Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1909-05-15
AND
MINING

OF the tin resources of the Hill City
district, have tendency to cal /,
mind tie f'a1er extensive worx ,l,,,
has beoi done In that camp AMI make
the present aD opportane time % ,,.
view the results that were accom-.
plished while the old Harney Peak
Tin company was prospecting its
work.
Prior to 1891, the tin veins of the
district surrounding Hill City and ex-
tending to the south almost to Gus
ter and to the east to the neighbor-
hood of Keystone, had been exten.
siyely prospected for and in many
places veins of the metal had been
worked to some extent. The Eta
ground over near Keystone had re.
ceiyed the most attention and a mum.
Der Of shipments of cassiterite had
been sent to England. The Smellus
group had also been considerably de.
yeloped and these and other proper.
Ties scattered through the district
showed satisfactory values in tin. The
Harvey Peak Tin company had been
devoting much time and money to
the opening up Of tin-bearing veins in
these various localities but II was not
until 1891 that an entirely systematic
system of development was introduc.
ed. In that year ]. S. Childs, former.
iy OF Deadwood, was made general
manager of the company and Bryan
Il. Rossiter of Deadwood, became su,
perintendent. 1t was the latter who
outlined and carried out the plan of
development that was then inaugu.
rated and during the two and a half
years of his incumbency, he accom-
piished a vast amount of work which
has been highly commended by the
experts who have since examined the
different properties on which he
worked. Although he had never be-
fore undertaken the DEVELOPMENT of
a tin mine, yet he had been all his
life engaged in gold, copper and lead
mining and the long period of train
Ing In this work fitted him for the
work with which he was entrusted by
the Harvey Peak company. On as
suming charge of the affairs of the
company, his first move as to select
the properties which appeared to
him most promising and to these he
devoted his best efforts, with the re-
suit that in each case he opened up
substantial veins of tin-bearing rock
and left the different properties in
such shape that it will not be a diff
hcult matter for DR.. Ledoux to pur-
sue the Investigations on which he
will be engaged this summer.
The properties selected by Mr..
Rossiter for development were the
Addie. the Gertie, the Tenderfoot, the
Mohawk the Cowboy and the Coats.
Most of them had been furnished
with machinery more or less suita,
BILE, but a great part of this he re-
placed with heavier equipment and
set out to pursue his work with
thoroughness. At the time work was
suspended early in 1894, each of
these properties had opened up in
1t substantial veins of tin-bearing ore
and in most cases, are in such con
dition today that work could be con.
tinued with only such delay as would
be occasioned by the replacing OF
parts of the equipment which have
been removed during these years ol
idleness.
The Addie ground lies about three
mile east of Hill City. The princi
pal work done there was the sinking
of three compartment incline shaft {
distance of 500 feet. The shaft in
clines about 20 degrees from the per
pendicular and followed down a til
vein which varies in width from 7 I,
20 feet. From this mine larg,
amount of ore was taken out from
the 400-foot level to the surface ant
was treated at the 250-ton mill whicl
the company had erected at Hill
City. 1t had fine hoist capable O
sinking 1000 feet, good boilers and
15-drill compressor.
The Cowboy Is located one and
half miles from Hill City. 1t ais
was equipped with a suitable hois
and had sunk on it a shaft 800 fee
in depth. The ledge was from s I
IL feet in width and gave up som
of the largest tin crystals ever foun
in the Black Hills or in any other til
district in the world. One immens
egg shaped crystal weighed z
pounds. The Cowboy vein is a fis
sure which cuts the formation an
has all the appearance of being tru
and substantial.
The Coats ground holds another fis
sure vein, which lies parallel with tn
Cowboy and about 1900 feet distant
The vein is somewhat wider than tn
one found in the latter but probabl
not of equally high value. A goo
hoist was also located on this prof.
erty and the shaft was run down O.
the vein distance of 200 feet.
The Tenderfoot property is locate
about eight miles south of Hill Cit
and is one Of the best pieces G
ground in the possession of the Ha
ney Peak company. 1t has a 14O,
foot cross-cut tunnel which tapped
20-foot vein of tin-bearing ore at
depth Of over 300 feet from the SUI
e n. T.