork and came to what is now Milo
guloh, where he erected the fest cabin
and prospected about the ranges, but dis
and was ready to go back to Murray. His
pack burro had strayed up on the west
side of the gulch, where Kellogg found
the animal paving out roots beneath the
snow. But it was not only roots the burro
dug up; it uncovered ledge, the ledge OF
the now famous Bunker Hill mine.
Most OF the claims located by the two
parties overlapped and many OF the
famous lawsuits between the Bunker Hill
and Sullivan and Last Chance mining
companies during recent years resulted.
Smith, Flaherty and Carlan sold the
Emma and Last Chance to Charles
Sweeney, now president OF the Federal
Mining and Smelling Co., and Frank
Moore, one of the organizers OF the First
national bank in Spokane. Kellogg,
oRourke and Sullivan sold their claims to
Sim Reed and others, the original pro-
moters of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan
mines. With this company Smith, Carlan,
Flaherty and John NJ. Burke had many
lawsuits, and to it they finally sold all
their holdings, except the Rolling Stone,
which they incorporated. A few years
Co.
=, After selling his holdings at Wardner
smlth erected building at Lynn, Mass,
a. present to his widowed sister, and re-
tired for several years, but when the first
news Of the gold finds in Alaska came
from the northlands the aged prospeetor
joined the rush to Dawson, where he took
charge of one OF the richest claims on the
creek, owned by NJ. Healey OF Helena,
Mont, and was paid s15 day for manag-
prospected together in the early days.
When the Bunker Hill and Sullivan.
mill was destroyed, many valua BILE records
necessary in the approaching trial between
the Tyler. Bunker Hill property, and
tne Last Chance were lost. Smith was
the only man whose testimony could sup
ply the evidence lost in those records. He
was summoned from Alaska, and was the
ehlef witness for the Bunker Hill Co. in
the trial at Boise. At the close Of the
trial Smith returned to Wardner, where
ne built number OF dwellings. During
Inc last few years he and Clayton Miller,
general manager of the Federal mine, To-
Gated several groups of claims near tine
Hercules at Burke. He was also inter-
ested in the Sunset Peak district in the
Occur 'Alenes.
Many interesting stories OF the old pro-
speetor are told by Alva c. Bixby, Of this
city, who was with Smith in the Klon-
dixie, and who has nothing but good to
say for the old man who passed away the
other day. Smith had located a number
OF claims in the Basin group OF late years
and left in addition to his property in
Wardner, 100000 shares Of mining stock
IN Basin Mining Co., which adjoins the
phenomenal Hercules. His estate will be
divided equally between his three sisters
oft 4: . I. hpnt hara in "a