The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-06-24
SOME POINTS
CONCERNING
THE CURRIES
STATION WAS STARTED IN 1872
AND WAS OWNED BY JOHN
KARGEN.
HOW THF PLACE HAS CHANGED
Copper Sulphides Discovered at
Spruce MOuntain-Plans for
Future Operations.

Curries may not be uninteresting.
The station was started in
1872. and the station and land COM
prising the land was located by
John Kargen. In 1884 1t fell into
the hands OF ]. H. Currie, and was
run as stock range and stopping
place for the travelling public ever
since. When the Nevada Northern
reached the point, 1t sprang into
The place contained 480 acres,
prominence and ever since. For some
time 1t was the terminus and was
the resting place of hundreds of peo-
pie going to and coming from Ely.
The placecontained $50 acres of land,
nearly all of which Is under fence. 1t
produces about 200 acres of hay and
some grain, and by the way, the grain
grown is a source of income to the
place. II paid $3.50 for a sack of
oats. If.they sell many at that price,
1t may readily be seen that the pro-
ceeds. from the grain sale must bring
q dollar or two
Last year Mr.. Currie built a new
j. twO-story hotel and added other new
buildings, to his group, taking the
place of the tumble-down buildings
of FORMER times. The Nevada North
ern has had freight sheds there for
months, and now maintains a tele-
graph station there, and it still an
important station on the line of the
road. Mr.. Currie has leased his ho-
tel and farm to WI. Corbett, bro
Their offs A. G.. Corbett, of the Ely
ToWnsite Company, and his son, L.
II. Currie. The Ely Townsite Com
pany has valuable quarry at Currie,
that furnishes beautiful building ma
terial for Ely and Ely City. The
Townstte people are now shipping
about FIVE carloads of stone
per week TO Ely and have force of
about Is men at work in the quar-
rfes. The old station has enjoyed
a reputation on the Toano and Wells
road for many years.
The next place reached in my
drive from Cherry Creek was that of
l.. l.. Bradley. Mr.. Bradley has re-
Gently purchased the ranch from H.
Phalan, and is using it for sheep
The place cuts one hundred tons of
hay and contains 240 acres in all,
and Is all under fence. 1t Is situated
ON Phalan Creek, six miles north of
Currie.;
Driving on eighteen miles further,
d.arriVed at Spruce, about forty miles
across White Pines boundary line,
In Blko county. While Spruce Is Ell
kos territory, it should be all right
belong to White Pine, for everything
in the way of copper properties in
NGyada are more or less intimately
connected with the Robinson district.
Spruce Is wonderful camp for cop
per surface indications. Way back
as early as $50 the Latham mine was
located, and for several years was
worked for the lead and silver 1t con-
tanned. The Fourth of July claim
was, also located and worked for lead
and silver. In the fall of '69 the
latham and the Fourth of July
claims were sold to the Sprucemont
Mining company for SIS, The
Sprucemont people constructed a
smelter, piped the water from Spruce
range of mountains, and it is said ex-
& ended $350,0O0 on the mine and
helter. The copper in the ore-in
EOse days regarded as worthless
,.wasFsO plentiful that it was regarded
DIS worthless and interfered with the
successful treatment of the silver and
lead, and the camp was finally shut
down, although 1t was said that as
high as 46 per cent was obtained in
lead and Is ounces in silver was OBJ
tanned to the ton, taken from the
Fourth of July mine. The fall of
silver had much to do with the clos
ing down of the camp, which was
one of the, most promising in the
State. Early in the. '7O's the camp
was most promising as a producer of
silver. Spfucemont today is just as
rich In silver and lead as it ever was,
and the copper values underlyin the
the district cannot be computed, not
by me, anyway. The, camp impresses
me more favorably than any other
have seen in the district. 1t is of
the same formation as that of Robin
son district-lim, porphyry and iron.
POrphyry rhyolite dykes can be cas-
lily traced on the surface for many
miles. In the good old days when
copper was not SO valuable as metal
Sas 1t has since become, and when 1t
q was found to be regarded as a draw
back to the camp--a disadvantage.
Every. old dump In the district, every
pil6sOf dirt and every prospect hole
sunk shows copper in great quanti-
T. ties, from the size of a grain OF
wheat to chunks weighing 200
pounds. While in many of the mines
and prospects at Spruce. there are
many values in lead and silver run
ming into the hundreds of dollars,
the copper deposits which permeate
the mass of mineral deposits convince
me that 1t has a great future as a
copper-producing camp. / put in a
forenoon visiting the various proper
ties ct Spruce, and nothing impressed
me more than the claims owned by H
E. Ferguson, and to say that l have
never been impressed before with the
great mining future of Nevada until
] had seen the Furgerson holdings
would be drawing it mild. The first
claim visited was the Cavalier No. 1
worked years ago for silver and lead
A finer copper showing never laid out
:. of doors. The formation is capped
> with iron, with quartzite and lime
contact, and everything is copper in
ll9direction-and then some. The
formation is very similar to that OF
Robinson district, being rhyolite
porphyry dykes, with a lime and iron
Gaping Mr.. Furgerson exhibits
certificates that would take ones
breath away.
In his group he has one of the best
surface copper showings have ever
seen, and II Spruce is not copper
camp of great value, 1 will resign as
q ming expert. 1t is simply wonder.
full to me to see the copper indica.
tions in his group of claims. Mr.
Furgerson is not at all enthusiastic
r