Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1907-04-27

So long as mines exist and there
are men to work them, there will
be theories, each speculative. and no
two alike, as to the origin of placer
gold.
The late Professor N. S. Shaler,
dean of Harvard university, was
deeply interested in the subject, yet
had to admit that the only conclusion
at which he could arrive was
theoretical. He made a deep study
of the gravels of Alder gulch, in
Madison county, Montana, and while
holding to the opinion that the placer
gold came from hillside erosion he
had to admit that there were many
evidences of a far distant wash.
With so eminent an authority at a
loss to arrive at a satisfactory con
clusion we may be pardoned for not
advancing one of our wi and sim
ply let the subject rest with the fact
that in various parts Of the world
placer gold has existed without any
apparent reason for its existence.
Yet it is possible to write of Alder
gulch, accepting it merely as a real
ity. without attempting to delve into
the mystery of its origin.
Alder gulch, then, has given to the
world more gold to the square yard
than any other patch of ground on
the face of the globe. The gulch
itself is about eighteen miles long
and very narrow, so narrow that a
sturdy boy might cast a stone from
bank to bank.
In the year 1868. while some pio-
neers of the great Northwest were
returning to Bannack, then in the
territory of Idaho, they had to make
a detour to avoid hostile Indians and
camped m night near the edge of a
creek, afterward called Alder because
of the profusion of alder bushes
along its banks. One member of the
party accidentally disturbed some of
the gravel of the creek bed and, pio-
neer-like, thought he would pan it
for gold. The result gave the world
its most famous placer camp. These
men returned to Bannack for an out
fit and tried to keep their discovery
secret but the news was too good
70 koon ond oouoa oua of Tho por4y
had to display specimens Of the gold
found. A stampede followed; such
a stampede as even Nevada In these
later years cannot or has not
equalled. Inside of eighteen months
there were 10000 miners working
in the gulch. Scenes of outlawry
followed and the famous Montana
vigilantes were organized. Swift
vengeance followed crime. In one
night alone five men were hanged
from a rafter in a new building, now
used as a barber shop in which the
famous rafter is exhibited capped
with tin to prevent its rotting. Law
and order prevailed ultimately, but
not until every desperate either had
been hanged or driven from the
country. For about ten years Alder
.gulch had no rival. Then Last
Chance gulch. now the site of Hell
rena, the capital Of Montana, was dis
covered and because Last Chance
was and therefore more marvel
ously rich, there was an exodus from
Alder to the new camp.
AS the years passed the placer in
d stry faded. but never was aban-
doned entirely. Tailings that had
been worked by primitive methods
were reworked and worked again by
methods more modern and in this
year Of our Lord. 1907. the treat
ment of the old gravels is productive
of a good yield in the precious yell
To- we+a al.
head Of the gulch there are
IS; the one to the west has
NO tNe slightest indication of placer
= I'd, in fact, it has no gravel
it's bed; the east fork has
lat yielded heavy nuggets in
the carly days. 1t has gravel, 1t is
t to a certain point. At that
2 Lucas ledge cuts across the
I'd beyond that ledge neither
or gold ever was found.
this fact in mind, it is easy
the assumption that all the
erefore. must have come
. erosion of the Lucas lead
appear that way. but is sucl
tenable? This small gulcl
gainst Old Badly mountain
owering cliffs of sandston,
e.. showing glacial scratches
ir precipitous sides for thou
{ feet, not a hundred yard
The towering crest of OIL,
aars no signs of a gravel de
It back of this mountain il
of rolling hills with an al
( 5000 feet and from ent
I this range. from Old Bald.
esnake creek, in Beaverheat