The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-12-03

were rivers, plains and mountains ~.
their position was so different tbo, :.
is difficult to attempt to visualize tho,.
location. In general it may be soia
however. that this vicinity was biat
land from which rivers flowed east l.
to great fresh water lake covering
eastern Montana and the Dakotas
The Wearing Action.
"As time went on the wearing actin,
of the rivers and streams moulded H.
hills and valleys into their presoa,
shapes. AT one time in this periol
after the veins had formed, volcanoes
broke forth, again filling the valley
with lava, volcanic ashes and dust Tbo
clay-like deposits about Silver Row
and in the Jefferson valley are c,r
posed of these dusts and ashes. 1t was
during these outbursts that the Rio
butte volcano was formed This vul-
canism died out In time and the Quiet.
er processes of erosion continued their
work of carving out the valleys and
mountains which we recognize TODAY
Il speak fully of these erosion pro.
cesses, for should like to impress IN.
on you that the present outcrops of the
veins were far below the original our.
crops and probably 5000 feet in depth
"The veins and the inclosing rocks
have been worn off since they were
formed. This reasoning will apply to
veins everywhere. the particular Sec
ton Of the veins which erosion has
carved for us being merely an incident
depending on the amount of erosion TO
which the veins have been subjected
since their formation. Now the prac
ltical Importance of this reasoning Is
that it implies that the section of the
veins exposed at the present surface is
an average section and that there is no
reason for expecting the vein to be-
come larger at greater depth. 1t is a
fallacy commonly held by prospectors
that their veins will become larger
with depth. Theory and observation
both condemn this idea.
1T may interest you to know some
thing of the character of the life and
climate here at the time the Butte
veins were forming The fossil record
of the life of those times indicates
climate more tropical than that which
we have now. Palms, fig trees, ban
anas and magnolias grew on the low
lands of eastern Montana. Elephants,
rhinoceroses, wild pigs and tigers in
habited the forests, while camels and
horse about the side of a collie dog
ranged the plains. The mountainous
areas were wooded with oaks, willows,
chestnuts, beeches, laurels, poplars,
LIVES, etc.
CAS- time passed the climate became
colder; Arctic animals were driven
south to Montana by advancing fields
Iof ice. Reindeer, musk oxen, Arctic
foxes and great wolves roamed the
Ipine forests hereabouts. Icy winds
swept down from the north and the
scene from Butte was far from trOpi-
Ical Huge glaciers similar to those
now found in Alaska filled the numer-
Gus valleys. From Big butte at least
l20 such glaciers would be visible. The
Highland mountains contained several,
the Tobacco Root range contained
dozens; Mount Fleecer and German
Igulch carried them and the view Of
the Anaconda range must have been
majestic in the extreme. From every
mountain valley huge ice river dis
Igorged into the valleys below. Butte
itself was not covered by the ice, but
placiers were visible in every drec-
ton.
1T is natural fer us to inquire as to
mans part in this history. Geology has
little to offer on the question particu-
Flarly in Montana, where so little geo.
logical work has been done. Mans
part in geologic history has been very
unimportant. No positive record Of his
activities exten back more than 10000
or $4,000 years. He apparently origin
ated in southwestern Asia, in a tropt-
cal country, and spread from there
over the lands. Nothing authentic has
yet been found to indicate the exist
ence of man before the glacial period
OF Interest to Butte.
"a question of local interest in
Butte is the relation which a theory
of vein formation, such as we have
considered this evening, has to the
mining litigation which the camp has
been burdened with. The answer Is
that the relation is a very important
land direct one, more important than
is usually brought to light by expert
witnesses in their testimony. The
origin of veins was not understood
when the mining laws were framed In
this country. In fact, a wrong concep-
ton of them was prevalent and this
conception is embodied in the laws
governing mineral rights. In inter-
preting the law the courts have held
that vein should have at least one
well defined wall and should have
well defined boundary or apex, as 1t Is
called. The fact Is that many veins
have no well defined walls at all, and
that many ore bodies have no clearly
marked apices. The result is that the
existing law makes no provision for
III q 0i Inn al 10 CIR