Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1913-05-31
BATTLE CREEK AND
THE MINT GOLD PLACER.

Mint. Gold Placer company, Col. Miller
being general manager of the company
and Mr.. Doran vice president, and Col.
Miller's assistant.
The Mint.Gold Placer company was
financed in Omaha, Nebraska, through
the influence of Mr.. VIM. Won Dohren,
of Millard, Nebraska. Mr.. Won Dohren
is president of the company. The prop.
erty of the company is situated partly
in Custer county and partly in Penning-
ton county and covers an area of over
eight hundred acres, extending from
below the Cape Horn to the upper end
of the Hayward basin. The company
has purchased several Of the tracts and
holds options to purchase the entire
Hay ward basin, at one time we'll known
for the great quantities of placer gold
taken from the high bars and tributary
ravines. Under Col. Miller's manage
ment the company has driven q tunnel
through the neck of Cape Horn. This
tunnel is eight feet wide and ten feet
high and constructed a double compart-
ment gold saving fume through the tun-
mel, built q bulkhead with q trap, or
strong gate at the head of the tunnel to
guard against the destruction or damage
of their gold saving fume by the occur
ance Of food waters, also substantial
Boom dam in the canyon near what is
known as the Brady bar, which is we'll
known for the phenominal values of
placer gold in the early days of placer
mining on Battle creek. The company
has installed fine saw mill and are now
engaged in making lumber for the con-
struction of contemplated fumes.
Heretofore the waters Of Battle creek
at a normal stage have been lost in a
series of cavernous lime strata that occur
in the canyon through which the stream
has its course. During flood periods,
however, the water has flowed around
Cape Horn and passed out of the canyon
and reached the agricultural land about
Hermosa, but at the normal stage of wa
ter flow with measurement Of two
thousand miners inches of water per
second of time the entire water flow has
been lost in these cavernous lime strata
locally known as "Sinks."
The Mint-Gold Placer company will
build stream bed fume from the point
where the stream enters the canyon at
the south end line Of the Williams ranch
to the tunnel at the neck of the Cape
Horn. The construction of this stream
bed fume, or conduit will put this great
volume of water into the control of the
owners of land below the tunnel, and
there can be no computation of the
money value of this stream to be used
as irrigation water during drouth sea-
sons. The Mint-Gold Placer company
intend Immediately to install steam
shovel on the land Creek bed deposits
of gravel below the tunnel mouth, carry
ing blind drain up behind the steam
shovel and work out the bed of the
creek around Cape Horn until the steam
shovel shall intersect the hydraulic
method to be installed at the bar at
the head of the tunnel. The
company will build a high line fume
with its intake at the upper end of the
Hayward basin, attaining a pressure at
the head of the tunnel of one hundred
and seventy feet, and there put in hy-
draulic plant of capacity of eighteen
hundred cubic yards of gravel per day
of twenty-four hours.
Up to the time when Col. Miller be-
came interested in the placers on Battle
Creek there had been no exploration of
the deep channels in the creek bed.
Countless values in placer gold had been
taken from the high bars on either side
of the stream, but owing to the lack of
adequate pumping machinery and great
flow of water as underhow, and the alb.
sence of clay or other cementing material
in the creek deposits of gravel prevent
ing of drift diggings, the old time miner
was content to wash gravel In a small
way on the high bars and rim rock near
the stream course, although he knew full
we'll that the creek bed, the bed rock in
the creek channel, being the greater
point of concentration Of gold values,
was much richer than the rim rock in
the yellow metal.