Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-17

the scores of valuable propertie within
the rich mineral zone Of Southern Me-
vada. That till more wonderful re-
suits will be achieved in the near future
is assured judging from the present
activity shown by the many wealthy
companies owning property in and
around Searchlight.
History Of searchIaht
The Searchlight Bulletin IN it's illus
trated sketch of the town and it's min
ing interests covers the early history of
the famous camp.
"Searchlight. How apt the namel
Radiant and scintillating, brighter than
the rays Of the sun; it courts the clos
est rays of inspection. AS a mining
district It stands in a class by Itself
the home of legitimate and if anything
over-conservative mining.
There is q pretty story that when
c. f. Cotton first stumbled onto crop
pings of the Searchlight mine he said to
his companion: IF there II any gold in
this rock it would take q searchlight
to find it, and that later, when gold,
and lots of it, was discovered that name
was selected for the mine and subse-
quently for the town and district. But
there is also another story to the effect
that when he had reached the point in
lllo lOCdllOll llOllCt WHGIe luG supply lhb
OF name was necessary, the label
on box of matches caught his eye and
was selected. However, as a name
sake a match is equally appropriate,
for its main ingredients are popularity
held to come from the inmost bowels
of the earth and so do the veins which
are making Searchlight famous.
And the mines Of Searchlight do go
deep, this has been proven conclusively.
Al H. HNNsN rne
travelling overland between Salt Lake
City and San Bernardino were familiar
with the Searchlight district, but to
them, in those days, lead was more at
tractive than gold and what mining
they did in this section was confined to
around Valley Wells, many miles to the
west of here.
"The present day history of the dis
trict begins back in 1897. During that
year little work was done, but it was
not until the following year that the
real life of the camp began. In July
the district was formed and a postoffice
named Searchlight established. Prior
to the establishment of the postoffice
the place Lad not attained the dignity
of place on the map and some idea
of its isolation can be had from the
fact that it was six weeks before that
stirring incident of the blowing up Of
the battleship Maine was learned.
ut was about that time the now
worlds famous Quartette was first
operated. But to go back aways and
tell the steps leading up to the acquir-
ing and proving up of the mine. 1t is
the tale of tide-and a flood tide at
that, which has led the owners on to
fortune by leaps and bounds.
Boston Was Interested
"Col. c. A Hopkins happened into a
friends office back in Boston one day
and was shown a letter regarding the
Sheep Trail mine just above Needles.
1t was trfrned over to him and he an
swered it. This led to a correspondence
between him and F. W. Dunn, and
finally Mr.. Hopkins decided to come
out and look at the property. But right
here trouble intervened, for Mr.. Dunn's
option had elapsed and he was unable
to secure an extension. But nothing
daunted he began hustling for some
thing else to show. Here enters John
C. Swickard, who for a consideration
of one dollar each agreed to locate as
many mines as Mr.. Dunn desired.
"Swickard monuments are still to
be seen. They look like a pawnbroker' s
sign, consisting of three stones and
were about as many inches in height
Over this virgin field he drove, locating
cropping after cropping until Mr.. Dunn
called a halt. Prior to this Swiokard
had been in the country and located the
two claims which now constitute the
main holdings of the Quartette, but
that's another story and will come lat
er. OF the locations made Mr.. Dunn
picked out the Boston group as being
the best and sent for Col. Hopkins He
came and as result of his visit the
Quartette company was soon after
formed
rinlya ND
tette he claimed from two central
monuments 700 and 5O-1O0 feet in both
directions. This left a fraction of 491a
feet on both claims. This was taken
up by G. F. Cotton, but subsequently
was traded by him to Swickard for
what are now the Duplex mines.
Swickard had no faith in the per-
manency of the vein, but for that mat
ter neither had a hundred and one
noted experts who in the early days
consistently turned the property down.
So he decorated the property with his
signs, the reading matter of which was
more forcible than elegant and of
which very liberal translation would
read as follows: ANY Sheepherding
suns of guns that catch digging on
these here claims 1 will work button
holes in their pock-marked SKINS
Sold Claims for Song
"For and in consideration of $11OO
and team of mules and camping out
fit thrown in to boot, Swickard sold the
claims to Messrs. Macready, Hubbard
and Fisher. Without success these
gentlemen did considerable work, and
then in 1899 the Quartette company Sc
cured the property, took it when the
shaft to the 1O0-foot level averaged
1884.
1T was Mr.. Macready, who remained
in the company, who never for an in
stant lost faith in the property, and it
is due to him that Searchlight is what
1t is today-the greatest camp in Ne
vada. AS superintendent $4,000 was
placed at his command for develop
ment purposes, and the shaft was sunk
to approximately 300 feet.
"There was nothing doing; nothing
showed in the shaft, not even the $685.
900 which had gone into it's NAV; and
right then and there a halt was called.
Mr. Macready was in Los Angeles at
the time and Mr.. Dunn, resident agent,
received orders to close down the mine
as the company thought that If the
large sum already spent failed to show
results there was no reason Tor staying