The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-07-10
MONTANA NINE PRO.
DUcT|0M N 50 YEARS
sUTTE's FIRST QUARTZ MINING
FIRST ORE TO SWANSEA
--NETTEo $1,000 A TON.

One signing himself "Old Timer,
writes this interesting account of the
beginning and growth Of quartz mining
at Butte:
During the early days Of the Butte
camp the quartz lodes were neglected,
a rule which seems TO have been fol-
lowed In all Of the placer camps IN
their infancy. as gold was considered
the only metal worth searching for
First Orc Goes to Wales.
THE Shakespeare PARROT, owned by
William Parks. and the Montana Chief
were the only mines In active opera
tion In the early seventies. and were
followed shortly afterward by the
Ramsdell Parrot. owned by Joseph
Ramsdell. The values were In silver
and copper and some OF the ore was
high grade. 1t was not until January
i, 1876, that the quartz veins Of the
Butte camp attracted attention
throughout the entire west, aud this
was due to the fact that William Far
lin, known as father OF Butte, had dis
covered that the black manganese ore
found by him on the Travonia claim
carried high silver values, Mr.. Far
lin proceeded to operate that property
and the first shipment Of ore was haul
ed by wagon to Fort Benton and from
that point was taken by boat down the
river to New Orleans for final
to Swansea for treat
ment. This shipment Melted $1,000 per |
ton above all expenses From that |
late forward prospectors from all over
he west swarmed into the camp and /
he entire district was covered by loca-
Ion notices.
Many Other Great Producers.
Several rich strikes were made fol
owing the Travonia discovery, among
which We're the Gagnon. Original Ste
ems, La Plata, Lexington, Allie Brown
Tray Rock, Diamond, High Ore, Bur
lett, Mountain BOY, Makeup Jim
sreen Mountain, Colusa, Burlington
Alice, Moulton and several others. All
4 these mines were In pay ore from
he grass roots. During 1881 and 1882
nany other mines were added to tbs
oil Of paying prospects, such as the /
forth Star. Wabash, Florida. Black
took. Elm Orlu, Poser. Bell. Belle of
lutte, Moose, Stewart, Clear Grit, An K
conda, st. Lawrence. Fredonia, Bur q
ngton. Nettle Self Riser Tom Han
Y, Ophir. Isle. Star West. Tecumseh. I
Star, Amy Silversmith, An g
elmo. Goldsmith. Brittania and Mary
mn, covering the district from Silver
ow creek to Bull Run. north of Wal
erville, and from Meaderville to ,
ecker. All Of these have been i'm
,rtant producers and contributed ma
rally to the early wealth of Butte,
all instances where depth has been
tanned the continuity of ore valuee
~ been proved to the disappointment ;.
chronic pessimists which infest ev-
y mining camp on earth =,
Vet in Swaddiing Clothes. :
THAT Butte, now on the pinnacle o. :.
AHieSbCuSS. 10 Stiii III ItST SWdUulIIlF s.
othes, awaiting only the magic wand !,
further development. fully iustifiee :.
r title Of the greatest mining camr :
earth Is no longer disputed. with :,
few more thousand feet OF shafts :,
nix upon some of the early day pro- !,
GERS. she will continue to rank as -
4 greatest metrupols of the RocNieg
tron0 Arm Engine" Did Much Work :,
-, MS
The early development of the quartz :.
mes Of Butte was performed by the
Of the windlass, whip or whim fo-. :,
|sting the ore and waste from the
allow depths Of that date. These -,
re soon supplanted by steam hoists =.
lging in capacity from s to so horse
YER As the mines reached greater ~
9TH the smaller plants were discard
and in their stead can now be seen W,
marvel of mining machinery where
one time the windlass Tor strong
! engine) once held sway
Is now furnishing the
YER tn operate the hosting plants
It will be but short time until
steam engine of former DAYS will
at ease beside the whip and whm
ad replaced"